Apocalypse Tamer

Chapter 123: Man vs Threats

Maxwell’s laughter echoed in the chamber.

“You should see your faces!” His lips morphed into a terrible grin, revealing three rows of sharp fangs behind the smile. “Oh, my mistake. Here I thought you’d figured out my master plan. Forget what I just said then.”

“No,” Plato deadpanned.

Vasi tightened her grip on her staff. “Basil, you have your answer for why his portals open two-way,” she said with a scowl on her face. “He will send his brood through them.”

“I too should spread my seed across the multiverse,” Rosemarine mused.

While his darling dragon’s desire to share her magnificence with countless universes pleased Basil, Maxwell’s plan quietly horrified him. Much like the virus he was, he intended to infect other worlds connected to Earth. The horrors he had inflicted on Basil’s planet would repeat on an even grander scale.

He shared a glance with his allies. None of them needed to speak up to reach the same conclusion.

Maxwell couldn’t be allowed to escape the room alive.

“Now, now, calm down.” If Maxwell felt intimidated, he didn’t show any hint of it. “No need for violence. I just wish to talk. I’ll be on my way as soon as we reach an agreement.”

Basil readied his halberd and shield for battle, but answered anyway. Talking with Maxwell would keep him distracted until they figured out a way to get him away from Kalki. “Let me guess, fiend, you want to offer a devil’s bargain?”

“You could say that,” Maxwell replied mockingly. “I have been observing your team for a while. I didn’t think much of you at first, but now… I see you might actually have a shot at winning this little competition of mine. This presents a few issues and opportunities.”

“There’s nothing you can offer us but lies, villain!” Bugsy replied as he took flight. The Apolloworm floated close to the ceiling, but made no move to attack Maxwell yet. Rosemarine kept her guns pointed at the parasite, while Plato turned invisible.

All the Bohens required to attack was a signal.

“Do you imply I am not trustworthy?” Maxwell snickered, though he did not move from his spot. “I am truly wounded.”

“You have betrayed everyone you’ve ever associated with,” Shellgirl pointed out. “You’re what we real businessmen call a dirty grifter.”

“You insult me. My employees wished for godlike power and I delivered.” The ceiling trembled as Maxwell spoke. The Bohens’ allies were probably rampaging through the dungeon. “Your foolishness astonishes me. Do you truly think I won’t teleport away the moment you attack me?”

“You can’t risk it.” Vasi pointed at the imprisoned Kalki with her staff. “You’ll never surrender him to us.”

“That's where you’re wrong.” Maxwell shrugged. “I don’t really care who keeps the Avatars imprisoned, so long as neither is allowed to reunite nor be slain. Either would delay my plan significantly, and ruin yours. I’m all too willing to give these children away if I obtain some guarantees.”

“I don’t believe you,” Basil replied.

“Think, Basil, think!” Maxwell snorted. “I was inside Benjamin’s dungeon when he caught Vishnu’s Avatar. I could have abducted him long before you entered the Louvre, or I could have sent Ashok to your doorstep instead of Apollyon. Yet I did not.”

Maxwell’s posture shifted atop the red sphere holding Kalki. Instead of standing on two feet, he moved onto all fours like an animal. His arms and legs elongated in a way that was as unnatural as it was uncanny. His torso thinned out like a skeleton, his nails grew into claws, and his sunglasses sunk into his eyes until they became indistinguishable from the flesh. The scene resembled a monster wearing a grotesque parody of a human costume.

“The truth is, mortals… I’ve been doing this for eons.” Even his voice lost its humanity. His words droned out in Basil’s mind with a digitized effect. “If I can’t win the game, I’ll move on to another world and start this cycle all over again. This planet’s destruction will be a setback, true, but not the end.”

Basil snorted. “If you are so mighty, why seek to negotiate?”

“Because it will make my life easier. Our interests align in the short-term.”

“I doubt that,” Vasi replied dryly. “You’re bluffing.”

“Am I?” Maxwell raised his hands, his nails growing into elongated claws. “Am I really?”

He stabbed the sphere holding Kalki prisoner faster than Basil’s eyes could follow.

The dragonknight immediately hastened himself and jumped upward. Bugsy charged as fast as he could, while Plato reappeared above Maxwell. Within seconds, Dismaker Labs’ CEO found himself with a sword applied to his throat, mandibles ready to crush his skull, and a halberd within an inch of his heart.

But none of the Bohens dared to land a blow.

“Calm down, everyone.” Maxwell chuckled. His claws had pierced through Kalki’s prison and were now grazing his throat. “A twitch of my hands, and the Avatar loses his head. His death will be instantaneous.”

“So will yours,” Plato threatened. The feline twisted his blade to slightly graze Maxwell’s neck, but no blood poured out of his skin.

Dismaker Labs’ CEO locked eyes with Basil. “Are you willing to bet this planet’s fate on it?”

Basil clenched his jaw. He was confident in his speed and strength… but there was a non-zero possibility that Maxwell was better and willing to follow through with the threat. He had destroyed countless worlds before. Why would Earth be special?

It could be a bluff. If Maxwell had said the truth—which Basil couldn’t guarantee—then he intended to use the planet as a nest. Destroying it would endanger his plans for reproduction.

Am I willing to bet everything on his word? Basil scowled. If I’m mistaken… If I’m mistaken, the consequences will be dire.

Worse, Maxwell was an anomaly as far as the System was concerned. He might possess abilities that would let him linger after his Health Points were reduced to zero, or come back from the dead to murder Kalki. He had shown himself capable of moving in stopped time, which should be near-impossible.

That was the issue when dealing with cheaters; Basil couldn’t trust the usual rules would apply today.

He clutched his halberd tightly, but dared not land a killing blow. Neither were his allies. Basil could see the sweat on Plato’s face, the hesitation in Bugsy’s eyes. His allies kept their weapons pointed at Maxwell, yet none of them dared to attack.

It was a deadlock.

“What are you?” Basil asked while trying to figure out a way out of this hostage crisis. “What is it that you want, truly?”

Instead of mocking him, Maxwell chuckled to himself. “Are any of you familiar with the concept of convergent evolution?”

“Yes,” Bugsy replied with fire in his eyes.

“Environmental pressures shape a species’ evolution towards a common adaptation,” Maxwell explained with a condescending tone. “A cactus learns to harvest water where it is lacking. Smart honey bees gang up on an invading hornet to cook him alive with their bodies. A bird’s beak changes to better crack a fruit open. Those who fail to adapt perish. Strong, weak, doesn’t matter. This is the primordial rule of nature.”

“Get to the point,” Basil said sharply.

“The reverse is true as well. Life seeks to change the environment to suit its needs. Beavers build dams and reroute rivers. Kelps form underwater forests that allow other vermin to thrive, and humans pump the oceans with plastic. Eventually, reshaping matter is no longer enough.”

Maxwell’s smirk widened further.

“Eventually,” he said, “life seeks to change the very rules of reality.”

Though Basil didn’t understand his point, Vasi did. “Through the System?” she guessed with a gasp. “You are talking about the System?”

“Bravo, someone applaud her!” Maxwell waited a few seconds, as if expecting the Bohens to follow through with his suggestion. None did. “Systems appear independently across the multiverse because they are born from the willpower of lifeforms. Some species gain classes allowing them to replicate the skills developed by their kindred half a multiverse away, while others change form to fit the ideal version of their race.”

The more he spoke, the less Basil believed him. “Are you saying Systems exist because we think of them?”

“No,” Vasi replied with a deep scowl. From her expression, she appeared as fascinated as she was spooked. “He says that we will them into existence.”

“Systems are the physical manifestation of sentient lifeforms’ desire to transcend a contraining reality,” Maxwell explained. “Sometimes would-be gods create them artificially, thinking they have stumbled upon something original, while others arise slowly from the subconscious will of a species. All serve the same purpose: to quantify a complex reality into simple numbers and bend it to life’s will.”

“That’s…” Basil squinted in skepticism. “Hard to believe.”

“Yes, yes, I understand that it might seem difficult to grasp for apes who believed their planet was the center of the universe not too long ago.” Maxwell sneered. “Unlike a lie, the truth does not require anyone to believe in it. It just is.”

Basil ignored the jab. “My sources told me not all worlds develop Systems. If your theory was correct, then why did you require neurotowers to summon it to Earth? That doesn’t hold up.”

“You make for a poor listener, Basil,” Maxwell replied ruefully. “I said Systems are born from life’s desire to ascend and that they appear through convergent evolution, not that their existence is inevitable. They are still rare as far as the multiverse is concerned. Other civilizations follow different means of ascension, through technology, sorcery, or binding themselves to entities from higher planes. The roads differ, but the destination remains the same: ascension.”

“If this is true, how do Overgods fit into all of this?” Vasi asked. Though she sounded skeptical, she couldn’t suppress her curiosity.

“Life desires to survive, but immortality is a word,” Maxwell replied. “Even if one stops aging, a stray gamma ray burst can end life as easily as a fall from too high a floor. The pinnacle of life is not the entity bound to the laws of physics; it is the one who writes them.”

Was he saying… Was he saying that the purpose of life was to achieve godhood?

Basil brushed off the question. Whatever the man said, he only trusted Maxwell as far as he could throw him. “That’s all very interesting,” he said dryly, “but you still haven’t answered my question.”

“Any good lecture requires a set-up, my sweet summer child.” Maxwell looked down upon Mortifère, whose blade pulsated with darkness. The god within craved the CEO’s blood. “My my, it seems your weapon wishes to avenge poor Benjamin. How quaint.”

“Don’t change the subject,” Basil warned.

“So impatient, but fine, I will tell you of my kind,” Maxwell mused. “We have evolved alongside the first Systems. Where lower lifeforms gain experience to strengthen their souls, our bellies are never full.”

“This is why your level is marked as zero,” Vasi guessed. “You cannot gain any. You are a bottomless pit.”

“Sad, but true,” Maxwell replied with a falsely pitiful tone. “Systems reject us, so we need to subvert them.”

If so, then Walter’s theory was correct. Maxwell manipulated others because he lacked raw power. However, his speed gave Basil pause.

Subvert. The word Maxwell had used was a cause for concern. How much power does he have? How much can he bend the System’s rules rules?

“All I hear is that you are a glorified tick,” Plato snickered, his blade still ready to behead Maxwell at the first provocation. “You take and give nothing back.”

“Says the glorified pet.” A red glow appeared behind Maxwell’s sunglasses eyes. “Life was good at first, but the Overgods couldn’t tolerate our existence. We disrupt their pitiful design, you see? They want to see more people climbing up the ladder, while we feed on those who fall off the side. For them, the multiverse is a win-win tournament. But for us…”

Maxwell laughed to himself. “It’s a zero-sum game.”

Basil snorted. “I guess you failed to talk things out back then?”

“The Systems we had subverted were dismantled or reset, our spawn were purged, and survivors were forced to run and hide.” Maxwell sighed. “I dare say I’m part of an oppressed minority.”

“After all you have done, I sincerely doubt it,” Basil said with a cold look. “Sounds like you had it coming.”

“Can you blame us?” Maxwell mused. “You weren’t the one born requiring to feed on worlds to survive.”

“Are you fishing for sympathy? You?” Bugsy glared at Maxwell, his voice brimming with outrage. “With all your smarts, you could have… I dunno, you could have built so many houses and helped so many people! You could have made others want to keep you around them! But all you have done is hurt and kill!”

“You said it yourself in Paris, you had no obligation to make this System as deadly as it is,” Vasi agreed with a nod. “You could have created something similar to my world, but you did not, because you are a malignant sadist who needs to die for the good of literally everyone else.”

Maxwell’s grin widened further. He didn’t even bother to refute the argument. “When you live as long as me, you find your fun where you can.”

It took all of Basil’s willpower—and the threat of universal annihilation—for him not to impale Maxwell where he stood. The tremors above them only increased in severity, and Ashok was still running around.

“He’s stalling us.” Basil’s eyes darted to Shellgirl. “Is the Logs option still offline?”

His companion glared at Maxwell. “He’s interfering with it.”

“Guilty,” Maxwell confessed. “But now that I have said my piece, you understand my position: the Overgods will not allow me to propagate beyond this world.”

“Good,” Basil replied.

“For you? Certainly not.” Maxwell glanced down at Kalki. “He and his girlfriend are two halves of a greater whole called Vishnu. If they touch, they will fuse together and wrestle control of the Trimurti System back from me.”

“They will fuse like Ronald?” Rosemarine asked after missing the key point.josei

“So you would rather destroy the System than lose your control over it?” As far as threats went, Basil had heard better. “Is that your strategy? To intimidate us? If you can’t win, everybody loses?”

“Basil, Basil… you still don’t see what’s at stake for you.” Maxwell chuckled. “Vishnu is the god of Preservation. If this bleeding heart is summoned properly from his current castrated incarnation, he will grant dear Benjamin’s dying wish. He will recreate Earth as it was–”

“And we will die?” Shellgirl snorted. “Big deal, we already figured out a workaround. We’ll just skip universes while this one is recreated.”

“Oh you naïve child, do you think it will be that easy?” Maxwell taunted them. “Half your merry band were once humans. No matter where you go, you remain bound to the Trimurti System. No matter the universe you escape to, Vishnu will recall your essence and return it to its original shape.”

He pointed at Bugsy, Shellgirl, and Rosemarine with his chin.

“These three will never have existed. And you…” Maxwell grinned at Basil. “Will return to nothing.”

Will you be nothing again?

Basil’s vision went red. “You and the Maleking are cut from the same cloth!” he snarled, pressing his halberd against the monster’s chest. “You’re just trying to sow discord among us!”

Maxwell did not flinch. If anything, Basil’s fury only seemed to amuse him. “I know you have allied with unsavory individuals far more ruthless than you could ever be. Like a certain necromancer. Once these foreigners realize that your System’s continued existence risks spreading my infection to their own, they will either try to fuse the Avatars or kill them.”

Though Basil privately wouldn’t put something like that beyond Walter, he still trusted him a thousand times more than Maxwell. “So what?”

“So keep that in mind, Basil,” Maxwell replied softly. “And do the right thing.”

Maxwell’s arms retracted and exited the sphere, leaving Kalki unharmed.

The CEO acted so swiftly, and so unexpectedly, that none of the Bohens managed to react with more than a blank stare and a gasp.

“I’ve told you,” Maxwell taunted them, “I don’t care who keeps these two–”

Bugsy snapped his skull between his mandibles. Plato’s blade was already cutting halfway through Maxwell’s neck, and Basil’s halberd impaled him through the chest. The corpse deflated like an empty balloon.

“Is he dead?” Shellgirl asked without really believing it.

“I would bet all my remaining lives against it,” Plato said as he examined the corpse. “That was far too easy.”

“This was a decoy,” Basil confirmed. A cursory examination of Maxwell’s remains showed them to be a husk, and he hadn’t received any damage notification when he landed the killing blow. “If he could block the Logs features, he might have been able to fool my Monster Insight.”

“At least we recovered Kalki.” Vasi took flight and approached the crimson sphere holding their friend captive. “Can you cut through his prison?”

Basil attempted to slam the sphere with his halberd, but his weapon bounced off it. The barrier that had let Maxwell through refused to budge before another.

“We’ll need to destroy the neurotowers,” he said, turning to face Rosemarine right as he noticed a shadow teleporting at the other end of the hall. “What–”

Time skipped forward.

And when it resumed, Basil found himself facing a flying spear.

Only his Hasten buff and extraordinary reflexes saved him from a lethal headshot. He raised his shield and deflected the projectile, the blowback sending him stumbling down into the pond below the statue. He vaguely heard Vasi shout a warning before a thunderbolt powerful enough to blast a mountain hit him in the chest. A torrent of lightning surged across the pond’s water, but glided off his armor harmlessly.

The familiar, mocking voice of Belphegor echoed in the hall. “Performance issues?”

“This is not immunity,” a man answered with a hint of frustration. “But so long as you keep the witch busy, I can take him.”

Basil jumped back to his feet, right in time to see the rest of his team spread around the hall to dodge a rain of swords. Rosemarine had been thrown back against a neurotower by two giants with a hundred arms each, and a blonde Valkyrie pursued Vasi above the spheres holding the two Avatars.

“Sorry man, you missed out on a limited time offer,” Belphegor told Basil as shadows swirled around his hands. Zeus-Ashok stood at his side, his eyes shining with lightning. “You should have become Famine while you still could.”

The Horsemen had found Apollyon’s replacement.