62 Against a God (1/2)
Chi-You drew nearer, and with each of his steps, the earth shook. Infernal heat leaked from his hoofed feet, burning a pattern of molten hoofprints into the ground as he approached Li with a wild smile. Mechanical sounds clicked and clacked with each of his motions as he was, quite literally, a machine of war.
All of his limbs, his six arms and two legs, as well as his body were of seemingly mechanical construction. The musculature was defined, but there were segmentations in the joints similar to how armor separated at crucial points such as the elbows or knees to allow for mobility. And through these segments flowed an igneous white energy that radiated both heat and light.
\”Did you call me here?\” said Li, quite a bit cautious. Chi-You and the other three gods, in the game at least, were endgame raid bosses.
It took a full party of four or five regular and competent level 100 players to beat him. But level 100+ characters that had seven additional full cycles of the campaign, fighting and defeating bosses far more formidable than the regular gods, would have amassed enough stats, spells, and celestial equipment to make a solo clear fairly possible against any of the four great gods who stayed at a basic level 100.
\”Me? I've no such ability.\” Chi-You snorted, wisps of smoke curling from his nose. \”That's Zahaka's domain, with all her fiddling and magic and whatnot, yet I doubt even her knowledge allows her to summon a god here.\”
\”Then why am I here?\” Li kept his eyes trained on Chi-You's six arms, each of which still held a golden weapon.
\”Because you-\” Chi-You raised three of his arms towards Li. An axe, spear, and sword flashed towards him. The war god's beady eyes narrowed as they analyzed Li. He gave a vigorous nod to Li. \”Are a god, and Valhul is where all gods are destined to be. You are strong, too. Perfect to break this streak of boredom. I challenge you to a duel, my fellow divinity!\”
Li shook his head. It looked like Chi-You's personality was much the same as it had been in the lore. Hot-headed and driven by battle. But Li didn't want to waste time amusing this god. He had already beaten this boss before. He could reliably do it again, even if it would be a relatively challenging fight.
\”You'll lose, so what's the point? Plus, you don't drop anything that'll help my farm, and I have more important things to do than lounge around fighting. If you value your life, then you'll lead me out of here.\”
\”Oho?\” Chi-You stomped his feet and flexed his metal muscles. His body creaked as power surged through him, incinerating the area around him. \”Then defeat me, and then I will gladly grant your wish.\”
Li could feel the raw power emanating from the war god. It was magnitudes upon magnitudes beyond anything he had ever encountered in Eldenia. But he expected this as well. Chi-You was level 100 after all, with boss-tier stats that made him a fight meant for multiple players.
But not as strong as Li.
\”Don't say I didn't warn you,\” said Li, his skull-head shaking.
For the first time since he had attained this new body, he withdrew the full extent of his arsenal.
In a swirl of black sparks, his staff - the Black Beauty - emerged, nestling snug into his skeletal wooden right hand. The Orphan of Shub-Niggurath impaled upon the staff gurgled out its infant cries, its willowy limbs flailing about, the ashen tendrils that made up its fingers flitting around.
A ghostly robe draped around his thin torso, covering his leafy, branched body from the shoulders down to the waist in flowing material that was almost see-through. Yet upon closer inspection, there were faces visible. Countless ghostly faces were sown together to create the robe, and they all had mouths open in agony, and yet their screams could never escape the confines of the mystical fabric.