880 - Fade Out
“Now, perish.”
The words that Kryonex uttered weren’t a hateful invective, nor a frustrated scream, or even a haughty demand. If anything, they were delivered in a casual manner, as though the demigod was making a simple statement of indisputable fact. Merely hearing them conveyed no sense of threat or danger.
But Lex knew better, registering the attack before the sound of the demigod’s voice had even reached his ears.
Instead, he could only brace himself as the full force of the demigod’s will slammed into him.
Just like when he’d first caught sight of Kryonex himself, his senses struggled to make sense of what was happening, misinterpreting the nature of the onslaught through various forms of input. His legs shook under what felt like the literal weight of the world on his back. His skin bristled under temperature so cold that it should have been beyond what his nerves could register. Everything seemed to darken before his eyes, and sound seemed to be muffled. His body ached. His thoughts muddled. His soul seemed to constrict within him.
But he knew what was really happening:
Under Kryonex’s influence, reality itself was attempting to annul his existence.
Aristeia was the power to intensify one’s own reality, causing their actions to have an outsized impact on the world around them. But divinity was the ability to affect facets of reality beyond yourself, creating an effect without needing to manifest a cause. And while that was normally limited to a particular scope – the aspect of Creation that each deity had authority over, being god or goddess of some particular part of reality – Lex had known for some time that it could be bent in other directions. After all, gods didn’t need to have authority over magic in order to grant their followers spells, or have a portfolio that included information to be able to sense things beyond their personal awareness.
And now, he had confirmation that a deity didn’t need to have power over something like death or destruction in order to try and will a troublesome enemy out of existence.
In the face of such a direct assault on his very being, Lex knew that his options were limited in the extreme. A god’s will wasn’t something that could be dodged. An attempt to erase him from existence couldn’t be parried. And his own paucity of godly might gave Lex no method by which to counterattack. All he could do was muster his own strength – the aristeia and divinity that he had been imbued with – and concentrate, trying to affirm his own existence more than Kryonex could deny it.
But the demigod, even weakened and wounded, had far more power to work with than he did.
Which left Lex with no choice but to try and outlast him, enduring the attack for longer than Kryonex could sustain it.
In realistic terms, however, Lex knew that was like a bug trying to harden its shell in response to being stomped on, attempting to endure the hoof coming down on it again and again until its owner grew too tired to continue.
And as Lex felt the absolute weight of Kryonex’s will engulf every aspect of him, trying to nullify his right to continue existing, he could already feel his own efforts to stave the demigod off beginning to fail.
It was like when he’d originally pitted himself against the fragment of divinity that Adagio had stolen, except unimaginably stronger. Not only that, it was more directed; before, the divine power that he’d overcome had been force without direction – capability with no will of its own – pitting the spark of his own soul against an endless, frozen ocean that neither recognized nor cared about his existence until he’d forced it to.
But this time, that ocean was a universe until itself, and its entire focus was now directly concentrated upon one single desire: to snuff him out.
Even as Lex fought back with everything he had, marshalling reserves of strength that surpassed quantification, reminding himself of his responsibilities to his people and his desire to see his loved ones again, he could already feel himself losing ground. Aspects of himself were vanishing, deleted because they were no longer allowed to be. Holes appeared in his memory. Sections of his body vanished. Gaps opened up in his mental catalogue of spells. Things that he wore disappeared.
Pushing back with all of his will, Lex fought to hold onto some aspect of his existence, some piece of himself against the crushing pressure that continued to grind down everything that he was. But Kryonex’s will was relentless, rooting out and destroying each trace of him, no matter how much he tried to shield or reinforce it.
Magic dissipated. Love was no longer even a memory. Duty was ground down into nothing. Defiance had nothing to fuel it. Self-recognition disintegrated. Then, at last, even the awareness that he had once been something – someone – was lost.
And then Lex Legis was gone, leaving Kryonex alone on the battlefield.
Nenet tried her best not to scream as the savaged remains of a lumbering humanoid sank its teeth into her flank.
The pain was incredible, but Grisela had put her through worse, and she was barely able to choke back the agony as the undead creature’s frozen fingers raked across her torso, ripping apart the clothes that Solvei had worked so hard to make for her and leaving welts where its bony talons met her flesh. Nor was it alone, as nearly a half-dozen of its compatriots converged on her, tearing at the sphinx with everything they had.
Fangs sank into her wings, sending agony throughout her body as the sensitive muscles were shredded. Her tail was grabbed, wrenched hard enough to dislocate multiple bones along its length. Sharp claws cut across her legs, drawing rivulets of blood that splashed across the floor.
But even as the cackling form of a scorched serpent reached up to sink its fangs into her neck, Nenet remained in place, blocking the doorway into the room with her own body.
It had been the only thing she’d been able to think of to keep them from being completely overwhelmed. Even then, the strategy had worked only because of the rings that her master had given her; specifically, the fortitude-enhancing and regenerative ones. Their power, combined with the wards against cold and negative energy that Lex had given her, had allowed her to sacrifice herself without dying, withstanding and repairing the damage as she turned her body into a living shield to keep Mei Li and Adagio from harm.
But none of those protections helped with the pain.
Nor had Nenet been able to bring herself to fight back, needing to marshal all of her concentration in order to keep using her metamagic on Mei Li. The effort made her sway in place, having trouble focusing through the haze of agony threatening to overwhelm her brain. But she forced herself to push through it, knowing that it was the only way the kumiho could keep fighting off the incorporeal undead that were still trying to swarm in from the other side of the room.
It...it’s ready... moaned Nenet, feeding another surge of power to the three-tailed fox.
Mei Li received it with a sob of her own, tears pouring down her cheeks as she looked back at what Nenet was going through. Forgive me! I swear, once these spirits are dealt with, I will aid you!
She didn’t wait for an answer, breathing another blast of empowered lightning that scattered the shrieking specters...but only for a few moments.
Within her cage, Adagio snarled as one of the translucent monsters almost reached the bars of her cage before the foxgirl’s lightning drove it back. The creatures had been relentless, pressing the pair’s defenses without any regard for their own safety, and it was becoming clear – both from how many of the undead were crawling over themselves to reach Nenet and by how the vulpine woman was panting harder – that they weren’t going to be able to keep their desperate defense up for much longer.
“Nenet!” whispered Adagio. “This isn’t working! Stop being an idiot and get these curses off of me or we’re all going to die!”
Her wayward daughter’s only answer was an agonized groan, and Adagio grit her teeth, not sure if Nenet had even heard her. “Nenet!”
But the only response she received was a whimper of pain as the monsters in the hallway continued to tear into the quivering sphinx.
Cursing the incredible stupidity that her sole surviving child seemed to be afflicted with, Adagio decided to take a calculated risk, knowing that she wouldn’t last very long if either of her protectors bit the dust...or if Kryonex finished up with Lex before she was able to free herself. “Nenet, listen to me, I have a fallback plan! One that can save all of us! But I can’t use it with my powers crippled like this! You have to let me use them! Or do you want your new friend here to die too?!”
That earned a wince from the sphinx, and Adagio had to resist the urge to smirk at the sight.
Nenet had never been the brightest girl, always wanting to believe in something. Or rather, in someone. It had been truly pathetic how the little spellbook had actually believed that anyone cared about her, and even more pathetic how easily she’d been fooled into thinking she’d had a father out there who actually loved her. Even without magic, that had made her easy to manipulate, and now it seemed that even after discovering the truth, she still hadn’t learned her lesson.
That’s right. Other people are only good for what they can do for you. If you’re stupid enough to be the one sacrificing for them, they’ll just use you and leave you.
It was a truism that Adagio was thoroughly familiar with.
Fortunately, Nenet seemed to be willfully blind to that kernel of knowledge, despite the fact that her newfound lord and master had hung her out to dry. “Lex must have worked hard to save her! Are you going to let his sacrifice go to waste just because you’re angry at me?!”
Nearby, the foxgirl glanced Adagio’s way, and the Siren could read the uncertainty all over her furry face. “She elucidates her idea ably,” she rasped, tails twitching in agitation. “I foresee imminent danger without reinforcements.”
But Nenet stubbornly shook her head, even as a blackened talon swiped at her face. “W-we can’t...count on her...to h-help us-, AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!”
Adagio very nearly found herself dancing again as Nenet’s sudden scream made her jump, the sphinx’s eyes rolling back in her head as she suddenly wavered in place. Nor was she the only one, the foxgirl gaping in horror. “Nenet! What is the matter?!”
“M-Master...” croaked Nenet, falling to her belly.
The sight seemed to galvanize the undead, and they threw themselves on top of Nenet, biting and clawing at her in a frenzy. The sight made the foxgirl lose all hesitation, shrieking as she ran over to help, and Adagio could already see the remaining specters and ghosts rushing in to take advantage of the opening, knowing that they were about to be overrun.
“NENET!!!”
Her last, harsh whisper earned a glassy-eyed look from the sphinx, somehow managing to get her head clear of the horde that was overrunning her and about to do the same to her friend.
And then, waving a bloody paw in her direction, bones visible beneath gnawed skin and torn muscle, Nenet murmured a single word.
“...abeyance...”
Then she collapsed.
A moment later, so did the curses binding Adagio.
“Get back! All of you-, I SAID GET BACK!!!”
Immediately, the adlets surrounding them stepped backward, giving Yura some room as she cradled her granddaughter. “Akna! What’s wrong?!”
Drawing a ragged breath, Solvei convulsed for a moment, one hand reaching out in a westward direction before she shuddered and went still.
Alasie and Tulok burst through the crowd then, rushing over to their daughter’s side, voices raised as they called her name in a vain effort to rouse her.
Yura said nothing, her ears flattening against her head as she looked in the direction that her granddaughter had reached for, knowing who was to be found there.
Night Mare, your future servant begs you, she prayed silently. For my granddaughter’s sake, please give the Great One the strength he needs to overcome whatever trial he’s going through.
But as Akna’s parents continued to try and rouse their daughter in vain, the goddess gave no sign that she’d heard her prayer.
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Someone who utterly hates Lex will now have to face him directly, as Souls cant be willed out of existance, and the Night Mare demands her due?
Whats the limitation on the divine command, as otherwise any attack or incident could be replied with it making it pretty much for any lessers to consider approaching anyone with that capability?
Adagios last behaviour looks like she would teleport back home, and grab her Tropical Island teleport item and leave that country far behind. But Kryonex will just hunt her down regardless?
No Rings Of Scorchio here and there not powerful enough anyway?
Hmm, if Kyronex could do that to Lex all along, then why didn't...ah right, I forgot that the demigod's original goal was the retrieval of the stolen fragment of his divinity though if his words about a diminished prize is anything to go by, then he might have some way to retrieve it even if he destroyed its wielder at the time. However, the Night Mare had personally altered the divinity to Lex so maybe that will be enough for Lex to bring himself back?
Or I'm just grasping at straws and the diminished prize Kyronex spoke about was the satisfaction of erasing Lex instead. If that is the case, then I'm curious at how Lex will come back.
Regardless, it seems that Lex and his companions will be meeting a certain death goddess again like she said they would though this time with Nenet in tow. Which leaves Adagio and Kumiho to deal with the remaining undead and a demigod who is probably still pissed at the former. Now I'm curious to see if her trump card that she had been reluctant to use would work on Kyronex.
11731111 A lot of what you're asking boils down to "what are gods capable of?" That's actually a bit of a sticky wicket in terms of both RPGs in general and the d20 System in particular. The former because answering that question ends up setting how a lot of the game world operates, and what its strongest players are capable of; the latter because there are several different answers depending on where you look. (And, as always, I'm mentioning tabletop RPGs because the d20 System is what forms the basis for how things function in this story; just throwing that out there for any new readers who might look this comment over
).
The thing is, leaving aside the larger issues of design philosophy with whether or not gods should be given stats (and if so, to what degree), the d20 System, in its myriad iterations and permutations across different products and presentations, has several different ways of charting out what gods can do:
So right off the bat, we need to determine which version is being used (or if more than one are), and how it applies to a given situation. Most demigods are essentially minor mortals, but even then the various systems allow for radically-different interpretations of how things function. For instance, what's the "cost" of using divine powers, if any? The Primal Order differentiates between "primal base" and "primal flux," where the latter is pool of energy granted by the former that's replenished daily, so while you can spend the former to power your abilities, you'd rather use the latter if at all possible. The "divine ranks" system doesn't assign costs to using divine powers, so a deity with something like Hand of Death can use it as much as it wants. Eclipse has a lot of things that godfire can do, but you have to spend it to use most of them, and getting more can be hard, etc.
All of which is to say that it's not entirely clear to us, the readers, exactly what sort of power Kryonex is using in his attempt to simply will Lex out of existence.
That said, the idea that a mortal attacking even a demigod without serious firepower and defenses is essentially just committing "suicide by god" is an apt one. 
11731133 At this point it's ambiguous what Kryonex meant when he alluded to destroying Lex in this manner being a "lesser prize" for him. We know that he wanted his stolen power back, and seemed to prefer a hands-off approach to trying to wear Lex down, gradually escalating the battle only when necessary, and using this power now only because he'd judged it to be less costly overall than a prolonged battle. Presumably we'll find out more soon.
Of course, now that it looks like Lex has been thoroughly undone, Adagio seems ready to get her groove back. Exactly what she has up her sleeve has yet to be showcased, but that seems likely to change in the very near future. She's certainly confident that her trump card will work, though as noted before it was also one she was reluctant to use, but what exactly could that be?
11731473
Im wondering if Shakespiracles might have paraphrased.
There are two types of beings which have stories written of them.
Pinkie, and all the rest of the deific pantheons and mortals?
Looks like Lex has died once again, Not surprised. Will Adagio be able to save the day with her trump card? I am pretty sure the peeping gods have lost hope in Lex at this point but who knows what will happen.
11731690 Lex put up an impressive fight, but at the end of the day he isn't a god, while Kryonex is. The gap between the two, it seems, was larger than even he could bridge. Which makes you wonder what exactly is Adagio placing so much faith in?