The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 295 – Modern Stimulants

Fortia knew what she was doing. Fortia knew exactly what she was doing. Fortia had lived for far too long to be able to lie to herself. And Fortia knew that as she looked at the reports coming in from the Rilian front of the Epan War, she was avoiding dealing with Neneria.

She knew that she was running away right now. She was avoiding responsibility. She was doing everything she could to pretend that she didn’t need to go and stand up against that monster. And frankly, Fortia knew that it would work, this was only a waiting game. She simply had to find enough meaningless issues here to occupy her time for Neneria to finish. It was nothing but cowardice exposing its entire tantalizing and naked form to her.

But frankly, her self-admittance of cowardice did not hurt. It was just honesty. Fear was a natural part of life, humanity would have long gone extinct if they had never met fear. And Fortia had listened to her fear plenty of time before. It was because of fear that she did not lose her life in pointless heroics trying to stand up against the titans of the Great War. It was because of fear that she had stayed away from Olephia. It was because of her fear that the Pantheon had lasted a millennia, because if she was had just a feather’s weight more bravery, she would have been brave enough to openly rebel against Allasaria eight centuries ago.

It wasn’t the cowardice. That, she almost found pleasant once she realised it.

It was the fact that Fortia had not stopped Maisara from heading alone.

It was the fact that Maisara no doubt thought she would get reinforcements.

Anassa snapped her fingers and forced more power into her barrier as Zerus’ lightning jumped from cloud to cloud. She felt the electricity leap into her sorceries and felt the hairs on her head stand up for a moment as she poured more power into that barrier. If she had stopped, the shield would have popped already, even if all the sorcerers worked together, they would be able to withstand one, maybe two strikes. Not this constant storm that descended from above. Another Anassa threatened to step out and Sceo’s howling winds threatened to throw her off balance. And Anassa saw Alkom’s sun too. That sun would have to be withstood too, and without some trick, Anassa already knew that these two would overwhelm her. She took a deep breath as Sceo waved her arms around. The dust on the muddy ground started to pick up and swirl as Sceo called upon all the winds in the sky to descend and bring forth a hurricane here.

Anassa took a deep breath as she pulled upon her reserves of strength that could only be dug out with the supporting shovel of adrenaline, but she already knew it wouldn’t enough. If she got into a better state of mind, she knew she could do it, but just as the mortals sorcerers could never defeat her because they could not visualize themselves actually defeating Anassa. Anassa, as powerful as she was, simply could not delude herself that she was powerful enough to spend an entire day holding off an army, and then fighting Zerus, Sceo and Alkom at the same time.

And Anassa remembered how her own sorcerers had fought when they had arrived. The fact they were still standing, still flying and still supplementing Anassa’s barriers with their own was evidence enough that whatever Kassandora had given them worked. Another copy of Anassa appeared next to the one that carried the pills, she dug her arm into the pockets of the dress as the first Anassa, arms extended forwards, kept on channelling her strength into the barrier.

One Anassa pulled the small metal tube of MisseM out of the other Anassa’s pockets. It clicked open and Anassa tipped a single pill into her hand. It was the colour of dirty dishwater, and as large as a sizable mint. Carved onto the… whatever it was, was a set of small letters: Anassa dose. Anassa smiled to herself, that was classic Kassie. No doubt it was already perfectly weighed out for her. Anassa threw it into her mouth and bit into the sweet. If a toxic laboratory could have a taste, it would be that. Anassa had never tasted something so… so artificial. It was bitter and sour at the same time and Anassa quickly swallowed it to get rid of the taste.

Maybe she could not defeat them right now. But she was absolutely certain she could hold them off for long enough for that pill to take effect. The Goddess of Sorcery poured power into her barrier, she dragged out whatever she could from herself. Yet after five minutes, Zerus’ lightning started to make cracks in her crimson barrier. After ten, Alkom’s sun, grown to the size of a barn, smashed into the shield. After fifteen Anassa started to dematerialize more and more of her copies to conserve her power. After twenty, the sorcerers were doing far more than pulling their own weight, they had grown confident in themselves and that improved their abilities. After twenty-five though, even the sorcerers started to grow tired, their movements got slower and no amount of the drugs would help beat the natural fatigue of bodies pushed to their natural limits.

But after thirty, Anassa stopped for a moment as she felt her cheeks suddenly turn hot, sweat burst out over her skin, and her body suddenly grow hot.

Anassa felt the MisseMs hit. That was the only way she could describe the feeling, to say it came on suddenly would he an understatement, it hit so hard it may as well have been Fer’s fist punching into her stomach. It was as if an avalanche of energy had crashed into her, and somehow, she managed to swallow every last drop of it. She looked up at the skies. At Alkom’s Sun, twenty minutes ago it seemed so magnificent and blinding and now, it was almost small.

A full troop of a hundred Anassas appeared in the air besides the Goddess of Sorcery. Each one an independent entity yet each one was part of Anassa the whole. And each one was red-cheeked, pupils dilated and practically radiating heat as whatever was in the little MisseM vanished whatever idea Anassa had of tiredness in her mind. In a single moment, it was as if she had just been asleep for a full week and now jumped out of bed, ready for action.

More than that even… all the Anassas took a step forwards. All of them moved into the air, far above Zerus and Sceo and Alkom. Above the meagre brigade of mages they had brought with them. Above the collection of Gods that were reinforcing the reinforcements. All the Anassas collectively snapped their fingers. Her sorcerers barriers were shattered as her own took their place. Thick castle walls of crimson, subsisting entirely on the pure confidence of Anassa’s mind.

And right now, with her delusions amplified by a heart-attack dose of whatever was in that pill, Anassa did not feel like the Gatekeeper of Divinity. Nor the Gatekeeper of the Sky. Frankly, both were titles too low for her. Anassa burst out in a mad laughter as she stared down at those little insects. They duplicated in her vision as she heard angels chanting her name.

“Whose skies Zerus?” An Anassa shouted, or maybe no Anassa said anything at all and the Goddess of Sorcery was merely hearing things. “Whose skies!?” Anassa shouted again as more and more of herself was brought into reality.

Gatekeeping the Sky? Gatekeeping Divinity? What a farce! Any Divine with half her ego could claim to do either! It was time to take a step further. Elassa wanted to show off her strength and crack continents? Very well, magic had always been a brutish art, naturally it would be able to spill a bucket of power onto reality. But sorcery? Sorcery was a far finer art, it wouldn’t do well for sorcery. Sorcery was a fine pencil that could be wielded only by masters and no one else! If there was something sorcery could not do, then Anassa did not know it! It was time to find a task worthy of sorcery, and Anassa knew exactly what it was!

Existence itself was to be gatekept.

Lyca stopped as he felt the surge of power from all around him.

The hairs stood up on Fer’s head as she pulled away from Maisara. The Goddess of Order felt it too. She jumped away, Fer made sure to stay in between Neneria and Maisara, but she appreciated the break. And she knew that if she appreciated it, Maisara must be longing for one. The woman had slowed down by even the smallest amount during their brawl. “Wait!” Maisara shouted. “Break!”

Fer turned and raised an eyebrow at the Goddess of Order. If it was anyone else, then she would have shrugged it off. But if there was one thing Maisara liked to make sure that everyone knew, it was that not once in her life had she ever told a lie. “How long?”

“Ten minutes!” Maisara shouted and Fer agreed on the spot.

“I’ll hold you to that!”

“I’ve never lied!” Fer smiled at the woman’s own reminder of her honesty. If anyone else said it, then Fer would have assumed it was a lie that tried too hard. But not Maisara, Maisara simply had an ego and an inferiority complex that those honourable veils tried to obscure.

“Very well!” Fer said. “I believe you!”

“Thank you!” Maisara shouted back. Fer gave the Goddess of Order one final look as the woman put some more distance between herself and the Goddess of Beasthood. It was too far a distance for Fer to make a lightning strike that would connect before the woman summoned her weapon, but at this distance Fer could not be taken by surprise either.

Of Beasthood turned to look at Neneria. Her sister was still drafting the dead, and there was still no sign of slowing down. From the ground and from the air, the ethereal energy left behind by the massed souls pulsed as it released a pale white-green light. And Fer looked up at the sky.

And she knew immediately that Anassa had taken something.

More than two hundred copies of her sister existed simultaneously, each one moving as if she was her own person. They usually did that, but not in the way they were acting now. Anassa would work with Anassa; they were all part of one great whole that would work together and fight together. Now though, some Anassas were madly shrieking in laughter. Others sent of beams flying into the ground, carving very targeted, very controlled but at the same time, very random ravines into the mud. Fer narrowed her eyes at that.

Was the woman hallucinating?

More shot off beams in random directions through the sky. They spiralled off through the air, then transformed into various animals. One became a fog of butterflies, another a mighty crimson snake that grew winds and dived past the horizon into the flames of napalm. Another became a magnificent peacock. A swan. A great lion. It was as if Anassa had brought forth an entire menagerie conjured entirely of sorcery.

And some of the Anassas found their targets. They turned to Zerus and Alkom and Sceo as Fer’s ears twitched as they heard the collective, frantic snapping of fingers. The three Divines in the sky did not wait for the woman, they fled immediately. Red beams chased them just as Zerus’ lightning tried to chase Anassa. But it was much thicker, as if Anassa had taken the electricity and outlined it in red.

Another Anassa snapped two of her own sorcerers in half. Yet another created a storm of red energies on the ground. A third looked directly at Fer and the Goddess of Beasthood felt a chill run down her spine. And half of the Anassa’s disappeared. The Anassa looking at Fer took a step forwards, appeared on the ground, and vomited. A half of that half disappeared. And then the rest did. Anassa fell to her knees, her eyes tired and she made a soundless mumble.

Anassa vomited again, and Anassa fainted.

Fer turned to Maisara. She cracked a nervous smile. Frankly, the last thing she wanted to do was continue her duel with the Goddess of Order, instead, she wanted to rush and go check up on whether Anassa was alive or what was happening to her.

Maisara stepped forward in her gleaming silver armour, greataxe held at the ready. “That was something.” She shouted.

“That was.” Fer agreed as she turned to face the Goddess.

Zerus, Sceo & Alkom stopped their retreat. They turned back around to look at Anassa convulsing on the mud. Maisara’s greataxe re-appeared in her hands.

Anassa was out of the fight.

Neneria better be ready soon.

Neneria finished her draft. She felt the energies around her settle down. Her heart once again closed. She counted the dead that had been drafted. It was the first time that the number hadn’t come to her immediately and she had to consciously bring it to the front of her mind.

Thirty-three million. One hundred and seventy-seven thousand. Thirteen.

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