Chapter 706 - Ships and Temples

Tucker grinned broadly as he hefted his new toy onto his shoulder.  Vaguely, it looked like a rocket launcher, though one passed through a steampunk filter.  Made of brass and with wooden fittings, it was also quite a bit larger than the Earthly weapons.  It differed in a number of other ways, but none were quite so important as the fact that it was linked to Tucker’s Alchemist-only storage space.

Letting out an elated shout, he squeezed the trigger, and it discharged with a lout pop.  The contents – a glass, missile-shaped cartridge that was more than three feet long – sailed over the railing and into the air.  It slammed into the temple far below, exploding in an enormous cloud of noxious gas. 

“That’s the stuff!” he screamed before discharging the weapon again.  He still hadn’t named the thing, but he thought of it as his high-volume potion launcher.  Others called weapon of mass destruction.  And given the experience he felt flowing into him, he couldn’t really deny that label. 

Lesser gods fell, their flesh melted and their screams dying in constricting throats.  Thankfully, they weren’t visible beneath the ocher cloud.  Otherwise, some of the rest of the crew might have been sick.

“You enjoy that far too much,” hissed Athis.

“Can’t blame me for taking pleasure in my work, you big, grumpy lizard,” Tucker responded.  “Not like you have room to talk.  I’ve seen you laughing while popping a man’s head like a balloon.”

“That’s different,” Athis insisted, gripping the rail.  Even after a century of being part of Iris’ crew, he still wasn’t comfortable flying.  He didn’t let it stop him – obviously – but he definitely didn’t enjoy it.  “More honorable.”

“Like you care about honor.  Winning is all that matters.  You told me that once.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you said it.  Now, get ready.  She’s coming back around,” Tucker ordered.

Athis grunted.

Meanwhile, Tucker spared a moment to hope that everyone had taken the antidote for the gas.  Without it, they would all end up just like the mer-people that called the planet home. 

As they both readied themselves for the ship to get into position so they could disembark, the cannons continued to fire.  It was unnecessary.  Anyone down there who could survive Tucker’s potions weren’t going to be killed by a few explosions.  But he knew that Iris and Gira needed to feel like they were contributing.

“Ten seconds!” came a shout from the helm.

Tucker looked back to see Iris standing at the wheel, her silver-streaked hair whipping in the wind.  She looked like a pirate goddess – which, technically, she kind of was.  After all, most of them had achieved lesser god status upon ascension.  Not that it really meant anything in a realm where such a designation wasn’t that uncommon.  Sure, many of the people who’d been born into the Ethereal Realm lacked such power, but anyone who’d ascended from below had more than enough.

Cannon fire filled the air, and Tucker added two more shots before he exchanged it for his blunderbuss.  The weapon had been retooled a few dozen times over the past century, and at great cost to him.  It would have been cheaper to simply replace the thing, but Tucker had always been the sentimental sort.  After having replaced most of its parts, the gun brought to mind the Ship of Theseus – at what point would it stop being the same weapon?

Tucker wasn’t sure, but he’d have sooner cut off his arm than replace it.

The ship glided through the air, then hit the surf with a shudder.  Immediately, the crew – as well as a few thousand kobolds who’d remained inside the tower – leaped free and into the shallow water.  In seconds, they were sprinting toward the temple in the distance. 

The kobolds who accompanied the ship were not the rank-and-file legionnaires.  Instead, they were what was known as irregulars.  Kobolds who’d refused normal development, opting for odd classes instead of the established path.  As such, they were individually more powerful, but at the cost of their ability to work together. 

That was why they’d been stuck with Iris.

The force fell on the remaining opposition, cutting through them with hundreds of varied skills and dozens of types of weapons.  Athis and the other kirrans fought with their claws, ripping through the mer-people with reckless abandon.  Meanwhile, kobolds and other pirates fought chaotically, filling the air with fire, ice, and every other element.

Of course, the remaining mer-people – with their green skin, fins, and odd features – were the most powerful among them. They had to be if they survived Tucker’s barrage.  So, they didn’t go down without a significant fight.

Which was fine by Tucker.

Over the years, he’d developed a bit of a taste for action, so he raced ahead right alongside all the others.  However, instead of fighting with blade or claw, he used the blunderbuss like a hip-fired shotgun.  At close range, it peppered his enemies with various potions, most of which were more than enough to melt holes through lesser gods. 

And he had plenty of ammunition.

After all, with the entirety of the Crimson Tower’s resources at his disposal, he had no barriers for his advancement as an Alchemist.  The only thing standing in his way were time, patience, and his own talent.  And none of those had ever been an issue for Tucker.  That was the biggest reason he’d advanced so quickly and smoothly, reaching the point of ascendence far sooner than Iris or the others.

There hadn’t been any speedbumps in the Ethereal Realm, either, and he suspected that if left to his own devices, he would reach the peak of lesser godhood much more quickly than any of his contemporaries. 

If it wasn’t for Zeke’s existence, he might’ve thought himself special.  But seeing that monster in motion was enough to disabuse him of that notion.  Sure, Tucker was pretty talented.  But he was just a normal sort of special.  Zeke might very well have been entirely unique. 

That was a line of thought for another time, because even as they tore through the defenders, someone exited the temple.  The ground shuddered as the creature – which looked like a humanoid shark, though one at least twenty feet tall and armed with whips of water – stepped free of the exit.

Athis didn’t hesitate to bellow a challenge, then rush the thing. 

He was far too slow. 

The whips arced out, slicing through the air fast enough to break the sound barrier.  Then, suddenly, Athis was stumbling backward, his upper half sliding free of his legs.  Fortunately, someone caught him as he fell. 

That was when Tucker sprang into action, bringing his blunderbuss to his shoulder and taking proper aim.  He squeezed the trigger, and it kicked, discharging a tiny glittering ball that slammed into his friend only a moment later.  The globe broke, and a surge of vitality swept across the sandy beach.

Athis’ body mended itself back together in an instant.

What’s more, everyone else who’d been unlucky enough to be wounded healed as well.  Unfortunately, that was just as true of the defenders as it was for Tucker’s allies.  That was the problem with potions – they were powerful and versatile, but they were not very precise.  Where a skill might only target enemies or allies, his potions were equal opportunity in nature. 

The only saving grace was that the vast majority of the defenders were dead, which put them out of reach of any healing.

Iris brought the ship around, then fired every cannon all at once.  The air filled with the sound of explosions as they buried the shark-giant beneath the best arms the Ethereal Realm had to offer.  Of particular note was Gira, who manned a rapid-fire cannon at the bow of the ship.  The sheer volume of fire that thing spat was equal to – or even exceeded – the rest of the ship’s combined capabilities.

That barrage allowed the attackers to regroup and finish off the stunned defenders.  Meanwhile, with a mental flick, Tucker loaded a new sort of grenade into his blunderbuss.  Even before the smoke cleared, he took aim and fired.

The world shook with a massive explosion that, on Earth, probably would have been classified as nuclear in nature.  A shockwave knocked everyone on the beach backward, and the earth erupted into sand and rock.  Even the ship, high in the sky by that point, was thrown nearly a quarter mile out to sea.

Tucker got a brief glimpse of the shark-giant before he too was thrown backward.  He skipped across the suddenly-dry ocean floor, only stopping when the water came rushing back in with a tidal wave that swept him back toward the point of impact.

It flowed into a huge crater, at the center of which was what remained of the temple.  That, instead of the shark-man, had been his target all along.  He didn’t care if that thing died.  His role was to destroy the temple – and he’d accomplished that mission with aplomb. 

The only issue was that his explosion had injured a few of his own people.  None had died, though – he could tell that much.  And certainly, the shark-giant was still breathing. 

Now that his job had been done, though, there was no reason for Tucker to stick around.  So, he waved at Iris, who’d managed to get the ship under control. 

His haste to leave was probably why the shark-giant took him by surprise. 

The whip cut into his side, digging deep and stopping only when it hit his spine.  When the watery tendril tore free, it took part of his intestines with it.  They snaked across the beach, filling the air with their stench.

Tucker stared at it for a long moment before the pain caught up to him.  He fell to his knees, stunned.

“Little creature.  You will suffer,” came a gurling voice from nearby.  Tucker looked up to see a huge shark-giant standing over him.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he groaned.  “If it’s any consolation…”

He spat a glob of blood on the ground.

Then, he continued, “It’s not the first time I bit off more’n I can chew.  But you want to know a secret?”

“What secrets could you possibly offer?  I will not spare you,” the thing stated, its voice sounding like they were underwater. 

“Oh, I know.  But here it is.  I’m really not the one you should worry about.”

Just then, a fine, red mist filled the air.  It happened so quickly that when Tucker blinked, the shark-giant had fallen entirely apart.  That was when he tipped over, his face hitting the sand a second later.

He fumbled with his skills, trying to summon a potion.  But his hands just wouldn’t work, so even after he dragged one out of his storage space, it just tumbled from his numb fingers.

A pale, white hand reached down, pulling it away from him. 

“I used to dream about this moment.  You know that, don’t you?” came a deathly voice.  Tucker didn’t need to look up to know it was Talia.  “Without you, none of this would have happened to me.  No undeath.  Just left alone to live my life.”

Then, she knelt beside him, tipping the potion into his mouth.  Tucker coughed as she finished, “But you did me a favor back then.  You saved me from a life of mediocrity.  It was up to me to make that work for me.”

He coughed again as the gaping wound in his torso mended, and his intestines rebuilt. 

“You say that every time you save me,” he muttered, trying to sit up.  His body failed him.  “Ugh.  Just give me a minute.”

“I say it because you need to remember.  If this happened just a few years ago…”

“You’d have still saved me.  You’re a good person.”

She laughed, then dragged him to his feet.  “I know of a lot of people who would disagree, old man.”

“Old?  I’m not old!” he insisted.  “Besides, you better not get too cozy with me.  Iris might start getting the wrong idea.”

Talia snorted at the ridiculousness of that idea, which hurt Tucker’s pride.  Once upon a time, the notion that he and Talia would have become friends was just as unbelievable as the idea that Iris needed to worry about their relationship.  But she had grown, and so had Tucker.  Now, they enjoyed a comfortable friendship that resembled that of a man favoring his favorite niece. 

Not surprising.  The girl craved that sort of attention, and Tucker was only too happy to give it.  After all, one of his life’s greatest accomplishments was raising his own children.  Being there for a lost girl who needed that kind of mentorship was right up his alley.

“You get the other temple?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t.”

“Any idea about the others?”

She shook her head.  “I don’t know.  We need to ensure they’re destroyed, though.  Otherwise, Zeke –”

Just then, the world shook, reminding them of the ongoing battle between great god and Primordial. 

“Help me gather the army.  We’ll get going as soon as everyone’s safe.”

Even as he said it, he could only hope that Zeke hadn’t bitten off more than he could chew.