Factory Reset: Divine Corruption

Chapter One Hundred and Seven

Chapter One Hundred and Seven: A win for who?

"You will never defeat me." The ethereal voice of Divento twanged across the battlefield, rupturing the very glitching air itself. Mason clenched his sweat-soaked scythe in both hands, floating silently in the air. It was quiet. Protogen had fallen around him, exhausted, battered, bruised. Possibly dead, they could not tell.

Very few were still standing against the assault of steel, black holes, hideous glitching deformities, and the acousting horrible powers of the god. Marissa was one of those viewers, bloodied, beaten. Her left arm was barely functioning, having been nearly caught in the event horizon of those miniature black holes being thrown around.

Mason's fur was gleaming in a slick dark crimson, his clothes torn apart and ruptured. His eyes were shining brighter than ever before, the stripe around his neck strangling him like a self-made noose. Mason swung his blade, chipped and damaged nearly beyond repair.

The battle had dripped on for minutes. Bathysphere still stood, cradling the barely breathing body of Noxious. Rallycry was still below, running across the miles upon miles of terrain, attempting his best to save his friends, his teammates. Freefall was still standing, along with a tired Aberration, and an equally as tired Nebula, floating just behind Marissa.

"What can we do?" Fallout still asked, even against the bleak odds. His body was the most damaged, an entire arm and leg missing, leaking out blood. It congealed fast due to the Boson-Energy, but he couldn't move or float as well as before, given the loss of firepower.

Mason glanced at him, then back at the field.

The stage was set. Miles up miles of created burning steel sat around Divento, a molten throne to the faux-god which sat beneath it. The air burned, the sky cracked and the soil was glitching. The only chance they had was Ja'Kle destroying the machine, or at least stopping it. They still needed to wait.

Mason glanced at Marissa, his heart paining as he saw how hurt his friend was, "Marissa! Can you move?" He asked her, and she glanced at him, eyes aflame in white, man burning harsher than ever before. Despite the red blood staining her white fur, her shining form provided some comfort. Like an angel.

"I can... I can't move my arm, but I can force it. What do you need?" She asked him, baring her teeth as she talked, gingerly holding her arm with her other hand. Her tail swished behind her, her paws clenched tight as her claws extended. Pain was evident in her voice, enough to make even Fallout wince there.

"Then, we can fight." Mason said, "Marissa, we need to make time. I... I need time to think." Mason responded, turning his head back to the scene before them. Divento appeared to wait for them. Was it cockyness? Arrogance? Was he charging an attack? They weren't sure, but they would take thi reprieve.

Mason's eyes shined bright as he returned to look at the two beside him, "Marissa, can you go around and rescue as many of us that are living as possible? Get them out of here. I'm not sure what we can do, but if we do survive this, we can at least have our team survive this as well."

"Fallout?" Mason asked, and the ruby protogen nodded, his head gently jittering as he kept himself afloat, "I won't ask of you to attack directly. I need you to follow Marissa and clear out any debris. Help her evacuate. I think I have a plan."

Fallout took one glance at his captain's face, and nodded his head.

*******

Seeping. Crawling. Oozing. Words to describe the eldritch horror of a blessing that Ja'Kle was gifted were many and easy. He had been holding himself back, even as he realized he could do so much more with the gift of absent matter. He could call upon any and all things absent.

Darkness overwhelming. Juda's expression was morphed into a horrified expression, permanently plastered upon the visor as the dark, empty, absent matter seeped out from Ja'Kle like an oozing, parasitic slime. Almost pus-like, a thick viscous substance borne from the cold bleakness of non-existence.

An encompassing darkness seeping at a sluggish pass. Burning the organic-mechanics around it, scratching that dent into the ancient true deity around them. Ja'Kle could feel it. Being connected to a god of absence, he could feel when he was in the presence of a deity. With his power increasing, he could feel it. Whatever this thing was, it was ancient.

The absent matter oozed through whatever invisible thing took hold of Ja'Kle inching its way to Juda without stopping. A snail's pass. An unstoppable force, barring Ja'Kles commandments. He could not make it faster, only add to the liquid to force it to ooze further, but it was enough.

"I was given this blessing by a God seen as weak, but was strong. A God that knows that whatever is causing the Pattern-Screamers that is hunting them is wrong. A God that knows and loves life, despite its hardships." Ja'Kle spoke, his words etching in the inky substance leaking around him.

"It's all coming to a head. And even if I can't cross this barrier, my blessing can. And whether unholy or holy, my ink will stain, you got that, Juda?" He asked, his wings extending outward, held together by veiny strands of inky membrane. Like a bat, Ja'Kle trekked through the muck of his design, stopping short of that invisible barrier.

Juda looked terrified, backed up to the control center, the furthest from the encroaching ink, "You're trapped in the machine of your god. Who left you here to complete his mission. A god of misdeeds, atrocities and crimes." Ja'Kle spoke, his voice almost twisting into a low hiss.

"You've seen, I've seen, what a god of creation can do to generate havoc. Let me show you what my god of absence can do."

With that single sentence, Juda appeared horrified. The ink stained further, approaching faster and faster as Ja'Kle increased the volume, pushing it out further. He could hear the organic fleshy mechanics of the divine entity around him start to decay, and he smiled. He hated the fact that he had to hurt such an old creature, but it must be done.

Ja'Kle reached out a hand, feeling around as he felt through the absent matter. He was getting close, so very, very close. Minutes trickled by in silence as the two simply stared at each other. The ink continued, reaching the console, and Ja'Kle felt his heart skip a beat.

They were going to win Ja'Kle could almost feel a tear upon his cheek. They were going to win.

That is, until he felt a hand touch his shoulder, until he felt the warm glow of light upon his body. Until he felt himself grow faint.

Before collapsing upon the floor.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Howdy!

Sooo... it's been seven days. I'm not the most proud of that, I admit, but I'm actually starting to really, really like writing again. So that's a major plus! Hopefully the best chapter will come out reasonably soon, heh.

In any case; yes, another cliffhanger :3

I wonder how the story'll turn out~? I wonder if anyone died~? We'll just have to see, and so will I - I haven't set anything in stone yet, but I won't spoil what I think should be, heh~

In any case! Thanks for reading, I appreciate it to no end, especially this deep in a gigantic book. Thank you for reading, I really mean it! Y'all give me an insane amount of drive to continue on and inspire me to get better. Thank y'all!

See you soon!

~ Candle

4/27/2022