Jackal Among Snakes

“So long as you stay with me, Sophia, you’ll be fine. Ignore everything that comes for us, no matter what form it takes.” He held her small hand in his, preparing for what was coming. “I won’t let go. You can’t, either. He’ll try everything to break what you’ve created. But we won’t let him, will we?”

“No,” Sophia said defiantly yet fearfully.

A terrifying, fleeting power had permeated the city of Blackgard. Everyone could feel it, and some had even experienced it before. Still, no one was fully prepared to experience what would come this cycle, not even Argrave. It had the heat of a flame, yet his body remained the same temperature. It had the weight of the planet, yet exerted no pressure. It tasted and smelled like everything, even when there was only saliva in his mouth and air on his nose.

All of the buildings ahead began to warp and distort, folding inward on themselves, curving eternally into the sky. The mountains surrounding them rose high enough to pierce into space while descending deep enough into the earth to pierce the dwarven city of Mundi. Even Anneliese’s ward, sustained by eternity, couldn’t fully resist what was coming. It sphere became a universe unto itself as the Spark of Eternity fought a power that was its peer… or perhaps it superior.

Sophia’s power was that of creation. It could bend reality. Griffin’s power was that of destruction. And her brother’s power had as much mastery over reality as hers did.

Gerechtigkeit’s reality-bending power made the world around the instrument of his destruction. It could master and control everything outside the domain of creation and life. Dirt, stone, metal, cloth, water, fire, lava, even the wind—these blank slates without a spark of sentience were the perfect vessel for his consummate desire. And with them in hand, he brought forth not merely a hell… but everyone’s hell. Up, down, left, right—they became meaningless distinctions in this world of nightmares.

The rows of buildings twisted into mockeries of people he’d once known. His distant cousins, nephews and nieces, his parents, all made into incestuous abominations that clambered toward him, melting like wax with every step they took.

“You’re happy,” they whispered at him, their faces all smiles. “Can you share it?”

Argrave’s might’ve forgotten they were foes without the presence of Sophia, who squeezed his hand tighter in fear from whatever personalized nightmare she was facing. He used blood magic, clinging to the pain to ground him for what needed to be done. His parents screamed in agony as he severed their body limb-by-limb, as he watched them bleed and spasm from his attacks with light draining from their eyes. Their corpses remained, like a reminder of his sin.

White-haired children clawed at Argrave’s boots, their eyes amber and their ears elven. Each and all had umbilical cords still attached, leading back to a putrescent bloated woman with Anneliese’s face. Beside her stood himself, but instead of his own face, he bore that of Anneliese’s biological father’s—her mother’s rapist.

“Daddy!” the children sang. “Love me! Love me like mommy!”

Argrave felt rising bile in his throat as he prepared to wipe away what he saw. His children broke his legs and tried to eat his calves as he hesitated, and it was reason enough to purge that disgusting image with more blood magic than was necessary.

A sharp pain pierced Argrave’s back, and when he grasped at it pulled free a knife from his back. He looked toward its source to see Elenore, sitting atop Orion like a bench. His brother clenched Anneliese’s face, crushing it like a melon as she screamed in total agony.

“I never loved you,” Elenore said. “Not once. You’re more of a dog than he is.”

Induen, Levin, and Felipe III rushed at Argrave like frenzied ghouls, and Argrave’s blood magic raged against them with tremendous struggles. They cut his arms off near as much as he himself used them for blood magic. Sophia’s vitality kept him whole, but Argrave felt battered and broken, and he stumbled upward through time.

Before she could reach Argrave, a giant bird’s foot slammed down upon her. The Smiling

the power of creation,” the Smiling Raven said, bearing Raven’s face on

final blow he wiped away both of them,

older, hung from a noose, her wrists sliced open. Her dripping tears and

You couldn’t help me. I couldn’t forget,”

though the weight of it might break him, and it very nearly did as much

shouted, bearing down upon him

not fit to rule!” Vasilisa yelled, bearing the head of Archduchess Diana on a spike as

from history,” Emperor Ji Meng explained calmly, arriving at the shore with a

Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report

of his victory. The continent was ravaged and pillaged and every great city utterly wiped away. Its people were killed and tortured by people seeking vengeance for the chaos Argrave himself had brought to them. They became barbarous

and shattered, cracked and burnt, twisted and disintegrated… yet somehow, somehow, he fought back all those insurmountable

met one of his one attacks. He stared in

put in all this work, all this effort… spent millions, maybe billions of lives… and in the end, I

Argrave muttered beneath his breath,

with a spell of his own, advancing ever closer as he

didn’t achieve much. The things that I was expecting to be there weren’t.” Skeptic Argrave cast out blood magic with the same reckless abandon Argrave did,

the Heralds didn’t give a damn was because they didn’t need to. Honestly, what was I thinking? It was clear from day one that we were like fish in a fishtank. Even if a clever octopus manages to escape its aquarium, it won’t change the reality of the matter.

imbued a tremendous amount of blood magic into his staff, and the thing began radiating with such an intense crimson light it warded away even some of the darkness persisting all around. He strode forth, swinging it

the end of the day, at the end of the road… the only thing you’re doing is killing yourself,” Depressed Argrave said, even as the blade of blood cut through its flesh. “Admit it. You’re wrong. You’ve never been right.

Garm’s eyes in the same instance, delivering a devastating volley of blood magic right into his

and everybody loved you. You could’ve killed Gerechtigkeit. Wouldn’t have been perfect, sure…

afraid

Argrave released the power that Argrave had so oppressed others with in the past—the might of the [Bloodfeud Bow], of all his lifeforce condensed into a single point. As it approached, he was near certain that his body would die. Even despite all of that, he stood firm, directing all of his attention toward

much power behind it. Perhaps Argrave mustered more power than he ever had. Perhaps he instinctually grabbed Sophia and used her as an invulnerable meat shield before delivering a devastating counterattack. To be frank, even Argrave wasn’t quite sure what he did. He merely had