Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave. Bastard of King Felipe III, King of Vasquer, de facto leader of the Blackgard Union, and now Grand Commandant of the Great Chu, come seeking the head of two ancient gods. Over two years ago, he had come before Erlebnis seeking a blessing.

If Erlebnis had known what that young man could become, all of this could have been avoided.

Argrave had been a mere blip in an eventful day—a curious deal, giving Erlebnis vengeance in return for power. The death of a vampire lord, the retrieval of an ancient artifact… both were things that Argrave had no right to know, but Erlebnis was too absorbed in the satisfaction of having a grudge settled to thoroughly examine this bearer of good news. Perhaps he should have seized him based on what knowledge he offered. Perhaps he should’ve known… but then, that was the problem.

How could Erlebnis have known what Argrave could become in the future?

Knowledge of the past was Erlebnis’ expertise. But his entire existence for millennia had been seeking ways to glimpse beyond the past and the present. He’d tried to capture Hause for that reason. Perhaps if he had broken the Smiling Raven’s orb prison sooner, he would not be dwelling inside this fortress, waiting for Law to come and do battle.

But then, Law was not the issue. It was Argrave—it had always been Argrave.

Argrave had rebuffed Erlebnis in the far north, refusing to ally with him. Argrave had come to him in the Bloodwoods, refusing him even as he used a heavier hand. Argrave tried to shatter all the carefully crafted alliances he’d made—and very nearly succeeded. And while Erlebnis licked his wounds, carefully tending to his household… Argrave had again come knocking, ruining a vault containing the effort of millennia.

Argrave used others as cudgels, but he alone stood at the root of it all. Even now, through his emissaries’ eyes, Erlebnis witnessed the King of Vasquer coming once again to take, to rob, as if it were his birthright. He approached the Palace of Heaven with all the allies he’d accrued, cautious confidence writ on his face even now. Erlebnis knew that Argrave would make it past the Stormfield—he had made it this far up the mountain, after all. His own emissaries, too, possessed expertise insufficient to hurt them. Anneliese alone was their match, with that A-rank ascension of hers. The walls of the Palace of Heaven, too—Erlebnis did not know how the king would breach them, but he put nothing past Argrave. If his vault could be breached, what was a mortal fortress?

Erlebnis felt clarity, felt inspiration, that he hadn’t since he was a mortal. He felt this inspiration permeate the whole of his form. He acted without thinking, without drawing upon the vast archives of knowledge stored within his realm and his person, without calculating every move. He had calculated thus far, and now his head rested beneath a guillotine, waiting, encased in stone built by mortal men while Kirel Qircassia watched on high.

Erlebnis grasped the life of each of his emissaries and cut their strings. All of them—tens of thousands scattered around the whole world, yet concentrated densely in the Great Chu, died all at once, their power dissipating and returning to him in moments. Erlebnis grasped at his divine realm, where the Lodestars roamed, and crushed it.

Knowledge, all the way to the dawn of recorded time, collapsed to nothingness in moments. What few artifacts, collections, things, that Argrave hadn’t plundered imploded into nothingness alongside that. The good work carried out since his awakening as Erlebnis all died. Nothing remained of it, barring his name. Stupid? Brutish? Reckless? Nothing else had worked. No machination resisted Argrave for long. Erlebnis could only cast it all away. Knowledge, after all, existed inside Erlebnis—he needed no record.

There was one thing remaining that Erlebnis could not destroy. Though consigned to the Annals of the Universe, locked within the vaults, it was part of him. The Keeper, he called it. The ‘he’ that used to be. The man that used to walk. That which led him to ascend beyond humanity, and take his place in the heavens.

Erlebnis’ limitless perception narrowed, condensed, until it focused on one man. It was an old man, with sharp golden eyes, graying hair, a long beard, and a taste for black clothes. It was himself—the ‘he’ that once was, the man whose relentless search for knowledge had led him to embody it as one of the divine.

Erlebnis became himself again.

Those mortal things locked inside the Keeper for millennia poured onto Erlebnis as a tidal wave of pure, indescribable pain. All of the terrible things that he had done, all of the cruelty he’d inflicted, all that he’d done in the pursuit of knowledge… destroying empires, ruining families, killing billions, spawning the Smiling Raven, torturing the world itself… the anguish his mortal remnant felt was near enough to shatter his mind, divine or not. And yet at the end of all of that, like an aftertaste…

“IT ALL ENDED UP AS NOTHING?!”

Erlebnis opened his eyes, looking around. It took a few moments for him to realize he stood on the battlements of the Palace of Heaven, and longer still to recognize that it had been his voice that said those words. The Stormfield, free from his guidance, temporarily stalled. The battlefield entered a moment of serenity, and Erlebnis’ gold-eyed gaze landed upon Argrave, surrounded by Law’s Justiciars.

When their eyes met, Erlebnis realized that he hated Argrave more than anyone possibly could.

Win, lose—the Erlebnis of old was concerned with such things. Argrave had taken everything from him. Everything that he had ever done was going to be undone today—most of it already had been undone. There could be no deal, no compromise reached. One would die today. But Argrave was still mortal, and Erlebnis still a god. And now, this was more than personal.

“The Stormfield!” someone shouted, and Erlebnis turned his head. One of the gods serving Kirel Qircassia shouted up at him from the fortress’ courtyard. “Erlebnis, you must man it!”

“Fuck the Stormfield,” Erlebnis rebuked.

He stepped up onto the parapet of the Palace of Heaven, and jumped off down below with the black robes he’d once worn as a man billowing everywhere. By the time he landed, the Stormfield was already starting up again. He could hardly even feel it past the rage in his head.

“Argrave!” Erlebnis shouted, voice booming across the expanse of stone as he walked forward. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to desecrate your wife in the most unimaginably painful way. I’m going to crush Orion’s skull, and squash Galamon like a bug. After that, I’ll go to Blackgard. I’ll make your sister relive what Felipe did to her, and then leave her to bleed out. I’ll feed her husband to his wyvern. I’ll flay your cousin, Melanie, Mina… burn the whole of House Parbon, exterminate the House of Quadreign, and end all of Leopold’s lineage. All of the snow elves, all the citizens of your kingdom, everyone you even remotely like—they’re dead, because of you.”

“One at a time, Erlebnis!” Argrave shouted back, his voice barely audible as the Stormfield once again took light under new management.

Erlebnis felt the power surging through his body. Once again, he was the man that had become a god, yet at the same time, he was the god that had been born of the man. He felt that same relentless drive that had pushed him to where he ended up, alongside the vast collection of knowledge permeating his body. In magic, no one—least of all any here today—was even close to being named his peer.

The golden aura of Law condensed to defend Argrave, forming a solid gleaming wall that slowly took form. In moments, a gargantuan sword formed of Law’s will raised up high, ready to slam down.

“I am your opponent,” Law declared unilaterally.

His blade swung down ferociously. Erlebnis raised his hand, mixing his divine power with magic. A great claw of red liquid metal erupted out, seizing the falling sword and fixing it in place.

“Hell you are,” Erlebnis snarled.

Then, with his power so tightly condensed, Erlebnis completely overpowered Law. He forced his blend of magic and divinity to rage against the ancient’s might, and his attack threw the blade—and much of Law’s power—backward. In the resulting opening, Erlebnis shot forth a torrent of wind, and it struck the heart of Law’s being. The ancient deity was blasted back, and his Justiciars rushed to take their creator’s place.

Erlebnis raised his hand, casting one of the oldest S-rank spells in the world—[Smite]. One huge pillar of fire descended upon the Justiciars, and when they faded, there was nothing remaining but a clear path to Argrave. Erlebnis rushed forth as Law recovered, single-mindedly hunting the King of Vasquer. He gathered power in his hands, ready to bisect the king with one attack.

The Alchemist, the gullible Raven, burst free of a stone dangling from Argrave’s neck. When Erlebnis loosed his spell—a single blade of wind—thousands of hands appeared on Raven’s misshapen body. They cast wards, one and all, but each crumpled before Erlebnis’ power. The Alchemist braced and morphed his body defensively, yet the magic cut him in half all the same. His torso flew skyward, barely clinging to life, while his legs fell to the ground uselessly. Erlebnis ignored all, pressing toward his nemesis.

Argrave’s blood echoes harried Erlebnis using [Burst], but B-rank blood magic, even that enhanced by black blood, could not even faze the single-minded rush of an ancient god. Law stabbed his sword down upon Erlebnis, his golden form nearly fully materialized, but the god of knowledge thrust a huge amount of his own power upward to delay the blow and rushed underneath it.

Argrave backstepped, panic on his face. Orion stepped forth, thrusting a bident at Erlebnis. He swatted it aside and disarmed him, then called upon all of power to crush Argrave’s brother. He was looking forward to the look on Argrave’s face, but Orion teleported away. Erlebnis remembered that weapon, then—Admiral Tan Shu’s bident. Its wielder could teleport wherever it flew. Erlebnis barely dwelled on it, resuming his hunt for Argrave.

“Use [Echo Step]!” Erlebnis raved as he neared. “Leave Anneliese behind! Watch me crush her skull!”

Governor Zen, his stolen champion Onychinusa, and Anneliese all cast an S-rank spell, and a trio of elements roared against Erlebnis’ approach while countless of the best spellcasters in the world contributed with attacks from above. In response, Erlebnis used a spell he had managed to reverse-engineer. His emissaries couldn’t use it… but he could.

Erlebnis used [Requite], turning all of his enemy’s spells against them.

Those that had spirits locked inside their body resisted the effects of the shamanic magic, but Erlebnis had burnt away his own divinity to cast this magic. Its power was such that all spells seemed to freeze in the air, combatting for ownership. He used this window of opportunity to hurtle forth, tremendous power gathered at hand.

Erlebnis saw Argrave’s face, briefly reveled in its terror, and then swung all of his power with the intent to end this bastard.