Touch of Fate

Chapter 353: Of Two Minds

Mike tried to keep his attention on three different things at the same time. First and foremost, he watched the entity that was occupying part of his body. At the moment, it was still begrudgingly focused on managing the hundreds of portals it had opened. Apparently, he'd managed to isolate his soul from the being, so its possession was incomplete. The shielding process was eating into his mana reserves a little, but it seemed he still had a good amount of leeway before he had to worry. 

He paid a little more attention to what the demon side was doing and found it strange. As far as he could tell, the ability had not required any mana to use or maintain. It required all of the entity's attention, but beyond that, it didn't seem to have any kind of cost.

[I'll need to do a little more research on this. If there are powerful skills that can be used without mana requirements, they might serve as a good fallback when my reserves are low.]

Utilizing his enhanced willpower, he was able to also pay attention to the conflict between Selene and Noah. The male vampire had stopped his attacks and was in the process of backing off. He seemed to be more concerned about the horde of demons that was swarming into the city than his opponent. As Mike watched, Noah shot a glance over towards Esmeralda, seemingly asking for guidance.

If she noticed this unspoken plea, she didn't show it. As the third target of his attention, Mike wasn't able to focus much on her, but it seemed like she was in the middle of an intense, internal debate. After a few seconds, she suddenly turned around and began running in another direction. Seeing this, Noah soon followed suit, only taking a brief pause to pick up the remnants of his weapon.

[Well, I guess that solves our immediate problem.]

"Boss? Are you...alright?" Selene called up at him while staggering over to pick up her arm. After pushing it up against the stump, her regenerations kicked in, reattaching it.

"I'm fine, more or less." He replied while trying to will his body back down to the ground. There was some resistance, but eventually he was able to land.

"What's" She started before trailing off while staring at his face. "What happened? I mean, What is happening? What is all this?"

Mike felt the entity begin to focus its attention outwards once more, so he answered quickly. "Long story short, I employed a demon thing that was inhabiting my soul to summon an army to counter the one the vampires brought. This current state is something like a side effect."

"...Are you sure you are okay? That looks...painful."

"I'm fine. I'll be back to normal soon enough."

[Or at least I hope so.] He thought while fighting the urge to try using Life Magic on the corrupted parts of his body. While it was a toss up if it would have any effect, he figured it probably wasn't a good idea to pointlessly antagonize the entity.

Speaking of which, the demon was apparently living up to its side of the deal. Aerosense was giving him a limited idea of the state of the city, and things seemed to have improved while also becoming more chaotic. The vampire soldiers that had been trying to exterminate the populace now had their hands full dealing with a seemingly endless horde of demonic creatures. Although they were able to cut their way through most of the rank and file, Mike could tell that they were swiftly becoming demoralized by the situation. Any time now, they would start turning tail and running.

The vampire nobles, on the other hand, were only minorly impeded by the horde. Most were quite content to indulge in the wholesale slaughter of the newcomers, although a few seemed to recall their original mission. As far as he could tell, there were around twenty that were still moving towards him.

[That seems like a manageable number under normal circumstances, but I'm not sure how difficult my current state will make it. Better operate with that in mind.]

He sent a quick mental message to the green-scaled dragon he summoned earlier, directing it to come to him. Surprisingly, it seemed to have been hanging out a little north of the city. Based on the flood of emotions it sent, the dragon had sensed his mental state over the last few hours and had come closer in the event that it was needed. As such, it only took a few seconds for it to arrive. Landing gently with barely any disturbed air, it turned to look at him expectantly.

He sent his thanks quickly before turning towards Selene. "Alright, this is your ride. I want you to get to a safe distance and find a place to rest up. This one," he pointed to the dragon, "will watch out for you, so make sure to concentrate on recovery."

She hesitated for a few seconds, rubbing her forehead as if she was suffering from a headache. The movement stopped once she realized that she was smearing blood over herself. "I would like to say that I want to stick it out with you, boss, but I'm going to be honest. I've had a hell of a day, and I'm only really still on my feet because of spite, so I'm going to take you up on that."

He grinned. "Good."

After clambering up onto the dragon's back, she turned to regard him. "Just...take care of yourself, alright?"

"I will." He replied, hoping that he was telling the truth.

With a quick motion the dragon leapt into the air and was gone in a matter of seconds.

[Definitely a better flier than Red. Maybe the associated element plays some role in determining their base abilities?]

With that matter dealt with, he turned his attention towards the approaching enemies. Thankfully, some of the summoned demons were of a stronger variety than the others, and were putting up more of a fight, but it was clear that the ground he was standing on would soon become a battlefield.

[Let's see if they can follow me into the air.] He thought while taking to the skies. Once again, it was a little more difficult than usual, but he was soon hovering about a hundred meters over the city's top layer, giving him a bird's eye view of the battle.

It was a little difficult to figure out what was going on, since the fighting was taking place in dozens of different areas at the same time, but he got the impression that his side was more or less winning.

[Definitely a useful ability. I think I could manage something similar with Summoning Magic, but the mana cost would be astronomical. Still, if I can train my skill some more and pick up a few titles with applicable benefits, having a pocket army that I can bring out when necessary is possible. Although, hopefully I won't find myself in many more situations that require one.]

"So, mortal," his left half started speaking, rousing him from his musings, "are you satisfied with my contribution?"

"Hmm, I would be lying if I said I wasn't expecting more. I mean, look at that." He said while indicating a knot of combatants struggling below him. The fight appeared to be more or less even despite the fact that the demons outnumbered their vampiric opponents by a factor of three. "Your legion seems to be less effective than you promised."

His demon half grimaced. "What you see before you is merely the insects that gather around the feet of my generals. They would be enough to confront a mortal army, but the bloodsuckers are a more difficult foe. It matters not, though. As soon as the elite members of my legion arrive, this battle will come to a close."

"We'll see about that."

[Got to be on guard for any signs of betrayal. Our deal was nowhere near airtight, so I can fully expect it to try to exploit some loophole.]

For a while, Mike simply hung in the air, observing the various fights. As the entity promised, more powerful demons began showing up, changing the course of the battle.

Wondering if he could gather some useful information while he was waiting for the situation to change, he decided to try questioning the entity. "So, will I be seeing the full extent of your legion soon? How many do you have serving under you, anyway?"

The demon chuckled. "There is an uncountable number in my service. They could not be held within the confines of this pathetic city."

"You must be quite powerful to command such a force. Do you hold some special position amongst your kind?"

For a moment the entity was silent, and Mike felt a hint of trepidation emanating from it. He was starting to worry that he was a little too obvious in his questioning when it finally answered. "....Once I was a prince, a ruler over an entire realm. All within it paid homage to me, and I answered to no one save the gods."

There was a husky, nostalgic quality to its voice, as if it were looking back on fond memories of a distant past. However, that swiftly changed as it grew angry. "But then I was betrayed by my closest ally. I was caught alone and overwhelmed by a vast number of enemies. Though I took many of them with me, they succeeded in striking me down. As I lay dying, they cut my still beating heart from my chest, sealed it within a casket, and sent it to the mortal realm where I was cursed to live a hollow existence as a source of power for pathetic cultists. Until you freed me, that is."

[When did that happen?]

"...Do you have a name?"

The demon snarled. "I have none to give to a mortal worm like you!"

"Fair enough." Mike replied calmly. For some reason, the longer he talked to the entity, the more he was reminded of a sullen child. A malicious and manipulative one to be sure, but a child nonetheless.

"Have you finished with your interrogation, yet?" It asked.

"For now. We have a more pressing issue to worry about."

Mike turned his body to face the thing rising from the second layer of the city. A colossal, humanoid figure was standing up from the ruins of a residential district. It was at least a hundred meters tall, and comparing it to the buildings around it reminded him of the old kaiju movies he grew up with. The figure was swathed in tattered brown rags, with only its white, skeletal hands showing. Its head was covered with a hood, but a pair of ghostly blue flames burned with the depths of its shadow.

A quick Appraise gave him a little more information.

--------------------------------

Unnamed

Age: 0

Race: Skeletal Titan

Title: Scion of Dust and Ruin

---------------------------------

[Based on its lack of name and age, that's probably some kind of summoned creature.] He thought before muttering. "I really have to wonder how the people of this world survive. It seems like every time I turn around there is some giant monster rampaging about."

As he started looking for the summoner, the demon replied sarcastically. "This realm was once home to beings far larger and more dangerous than this stunted titan corpse. That you tiny mortals can survive at all is thanks to the gods' meddling."

"If I recall, the hell realms didn't exist until the High Elves started exploring interdimensional travel, so you kind of owe your existence to the gods as well."

The entity hissed in disdain. "Don't speak to me of that foolish lie. My kind has existed long before the Creators began shaping this realm, and we will exist long after it has been laid to waste. We are eternal."

"Oh? So you've been around that long?"

There was a moment of silence before it finally replied. "Though I am an ancient being of great power, I did not bear witness to the Godless Age."

Mike sighed. He got the impression that trying to argue with it was probably a waste of time.

Perhaps sensing his thought pattern, the entity continued quickly, "But there are great demons who have first hand knowledge of that time!"

[Sounds like propaganda to me, but who knows? Maybe there is some truth to the matter. Regardless, it's something to worry about later.] He thought while narrowing his focus on the ground next to the giant skeleton's right foot. There he saw a portly figure dressed in fine clothing that seemed to be directing the undead titan.

"There you are." He muttered.

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