CHAPTER 101: CHAPTER 100: COCYTUS PART 2

Equinox’s attack caused chaos, several pillars shattered, releasing the creatures trapped inside and giving both the new creations and Cocytus more foes to worry about for a moment.

After a moment however, the shattered ice pillars covered the entire area in razor sharp ice shards which rained down from above. The shards simply passed through Cocytus and Carl’s creations but tore the recently liberated creatures to shreds.

Cocytus himself hadn’t been harmed by any of the after-effects, but the black orbs themselves were devastating; leaving his barrier completely destroyed and his body riddled with cracked scales.

"There, I think a little chaos makes this place much more comfortable." Equinox summarized the attack like he had just aired out a changing room that stank of B-O.

"Equinox, was that really necessary?"

"He did the same thing when one of my children tried telling him "a fake dragon had no place". I think he might be developing a bit of animosity towards all of us dragons." Bahamut replied.

"No, I’m growing tired of the imbalance, you all seem to be disproportionately arrogant as to the power you possess. You should learn from Carl’s example and treat others with respect, until they give you cause to act so inhospitably."

"Hate to say Equinox, think you jumped the gun there yourself, you know you can ask for a personal day when you need to chill right?"

"Are you ignoring me! I will teach you to respect a true dragon, human!" Nothing happened after, Cocytus prepared an attack, but Tiamutael looked at him and he suddenly lost his will to fight.

"Sorry Dad, I was bad too, but he was annoying me."

"I don’t know what you did, but let’s just calm down everyone. Cocytus, do you really want to keep this going? Personally I’d rather just get the ones we came for and leave in whatever peace can be salvaged."

"No! I can’t let this be how it ends!"

Carl sighed and asked the others to return to where they were before, sensing that keeping them present would only make things worse.

"Fine, so you know you can’t win a fight with me playing all my cards, why don’t we switch things up a bit and play combat tag?"

"I don’t appreciate the tone, but denying the truth would be shameful. What is this combat tag?"

"It’s how my wife and I used to train with each other, you tried to land a shot on me with a projectile while I use my creations to help me evade and block."

"Interesting and how do we know if you win?"

"Let’s say a time limit of five minutes, Bahamut can act as a referee."

"Fine then, we will begin on his mark."

Carl looked to Bahamut who grunted in response, then a short while later, shouted "begin!".

The moment he shouted, Carl jumped back as a dozen icicles shot towards him, he dodged with ease and minimal movement.

He sent telepathic commands to all the creatures still in play, though he realised that several must have been either killed or knocked unconscious when they were flung from Cocytus’ body and maybe even Equinox’s attack.

Carl continued to pivot, duck and weave between the icy missiles, then one of his creatures suddenly grabbed him and threw him back towards another just as as several more of the icicles were launched from one of the pillars and tore his saviour apart when it couldn’t change to its ice-form fast enough.

Just as he reached the creatures he had been thrown towards, one caught and relaunched him in a split-second, just as several stakes impaled them.

Carl had grown rigid, looking at the remains of the creations that had been killed. He hadn’t specified no killing, but he had assumed it was obvious, he knew it was the result of his vagueness and only had himself to blame.

"I’m sorry to all of you, I really am. I had no intention of welcoming you as family like the others, but I had hoped to see them given purpose..."

Carl realised that they were all dead at that point and he was having to dodge with greater effort and care.

He reached out with his aura, originally intending to create another mass force of defenders, but he couldn’t bring himself to create anything just to die. He was about to refocus and concentrate on mastering the layered aura barrier that Bahamut had been trying to teach him, then he felt something unusual in one of the pillars.

It was a creature whose essence reminded him of Equinox, Lillim and there was something else that he didn’t recognise. He wasn’t in a position to get distracted, but years of trying everything he could to level-up left him with an uncontrollable impulse to investigate new things.

He used his aura to will the creature into establishing a telepathic link if it was able.

"Greetings, My name Eckro, what is it that you find more important than paying attention to what you are doing?"

"Your essence, it is similar to Balance and has some celestial attributes, but there’s something else I don’t recognise."

"You don’t recognise the aura of Nothingness? Strange, I sense it on you to some extent, I assumed you were something similar to myself."

"Nope, all human, just unlucky." Carl laughed. "What betrayal did you commit to end up here?" Carl stopped talking just in time to notice an omni-directional attack incoming.

Eckro didn’t reply and as Carl kept dodging the attacks he began to wonder if he had offended the ice-bound stranger with the question.

"No, I’m not offended, I simply didn’t wish to distract you."

"Then you best keep talking, at this point it will distract me more to start paying attention."

"Do you have that accursed inversion or something?" Eckro laughed, not knowing how right he was.

"Yes actually, is that a symptom? Sorry, still pretty new to it."

"No, it isn’t... To answer your question, I was made to be Samael’s foster child, just as Cocytus and almost all of the crowns were. I however wasn’t selected to be on the villain’s side when and so when my father fell, I became a traitor by default and he sent me here to rot."

"Hey, Samael isn’t completely gone... Close, but he has been rationing his clarity of mind, when I revealed myself, he liberated my grandma Lillim with almost everything he had left."

"So you’re the hero of this game? That explains how you’re playing with Cocytus, "

"I guess... Now, how do I get you out of there?"

"Don’t, I will not join you, so I would be unable to repay the debt." Carl had become almost completely invested in the conversation, but that only seemed to have honed his reactions even further.

"I don’t care if you join me or not, Samael and Grandma Lillim both helped me out... I’d definitely be dead if Grandma hadn’t trained me, so I’m the one repaying a debt." Carl kicked off a nearby pillar, focusing divinity into his hand, which made Cocytus realise that he was in the vicinity of Eckro.

"No! Not him, get away!" Cocytus was too late, by the time he had finished talking, carl had already punched Eckro’s prison with his glowing gold fist and seemed to be absorbing the ice into himself.

Carl dropped to the floor, head pounding, his body temperature felt like it was plummeting and his vision was going strange, as though he were peering through a crystal lens.

Cocytus could have ended their game in an instant if he was still playing, but his attention had been stolen by Eckro’s liberation.

"Enjoy your brief freedom Traitor! You’ll be dead or imprisoned again before long!"

"You’re absolutely right Brother, I am at an impasse...I find myself indebted to a degree I cannot hope to repay. Hold still, I’ll allow the mortal to use me as he did those others."

"You would allow a human to make a slave of you? You were never worthy to stand as one of the crowns."

"True, I failed Father at every step. I failed you all and every resident of the infernal realms... My biggest failure is now compounded by the debt I owe, so I ask for permission to die and cease to be the failure son."

’What are you doing!? You can’t just give up! I’ll find a way to get you out of here so you can help bring Samael back to his senses.’ Carl spoke telepathically, his entire body had become rigid and unmoving for some reason he couldn’t understand.

’Relax human, I said I wouldn’t join you, but you’re right and I need to go with you to help restore my Father. I owe both you and Lillim a great deal, so I ask you to take all I have to give, decline and I’ll have no choice but to throw my life away attempting to restore my father again.’

"Brother, if you truly wish your suffering would end, then so be it. I don’t think the sentimental human will do it however, so I’ll give him no choice." Eckro simply nodded, accepting the situation.

’I meant every word, I have failed everything I hold dear at every turn. I have no doubt that you could stop his next move and share his belief that you wouldn’t sit idle, so sit tight and claim your prize when you can move again.’

Carl found himself unable to comprehend his very existence. Eckro hadn’t done anything to him, it was just that he had made it so Carl was experiencing his entire existence thus far simultaneously.

Carl was unable to act or react, because he didn’t know what was past and what was present, mixed with the fact he hadn’t even got over whatever had happened when he tried to overwrite Cocytus’ own divinity.