End of an Era (Project Chrysalis Book 2), John Gold [ebook reader online txt] 📗

amplification, and leap into the air. I’d rather die from the fall than at the hand of the angry goddess. Flying at incredible speed, I smack my head into the last level of the pyramid before tumbling over and landing under a tree.

Damage received: 23227 (ignored: 81422)

8300/8300

 

Damn my resistance! Let me die! I don’t stand a shot against her.

“Ah-h-h!” The very fabric of space vibrates from her shriek and strength. Everything that can run or fly gets as far away as it can, and I suddenly feel auras of wrath, grief, regret, and suffering. Plants whither and crumble before my eyes. I’m running as fast as I can, an animal fear holding me, shaking me in its grip.

“I curse you, Sagie! May your loved ones know the bitterness of loss, may they know who you really are! I curse you!” Miridia is enraged, tears of anguish pouring down her face.

Damn it, damn it, damn it! She doesn’t know where I am, but she cursed me and knows what my name is. Why did I ever agree to do this?

Ability received: Evil Death

You were cursed with an evil death. When you die, your body will come back to kill all things living in the area. Its first target will be the people you care about. That will last for ten minutes.

 

Her wrath is a terrifying aura. Her regret and grief, I can feel it all. All that I understand in the moment, however, is that my meeting with the goddess will be horrifying.

It takes me six hours to spring to the edge of the valley. My head can’t think; I’m quivering in fear. It’s only now that I read the messages in group chat; Femida got to the entrance of the valley and is leaving it with the cart.

Fem, get out! If she catches you, you’ll regret it to the end of your days. She cursed me, even knows my name!

Run, idiot! Get out of the valley! She can sense any change in the magic space here.

Nothing working above my neck, I just run and run as fast as I can. I dash along the mountains until I get to the pass, the one we got in through. Okay, now I just need to find Fem and get as far away from here as possible.

***

Talamei was enjoying the fight between the undead and the wanderers. All the usual undead around Airis Castle were already destroyed, leaving just the chimeras, ten raid bosses, and a dozen liches flying around in bone dragons. Sagie had stopped growing as quickly. Miridia’s undead in Radaam had been the last to see him, and he was only at Level 310 then, six months after their encounter. On the other hand, Leon was feeling happier with every day. He’d figured out a good way to use the clan’s strongest fighters, war machines, defensive installations, and castle walls. He’d mastered the rules of defense that the war had taught him: finding weaknesses, securing supply chains, identifying your strengths, and using a combination of all of that to emerge victorious.

According to the agreement with Idzumi, the previous era’s small pantheon was supposed to teach the new pantheon how to play defense. The young gods needed to know how to maximize their new abilities, and so they’d put together a number of challenges.

Talamei’s generation of gods was required to use all their abilities and military forces to teach the young gods. Die at the hand of a worthy adversary, and you will have your chance to leave this world. Bernard was the first. He’d been reborn a year later as promised.

Right then, Talamei was preparing his most powerful army for a final confrontation with Leon. He’d chosen Leon as his most capable opponent. Sagie hadn’t panned out, though he was at least a good pretext for the little war at hand.

Miridia got in touch with Talamei after having kept to herself for a very long time. She considered this way of life her punishment for past mistakes.

“Hey, Miridia, good to hear from you.”

“Where’s the boy? I’m going to kill him!”

“Who are you talking about? Sagie?”

“Yes! That little squirt destroyed my main altar. I’m going to kill him! How am I going to find myself a worthy opponent in just a year? They’re all puppies, incapable of thinking or acting.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad. You don’t have many followers, so you don’t know what’s going on in the world. I found myself a good candidate, for example. In a couple of months, I’m going to attack his main fortress with everything I’ve got. He fits the criteria. Hey, what level is Sagie at? How did he even get to you?”

“How should I know what level he’s at? He ran off, and I only know his name because he destroyed my altar. After all the rumors in the astral, I figured it wasn’t a mistake. He’s the same little twerp who made it out of Hell and was able to wound you.”

Talamei smiled, anticipating the agony of a human tasting the wrath of the goddess.

“I don’t know where he is, but I’ll let you know if I find out.”

“Thanks, Talamei. I owe you one.”

The conversation with his friend stirred up memories of the distant past. A thousand years before, four young gods decided to create a portal to a higher-order world. Back then, there was a whole continent peopled only by dwarves, and the great capital of the dwarf kingdom - Tigur. Miridia had placed her main temple there next to the dwarves’ mighty artifactorium. The four gods were successful in combining their strength and knowledge to create the portal, though one fatal mistake led to the destruction of the dwarf capital and all the lands around it. An enormous pit was all that was left of the city. Miridia took