✰✰✰
Mera’s spawn launched one final attack on Goh, in the knowledge that she was at a disadvantage however much distance lay between them. Despite her bruised, battered body with chunks ripped out of it and a pervading sense of hopelessness, the spawn figured she might as well end the fight eyeball to eyeball with her foe. But when it was all over, she was little more than a pile of ash on the ground, having gone up in flames in a self-destruct gambit that would ensure there was no way her foes could get any information on who (or what) they had been fighting. Goh regarded the spawn’s remains and clicked his tongue in exasperation.
“What was the point of fighting so long?” he spat. “Crap, she even got more of her nasty blood on me.”
“It’s highly unfortunate we weren’t able to recover her corpse in one piece, since she would have made for quite an interesting specimen,” Doc said, gazing longingly at the waning embers. “I would never have expected her to incinerate herself like that to keep us from having the body.”
The demon commandos from Diablo’s fiefdom were overwhelmed by Goh’s prowess on the battlefield, but relieved that they themselves had come to no real harm. Meanwhile, a thoroughly displeased Goh turned his back on the human village and started ambling away in the opposite direction. He already knew the houses all stood empty.
“Mr. Goh, might I inquire as to where you are going?” Doc asked.
Goh again made a noise that was half sigh, half groan. “I smashed that ‘powerful subordinate’ that was causin’ everyone so much trouble. My work’s done here. You guys can deal with the rest.”
The derision with which Goh repeated the words that had been uttered by Prince Voros to describe the Wicked Witch’s minion was plain for all to hear. As far as he was concerned, his part in this had been completed, and all that was left to do now was for Doc to fulfill his own special assignment.
Although Goh also had another reason for leaving so soon. It’s somethin’ I gotta do, even if it is a pain in the ass. He sighed inwardly with a mental click of his tongue. He didn’t feel the need to fill Doc in on the specifics of his errand, since while Doc was technically his ally, the only thing tying them together was a loosely shared motive. If he was forced to give his honest thoughts on it, he didn’t really trust Doc all that much.
Doc watched his fellow Master mosey off toward the Demonkin Nation border. “Mr. Goh can be quite capricious at times, but he is certainly correct in his statement that there is no reason for him to remain after slaying the powerful minion. Even if I encounter more assailants, I have my greatest masterpiece to provide me with protection.” He sighed. “Still, even allowing for all of these considerations, my word...”
Doc lacked the strength to force his temperamental ally to listen to reason, and he still had to deal with the demonkin soldiers who were in a state of shock after witnessing Goh’s might.
Perhaps it was partly their disquiet that minded him to take his leave? Doc wondered casually, before quickly dismissing the notion because he knew Goh would never be so conscientious. Wherever he went, he considered himself the center of the universe, with little to no regard for anyone else. Doc smiled wryly under his mask at this thought, and it was only the demonkin soldiers speaking up that brought him back to his senses.
“E-Excuse me, sir, what are our orders now?” one commando asked meekly.
Doc turned to the troops. “I sense no humans in this village; therefore, we should settle down here for the night in preparation for striking the next village tomorrow. We must hunt as many humans as we can for the sake of my research, for the honor of the Demonkin Nation, and for the evolution and glory of the human race.”
Due to his ghoulish mask obscuring his features, none of the soldiers could tell that Doc had a beaming smile on his face while making this pronouncement.
✦ ✦ ✦
✰✰✰
“Ugh, I’m sick of this dogshit,” Goh moaned. He had just left the raiding party in Doc’s hands and was on his way back to the Demonkin Nation border. After hiking a good distance, he did a quick visual check to make sure Doc wasn’t tracking him, then made a detour to the Dragonute Empire instead. This change to his itinerary was an enforced one, prompted by the recently resolved battle with Mera’s spawn.
They told me the warrior chick working for the Wicked Witch would be a handful to deal with, but I never thought she’d be that tough, Goh reflected. And there was someone else hiding in the village, spyin’ on us, but the snoop ran off when I sniffed ’em out. And judging from the energy I picked up on, the runner’s overpowered too. Is C with the witch? Or is that witch actually C?
Although it had seemed like an easy fight to everyone watching, Goh had actually felt threatened by the strength displayed by Mera’s spawn. It also went without saying that it was the real Mera—the Level 7777 chimera—who had radiated the energy vibrations that had caught Goh’s attention, and he wasn’t naive enough to think it was a coincidence that two powerful warriors like them (in reality, the same warrior, but he wasn’t to know that) just happened to be followers of the Wicked Witch of the Tower.
It’s such a goddamn chore... thought Goh. But I gotta get this info to Hiro’s crew, pronto.
Hiro was the leader of a group of Masters who had allied themselves with the Dragonute Empire. While Goh was the leader of a rival group of Masters, the two heads had been colluding in the background, a relationship that was a closely guarded secret. Hisomi and Octopus Head (as Kaizer called him) were the only other Masters who knew about the cooperation between the pair. Octopus Head’s powers, in particular, had helped Goh to level up to 9000, since they had allowed him to defeat sea monsters that resided deep in the ocean, and those monsters were generally more powerful than ones found on land.
Goh hadn’t disclosed these secrets to anyone else in the Demonkin Nation clique, not even Miki. The reason Hiro was conspiring with Goh was to avoid getting into senseless battles with the rival group of Masters, since that was energy that could be put to better use on their P.A. project, while what Goh got out of the deal was insurance that he’d be saved if the worst-case scenario ever came to bear. In truth, Goh didn’t just lack trust in his supposed comrades, he would turn his back on the rest of his clique without hesitation if it meant saving himself. All in all, there was very little loyalty present in Goh’s faction.
I’d usually use a spell or something to tell Hiro and be done with it, but I’m up against the tower witch here, thought Goh. At this moment, she might be using some kind of witchcraft to intercept any magic messages. Best thing is to just drag my ass to the designated point and tell ’em face-to-face. Still, doesn’t make it any less dogshit!
Despite grumbling inwardly about it, Goh kept trudging along, spurred on by his primal instinct for self-preservation. Partway through his journey, he activated his Item Box and pulled out a Bracelet of Deception, a magic item that altered his appearance, changing him from a beefcake with muscles stacked on muscles to a normal-looking man of below-average strength.
The Bracelet of Deception could transform the visage of its wearer into anything he or she desired, and it mainly saw use on subjects being escorted, aristocrats looking to slum it in the city’s entertainment district, and tricksters out to play practical jokes. In general, however, the bracelet’s power was fairly weak, and a simple Appraisal was enough to expose the true identity of the wearer. Even so, the item’s fame meant it fetched a good price on the open market.
The reason behind Goh choosing to wear a Bracelet of Deception and disguising himself as a more vulnerable-looking man was so he could have some fun along the way, primarily by beating up bandits unlucky enough to mistake him for an easy target, which was quite likely since he was trekking along a forest road alone, without any bodyguards or even a carriage. The only people who’d take that kind of risk were highly trained fighters, folk with no other choice but to chance it alone on foot, and fools with no regard for their own safety.
If Goh had wanted to avoid trouble, he could’ve easily transformed himself into a dragonute, an elf, a dark elf, or a demon, since those races were all powerful enough to ward off petty bandits, yet he purposely disguised himself as a human with a slight build to lure any muggers into a trap. The disguise also came in handy when he needed to melt into crowds.