Retreat wasn’t an option. The marble floor below the fireball started melting; it was so hot Vergil felt his lips chap from 20 meters away. The ball of magical fire stayed together for a breath before exploding. The expansion of the fireball happened too quickly to dodge. Tanking it for minimal damage was the option he prepared for. Vergil loosened his stance to let the fireball’s explosion toss him out of the blast. Like a sparrow on the wind, he needed to fly with the current.

 

A sticky strand of web latched onto his arm, and he heard hooves pounding over the expanding fireball. He left his feet yanked away from the expanding fireball by a galloping Mary.

 

The fireball exploded. Orange flames erupted, shattering the eight pillars and tossing molten stone. Vergil smelled burning hair while the palace shook.

 

He cut the web, and as the rock fell. Vergil punched it away with his bare hands. After surviving two life-threatening incidents, he felt more secure. The rituals in his body were settling. Vergil’s strength, speed, and durability were still increasing. Rituals weren’t completed overnight, no matter the technology. In months he would still grow stronger.

 

Molten rock burned his knuckles as he punched away waves of shrapnel. In a single move, the treasured library of a silk palace had been destroyed.

 

“Did you record it?” Vergil asked.

 

“I have a simulation of the room, but we could have gained more. There was a chance I could have deciphered the missing pieces if you had allowed me a deep scan. With the eight pillars destroyed, any secrets I could have deciphered were lost.” Exia said.

 

Magnus stepped forth from the ash and flame, relying on his barrier to protect him from the heat and shrapnel. Light from the flames danced off the silver plating on the man’s armor. Three sets of red lenses flashed over the armor's sealed faceplate like an arch devil’s eyes. The barrier covering the armor showed no signs of giving out while the servos within drove the armored man forward. The man towered an intimidating 8ft, but his movements were clunky.

 

“When I give the church of man your face, they will find your identity and excommunicate your family. For working with Xenos and sleeping with disgusting beasts, your soul will be judged wanting. Mannis will cast you into the dark to suffer eternally.” Magnus said.

 

“If,” Vergil said.

 

He placed his arms in front of him with his heels arched up to run with all his might.

 

“Why would you have a chance when so many degenerate meat sacs died to my fists? Even the queen died to my fires, and I didn’t suffer a scratch. So what makes you special?” Magnus said.

 

Vergil glanced at Mary and Zo; the monstergirls looked ready to have panic attacks. Luckily, Zo regained her senses long enough to stick him with her silk and tie her silk to Mary. Mary did what panicking centaurs did; she ran. It saved him using their natural advantages, and he was thankful for it. Having them near Magnus to be used to recharge the man’s shield would be his end.

 

“Zo, Mary, hide in the tunnels. I have this under control.” Vergil said.

 

Vergil wouldn’t give Magnus enough time to activate his fireball enchantment. So there was only one way to win from what the future adventurer understood. Speed and aggression would see him win, but one mistake, if Magunus grappled him, it would be over.

 

Fortunately, Magnus appeared overconfident and sloppy.

 

The marble floor cracked under his lunge. His feet cracked the ground with every step as he crossed the distance. Light from burning silk lit his way as orange flames flickered across the white marble floor. All his nerves were in his gut when he crossed to the point of no return. Magnus was slow to react and even began to lift a foot to retreat a step.

 

He punched, striking the armored man with an uppercut. A ton of armor flipped up off his feet. Vergil’s knuckles were broken, but the rest of his arm was fine. As for the barrier, no flicker. Molten glass cut at his feet as he scraped the ground. Rock moved aside like mud to give him purchase. Vergil plowed forward and punched Magnus in the chest while he fell. The man hit the ground and bounced to line up for a kick. Vergil feinted and watched the man swipe with his hands. That was the moment Magnus planned to turn the tables.

 

Vergil picked up a rock and tossed it, hitting the barrier. Magnus hit the wall behind him, and Vergil grabbed the edge of a cracked fallen pillar and lifted it. His body protested it while Magnus adjusted to a skull rattling. The pillar was heavy, maybe 4 tons of rock. Vergil barely lifted it to his waist, but it was enough. He spun, accelerating and gathering momentum before throwing the pillar. Vergil’s body screamed when it left his hands. Regeneration worked over time while he struggled to move.

 

The armored man dove to the ground while the pillar spun. Unfortunately, he was too far off. Vergil didn’t have the strength or stamina to make such massive plays. His body had touched on its limit for the first time since he fought the driders.  

 

It was ok; he could still win. “Did you think I could only use fireball once or twice per day? My armor is special.”

 

A fireball appeared. Vergil crossed the room. A heavy fist smashed against his face. Teeth flew out of his mouth. Another blow from Magnus burned his face. White hot alloyed steel burned him even as the blows rained down.

 

He caught the inside of the hot blow with his elbow. The armored man pushed with all his might. Vergil felt the armor scream as the barrier activated.

 

An opening appeared again. In the seconds between when Vergil blocked a blow and the barrier engaged. Vergil smashed the man with another uppercut. He caught the armored man by the legs and slammed him down.

 

The barrier appeared, and Vergil ran before grabbing Magnus by the helmet. After trading blows with Magnus, Vergil understood how to win.

 

He smashed Mangus’ head against the marble floor and ran with all his might. With the barrier pressed until it dug a trench in the ground, it drained its battery constantly. Vergil felt Magnus slap and punch, breaking bones in his chest, but Vergil couldn’t stop. Then, finally, he felt the armor’s barrier flicker, and it went out.

 

Vergil dropped the man and stood up.

 

A long trench wrapped around the silk palace library cut into the stone nearly a foot deep. All he could taste was blood leaking out of his mouth as teeth slowly grew in.

 

He was like the armor. Vergil needed bounty to heal quickly and keep his stamina up. Exia streamlined the process helping his regeneration along. Without her, he would be dead several times over. Without Mary and Zo, he would be dead from the first fireball. To survive, allies were more important than anything else. This fight hammered that home better than any of his uncle's lectures managed.

 

Thirty minutes flew by while he struggled to get some semblance of power back in his body. Then the bastard spoke.

 

“This isn’t over even if you kill me.” Magnus crawled away from him. “I am only one son of Mannis; there are many others. We are the righteous blade that will cut the rot from our lands and restore humanity to a theocracy.”

 

“Silence would have served you better.” Vergil punched the man rattling his brain. Then he twisted before ripping open the fastener for the helmet. Female driders slowly made their way into the library. “What are you going to do without your telling you?”

 

It was a guess, but by the shock in the man’s eyes, it was accurate. With the helmet removed, the armor became dead weight.

 

“Wait, we are both children of Mannis? Help me, and I can put in a good word for you and your family.” Magnus said.

 

Vergil glanced over the shiny red and silver armored man in disgust. He couldn’t even move in his own armor. What he fought was the armor wearing a man, not the other way around. It cheapened his victory; the AI in the armor seemed ill-prepared to fight Vergil. It was slow to react and change its tactics. The fire punches were a start, but they couldn’t end the fight.

 

“I don’t need you,” Vergil said.

 

The man looked around big-eyed but unable to do a thing but turn his neck. Vergil spat out a tooth which immediately dissolved upon hitting the armor.

 

“I can remove the armor; it would be better to take it from the man who ruined our chances of getting 5 other rituals.”

 

He heard a few clicks, and the armor opened. The female driders approached closer with the man outside his armor. Magnus’s massive fat stomach erupted once the armor opened. The driders were very interested in that.

 

“What will become of me. I am a holy warrior of the church; surely I have some value as a hostage to be traded.” The man looked around. “Do you alien savages need money, rituals, or enchanted artifacts?” Magnus asked.

 

“It's mating season,” Vergil said.

 

“So they want to take my virtue. Then have at me a few look comely enough if I don’t look below the waist. But they are hardly worthy of a man’s seed.” Magnus said.

 

“No, it's mating season, and the queen is dead,” Vergil said.

 

Zo grabbed his shoulders and massaged them. Then she unzipped her top and pressed her breasts against his back.

 

The crowd of female driders crowded around, less interested in him than Magnus.

 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Magnus asked, slowly rising out of the armor.

 

“Without my mother to stop them, the males raped many of my sisters, and they need warm flesh to deposit their eggs. You are a lot of warm flesh.” Zo said.

 

Whatever brave façade the man had worn before crumbled. He started to cry big ugly tears. “You can’t. I was only following orders. You could trade me for cattle, more than enough for your eggs. I’m worth more as a hostage than a seed bed.”

 

Zo raised a hand, and the other driders paused their approach. His drider friend turned to him. “What do you think should we trust the human religious order to treat in good faith?” Zo asked.

 

Magnus looked hopeful.

 

Vergil hadn’t forgotten how the man gleefully butchered hundreds of fellow humans. Who could trust him?

 

“No, give him what he deserves,” Vergil said.

 

From below their thoraxes, long ovipositors squelched out of their sheaths. Long pink cones with wrinkled openings dripped with lubricating fluid. Magnus gasped for breath as the nearest one tied the man’s arms and legs. Slowly the ovipositor thickened while the drider female worked before she raised one of her legs and cut open the man's stomach.

 

Vergil turned around as the man started screaming.  

 

“Once he’s filled, my sisters will wrap the wounds they made in silk to prevent blood loss and keep infection at bay. Then, in a few months, the eggs will hatch and feed on him and each other. Only the strongest driders will emerge from his corpse.” Zo led him down an unfamiliar tunnel. “I have a surprise for you,” Zo said.

 

“I’m not always good with those.” He remembered his uncle’s death and being exiled. Neither were nice surprises. “Where is Mary?”

 

“She is part of the surprise. After we were sure you won, we got some of my sisters together, and one thing led to another. Most of the males are dead, and those that aren’t soon will be. One of my sisters molted into a praetorian guard and will soon become a new queen. You will meet her soon.” Zo said.

 

“You might as well relax; it will take another day for me to refine the drider rituals we lifted for human use. So enjoy yourself with the nice spider ladies. In a few days, I will tell you everything I learned from the rituals and armor.” Exia said.   

 

“Alright, maybe I will like this one,” Vergil said.