Chimera Summoner: A Deckbuilding LitRPG, page 34
The ground began to rumble as a massive golem clambered out of the sand that had settled on the floor of the area thanks to the world spell. It was enormous, a thing that had a hunched over form like a gorilla. On its chest was a face, a huge maw that blazed with fiery magic. Within the flickering flames, stone arms moved, a smaller golem taking shape within.
“The Golem Mother doubles the defence of all constructs I control, including herself. In addition, at the start of each turn, she creates a construct token. This duel is over. You can’t target my monsters with spells and their defence is beyond your reach. I will simply grind you out over the course of the match until nothing is left.”
“You know, it’s odd you think that,” Magda said. “I case Empowered Strike.” The Divine Protectors shield began to shimmer with golden power. “The next time this monster deals damage it deals two points of damage instead.”
“Irrelevant. It can’t hurt my constructs. Mine, however, can hurt it. I joint attack it with my remaining monsters!” Jabari said, his voice rising. He had won, why was his opponent not doing the honourable thing and conceding.
The Golem Mother lumbered forwards with the Pack Golem at her side. The Divine Protector braced itself as both mothers slammed against its shield over and over. A crack began to form in the metal as the two golems wandered back to their side of the battlefield. With the armoured already used to absorb the damage, it took earlier the Divine Protector had lost a precious hit point.
Magda began to laugh. She couldn’t help it, the sound bubbling over her lips. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh at you, but…you’re just so serious! And you’ve forgotten something important, something that means you lose. It’s like you weren’t really listening to me!”
“I paid attention.”
“You can’t have though! You’re acting all stoic compared to the other Golden I’ve duelled, but I think part of your mind, somewhere in the back of it, you’re not taking me seriously because I’m fleshy. Oh, you might think you are, but not really.”
“This mockery is an affront,” Jabari snapped. He had thought Magda a competent duellist but to see her laughing at him made him think the feeling wasn’t reciprocal. “I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but now I see you are a child. You have not won, victory is impossible. I thought perhaps you were better than most, but now I see you’re just a petulant-”
“You will give your opponent the respect she is due,” Neferure said. She didn’t shout, she didn’t need to. Her voice simply boomed naturally. “You can not comprehend how far above you as a being she is. You are nothing compared to her.”
The thousands of Golden fell suddenly silent. The Pharaoh intervening like this was already unheard of, but the fact that she was doing so on behalf of a fleshy was unfathomable. Neferure was their radiant sun, the goddess that brought light and life to the pyramid. Her word was law and now it was saying something that upended everything they had been raised to believe. How could a fleshy be above a Golden? It didn’t make sense.
Jabari fell to his knees, prostrating himself before his goddess. He didn’t understand why the Pharaoh was speaking on behalf of his opponent, but he wasn’t going to disagree with her.
“Besides, Magdalena is right,” Neferure continued. “You have forgotten something. She has won. Continue your duel.”
“What you’ve forgotten,” Magda said, waiting for her opponent to stand first, “is that I used a feat to give my Divine Protector flying, for the turn. It’s still the same turn, and you don’t have anything to block it.”
“No…no that’s impossible,” Jabari said. He had missed that part of her explanation; he was certain of it. He looked again at his hand. Right there was a construct with flying. He had been so preoccupied with getting his Golem Mother onto the field that he had missed being able to stop the angel from striking him.
“Attack him,” Magda said to her Divine Protector. The angel nodded a second time, beginning its flight into the air.
“No. I can’t accept this. I’m the Pharaoh’s champion, I can’t lose to you!”
“Not just losing to me but losing to me in the first turn.” Magda couldn’t resist just getting that one jab in.
The Divine Protector collided with Jabari’s shield, and it was all over, the final flash of gold causing the monsters, the sand, and the great pillars framing the arena to vanish. The match had ended, and Magda had won.
“The match has concluded!” Mariska announced, striding into the centre of the arena. “Magda is victorious!”
Enemy duellist defeated. 2377 experience gained.
Chapter Thirty
Magda thought that she would have enjoyed the victory celebrations more than she did. She had been placed onto a palanquin and paraded through the city, the intent to present the new champion to the Golden within. Getting a tour of the pyramid was nice, if a bit boring, but the adulating crowds she had expected just hadn’t been there. It wasn’t surprising, she was after all a fleshy who had dethroned a Golden, but just some worship would have been nice, just one person, that’s all Magda asked for. There had been a handful of Golden waiting to see her, but their unmoving stances and unblinking stares had told her that they were there just because their Pharaoh had vouched for her more than anything else.
It was a relief when the palanquin made its way back down to the bottom floor and came to a stop before the great doors that led down into the Pharaoh’s personal chambers. The dragon had slithered back inside just after the match had concluded though she had asked Magda had her friends to follow once the ceremony was complete.
“How was your trip?” Gareth said as Magda disembarked.
“Boring, how was waiting here for me?”
“About the same.”
“Good. Well, shall we go see about speaking to this dragon then?” Behind Magda, the palanquin bearers wasted no time in turning around and heading back towards the teleporter.
Quest Complete: Compete in the Pharaoh’s tournament.
1000 experience points gained.
“Finally! Guess the tournament had to conclude to earn the experience points,” Gareth said. It had been frustrating waiting for the quest to drop from his quest log. “A thousand experience is fine, I guess. I’m used to more from quests.”
“I got four thousand,” Magda said, a smile stretched wide across her face. “Of course, that’s because I was, you know, the winner and all that. Guess this probably makes me the best duellist now, officially?”
“I guess it does, try not to let it get to your head. We’ve got to go through those massive doors, and it barely fit as is.”
“I think, before we do, it’s best I explain what happened to me just before Magda’s match. When I…” Sarkuran began.
“Spaced out?” Gareth said, finishing his friend’s sentence.
“A reasonable term. I was in conversation. Something visited me, a presence I haven’t felt since I arrived on Acamida. A godly presence.”
“Wait, how?” Magda said, pushing past Gareth and stopping as close to Sarkuran as she could get. “The others, they can’t get here I thought?”
“Ah yes well, I do recall you being nervous when we were in the fractal universe. You thought that perhaps they might notice you in there and have no such issues in that place, well you were correct in your assertion, Magda. The god—and it didn’t give me a name—entered the fractal universe and then came through to here when presumably Henig opened the gateway in one of his experiments.”
“And this god just told you all this?” Imelda said, a suspicious eyebrow arching upwards.
“It was remarkably frank. Possibly because it was trying to win me over to its side.” Sarkuran saw the expression on his friends' faces. “Don’t worry, I refused it outright. I have no interest in becoming the puppet of the gods a second time. What is interesting is that it wanted me to open the gateway again. Here on Acamida, it has no power, the god little more than a wisp thanks to not bothering to take on a physical form like they forced on Magda. I assume with the doorway open it could channel its strength through the fractal universe into this one. Perhaps a part of it is still lingering in that stillborn place? I can’t say I understand the exact cosmological nature of the problem.”
“Wait, so you’re saying if the door to the fractal universe opens again this god might get his full strength back? You should probably have mentioned it to us before the match? Henig is back at the tower right now, he might be experimenting with the ring right now,” Gareth said.
“I’ll go.” Imelda held out a hand ready to receive the runic rod that allowed instant teleportation back to the tower. “You guys should be able to use the teleport platform here to get back to the jungle. Hopefully. And honestly, all this gods business is well beyond me, but telling Henig to knock it off, that I can do.”
Gareth reached into his pack, the enchantment on it allowing him to grab the rod instantly. He passed it to Imelda and nodded to her solemnly. “We better hope the lich has been busy with other things.”
Imelda took a few steps back and turned the rod, glowing pink runes appearing on the floor around her. A moment later she was gone, whisked across the world in an instant.
“Right, well let’s go talk to this dragon, shall we?” Gareth said.
Through the open doorway was a steep ramp, one that curved around on itself like a great twisting bore digging into Acamida. Along the sides were the various retainers of the Pharaoh, the Golden standing sentinel as the party made their advance. It was a subtle message, one that made clear that the living statues would be watching over their goddess, even if she was more than capable of protecting herself.
The walk took a lot longer than Gareth had expected. The Pharaoh’s chambers were deep beneath the pyramid, far below the surface. That made sense in a way and was probably as much to blame for her rocky appearance as the Godsword.
Eventually, the party arrived at a second set of enormous doors, easily large enough for the dragon to drag herself through. They were simple things, none of the elaborate hieroglyphs that had been common on the walls as they walked down. They felt older than the rest of the structure, their construction simpler. Set into the right door was a smaller door made of dark iron, a pathway through for those of more usual size. Standing next to it was a single Golden warrior, axe held in one hand.
“Her most radiant sun is waiting for you through here. She has granted permission for all of you to pass through, not just her new champion,” the Golden said. “Only a few Golden have been past these doors, and to my knowledge, you will be the first fleshies. Not even Jabari, the longest-serving champion, has seen what is inside.”
“What about you?” Gareth said, asking what he felt was the obvious question.
“I have, I count myself amongst that lucky number. Let me be clear, duellists or not, if you speak about what you see in there I will kill you myself. It does not pass these doors, am I understood?”
“Crystal clear,” Magda said. She turned to look at Tax. “Uh, sorry, no offence.”
“None taken,” the spider said, waving one of her forelimbs dismissively. “I actually kind of like that saying. Crystal clear. That will catch on in my clan, I think.”
“Well, then I’m glad I taught it to you.”
The Golden pushed the door open, the way cloaked in darkness. “I will close the door once you head through. Knock three times if you wish to leave.”
Gareth nodded and gestured for Magda to step through. “After you, champion.”
The room beyond was filled with darkness, a no sun reaching this deep under the earth. Gareth’s eyes tried to adjust, only to then be blinded by a sudden burst of light. His hand snapped to his face instinctively in an attempt to protect his eyes. It didn’t entirely work, but his vision returned a few moments later, flashes of colour floating in the corners of his eyes.
The chamber wasn’t what he expected. He had thought that the dragon’s lair would have been far less morbid than it was. Every wall was covered in skeletons, thousands of skulls leering at him from every angle. He wasn’t sure if they were human, they certainly looked it, but Gareth didn’t want to assume.
Neferure was coiled up in the centre of the room, her head snaking side to side as she took in her visitors. The light illuminating the room was coming from a hovering orb of energy directly above her, no doubt a manifestation of the same power she used to light the entire pyramid.
“Weren’t there more of you?” The Pharaoh said, lowering her head towards her visitors.
“Uh, yes, one of us went back to where we’re from. Urgent business,” Magda said.
“Right. The presence I felt I assume?”
“Probably,” Magda said, wondering how exactly the dragon could sense the presence of a god when she couldn’t. “You know who I am, don’t you. You said as much, during the duel.”
“Magdalena. The all-mother, she above everything.”
“Uh, yeah that’s me.”
“Not quite, am I correct? Something happened to you when you left this world, didn’t it?”
Magda nodded. “The other gods stripped my memory; told me I was someone else. They even tossed me down here in a mortal body when they thought it would be funny.”
The dragon let out a chuckle, a sound that caused the room to shake. “I assume they didn’t realise it was Acamida they were sending you to. A mistake on their part, a serious one. The Godsword on my back had become active again. Your work, correct?”
“Yes. Then you know what they’re for?”
“That I do. I promised, long ago, to protect this one. It’s why I took it into my own body, to ensure it was kept safe. That, and I must admit, I used it to enhance my link to the leyline beneath the pyramid so that I could birth my children.”
“The Golden?” Gareth said. “You made them?”
“The Golden? I suppose that’s as good a name for them as any. They tend to call themselves simply the people. Yes, I made them. I crafted the first of them and imbued them with a tiny spark of life, fragments leftover in the Godsword, then taught them how to make others. Once they started expanding their own numbers they seemed to gain that spark as if from nowhere.”
“As if they were just another species in the world,” Magda said, marvelling at the complexity of her own creation. At some point in the past, she had to have accounted for new creatures springing up, creating some way for their newly made souls to link into the wellspring of life she had left at the heart of each reality. “Why the hatred for organic life?”
Neferure let out a long sigh. “It is something I taught them. During their first days of life, the people in the nearby kingdoms weren’t very…welcoming, to something so different. It was simply a way to make my children keep their distance, so they didn’t invite trouble. Of course, over time, the desert expanded, and those other lands ceased to be, but I never changed the teaching, it had been too useful. Likewise, presenting myself as their god made it easier to guide my children on the right path.”
“I must ask. What’s with the skulls?” Sarkuran said.
“Ah yes. These are the…original, inhabitants of the pyramid. My children did not build this place. Oh, over the long centuries they had altered to suit them, but they were born into this place. When Magdalena visited here—when I was but a whelp—this entire pyramid was filled with people. When she left on her quest to try and overthrow the other gods, a plague broke out amongst them. If she were still here, on Acamida, she would have cured it, saving the people. Sadly, she was not, and they perished.” The dragon adjusted her position, her head lowering further. Her great reptilian eyes were filled with sadness. “It is why I created my children, to ensure that the culture that raised me remained. I placed their bones here, where they could always remind me of what I swore to help protect.”
“So, you’ll help us then, to reactivate the Godswords?” Magda could feel the sorrow pouring from the dragon. She truly wants to remember the people who once were. “And for what it’s worth I’m…sorry, about what happened to these people.”
“You weren’t to know. I was angry, at first. It’s why I named the pathway to your grand temple the Eye of Arrogance. That’s what I thought it was when you left, arrogance on your part. Now I know that’s not true, not after all my long years watching over my own creations, serving as their goddess. I would give anything to keep them safe, even if it meant taking an enormous risk. I will, of course, help you activate the network. My link with this Godsword prevents me from straying too far from the ley line, so I can’t help directly, but the resources of the pyramid are at your disposal anytime. You are always welcome here. Perhaps this will be good for my children, a new age where they strike out into the world.”
“Maybe it will,” Gareth said. “All Magda needs to do is touch the stone. Then we’ve got six left to worry about then.”
“Of course. I will miss this world. Promise me you’ll help my children when I’m gone,” Neferure said.
“Gone? Why what’s going to happen to you?” Magda was suddenly filled with worry. Her old self had abandoned these people to die and left Neferure alone. She didn’t want to do the same thing twice.
“Nothing for a while yet, but once the entire network activates I doubt even I could handle the flood of mana that will pour through me.” Neferure slid one of her front paws from under her body and delicately touched the tip of her massive talon to Magda’s face. “Do not worry, when I took it into myself, I knew that would be my ultimate fate. Besides, you will be there to set the afterlife right, won’t you? I need not be concerned.” Neferure shifted her hand, offering her open palm for Magda to climb aboard.
“She’s got a point,” Gareth said, nodding towards the towering fingers. “We should do what we came here to do.”
Magda said nothing, simply climbing aboard the dragon’s waiting hand. She hated how her quest would consign the great beast to death, but the dragon was right. In the long run, it was the right thing to do. Overthrowing the gods and restoring the universe to how it was supposed to be would save an uncountable number of souls.
