An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) (19 page)

Chapter 18
: Electric Feel

I reach the coordinates of the palace in just under ten minutes. I screw off the cap of the metal canister and start pouring the napalm onto the ocean’s surface,
spelling out Feros in cursive. Once the canister is empty, I replace the cap and engage my helmet in case the next step backfires. The purple lightning bolt on my left hand surfaces as I create a small spark to ignite the napalm; that should get the dragon’s attention.

‘Perhaps
I did my job a little too well…’ I think as a spout of water shoots up and knocks me out of the sky, smacking the canister out of my right hand; so much for not littering. I recover before I hit the water, only to have a tentacle-like stream of water wrap around my leg and drag me into the ocean.

A dragon says something to me in Chinese (presumably)
while releasing air bubbles beneath the surface of the ocean. I feel the flames of the napalm heating my back as I activate Neptune’s power and engage a bubble around me.

“
You fuckers got me all wet.” I tell the ten dragons that have surrounded me, armed with harpoons, tridents, and… is that a fucking speargun?

The purple lightning bolt
surfaces on the back of my blackened left hand as I hold it outward, dipping it into the water outside my bubble. The lightning streams from my palm and rapidly expands in the water. The dragons surrounding me do fantastic impressions of epileptics that have accidentally walked in on a rave as the electricity interrupts their nervous systems, seizes their muscles, and stops their hearts.

(
‘I said ooh girl. Shock me like an electric eel. Baby girl. Turn me on with your electric feel.’)

“
Haha, Electric Feel by MGMT. You know that this isn’t what that song is referring to, right?”

(Really? It sure sounds that way to me. Listen)

Airi starts playing the song in my head and I propel myself deeper into the ocean as the dragons float to the surface while their weapons sink.

(See? ‘She got the power in her hand, to shock you like you won’t believe.’ Tell me how that doesn’t apply here besides that fact that you’re a man?)

“I’m pretty sure that MGMT is using a metaphor.” I think as three more dragons come out of the dome that is barely visible at the bottom of the ocean.

The three dragons speed towards me, using their wings to propel them forward like giant flippers.
They must be scouts investigating, meaning that the group from before was most likely out on patrol or running drills and I just got unlucky. The three scouts are all armed with spears so I stick my hand into the water when they get close and zap them all.

(I don’t know… it sounds to me like they’re singing about a woman killing her enemies with electricity)

“Haven’t you ever heard of someone describing a feeling they got when with a person they’re attracted to as electric?”

(Ah, I see… incoming)

Ten dragons come out of the dome and swim towards me, armed with spears and tridents. A few use their control over water to hold my bubble in place while the others use tentacle-like jets of water to whip at me. I let them jerk me around a bit before expanding my field of influence with Neptune’s power. The whips suddenly cease and the hold on me stops. The dragons panic when they find that their power isn’t working and they all charge at me. I stick my left hand into the water and fry them like a redneck fishing with a live power line. With this threat dealt with, I continue my descent.

‘
It appears that they’re getting serious.’ I think as I see a large squad.

A grouping of twenty dragons comes out of the dome. As I get closer, I notice that this dome is much bigger than the one in the east; most likely to accommodate the military force. The dragons approaching all seem to have guns, which I find to be odd. When they are about thirty feet away, they make use of the third
axis available in underwater combat and fan out into a wall that is four high and five across. Once in position, they all open fire. The guns don’t explode and five inch bolts shoot out in rapid fashion.

I just let the bolts hit me and bounce off of my jacket, armored jeans, and helmet.
When they stop firing, I yawn mockingly before feeling stupid when I realize that they can’t see me yawning because of my helmet. I place my left hand in the water and concentrate the lightning in front of me, which doesn’t work out too well and branches out because of the water. The lightning is enough to get the whole ‘epileptic at a rave’ effect and the dragons float downward due to the weight of their weapons that are strapped to them.

I propel myself forward and snatch one of the guns to find out what in the hell it is: ASM-DT Russian made amphibious rifle,
26-round magazines, shoots five hundred rounds per minute at a velocity of less than 1000 ft/s. I release the gun and let it carry it’s wielder down as I continue towards the giant dome on the ocean’s floor. A dozen metal tubes come into view and it appears that they are traveling towards me.

(Letting torpedoes detonate near you is not recommended underwater
… or anywhere else)

“Well then, ho
w about we return these to them?”

I reach out with Neptune’
s power, use the surrounding water to grab hold of the tails of the torpedoes, and slowly turn them around. I release the torpedoes and let them fly—or swim, back to their launchers where they explode on impact with the dome. Done with the shenanigans, I propel myself full speed through the dome.

As I cross the threshold, switching gears to fly so I don’t fall, I n
otice that Ao Run’s palace is the same style as the eastern palace, but these crystals are clear in color instead of azure. There are about a dozen military buildings placed on a compound that is about a mile from the palace and about one hundred yards below me. Also beneath me are around a hundred dragons, most armed with unfamiliar assault rifles that remind me of the Steyr AUG and are pointed skyward.

“I am Feros! You kidnapped my friend Ryuji, and I’m here to take him back!” I
announce.

I consider giving them the chance to surrender, but they’ll just shoot at me anyway, so what’s the point? Instead, I point my left hand downward
and start blasting them all with the hydro-electric cannon. I have to say, I’m thankful to Hades for using this on me because I probably wouldn’t have thought to use it otherwise; I’d just be spraying them down and then zapping them. The dragons start firing at me while I hit them; the majority of the bullets miss me, but the few that do hit me don’t get through.

Since the dragon
s aren’t submerged, the lightning doesn’t kill them, but it does incapacitate them. I fly down and pick up one of the unfamiliar assault rifles: Chinese made Type 95 that uses 5.8x42mm rounds in a 30-round magazine with a velocity of 3100 ft/s and a fire rate of 650 rounds per minute.

With the last of the soldiers dealt with, I fly towards the palace. I land in front of the
giant door like the one at the other palace and I’m slightly surprised when it opens for me. I enter the large foyer and see that not only does the foyer have thirty foot ceilings, but the large hallway in front of me does as well. I cautiously head down the hallway in front of me, noticing a source of light coming from the only open door down this hallway. Since they obviously want me to go this way, I do so.

“Welcome to my palace, Feros.” A voice greets as I walk through the door and exit the hallway.

The room that I enter is enormous; one hundred yards long by one hundred yards wide with the same ceiling height as the hallway. In the room are a total of ninety-four dragons: three dressed in white, blue, or red regalia in the back of the room with a bound Ryuji, and ninety soldiers in front of them that are organized into three different groups and dressed in colors coinciding with the regalia. All of the soldiers appear to be armed with Type 95 assault rifles; however, unlike the soldier dragons I’ve been fighting, these ones have bronze outlines.

“I believe that you are here for your friend; however, we need him for our war with the tigers. We promise that we will return him when we’re finished.” The dragon in the white regalia
calls out with a light accent and a fake smile; since he called it his palace, this must be Ao Run.

“Right, like you’ll let a black dragon just walk away when you’re all scared shitless of
a stupid ass prophecy.” I reply and Ao Run’s smile widens.

“
We will make you a deal: you eradicate the tigers for us, and you leave with your friend. Or, I can always just kill your friend, blame it on the tigers, and get our support that way.” Ao Run offers and I take a step forward.

“Move and your friend dies!” Ao Run shouts while pulling a
Beretta 92 9mm pistol from his white regalia and pressing it to Ryuji’s temple.

“The same goes for porting!”
Ao Run adds.

I slowly raise my hands into the air while thinking over my options
, if there are any I have now that I didn’t when in this exact situation with Addie… then I notice something missing from this scene that was present with Addie.

The
hammer of the Beretta 92 in Ao Run’s hand isn’t back so there is no round in the chamber of that gun.

I don’t let my face show as I continue thinking over what to do next. Even with my speed
, I most likely wouldn’t make it the one hundred yards before someone takes action, which would slow me down and give Ao Run the order for someone else to shoot Ryuji. I can port over there, but then I’d have to deal with fighting my way out while protecting Ryuji. For some reason, my gut instinct is to shoot him myself, kill everyone in the room while they think that their bargaining chip is gone, and then fix the damage to Ryuji after, but there has to be a better way to do this… and since my guns might still have water in them, firing them may result in a ruptured barrel.

“What is your answer, Feros?” Ao Run asks
.

There’s only one option.

“You know, I just realized something about your prophecy.” I reply as a prickling sensation takes over my left arm, spreading across my chest and shoulder blade. I feel a mild prickling sensation in my right thigh, but it might just be my imagination.

“That prophecy never specifies that a black
dragon
would be the one to destroy the Longwang.” I add as the prickling sensation reaches my face and an enhanced awareness of my surroundings comes to me.

A Void tendril shoots out of my left hand and heads straight for Ao Run. Ao Run sees it coming and pulls the trigger of the Beretta 92 in his hand, only to have nothing happen. He looks down in confusion at
the gun before the tendril finds his face. Ao Run’s head disappears into the Void, leaving a decapitated body behind that starts squirting blood everywhere. The dragons react by shooting at me, and I respond by laughing as Void tendrils mow through the legs of all the white-colored dragons.

Red and Blue teams seem to realize that the bullets aren’t working so a few of them drop their guns; do they think that will save them? I realize why they dropped their guns at the same time
that I realize why this palace has thirty foot ceilings.

The dragons that dropped their guns start warping into…
well, dragons… but the twenty foot tall, Chinese variety, which look like giant, winged-skinks with deer antlers instead of giraffe-like lizards with wings like the European variety, if they actually exist. I start questioning the laws of conservation of mass and how this is happening scientifically… for about three seconds before I’m overcome with joy at the concept of dual-wielding swords against a bunch of giant lizards, in much the same way as a child who discovers Disneyland for the first time is overcome with joy… unless that first time is when Disneyland is being torn down.

‘
Better make that
fire breathing
giant lizards!’ I think in a giddy fashion as I flip to the side to avoid a jet of flames.

While hanging upside-down, I pull the Diamond swords f
rom the sheaths on my back before landing into a crouch. I launch off of the ground, jumping through the air at the neck of the nearest red dragon before scissor slicing through the two foot thickness of his neck with both swords. Blood drenches my clothing as I laugh and continue through the spout of blood coming from the severed neck, using flight to assist my lack of momentum due to the sword force needed for the decapitation.

I land on the other side of the room, next to the two remaining Longwang and Ryuji.

‘Did I say two? I meant one!’ I think as I slice the blue regalia-donned dragon, who is probably Ao Guang, to pieces. The six blue ‘dragon-form’ dragons in the room roar at me, probably for killing their master.

“Don’t feel bad! YOU’LL ALL BE JOINING HIM SOON!” I shout and laugh maniacally as I rush forward.

A blue dragon swipes a set of foot-long claws at me when I get close, so I take the time to stop and chop his paw off before sprinting around the length of his fifty foot body to chop off all of his other appendages.

“There! Now you’re a snake! Hahaha!” I laugh as the dragon roars in pain and starts thrashing around, spraying blood across the floor
and splattering his comrades.