The Godsfall Chronicles

Dawn screamed at the top of her lungs. “Son of a bitch! The Spare’s dead!”

The Apostle’s attack was sudden and too much for Cloudhawk’s copy. Dawn was also caught inside, but the waves of explosive energy caused her no harm. The scales that now layered her armor absorbed the threat.

Her scales were not real scales, of course. They were a manifestation of the relic she was given, the protection of the Dragon God. The Abyssal Scale was one of the strongest defensive artifacts on record. Now that Dawn’s mental strength had reached nearly the rank of Master, she could withstand an attack two or even three times as powerful as what she’d faced.

And now she was pissed. This asshole killed her Cloudhawk doll!

Explosions continued to rage all around her. The world was a tumult of roaring energy and black winds, making it impossible to see her surroundings clearly. But even among the fog of battle there was one thing she saw without issue. A streak of white light, constantly racing back and forth like a tornado.

Fast! Dawn watched Selene dash through the area like a bolt of lightning. In the blink of an eye that one light became ten, then twenty, crisscrossing to form a great net. Her speed was unmatched, so fast that she could cut an enemy to pieces in a tenth of a second.

The Light God’s Sacred Flash was powerful and terrifying, but could not be sustained. Every time it was used there was a period where it needed to recover.

Of course Selene’s use of the skill was slow, relatively. Dawn couldn’t see her form, but she could follow the trail of lights and trace her trajectory. In contrast, when the Light God used this power even Cloudhawk didn’t know where the blow would land. He had to rely on his spatial abilities and luck to avoid being cut apart.

Despite this, Selene’s attack speed was frightening to behold. Slower than the Light God, she was instead capable of attacking in quick succession. An instant after the first attack landed she moved on to the next. That’s how she was able to put on such a display.

How was she able to do it? On the one hand it was because of her inherent strength. Mainly, though, it was due to her Holy Vestments. This wondrous relic, left to her by her father, stored mental energy. By tapping into it she could expend tremendous amounts of energy in a very short period.

Selene didn’t need to recover and reset after an attack in order to use another. She was able to explode through the battlefield without the need to take a breath. Her brilliant crystal sword burned like a holy beacon back and forth across the chamber. Furthermore, she was deliberately holding back her full strength to conserve energy in exchange for continuous attacks.

While the overall speed of the relic was reduced, its power was not. After all, Sublime Transcendence was a rare class of relic all its own. Even if she employed only a fraction of Sacred Flame, it was adding to an already lethal tool of destruction.

She got strong! Dawn’s expression was one of indignance and disquiet. She didn’t want to get shown up by this bitch!

“Don’t think I can’t find you!”

Through the Abyssal Seal Dawn was able to sense the flows of mental energy. She followed them to the source – past the curtain of grotesque, tumorous flesh where the Apostle waited.

She shut her visor and lifted her hands. In the next moment an intense vacuum force drew everything toward Dawn. All of the chaotic energy gathered around her as she transformed into a black hole.

Her appetite was insatiable. She attempted to gobble up every ounce of energy in the chamber, but it was too much. Still, she was prepared. A second power was activated, transforming the flows of power!

The Abyssal scale’s abilities were able to capture the ephemeral flows of energy, but her other relics turned it into something tangible. Dark mists condensed to form a crystallized layer that hugged her body like a second suit of armor.

Her appearance had changed completely. From head to toe, Dawn was encased in black crystal scales. She even had a long tail, giving her the appearance of a true dragon.

“Out of the way, Selene! Coming through!” Dawn bent down into a sprinter’s position.

Her Dawnbreaker armor activated, boosting her speed and impact force. Like a runaway train she charged forward. At the same time those black crystal scales she wore began to crack. Each time one broke open it released a burst of energy, pushing her to move faster and gathering more kinetic energy until-

B-o-o-o-m…!

All obstacles were meaningless. She burst through anything in her path, including dozens of twisted clerics who exploded into bloody chunks. Strangely, her explosive charge did not spread out into the surroundings but was sucked up in the wake of her passage. A long stream of destructive energy was dragged along behind her like the tail of a comet. Bits of gore and people spun chaotically within.

“Quit fucking hiding!”

Dawn’s roar shook the chamber as she charged through. At such speeds she crossed the distance in a blink, ultimately slamming into a shrine at one end. The energy tail that followed her caught up, and the resulting explosion ripped a hole through the entire structure.

As dust and rubble settled, Dawn clawed her wake out from the mess she’d made. Her visor opened, revealing her fair-skinned face drenched with sweat. Her cheeks were pink from excitement and exertion and a wide grin split her mouth. She hammered her breastplate with a fist and roared, “Bow before the invincible Dragon Woman!”

Woosh! A flash of light and Selene appeared by her side. Shoulder to shoulder, their contrast could not be further highlighted.

One held a delicate crystal sword and was wrapped in dancing folds of white. Aloof and imperious, she was like a goddess, gracing the earth with her presence. When she attacked it was like an unyielding downpour.

The other was encased in frightening armor and brandished a hefty broadsword. Enormous, invulnerable and unbreakable, she was an arrogant demon of annihilation. Nothing stood between her and the destruction she heralded.

“Brute force is useless. No matter how sturdy the turtle’s shell, it will eventually break. Combat required tactics and precision. Something you lack.” Selene glanced at her counterpart. “There is no strength that is invincible. But speed is unparalleled.”

“Bullshit!” Dawn spat. “It doesn’t matter how fast you are. I can stand still and wait for you to tire. Knock you flying with a single punch! This Dragon Lady will not be denied, and anyone who stand in my way will be ground to paste!”

Selene’s face adopted an arrogant disdain and a silver light gleamed in her eye. “Are you sure about that?”

Dawn was suddenly not so confident. This bitch had the Eye of Time and the Holy Vestments. If they really were forced to fight, she wasn’t sure she could beat her. Selene recognized the uncertainty and grinned in triumph.

“I might not be able to hit you, but you couldn’t do shit to me either,” Dawn countered. “My defenses have always been strong and now I’ve got the Abyssal Scale. Sturdiest in our alliance, without question. That fuckin sword of yours is like a feather, you got nothing.”

Selene narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on Sublime Transcendence. “Should we test that theory?”

“Let’s fuckin’ go!” Dawn slammed down her visor and pulled her shoulders back, as immovable as a mountain. She was supremely confident in her defenses, so much that she was sure she had no equal.

As the two women squared off there was one man who watched in astonishment. Where they stupid? Did they forget what was happening?

It was more accurate to say that neither Selene nor Dawn paid this ‘Apostle’ any mind as a threat. Their unscrupulous bickering was more important than him. But he’d watched Cloudhawk get blown apart! Yet they didn’t seem to care about that, either.

After a moment’s thought it occurred to him that if these two women were so powerful, Cloudhawk had to be even more so. They were, after all, his subordinates. Their leader couldn’t have been eliminated so easily. Something wasn’t right!

When he realized it the Apostle Zephon Allgood was both angry and ashamed.