Book 4 Prologue - Acceptable Sacrifices

Thick, tumultuous clouds blanketed the sky over an endless dark sea. Massive waves heaved into froth-peaked mountains and swirling black pits in a watery landscape that stretched out in all directions with no shelter or respite in sight. White pools of light broiled within the depths of the clouds as a lightning storm lit up the night, its thunderous bellows drowned out by the raging sea below.

In the center of this storm a black spire rose out of the sea, piercing upward through the clouds in defiance of the elements that raged around it. From far away it was a thin black line, needle thin and out of place on the natural landscape, drawn onto the background like a trick of the imagination.

Two tiny eyes locked onto that line as a small songbird barely the size of a fist flapped her wings furiously through the storm. Her tiny yellow feathered form was heaved in all directions, battered by the torrential wind and rain, but she kept flying forward against the currents. In her talons she tightly clutched a leather pouch that was almost the same size as her.

As she drew closer the details of the spire took form. It was not a single piece, but had two distinct sections below the clouds. An irregular black base was covered in cone-topped towers that jutted out of the waves at acute angles from the central core. Every black stone tower was unique in shape, size and height, piled on top of each other like a bed of fungus growing out of a tree trunk.

Far above the waves the second section of the spire was a single cylindrical prism that shot up to the sky. Its surface was irregular and jagged, covered in tens of thousands of sharp protrusions in the shape of hooks and spurs. Each protrusion was itself covered in smaller spurs, and each smaller spur covered in even more in a chaotic fractal form.

This second section pierced into the clouds out of sight, with no indication of stopping.

As the yellow bird fluttered desperately toward the spire a few tiny black specks took shape at the base of the monolith. Sparks of light and smoke erupted from the shapes - cannon fire and lightning - as a battle raged between a fleet of warships and a horde of monsters that were dwarfed by the sheer enormity of the spire.

Flying closer still, it became apparent that the space around that battlefield was acting strangely. At times entire parts of it would freeze in place, as if time itself stopped passing for the participants. It would speed up or slow down. Silver, serpentine dragons were sliced in half and torn into bits. Hundreds of men in blue military uniforms battled for their lives, dying in droves against their monstrous foes that continued to emerge from the depths.

Massive lightning blasts from the maws of dragons reduced entire crews into ash at once. Tidal waves crashed down on ships, leaving behind only splinters and snapped masts.

The battle raged for twenty minutes, and then suddenly the fleet reappeared, whole and unharmed several kilometers away from the spire. The fleet of five dozen warships with their full crews charged forward to the spire as a horde of dragons engaged them once more.

Screams and explosions. Blood and carnage. Innumerable deaths stained the froth of the waves red. The swarm of dragons overwhelmed the fleet and sank them to the depths.

Then twenty minutes later time reset again.

Each time as the battle reached its climax, the scene would freeze, stutter and return back to its condition twenty minutes prior. Time within that space had been distorted into an endless loop.

This terrible cycle had repeated itself countless hundreds of times with no change in outcome. Every man and beast had died a thousand deaths but was none the wiser for it, for the real battle was not between mortals, but between their masters beyond the physical plane.

On this treacherous black sea a godly war of attrition was being fought, a bloody campaign that had lasted for over months on end.

By the next reset, the yellow bird was close enough to see the fleet’s flagship. An impossibly massive wedge of steel and wood with no oars or sails, but three monolithic chimneys that were each large enough to hold an entire warship with it. Each chimney belched out torrents of thick black smoke as the floating fortress cruised steadily toward the spire.

There was no crew on this flagship, only a single figure standing on the bow with a long flowing coat that whipped dramatically behind him in the wind.

He was the commander of this battlefield, the instigator of this war and the master of the temporal loop that had locked the mortals below him in an endless savage battle. He was the Prince of Spacetime, but Lord Noga was far better known by his other title.

Godslayer.

He had a firm jaw and glimmering intelligent eyes. His short, curly brown hair and rough stubbled beard was peppered with grays. He wore a silken dress shirt with ruffled sleeves that was untouched by the wind and rain. He watched the spire intently with otherworldly calmness, not bothered by the battle being fought around him.

A ship in the center of the flotilla exploded in a wreath of flame as a two headed dragon burst out of its deck. Lightning rained down on a third of the fleet.

Lord Noga never took his eyes off the spire, his breathing steady and controlled.

Though he was hiding it well, the subtle grimace at the corner of his lips and the spatter of spray that had reached his cloak were clear signs of the state of the battle. The bird chirped in alarm, zipping straight toward him.

The intense focus in his gaze trembled, threatening to break as he prepared himself once more for the fight. His calm facade was cracking, and the bird’s instincts told her that he was at his limit.

His ears pricked up as he heard the bird’s shrill chirps through the crashing storm.

The waves and winds suddenly slowed around the bird as time warped around her. She flitted toward Lord Noga, crossing the final kilometer of distance as the mountainous waves moved around her like molasses. To her it still took a few minutes to reach Lord Noga, but this was just an illusion. To the rest of the world she zipped across the entire space in the blink of an eye.

Lord Noga’s hand stretched out toward her at a normal speed as she dropped the leather pouch in her claws directly onto his palm.

Time stopped completely around them as she entered an invisible bubble. The rain, the wind, the roars of battle all came to an abrupt, silent halt.

“I hope it’s not too late.” The bird chirped, fluttering in the air in front of him.

“Nonsense.” Lord Noga said with a straight face, casually untying the hempen braid that kept the pouch shut. He didn’t mention that he had requested urgent assistance several months previous, assistance that was already a month past the critical deadline. Instead, he quipped, “You’re just in time.”

The wordplay was intentional. The bird wanted to groan but she didn’t give him the satisfaction, “Two sapphires, first grade. The last two in Lord Shah’s immortal treasury.”

Two brilliant blue gems spilled out of the bag onto Lord Noga’s palm. They were egg shaped, perfect without any blemishes or imperfections. Twinkling star dust swirled around a softly growing center, representing a mini galaxy.

“Lord Shah.” Lord Noga frowned, looking unimpressed, “That will be costly.”

“Is it enough?” The bird chirped, not hiding the concern in her voice.

Lord Noga didn’t reply, his brows knit in heavy concentration. A frustrated grimace tugged at the edge of his lip as he shook his head, “…Time will tell.”

Lord Noga held his grimace just long enough to see her flare up in anger at his quip.

“Are you seriou-” The bird griped as a smirk cracked his serious facade for a fraction of a second.

In the next second he was gone.

Rain, wind and lighting crashed around the bird, drenching her immediately as time resumed its regular course. The yells of soldiers were punctuated by cannon fire around her as the battle came to life.

However this time every dragon and monster that emerged from the waves immediately froze in place before getting decimated by the human crews. The towering waves broke and were soothed into rolling hills as the sea lost its temper. The storm subsided leaving only a broiling blanket of black clouds peacefully rolling overhead.

The battle ended abruptly as the monsters fled into the depths.

The yellow bird was in the midst of fluttering down to perch on the deck when she was swallowed by a rift in space.

The next moment she found herself standing on a stone platform that was suspended in darkness. The cold touch of the stone on her talons surprised her and she instinctively tried to take to the sky, but only managed to hop up before landing back on the ground.

“The rules of this space prevent flying.” Lord Noga’s voice said calmly from behind her.

The bird turned around, looking up at Lord Noga who was facing away from her. He seemed to sense her frustration as he shrugged, “I’d remove the rule if I knew how.”

The bird sighed as she rapidly grew in height, changing into the form of a beautiful woman with bountiful curves and flowing silken robes embroidered in yellow and green. Long golden hair hung in elegant, soft curls, framing a slender face of divine beauty that was both youthful yet full of wisdom.

“Is it over?” She asked guardedly, peering around the chamber. The darkness beyond the circular platform was impenetrable to her eyes.

“The war? Yes.” Lord Noga said. He was hunched over a podium at the end of the platform, his hands working some mechanism blocked from view by his body. “Tam Kung is dead. Skell got away - Or should I say, I killed him, but that doesn’t exactly do much to an Angel of Death.”

The woman brought her hand to her lips as her eyes widened in shock, “Tam Kung- dead?”

“Hold out your hands.” Lord Noga replied.

A number of glittering green gems plopped into her outstretched palms out of thin air. The godly aura emanating off of them was unmistakable. This was godly sarira, the kind that only appeared from the body of a slain god.

She trembled slightly as she stared at the gems.

“Aren’t you happy, Yuima? You are now the sole God of Nature in the world.” Lord Noga said, “If you are able to absorb Tam Kung’s sarira, perhaps you’ll even rise to the title of King.”

Sorrowful tears budded in the corners of her eyes as she couldn’t find the words to express herself.

The sound of stone scraping against stone faded into the emptiness beyond the platform as Noga continued tinker. The soft aura of energies ebbed and flowed around the pedestal.

“It had to be done.” Noga said in a steady, neutral tone, “Sooner, rather than later.”

“I know.” Yuima replied.

Noga clicked his tongue in annoyance as he stepped back from the podium while rubbing his chin, “This one is slightly different from the others, and I’m in worse shape than ever.”

“You finished the battle pretty decisively.” Yuima replied, “When Robin came to me two weeks ago, she told me you only had a couple of tries left.”

“I already pretty much solved the fight against Tam Kung by then.” Noga replied, “But just as I was about to engage, I lost Noga City.”

“Lost?” Yuima frowned, “How do you just lose your capital?”

“Long story. I didn’t want to bother you- or Touma.” Noga replied.

“But you lost your city!” Yuima’s voice rose, “If you didn’t have it under control we would have-”

“Ah! Maybe if I do this…” Noga snapped his fingers as he stepped forward, once more engaging with the podium as if oblivious to Yuima’s protest.

“You and Touma have enough troubles.” Noga said in a softer tone, not looking back at Yuima, “I figured if I was able to secure this spire, it would be fine to give up Noga City.”

He chuckled, “Well, actually I was pretty pessimistic about that. This last week I have only maintained the main loop without engaging Tam Kung directly… I don’t think I could have lasted much longer even doing just that. Calling you for today’s favour really was my last resort.”

A soft click followed by a low hum signaled his success as the runes on the platform - previously unnoticed by Yuima - lit up around her. The darkness around her suddenly was filled with millions of softly glowing green lines as complicated three dimensional runes blossomed over the prism-shaped vertical chamber. The lines extended up and down as far as she could see as the tower hummed to life.

Outside, the heavy clouds dispersed around the ancient black spire, as the full moon bathed it in a silver light, revealing the final third section of the tower. A thin, smooth cylinder free from any imperfections that extended up and out of sight into the atmosphere.

“Noga City is an acceptable sacrifice.” Lord Noga said softly, “Our victory today brings us one step closer to our goal.”