Broker

Chapter 232

Four sets of boots crunched along the apocalyptic mix of snow and scorched earth. Bodies left frozen as grizzly statues or burned by the blaze that continued to rage amongst the remaining trees. The wind burned and bit, the humidity spiked, it was a sweltering hellscape made all the more nightmarish by the claps of thunder and booms of great powers exchanging blows. The ground shook. The air teemed with mana. Monsters formed only to die at the hands of the experienced warriors on the march.

This was a battlefield of mythics.

This was not a place where the ordinary belonged.

Four sets of boots crested the last small rise amongst the trees and stopped as another resounding boom shook the snow from one of the nearest trees. It hit the ground with a thud that barely registered amidst the din. Just ahead of them were the walls to Liberty’s compound. Their destination. They lay broken, cracked and torn. Beyond them, ruins piled so high that they could barely see inside.

“Evergreen’s been here,” BLF grumbled.

“Think she’s inside?” Crusader asked.

“No,” Harbinger said and pointed towards where the snow ended, just a few dozen meters away from where they stood. “She turned back at some point.”

“Black Lotus’ message?” Snow asked with a crackle of static, “Or you think she went to go back up the troops?”

“The pandora soldiers have Handmaiden, Vytal, and Bluestar’s team. I don’t think they have much to worry about,” Crusader said and felt her chest tighten a little bit. She looked over her shoulder and frowned, Teacher…

“She’ll be fine, she’s the world’s strongest hero. She just met somebody tough enough that she has to prove it, no big deal,” BLF said and clapped her on the shoulder, “C’mon. We’re here for a different reason.”

Crusader looked back at Harbinger who met her eyes. Her friend nodded gravely and she returned the gesture before looking back to the walls, “Let’s go.”

–

<”The Pandora Committee and United Nations Expedition Forces have begun hitting Liberty’s strongholds,”> Technocrat said into her ear as she flew over the decimated battlefield. Liberty’s forces were scattered into clumps here and there that were holding out well enough against the lower-tier heroes while figures like Evergreen and Handmaiden carved through them like wet paper. Ishtar spotted a particularly interesting patch of black ice mixed with eerie white ice before moving on. She had more important things to focus on than her own curiosity.

Black Lotus won’t be there to soften up Liberty more. Evergreen will be doubling back to back her up. Now the Pandora Committee is finally making their move on the strongholds, she clicked her tongue, “Did my string pulling pay off?” she asked.

<”In the countries we have a good presence in, yeah,”> Technocrat said, <”They’ve delayed launching against Liberty’s people for now, that’ll give Kingshark more time to clear them out one by one, but six strongholds are going to get hit still.”>

Ishtar frowned, “...how many were ‘asleep’?” she asked.

<”Three.”>

Not terrible. Given Kingsharks rate of conquest, that means only having to extend the fight another ten minutes or so, Ishtar surmised, “What’s the status on that monster wave?”

<”Your favorite dickhead is making some progress but there’s a whole lot of them, my guess is what, ten minutes for you to make up the lost time?”> he asked, she smiled at how close they were in wavelength, <”I think you’ll still be cutting it close. Given how fast he moved to catch up to you, it’ll be close unless he gets distracted.”>

Hm…

Ishtar was getting closer to the center, the waves of giggly madness had all but died down at this point. Only the raw power that Sapporo wielded was left, he was wholly focused on the fight now. She frowned and glanced up at the sky, “Kera! You know what to do!”

Above her, the rumbling storm died down as a single flash of electricity raced across the clouds back the way she had come. Ishtar turned her attention back to the center, on Liberty and Sapporo. She put on another burst of speed and conjured up a new pair of knives.

Don’t die, wild child.

–

Liberty hated heroes.

There was something about their self-righteousness that made her ill. She wondered about that a little as she deflected another haymaker from the glowing man from Japan. Was it just because of their self-righteousness? Was it because they went against her doctrine? Might made right, the strong rose, the weak died, yet the heroes used their strength to protect the weak. It was an insult to the natural order of things. Weren’t the laws of nature the purest laws out there? Why make things more complicated?

She whipped her arm out and clubbed the man in the side of the head with a backhand, sending him tumbling to the ground. She felt a brief wave of weakness wash over her and frowned, examining her fingers for a moment. One of her compounds had fallen. She’d expected that much to happen. Did they expect me to protect them? Foolish. No one knows about the dominion effect of my power and no one needs to. I have no intention of using it. Mundane walls are good enough for those who want to cower behind them.

She lowered her hand and slung her sword over her shoulder, “This is getting tiresome, Sapporo, your death is turning far less heroic. Stop struggling.”

The big man rose again, bleeding from one eye, his knuckles torn and bones poking through, his chin was cut and his teeth were broken. Yet he rose. He rose and got back into his fighting stance as if his body didn’t bother him at all. That golden glow rose up off his body and his eyes burned. She met that burning gaze with her own. Resolve. Not fearlessness. It was a conquered fear, a terror that had been taken to task and confronted in the heart.

He won’t back down. What a waste. Fine. Pathetic man.

She stalked forward only to stop and look up, her eyes narrowed and then she broke into a smile. She looked back at Sapporo, “On second thought, I am going to reward you for your efforts, Sapporo,” she said with a magnanimous wave of her hand. She held her hand to the sky and reached out to her currently active compounds. She felt her supplicants, her worshippers. The leeches who had benefited from the strength she gave them. There weren’t as many as she expected, but it was far more than enough.

They’ll be rousing the others soon, five compounds worth is plenty.

She took her due.

Power flooded through her body. Strength. Vitality. Endurance. Raw might howled within her limbs as that coppery glow turned silver for the first time. More than she’d ever drawn on before. The sword in her hand trembled, Craftsman’s toy resonating with her ability. The strange etchings on the side burning with more intensity. She inhaled, raising her head up high as she felt her body undergo a different change from her earlier uses of her ability. While using only a compound or two’s worth had made her grow in size, these new changes felt deeper, more qualitative. 

She savored the moment before turning her eyes on Sapporo.

—

It didn’t take all that long to climb the pile of debris. It was more tedious than anything else. Each tremor in the earth had unsettled part of the pile and forced her to change her focus. I wish I had wings like Alphonse, she thought irritably and silently hoped her avian companion was alright. She’d sent him off after the fighting and fires had grown far too intense to keep him safe even if he was great for a surprise attack. She glanced up from her latest handhold and spotted Harbinger who was already at the top.

“You good?” she shouted and pulled herself up, finally getting within arms reach of the top. She grabbed on and tugged, “Harbinger? Don’t zone out again, we’re almost-”

She crested the top and froze, seeing what she was seeing.

Liberty and Sapporo squared off, the enemy no longer bore a coppery glow. She was shrouded in silver light and her eyes had lost all humanity. Pupils gone, naught but white fire pouring from her eye sockets. Crusader didn’t even notice BLF and Snow pull themselves up as she rose to stand next to her friend.

—

Sapporo spat out another tooth, his regeneration was slowing down. The people of Tokyo are tiring. I can’t keep them dancing forever, she’s right, he thought. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He reached up to tap his earpiece and realized that it hadn’t been in his ear for a while. He’d cast it aside. He chuckled and rubbed his neck before looking out towards the human turned monster before him. Liberty was aglow, her power ascending to yet another height.

She smiled, “Judging me?”

He shook his head, “No. I take power from others, just like you,” he said, “I cannot judge you for that.”

“At least you are self aware,” she said.

He nodded again and raised his fists, “When I was a boy, I joined a street gang. I was strong and my friends were weak. I thought the best way to protect them was to become frightening enough that none would lay a hand on them. I wonder if the real reason was because I was scared for myself. The town I resided in was dangerous, my home just as fraught with danger.”

She scoffed, “Monologuing?”

“Reflecting,” he corrected, “I learned about the ‘rituals’ of your cult before you took over.”

She lowered her sword and tilted her head, “Are you… pitying me?”

He shook his head, “No. But I understand you,” he said before chuckling a little, “Of all the people to truly understand at this time in my life. You,” he chuckled again, a bubbliness in his chest and he reached up to rub his eyes, “Ha ha! It’s almost funny!” he threw his head back, “HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!” he sighed and looked up at the sky, “One more dance, please.”

“Very well,” she grunted.

He looked down at her, smirked, and shook his head before raising both hands next to his head and clapped. The wave of sound pulverized the ground around him as he felt strength flood into his body once more. He knew he was asking a lot of his people, his homeland, but if he could do just a little more. Take one step further. Then perhaps he could face what came next with a bit more pride despite his dishonorable choice. 

He flexed his legs and launched himself forward as that feeling kept building in his chest. Bigger, brighter, more and more joyful. Merrier and merrier, with all the mad laughter that came with relief, the release of tension, the wild moment when one could be true to oneself and set aside normal and decent. When there was just a little too much drink in your belly. When the song was just a little too exciting. When the company was just right.

Was Dyonisus a god of debauchery? Or were they a god of relief?

The strange thought occurred to him as his fist collided with her sword.

CRK-TIING!

A flicker of steel flipped away. The world felt right. His instincts felt whole. His eyes were open and his chest filled with laughter. He let all the rigidness of his life go. A childhood spent in the gang. Graduating to the Yakuza. The gritty life of crime that he had set aside to protect his home in a new way. The stoic expressions. The hard words. They melted away into a single memory. One not long after the flash. The day after he made his choice to become a hero. 

BOOM!

He hadn’t been scorned by the boss or his brothers.

BOOM!

They had celebrated

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

His fist collided again with Liberty’s chestplate, caving it in as she took one step after another backwards. He didn’t even hear his own laughter anymore. He didn’t hear her roars of anger and confusion. All he could hear was that party as he punched and punched and punched. Her head whipped away, blood dripping from her nose and lips. Her shoulder cracked. Her body bent. Her eyes bulged. She stumbled and at last, lost her balance.

The fire began to die. One last punch. Torn knuckles clenched, his tired body straining, he gave it everything he had. Every last drop.

“Crush the strong. Help the weak.”

She was lifted off the ground with the sound of a crack of thunder. What little architecture remained around them was pulverized. The world seemed to shudder and he felt himself reach something he didn’t quite understand. A threshold. A place. A world beyond that of mythic. A place where he could plant his flag and stand tall. Become a legend. It was disorienting, heartening, and humbling all at the same time to know in that solitary moment just how early in his journey he was.

He watched her fly away, striking her throne and crashing through it, pulverizing the supports of her main building and bringing it down atop her in a chaotic din of masonry and destruction. His knees buckled as the firelight faded. The dance was over. He had nothing left.

“RRAAAAHHHH!”

He looked up and let out a weary sigh as the rubble exploded. Liberty stormed out of the ruins of her home with that silver glow intensifying. Her jaw began to set, her busted nose and crippled arm slowly starting to heal. He planted his feet, digging them into the ruined ground beneath him. He heard something in the distance but paid it no mind. He was relieved. He was satisfied. He pulled away from that threshold, he didn’t need it to be a hero.

Liberty stood over him, her broken sword raised over her head and brought it down without a word.

His last thoughts were of a homeland he knew would be avenged. Perhaps not by him. But by the hero who came after.

—

Harbinger felt her knees give out. She dropped to the ground and grabbed a fist full of the debris beneath her. The world was quiet. She couldn’t hear her friends next to her. She couldn’t tear her eyes away. A burning heat streamed down her cheeks as her heart cracked in her chest. She watched Sapporo collapse and felt that monster, her sister, turn and look at her with a triumphant smile. She’d wanted her to see. Wanted her to watch. But it hadn’t come without a cost.

She grit her teeth and clenched her fists, pulverizing the debris in her hands and returned Liberty’s sneer with a defiant glare. 

Her sister frowned and turned to the body. No. Liberty raised her sword and glared down at it. Don’t you dare! That was when a flicker of movement heralded a white armored figure’s appearance at Liberty’s side. Liberty reacted, turning only to get an armored shin in the face that sent her right back into the ruins of her home.

Ishtar landed next to the body of Sapporo and all she could feel was relief.

“There is a certain expectation of dignity…” Ishtar trailed off with that raspy hiss as she looked down at the body. She turned towards where she’d sent Liberty flying. Harbinger felt that cold presence again weighing down on the area, “That was a step too far, Liberty.”