[KoJ] Chapter 100: The Verge

Tar floats skyward. Countless great pillars pierce through the patchy, shattered remains of false night. Wherever the viscous liquid touches those not-ceiling fragments, the creatures within — invisible even to my own sight — snap at it, removing it from existence.

The rest of the tar pushes upward unabated. As it reaches higher altitudes, it slows. The dark fluid towers flow outwards at their pinnacles, slowly spreading to fill the sky with an ocean that mirrors that beneath the hyena’s feet.

Between each pillar of tar, the gap is wide enough to slide my body through easily… but I do not dare approach that flowing forest. That is the domain of the Titan. I have learnt far too much in my time with sapients and other creatures that bend the land to their will to enter space that I do not have the advantage.

My goal is to reach an environment that suits me; not the other way around.

I don’t wait. As the tar spreads both over the land, dampening the gravel flow; and through the air, casting the air between in shadow, I’m already moving. Parallel to the Alps, I slither. I make no compromise for speed. As incredible the sheer volume of tar that the Titan unleashes, it is still centred around the being. If I can circumvent the hyena, then I can reach the Titan Alps.

Unfortunately, the Titan doesn’t just let me do that.

As I run to one side, it chases after me. Not directly. It bounds along the land to cut off any path I have to reach the Alps. Tar pillars rise off its fur, and linger in a long path behind it. What’s more concerning is how the tar pillars and oceans don’t fade away. The wall remains for hundreds of kilometres as we try to outpace each other.

The scale at which Titans fight is obscene. In a little over ten seconds, we have crossed an equal distance as Kalma’s Pit to the Henosis battlefront. The crash of displaced air rolling off our forms is enough to topple mountains. Tsunamis of flowing stone rush away, adding to the eternally agitated landscape.

We pass another Titan. In my rush, I almost mistake it for a massive rocky cliff-face. Yet, as the world around it crumbles and distorts beneath the wrecking storms, the cliff remains unmoved. With a second glance, I lock eyes with those following me.

Its stony visage is mostly buried beneath the earth, obscuring its form, but those giant eyes are difficult to ignore now that I’ve seen them. And I’m not the only one. I see the hyena diverting its path slightly away from the stony beast. A beast with an eye bigger than my head.

I knew this before, but even amongst the Titans, some are larger than others.

The being doesn’t move. Apparently satisfied to keep a wary eye on our passage. I shift my path closer to the hyena to avoid dragging a second Titan into this fight, but as soon as I do, the tar beast rushes in for me.

I don’t know whether it intends to finally catch me now that our distance isn’t so far, or it wants to drive me into the jaws of whatever waits below the gravel — or both — but attack drives me into a corner.

I’d hoped to keep this chase going on a bit longer. The idea to somehow get the other Titan to kill my tail had even crossed my mind, only to be tossed aside when I remembered exactly why I was fighting this hyena. But now, I’m forced to act.

The chain of distortions laid in my wake widen for my width and welcome me back to the start of this chase. In an instant, neither Titan is anywhere to be seen.

As incredible as the vast seas of tar had been, the hyena’s decision to stop directly attacking me had been a mistake. Before, with each pounce, its powerful strikes had ripped through any gathered rift chain I could accumulate.

Now? The connected oceans of tar stand before me, but only spread one way. No Titan in sight.

I slither around the tar, unopposed.

Finally. This is the first time I’ve been able to employ the tactics I’ve used for as long as I’ve lived. It is more than a little frustrating that against this giant being, I no longer have a total monopoly on mobility. It’s almost like I’ve been reverted to an unenhanced serpent. Even with my use of distortions.

Whether it were the help of my warped tunnels, or more recently, my own manipulations, I’ve never had to fight unable to whip around wherever I wanted to be. The Titan is just too massive. Unless I want to strain long enough to have myself eaten, my holes can only reach a bit more than the Titan’s length. That is hardly enough space to work with.

“Run if you want, but I do not fear your kin.” The bellowing voice comes all too quick.

I keep my pace as the incomparable mountains creep closer. The Titan peeks over the horizon. It rushes through the pillars of tar faster than I’ve seen it move. At least double its earlier pace. Is tar — the liquid that makes movement difficult — actually help the hyena’s speed?

As soon as it leaps out of the ocean of tar, fountains of black flowing from its fur, the question is proven true. It cannot keep the pace. While that should be relieving, I can’t get past the frustration of having lost the extensive lead I thought I had.

A deep hiss escapes my jaw. Irritated and thick with presence. I hardly believe it will stop the Titan, a part of myself — pride — refuses to accept the arrogance of this beast. I won’t let my actions be twisted by such emotion, but this much I see no need to contain.

The hyena only laughs in a series of thundering yips at my effort.

“You think I’m a fool?” the Titan barks as it races after me. “Jörmungandr hasn’t awoken in millennia. No matter where you flee, you will not scare me off. Nothing will save you, so face me!”

What? Has this hyena misunderstood why I’m trying to change my environment? That’s good. If it believes I don’t intent to fight, then I might be able to surprise it. Still, something it said stuck with me.

“Jörmungandr?” I hiss back, not daring to slow. Its already rapidly catching up.

“Ah! The timid snake can speak!” the Titan barks condescendingly. “Wait…” It falters. “You don’t know the four Colossi? Fenghuang? Akkorokamui? Not even Väinämöinen? You are younger than I thought.”

Fenghuang kin is all I know that name from… not that there was an actual being that name belonged to. I’d thought it was a family term. All the creatures it referred to had the same metallic outer coating to their bodies, after all. The others? I know nothing of them.

The Titan behind me is clearly surprised I don’t know, so I doubt their existence is a lie. Hasn’t stopped the hyena from chasing me, though. After a brief moment of surprise that its prey doesn’t know these Colossi, the Titan resumes its hunt with zeal.

The hyena races ahead. I’m forced to slip into a wide, unpredictable pattern again to avoid its pounces, but again, it is determined to get ahead of me. Tar flows off its back and crashes over the landscape, rapidly stealing away the space I need to move.

Unfortunately for the Titan, we are finally close enough.

I slide through a completely natural rend — enlarged to fit my girth — and appear beyond the horizon. I’m now in space brimming with distortions. This is where the fight begins. This is where I will bring down a Titan.

A howl carries through the rift I just passed through before it shatters. A second later, the Titan’s words slam into me from across the distance.

“You cannot run. No matter where you go, I will track you. The world has been devoid of energy too long to give up such a juicy morsel.”

“Scared to take on another Titan?” I retort, trying to incite the hyena.

It works almost too well. The snarl that ripples through the earth whips gravel at my ventral scales from below.

“You speak not of what you know.” With that much venom, I’m sure a thousand creatures just dropped dead. Especially with how the distortions connect a great many lands. “You are free game. We are not.”

Despite the hypocrisy of its words, it sounded more like a fact it was dissatisfied with. I don’t want to listen to a Titan’s words, but if there is some assumed knowledge between these vile creatures, then I want to know.

“Why?” I wait.

“Akkorokamui’s Mandate.” The hyena crests the horizon again. “Why do you think we are confined to these destitute lands. The elders had their chance to grow, and now they suppress us from the same opportunity.” Its eyes, no longer passive, burn through the distance. “And you, little snake, are one of the few chances I get.”

I ponder that as the hyena lumbers after me into the distortion dense lands at the base of the Titan Alps. The Titans are confined to the Other Side? Obviously, it’s not willingly, so whatever this Akkorokamui is, it must be immense to hold the Titans to the law it has decided. Still, the sapients on the surface have seen Titans, so there must be exceptions. Assuming what the hyena says is true at all.

Not important.

I force my focus back on the approaching disaster. Whatever grievances this hyena has with the older, larger Titans, it is not for me to concern myself. I’m already the weaker of us two, I can hardly afford to be distracted now that this battle is about to begin for real.

Dark tar spreads across the horizon with each second I wait. I cannot help but feel the terror in the earth as it trembles before the mighty beast’s approach. Whether there are Titans stronger than the one rushing at me means nothing when this one is as much a cataclysmic being as any other. Each crash of its tar-coated paws strike me in a consistent, repeating blast of air.

My jaw has already proven too weak to leave lasting damage. My distortions themselves can’t handle its weight. And you can ignore constriction entirely. All of my primary methods to kill an opponent are ineffective against this beast, yet I’m not willing to give up the fight. Any brawl or physical confrontation will end in my death… but there is one attack that will work.

For the longest time, I’ve refused to even consider the option. As effective as it is in stealing life from my prey, the act is fundamentally terrifying. I can make excuses for my refusal to use a tool I have had access to for the longest time; it takes away the nutrition I could otherwise consume, or it detracts from my own ability to fight. But the reality is that I’ve simply refused to consider the option out of fear.

Against a Titan, that fear is inconsequential.

The hyena finally catches up with me, and pounces. It fails to notice the shivering fabric until far too late. As it leaps through the air, there is a single moment where the Titan switches from eyes only for its prey, to wide and alert. In an instant, it tries to abort the attack. The massive body flails in midair, but the unlinked rend has already reached critical pressure.

As it had in my fight against the Lynx, the distortion snaps. The spatial fabric tears open. Like branching lightning, it thunders outward, removing everything in its path from our plane of existence. Whether it be air… or the flesh of a Titan.

The hyena howls as a deep cut sears its flank. Pain, but mostly indignation that it was actually harmed by something smaller than itself. Despite that success, my eyes are for the void between fabrics alone.

Our world’s fabric is incomparably weaker than the last time I pierced the veil. The immense, realm-sized beings linger close. Patient.

For better or worse, the barrier is on the verge of shattering, ready to open the way for the Anatla. The Beyond will soon arrive.

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Finally a title drop, haha. Conveniently on chapter 100.

Sorry for the delay on this chap. Probably said this a few times now, but i've been feeling a bit of burnout lately. On the 24th, i'm going away for two weeks, which will hopefully rejuvenate my energy and i'll be able to pick up the upload pace a bit more.

Anyway, hope you enjoy. :D