The jungle is thick with putrid decay and the world is

  beautiful. Asphodelus flowers bloom under my feet, trampled by the march

  of elegant white hover tanks and blocky bipedal walkers. Any signs of

  battle have been consumed by the overgrowth, broken tanks turned into

  basins for algae and tree growth, rivers of blood turned into the home

  of pondscum and glittering lotuses.

  This

  is stupid. I am leading sixteen hundred men to their pointless deaths.

  Our numbers are bolstered by whatever stragglers and cut off units we

  pick up along the way yet I know it's pointless. Our enemy is one

  without death, one that will always get back up and fight on no matter

  how many times they are killed. I can hear that infernal song ringing

  through my soul. It's so loud, a fast tempo and irregular rhythm

  complete with clashing harmonies that make my head pound. Sometimes I

  can hear something peek out, another voice clashing against the dominant

  voice of the Lifesinger, before it disappears just as I focus on it.

  My

  men pray under their breath, uttering psalms and prayers to the Buddha,

  the Christ and the Prophet of Fire. The Oghuz on the other hand

  converse with each other with a sense of unease, heads occasionally

  turning towards the slick green armor of the Tian'chao regular infantry

  and the bulky red of their Oni allies. "You hear that? It kinda sounds

  like a "Dshk Dshk Dshk" type of noise." "Nah, I think it's more like a

  "Daa-Dan-Daa-dadana-Dananadana" type of noise." A pair of Oghuz beside

  me, tall and clad in thick fabrics, smelling of gunpowder and smoke,

  converse. Honestly, it sounds more like the latter than the former to

  me.

  A

  shudder runs through me, I should do something useful before my death. I

  turn towards the slender figure of Zhongli, crowding into his personal

  space with my much larger figure and forcing him to halt. "What the hell

  was wrong with your information? How could you have missed all… that?"

  My voice is strained despite it being a whisper. Zhongli's expression is

  hidden beneath his spider web helmet but I notice how his hand tenses.

  "I don't have time to explain but I must tell you something. Something

  that you must not speak off to anyone else, neither friend nor foe. I….

  Believe I was sabotaged by my superiors. That my vision was blinded and I

  was guided to my own death. I don't have time to explain why. I will

  tell you why after we…. Win."

  My

  eyebrow tenses underneath my helmet. His voice is calm but tenser than

  usual, stress apparent beneath his words. I don't have time for this.

  I'll figure it out later, I have more immediate problems. The noise of

  distant explosions and booming jet engines pulses through my ear

  accompanied with the crackling of thunder then a great roar in the

  distance. "HEAR ME, YOU ROTTING, DEATHLESS, THINGS! I AM MAHMUD UFAIR

  GHAZANI AND I HAVE NEVER KNOWN DEFEAT!"

  I

  break off from him without a word and move to Chagri who is frozen in

  place, clutching his machine gun in his one working hand. "Chagri, what

  the hell was that?" The smell of burnt foliage and vanilla hits my nose

  as he stares up at the sky before speaking with an almost fanatical

  reverence. "The Elder. The Great Elder speaks! I apologize but I must

  go. Follow me! Fellow Clan-kin! Follow me to war!"

  He

  breaks into a full sprint and the Oghuz follow him, Oghuz walkers and

  spider-tanks rushing ahead of me and nearly trampling those in front of

  them, thrusters blazing as Chagri leaps into the sky and hundreds follow

  him. My armor's sensors detect thousands, tens of thousands of tiny

  signatures becoming a swarm coming in from every corner of the overgrown

  jungle.

  "What

  the hell? Chagri come back here! No! Chagri! Come back here!" I break

  into a sprint behind me as the thunder of artillery and thousands

  rushing to battle. "Fucking follow me! We have to help them." I jump on

  the side of a hover tank and hold on, the smooth hum of antigrav engines

  in my ears as it speeds up.

  The

  Coilgun mounted on the turret of the Hover Tank hums to life as the

  world arounds me becomes a blur. God fucking damnit. I was hoping that

  Chagri wouldn't be impulsive enough to do something like this. A

  traitorous thought runs through me, that I should just order my men to

  keep their distance and provide fire support.

  It

  would be the smart and rational thing to do, I… don't particularly

  have a plan and neither does Chagri and it would be best to let Chagri

  deal with the consequences of his actions, bu--but it would just be

  sentencing Chagri and his people to their death! I–I just can't bring

  myself to do that. I have already let down too many people.

  The

  ground beneath us is scorched by lightning, grass glowing orange with

  embers, and my armor systems detects an immense presence in the

  Alaya-Vijnana, boisterous and drunk with the lust of battle. Gamma-ray

  and X-Ray dishes spool up on the Hovertank as we prepare to engage and I

  take a deep breath of resignation. I yell out into the comms link

  between us. "Chagri! Where the hell are you? Get back here Chagri!" And all I am met with is joyous laughter.

  I

  had heard about this. A core part of Oghuz augmentation is that they

  install little adrenaline, endorphin and serotonin pumps in your brain

  that give you little jolts every time you kill someone or accomplish an

  objective. The more augmented you get the less effect it has but by then

  you are properly addicted and get that jolt either way.

  My

  stomach heaves at the thought, most Oghuz get their augments when they

  are kids or teenagers at most by our standards. Murderous children who

  laugh as they kill.

  The

  sun dims as we enter the hollow bark of the greet tree, arranged with

  towering wooden pillars stretching towards the heavens, and I get to see

  what made them lose their minds. My mouth is agape as I gaze upon a

  hulking figure 30 meters tall and wreathed in lightning, hands turned to

  electric talons, a great blade of blue lightning in its hand and wings

  of lightning on its back. It dances with a slender feminine figure with

  a skirt of bone white chitins, blades of lighting meeting blades of

  plasma as they clash.

  The

  metallic giant pulls back just as they are about to meet on the next

  turn and turns its sword into a bolt of lightning, hurling it at the

  Rakshasa witch and turning it into dust. The sight is awe inspiring.

  Like a sky father of ancient earth battling against a demonic witch.

  "YOU-YOU'RE STRONGER THAN I EXPECTED FOR A DEEP-DRINKER. YOU FORCE ME TO USE THE SONG OF LIFE ON A MERE HUMAN. HOW IMPRESSIVE."

  Then

  everything starts growing. Rakshasa grow from melted bone and burnt

  flesh and the giant only laughs before charging into battle, great

  autocannon rifle in hand and chaingun unleashing bolts of lighting as it

  unleashes hell. Fuck, I have to do something! I jump off the hover

  tank's side as it slides to a halt and unleashes its Coilgun, Gamma and

  X-Ray arrays singing and burning everything beneath their gaze.

  It

  sounds like the apocalypse is happening around me as I try to find

  Chagri, searching for his Alaya-Vijnana signature. Artillery shells and

  bursts of paracausal plasma detonate around me, creating great fireballs

  and lifting great plumes of dirt into the sky. Missiles fly over my

  head, sometimes detonating mere feet away from me and sending me to my

  knees. I collide against a running Oghuz and it—They— gaze into my eyes

  for a moment, letting me notice the thick green blood running down their

  brow, before they break down into laughter, driven mad by the

  killing-joy.

  A

  shudder runs through me at the sight as I push them aside, following

  the trail of IFF to a one armed Oghuz maniacally stabbing a struggling

  Rakshasa with his combat knife, laughing all the while. "Chagri! Get a hold of yourself!"

  I grab Chagri with both hands and yank him by the shoulder before

  hitting him half heartedly in the stomach, a loud clang ringing out as

  metal meets metal.

  Chagri

  laughs like he is at the edge of sanity as he falls flat on his ass

  before his laughter turns to sobbing. He smells of acrid smoke, blood

  and lead. I grab him by his one remaining hand and lift him up

  forcefully onto his feet. He looks down for a moment before turning his

  head to gaze into the distance, then a sudden presence sweeps over me,

  brimming with power and overwhelmingly luminous. A second presence

  accompanies it, dimmer yet still shining with Light. The presences orbit

  around each other, like a binary star system, then a great whail of

  pain rings through my skull.

  My

  systems detect the phase shift, the sudden increase of entropy in the

  area as little buds grow in the lines between my plating. The figure

  from whom the light emanates is a knightly Rakshasa clad in colorful

  chitins like plating, a great sword in his hand shimmering with Light,

  and at his side is an eight legged Rakshasa clad in Gold and with four

  arms with a blade in each hand.

  Kor Halak and An Raggarr.

  They

  charge at the Clan Elder and I can only watch in horror as they tear

  him to pieces, the spider tears his arm off by the elbow before impaling

  him on all four swords and dragging them as if he were gutting the

  Elder. The two nobles hammer at the Elder, shattering his crystal

  processors and tearing out his voice box.

  Chagri

  is still as a statue but I can feel the barely-hidden rage pulsating

  within him. A great roar fills my ears as the Oghuz charge desperately

  into battle, driven mad by rage, while Chagri mutters something muffled

  by his voice box. "Forgive me, my ancestors, for my failures. Forgive

  me, my kin, for my incompetence. I will make sure your deaths matter."

  He says while grabbing a cylindrical container with a radiological

  symbol on it and loading it into the beam cannon on his shoulder.

  "Think

  about this, you idiot! Are you seriously going to use it in close

  fucking quarters, against an enemy that will just come back from the

  dead anyways if you don't kill them in a very specific way?" The twin

  Rakshasa tears through Oghuz and knights alike with the ease one would

  cut down wheat with. He calmly loads the cylinder and presses it against

  the shock absorbing plate and only now do I realize that Kor Halak is

  heading directly towards us.

  "I don't care, nor did I ask." He replies coldly and I hear the signature hum of the Casaba Howitzer charging.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  The

  design is simple. A nuclear shaped charge where the nuclear detonation

  is shaped into a relativistic beam of plasma, useful for either creating

  thrust or incinerating everything in front of you. Casaba Howitzers are

  usually used on ships but Chagri chose to get a miniature one mounted

  on his shoulder as a preemptive measure. 'If I'm going to die then may as well take whatever was going to kill me with me.' That's what he would tell me when I asked.

  Fuck.

  The Rakshasa Knight and golden spider are getting closer, ravaging

  their way through men and machines alike. I invoke the power of Eligos,

  black flames engulfing me as my armor metamorphoses into that of the

  demonic knight, and I pray that this armor can withstand a shaped

  nuclear blast. Kor Halak is mere meters aways from us by the time I grab

  onto Chagri by the shoulder and invoke wings of colorful flame to carry

  us away,

  "Goddamnit!

  You're not dead yet, if anyone is dying here then it should be me!" I

  yell at him as I grab him and try to tilt his shoulder to the ceiling

  just as the light from the Casaba Howitzer becomes blinding.

  A

  great roar fills my ears as I look behind me for a moment to see a

  eight legged centaur clad in gold with four blades pinned directly

  towards me, close enough that I can see the green in his eyes.

  Then

  me and Chagri are flying backwards. Something is dragging me back, a

  string of…. Something. It feels like an underwater type of sensation,

  localized entirely in my back. Meanwhile a flamethrower of plasma rings

  out from where Chagri was being dragged, reducing everything in front of

  it to glass and melted slag, before the beam angles upwards to

  incinerate the great tree of rot, great branches falling to the ground

  as kudzu is incinerated.

  Then

  I collide with the jungle canopy, green branches filling my vision as I

  collide with the warm soil beneath. The smell of burning foliage and

  ash is palpable as I lie down on the wet soil until a jade green armored

  hand reaches out for me. I take Zhongli's hand and he pulls me up with

  more force than I'd expect from his slender frame. His gaze burns into

  me through his helmet at my demonic visage and I simply give a resigned

  shrug in return.

  In

  his other hand is a thick string of coruscating green liquid flowing

  into the distance. He yanks the string sharply and a certain one-armed

  idiot flies through the jungle and lands face down in the dirt. I can

  still feel the presence of the twin Rakshasa nobles at the back of my

  mind but they are far away now. Ragged breaths exit me as I look around.

  Honorius is sitting nonchalantly on a large rock with a resigned smile

  on his ethereal face while Oni and Tian'chao soldiers surround him.

  Chagri meanwhile is lying face down in the dirt in a rather comical

  manner.

  "H-Honorius.

  Where the hell were you? I-I…. I need all the help I can get." My voice

  is hoarse and weak as he looks down at me with a placid smile. "Well… I

  knew you were going to run back here anyway. I know you, you are a

  coward who cares too much about others to save himself. You would have

  brought the Khan back to his senses then ran away to escape your fate."

  My

  metal teeth grind and my head droops low. He's… he's right. The smell

  of burning foliage and acerbic smoke pluming the air getting more and

  more intense and in the distance is the clanging noise of battle, of

  metal meeting metal and detonations of plasma and scything electricity.

  They're coming. I walk towards Chagri and grab him by his arm. His

  shoulder-mounted Casaba Howitzer utterly melted and claw mark in the

  metal of his back but there's still the hum of electricity in his

  circuitry.

  "Don't

  worry buddy, you're gonna make it back to her." I mutter under my

  breath as I lift him up in a fireman's carry. "Hey Honorius, you may be

  right but I'm still standing my ground here. You don't need to help me

  but I'll fight here, If I'm to die then I wish to die with some

  semblance of dignity."

  Honorius

  simply claps his hands and lets out a low chuckle. "Tell me, do you

  believe in a God or divine principle that governs you? What do you

  believe binds your fate and what do you think will happen when you die."

  Do

  I believe in a God? I don't know. I'd wager that if you kicked the can

  down the road long enough, there must be something that exists because

  it has to exist. A being with no antecedents and no constitutes at a

  point where you literally cannot go further back. What would you call

  such a being other than a God?

  "I

  don't care if there is a God or not. No being governs my fate other

  than myself. If I fail then I will become worm food, or worse, become

  one of those amnesiac husks the Rakshasa parade around. Why do you ask?"

  A

  catlike grin flashes across his face. "I just wanted to test your

  character. I shall aid you in this battle. If we are to die then we will

  die ourselves."

  The

  rumbling emanating through the jungle becomes louder and louder, the

  heat becoming more intense by the second. Meanwhile Zhongli is doing

  some weird circular dance or meditation where he walk around the edges

  of a six feet invisible circle constantly facing the center, cycling

  through various low stances and occasionally changing paths. I don't get

  it but I'm not going to complain, it probably exercises his radial

  circuits or something like that.

  "Hey,

  Zhongli. I probably am going to regret this but I give you full

  permission to read my thoughts and scan my mind. You're not allowed to

  go through my memories however."

  "Why?" He suddenly pauses his circle-walk and stares directly at me, flat visor peering into my soul.

  "We're

  gonna need that extra coordination and teamwork. Because those two

  Rakshasa nobles are gonna be right on top of us in about a minute."

  "What!"

  He immediately breaks the circle and tightens into a combative stance, a

  lasso made of green liquid flowing between his two hands. I take a deep

  breath and hear Honorius hopping off his rock with a small thud.

  I tighten my grip on my sword. They should be here around…..

  Now.

  A

  great roar fills my ears as a flower-armored Rakshasa knight leaps out

  of the jungle, towering at 15 feet and wielding a sword longer than I am

  tall, drenched in Light and the blood of the fallen. It slashes with

  far too much fluidity for something of its size. I slid underneath its

  broad sweeps and between its quick slashes, emanating black flames to

  try to gain some distance. It switches to shallow stabs that I dodge by

  mere inches. I can't help but notice the dried blood caking its hands,

  the length of its blade, the smell of iron and smoke.

  My attention wavers for a second and that's all it needs.

  I

  parry a slash brimming with Light, metal smashing against metal, and my

  forearm is reversed, metal screaming and twisting as my arm is

  dislocated from the sheer force of his slash. The giant prepares a

  second slash, raising its arm for a heavy blow, more than strong enough

  to bisect me.

  But

  its hand is pinned in mid air by a green string, and Zhongli thunders

  through and unleashes a flurry of open and closed palm strikes along its

  joints, the gaps in the chitin, before summoning a thick green rope in

  his hand and binding Kor Halaks hand with it while dodging in a circular

  motion, then he twists the rope and broken bone rips through chitinous

  flesh.

  A

  pair of angelic winged knights clad in ethereal milky armor, bound

  familiars of Honorius, then impale it through the chest while Zhongli

  wraps the green rope around Kor Halaks neck and squeezes until he hears a

  sickening crunch.

  Kor

  Halak will get back up. It's just a matter of how many times I can kill

  him until he gives up and leaves. Meanwhile I look down at my sword

  arm. It's twisted so that my hand is literally reversed, the black metal

  turned white with the sheer power of that slash while green vines run

  out the joints of the metal, preventing me from twisting it back in

  place. Whatever. I can work with this. I switch my blade stance to a

  reverse grip when I hear a rumbling through the forest.

  Then that eight legged Rakshasa rumbles through the jungle and slides to a halt, dredging up dust and soil with its great mass.

  The

  golden spider lunges towards the fallen Kor Halak and Zhongli summons

  binding green ropes to halt it in its tracks while Honorius summons

  angelic spirits to slash at its legs, ethereal blades bouncing off

  golden chitins. An Raggar strains against the green ropes, snapping them

  with the sheer power within his limbs, before he runs off to Kor Halaks

  side, a blinding light emanating from his carcass until he rises, bones

  pinning themselves back together. Kor Halaks' fanged mouth splits into a

  fanged grin as his throat enunciates a deep guttural voice.

  "Hah!

  Impressive for a stupid child relying on the aid of thoughtforms

  pretending to be demons and gods. Keep it up. I wish to write upon your

  meager grave that you were worthy of my time."

  A shudder runs through me at his words. Part of me reiterates how horribly out of my depth I am.

  Whatever.

  My metal teeth split into a wolf-like smile as black flames pulses

  around me. "Are you so sure about that? They say pride comes before the

  fall. So tell me, blade of light. Can you keep up with us?"

  Kor Halak simply laughs.

  "Let's find out."

  I kill Kor Halak 6 times in 30 minutes and he gets back up every time.

  We already went over the first time.

  Second

  time is when those angel familiars of Honorius stab Kor Halak through

  the knees which gave me a gap to bisect him diagonally.

  Third

  and fourth is when I summon up an extraordinarily strong slash imbued

  with black flames composed of Shakti. An Raggar was extra close which

  means he resurrected instantly this time which means I got to kill him a

  second time with an extra strong thrust.

  Fifth time is when I impaled him through the spine, rendering him paralyzed letting me cut his head from his shoulders.

  This time I swear to God he moaned

  when I gutted him and jammed my armored gauntlet down his gullet,

  shattering razor sharp fangs and sending them down his throat.

  He's

  playing with his food. My wounds matter, the shallow claw marks in my

  forearm and stab wounds in my shoulder, the occasional mess up in my

  step or sloppiness in my step that I pay for dearly. Those matter.. He

  doesn't have to worry about that. Death is nothing but a curiosity to

  him, he crosses the valley of death and comes back just for a little

  thrill in his life.

  My

  blade has grown sticky and wet with blood like sap and gore like mud. I

  keep getting slower, making more mistakes. The only reason I am not dead

  is because he thinks I am unworthy of using his sword on him.

  This

  time however, a flash of insight breaks through my mind. Everytime he

  comes back after death, there's a five second gap where he is pinned

  back together and a vortex of swirling electricity and plasmic flames

  and axionic particles opens up. The Rakshasa can only resurrect thanks

  to their ghouls and only their nobility gets their own dedicated ghoul.

  Most

  accounts of Ghouls from the Great Rakshasa Crusade describe them as

  vortex's of coruscating blues and yellows and violet particles swirling

  around a core of pure unrefined Light.

  I wonder what would happen if I…

  Zhongli!

  I need your help. You see that five second gap when he is resurrecting.

  You know of any ways to extend it? I have an idea.

  Zhongli's response is immediate. I…

  do know one in fact. But if both of us focus our attention on one of

  them then the other will go on the offense. We'll need to switch

  opponents.

  Yeah. I can do that. On the count of 3 we'll switch. Okay?

  Okay. 3.

  I answer back on my end. 2.

  There is a slight breath on his end. 1. OKAY, SWITCH!

  Zhongli

  leaps over my shoulder just as Halak is resurrecting, using my pauldron

  as a platform for a flying kick to his face that crunches bones leading

  into a butterfly kick. Meanwhile I switch to Raggar, parrying and

  narrowly dodging his four armed flurry of stabs, his hand being chained

  by green ropes whenever he was about to deliver a mortal blow giving me

  space to counterattack.

  I

  slash through the spiders eight legs, rendering Raggar immobile, while

  Zhongli binds Kor Halaks limbs with green ropes from behind before pulling, a sickening crunch as lambent strings go taut and Kor Halak falls to his knees.

  "Now's

  your chance!" Zhongli yells out as I run to him with An Raggar in

  pursuit, tying the strings together before leaping over my shoulder to

  delay the golden spider, his movements brimming with explosive power as a

  closed palm strikes staggers An Raggar, sending him off the ground a

  bit at the sheer strength contained within it.

  Meanwhile

  I take the chance to separate Kor Halaks head from his shoulders, a

  bright vortex opening up as his body dissolves atom by atom to be

  reassembled by his Ghoul. Zhongli tears his attention off his opponent

  to bind the Ghoul and I gather all the power I have and pour it into my

  sword, summoning wings of flame on my back to strike him down and send

  him straight to hell.

  This battle ends with this strike.

  Then a sudden pained grunt fills my ears. I turn around and Zhongli is on his knees with a large gash in his chest.

  And a certain eight legged golden Rakshasa is right behind me.

  A

  sharp stinging sensation runs through me from the blade now buried. I

  turn around and let loose the slash into An Raggar, a great beam of

  Shakti burning through him and turning his chitins to golden slag.

  A deep bass voice rings out from behind me as a hand grips my shoulder, squeezing hard enough to crush the metal in its grip. "You had me worried for a second. Not bad. Unfortunately, this is where our dance ends."

  Plant

  life grows from the sword embedded in my abdomen, choking vines tearing

  metal apart and buds growing beneath the platting. He lifts me up while

  I am impaled upon his blade and throws me off of it like he is throwing

  away a toy.

  My vision

  blurs. Hacked coughs exiting me as I feel my heart burning. Zhongli is

  by my side, blood staining the jade metal of his armor, his helmet

  cracked revealing a dark brown eye. Where the hell is Hono—

  An albino figure coughing up blood, with a dark red stain in his otherwise pristine cassock, crawls into my vision.

  Ah, there he is.

  I

  stagger to my feet only to fall on my knees. This wasn't how things

  were supposed to go. Things were…. I don't know what I was planning. I

  can't picture any paths other than this one. I stumbled my way into an

  unwinnable fight and I couldn't figure a way out. My first test of

  leadership and I failed it utterly. If I were to die today then they

  would remember my name only as a signifier of calamity and failure, if

  they remember me at all.

  What

  kind of legacy is that? Part of me wants to bury my head in the ground,

  be devoured by the soil and embrace the eternity of toil and

  metamorphose. Hah, Like I'll give in that easily. I keep my head held

  high, staring down Kor Halak with bloodshot eyes.

  "Do not worry." He says in a guttural voice. "This

  is not the end. Embrace your new eternity of endless growth and

  transformation, your body will become food for the worms and home of

  bacteria, new life will grow from your decaying corpse while your mind

  is preserved within the great song of life. Is that not the Immortality

  so many strive for? Rejoice for your legacy shall be endless."

  He grabs me by the head in a clawed hand and forces me to the ground, his knee on my back. "I'll

  quite enjoy purifying this hulk and turning it into a garden brimming

  with life. Truly the Philosopher-King was right when he said that

  everything, no matter how ugly, can become a thing of beauty." There's a wretched smile in his voice. He never saw me as a threat in any way, simply an amusing nuisance.

  …Why

  do I bother? I feel the urge to close my eyes, numb my limbs and sleep

  eternally. I am already dead, no point in struggling against the

  inevitable.

  As my eyes

  struggle to hold themselves awake, a strange sound echoes in my head. It

  kinda resembles a song but not played with any instrument I know off.

  It is so loud, the tempo of the clashing harmonies signaling a cosmic

  anger yet the irregular rhythm showing a kind of amusement.

  Then the world is dyed in the rustic hues of ocher and amber emanating from a bright light just outside my vision.

  Kor Halak steps off of me and I move my head enough to see the figure challenging them.

  It

  is a monster. An androgynous humanoid body composed of utterly flawless

  crystal colored a frigid blue, a large circular opening like an eye

  containing intricate pulsating blue and purple patterns dominating its

  face. Clawed hands laced in green blood and jagged shards, covered in

  Rakshasa gore, retreating into proper shape.

  Surrounding

  it are wings of dust, dyed in ocher and amber. A great cloud of dust

  swarm around it, undulating and twisting according to the sound

  emanating from it.

  It holds a clenched fist up and all sound stops, the world going silent, then it slams its fist into the ground.

  Then the world starts screaming.