Present Day

  Year 639 of the Divine Empire

  Saint Auber paced back and forth as the Well of Recollection shifted back towards its dormant state. He had decided to pause their viewings for a moment, claiming he needed some time to process what they had seen. Somus followed his friend’s movements with a single eye, only speaking when he determined that the ancient magus was having trouble coming to a conclusion on his own.

  “What exactly is the problem?” His gravelly voice resonated through the room, struggling to come out of his petrified throat. “I’m sure you could have expected there to be a lot of major figures in play, so I’m confused as to what has confounded you so.”

  Auber barely glanced towards his companion before speaking, more to the space around him than Somus. “This is all so wrong. A deity on Ibris’s level challenging a group of mortals is bad enough, but that. . . ‘inquisitor’ goes against everything I thought was possible. The domain of time is gone; no one has stood up to reclaim it. Yet somehow you have some atheistic lunatic wielding power on the level of a high priest. It’s as if the order of our world has completely turned on its head.”

  “That’s putting it lightly. It is only in an era like this that a thorn like Kanoa would be able to get as far as she has. That said, how are you keeping yourself alive if time is ‘gone’ as you claimed? I never bothered to ask.”

  “What? Oh, that’s just a vestige.” Auber sat back down next to the well. “A bond grants knowledge, and I’ve held onto mine long enough that losing it won’t affect me too much. What I’m curious about is how a man still within his natural lifespan has managed to bond with a domain that no longer exists.”

  “Hmm. . . That is a valid question. I imagine we may find that out later on, given the chosen enemy of our subject.”

  “Indeed. Well, we should probably get back to it. We’re about to reach a pivotal moment, after all.”

  Somus began to invoke the well once more. “The advent of a new champion is always a sight to behold.”

  “Oh, yes, that too.” Auber’s expression implied he had never even considered that. “I was referring more to her duel. After all, a person’s reaction to their first life taken can tell you a lot about their path in the future.”

  To this, Somus said nothing. The concept was a bit alien to him, given that it was only hominids who seemed to have this strange relationship with killing. It must have been rather important, given Auber’s fixation on it, but a dragon’s first meal was a far more mundane occasion. Interested, he strained his neck as much as it could still move to get a closer look at the Well. Whether he understood its significance or not, it was certain that this would be very important for the two ancient beings’ decision to come.

  —

  27 Years Earlier

  Year 612 of the Divine Empire

  Despite his thorough humiliation at the hand of the god of night earlier that evening, Balor was feeling supremely confident about his chances here. The horned girl and the blessed child were a slight worry, as you could never truly predict what another magic user was capable of. Gabriel, on the other hand, was barely a threat. The man was a simple exemplar, after all, and not even one with the potential to be considered a saint. He was merely a follower, only building on what had already been created by his commander. The idea of a fool like that defeating someone chosen directly by the first regent was absurd enough that Balor was honestly starting to feel enraged. The bastard even had the gall to ignore his taunting. Using a smirk to hide his frustration Balor took his first step forward so he could finally-

  Snap

  . . . What was that? In a panic, Balor sped up his own perception, allowing him to contemplate a still eternity between the flowing seconds of the world’s movement. He had just felt. . . something. Some sort of dominating technique? Maybe? It was certainly made through core power, but it didn’t seem to do anything immediately. He could sense a bit of foreign energy that had wormed its way around him, but there wasn’t nearly enough of it to affect him in any meaningful way. Balor shifted his power, attempting to dispel the effect, but such a thing seemed to be impossible. Was there some sort of condition that wasn’t being met? Or had the condition already gone through, with the effects having already sunk into his being? Frantically, he glanced over his opponent, the eyes being the only part of his body he could move in this frozen state. It didn’t seem like the knight had done anything, but that was hard to tell for sure from only a snapshot in time. Even if Gabriel was weaker than him, one should never underestimate an unknown technique.

  Returning his mind back into sync with the flow of time, Balor quickly took a half step back. Seeing this, Gabriel let out a low chuckle from beneath his helmet. Seeing his enemy was on the backfoot, the knight rushed forward with a slash of his longsword.

  As the two of them began to cross blades, it became clear that Balor was not actually all that well prepared to take on this kind of opponent. Core strength aside, an unarmored man with a dueling saber was always going to have trouble fighting a man with a longsword and full plate. Gabriel had a longer reach and few places where he could be hurt, allowing him to control the battlefield far more easily than he should have. Of course he was still more than outmatched in terms of both skill and experience, so the battle was reduced to an odd sort of stalemate. Dozens of blows were exchanged over the course of far fewer seconds, with neither swordsman able to make any significant progress. Still, Balor had a consistent sinking feeling in his stomach. There had been plenty of close calls for him so far, and that damned technique still hadn’t activated. It was clearly still affecting him, but he couldn’t feel any noticeable differences in either of their fighting capabilities. He was honestly starting to wonder if it was some kind of red herring, meant to distract him and make him take less risks. Not that there was any way to know for sure until something happened. Regardless, this was going nowhere fast, and Balor was going to need to end it quickly if he didn’t want to fight a pair of magi while worn out.

  Jumping back, he called out to his opponent, any facade of nonchalant humor gone in exchange for a surprisingly serious expression. “I’ll admit that you have a talent for being a nuisance. I truly would have liked to defeat you honestly, but I’m afraid I’ve been tasked with executing people far more important than you will ever be.”

  Closing his eyes in absolute focus, Balor utilized the most powerful tool the inquisition had access to. As Pō’ele Hakahaka had correctly surmised, it was not truly stopping time. Not in the ways that made the god Aeon so famously unstoppable, at least. To halt the flow of causality one would have to use their power to seize hold of the entire universe, a feat that was nearly impossible for the greater deity. Instead, the inquisitors were forced to use a spell that created nearly the exact same effect, just with far more weaknesses. The effect was more along the lines of temporarily forcing yourself outside of the fabric of time, existing on a separate layer of reality where time does not exist. Unfortunately, higher beings and some powerful magi already exist on multiple layers simultaneously, so following their opponents into the effect was trivial. Gabriel was neither of these things, and thus was trapped in the flow of time. Forcing a saber through the eye slits in his armor would hardly be an issue, and his loss was guaranteed. Or at least, it should have been. And yet, Balor found himself opening his eyes after a split second of focus only to see his opponent had not yet stopped moving.

  Gabriel lashed out, managing to cut an ugly gash into Balor’s left cheek before the inquisitor managed to dodge away. “As I said, inquisitor. I’ll be fighting you on even grounds, whether you want to or not.”

  “Wha-In the emperor’s name, why does this keep happening?”

  “If it makes you feel any better, I’m probably the only member of the order that can do this.”

  Gabriel was correct in this assumption, as his skillset was somewhat unique among knights. Exemplars of Passion are rare in military organizations, as the rigid structures tend to be a hindrance to personal expression. They weren’t unheard of, though, as such groups inevitably attract those with a strong dedication to justice or violence and whatnot. Gabriel’s specific Passion was unusual because it seemed contradictory to this standard. This was because the man was, above all else, an idealist. He had grown up obsessed with chivalric tales of knights and honorable duels, and that mindset had been carried long into adulthood. That fairy-tale concept of two warriors of equal strength facing each other in a fair battle never wavered, and was eventually guided into the form of a technique made to enforce this fantasy.

  This technique, Enforce Honor, was one that could only be activated when Gabriel was facing a single, armed opponent. It created a link between the two of them, one that only manifests when his opponent begins using a spell or technique that Gabriel deemed “unfair.” He had no true control over what counted as “fair,” as Enforce Honor was guided by his internal, unconscious code of conduct. The lack of control and limitations allowed it to become far more powerful than someone of Gabriel’s strength would normally be able to handle. As for its functions, the idea was quite simple. If the enemy was weaker than him, their “cheating” would simply be countered. If they were stronger, like Balor was, then they would be forced to have their “cheat” treat both members of the duel equally. Of course, this did nothing to solve the disparity of strength between opponents. Training yourself to become stronger was fair play, after all.

  Gabriel was now able to act on this separate level of reality, and was granted an instinctive knowledge of what had just happened to him. It had been a gamble as to whether or not this trick was going to work on the inquisition’s magic, but it seemed that his worries were unfounded. Grinning wildly, he continued to assault Balor with a strength that can only be gained through a surge of absolute confidence.

  The inquisitor was now starting to feel more than a bit concerned. Cursing, he collapsed the time stop and began throwing out his other tricks that had long been replaced by the far superior spell. He attempted slowing down time around Gabriel, speeding up his own, even looking slightly into the future to predict his opponent’s attacks, but everything was equalized to put them back on even footing. For the first time in decades, Balor was forced to fight on equal terms. Only one of his spells was able to activate without interference, and using it in a fight was going to take a lot of setup. In a flurry of traded strikes and experimented spells, the two duelists danced between the various islets dotted around the swamp. They were still not evenly matched. Not truly, anyways. Without his armor, Gabriel would have been defeated a dozen times over. It seemed this advantage didn’t factor into Enforce Honor, however, and so the stalemate continued.

  Soon, the pair stood on some nondescript islet, so far away from the deific battle against the lord of night that they could barely hear it. So many strikes had been exchanged that their blades and armor were now bent and chipped.

  Barely a minute had passed.

  Balor panted softly, taking a glance at his blade that had gotten so damaged it would likely never be used again. “How. . . In the emperor’s name. . . does that technique even work?”

  Gabriel flexed his left arm, realizing that a dent at the elbow meant he could no longer straighten it all the way. “Honestly, I barely understand it myself. I imagine you understand why I was the only one sent to accompany you now?”

  “Obviously.” Balor began to laugh silently to himself. “Even if you had brought others, they would have been slain before the fight had even started.”

  “They would only get in the way, to be frank.”

  “Hmph. Don’t flatter yourself.” The inquisitor straightened himself back up, resuming his duelist’s stance. “While you may have taken me off guard, I can tell that’s all you are capable of. No one your age would have been able to develop any other techniques after such a complex one. Well, no one who hadn’t already been scouted for the inquisition, I suppose.”

  “Are you still acting like you’re better than me?” Gabriel scoffed as he also prepared to continue fighting. “All you have over me is experience and magic that no longer works. In a few years, I will be a greater warrior than you could ever-”

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  This time, it was Gabriel’s turn to stop as some unknown effect flooded the area. His senses were not nearly tuned enough to detect anything but the initial burst of power, but it was clear that Balor had just used some new spell. Notably, it didn’t seem like this one triggered the effects of Enforce Honor, so he had no way of telling what it actually did.

  “Please, don’t act like you’ve already won.” Balor smirked. “It’s clear that any spell that affects both of us equally won’t be altered. A word of advice? If you have a trump card, make sure you finish the fight the first time it’s used.”

  “What did you-”

  “Enough talking. It’s time I showed you how a master truly fights.”

  With a second burst of power, Balor activated his enhancing technique. Gabriel had barely enough time to raise his blade into a guard before he was struck more times than he could count. It seemed that this technique made the inquisitor even faster than he already was, and since it was just formed through training and self refinement instead of making a deal with some higher being it wasn’t shared between the two of them. The gap between their abilities had just gotten even wider, but such tactics were simply fair play in Gabriel's subconscious code of etiquette. Still, he could just barely keep up, mostly because Balor wasn’t actually using a speed enhancing technique. He couldn’t tell exactly what it was, mostly because it just seemed to make his opponent move. . . strangely. Balor could propel himself in incredible bursts of speed, but his slashes and stabs weren’t any quicker than before. If anything, they felt quite a bit weaker.

  As the two began to dance around the land mass, Gabriel started to realize something. The inquisitor was starting to make mistakes. Nothing gratuitous, of course, or the fight would already have been over. But he was making some odd footwork, making a few parries that seemed sloppier than they should have been. Come to think of it, Balor had thrown out quite a few different spells while he was trying to figure out how Gabriel’s technique worked. As developed as the man’s core had become, using that much power had to inflict a toll. It appeared that despite his confidence, Balor was beginning to get worn out. Gabriel was still feeling fine, or at least wasn’t tired enough to start getting sloppy, so the path forward was clear.

  The odds of victory enforced, Gabriel began to fight even more aggressively. Taking advantage of his superior defense, he began pushing Balor all across the battlefield. Whatever those bursts of speed were, the inquisitor was unable to take advantage of them if he was always on the backfoot. Gabriel hoped that by taking a more risky strategy, he would be able to wear down his opponent even further. With lunging attacks with too much reach to be countered and flurries of blows only made possible by his solid steel shell, Balor was no longer able to do anything beyond defend himself. It was clear that the man had grown far too assured in his own invincibility. That should have been obvious from the start, given how he saw no risk of failure against a fully armored opponent chosen specifically to face him. Years of wielding such powerful magic had practically eliminated his sense of risk entirely. Against most foes, he was truly unbeatable, to the point where he no longer stood any real chance against someone who was immune to his cheats. A grin began to cross Gabriel’s face as he started to wonder why he had been so worried about this fight. Sure, he would have to up his game against the other inquisitors once they realized their spells could be countered, but against a fool like Balor this was never a real fight.

  Almost simultaneously with this thought, Balor finally made his fatal error. It was a mistake that no one but a skilled duelist could have noticed. A hasty parry left his sword out of position left him wide open for an overhead attack. Quickly capitalizing on this blunder, Gabriel raised his sword and stepped forward to make a strike that was almost guaranteed to succeed. Finally, he was about to fulfil his self-made prophecy. Someone who had once been a spoiled noble boy would soon attain a victory that would be retold for generations to come. At long last, Gabriel would be the first exemplar to have single handedly defeated a-

  Crunch

  He fell forward with an ungainly jolt as the ground fell out from under his feet. In a flash, Balor knocked the blade out of his loosened grip, grabbing the knight’s helmeted head with the other hand. With both his leg and head trapped, Gabriel could only desperately grasp at his captor’s arms.

  Balor let out a long, disappointed sigh. “Well then. As I said, you don’t know how a master really fights.”

  Gabriel gritted his teeth. “What did you do, you craven bastard?”

  The metal of his helmet began to crumple slightly as the inquisitor tightened his grip.

  “Lesson number one: know your terrain.” Balor’s tone began to shift towards that of a condescending teacher. “These islands are more floating piles of soil tethered to the ground by root networks. They don’t move much thanks to that, but the ground is surprisingly thin.”

  “But how you you even-”

  “Did I say you could talk?” Gabriel could feel pressure on the sides of his head as the grip tightened further. “Lesson number two: always prepare for deception. Did you think that spell I cast was just meant to intimidate you? I was increasing the rate of erosion on the island, weakening the ground until those reckless attacks of yours built up enough force to break through with that heavy, metal armor of yours.”

  Gabriel remained silent as he cursed himself in his head. Balor’s sloppiness had been intentional and calculated. He had wanted Gabriel to get confident, to push himself further. While his opponent had grown tired and overly focused, he had studied everything from the terrain to the slightest flaws in fighting form for a fatal weakness. His initial failures probably weren’t planned for, but he had still set a contingency for if things had gone wrong. The only solace Gabriel could take was that this backup plan had likely not been made for him. At least he had managed to do well enough that the inquisitor had been forced to use a trick that was meant to trap a magus.

  “At the very least you’ve made use of lesson number three: use unusual techniques. That equalizing technique of yours is truly genius, so much so that the inquisition may want to replicate it.” The tone of voice was starting to shift more towards false pity. “As for myself, the technique I used is a bit paradoxical. My enhancing technique actually lessens one of my traits. My mass, specifically. It probably wasn’t necessary, but I wouldn’t have wanted to break through myself. Now tell me Gabriel, do you understand why you lost?”

  “. . . You bastard.”

  “That’s exactly right, Gabriel: I am a bastard. You thought you could force me to play a fair game, even correctly assuming that I only know how to fight dirty. The only reason you failed was because you thought I only had the one trick. Unfortunately for you, I happen to have been blessed with an abundance of Creativity.”

  Gabriel hung his head, as Balor no longer bothered to restrain it. He knew he no longer had to.

  “Credit where it is due, though, you really managed to impress me.” The inquisitor raised his ruined blade, only the point retaining any amount of lethality. “But there’s only so much you could manage with a mere decade of training.”

  With a single, swift motion, the knight Gabriel was slain. A thin line of blood now trickled through a hole that had been pierced between his eyes. It was a killing blow that could only be attained on an opponent who no longer wished to defend himself.

  “After all, I didn’t even have to use my other techniques.”

  —

  Near the Shining Willow

  “Hmm. . . It seems like they’re already done.”

  Pō’ele Hakahaka stared out in the direction of Balor and Gabriel’s fight, a slight sense of amusement filling his long chilled heart. He had only gotten distracted for a few moments, but apparently that was enough to annoy his own opponents.

  “Hey!” Surendra yelled. “Could you at least pretend to be taking us seriously?”

  “Hmph. Respect is earned, Sasqal. As impressive as these bindings are, it will take far more than that to truly concern me.”

  His starry form was being held to the ground by a set of large watery tentacles that had formed from the marshy pools. As strong as he was, he couldn’t muster enough power to break out of them through brute strength. Ailu stood a dozen yards away, sweating profusely from the effort of controlling such a powerful spell.

  “I made a deal with the spirit of this swamp. I don’t think he likes what you do to his waters every night.” She said.

  “Ah, yes. Nāpele, wasn’t it? He had been quiet for so long that I assumed he’d left for uncontested waters. He’s more brave than I had assumed, though still not enough to confront me personally, by the looks of it.”

  “He’s confronting you through me!” Ailu somehow managed to project her frustration through the strain. “Could you please back down? We don’t need to fight.”

  “And yet we do, little serpent.” The god’s voice was almost completely devoid of emotion. “It has been far too long since anything resembling a challenge has invaded my home, and I don’t intend on missing out on this opportunity.”

  “Can we please just talk this out? You can’t fight while you’re bound like this, right?”

  “Perhaps, but you are a fool if you believe that this meager form is as far as my strength can reach.”

  Ailu felt herself being shoved aside as Ikaika interposed himself before her. Less than a second later, a mote of pure starlight crashed down from the sky, hot and fast enough to put a hole in steel plates. Fortunately, Ikaika’s technique Guardian Monolith allowed him to become far more durable than mortal metals. While the starlight managed to put a crack in the shell of his claw, it was still far less damage than Ailu’s hominid form would have taken. Somehow, she was able to keep concentration on the bindings even as Surendra scooped her up and had her cling to his back.

  “You need to let go of that spell, Ailu!” He grunted out. “It doesn’t look like they’re going to do us much good.”

  “But, isn’t it better if he at least can’t move?”

  “The sasqal is right, snake. This entire island has been imbued with my domain, after all. Perhaps I ought to show you the power such an achievement can provide.”

  In an instant, the dark god was simply. . . gone. Ailu didn’t feel him move away from her bindings, and yet they collapsed to the ground from no longer having a target to restrict. Swearing, Surendra scanned the area to see where he may have gone, only for the ground to disappear from beneath him. Looking down, the two of them could only see a dark, toothy maw holding itself wide open to swallow them.

  “Run all you like, but you all became my prey the second you took a step into my territory. Now why don’t you sit still and become my-ghkh!”

  Pō’ele’s voice was cut off as he found his throat clogged by a massive object. Ailu’s serpent form slithered out of the formed abyss and back onto solid ground, Surendra now taking his turn riding the back of a companion. The lord of the night gagged as he pulled his form back out of the ground, now thinking twice about that particular tactic. Dropping off Surendra back on the ground, Ailu let out a bellowing roar as she launched herself forward. More pillars of water formed from the swamp, though these ones were more focused on lashing and tearing at their target, rather than bind him. The earth churned and split as the two massive creatures collided with each other and began to fight with tooth and claw.

  As good as it would be if Ailu’s true form was enough to make this an even fight, the truth was far more disappointing. As much as she bit and lashed at the deity, his nature was far too vast to be wounded by a mortal. Even a demigod like her could only do so much, and she found herself slipping around as the void of the night sky twisted and shifted out of harm. Any damage she did achieve was healed in mere seconds. She, on the other hand, was only growing more and more battered as attacks of shadow and starlight struck her back. Her chances would have been all but hopeless had it not been for Surendra’s assistance. Or more so the assistance of his celestial artifact.

  Surendra could never really get any use out of the black staff. He had stolen it from some noble in the empire a few decades ago after hearing the legends of a powerful weapon, but he had never gotten it to do anything beyond just being indestructible. But he had read those legends, and knew one facet of all artifacts that was useful only in situations like this. Sprinting up the coils of Ailu’s body as she wrapped herself around the dark god, he could only pray that what he had read was accurate. Preparing to strike, he leaped out of the way of all manner of hazards summoned by enemy and ally alike. Everything he was doing at this moment was so astoundingly stupid that he would never have done so even during his mercenary days. If the Surendra of a couple decades ago could see him now, the man would likely cuss him out for being such an idiot. He would probably be right, honestly. But that insane child had awakened something inside of him. Whatever this something was, it had hijacked his internal reason and had somehow guided him towards running up the body of a giant sea serpent to hit a god in the face with a stick. He would be foolish to expect to survive any of this.

  And yet, climb that snake he did, emboldened by the fact that his only apprentice trusted them to keep each other safe. Upon reaching her head, he grabbed onto one of her coral horns and launched himself into the sky. As he was falling, Surendra could hear a voice in his head. It probably wasn’t real, just another nagging voice reminding him of his regrets. Of course, he was clearly insane already for attempting all this, so it couldn’t have hurt to listen just this once. Not that it really mattered, because Surendra would not live long enough to ever learn whose voice he heard. He could only listen and wonder as the black staff began to shimmer with a dull grey light.

  “Just this once, so you may guide me to a true wielder.”

  Ikaika watched from a distance as his friend cracked the god of night’s skull with a wooden stick. He heard the god howl as it experienced pain for the first time in centuries, though by no means was anywhere close to being defeated. There wasn’t much that he could do anymore, given that his ward’s mentor and fated one were doing so well. He was starting to feel a bit foolish for dedicating himself to that child all those years ago, as now even she was on her way towards surpassing him. He had always expected to be left behind, but hadn’t thought it would be so soon. Kanoa was soon to leave for her own path, and he had not gotten the chance to truly protect her even once. Not that it mattered. He made his oath, declared his faith, and so he would fulfil it to the best of his abilities. Still, he would rather survive this, and he couldn’t help but pray that Kanoa would be able to return soon. Especially now that the strange human was now stalking towards Ikaika, a bloody smile carved across his face.