Chapter 190: (3) Apophis Vs DungEater
DungEater continued to lean over Apophis, his liquid metal face staring impassively down at Apophis's face of black smoke.
His remaining arm was still melting, dripping into Apophis's ribcage. The metal of his body was vaporizing into microscopic particles that bonded with the smoke-like molecules that formed Apophis's own body, slowly taking over his enemy's body from the inside.
System Alert: Assimilation 20% complete...
System Alert: Assimilation 30% complete...
System Alert: Assimilation 40% complete...
Every second, more of DungEater's liquid metal spread throughout Apophis. Every second, Apophis drew closer to losing himself completely.
Yet, he remained almost motionless on the ground.
DungEater, seeing Apophis's passivity, laughed in a weary voice and said, "That's good! You've finally found some sense. Just sit there and let this happen. It's almost over, and there's nothing you can do about it!"
Apophis replied in a calm and composed voice, "Can I ask you a question?"
DungEater was surprised. He suspected some new kind of trap, so he scanned Apophis and saw that he only had about 20% of his life left. If there was really a trap, DungEater could simply punch Apophis and kill him with one final attack. "I'm listening," he said.
System Alert: Assimilation 50% complete...
Apophis asked, "Why did you leave Lucifer's body? Lucifer has so much authority that it seems like a waste to reveal your true form."
DungEater answered, "I didn't leave it voluntarily, but it was necessary. I hadn't fully synchronized with it, so it was holding me back. The truth is, you were too strong for Lucifer's body. My superiors mistakenly assured me that the combination of my Skills with Lucifer's body—and this Skill I'm using now—would be enough to defeat you, even if my stealth mission failed and we had to openly fight."
DungEater chucked dryly. "They didn't realize how close you were to attaining a new evolution. Because of that, I lost Lucifer's body... and my chance to fully assimilate his light mastery Skills and have them forever. Such a shame. I only had one more day of synchronizing with that body before it would've been complete."
System Alert: Assimilation 70% complete....
Apophis smiled back. "I see! Well, you're really strong. Honestly, since my rebirth in Horus, you're the first opponent who's really made me enjoy a fight... Not only because you're a higher level than me, but also because you've perfectly mastered the use of your liquid body and your hundreds of stolen Skills."
DungEater replied, "You've been an incredible opponent, too. Nobody before you has managed to survive long enough to detect my weakness. I sincerely wish that you'd have joined us. But even if you claimed to want to join our organization now... Well, I'm afraid I would know better than to believe you. Goodbye, Apophis. The adventure of Horus ends here for you."
System Alert: Assimilation 90% complete...
Suddenly, Apophis's expression transformed into a malevolent, burning-red grin.
DungEater suddenly felt terror.
There was a trap, after all!
But then the Sun Cultist breathed a sigh of relief, because his Skill had just reached 99% progress. The solidified parts of his body, which Apophis had nullified with his attack, broke away and fell completely to the ground.
The remaining liquid portion of DungEater's body unraveled into a shining spider web of silver strands and began wrapping itself around Apophis's smoky body—
"Too slow," said Apophis.
He raised a hand and touched his index finger to the center of the silver web, channeling all the Energy that he'd just spent the last few seconds regenerating into the center of DungEater's exposed body.
The effect was immediate.
DungEater's body exploded into mist as though a bullet had struck every molecule at once as Apophis's corrosive void Energy broke apart the link between the metal molecules and DungEater's own cosmic power!
System Notification: Assimilation failed.
A wail of agony filled the air like the sound of sheet metal being torn apart. DungEater's body immediately re-condensed into a liquid, but it was no longer shaped like a man. Instead, it oozed in a puddle like spilled honey. A set of fingertips trembled on the surface of the puddle, as though someone were trapped underneath the surface, but DungEater couldn't even form one proper hand.
The faint shape of an agonized face appeared, staring up in horror at Apophis.
Apophis was, by now, leaning on Regnier's sword as though it were a cane. He chuckled as he looked down at his fallen enemy, then stabbed his sword into the middle of the puddle to stop it from regenerating any further.
"You bastard!" DungEater whined.
Apophis replied, "I'd expect a little more dignity from one of the higher beings of the Sun Cult. I guess you weren't such a formidable opponent, after all."
DungEater replied with fury and pain, "This isn't over, Apophis! I'm Level 91! Even if I die, I'll only lose one Level... and then I'll be back in fighting condition! We'll meet again very soon, and then I'll have no trouble at all assimilating you! Then you'll pay me back tenfold for the EXP and GC you took from me here, you damned cheater!"
Apophis thought about this for a moment. "Yeah, that's a real possibility. After all, the Valor Temple isn't very far away from here, relatively speaking... I assume you have a Skill you can use to cover vast distances very quickly."
DungEater's voice became deliriously gleeful. "And even if you could escape... You think I'm the only one with this kind of power?! We have spies everywhere! In the NPC factions, and even in the SuperGuilds! Wherever you hide, we'll find you! And that goes for the real world, too! We'll hunt down your family and whoever else you love... and make them pay for the way you dared to defy the Cartel!"
Apophis had heard enough. He removed his sword from DungEater's torso, which allowed the liquid metal molecules to begin regenerating his body once more.
DungEater was confused. "What are you doing? What, you've decided to join us after all? I suppose with a threat like that, you've realized your trickery can't help you any longer!"
Apophis replied calmly, "You know, in my first life, I wasn't at all an exceptional player. Just a simple Esper specializing in fire Skills, like I am today. However, even back then, I had a theory about the game that nobody else figured out."
DungEater said nothing, but simply concentrated on Apophis's words while his body regenerated.
Apophis used ~Firebending~ to melt a huge obsidian pentagram on the ground around himself and DungEater.
"Thanks to my extensive understanding of the physics of this game, I figured out how the regeneration cycle works for players. When an Eternal dies, all of his Energy is concentrated on the center of his forehead. Then this Energy incinerated his physical body."
DungEater had a sudden surge of hope. Apophis was distracted by his own monologuing! Perhaps he could regenerate enough that he could still hit Apophis with a stealth attack and kill him.
Trying to buy time, DungEater answered, "Everyone knows that! Once dead, we lose a Level, all GC we're carrying drops to the ground, and we lose a piece of equipment if we die in PvP! What's special about that knowledge? Even the NPCs know about it, since they can see that Energy on our foreheads!"
Apophis replied, "Yes, but no one else knows the exact mechanics. Except for me, of course. Most people think the system simply respawns them at a fixed location on the planet. And, indeed, many game events change where players respawn, such as during the Battle of Cronos I. However, I learned the true reason for this.
"In truth, our consciousness and Energy merge and disperse when we die. They are then reconstituted at the strongest magnetic pole of the planet."
He paused for a moment, then added, "Actually, it was a certain story event that helped me realize this. I realized that the Energy of some players slightly shifted attunement when they were allocated into different factions for the event. That new attunement was what caused them to regenerate at different locations than other players! Once I shared this knowledge, I became somewhat famous. People in my former life started calling me Apophis, a reference to the ancient Egyptian god of chaos and souls."
DungEater suddenly froze in horror. "You... you mean you've found a way to hijack the respawn zone of this planet?!"
Apophis laughed and crouched down, putting a hand to the warm obsidian lines of the pentagram. "Not on a planetary scale. That would probably finish the job of ripping the planet apart. But to create a small zone that spoofs the magnetic signature of this planet's respawn zone, so that anyone who dies inside it will be drawn right back into it? That's no trouble at all."
Apophis injected his quickly regenerating Energy into the pentagram, causing it to shine with red void light. Then Apophis stood up and stared down again at DungEater.
His enemy understood what was about to happen. In one final, desperate attempt, DungEater formed his body into a spike of metal and stabbed desperately for Apophis's smoky throat.
But Apophis simply took a step back and cut the shining spike in half, depleting the last of his enemy's HP.
Server Notification: The player "Apophis" has just killed the player "DungEater" and has just earned a bounty award of 60,000,000 GC.
Then, as described in their recent conversation, DungEater's Energy condensed in his forehead, then covered his body and disintegrated him, leaving behind only a piece of equipment and lots of GC.
But only a few moments later, a beam of white light shone from the center of Apophis's pentagram!
The first few seconds of respawning left a character very disoriented, and Apophis took advantage of this to stab DungEater deeply in the center of his liquid body and channel Energy into him again. The stellar dragon's power was still in the air, and Regnier's sword kept absorbing it, so even Apophis's low Energy was hardly a problem.
Before he could fight back, DungEater died for a second time.
And again.
And again, ninety times in total.
Apophis then stopped and examined DungEater's stats.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼ PLAYER
║ ╰╼[Name]: DungEater
║ ╰╼[LvL]: 1
║ ╰╼[Tier]: E
║ ╰╼[Class]: Boxer
║ ╰╼[Biology]: Liquid
╚══════════════╛
Apophis said, "Your Skill really did let you absorb EXP from other players, I see. You really had reached Level 91. Very impressive! Well, you're much less of a threat now."
DungEater was trembling on the ground, mentally broken. "Mercy," he whispered.
Apophis was shocked. "What?"
"Mercy!" DungEater repeated. "I didn't tell you the full truth, but I will now!"
Apophis scoffed. "The truth? Tell it, then. I'm listening."
DungEater said rapidly, "People like me, who committed suicide in real life to integrate their minds into games, are not immortal like other players! If we die at Level 1, our characters disappear completely from the game! That's what happened to some rebel members of the Cartel!"
His voice, once menacing, was now completely pathetic. "Do whatever you want with me! Enslave me if you feel like it! But =don't kill me again, or it's over for me, forever!"
Apophis smiled coldly and put his foot on DungEater's forehead.
"I seem to remember you saying something a moment ago... threatening my family and the people I love. Isn't that right?"
DungEater had no response.
"As you said," Apophis continued, "It's over."
He violently crushed DungEater's head beneath his heel. There was so much force behind the stomp that the obsidian glass shattered beneath them, and the ground itself cracked even further.
Then DungEater was dead for good. His corpse sat there in a lifeless pool of liquid, just like any other dead NPC.