Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

In one movement they did as they were told, the other adventurers running away to protect and evacuate the civilians around them while he, Thera, and Abel stayed to fight, two of them moving in their own ways as Thera tore up the stone streets to bring them crushing down on him while Abel joined, creating and moving her monstrosities to wrap the demon in her flesh to hold it in place, with neither being enough to trap him as he grew in size, smashing through the restraints and breaking free while he laughed.

“A shame, I was hoping to do this with a touch more subtlety, but I suppose it is what it is,” the demon told them with an exaggerated shrug, how chatty it was being catching Ben slightly off guard.

He’d thought he’d understood in the beginning, the demon trying to put on an act for its conveniences but the fact that it was still speaking and, more importantly, how it was doing so caught his attention.

Even if it’s a demon mind in control, it’s operating on different hardware. I wonder how that’s affecting it?

A cursory curiosity that didn’t matter in the end. With one step it had lunged forward, looking at him first as it instantly broke the distance and would have impaled Ben with growing spikes if not for the fact that he could see the other’s movement and react at least with his magic, loading it in the things he wore to pull himself out of the way while at the same time actualizing a wall behind him, feeling at the demon crashed into it but that monster shaking off the impact in the same moment with a grin on its lips and magic of its own.

Instantly, screams were erupting around them, the fight too quick for anyone in the area to have evacuated as the city was flooded with demons as far as their eyes could see, with only Ben and Abel able to spot the truth.

Illusions, hundreds of them all around them and matching the ninth leveled high light magic Ben could see on his opponent’s soul. Without using eyes to see and relying on her numerous other senses, there was nothing to fool Abel either, with the creations giving off neither smell nor sound but still a disaster as they enveloped the people around them, the ones with magic already trying to use it to save themselves without seeing the people hidden within those spells and forcing Ben to spend his mana as he looked around, materializing enchanted amulets on the necks of Thera and every adventurer under him, powered by his own high level of light resistance to let them see through it as he screamed out more orders.

“Keep the people under control and get out of here already! Don’t let anyone recklessly attack each other!”

“So you can even beat this so easily?” the demon laughed. “Oh, I simply must make your power my own.”

The demon spent his mana as he said that, the skills Ben had helped Foast raise while he’d been making the man his armour now directed at him as flames and illusions of the same both came forth, mixed together as one and shot at him to try and hide where the real danger would be but brought down by Thera raising up a wall in front of them while she attacked in turn, trying to hold their opponent tight with her non-affinitied power while Abel’s true body came in as well, being swiped away as what had been his head turned into a powerful arm and broke through Thera’s hold, leaving Abel skidding down the street.

Ben didn’t have time to worry about that though, an attack like that wouldn’t be enough to keep her down. No, his greatest concern was what he’d just heard, the demon wanting to take claim of his soul.

Potentially what would be the worst option by far. Neither Foast nor the demon who’d claimed him would know it, they undoubtedly saw him as nothing more than the easiest third tier to take in their expected conquest, but he was the coming god of sacrilege and already held a higher level to the skill than any other mortal had ever achieved for any ability. Killing him would be a nightmare for the world, made only worse for what would happen if someone else killed the demon after.

His thoughts flashed to what Myriad had said, how dangerous Foast could already potentially be if he ascended to godhood and how much infinitely worse that would be if he ascended with Ben’s skills too. If Foast was likely to have access to a bit of faith immediately, then the same was likely true for himself as well given all he’d done, it would all combine together into a near guarantee that the demon would wreak havoc on the higher realm and all who called it home.

With the only potential positive being that there’s a slim, slim chance that the current nature of my mind might turn me into the dominant personality but I don’t think I want to take that risk. With all of the danger though, do I just give in and condemn him? Myriad’s right, the risk is high and everything I’m doing is having a minimal effect because even if it hasn’t ascended yet, that’s at least somewhat the soul of a god. My only other option might take me up to twenty minutes, which isn’t as bad as a proper god, but… No. No, I’m not taking the easy way out. I will save him. We will save him.

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With how much the other wanted him, it was easy enough to keep the shifter in his range, even if he had to be careful. He’d had demons cut off connect before once they understood the nature of it and he’d had them damage his soul for it as well, meaning he had to use it in the same way he would to hide it from the gods, flicking it in and out at high enough speeds that the other wouldn’t be able to perceive it and he couldn’t risk losing access to that skill or else all hope of saving Foast really would be lost but with his attention on Ben, that made things easier. He didn’t need to worry about attacking, both Thera and Abel could do that, all Ben needed to do was enough to make it seem like he was putting up a fight while really his focus could remain on dodging and doing whatever he could to keep its attention, speaking up to do just that.

“So, what’s even the plan here?” he asked it as the demon lengthened its arm to try and swipe at him, only just missing as Thera cut the unarmoured part of it off while Abel rushed over to scarf it down for what extra strength it would give her. “The jig’s up. We know what you are and the gods know what you are, you won’t be able to last long, even if you kill us.”

“Do you really believe that?” he laughed as poison spewed from his breath, forcing Thera back while Ben chose to bet on his innate resistance being enough to manage it, feeling it burn his throat but nothing more. “The body of this fool, he could have stood atop the world, greater than any of his gods yet he chose not to. Able to take what he’d kill for his own, a power so wasted on him was in the wrong hands from the start, but now it can show its true value. You think your pathetic gods can kill me? Will they be able to when I take you, Abel, Thera, and everyone else you’d come here with?”

“Damn, so desperate that you’d even go after a few weak adventurers? Kind of sad, not gonna lie.”

“Weak, huh?” it chuckled, seeing that the poison it had created wasn’t working and switched instead to firing off hardened quills, a quick peek in his head showing they were coated with a powerful acid and forced Ben to deflect them from his path. “I’d been fooled for a moment but you were never out to investigate my feeding grounds, you were out looking for this.”

He touched his chest, the demon using the context Foast’s memories gave him to figure out the truth of their mission and looked all the smugger for it as he went on.

“Would the world send anyone so weak out to look for a missing third tier? A godling, disappeared with no signs as to why? No, perhaps not all of them but you’ve brought me a feast of second tiers, and it would be rude not to partake.”

A gleam in his eye as the conversation made the demon change his perspective and immediate goal, in an instant his form shrunk down to a bird, fast and agile in its design in an attempt to dart past him but falling victim to Ben’s actualization once more as walls were put up around him to hold the other in place, straining his mind as they were pushed against with greater and greater force until broken through, the now titanic man rushing backwards still with a happy grin on his face as he went.

“Another curious ability I look forward to getting from you! Your mind skill and your mind reading, this strange actualization, the materialization you use so freely, as well as the things you can make. You alone look like a feast, but sadly, it does seem best for appetizers to come first.”

With group three the closest to him, the four there still working to help the stragglers get away and bringing the demon just out of Ben’s reach as he rushed to react but slowed in a way he hadn’t expected, dizziness washing over him from the effects of the actualization he’d put his all into being destroyed and his mind taking the toll.

Appraising himself the best he could, he could feel a drop of blood running down his nose and the side effects of it already slipping away but it was enough to stall him from acting, getting to see the growing panic in the eyes of the people that group was protecting while they held forth their weapons, none of them going to have any effect. He’d seen firsthand what everyone under him had been carrying and none had any chance of getting through the armour the man wore no matter how they might have tried to defend themselves but just when all seemed like it was reaching its end, a change in the environment occurred as Thera cast her magic, putting up a barrier and separated them from the world around them, leaving Foast to turn back when he couldn’t break through.

Thera. Ben thought at her, needing her opinion before things went on. How long do you think you can keep that up?

In theory? Days. She thought back. In practice? He’s already managed to break through my non-affinitied magic once, even if it was a different spell. If he really wants to, I’d bet he can do it again.

Okay, so that just leaves us needing to keep him occupied enough that he won’t think to. You focus on maintaining this, me and Abel will handle the rest.

And are you okay? She was quick to ask. You looked off.

Side effect of me thinking it would be a good idea to save on mana by actualizing instead and discovering what happens when my mental power loses. I’ll be fine.

The bigger concern was making sure they could keep him distracted for long enough to have a shot at the victory he wanted and with the shifter already coming back at him, Ben slapped his cheeks, working through the wave of dizziness and pain to focus on what was to come.