TOS- Vol 2, Pt 1, Ch 7

The Overlord Saga

Vol II. Versus

Chapter 7: The Third Day
(Pt 3)

Underling Fish had seen the explosion and the limp body of the Ninja-Lord fly out from the Fortress’ gaping wall. He grabbed the Master of Tazers by the arm, silently pointing at where the wall was beginning to heal itself over with a blockade of ice. He glanced up at the sky, watching as the roof started to freeze over. “Oh, that can’t be good,” the Master of Tazers breathed, holding a tazer out in front of her.

“You’re trapped. Done,” an armored warrior stepped out before his troops, carrying a claymore in both hands, “The Master of Tazers. And some underling? Is that all that’s left of the Overlord’s troops?” He tossed his head back and laughed loudly, his blonde hair bouncing.

“Weren’t you one of the Insurgent Leader’s minions?” the Master of Tazers demanded, recognizing the knight as the Insurgent formerly known as Blondie, “You know what? Actually, I don’t care who you are. You’re annoying. And you’re stupid. And you’re in my way. So move!”

“That’s too bad,” Blondie laughed, “Because, you see-” His words were cut off by a deafening rumble from the earth. Underling Fish had stepped in front of the Master of Tazers, arm extended. A red light beamed in his eyes and a series of chains erupted from the earth, binding Blondie. As they held him down, his troops shifted uncertainly in position, looking at each other oddly.

“That’ll hold him... For now. Let’s go!” Fish stammered, grabbing the Master of Tazers by the arm and running alongside the wall. ‘The Ninja-Lord landed somewhere around here... I know she did. We have to find her!’

“Whoa, that was pretty nifty...” the Master of Tazers was distractedly looking back at Blondie. Fish stopped running when he caught a glimpse of the fallen Ninja-Lord. Releasing the Master of Tazer’s arm, he bent down to grab the Ninja-Lord and lift her up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” another voice caught Fish’s attention. He looked up from where he crouched next to the Ninja-Lord. The Master of Tazers switched her tazer to ‘high voltage’ and pointed it at the white-robed man.

Unlike the armored Blondie, this enemy had seemingly no weapon. But Fish was still uncertain- he wasn’t about to let his guard down around the stranger. The man’s smile seemed fake and sneering despite the amiable gleam in his eyes. His curly red-brown hair matched his chocolate eyes, and he had a darker complexion, contrasting against his priestly attire. Extending a hand in friendship, he said lightly, “Here... Let me help you...”

“Don’t listen to him!” the Master of Tazers warned, “Pharisee. We should have known you were behind this!”

Pharisee laughed very lightly, but Fish could tell that it was forced. As Blondie skidded to a stop on the opposite side of the group, the Master of Tazers slowly backed up to where she was next to Fish. The Ninja-Lord was still out cold, and Fish knew that he couldn’t possibly carry her and run through the army. He began to summon a series of more chains when a white blur seemed to fly from the Fortress, landing a foot in front of Fish.

“Nard?” the Master of Tazers asked, looking down at the little dog. He clutched the Soul Jar in his mouth, the twine dangling from his jaws. His dark eyes narrowed at the Pharisee and his ears swiveled back in mistrust. As the Pharisee extended a palmful of pulsing, light magic, Nard closed his eyes, a blinding white light surrounding the four underlings.

Fish clutched onto the Ninja-Lord with one hand, the Master of Tazer’s grabbing him by the shoulder on his other side. He shielded his eyes with his free hand as the light grew in intensity. The last thing he heard was the anguished cry of the Pharisee... And then piercing silence.


---

The Overlord’s boots hit the floor of the second to last flight of stairs, casting a glance over her shoulder. She didn’t see the Nemesis, but she could feel his presence everywhere- behind every wall and in every shadow. As she ducked onto the second floor, she ran with her head turned over her shoulder, ignoring what was before her. Rounding the corner, the Overlord slammed her shoulder into Tinkerbell, gasping in pain and clutching her side.

“You...” she looked up at Tinkerbell, blood seeping between her fingers, “Where are the others?”

The former Insurgent seemed to waver in view, and the Overlord shook her head roughly. ‘I’m losing blood fast. I need to find a way to stop the bleeding...’ she thought in a panic. “They went through the main gates. The Soul-Keeper broke through their forces. There’s a path they’ve taken to the forests,” Tinkerbell said slowly, “There’s not as many of them now. We took care of them... But their leader’s freezing the castle!”

“I see that...” the Overlord panted, “Tinkerbell-” She was cut off by a deafening boom. The wall fell away to reveal the Rebel Commander standing outside with a bazooka. “Damn!” The Overlord dropped to the floor, “He must’ve seen us through the window... Listen, I’ll go down this way,” the Overlord gestured with a thumb over her shoulder, “And I’ll see if I can distract him. Get to the plateau. You’ll be safe there.”

“But Overlord-” Tinkerbell started, but nodded, “Right... I’ll see you there.”

“You always had your head on straight when I needed you... Thanks...” the Overlord offered him a weak smile, then took off running down the hall. A series of ‘booms’ vibrated the corridor, sending the floor caving in behind her. The Overlord leapt to the staircase, grasping the railing with both hands. As she made it down a flight, she skidded to a stop as the staircase abruptly ended, the walls collapsing over. Using the rail as a boost, she leapt into the first floor hall, slamming into the wall. Stopping to glance down at where the floor had turned to ice, the Overlord muttered a string of curses. Forcing herself from the wall, the Overlord propelled herself forward, down the corridor.

For the first time in her life, the Overlord didn’t understand what was happening around her. Ice had flooded the interior of the castle, the temperature dropping by the second. She felt as if her lungs would freeze if she breathed, and so, she held her breath. The weight and pressure of her wounds made it hard to move down the hall, her boots slipping on the ice that covered the floor of the corridor, tinted with blue but transparent. She could see the stones and the carpet she knew so well beyond the layer of ice. But the Fortress seemed different, altered, and an enemy to her. She felt its walls closing in, consuming and trapping her as she moved. But to be fair, she figured this was all a mental game. She figured that this was a nightmare, one she had to wake up from eventually, right?

The sounds of screams and pitiful cries rang in the Overlord’s ears, her heart a war drum and her feet echoes in the back of her mind. Slipping on the ice and catching herself on the walls, she almost dragged down Van Gogh’s Starry Night as she steadied herself. She turned the corner, hand reaching up and wiping a trail of blood away from her forehead. She would not fall here. She promised herself that much, and the will to not break a vow compelled her to only sprint faster across the frictionless ice. She found notches where the stone remained untouched by the ice and used those spots to propel herself forward, sliding on the ice. Small splotches of blood were left with each step, her hands covered and her side maimed. She kept one hand on the gaping wound, the other touching the walls to balance herself.

As she came into the throne room, the Overlord looked up at all of the columns holding the ceiling up, grimacing at the spirals of ice that wrapped themselves around the pillars. This Fortress was not the one she knew- it was alienated, mutilated, and different. That was what seemed so disturbing... How it could all be the same and how it could all be so different. She proceeded forward a step as a figure materialized in the center of the room, darkness lapping gently at his steel boots. His helmet shielded his eyes from view, but they still glittered as the torchlight reflected from the ice structures. The scythe in his hand was crimson with blood, the markings embedded in its handle ablaze in an unfamiliar blue light. The Overlord didn’t understand these runes that littered the weapon she had once wielded... The weapon that seemed like a traitor now.

“You...” she gasped, extending her hand forward. As she attempted to summon her scythe back into her grasp, she found herself striving for the energy she didn’t have. The magic she no longer possessed. In anger, in grief, she lowered her hand, the malice in her eyes glowing in the light, “Nemesis!”

“Your reign is over, Overlord.” His voice was airy, his words light yet sinister. His tone was laced with traces of triumph, but he did not speak loudly. The Nemesis merely shouldered the scythe, allowing a few crimson droplets to stain his dark armor, “And your soul... Is forfeit.”

“What did you do with him!?” the Overlord demanded. ‘I can’t die...’ She promised herself, ‘If I do... It’ll all be in vain. His death will be for nothing.’ The Overlord cast a fleeting glance at the door and began moving slowly towards it, keeping a hand on the gash in her side. ‘Alexi WON’T die in vain!’

“Your little friend killed himself tragically. Don’t you remember? He killed himself... For you. Do you take joy in that, Overlord? Seeing your supposed friends dying just for your own benefit? Only... His sacrifice was in vain. Because here, Overlord, here you will fall,” The Nemesis said softly, “Your soul is mine.”

"You forget, Nemesis... I have no soul," the Overlord said scornfully, "I cannot perish. It comes with the whole 'Overlord' job."

"Are you certain of this?" the Nemesis quirked a devilish eyebrow, lips slowly, subtly, and yet chillingly working themselves into a coy smile. Scythe in one hand, he lifted the other to summon an orb of light blue frost magic. Crushing the sphere with a gloved hand, the Nemesis' low chuckle swept through the throne room as some frosted wind. Tendrils of magic shot down the scythe, embedding it with a ice charm. As it pulsed and glowed strangely, the Overlord drew back.

"If you're immortal... Then what have you to fear?" the Nemesis challenged the Overlord.

"Heh... Not you!" the Overlord snapped back and charged forward. Her hand, covered in blood, moved from her wound and she jumped into the air, grabbing the handle of the scythe with one hand. The Nemesis swung simultaneously and the blade came dangerously close to striking her. She tried to pull the scythe away but found that the coldness of the weapon was painful to touch. Drawing her hand away, she winced, her fingers halfway to the shade of blue.

She ducked as the scythe zipped over her head, smashing into an ice pillar. As shards flew everywhere, the Overlord attempted to tackle the Nemesis, but found herself merely shoving against his breastplate. He grabbed her with a hand and tossed her into the air, leaping upward himself. As he struck her twice with her own scythe, he cackled, thoroughly enjoying the use of her own technique against her. The Overlord hit the ground on her back, gasping as she gazed upward at the ceiling. The Nemesis, not missing a beat, drove the scythe directly into the Overlord's stomach, pulling her upward in a scooping motion and then tossing her at a pillar. She crumpled to the floor, defenseless and feeling her consciousness wavering. The Nemesis merely walked over to her, grabbing her by the neck. As she cried out in horror, he lifted her into the air. His eyes, glowing with cerulean malice, met hers for a brief moment, and he slammed her promptly into the ground again.

"You will bow before me," he laughed as one of her hands tried to pry his icy fingers from her neck. The Nemesis pinned her against a column supporting the roof of the Fortress, and continued, "You will worship me." As he slid her up a half foot against the pillar, he slammed the blade of the scythe into the already gaping stomach wound, pinning the Overlord to the stone. "And you will serve me."

The Overlord felt something emerging from her chest, involuntarily seeping through her skin. She gasped for air, feeling a small cascade of blood flow down the right side of her face. As she tried to pull the scythe from her, she saw the tendrils of golden light reach from her heart, as if answering the scythe's silent call. In pure horror, the Overlord's hands moved to grab the light trying to escape her. The Nemesis extended his hand forward to welcome the light- the Overlord's soul- into his grasp. The Overlord shielded her wavering soul with both hands, looking up in silent terror.

'I can die.'

'I have a soul.'

'I can die.'

'I didn't think I had a soul.'

'I'm dying right now...'

'No... He's stealing my soul!'

'I'm going to die!'

'NO! The Theurgist won't have died for nothing!'

As the Nemesis reached forth and tried to move her hands from her soul, the Overlord felt a sudden surge of energy. Grabbing her soul with one hand and the Nemesis' face with the other, she shoved her enemy back. Not caring if the scythe was charmed or not, she pulled it from her, letting it clatter to the ground. As the Overlord's feet hit the ground, she stumbled, sinking to one knee. The Nemesis grabbed the scythe and moved to swing it at her. The Overlord shot forward, not knowing where she was heading. Promptly shoving her soul roughly into her chest, she made a sprint for the window. Using a fallen portion of column to boost her forward, the Overlord struck the stained glass window with such a force that it made an ear-splitting crack, shattering entirely and flying everywhere. The Nemesis groaned, shielding himself with a hand. The Overlord fell onto the ground, her broken form creating a large blood smear on the sidewalk. Out of adrenaline, she picked herself up, grabbing her stomach wound and sprinting toward the opened main gates. As they began to creak shut, the Overlord made a second painful jump, passing through the gates and rolling a few times onto the cracked, dusty ground.

She closed her eyes, laying on the other side of the gate for a moment. As her heart raced, the Overlord shuddered and breathed deeply, ignoring the bits of sand grains stuck to her face. Gradually, her eyes opened, gazing blankly at the red sky. Lifting her head from the ground, she clutched her stomach, trying to stop the bleeding with her bare hands. She sat up, stifling a cry and rolling up onto her feet. Rising, she felt a sharp pain in her knee and almost fell over again, her eyes stinging with bitter, harsh tears. The shadow of the walls still looming over her, she cast a glance back, knowing that the soldiers would be coming for her any moment now. She had to run.

The Overlord forced herself forward, in a slow, shameful walk, but moving nonetheless. She loathed this feeble feeling, her knees shaking with each step and her blood staining the sand. 'How am I still alive?' she wondered, not looking at her large wounds. She knew she had to focus on making it to the escape route, where she would meet up with the others. They could take care of her from then on... She knew they could. It was a matter of getting to the escape route- just a matter of surviving the blazing heat. But still, as the bleeding, defeated Overlord walked, the heavier each step felt. She felt her essence fading, her energy depleted.

Slowly, the Fortress faded until it was merely a landmark against the darkening skies. But the haunting thought lingered in the Overlord's head, plaguing her as she realized what was happening- the inevitability of what was to come scaring even her.

'I'm dying...'