Chapter 77: Man vs Horseman

Basil welcomed Maxwell with fire and brimstone.

“Elemental Orb: Fire!” He snarled as he snapped his fingers, unleashing a sphere of shining flames at Dismaker Labs’ CEO. The projectile surged across the room in a flash, harmlessly phased through Maxwell, and hit a distant wall in a violent burst.

“Let me try!” Rosemarine said before pouncing on Maxwell with her root hand. She slammed the ground beneath the CEO’s feet, but failed to affect him. The scene reminded Basil of the time she tried to attack ghosts in the catacombs. “Oh, not again!”

“A projection.” Basil scoffed in disappointment. “Of course.”

“What?” Maxwell cackled. “Did you really expect me to risk myself so brazenly? Oh sweet summer child.”

“What, afraid you’ll get killed?” Plato taunted him.

“Not by the likes of you, I can tell you that,” Maxwell replied with mocking confidence.

“Yet we’ve defeated most of your board,” Vasi taunted him back. “You do not intimidate us.”

“Yes, yes, I appreciate your help in downsizing my company. You can’t fathom how much I’ll save on severance packages.” Maxwell glanced at each member of the Bohens. Although Basil couldn’t see the eyes behind his sunglasses, his small smirk betrayed a hint of interest. “I’ll admit, I never expected your lot would be the ones to take a stand on the matter. It’s true what they say. Surprises come from unexpected places.”

“Have you come to make small talk?” Basil raised his halberd at the projection. “If so, fuck off.”

“Why the rush?” Maxwell replied with a chuckle. “I thought you would jump at the opportunity for us to talk, Basil Bohen. Haven’t you been looking for me for a while?”

“To kill you for sure,” Basil replied. Oh, it would be such a pleasure to wipe off Maxwell’s arrogant smirk from his face… “A swift death is the best you can expect from us.”

“I would rather make it slow,” Rosemarine chirped while licking her petal lips. “With salt and pepper.”

“I would have loved to exchange business tips,” Shellgirl said, her tentacle-cannons pointed straight at Maxwell’s face. “But I don’t do toxic management.”

“My my, aren’t you a colorful lot.” Maxwell shrugged. “Fine by me. I came for the Avatar and Benjamin, not for you.”

While Kalki’s monsters immediately moved in front of their Tamer to protect him, Leroy glared at his former employer. “You lied!” the false god snarled. “You said you would bring her back!”

“No, no, Benjamin, I promised you the power to return your daughter to life. And I delivered. Look at you, you can raise corpses from the dead with a thought. All you had to do was pay a visit to your daughter’s tomb.” Maxwell grinned wickedly. “Which of course, you did.”

Leroy winced as if slapped. “It wasn’t her…” he muttered with haunted eyes. “It… it looked like her, but… a corpse without will…”

“See, my dear friend?” Maxwell scoffed. “I granted you your wish. Is it my fault if you worded it poorly? Perhaps you should have had a lawyer fill in the details.”

“You would have screwed him over even if he had,” Basil said angrily. This… this human-shaped thing clearly took delight in Leroy’s suffering. “I’ve seen your last board meeting’s recording. You intended to screw over your own team from the start.”

“My team?” Maxwell seemed to find the word laughable. “I was looking forward to seeing these fools self-destruct, but I didn’t force them to do anything. I sold them a rope. They could have done anything they wanted with it, and yet they chose to hang themselves.”

He contemptuously waved his hand at the neurotower, at this shrine of death and steel.

“I did not force people to build this device at gunpoint,” Maxwell said. “Workers placed the microchips for a paycheck without questioning their purpose, and their managers willingly activated them for a reward. It is your species’ boundless greed that brought you to the brink of extinction. You raise foolish men to power because you cannot be bothered to take charge of your life and turn your planet into a trash can because you cannot live without petty comfort. You incurred a debt to the universe… and now it’s time to pay up.”

“Are you trying to claim the moral high ground?” Basil choked on the creature’s hypocrisy. “You still gave the orders!”

“And what of you?” Maxwell pointed at Kalki. “You endanger the Avatar of Preservation by giving him false hope that he can save anyone, when in truth his efforts will be for naught. You know a stray bullet could bring this entire plane of existence down with him, right?”

Basil opened his mouth to counter that he was simply protecting a friend from danger, but Kalki interrupted him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

“You… you are the creature responsible for all of this,” Kalki told Maxwell. “What are you? All I can sense from you is darkness, an empty night without stars. Are you the Kali of this world? A demon?”

“Ohoh, do you truly expect a straight answer from me?” The CEO shook his head. “So powerful, and yet so naïve. But I will tell you as much: I am that I am.”

Not only was he arrogant, but blasphemously so. Perhaps Basil should have looked out to unlock an Inquisitor class, it would have come in handy.

Kalki’s companion, Garud, grunted scornfully. “You have a pretty high opinion of yourself for a coward hiding in the shadows. You might steal and usurp the power of gods, but you will never be one.”

“Why would I want to, my feathered friend?” Maxwell asked back. “Gods like your master are, well… dinosaurs. Proud and impressive, but it only takes a few years and sufficiently advanced technology to turn your remains into fuel for a greater purpose.”

“I thought oil was made from marine life and algae, not dinosaurs?” Shellgirl asked with a frown. “That’s what my books said.”

“You are correct, my child,” Maxwell replied calmly. “But my version makes for a better metaphor.”

“What purpose?” Kalki asked with a frown. “I… I do not understand you. What do you hope to accomplish by throwing this universe into chaos? Do you intend to become an Overgod? For what? What end could possibly justify all this sorrow?”

“Haven’t you heard what I said?” the CEO scoffed. “Godhood is overrated. I do not seek the throne.”

Basil doubted he was telling the truth, but Kalki took him at his word. “Then what?” the Avatar of Vishnu asked. “What are you after?”

“He wants to open a portal,” Basil said with a scowl. “Is that what it’s all about? Returning home? Couldn’t you take mass transit?”

“You think I am bound by necessity?” Maxwell shook his head slowly, like a parent disappointed in a child’s answer. “Please, Basil. Do you believe a being of my age and knowledge wouldn’t have any other alternative? True, I wish to open a portal to a specific place and turn a tidy profit from this competition… but I didn’t need to make Incursions so deadly to achieve my aim.”

Basil’s fists clenched in horror as he came to a terrible realization. He couldn’t imply… that madman…

Rosemarine snapped her tail. “You don’t hurt squishies because you have to,” she guessed, her tone surprisingly quiet and cold. “You hurt them because it makes you happy. Like me.”

Vasi’s eyes squinted into a potent glare. “The destruction you sow is not a means to achieve your ends,” she raised, her fingers trembling in fury. Basil had never seen her so coldly angry. “It is an end in itself.”

[Berserk] ailment resisted.

“You psychopath…” Basil’s blood boiled in his veins. He had reached a point where he struggled to find his words and keep his mind clear. “So many deaths were made pointless… On purpose?"

“Guilty, guilty…” Maxwell waved a hand at the gallery, at the neurotower, at this dungeon built on the suffering of billions. “Do you understand now? This engine of steel does not crush souls beneath its wheel because it must, but because I want it to do so.”

Only now did Basil understand Anton Maxwell’s motivations. His action made little sense, because there was nothing sensible about him. He wasn’t motivated by greed or ambition, but by something baser.

The pursuit of happiness.

“There are a billion better ways to harvest magic and make death as pleasant as life,” the CEO said, corroborating Walter’s words. “There are Systems that peacefully help uplift their populations in levels without the need for bloodshed…”

For the first time, Maxwell showed his teeth; all of them as sharp as a wolf’s maw of fangs. His lips morphed into the purest expression of joyful malice. The gleeful visage of cruelty itself.

“But where’s the fun in that?” he asked.

It was all a game to him. The apocalypse, the wars, the chaos, all this pain, and sorrow… all for a minute’s worth of entertainment.

Anger was like a black hole. It dragged you in with its powerful gravity, until you reached the event horizon. Beyond it, there was no light, no fire. Only the cold, bottomless emptiness of bitter hatred.

“I’ll kill you.”

The words flowed out of Basil’s mouth like daggers out of a wound, cold and merciless.

“I’ll kill you,” Basil promised. It wasn’t a threat, but a fact. “It doesn’t matter where you hide, or how long you run. I’ll find you, and then I’ll kill you for the good of everyone else.”

Maxwell put a hand on his chest and made a mock bow. “Be still my heart. If you would kindly bring the Avatar to me too, that would be great.”

“We will meet in the flesh, yes,” Kalki whispered, his eyes cold and determined. The peaceful and all-loving hippie he had been a few minutes ago having vacated the building. “But there will be no salvation for your kind.”

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“There is no such thing as salvation, foolish god,” Maxwell said before turning to face Leroy. “Especially not for you, Benjamin. You helped create these towers, but all you did was follow and improve on the blueprints I gave you. I too have a degree of control over them. I have been content to let you stew on your own grief, but if you try to spoil the great game we’ve started and ruin my fun… there will be consequences. Redemption won’t be one of them.”

Leroy answered with a bitter laugh. “I don’t have anyone left to live for without my daughter, Anton. Your threats do not frighten me.”

“You know nothing of fear,” Maxwell replied, his tone as cold as ice. “I’m not sure you want to learn it.”

“You’re the one afraid,” Plato pointed out calmly. “For all your bluster, all you do is bark and threaten. I’ve seen dogs with more bite than you.”

“What I hear, Leroy, is that destroying the neurotowers will make him unhappy,” Basil said, his halberd pointed at Maxwell. “And anything that annoys him is a win for the world.”

Thankfully, Leroy shared the same feeling. The false god’s eyes shone with a bright glow, the same as the dungeon particles.

“Input code: Laputan Machine,” he whispered to himself. “Target: 33 percent of all unclaimed neurotowers, priority to those close to population centers.”

The giant server supporting the Louvre Pyramid thrummed with power. Red energy coursed through its circuitry like blood in metal veins. The air grew charged with an invisible power, a cloud of otherworldly electricity. Basil could feel it in his bones.

More than that, his System information screen, which had become part of his vision for months on end… flickered. It faded in and out of existence as Leroy’s program sabotaged neurotowers across the network.

“It’s bugging,” Basil whispered in joy. “The Trimurti System is bugging the hell out.”

“Not for long.” Maxwell scoffed scornfully. His sunglasses glowed with a malicious red hue. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The System quickly stabilized with a notification

Attention Players: Due to technical difficulties and bandwidth issues, the Incursion Event has been updated! Unfortunately, we cannot sustain enough rifts to kill everyone, and for that, we sincerely apologize. Thankfully, the remaining portals will open way ahead of schedule!

The Incursion countdown lowered accordingly, turning days into hours.

“I know conquest and war usually come before famine, but innovation is part of a good company’s culture.” Maxwell made a final bow and left some dreadful parting words. “I wish you a happy apocalypse.”

He vanished immediately afterward.

“It was him!” Basil snarled in fury. “It was him all along! He’s the one who wrote that message!”

“That explains so much–” Plato didn’t finish his sentence, as an earthquake suddenly shook the dungeon. “Ah!”

The gallery, no, the entire Pyramid started trembling. The neurotower reddened as if overheating and Basil immediately received a message from Neria through the Logs.

NERIA: What’s going on? Did you manage to destroy the server?

BASIL: More than one, but what’s the situation outside? The dungeon is shaking.

NERIA: I keep receiving messages from our forces. Most Incursion portals are closing, but… the one above Paris…

“What’s happening?” Vasi asked, holding onto Basil to avoid stumbling.

Leroy raised his hand and a holographic screen materialized above his open palm. “See for yourself.”

The holographic showed the world outside the pyramid. A cosmic array illuminated the night sky above Paris, its geometric pattern centered around the Eiffel Tower. The colossal dungeon surged with power even as the Notre-Dame nearby crumbled into otherworldly particles. Screaming ghosts danced in the dark clouds above the Eiffel Tower, fueling the portal.

“Sacrifices…” Kalki whispered as he held his forehead. “I hear them. Screaming souls slaughtered in hunger’s name.”

“The humans…” Vasi whispered. “Basil, you wondered why we hadn’t seen any humans in the Apocalypse Force’s forces in Paris… I think it’s them.”

Basil clenched his jaw. The traitors had been sacrificed to their dread master to strengthen the portal and summon a horror from beyond the universe.

As Maxwell had threatened, the rift above Paris wasn’t closing; it was growing larger, a shining portal into an alien realm. Worse, a colossal shadow became visible on the other side. The creature… humongous didn’t even begin to describe it. Although Basil could barely see anything except for a buglike body shape, its size alone left him speechless. The shadow was large enough to put most buildings to shame.

Ninety meters, Basil thought grimly. Maybe one hundred. Maybe more.

Basil guessed the creature’s identity long before the System confirmed it.

Apollyon, Horseman of Famine

Level 60(70-10) Elite [Bug/Artificial]

Faction: Apocalypse Force.

Basil always knew he was in for a tough fight, but he would have lied if he had said the level didn’t make him apprehensive. Taking from Zach's example, Apollyon was normally level 70 but took a penalty to enter Earth. Even at level 60... he remained a terribly powerful foe.

Basil had never faced a foe so powerful, nor so colossal. His entire team froze, some of them left speechless in dread and intimidation.

“Can you stop the bug from crossing over?” Shellgirl asked Leroy, forcing herself to smile. There was no better way to hide one’s fears. “It’s, it’s not that I’m concerned or anything, but…”

“I can’t close this portal,” Leroy replied, shaking his head in defeat. “My control over the network is fading away. I had to sacrifice Naraka to run my program, and soon this dungeon will return to dust.”

“What?” Shellgirl choked. “But what about the treasures? This place is full of powerful artifacts!”

“You should gather as many as you can,” Leroy replied as he closed the screen. “I’ll teleport you out before my dungeon self-destructs. Same as the children I took with me. I'll send you all to a safe place.”

“We will teleport out,” Basil corrected him. “You’re not going down with the ship, Leroy.”

The false god sighed. “Believe me,” he said. “You’re the only one who cares.”

“He’s not,” Kalki protested. He smiled at Leroy, showing him something few would have spared for the man: a look of empathy. “Now is not your time.”

The false god looked at the real one in shock. “After I’ve trapped you, you still want me to live?”

“Yes, I do.” Kalki nodded kindly. “You were misguided. I do not hold it against you.”

That was what true divinity looked like: great power tempered with compassion rather than arrogance. It was enough to silence Leroy in a way Maxwell’s threats hadn’t.

“I…” The former programmer cleared his throat. “I… thank you.”

His help might make a difference… or maybe not.

“I’m not going to lie,” Basil told his team as another earthquake shook the Louvre Pyramid. “We’re up against the toughest foe we have ever fought so far. We have a few aces up our sleeves, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough to close the gap in power. If you want to sit it out… I won’t hold it against you.”

He already knew his friends’ answers, but he still felt the need to draw a line in the sand. He wouldn’t force anyone to jump with him into the oven.

“We both know you would fail without me,” Plato said with a shrug. “Someone has to keep you alive, or René would never forgive me.”

“Do you even have to ask, handsome?” Vasi chuckled. “I’m with you.”

“Of course I’m afraid, Boss.” Bugsy raised his head in determination. “But not of dying. Never of that.”

“What kind of captain abandons the ship in a storm?” Shellgirl asked with a chuckle. “I’m in.”

“I’ll slay the bug and plant my seed in its flesh, Mister!” Rosemarine promised joyfully.

Kalki joined in too. “I’m with you, my friend. To the last.”

“So are we,” his bird companion added, while the snake nodded in confirmation.

“Thanks, guys.” Basil smiled warmly, and then resolutely. With his party at his side, his fears evaporated like mist in the sunlight. “It’s time to fulfill our oath.”

The Battle for Paris was on.

End of Arc IV

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