章節 8: Puppets, Gods, and Campiones
Author's Note:
This chapter ended up being fat, I kept having a little more to add and couldn't find a natural stopping point. This really made me realize I kind of struggle to write fight scenes, but I think I just need more practice making them interesting. I also don't want every Heretic God to just be a pure fight, but instead want the encounters to be more diverse, so the next one we have will be a different. This is the last chapter focused on Campione stuff for now, the next couple will be getting back to Hogwarts and progressing with the Triwizard Tournament stuff.
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Harry looked at Nyarlethotep cautiously. The god had a miasma radiating off its body that made the entire room feel darker. Shadows seemed to stretch all around its centipede body, the many legs creating shadows that seemed to creep closer and closer to his body.
'Wait!'
Harry moved quickly, jumping back away from the shadows right as eyes and mouths sprouted from them and moved to pierce his body.
"Looks like you do have some awareness about you. I do so enjoy playing with my food," Nyarlethotep said.
Harry didn't want to give the god any chance to attack him again, so he quickly channeled [Pillar of Humanity] and made his body glow white as he charged the god. His body was a blur as he closed the distance, his fist extended to send a punch at Nyarlethotep, but before he could make contact, he felt a sharp pain in his side and his body was sent flying back.
"It seems you're still a new Campione, you're awareness could use some work," Nyarlethotep said, its tone amused.
As Harry sat up from where he'd been launched into the wall of the church, he reached down and grabbed his side where he'd been pierced by one of Nyarlethotep's shadows. He'd tried to make himself glow brighter to keep the shadows from getting close to him, but it seemed like he hadn't thought it through clearly enough and he'd still ended up getting hit.
'I need to focus, I'm just blind rushing him. I don't have that many authorities, so my options are limited and I'm worried about how the two of them are handling Or-Gaule. Damn, maybe it was a bad idea to split up.'
He didn't have much time to think as the god scuttled forward, its centipede-like body crawling along the walls and floor rapidly as it closed the distance. Harry got up in time to stop one of its legs from stabbing him in the chest, his other hand flying out to catch another leg as well.
Unfortunately, with both his hands occupied defecting the multitudes of legs, the shadow tendrils once again hit him as another two pierced through his legs. He momentarily buckled to the ground, but his Campione durability let him recover relatively fast and push himself off the ground with his arms, letting him get some distance from the god.
'This church is too beneficial for it, I need to change our location.'
He channeled his authority again and took off running out the church doors, Nyarlethotep hot on his tail as the god curled into a ball and began to roll after him like a roly-poly.
"Now now, it was just getting fun. Don't go running away from me or I'll go track down those two girls instead."
Gritting his teeth, Harry kept a respectable distance between the two of them but made sure that the god never lost sight of him. He couldn't afford to lose it and have it go after Erica and Iris instead. He ran through the streets, weaving between buildings as he considered his options.
'I only have two authorities right now. [Aurora Pillar] is strong, but I only have one good shot with it and I can tell I'll have a hard time hitting him and any frontal attack leaves me open to being hit by those shadows. How do I make it so he can't use those?'
Harry kept thinking about it as he ran, his head whirling around as he took in his surroundings before an idea came to him.
'I need to make the terrain suit me instead.'
His plan started to form in his head fully, and he pulled the Elder Wand out from his cloak. He kept running, his path much more intentional now as he waved his wand as he went. The buildings around him were transfigured into tall metal walls that rose up into the sky. He kept running, weaving through streets that caused the metal walls to curve.
"What do you think this is going to accomplish? All you're doing is boxing yourself in with me," Nyarlethotep said as it began to catch up to him.
The distance was closing between the two, so Harry pushed himself harder as he kept running. He was almost back to where he'd begun the wall, his wand a blur as he worked to form the structure he needed.
'Almost.'
"I will make it so you have nowhere to hide."
Nyarlethotep jumped into the air, its large body casting a massive shadow over the city as a mass of shadowy tendrils exploded into motion. The tendrils swung through the air like an executioner's blade as they cleaved clean through the buildings around them, which forced Harry to drop to the ground to dodge it.
When he stood back up, there were no parts of the buildings left above Harry's knee, the attack from the god only failing to destroy his transfigured wall and nothing else. Gritting his teeth, Harry took off running again as he focused on finishing his plan.
Nyarlethotep began to fall towards him as the end of the wall came into sight. Harry transfigured the final bit of the wall to connect the ends to each other before he stopped running, Nyarlethotep's body flying past him and landing ahead of him.
"Well, your little wall is done, now what?" the god asked as it turned back towards him, shadows along the walls extending menacingly with a multitude of eyes and mouths contained within them.
Harry grinned, his wand held in front of him. "Now we cut the lights." He held his wand up and a bright beam extended from it as he channeled the full extent of his Campione magic towards the walls around him, causing them to rapidly rise and meet in the middle, forming a dome above their heads.
"What are you-" Nyarlethotep began before his voice cut off as the dome closed around them and they were sunk into complete darkness. "Do you truly believe I'm helpless just because I have no light for my shadows? I can still see, but you can't."
'Are you sure?' Harry thought as he channeled his authority to his eyes and activated [Eyes of the Lord]. It didn't give him night vision, but it did let him see the massive ball of energy that was the Heretic God in front of him.
Despite the darkness, Nyarlethotep could clearly see Harry grin to himself. "I won't give you a chance to finish whatever this plan is." Its form changed, and that god became a massive hulking figure with four arms and two faces as it rushed towards him. From its body small creatures began to form shapes like wolves with masks on their face.
"Now you're trapped in here with me," Nyralethotep said as it acted more cautiously this time, sending its creatures to attack him first as it observed.
Harry channeled his other authority, but there didn't seem to be any obvious effects from it as he defended himself. His hands blurred as he crushed the creatures with his enhanced strength, but they kept coming in droves, the heretic god summoning more and more to wear him out.
'Just need a little bit longer.'
"Was this really all your plan amounted to? That girl's children certainly seem to have decayed from their former grandeur." It was here that Nyarlethotep paused, finally becoming aware of something. "There shouldn't be any condensation here. What are you doing?"
'Now.'
With a thought, Harry manipulated the mist he had formed using [Pestulent Quagmire]. The authority allowed him to control his poisonous, black water in any of water's three states of matter. The first step had been to make sure they were trapped in one place, making sure it seemed like he was focused on eliminating the shadows. Now that the dome had filled with the gas, there was only one thing left to do.
"You damn chi-" Nyarlethotep began as it rushed towards him, but Harry didn't give it a chance. With a thought, all of the mist turned into liquid water, causing the entire space to be fully submerged. The god was suspended in the water along with all of its creations. Harry floated in front of it as he concentrated on manipulating the water.
It started first with the creatures as their bodies decayed into nothingness from the poisonous water. Nyarlethotep's body was next, but it took longer as the god had a natural resistance.
"I will not allow this. Not when I'm finally free."
Its form shifted into that of a shark as it swam rapidly through the waters, its body decaying the entire time. Harry smirked, controlling the waters to propel himself even faster than that god could move throughout the entire dome. Its body was beginning to break down as its size began to shrink, holes appearing along it.
Nyarlethotep realized it wasn't going to be able to catch him in this dome, so it turned and tried to smash the walls of the dome instead. Unfortunately for it, the dome was created using a grimoire as a medium, so it wasn't ordinary transfiguration. The entire creation was strengthened, and while it certainly couldn't hold up to repeated attacks from a Heretic God, it was already too late.
"No, no, no. You damn child, I will have my revenge on that damn butterfly," Nyarlethotep panted as its body decayed more and more, rapidly shifting between different forms as it tried to break through the wall. Harry didn't give it a chance to try, so he reached his hand out and clenched his fist, causing the god to freeze solid in poisonous ice, its body finally being destroyed completely.
With the god finally dead, Harry panted lightly as he made the water disappear from around him. "Definitely need to start thinking things through fully. It makes everything so much simpler."
He could feel the authority he got from killing the god, but he didn't have time to focus on it as he remembered that Erica and Iris were fighting Or-Gaule. Quickly, he transfigured a hole in the wall of the dome and took off running in the direction the three had gone.
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While Harry was dealing with Nyarlethotep, Erica had followed Iris out of the church in the direction she'd sent Or-Gaule flying.
"Iris, what are we dealing with?" Erica asked as she stood next to the knight, her sword at the ready.
"He can use his puppets as extra lives, but it wears him out. We have to kill him enough times that he doesn't have the energy to revive anymore."
Erica watched as Or-Gaule once again appeared in front of them. "Unfortunately, dear sister, I will not give you that opportunity." The man with the appearance of a boy raised his hand like a puppeteer and his fingers clenched. All around them, puppets like the ones they'd encountered before began to swarm towards them.
Without a word to each other Iris and Erica moved into action. Erica's sword moved swiftly as she accurately cut the limbs off any puppet that came near her. Iris was much less restrained, her entire body a massive battering ram as she swung her halberd around her body. The two moved in coordination, the distance between them and Or-Gaule closing rapidly as he realized that his puppets weren't able to hold them back effectively.
Iris cut his body into two again, but he appeared from another of the nearby puppets, sweat on his brow as his multiple revivals had begun to take their toll.
Or-Gaule didn't say a word, but he made another gesture as the puppets around them dissolved into a puddle of blood before they all combined together into a massive amalgamation of different limbs. Arms and legs protruded from the abomination as it used its hulking body to slam directly on top of Iris.
"Iris!" Erica called out, but she gritted her teeth and turned back to Or-Gaule. She'd have to hope the knight could handle it, she had to deal with the puppet boy first. A sigil appeared under her feet that propelled her body forward.
Her arms blurred, and a flurry of slashes targetted at Or-Gaule. Despite his reliance on puppets, he was no slouch when it came to close combat either. His body weaved between her strikes, the odd his getting through, but his fingers flashed and Erica was forced to dodge silk-like string that threatened to cut straight through her.
They continued to exchange blows, wounds starting to build up on Erica's body. It was a lot harder to dodge 10 strings that she could hardly than it was for Or-Gaule to handle a single blade, so while she'd gotten some good hits in she was taking more damage than he was.
Her clothing had rips and tears through it, and blood started to flow and soak through. She realized that she couldn't go on like this and backed up to disengage, but Or-Gaule saw through it.
"Like I'd let you."
Or-Gaule's fingers moved, and a cage made of his razor-sharp strings formed over her head. Erica looked around and locked eyes with Iris' helmet. The knight had managed to escape from under the abomination and was cleaving off parts of its body with her massive halberd, but Erica watched as Iris' armor had a chunk torn out of it, exposing pale skin that began to bleed.
Erica's eyes widened in surprise as the wound on Iris' body closed after a moment, and the armor regenerated, fixing all of the damage.
"Iris," Erica called out, drawing her attention. Iris looked towards her and saw her trapped in the cage. She gave a curt nod before she turned back to the abomination and jumped into the air, falling towards it.
Three of the abomination's arms swung towards her and sent her flying, but Iris seemed to have intended for that to happen as her body flew straight through the threads that made up Erica's cage. Erica only had a moment to note that the threads had torn through even more of Iris' armor than the last attack had before she blurred into motion.
Or-Gaule was left exposed, his threads damaged, which gave Erica a chance to close the distance and cut his arm clean off.
"You do not-" he began to say, but Erica didn't give him a chance to speak any further. Without his weapons, he tried to call his abomination back to him, but Erica moved swiftly. Strike after strike followed as her sword moved swiftly, tearing through Or-Gaule's body until she decapitated him in one clean swing.
Iris, meanwhile, had recovered from her injuries and her armor was once again whole as she re-engaged the abomination. Her halberd cleaved off large pieces of the monster, huge walls of flesh falling to the ground each time.
Erica grits her teeth, the pain from her various wounds continuing to hit her, before she double-checks that Or-Gaule is really dead. An incantation later his body turned to ash and she went over to help Iris finish the fight.
It took some time for the two to whittle the abomination down, but without its master, it was just an unthinking monster and they made short work of it. Its body was reduced to small fragments, which Erica promptly burned to ash as well to make sure nothing else happened.
"I...hate...puppets." Erica sat down on the ground, panting from the exertion. Her clothes were now thoroughly dyed red, but her wounds weren't fatal. They were mostly a large amount of cuts that led to a lot of bleeding, but only a couple had actually cut deep into her.
Iris made her way over to the ash remains of Or-Gaule and crouched down to look at them, not making a sound. Erica took a moment to look at her before she turned back towards where they'd left Harry and was surprised to find a massive dome had formed in the skyline.
"What the hell happened over there?"
Her question was answered as Harry appeared and in a blur of motion was right next to her looking over her wounds frantically.
"How bad is it? Are you going to be alright? I shouldn't have told you guys to split up."
A fond smile came over Erica's face as she continued to pant lightly. "I'll be fine Harry, but I could really use a healer. You didn't happen to get a healing authority did you?"
Harry still seemed focused on her wounds, his eyes not even looking at her face. "No, it was nothing like that."
"Hey, look up here." Erica grabbed his chin and tilted his face up so their eyes met. She could see the worry he was feeling and sighed. "I'm okay."
"It's just...I made a judgment call to split up, but what if you'd died because I wasn't around to help you."
Erica smiled lightly at him. "Harry, I'm supposed to be your knight. You have to trust me to be able to handle the smaller threats so you can deal with whatever Heretic God is on a rampage. I'm a strong girl, I can handle myself."
It was clear Harry was still wrestling with his desire to protect her, but after a moment he hesitantly nodded. "Okay. Okay. I trust you."
Iris took this moment to get up from where she'd been crouching and walk over. "I can help."
Harry was confused by what she meant until Iris reached out to Erica and held her arm. The armor that coated Iris' body melted off of her and wrapped around Erica, simultaneously hiding her form while revealing Iris' own.
Rather surprisingly for someone who fought so brutishly, Iris Ascarid was a rather slender girl with a figure that matched Erica's own. She looked to be roughly Erica's age, with short, grayish-white hair and heterochromatic eyes; one red the other blue. With her armor gone, she was dressed in a white, sleeveless dress with green ornaments decorating it in certain parts.
"You can let the armor heal others too?" Erica asked, her voice sounding different from within the suit.
"It's an artifact that regenerates its wearer and itself," Iris explained. It took only a bit of time before Erica's wounds were fully healed and Iris recalled the armor but didn't put it back on instead it flowed into her body and disappeared.
Iris then looked at the two of them and bowed deeply. "Thank you. Without your help, Or-Gaule might have succeeded in getting away again or becoming a Campione."
Harry smiled wryly. "I don't think he ever really had a chance for the latter. Becoming a Campione isn't really a thing you can plan, it's a matter of luck and sheer lunacy that lets you become one."
"Still, we were happy to help," Erica replied.
Iris took a deep breath and glanced back at the ashes that were once her brother. When she exhaled, it seemed like years and years of stress lifted from her shoulders as her posture relaxed and a small smile came over her face.
Harry and Erica found themselves smiling back at her in turn, the events of the day having built up a lot for them.
"Well, isn't this just a pleasant atmosphere," a male voice sounded out.
All three were immediately on guard as they whirled around to the location of the voice. There, they found a young man who seemed to be in his late teens to early twenties. He was handsome, with spiky short blonde hair and blue eyes. There was a pair of sunglasses on his head, and he wore an unbuttoned blue shirt and grey pants. On his back was a large guitar case.
"So you're the newest one."
Erica's body was tensed as she looked at the newcomer. "Lord Doni, a pleasure to see you again." Her voice was calm, but spoke in an overly respectful tone.
Harry and Iris had been unaware of his identity, but now that Erica had called out to him, it was obvious who this young man was. Lord Salvatore Doni, the youngest Campione after Harry himself. He was associated with the Copper-Black Cross, so Erica had met him in the past.
"Well if it isn't the Blandelli girl. I'm not here for you though, instead, I'm rather interested in what my newest sibling can do."
That comment made it clear to Harry that Doni was here for a fight. Harry was still drained from his fight with Nyarlethotep and wasn't in a peak condition to fight a Campione who had more time than him to accrue authority and develop his skills.
"I'd rather have a rain check on that. Kind of burnt me out fighting a god just now," Harry said with a wry tone.
Doni looked over him for a moment and considered his words. "Well, no one can claim I'm not sporting. I'll tell you what, one authority and one full exchange. I just want to have a little fun, that's all."
Harry sighed, realizing it was going to be hard to get out of this. "Fine, one exchange. He walked forward, ignoring Erica's worried look and Iris' pensive one.
"Ha, that's the spirit. I like you already."
Doni took the guitar case off of his back and opened it, revealing a large sword he held in one hand. At the same time, Harry extended his hand in front of him and called on his newest authority. Wisps of energy came from his palm and formed the shape of a mask. One half of the mask had white energy wafting off it and displayed a crying Buddha made of white material, while the other half had black energy coming off of it and displayed a grinning demon.
[Mask Change]: An authority that had two different functions. It presented itself as a mask that Harry could summon, upon which he could pick which version of the mask to wear. If he chooses to use one side of the mask, the other side cannot be used for 24 hours.
[Crying Buddha]: A mask with the face of a crying Buddha. It gives Harry the ability to summon barriers that can be stacked on top of each other to block attacks and be used as a form of attack. Has a purifying effect on demonic entities and can alter the barriers with various effects.
[Laughing Demon]: A mask with the face of a grinning demon. It cloaks Harry in a black, demonic power that can be used both for offense and defense. He can manipulate the dark substance to form weapons and heal from attacks that would normally previously wound him. Attacks with the darkness also cause a festering effect that prevents them from being healed unless he wills it.
Harry lifted his hand and the mask changed to be entirely the laughing demon as he put it on his face. Immediately, his aura shifted and began much darker. Bloodlust radiated off of him, and a black substance formed from the mask down each of his arms, coating them.
"Yes, yes. Show me just what you can do little brother." Doni had a relaxed grin on his face as he readied his sword. "Here I come."
The arm holding Doni's word became silver and the silver effect extended to his sword. Harry didn't know exactly what his authority did, but he knew he didn't want to let that cut through him.
The darkness on Harry's arms formed into claws, and both Harry and Doni moved at the same time. Harry dodged around Doni's swings, but the man seemed to be totally controlled as he flicked his wrist and caused the sword to quickly change direction and chargeback towards him.
Harry used his darkness to try to slash through Doni's side, but Doni made use of some odd footwork to move around. They continued this exchange, bobbing and weaving around each other before Doni seemed to grin even harder and his movements suddenly got faster.
Harry grits his teeth, realizing he is going to start losing ground, and makes a snap decision. He let his arm move just a little bit too slowly, and Doni capitalized. His sword blurred and cut clean through Harry's arm, sending it flying off of his body.
To Doni's surprise, Harry didn't even react and instead, the darkness extended from his stump and grabbed his missing arm, while his other one clawed through Doni's side, drawing blood.
The stump pulled his missing arm back into place and reattached it, the darkness shifting shape and piercing through Doni's other side as well.
Harry disengaged and backed up, and it looked like Doni would continue his attack for a moment before his posture relaxed and he continued to grin despite the blood dripping down his sides.
"I guess this one is your win. I can't wait till you're rested, then we'll have a proper rematch."
With that comment, uncaring of his injuries, Doni picked up his guitar case and put his sword back in before starting to walk off. "You should stop by China when you get the chance. I'm sure Luo Hao would have plenty of fun with you."
The trio watched as Doni walked off into the distance, while Harry deactivated his authority and took off the mask.
"Is he always like that?" Harry asked Erica.
"No, he was surprisingly carefree interacting with you. He usually acts more intimidating when interacting with Mage Associations."
Harry shrugged, the fatigue from the day catching up with him. "I guess he's different around other Campione. All I know is I'm ready to collapse into my bed."
Erica still seemed pensive about the encounter with Doni, so Harry put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Let's head back, alright?"
Hesittanyly, she nodded and the two turned to look at Iris.
"So, what're you going to do now?"
Iris was quiet for a moment as she looked at the two of them thoughtfully. "I..do not know. Hunting Or-Gaule was all I've ever done since I was a kid. I guess I need to take some time to figure it out."
That made sense to the two of them, but they figured Iris would be able to figure it out. Erica gave Iris her contact information and the two pulled out the portkey and activated it, teleporting back to Hogwarts.
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Author's Note:
I don't know how many readers I actually have, so don't know how successful a poll would be, but I figured I'd ask just to get some idea where people's heads are at. Iris was a character I originally intended to have join the main cast at Hogwarts, but then I realized that I didn't quite develop her the way I planned in the last couple chapters, so I don't know how much you guys even like her. Not guranteeing one way or the other, but here's the two options just so I can see what you think.
1. Iris goes to Hogwarts and is another one of Harry's knights. She'd be learning how to live after having the mission that she devoted her life to ended, and Erica and Harry would help her adjust and find stuff she's interested in doing.
2. Iris doesn't go to Hogwarts, remains something like a pen pal to Erica and Harry. She'd show up later down the line, but would be much more of a side character instead of the main focus.
Let me know what you think, I am still actively writing this even though I end up with large gaps in updates.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票