Second Genesis

Grey grinned like a wild beast.

The moment he realized the halo could bleed, or whatever the fuck passed for bleeding when white-gold light poured out of your wounds, the size of the mountain in front of him stopped mattering. There was a path to the top now, and Grey had never needed much more than that to convince himself to start climbing.

The Dormaji was the first to step out.

Even after the halo’s blessing descended on everyone else, none of them seemed particularly eager to move. Grey’s aura had become suffocating in its own right, and they already feared the halo enough to understand what it represented. If a projection of a God was asking for their help to kill Grey, then what the hell did that say about Grey?

"Fools," the Dormaji said coldly.

Several people looked toward him.

"That is merely a projection of a God’s true body. It has no foundation here and cannot display even a fraction of its true might, but when it comes to bestowing blessings, such limitations matter far less. No Priest, Monk, or Nun could enhance you to this degree."

The Dormaji’s gemstone-like eyes shifted toward Grey.

"Whether you understand that or not is irrelevant. Grey Temolt’s head is mine, and if any of you interfere, I will kill you personally."

The halo didn’t object.

Apparently, it didn’t give a shit who killed Grey, so long as somebody eventually managed it.

Grey looked the Dormaji up and down. Even after his body had expanded by nearly three feet, the bastard still towered more than two heads over him, but Grey’s expression only became more amused before he suddenly glanced toward Elowen.

"Hey, wife."

Elowen’s eye twitched. "What?"

"What happens if we kill all the representatives from the Empires around us?"

Her expression immediately changed.

Grey was insane, that much had become painfully obvious, but he was an insane man with enough backing to make questions like that terrifyingly possible.

"The laws protecting our territories would weaken," she said carefully. "The barrier surrounding our Empire would shrink, and we could end up like the former Giyoto Empire, forced to face the Dark Kin without support from the others."

Grey nodded slowly.

"But we would be alone as well," Elowen continued. "The surrounding Empires are supposed to maintain a close alliance. We protect one another."

Grey stuck a pinky into his ear. Then he pulled it free and blew away a bit of imaginary lint.

"If that’s true, why the culling?"

Elowen froze.

Grey’s grin widened.

"Sounds to me like there’s a limited amount of energy to go around." His gaze swept across the surviving groups. "So why the fuck wouldn’t I take it all?"

The atmosphere changed.

Grey slowly looked back toward Apollo and his brothers.

"I fucking dare you to join them."

Apollo’s face darkened.

"Either you step forward now and I kill you here, or you pussy out and I wipe out your little Dukedom when we leave this place. Either way, I’m done pussy-footing around. Anybody who pisses me off can get it."

Grey turned away before Apollo could respond and pointed The Virtueless directly at the Dormaji’s head.

Apollo sneered. "You should probably survive this first before threatening anyone."

"No thanks."

Grey didn’t even look back.

"I’ll put your heads on the same pike I put your brother’s."

BANG.

The Dormaji didn’t care about their argument.

Its fist was already descending.

The attack fell like a meteor, Holy Energy woven through the black crystal of its body until the fist looked less like flesh and more like a divine weapon crashing down from the skies. Grey’s eyes flickered once, and almost immediately he understood what the bastard had done.

Despite not being a Paladin or Holy Knight, the Dormaji had deliberately distilled Holy Energy into the crystalline material of its body, likely for the same reason Elowen carried Imperial Blood.

To comprehend Angelic.

Grey’s grin sharpened.

"That’s actually a decent idea. I’ve got a few thoughts about that."

White-gold crystals erupted from his skin.

They spread across his body in overlapping plates, growing outward until they looked like resplendent armor carved from holy light itself. Grey didn’t need the defense, not against this bastard, but the instant the Dormaji saw what he had done, fury twisted its features.

Grey’s smile widened.

’There it is.’

He had absolutely done that on purpose.

The Dormaji was faster than Grey under the halo’s blessing, stronger too, and by enough of a margin that most people would have considered the fight already decided.

Unfortunately for him, that didn’t mean shit.

Grey stepped aside.

His movement was almost insultingly calm, the descending fist missing his shoulder by inches as The Virtueless swept low and clipped both of the Dormaji’s ankles.

The giant toppled head over heels.

Grey didn’t follow.

Instead, he rested one hand behind his back, held The Virtueless loosely in the other, and began slowly circling the fallen Dormaji with the serene expression of an enlightened monk.

"Your anger clouds your technique, benefactor. A turbulent heart makes for turbulent feet."

The Dormaji roared and sprang up.

Grey sighed with profound disappointment.

"A shame."

The bastard charged again, but Grey watched its steps rather than its fists. The moment one foot planted, The Virtueless thrust forward and struck the side of its knee at precisely the wrong angle.

CRACK.

The joint overextended and snapped.

The Dormaji crumpled forward with a howl.

THWACK.

Grey slapped the rod across the side of its head.

"Patience," Grey said solemnly, shaking his head. "You have much to learn before enlightenment."

The Dormaji trembled with rage. But Grey was looking toward the damaged halo.

"This is the best a God can do?"

Could he go after it now and try to rip it apart? Probably. But there were two reasons he didn’t.

The first was a thought that had started forming after his conversation with Elowen, one that made killing everyone here suddenly seem much more profitable than it had a few minutes ago.

The second was simpler.

How the fuck was he supposed to rage-bait the halo if it was dead?

Grey planted one foot onto the Dormaji’s back.

Then The Virtueless came down.

CRUNCH.

The rod punched through crystal, spine, and stone beneath it, pinning the Dormaji to the ground.

Grey crouched, ripped a fist-sized chunk of black crystal from its body, then took a large bite.

CRACK.

He chewed slowly while looking around at the remaining groups.

"Well?" Grey swallowed. "You coming, or are you too chicken shit?"

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