The scientist did not reply, instead choosing to focus on running the last three God Formula equations. The Gehennian Prince considered the silence as consent.
The two suns, Rusus and Afel, were both setting in opposite directions. The sky was red, as if bleeding from various wounds. "What do you wish to achieve from Aegis and God Formula?" Dagon posed with indifference.
Griffin sighed. He had asked himself the same question a thousand times and had the answer in very elaborate terms. But he doubted Dagon had the patience for a long philosophical discussion.
"I seek peace between the worlds. That is all."
"Peace between the worlds, huh?" the black rakshasa scoffed. "What a ridiculous idea! How would a puny human like you understand interplanetary and intergalactic politics?"
Griffin's eye twitched. He was a supersmart scientist. He drew the line at being called dumb. "I don't expect an ugly reptile brain creature like you to understand that either."
Dagon straightened. His pride was clearly hurt. It was time for battle.
The energies around the Gehennian warrior crackled. He raised an arm as if chopping wood and brought it down with force. The air before him seemed to split vertically as a wall of energy shot out towards Griffin. The ground furrowed and rifted as the surge advanced.
Griffin went into a stance, crossing his lower arms in an X in front of him. It was just an elemental attack. Aegis could handle it.
[Adamantine Shield: Activated!]
Boom! The energy wall collided with Griffin and dissipated. His feet skidded back a few inches with the impact.
[Attack Nullification: 99.1% ]
Griffin lowered his smoking arms and eyed Dagon. Elemental, magical, and physical attacks were ineffective against the adamantine armor. What he feared was the exotic sword his enemy wielded.
The Zweihander. It had been responsible for depleting most of his HP and MP—the God Killer.
"How long will you keep this up?" Dagon thundered. "Your answer about peace between worlds is pointless. You cannot even defend yourself against a single enemy like me. How can you bend the universe to your will? You're smart. Haven't you figured it out yet?"
"I have my plans and you have yours. Let us not bicker over philosophies."
Dagon shrugged. "Alright. I shall give you a quick and merciful death. If Aegis dies along with you, then so be it."
He pulled the legendary sword out of the ground. "Prepare to die, human. I have reached the end of my patience."
"Damn it!" Griffin cursed under his breath. Aegis was not likely to survive another hit from the Zweihander.
He checked his HUD.
[MP: 3473/99999]
[HP: 10201/99999]
[Loading Equations: 2/3….. 59%]
Griffin needed a little more time for the equations to finish loading. There was not enough mana left to generate an attack that would slow down a monster like Dagon. Only one recourse was left.
Escape.
It was not practically possible to outrun Dagon. However, Griffin possessed a god-like AI named Aegis. He could make impossible things happen. "Aegis, initiate Avian Mode. It is time to fly."
Ching! Cling! Clang! Metal plumes fanned out from behind Aegis with a wingspan of over ten feet. Griffin crouched, and debris around him stirred and shifted. Then he shot up into the sky like a cannon. The suit made him soar like an aircraft, but almost at Mach Speed.
[Elevation 100ft]
[Elevation 500ft]
As he zoomed upwards, Griffin looked down and saw the figure of Dagon getting smaller and smaller until the warrior was a speck in the dirt. What a relief! The madman wouldn't give up!
[Elevation 1000ft]
[Elevation 5000ft]
The HUD indicated that he had achieved MACH speed. His insides felt like they were on fire, but Aegis normalized everything.
[Optimizing Oxygen Levels]
[Optimizing Vital Organs]
[Elevation 11000ft]
Flub! Griffin breached the surface of the clouds and seamlessly came to a halt midair. The Aegis device hummed rhythmically. A sense of fulfillment washed over the scientist as he realized how incredible his invention was. Man and machine had become one, transcending God together.
Griffin hovered in the air, taking a visual scan of the panorama. The natural spectacle was enthralling. The sky above the clouds was a cerulean blue.
With the two suns, Rusus and Afel, setting on opposite sides, red haze reflected from Aegis' golden adamantine armor. Griffin looked like a mythical god watching over the world.
The ace scientist sighed. When he started working on Aegis, all he had dreamed of was universal peace. If the creator's powers could be tapped into, wars, hunger, and disease would end. Peace would be everlasting. He hadn't factored in a rebellious warrior prince hunting him down to steal his invention.
For the time being, Griffin had enough MP to stay in the sky for hours. He wouldn't have to worry about Dagon anymore. His equations would finish loading pretty soon. It was only a matter of time.
[Loading Equations: 3/3….. 7% ]
"Why didn't I think of this before?" the scientist asked himself, chuckling. "I was trying to escape Dagon horizontally, but all I had to do was go vertical. He is a mighty warrior, but has his limitations."
[Warning!] [Incoming Attack!] [Source and direction undetectable]
Something had triggered Aegis' warning system. But what could pose a danger to him above the clouds? Was it a weather calamity?
As Griffin looked around in confusion, he felt the temperature rise. He turned around just in time to see a searing ball of fire shoot towards him.
Boom! The flame attack hit him square on the torso, disrupting his flight system. Griffin went into a tailspin, dipping below the clouds. Aegis recovered in a few seconds and brought him back up.
[Recalibrating Flight…] [Successful]
[Damage is marginal. All systems are active and functional]
"Where did the attack come from?" Griffin spat, searching for the source in panic. A fireball was an elemental attack that the adamantine armor neutralized. But the very idea of an enemy at this elevation above the clouds was ridiculous. Who was the culprit?
His question was answered shortly.
[High energy signatures detected]
The mattress of clouds parted ominously as a figure emerged from under it. Seven feet tall with reptilian features and energy crackling around him. It was Dagon!
He levitated effortlessly, a feat that looked much cooler than Griffin's machine-enabled flight. The Prince hovered midair with folded arms, his battle robes striking a rude staccato against the wind draft.
"It's amusing to see a human fly with the help of silly trinkets!" he hollered. "But you must be delusional to think you can escape me!"
Griffin was dumbfounded. How could Dagon fly? He knew of elder black rakshasas with enormous power who could leap into the air and stay a few feet off the ground for a few seconds. However, a seamless flight up in the skies was a legend and a myth.
Feats like levitation and midair maneuver were inconceivable even for advanced magic users. No mage or cyborg had achieved this milestone yet. Aegis had made Griffin the first among all species to fly. Or so he thought.
Dagon could fly, and he was good at it. Nevertheless, it was foolish of Griffin to have underestimated his opponent. The latter had been playing with him, acting much weaker than he really was.
"Don't you see how useless Aegis and God Formula are in your hands?" Dagon asserted. "You are a mere human, while I am a Gehennian god. Only I deserve to wield such power! Open your eyes and see that only I can unlock its full potential!"
Griffin considered his enemy's words for a moment. "Then let me pose the same question, Prince. What do you wish to achieve from Aegis and God Formula?"
Dagon waved a dismissive hand. "It's a pointless query. Naturally, I shall take my rightful place as ruler of the star system and then explore other solar systems to establish interstellar colonies. The entire universe will be within my reach."
"And if they refuse to accept your rule?"
"If they don't kneel, they will burn."
"You will bring war and suffering to all the worlds and galaxies, Dagon? THAT is your purpose?"
The Gehennian Prince scoffed. "Small sacrifices are necessary for the greater good. A mortal like you, whose body and mind cannot last for more than a century, is incapable of comprehending matters of galactic scale."
Griffin let out a heavy sigh. "Now that I understand your motivations and intentions, I have made up my mind. I would rather die than hand Aegis over to you!"
Dagon broke into derisive laughter. "I grow weary of your insolence! You wish to die? Great! I shall now fulfill your wish and execute you for your sins. Brace yourself!"
Dagon drew his sword from its scabbard. The Zweihander was a double-edged greatsword, six feet long and one foot wide. Up close, it was much more intimidating to look at.
It had a fearsome moniker—the God Killer. The weapon was one of the seven TrueForge swords of the universe, whose origins were unknown—god-level artifacts. Dagon had inherited the Zweihander from his father as a family heirloom dating back millennia.
Right now, he wielded the weapon with ease and expertise. Dagon pivoted in midair and launched towards his target. This time, he meant to end the battle.
Griffin had to think quickly. His priority was completing the three God Formula equations. He reviewed his HUD.
[MP: 3203/99999]
[HP: 9501/99999]
[Loading Equations: 3/3... 52% ]
The first two equations had been processed. The third was almost halfway done. Now all he had to do was buy a few more minutes.
"Aegis, let's give our reptilian friend a taste of Evanescence."
Digital crosshairs appeared at the center of Griffin's HUD. It focused on Dagon and locked on. A large dial appeared around the crosshairs.
[Select Mana Input]
Evanescence was a pure energy attack, just like Dagon's earlier one on the ground. However, it was much more powerful, depending on the amount of mana used up.
Griffin tweaked the dial until it stopped at 99% and hit confirm. It was time to go all in. The command took half a second to execute.
[Evanescence] [99%]
[Discharging!]
A halo appeared around Griffin. Then, energy converged and shot out as a dazzling, booming beam towards Dagon. The latter swerved out of the way and flew towards his target, staying safely just above the discharge. The tassels of his robe licked the beam and smoldered into ash.
Before Griffin could make another move, Dagon was upon him. He swung down the Zweihander with all his might.
Clap! A shockwave radiated out as if a massive fuse had gone off. Even the hilltops and the oceans on the planet below felt the tremor.
[Wake up!] [Wake up!]
Griffin had passed out from the impact. Aegis's loud AI voice roused him. He opened his eyes moments later, finding himself plummeting towards the ground.
[Warning!] [Critical damage to core] [01:00 min left to Aegis Shutdown]
[MP: 0/100000]
[HP: 23/200000]
"So this is the end, huh?" Griffin asked himself bitterly. "I think I aimed too high. Universal peace and god-like power were ambitious goals. I ran out of time and life. Well, at least I could see two sunsets from the sky. That is as close to paradise as somebody like me could get."
Griffin saw a figure up in the sky plummeting towards him. It was Dagon. Even after taking the devastating attack of the Zweihander, Griffin's adamantine armor had survived, even though his AI devices were failing.
Dagon was coming for him to end what he started. He had dived headfirst, his greatsword pointed downward for the killing blow.
Below, the ocean awaited Griffin's corpse. Or whatever would remain of it once the rakshasa's attack hit. Perhaps there would be no dead body, since everything, down to the bones, would be blown into smithereens and dust.
Griffin closed his eyes again, having resigned himself to death. Then, suddenly, Aegis' interface came alive.
[Loading Equations: 3/3… 100% ] [Successful!]