Amazon Apocalypse 5: Chapter 69

I awoke naked and lying on the ground. Somebody had thrown down robes beneath me, but that was all. I reached for my waist, but Morgathor’s Satchel was nowhere to be found. Nor did I have any of the bags of holding I’d sewn into my clothes. I was completely without any of my gear.

I looked around and realized I wasn’t alone. There was a wizard nearby, wearing a fluffy robe more akin to a bathrobe than something battle-worthy as he sat on a rock and nursed a healing potion like it was a beer. Now that I looked down, the robe I was lying on was identical. I sat up and put it on before turning to the man who I suspected was my savior.

“Thanks for the rescue... Ted?” I said, blinking in surprise as I realized the man was that same homeless-looking wizard I’d met on Glacia. He’d given me advice on picking spells and that book, ‘Interpreting the Fairer Sex.’

Or at least, that’s what it seemed like. Before, he’d had a bit of a belly, but that was gone. His gray-streaked beard was also familiar, and while it was the same color and partially burned, it looked like it had been finely groomed, and there were still the remnants of a gold braid that had likely kept it bound tight.

“Finish your drink, lad,” Ted said. Those words all but confirmed he was the man I remembered, but the look in his eyes was far more serious than I remembered. Like the eccentricity he’d displayed had been peeled back like a sheath, revealing a keen mind beneath it.

I looked down to find a clear vial of liquid sitting on the ground next to me. It was half finished, but I picked it up and drank the rest. When it reached my lips, I realized I sensed the flavor in my mouth already. It almost seemed like water, but unnaturally cool and crisp. Ted must have given me the first half of the vial while I was unconscious.

What was more, I was pretty sure I recognized this flavor. It was something I’d gotten before in a System reward chest. I analyzed the vial to make sure.

Potion of Absolution (Divine)

“This is a Potion of Absolution? Aren’t these incredibly valuable?” I asked, hesitant to finish the bottle.

“They are valuable beyond measure. I only had one, so you can consider this a late wedding gift. Sorry I missed that,” Ted said.

I held the vial in my hands a bit longer, eying it.

“Finish it. Otherwise, the draconification process will likely resume. Unless you want to turn into a dragon permanently?” Ted raised an eyebrow.

I finished the bottle in one big sip.

“Being a dragon would be tough to explain to the ladies in my life.”

Ted chuckled. “I said the same when it happened to me the first time. It’s why I always keep one of those potions on me. Usually, a sip will do you, but you were up to something far more severe. A Chaos God title, hmm? You know, we of the Dragon Lodge don’t get along too well with the Chaos Gods.”

I opened my status screen and breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed the Chaos Dragon title had been unequipped. The Potion of Absolution had done its job.

“Sorry. It was... well...” I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

“No need to apologize. There’s no telling what a man will do when backed into a corner. I’ve certainly done some things I regret to turn Glacia into what it is today. Perhaps my son will do something similar with his world. Just not this one. There isn’t much left here worth saving.” Ted waved his hand at the barren landscape around us.

The world was destroyed. On one side, wildfires raged across the land. On the other, the sea roiled like a great tempest, and I caught brief glimpses of ferocious void monsters lurking beneath the waves. Above us, the sky was a dusty gray. No F-Grade would dare call a place like this home.

“How much of that was me?” I asked.

“A bit.” Ted shrugged. “More of it was that fellow you were fighting. The Chaos Wolf. More of it was me and my old rival, the Chaos Serpent.”

“And did I get the wolf?” I asked hopefully.

“Afraid not. He slipped away with the Chaos Serpent once my comrades arrived in force. But you took a big bite out of his side. He’s going to remember that.” Ted chuckled.

My mind was still cloudy, so I had to mentally rewind our conversation a few times. Ted mentioned Herius was his son, meaning I was standing in the presence of the God-King of Glacia. Worse, I’d mentally been calling the God-King of Glacia ‘that homeless guy I met.’

Shortly after I had that realization, Ted climbed to his feet.

“Anyway, I owe thanks for looking after Herius. This was the boy’s first real campaign, and I know he learned a lot from you. Even the finest tutors on Glacia can’t make up for a lack of real-world experience. And don’t worry, I already switched this world out with another one while everybody’s in your mystic realm. That way, you won’t need to explain the void monster infestation, and I won’t need to clean it up. Take care, lad. And don’t forget your nightly reading.”

And like that, he vanished in the blink of an eye. I would have wondered about how he did it, but an instant later, I vanished, too.

When I reappeared, I was on a much greener and healthier world. It resembled Ladwick as I remembered it, at least on a superficial level. There were temperate forests and green grassy fields, though after taking to the air there was only one settlement I noticed.

Next to me, Morgathor's Satchel appeared on the ground, battered and burned. Doomeseeker and my dragon bone sword was there too. They looked like they'd been through a battle. My Robes of the Enigmatic Scholar appeared there too, but they were only dirty. I quickly gathered them all up, thankful Ted had teleported them over to me. Otherwise, I never would have found them.

I looked at my new surroundings. The settlement itself was a long abandoned ruin, ancient and crumbling as moss and vines overtook it. It had been at least a thousand years since anyone was here. It still drew my eye though, because I sensed the shimmering of a spatial distortion right in the middle of it.

As I watched, the rift opened just wide enough to stick a hand through. A delicate blue-skinned elven hand pushed a talisman out through the hole.

I heard familiar voices from within the small crack.

“Open it all the way!” Myrina said.

“Wait. I sent a probe talisman out,” Reluna said.

“Probing? I know my Earth media, and that’s what aliens do to asses! Just open the door and let me look! I’m all fixed up now, and Carter needs our help!” Myrina said.

I flew down and landed before the spatial distortion, waiting for it to open. There was a brief struggle on the other side before the door popped open. Myrina came charging out with her sword raised high and a battle cry on her lips.

I caught her in a hug as soon as she was out and swept her off her feet.

“It’s alright, Myrina. The battle is over. I’m alright. And I’m glad to see you’re alright as well.” I planted a kiss on her cheek and ran a hand along the bandages covering her stomach and arms. Her sword arm had bandages up to the elbow, and her other arm was in a sling.

After hearing my voice, the portal opened all the way, and Cyra, Reluna, and Mimiko all came out to join my hug.

Prince Herius followed a moment later.

“As I was telling the girls, the battle is over. Your father and the Dragon Lodge arrived. They got our message.”

“Good... good!” the prince’s face was split by a smile, and he fell backward onto the grass-covered ruins. There, he looked at the sky overhead as he breathed more than a few relieved sighs in a row.

I waited for him to notice he wasn’t in Mundwise anymore, but when he sat and stared for nearly a minute, I realized the relief that everything was finally over was keeping it off his mind.

“Notice anything strange about the ruins?” I asked curiously.

“Hmm? Oh, right. It’s going to take a lot of work rebuilding this place. The Chaos Wolf must have been throwing around some hefty spells. How did you survive that thing, anyway?” Prince Herius asked.

I shrugged. “I have a few tricks up my sleeves.”

Prince Herius shrugged and seemed satisfied with that answer, but I knew from the girls’ looks that I would need to give them the full story eventually.

Naturally, I hastily changed the subject.

“Anyway, let’s start emptying people out of Sanctum. They’ll need to set up shelters and farms if they’re to survive this place long term. They just lived through an apocalypse. Thankfully, I happen to have experience with that sort of thing.”

<Note>

Epilogue and Final Stats later today.