Dawn of the Void

Chapter 96: BRRRRRR

Here we go, called Serenity. Got the official countdown. One minute.

The crowd was eating out of Kimmies palm. She kept hitting them with Inspire every fifteen or so minutes, boosting them up, reinforcing their will, getting them focused and ready for war. Now with the moment at hand the atmosphere was electric. Thousands were ready, roaring their eagerness for what was to come.

It was almost frightening.

Thirty seconds, yelled Serenity.

Circle is up, called Olaf. Deadeye is shared. Strike like Thor!

Yo, you believe in Thor, dude? asked Yadriel.

I wish I did. Olafs was grim. His blessing in battle would be righteous.

Fifteen seconds.

Good luck everyone! said Kimmie. Stay focused, stay calm. Fight with everything youve got. Were going to win this.

Another wave of positive emotion washed over James. But it did nothing to blunt his excitement. He shrugged his armaments, both arms rising slightly, Vault Gun and Empyreal Canon ready and infused with power.

Im very excited, said Jelly. There is so much this Canis can do. I am learning more about its interface even as I speak.

Test drive, growled James. Time for a spin.

Five seconds!

Rock and roll, said Jason, great ethereal arms of pure aura emerging from his chest like kraken arms. They began to swirl slowly around Olafs circle, glowing bright gray like buffed iron.

This is for Joanna, said Olaf and raised his M4.

Two. One. Show time! Serenity grasped her Ma Deuce by both handles and panned it over the huge intersection.

The roar cut off, people everywhere reading their alerts in consternation. They were seeing the requirement to gather in groups of a hundred and then immediately satisfying that demand.

James wanted to inhale. Wanted to roll his shoulders, limber up.

But he was a machine wow. AnApparatus Bellicus Prime. All he could do was kill.

Shouts and screams burst forth as the Nem3s began to appear. Not one at a time, not in groups of five or ten, but hundreds.

In a moment, there they were. Towering, vicious, gleaming obsidian skin. Their faces little more than bulging bone carapaces, their maws opening in exultation at the sight of so many mortals gathered so tightly about them. Hunched over, massive, their arms terminating in those scythe-like blades, they shrieked in ecstasy and surged forward, intent on slaughter.

James opened fire.

He poured divine power into his Double-barreled Vault Gun. The weapon grew potent, heavy, dire with heavenly might, and with a cacophonous roar unleashed a stream of Gloria-enhanced Smite bullets across the intersection. Each bullet was eight inches or more, gleamed bright bronze, and flew with such speed and volume that it looked as if he were unleashing streams of burning copper lasers across the crowd.

The bullets passed through street signs, through people, splashed against the side of cars and vans.

But they tore the shit out of the Nem3s.

The huge demons fell apart as the ammo ripped them apart. It was as if they were made of clay. Limbs flew off, heads shattered, waists were severed.

The rest of Crimson Hydra followed suit, but even Serenitys huge gun paled in comparison to the holy damage James laid across the intersection.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR went his Vault Gun. He strafed the crowd, the gun causing his entire chassis to shiver. Two thousand rounds in thirty seconds. Nem3s exploded into fountains of gore, bursting apart. People screamed but still managed to just crouch and cover their heads.

But there were over two thousand Nems. They killed people simply by materializing on top of them, appeared on rooftops and in the avenues, in the park, up and down the streets.

And they all focused on James.

His Vault Gun hit its cool-down. Serenity kept pouring her Eternal Fire upon the enemy, the others doing the same with their M4s, but with his huge gun going quiet, the Nem3s rallied.

Bent over and fired their bone spears.

Shields! bellowed Olaf.

The guns went silent and shimmering walls of force appeared before the team. The attack came from all sides, almost all of them aimed at James.

He had a split second in which to decide.

Standing still meant drawing fire.

So best to move.

He crouched, the bone harpoons flashing toward him, and then leaped.

Strength 155.

Power 90.

The sedan crumpled beneath him, bounced as he left it, and then he was up, soaring through the air, the spears flashing beneath him. The very precision of the demons aim undid their attack; they flew past him, slamming into Olafs circle and shattering it immediately, overwhelming the Shields, but clattering and bouncing off the ruined sedan on which James had stood but a moment before.

Out of the way! roared James, his voice echoing, god-like. Hed aimed for the clearest spot he could see, and it cleared as the people there yelled and shoved away.

James landed. A handful of Nem3s were only a dozen yards away, a 90-degree arc.

Time for the Empyreal Canon.

The weapon fired up, blazed with golden fury, and then James unleashed a plume of raw, super-heated Aeviternum plasma. It billowed out with a shuddering roar, glory incarnate, washing over people and Nem3s alike.

The people were unaffected; if anything, they laughed, shocked, suddenly euphoric.

The Nem3s melted like sticks of butter thrown in a furnace.

Their flesh ran, their bones cracked, their limbs dropped out of their sockets. It took but one pass and all six Nems were reduced to hellish slag.

Cool down over, James.

Time to party.

He opened up with the Vault Cannon at the limited rate of fire and began to pound forward, allowing his Gloria-enhanced bullets to speed out over the crowd.

Yadriel, he boomed. Youre up.

Hell yeah!

DONDONDONDONDONDON went Serenitys big gun.

The Nems were focused on James, however. They werent concentrating any fire on his crew, so when Jason flew past, heading out wide and trawling a net of pure Aura beneath him, James felt nothing more than blunt satisfaction.

He lumbered forward, people clearing a path as he went, but now the Nems were tracking him. Bone spears flew at him, began to hit. His Aura did nothing to stop them, so they cracked home, failed to dig into his huge armor plating, and simply bounced off.

James felt each blow like a punch, but they did nothing more than cause the Hound to shiver. He rotated his upper chassis as he went, spraying rounds indiscriminately through the audience.

Your rank is now Novitiate 8

You have 5 unspent points.

James dropped a Heavenly Assault in the park. His line of sight was obscured by foliage and trucks, but the lightning bolt dropped down like a live wire of divine justice wreathed in Glorias golden light. It slammed home, blasting out a shockwave of power.

Nem3s came bounding toward him, dozens at a time, closing to try and hack with their limbs.

Still firing with one arm, James unleashed his Empyreal Gun.

Aeviternum plasma blasted forth, and the Nems died.

Your rank is now Novitiate 9

You have 10 unspent points.

His huge field of vision alerted him to the trouble up Flatbush toward the bridge. Nems were massacring people, wading through the crowd like assholes at the beach kicking over sandcastles. James dropped a Heavenly Assault on them, then a second, then a third.

Three bolts of living lightning slammed down in quick succession, triangulated to overlap yet still cover as much area, and the white fire charred and then shattered the Nems choking the avenue.

Your rank is now Acolyte 1

Your Class is Eradicating Crusader

You May Select Your First Virtue:

Fortitude | Justice | Prudence | Temperance

+10 to All Physical Stats

+15 to Arete

Aura Strength 4

You have 15 unspent points.

James didnt have time to read the details. He felt a sharp surge of elation, checked the Hounds stats, and saw that his own increase didnt affect the Hounds base stats. Hed dive into it all after the fight, and so dismissed the text and turned just in time to see a Nem3 come hurtling into him from the side.

His Bronze Aura activated. The Nem3 ashed as it hit the aura, so that instead of being rocked to the side by the tackle he was instead simply blasted by a spray of black smoke.

His Vault Cannon hadnt ceased firing. He raised it now to rake the rooftops and resumed striding toward the park.

Hydra was as busy as he was. Jason swooped back and forth over the crowd, dodging and swinging out wide around bone harpoons, lashing at demons with his aura. Yadriel was a fiend, leaping and tearing at all that he could find. Kimmies voice echoed in the background as she worked crowd control, while everyone else continued to open fire with their Smite-enhanced guns.

Your rank is now Acolyte 2

You have 20 unspent points.

The crowd parted before James, folks screaming his name, cheering him on, and he dropped a couple of Heavenly Assaults down Tillary Street alongside the park which ran the whole length of the block. Then he raked the park proper with his Cannon.

Nem3s were fleeing the intersection, swiping at people as they left, bounding like fleas as they jumped onto rooftops or away down the avenues.

2,000 or more demons had appeared, and over half had been killed already while the rest ran for their lives.

James dropped Heavenly Assaults at the farthest reaches of his ability, four or five blocks away. Turned, dropped more up Flatbush, turned another couple down Tillary to the west.

Nem3s collapsed, ashing as they fell.

Crimson Hydra, he boomed. Hunt and destroy. Im going to make my way across the Manhattan Bridge.

Copy, Serenity shouted. Her Wing rose up, the others forming ranks with her, and together they swept out in a great curve, seeking more Nems to kill.

James caught a glimpse of Yadriel in his huge Nem3 form leaping up onto the facade of a building, digging into the brickwork, then leaping up to reach the roof and disappear from view.

Around James lay the dead and the dying. Despite the speed with which Crimson Hydra had put down the demons, their arrival alone had killed masses, the great sweeps of their bladed arms cutting people in two.

James lumbered north, and every few steps he unleashed a Sacred Strike over those lying close by. The white fire washed over them and their wounds were healed. People sat up, their cries of pain cutting off mid-scream, limbs re-attached, gut wounds sealing over, gauges and slashes and mortal blows healing in seconds.

You cant heal everyone, said Jelly.

Not everyone. But some.

James marched on. In moments he was forced to leap from car to car once more, crunching down on each vehicle which bucked and folded beneath his weight.

It was five more blocks till he reached the bridge. People had fled the avenue, streaming away, and the demons had mostly raced after them. A few Nem3s still lurked ahead, but James dropped them with his Vault Cannon, tapping the limited rate to pump a score of burning bullets into each.

Jelly, keep us moving north. Im going to review what Ive unlocked.

Yes, James.

He pulled up his sheet and studied the numbers.

Name: James Kelly

Class: Eradicating Crusader

Rank: Acolyte 2

Title: Vanguard

Virtues: None

Benedictions: Smite, Sacred Strike, Heavenly Assault, Bless

First Miracle: None

Second Miracle: None

Third Miracle: None

Aura: Bronze

Aura Strength: 4

Aeviternum Points: 4

Strength: 15 (Bless +5: 40)

Stamina: 10 (Bless +5: 37)

Speed: 8 (Bless +5: 33)

Agility: 5 (Bless +5: 30)

Power: 10 (Bless +5: 48)

Arete: 115

Unspent Points: 20

His Bless Benediction had automatically reverted to a full +5 to himself once the rest of his crew had left range.

But still.

James could only stare. Power 50? Even his lowest stat was now 32. The huge bonuses from Jelly and finally achieving his Class had made all the difference. What would Serenitys Agility look like once she achieved the same?

Dismissing the obscene numbers, James focused on the Eradicating Crusader Class. As ever, there was no description. But James could intuit the meaning. Smite, Sacred Strike, and especially Heavenly Assault were all about destroying large numbers of demons. Eradicating them. Crusader? Wasnt that someone who quested forth in hopes of achieving a holy goal? If saving humanity could be considered a crusade, then maybe he was one.

James considered the Class a moment longer. It felt right, he decided. And opened up the four Virtues. Were those particular to his class? Didnt seem like it. They were too universal to be so perfectly tailored. Maybe all Acolytes gained access to the same four.

The Virtues.

Fortitude | Justice | Prudence | Temperance

Now what the fuck did they do? Empower him in some way? They had to be filtered through his Christian world view. Fortitude and Justice leaped out at him, while Prudence and Temperance had no appeal.

Fortitude. The ability to persist, to carry on in the face of obstacles and exhaustion. That sounded like a fantastic virtue in the face of what was to come. But then Justice sounded great as well. Would that make him some kind of judge and executioner?

James felt frustrated. He wished he had a face with which to scowl. Why the fuck didnt these things come with an instruction manual? The system wanted them to choose, wanted humans to figure out synergies, but why didnt it make doing so easier?

Perhaps it was just a question of intuitively picking what felt right. Just as hed gone for Smite, in this case hed go for Justice.

Because thats what he wanted. To bring justice to their situation. To punish the demons for their horrific transgressions and alleviate the woes of his fellow humans.

Justice.

James mulled over the decision a moment longer, and then willed it to be his selection.

Virtues: Justice

And with that selection, awareness blossomed within him as to the meaning of the Virtue, and the incredible powers it granted him.