TOS- Vol 2, Pt 1, Ch 6

The Overlord Saga

Vol II. Versus

Chapter 6: The Third Day
(Pt 2)

The world was spinning, her vision blurred except the armored Nemesis standing before her. She reached up and feebly knocked the scythe away, scrambling to her feet and moving to the Nemesis’ right. Her legs were shaky and weak and she found herself falling down once more, grabbing onto the wall for support. The Overlord pressed herself against the wall, breathing heavily and unable to move. She slid into the corner, the effort of trying to fight back winding her, and she fought the urge to sink to the ground entirely. The Nemesis shook his head and spun the scythe around with a hand.

“Magnificent weapon...” he purred lightly, then slammed the blade into the Overlord’s side, digging a deep wound. She cried out but kept a hold of the wall, not daring to fall over. As the blade unhinged itself from her side, the Nemesis cackled, his breath visible in the cold office.

But there was one thing that the Nemesis had forgotten in his moment of victory, his triumph, and his gloating. The Theurgist, still very much alive, had fully recovered from the attempt at the theft of his powers. His eyes had first caught sight of the Overlord pressed against the corner and bleeding profusely, his hands stirring and rousing to action. He rose to his feet, looming behind the Nemesis with some odd twinkle in his eyes. The Overlord saw this, but couldn’t speak- it was hard enough to even breathe in the Nemesis’ presence.

Palms glowing with magic and magic flooding his eyes, the Theurgist roared a single word behind the Nemesis, “HENOSIS!” The Overlord shrank by the wall, grasping her side with both hands. ‘Henosis? No... Why is he...? He can’t do this! Not without someone else! Damn it!’ the Overlord thought, shielding her eyes from the light massing around the Theurgist. His eyes, pupil-less and glittering with thousands of different colors all at once, turned to the Overlord, “Run! Get out of here!”

“You...” the Overlord stammered. “Why...?”

“Go!” the Theurgist yelled, his entire body glowing with light. He closed his eyes, hoping the Overlord would understand why this had to happen. She stared in horror and in awe, but willed herself to run to the stairs. Blood staining the ground, she slipped a little on the ice, catching herself and glancing back at the Theurgist as he became a blinding figure standing in the room. The room darkened, the rush of cold air outmatched by a sudden warmth- a divine presence radiating within the Theurgist’s eyes. She recognized the holy aura, her eyes closing for just a moment.

“You will not come between me and my prey,” the Nemesis hissed and charged forward. However, he hadn’t taken two steps before a wave of light shot out, hitting the Nemesis in the chest. The Nemesis slammed against the wall, bellowing in rage. But another scream tore through the air, slicing and stinging the Overlord’s ears. Her heart lurched, cut by an overdose of horror and sorrow as she shielded her eyes with her hands. The light filled the room for what seemed like eternity, the Theurgist’s scream lasting equally as long. And then, it faded, leaving pure silence in the Overlord’s ears.

But the light vanished, giving way to reveal the Theurgist laying in the middle of the floor and the Nemesis standing merely feet away. The Overlord’s eyes trailed downward, where the Theurgist lay- resting on his back as though he were sleeping. But something seemed so wrong about how he was sitting there- so distorted and twisted around in death. His eyes were half-lidded, but glazed over with something. It took the Overlord a minute to even consider that the Theurgist was dead. She couldn’t understand how this could be- hadn’t he been talking to her just moments ago? Was this real? It couldn’t be. She didn’t accept it.

“No!” the Overlord screamed, still standing in the doorway, “Theurgist! Alexi!” Her head spun even more, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She reached out to grab his arm, but glanced up, looking at where the Nemesis stood, the blow from the weak Henosis attack merely denting his armor. He pulled the scythe from the ground, and cast a glance at the Overlord.

“Now... where were we?” the Nemesis asked lightly.

But she didn’t hear any of it. She heard something else- something from a long time ago. She saw him before he was an Underling, her mind’s eye blinding her vision with a flood of memories. The Overlord choked, feeling so enlightened but disturbed as she gripped the side of the wall, leaning back against it. For a second, she looked at the fallen Theurgist, a flicker of envy in his eyes. He was free from the pain, wasn’t he? He died doing what he knew was his destiny, his niche in fate fulfilled, and now he could go onward. But still, she found the serenity- how peaceful he seemed- to be very temporary, replaced by a bitter taste in her mouth.

‘Alexi... Alexi... Why did you do that? You knew you couldn’t do this... Not alone...’ the Overlord’s thoughts were all muddled together. She swayed on her feet, but not because of the blood loss. She knew she should run, honor his last wish, and flee from the castle. But how could she? How could she leave his body? ‘No... He’ll understand...’ the Overlord felt her inner logic cut through the chaos in her mind. ‘He’ll understand why.’ The Overlord turned abruptly, feeling the tears in her eyes, and ran, knowing full well that the Nemesis would pursue her.

“So this is the game you’ll play, Overlord? A game of cat and mouse...” the Nemesis snickered, “Run if you must. I’ll find you in the end.”

---


The Ninja-Lord and the Soul-Keeper were at a loss for words. As the Ninja-Lord slid down the railing, throwing a dagger into an armored soldier’s throat, she caught a glimpse of the Soul-Keeper’s Apprentice ferociously beating away a group of winged harpies with her staff. Summoning three orbs of fire to pursue the flying menaces, the Apprentice was standing back-to-back with the Animal Tamer. She had Nard in one hand and a leash with a large dog attached to it in another. Nard squirmed out of her arms, running off into the battlefield.

“Nardy!” the Animal Tamer cried out in horror, “No! Come back!”

“Leave him, that dog knows what he’s doing!” the Lieutenant grabbed the Animal Tamer by the shoulder, “We have bigger things to worry about. Like... THAT!” He pointed at a large, blue-scaled dragon that had crashed through the dining hall and into the main corridor. He threw a grenade, wincing and flailing his arms around as the Evocator drew too close to the explosive. She ducked as it hit the dragon, causing one of the columns in the hall to collapse. The Evocator clutched the journal in one hand, searching for the Theurgist and the Overlord. She moved behind a pillar as a series of enemy gunmen appeared, bearing futuristic armor.

“Who are these guys?” the Captain screamed over the fighting.

“I guess these must be the False One’s generals,” a tall man with short dark hair and glasses remarked. He strode through the front doors, carrying a large bazooka over his shoulder. The Captain bristled, his eyes narrowing as the newcomer moved his bazooka into attack position. “I am the Rebel Commander!” he announced loudly, “And none of you will be leaving alive unless I say so.”

“Oh goodie,” the Advisor muttered, putting in a round of bullets into her machine gun, “This is gonna be great.”

“Leave this punk to us,” the Captain nodded to the Lieutenant and picked up a bazooka.

“Oh great... A bazooka fight. That’s.... Not gonna end well at all,” the Animal Tamer remarked.

The Ninja-Lord leapt onto the new chandelier, avoiding gunfire from the Rebel Commander’s troops. She broke out one of the windows and climbed onto the roof, glancing down at where the courtyard was packed with soldiers. The Master of Tazers was valiantly leading a group of fighters to block the main doors, tazing anyone who tried to get past her. Shinobi, Kunoichi, and Llama appeared beside the Ninja-Lord, silently observing the battlefield “There’s so many of them...” the Ninja-Lord glanced at Shinobi, Kunoichi, and Llama, “Find a way out of here. We must retreat.”

“What about the Overlord?” Kunoichi asked with wide eyes, “Where is she?”

“Hmph. I thought retreat was never an option?” Shinobi asked the Ninja-Lord, arms folded.

“It is now,” the Ninja-Lord replied, “I checked every wall. We’re surrounded. There’s troops all over the place. I don’t know where they came from!”

“The Soul-Keeper was saying that some of them were old enemies of the Overlord. Did they mass together for this attack?” Llama asked quietly.

“They must’ve,” the Ninja-Lord realized, “Llama, Shinobi, Kunoichi! Open the secret passage under the stairs and lead the army into the eastern mountains. The plateau is the safety point. I’m ordering a retreat for the Overlord.”

“Can you do that?” Kunoichi asked.

“Who cares?” Shinobi countered.

“Follow my orders!” the Ninja-Lord declared, throwing a smoke bomb and disappearing from view. She re-appeared in the courtyard, next to Underling Fish. Tapping him on the shoulder, she said, “You’re the newbie, right?” He stopped firing his gun at an incoming group of cavalry units and nodded silently. The Ninja-Lord folded her arms, “Find the Master of Tazers and tell her that we’re issuing a retreat. We’re against impossible odds.”

“Impossible...” Fish muttered, but nodded, “Understood.”

The Ninja-Lord appeared next to the Soul-Keeper next, wincing as he tossed an enemy soldier off of the top floor of the stairs. “We’re retreating,” she informed him, “The Overlord’s in her office? With N, I presume?”

“The door’s barricaded, I tried to get in...” the Soul-Keeper ducked as the Rebel Commander’s bazooka missed the Captain and hit a portion of the stairs. As part of the stairs fell away, he grabbed onto the Ninja-Lord, pulling her to safety, “We need to get out of here.” He didn’t let go of the Ninja-Lord and promptly warped both of them in front of the secret passage entrance.

The Animal Tamer and the Apprentice were already being urged inside by Russia and Prussia. “Get in there! The Overlord will be coming shortly!” Russia yelled, then turned and struck a harpy in the face with a crowbar. Prussia had a broken lance and had speared one of the irksome woman-birds through the wing. The Soul-Keeper stepped into the passage as the Evocator ran up, her flame and frost summons vanishing.

“Have you seen the Theurgist?” She grabbed a hold of the Soul-Keeper’s sleeve, looking up at him imploringly. When he shook his head, she let go of him and turned to leave. However, the Ninja-Lord put a firm hand on her shoulder.

“Go. I’ll send someone to look for him. He might be with the Overlord,” the Ninja-Lord said calmly, “I’ll make sure they get out alive.”

“I’ll go!” Tinkerbell offered, “I’ll find him for you. Okay?”

“I... Okay...” the Evocator relented, turning and running down the dark hall after the Animal Tamer. She summoned the storm spirit to help light her way.

“Tinkerbell!” Prussia yelled after the underling as he dashed off through the melee. As he turned to look back at her, Prussia called, “Where’s Sexist?” After he gave her an apathetic shrug, she frowned and glanced at Russia. Worriedly, Russia gazed after Tinkerbell, a frown on her face.

The Ninja-Lord turned and clashed blades with a swordsman, shoving him away before she realized that the soldier bore an Insurgent uniform. She frowned, sent an odd look at Russia and Prussia before kicking the Insurgent over to look at his face better. She had sworn it had been Blondie, but it was some other unfortunate soul. Carelessly, the Ninja-Lord stepped over him and began trying to urge the Lieutenant and the Captain into the escape route.

The Captain fired a missile at where the Rebel Commander was running between a series of pillars. The missile struck a pillar, sending a portion of the roof caving inward on the hallway. Nimbly, the Grasshopper leapt to safety, her opponent, a sword-wielding knight, a little less fortunate. “Go on! Get inside!” the Lieutenant began firing a machine gun at the recovering Rebel forces. The Grasshopper cast a glance at the melee, then was roughly shoved forward by Prussia. She vanished into the secret passage, protesting under her breath.

“The Master of Tazers is still unaccounted for!” the Lieutenant looked at the Ninja-Lord, “Isn’t that newbie supposed to be getting her to retreat?”

“Damn it!” the Ninja-Lord yelled in frustration, stalking forward. She ducked as the Rebel Commander sent a shower of bullets at her. Moving around the side of a column, she drew her katana and began pulling herself onto a halfway standing pillar. As she leapt onto a statue and climbed up to look outside of a massive stained glass window depicting a fight between a knight and a dragon, the Ninja-Lord caught a glimpse of where the Master of Tazers and Underling Fish were both surrounded by a group of knights. Glancing at the Captain and the Lieutenant, she shouted, “Go! I’ll get these two!”

An ill-aimed missile struck the wall next to the Ninja-Lord, sending rubble flying everywhere. The Ninja-Lord was thrown from the statue, blasted through the wall and landing on her back outside the Fortress. A trail of blood ran down the side of her head, her vision full of stars. The cries and screams around her seemed to fade away, her body shuddering but unable to move. She was vaguely aware of what was occurring- especially the gash in the side of her head. Feebly, she reached and brushed it, fingers turning a bright red with blood. When she caught a glimpse of her hand, the Ninja-Lord promptly lost consciousness.