Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 168: Daemon vs Angel
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- Felix -
It had been two days since Querehsha… amicably entered into my service, and since the Rulers essentially won their war. Since then, Querehsha had mostly just kept to herself. Although she was always around me unless Lalatina had something to speak with her about.
There honestly wasn't a whole lot to do around here. Querehsha would have more things to do when we go back to the Cardinal World. I told Lalatina that Querehsha would be one of her new subordinates, so that meant that she would be more focused in the information gathering department of my kingdom as that was what Lalatina ran. And she'd likely be pretty good at it too. Her Authority allowed her to control bugs as well, which could be rather useful for spying.
Though I was a bit curious about how her Authority would interact with the Cardinal World's own rules. Would it remain an Authority similar to Small World? Or would it become a Skill? I was leaning towards the latter.
I planned to name Querehsha too. Her loyalty wasn't a concern to me as I had already made failsafes for her, so having her be as strong as possible was in my best interest, and she'd certainly grow to be incredibly powerful after a naming.
I didn't think she would get an Ultimate Skill, at least not one right off the bat, but her sheer raw power would likely take up to the same raw EP level as Arcueid, Lalatina, and Megumin, who held the greatest EP among all those part of my "faction" other than myself.
EP certainly wasn't everything, but it was at least a start.
Other than Querehsha's whole introduction, I hadn't done too much. I was planning to go alone to check out the Chaos World for the last Phantom that got away, but other than that, I didn't have much on my plate.
As for this world, recovery efforts were already being made, and things would likely go back to normal quickly. Apparently, even more controversy about me was out there now, but I didn't bother looking into it. I didn't care for it.
Gates all around the world were closing on their own now, as the Rulers saw no reason to maintain them with the world at peace.
I did end up going to the Ruler's realm again to visit their vault as they had offered something extra from there for my help. The Cup of Reincarnation was stored there previously.
I did let them know that Querehsha was now under my care, and they seemed to take that knowledge with grace. I did tell them that I'd be taking her back with me, so they were probably just happy that she would be out of their hair soon enough.
The vault itself was rather glamorous, and held tons of artifacts, even multiple God Grade ones. The Rulers had no idea what they did when letting me analyze each and every one of them, as I could essentially recreate any of them with Brahma, Lord of Creation now. Unfortunately, none improved my or Othinus' understanding of what was going on in Infinity Space.
Most were weapons, but others were more utility artifacts, but all of it was useful. I could manually recreate pretty much all of the things in there, as there wasn't anything else on the level of the Cup of Reincarnation, but having the data made it easier.
In the end, I didn't take anything as everything there was of no use to me, which led to today.
At the moment, I was just lounging about with Megumin and Lalatina. Lalatina was on her phone giggling lewdly. She was the type of girl to be reading smut in the open, so I didn't bother with her, whereas Megumin had both the gun and katana I gave her out, and sat on her lap.
She was continuously channeling her energy through both her weapons, as the more a person did that, the more their "bond" grew with their weapons, though that was specific for Legend and God Grade weapons.
The weapons would sort of become more used to their owner's energy, and thus channel it quicker and more efficiently, though my own weapon had hit some sort of bottleneck.
It wasn't that it wasn't growing, since it was as usual in my Infinity Space, passively absorbing energy, but at this point the returns had become minimal. There were weapons that could or had grown beyond Yamato's capabilities, so there was clearly something that I was missing in regards to that.
Maybe I'd have to ask Milim about her own weapon sometime.
Milim and Sirka were also together in Milim's room, and Querehsha was sitting at the dining table just watching the three of us, which was a bit creepy, but none of us minded. She was clearly still getting used to things and coming to her own conclusions about certain things.
All in all, I was having a rather relaxing vacation.
- Querehsha -
She continued to observe her new master unimpeded,. None of those present in the room seemed to mind her presence. In fact, no one seemed to even care that she was there. It was certainly a new experience for her. She was the Monarch of Plagues, one of the strongest beings in existence, and yet she was being treated as if she were air.
She was still processing everything that had happened to her. The strongest person she knew, Antares, was seemingly defeated, same with Tarnak as well. She was the last of the Monarchs excluding Sirka who could barely be considered one of their numbers due to her almost immediate betrayal.
It certainly was a surprise to see Sirka alive and serving another of her new master's companions, but that wasn't something she could worry about now.
She knew that she was screwed no matter what she did. If she attempted to run away, she would fail and either be disciplined or killed.
She ignored the slight tingle she felt at the thought of what that discipline could look like. She grit her teeth. It was all because of that damn energy transfer! The feelings and sensations that it evoked in her were beyond what she could even comprehend, and a part of her craved to feel that overwhelming sensation again.
When Lalatina was… preaching to her the virtues of her new master, she had mentioned that he had some sort of sexual-based power. Perhaps he used that on her.
She was always a lustful one, and yet even she was completely wrecked by what her new master did to her, and she hated that a part of herself was looking forward to the next time that happened.
Though there was always another way to look at her circumstances. Her new master was clearly a lustful one. She could see that much based on how he looked at her when they first met, though she was slightly insulted that he didn't seem to bother with her after that. She could only assume that he was merely playing hard to get. None could resist her, after all.
Yes… that could be an avenue of attack as well. She may have given in to that wretched woman's will as she was incapable of resisting, but that did not mean that she was entirely helpless.
Many men were led astray by the charms of a woman. She did not see how Felix would be any different, even if he was clearly a cut above the rest of the rabble.
Still, she shivered as she recalled the pressure he had placed on her for a moment just before he restored her energy. At first, she didn't understand why an individual as powerful as Lalatina was so clearly beholden to another individual, but after being exposed to that pressure from her new master, she intrinsically understood why.
It was difficult to not actively submit to such a dominating individual, to have any hopes of resistance crushed at their root. From her observations, Felix was more relaxed than Antares, and yet when he got serious, he was on an entirely different level.
At least she would look at the positive side of things. Perhaps she could grow stronger as she worked to accomplish her own plans. Lalatina may have promised Querehsha to Felix as an "onahole", but clearly her new master saw more use in her than merely as a sexual relief tool.
She did not know what an onahole was at first, but with access to the internet, she was easily able to learn. Part of her was insulted that the only value Lalatina saw in her was that, but she tried not to take it personally.
Lalatina was practically her master's mewling love slave. Any of her opinions were essentially voided when regarding Felix. She had only known them both for a couple days and even she could easily see that.
But that didn't change the fact that both were capable of crushing her with ease; she could see that now. She knew that the odds were against her now, her allies were gone, and she was left with beings she couldn't make heads or tails of.
She was not even aware of what their plans may be nor her place in them. They were from another world, and she would likely be made to return to their world with them. She would essentially be forced to abandon the entire foundation of her power in this world, but she had always been a survivor. She would manage.
For now, her plan was centered around wrapping Felix around her fingers, and then going from there. For that, however, she would need to make some active effort, but first she would gather information about him and his preferences.
Still, Querehsha wasn't the type to bow her head forever, despite the sweet, sweet pleasure that she knew awaited her should she choose to submit. Her will was stronger than that. She would not fall from the pleasure of a mere energy transfer.
Felix finally looked at her, just one glance over his shoulder, and for the briefest second, their eyes met. And in that instant, her body froze.
There was no killing intent, no Aura, nothing at all. And yet, it was worse than the worst pressure she'd ever felt from Antares or any of the Monarchs. A reminder that he didn't need to show force to own her if he wished.
Her throat tightened against her will, and her thighs rubbed together slightly as he smirked at her. She immediately looked away.
When the moment passed, she realized that her entire being was thrumming in excitement, almost looking forward to a rewind of the events that happened when she was introduced to him.
Her hands trembled slightly. Tch. How irritating.
She would have to see how long he could be so confident when she–
She paused. When she what? Seduced him? Outmaneuver him? Manipulate someone like that? It was a fantasy at best; she had quickly realized that.
Still… she was Querehsha, Monarch of Plagues. She didn't survive for eons by surrendering easily.
If brute force and poison couldn't bend him, perhaps persistence could. All minds had some sort of weakness, and she believed that Felix's was lust. And she was very, very good at finding and exploiting weaknesses.
A smile slowly curved her lips, dark and sultry.
Fine. She'd play the role he seemed to expect. She would be the perfect subordinate, all while she slowly maneuvered herself closer and closer to his heart. She would grow in strength by proximity.
Once she learned the true limits of this new "master", she'd decide whether she wanted to serve him… or something else.
And the idea of either outcome, she found, was strangely thrilling. Indeed, she would either rise or she would fall, but she would not so easily give in.
- Cornu -
He had been in this new world for quite some time now. Scorpius had already told him that time flowed differently between dimensions, so Cornu wasn't worried. Not to mention that he was only a Split Body being piloted by the main body, so he could be in two places at once.
The feedback was rather overwhelming at first due to the differing time streams worth of memories he was feeling. Part of himself was experiencing the time he was used to in the Underworld, then a part of himself was experiencing the time of this world.
He had been using the extra time to get used to the power level of his Split Body, as he had to learn the ins and outs of his new level of strength. Such a thing was important when it came to fights in which he would be taking seriously, but now he was fairly confident in his control.
While he was doing that, he had also explored the world that he had been summoned to. Scorpius called it the Chaos World, and it was rather interesting. There were many types of beings scattered around. Some attempted to challenge him as he toured the area, but he quickly put them in their place.
He had been gathering information about the Monarch succession ritual, and it truly did not seem that difficult for one of his caliber. He merely had to kill a beast that lurked near the World Tree of this universe, and then he should gain the power of all the seats of Monarchs.
However, reaching the dimension that primarily housed the World Tree was the difficult part. It could only be freely accessed by the Monarchs and their Priests who would choose the next Monarch, and all the Priests had gone into hiding, making it so that even he couldn't find them yet.
Ordinarily he would be able to find them, but in his limited state that was more difficult for him.
Now he was preparing to visit the world in which most of the threats lurked according to Scorpius. A quaint world known as Earth, one he had been to many times. It was odd how many "Earths" there were out there.
He decided to visit Earth because he thought he may as well go ahead and avenge his fallen minion while he hit a roadblock, as there wasn't anything else he could do other than continue to search.
Perhaps he would even get lucky. Perhaps the faction opposing the Monarchs would interfere, and then Cornu could get the information out of them. After that, he was sure that feeding them to the portal between their universes would strengthen it enough to allow his true body to come through.
After that, this universe would be at his mercy.
Thankfully, he had already managed to acquire the coordinates to earth, and so with a thought, he created a portal leading there. It was about time he let loose a little. It had been a rather long time since he had extinguished a civilization to dust.
- Felix -
I paused what I was doing as I sensed a rather powerful being appear in the middle of the ocean half the planet away from me. I didn't have my senses expanded like that usually, but when someone was blatantly flaring their aura like whoever this was, then people tended to be aware of it.
Though this one seemed stronger than I was expecting for this world. It wasn't how much Aura that was being released that stood out to me, but the weight and quality behind it.
It was almost as if the Aura alone was a step above what even I was used to. If it weren't for the reinforcement of the world that the Rulers did, I imagine a few continents would be crushed to dust under the weight of that Aura by now.
"Ooh, can I go play with him, Milord! I've been wanting to test some things out!" Meguimin asked excitedly from beside me, seemingly not caring about the weird weight behind the Aura.
I shook my head. "No, I'm kinda curious about this person too, so I'll be taking him. Sorry."
Megumin pouted but didn't protest against me.
The feeling behind the Aura was different from what I felt from the Monarchs and the monsters of this universe. I looked at Querehsha who seemed to be rather spooked. "Is this your Phantom ally?" There was the one Phantom that got away, and I was planning to go to the Chaos World to look for him in a couple hours.
I just didn't think he would be an issue with how Querehsha described him. His ego was new and weak, and according to Querehsha, he was "trying too hard". He thought he was smart according to her, but all of them were waiting for the shoe to drop concerning him. It was just that none of them cared as they were confident in their power.
The Monarchs hadn't really suffered a defeat until now, after all.
She quickly shook her head. "Scorpius was never this strong."
"Ah, fun." I sighed, having a small suspicion about what had just shown up in that case. The energy wasn't exactly like that of the Rulers, but it was similar enough for me to be suspicious.
Plus, I liked to believe in the philosophy that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. I just tended to be unlucky like that.
Was Murphy a cosmic force in this multiverse or something? Because what were the odds that, through the power of bullshit, an actual Primordial Angel had come to this world?
Nah, the chances of that had to be abysmal. Maybe the Phantom that Querehsha associated with just got some sort of bullshit power up like burning his soul energy or something for an increase in power.
Something like that would certainly give a significant power up.
That was the alternative reasoning I came up with, but I didn't really believe it, though a part of me was also somewhat excited to see if I really was right. I hadn't ever met a real Primordial Angel. I didn't count Dino, since he was a bum.
"You all can stay here to manage the effects for if we fight." As I said that, I felt the communication ring of the Rulers light up, but I tossed it to Megumin to deal with. My phone was also ringing.
Man, did people just stop trying to solve their own issues since I showed up? I suppose that alone showed the effects I had on being present in a world. People just thought I'd solve all their problems, and they were kind of right in this case since I did want to see what was happening.
I came to this world for a change of pace, to get a break from dealing with attack after attack. Though the same thing was also happening in this world, so not much of a break.
Before I left, I used Falsifier through Brahma, Lord of Creation to place a slight illusion around my voice and appearance. If it really was one of the Primordial Angels from the Underworld, then I didn't want whatever happened here to be traced back to me. I also concealed my Aura to make myself seem like a mostly ordinary Human.
Then I created a portal and walked through it, only to be met face to face with a humanoid being. One who had three pairs of pure white wings, making it clear that he was someone special.
He raised a brow. "I'm surprised. I wasn't expecting to be greeted by the people of this plane so quickly."
Murphy, thou art a bitch.
Oh well, this seemed fun. Now that I was in front of him, I could clearly sense that the being in front of me was a Phantom, and his EP was at around 2,000,000, which is not what I was expecting from a Primordial Angel.
After a moment of deeper analysis, I realized that the person who was in front of me was just a Split Body.
"And who might you be? A denizen of this world perhaps?" The Angel asked.
"I'll keep that secret for now. We'll see if you're impressive enough to get my name." I said as I snapped my fingers, placing a barrier around the area. Cornu noticed, but didn't seem to care.
The Angel's eyes narrowed, and I could sense his anger growing. It was growing a lot, which was weird for such a minor insult. Was he just weak to insults?
Hmm, Dino did tell me a bit about the characteristics of all the Primordial Angels, and he did say there was one that was always on a short fuse, and that one was named Cornu.
Cornu's wings flared outwards, scattering some of his holy energy around the area. His eyes, which were molten gold and filled with pure hostility, were laser-focused on me.
Hmm, maybe insulting him wasn't the best first introduction. But oh well, this was probably how things were going to go anyway.
"You dare mock me, creature? A mere human of this world?"
I was surprised he wasn't going to say something like 'do you know who my father is?!' This guy was emanating a lot of young master energy.
"Sure." I said, deciding to play along as I clasped my hands behind my back in the standard wise old master fashion. "Some self-important schmuck who forgot how to introduce himself, and who also came to a brand new world, flaring his aura around as if he were saying 'look at me, I'm so speshul!'"
Interestingly enough, Cornu seemed to have gotten even angrier.
"Insolent monkey!" Just because I was disguising myself as a Human didn't mean he had to go that far.
"My name is Cornu! One of the Lord's Angels, and you will suffer my wrath!" Cornu's aura spiked, and the entire ocean around us rose up in a massive ring, vaporizing from the sheer energy output. The weight of his power pressed down on the barrier I created, but much to Cornu's surprise, my barrier held like I knew it would.
"If you wish to leave, you will need to get through me first."
Now what was the best way to crush the ego of the pigeon in front of me? For some reason, he just had that fuck-withable energy.
"You test the patience of a Primordial!" Cornu's six wings beat once, creating a pulse that tore apart the clouds above us and warped the air in a visible shockwave.
"Perfect." I said, grinning despite myself. "Let's see if you live up to the title." I said tauntingly. I had always wanted to fight a Primordial Angel.
With a single flap of his wings, Cornu lunged, the speed causing the ocean below to split as a spear of pure condensed light formed in his hand, the edge warping space.
"Oh?" I mused as I noticed something strange about the spear.
Cornu seemed intent on finishing the fight in one move, aiming directly for my head. And yet, all it took me was to shift my head to the side, allowing the spear to cut through the air harmlessly.
Still, Cornu's momentum kept him charging in my direction, and his body was already shifting to follow up his spear with a punch, so I reached my hand to grab him by the face, with my other palm grasping at his punch.
And then, with a simple twist, I redirected the Primordial Angel past me, causing him to spiral in the air for a moment before he flapped his wings once more, releasing another gust of wind and stabilizing him.
"That's actually a bit dangerous." I praised with a raised eyebrow.
I had analyzed the attack as it passed me, and just as I had expected, the basic ass spear was at the Ultimate level. Something that would only be possible if he manipulated spiritrons or something into the attack, but Cornu didn't even do that.
No, that spear was something even a basic mage would be able to replicate.
Cornu smirked at me as he took in my surprised expression. "I am one of the Lord's Angels. I was created superior to all you meager beings."
Hmm, so were they blessed with some sort of power that allowed them to do that then? Interesting.
"You really ought to chill it with the young master act, you know?" I told him stretching my arm slightly as I prepared for the fight. "It's starting to sound a bit… Corn-y."
He must not have liked my joke, since he charged at me once more. The spear in his hand glowed even brighter than before, and it seemed that since his last thrust had failed, he was going to try slicing this time.
Once again, he aimed for the head. Thanos would have been proud.
And once again, all it took was to move back a little to let his attack pass by my face harmlessly. Except this time, the spear exploded into a burst of light, as small bullets of light shot out from it in every direction.
My eyes narrowed as I had to focus to ensure Infinity stopped the holy-light bullets from hitting me.
Going for the counterattack I let my fist tighten into a punch, and yet, as I looked at the pigeon's face, my hand couldn't help but open. Really, a punch would have dealt far more physical damage. But a slap did have that psychological damage bonus.
For a moment, Cornu froze, almost dropping his spear as the slap connected with his face, and looking absolutely baffled at me. I could vaguely see the handprint on his cheek, and as he reached for his face, I could feel his aura begin to flare as his eyes filled with fury.
"You–!" He began, only for me to cut him off.
"No yeah, that was weird. Here let me try again." I told him, moving forward in the air and landing a punch directly on his nose. The impact cracked the air and sent him flying backwards through his own holy light.
The angel caught himself midair, expression twisting between fury and disbelief.
"You dare lay hands upon me?" He snarled.
"Are we fighting or not?" I asked as I rolled my shoulders. I didn't care about small talk with this guy.
Cornu roared, light erupting from his body in a violent column that split the ocean beneath us down to the seabed. By now, there wasn't much ocean left beneath us.
"Fall before divine judgment!" He shouted, raising his hand as hundreds of spears of light formed in the sky above.
I just sighed as all of them descended down at me at sub-lightspeeds. I just created a portal that sucked all the spears up, and redirected them back to Cornu, but Cornu was already prepared for that as he disintegrated all the spears with a burst of his Aura. Though I also noted that even those light spears were at the Ultimate-level, despite the fact that he seemingly didn't exert any extra effort to make them that strong.
Cornu was gritting his teeth and looked mighty upset that he hadn't beaten me yet, but I was more curious about that odd ability of his.
Then he took a deep breath, visibly calming down. "It seems I have underestimated you. My apologies."
With that, an armor began to materialize around his form, and a short sword appeared in his hand. Both were at the level of a God Grade, and on the upper levels of that region too. From the energy the short sword was releasing, I wouldn't be surprised if it was more powerful than my Yamato. Which made sense; that weapon likely had eons on Yamato.
I didn't want to use Yamato against him on the off chance that it could be recognized in the future, so I created a katana reminiscent of it with Brahma, Lord of Creation. I had a feeling the Anti Skill greatsword I had would get completely crushed in this fight. It just wasn't on the level to be able to handle Ultimate-level attacks consistently.
I wasn't planning on going all out from the start. I more or less just wanted to see how close of a match up I would have against Cornu without replying too much on my hax. Cornu's combat skill should be pretty good as he was eons old, and was hopefully honing his skills the entire time rather than hanging around like a bum.
Cornu looked at my katana with appreciation before he dashed forward, the bedrock splitting beneath his wings as he swung his sword down with enough force to fracture the horizon.
And so our clash began. I was more on the defensive at first as I was more or less just probing him to see just how skilled he was. And he was skilled, probably among the best out there, but he still wasn't as skilled as I thought he'd be.
He wasn't as good as myself, Guy, or Milim, but he was better than Chloe who was around equal to Megumin in terms of skill alone.
In the midst of our fight, Cornu used multiple spells to attempt to take me off guard; massive fire balls that could even burn spiritrons, he tried to debuff me, suck up my energy and make use of it himself (very inefficiently), and many more, which went to show his sheer breadth of knowledge. He used some spells that I hadn't even ever imagined, and his Battlewill was top notch as well.
But once I got what I wanted, I blocked with my newly-formed katana, the impact rippling through the air.
The collision detonated a shockwave that probably would have shred clouds halfway across the planet if it weren't for my barrier. For a brief second, our weapons locked, then I twisted my wrist and sent his blade flying upward. Cornu blinked, disoriented, right as my knee slammed into his chin.
I attempted to teleport his blade to my off hand, but it resisted my pull, and my current form just didn't have the raw power to overpower it. So I just flew over to it and grabbed it, though it did singe my hand a bit, and was continuing to do so.
The Angel was launched skyward, vanishing into a blinding streak of gold. I followed instantly, appearing above him and driving a kick into his ribs that sent him hurtling back down, breaking the sound barrier several times before I teleported beneath and kicked him upward again.
We repeated the process several times.
"Come on, Cornu! You're supposed to be some special Angel, aren't you?" I called out between blows, grinning as I appeared behind him once more and drove a roundhouse kick straight into his back.
Cornu snarled, golden blood spattering into the air as he recovered mid-spin, but he was too slow at this point. I was already above him, foot wreathed in aura.
"Try swimming, pigeon."
My heel crashed down on his chest with a sonic boom. I recreated the ocean water just for the purpose of this. The ocean split apart for miles as Cornu was blasted straight into the seabed, the impact carving a crater deep into the earth's crust. The water surged back a heartbeat later, collapsing into a towering whirlpool that swallowed everything around it.
I made sure to make it so that the planet didn't overreact or anything by instantly repairing the damage I caused.
I hovered over the ocean as I waited for Cornu to reappear. Cornu was probably used to having his way based on his raw power alone, and so didn't train as much as he should have, which was why I wasn't having much trouble.
Though he was a Split Body, I was too technically, but Parallel Existence was far more efficient, so I'd give him that. I had the advantage in that case.
Cornu burst back out of the water after a few moments. His wings flared wide, scattering droplets of seawater that vaporized midair from the heat of his aura. His expression was pure hatred, but I could see him beginning to doubt himself now too.
"You insolent… worm!" He snarled.
I floated there casually above him, katana in one hand and his short sword in the other. His blade hummed angrily in my grip, space around it rippling as if it resented being held by me.
I glanced at the weapon of his that I took, and casually held the hilt back out to him.
Cornu froze mid-rant, fury momentarily replaced by disbelief. I waved it around lightly, gesturing for him to get on with it.
His eye twitched. "You dare—!"
I ignored him and just tossed the weapon towards him. "Try not to lose it again."
"Mock me all you wish, mortal." He hissed. "When I'm finished with you, even your soul will beg for oblivion."
"Cool story, bro. Are we going to fight or should I just get to the whole destroying your Split Body portion of this fight?"
Cornu's reply was a blinding explosion of light as he vanished from sight as he reappeared right in front of me, blade already descending.
Our fight continued, but Cornu's performance was getting worse. I could tell that his confidence had taken a hit, and that was affecting his combat ability.
At this point, I was just disappointed. I thought a Primordial Angel would be some super strong foe, but in the end, I got Cornu. At the very least I got to analyze that weird ability of his that made all his attacks reach the Ultimate-level by default.
It was similar to how True Dragons worked, in that they were Ultimate Lifeforms, so most of their actions were inherently at the Ultimate-level. It seems that the "blessing" Veldanava gave to Cornu mimicked that, making all of his attacks reach the Ultimate-level by default.
I was probably missing some details, but that was all I could get at the moment. I imagine I'd need to eat Cornu's soul to even have a chance of understanding the blessing completely, which was impossible at the moment since this was a Split Body in front of me with no soul.
Maybe I'd get a chance to look into that phenomenon a bit more in the future. For all I knew, maybe Dino had the same ability. Getting the information out of him about it would probably be a bit annoying though, let alone getting him to let me analyze it.
I deflected one of Cornu's Aura-filled strikes as I tapped him on the shoulder, casting Fixation on him. "Welp, you were one hell of a disappointment." I said to his stunned form.
He could hear me, but he couldn't move or say anything. He couldn't even circulate his energy.
Fixation wasn't some omnipotent freeze attack, it has its limits, but it was still powerful enough to work on this Split Body of Cornu's. Hell, fixation can even freeze Information Particles, so I wasn't ever going to underestimate it.
People generally have a passive Infon defense that grows stronger as they themselves grow stronger, so someone even half as strong as me would be tough to freeze normally depending on computational power.
It was just that Cornu's will had weakened significantly over this fight, making it so that his defense was no longer powerful enough to work.
I destroyed the katana I had been fighting with as I shoved my hand through Cornu's chest, gripping the metaphysical connection between this Split Body and the main Cornu, applying some pressure while I did so.
Before I could do a thing, however, the connection was cut with urgency, and the connection I was gripping dissolved into nothingness along with the body.
I sighed. I was going to try to get the coordinates of the other side for the future, and maybe try to send an attack back through the connection as a warning.
I looked around the decimated landscape and sighed. Man, that was so lame. I should have just let Megumin handle it.
- Cornu -
His eyes opened with a scream, or no, he didn't. His throat was too tight for that. The sound clawed its way up, caught behind clenched teeth, and died as a ragged breath instead.
The chamber around him was dark. His wings were folded tight and trembling behind him, the feathers shedding faint motes of gold as if his very energy was as unstable as he was currently feeling.
Cornu pressed a hand to his chest. The sensation of that human's hand, that creature's hand, still burned there. Not physical, but deeper. It was almost as if he could feel that hand there in his very Spirit. He could still feel the phantom weight of fingers curling around his core, the invasive, casual way the being had reached into him, as if he were nothing.
That monster treated him like he was nothing. He treated him just like Feldway and the rest did.
He couldn't stop shaking.
A Primordial did not shake. A servant of the Lord did not tremble. But Cornu could feel it, that faint pressure, and it wouldn't go away. He could feel the suffocating stillness of that moment when he could not move, could not breathe, and could barely even think as he was just held there, frozen.
Something felt familiar about that attack, but he couldn't focus on that now. He staggered to the fountain in the center of the hall. Its waters were supposed to calm the spirit. It was made by Veldanava, and yet when he plunged his face into it, Cornu didn't feel any different.
The memory of that encounter replayed in his head, whether he wanted it to or not.
He could see that monster's grin, the mockery, and the slap, let alone everything else that was done to him.
That experience alone brought all his raging doubts back to the surface. Right when he saw hope of growing stronger, of being respected by the others, he was thrown back down to the earth from heaven.
He had been outmatched before, but it was only by those who were truly extraordinary. The other Primordial Angels, Guy, the True Dragons; those people. He hadn't ever expected some rabble from yet another world to do such a thing to him.
And worse than the humiliation was the fear he felt. He was so incredibly close to being well and truly crushed, he could feel it. When that monster gripped the connection he held with his Split Body, he reacted as quickly as he could. But he was afraid of what could have happened, afraid of encountering that being again.
Logically, he knew that he wasn't at his full power, but even then the feelings would not fade. He still felt helpless and insignificant.
Cornu pressed a trembling hand to his face. He could still feel the phantom sensation of the slap there. He saw that evil grin again, the mocking way that monster spoke his name.
"Corn-y."
Before he could fall deeper into his misery he was interrupted, Feldway appeared in his private quarters and took one good look at him. "Did you encounter that man, G.O.D. again? He left you in a similar state, I recall." He said without any infraction.
Cornu grit his teeth at Feldway's casual reaction to his state, but he took a deep breath, calming himself. Lashing out at the Phantom King would do nothing for him.
"No, this time it was another." Cornu replied without any emotion.
Feldway nodded. "Hmm, I see. Do you still have the coordinates for that world?"
Cornu shook his head.
"Shame. Perhaps this person could have proved useful to my cause." Feldway sighed and shook his head. "I merely came to see you as I sensed your Aura burst throughout the area. Please do prove yourself useful for once. I may have a mission for you to infiltrate the Eastern Empire in the near future. One of those bugs will be doing the same. I wish for you to keep an eye on things for me and serve as my instrument." With that, Feldway vanished, leaving Cornu alone with his thoughts, already assuming that he would obey, and Cornu would.
He wasn't strong enough to disobey Feldway. Not yet, and maybe not ever.
Those were thoughts that he knew were not helpful for his mental state. He took a deep breath. This was just a one-off. Yes, he was not at full power. If he was, then he would have won with ease. Not to mention his Administrative Authority was weakened, its authority only a fraction of what it should have been.
At his true might, he would never lose. He was Cornu, one of the mightiest beings in existence. Perhaps ravaging a few other worlds would prove to improve his mood.
He nodded, satisfied at that thought. But even then, the dread from that fight and the phantom grip on his core would not leave.
"Corn-y."
"Try not to lose it again."
"Welp, you were one hell of a disappointment."
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Author's Note:
Sup everyone, back with another chapter.
We get to see some of Querehsha's thought processes, but I don't plan to focus on that much in this fic, I only did so because she was just introduced.
Then Felix meets Cornu, fights/bullies Cornu, and then Cornu has a crash out. My goal was to just give him PTSD lol. Cornu is a bit of a fraud, and is the weakest Primordial Angel for a reason, his massive inferiority complex is one of them, and it's just going to get worse from here on. I hope I was able to convey that through his POV.
Feldway is teasing a bit of the next big arc too, but that's in a while.
Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.
Last bit of editing -Omnax
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