Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 210: Eruption

I was sure Caesar regretted invoking Tisiphone. Her Divine mandate included destruction and I refused to leave his capital. We were playing a game of cat and mouse, and although it appeared, I was the mouse; I was not worried.

The quest the System had offered was my first opportunity to find real evidence or clues about who was involved in my daughter's death, and I would do anything to complete this quest. But that didn't mean I wouldn't also take the opportunity to stick a finger in Caesar's eye, as I did so.

I was talented enough to engage in running guerrilla tactics, attacking Tisiphone in dense areas of the city so that her response would increase the damage all out of proportion.

The Furies were consumed by their nature, unable to sympathize or care about the havoc they left in their path. They were driven, unable to escape the chaos essence that gave birth to their temperaments. Tisiphone was as much a victim of her nature as she was the will that directed that nature.

I admitted to feeling some guilt over the innocent lives that were being lost, as Tisiphone responded each time I taunted or attacked her by unleashing unrelenting carnage. I did worry enough about her victims, but not enough to lead her out of populated areas. Caesar was the instrument of her vengeance; the deaths that were attributed to that anger could be laid at his feet.

He did have enough foresight and compassion to order people to evacuate when he realized what I was doing. Most even listened, but a good portion of the population had perfected that same hubris that Zeus had embraced. They were unwilling to admit that they might not be able to withstand the destructive forces at play, despite the evidence they could document with their own senses. Some even attempted to engage with me in combat or set traps to keep me contained until Tisiphone arrived.

For those that thought it they might have a chance and attacked when I was able to hold off a goddess, I showed no mercy, releasing a metallic cloud that could destroy anything in my path.

Caesar's Legionnaires had also organized and were attempting to box me in, hoping to envelop me in a kill zone. They had deployed three phalanxes of troops, each armed with shields and lances to hold me.

They were idiots.

Thinking to contain a Knocker, a species capable of controlling the very metal the weapons were made of was not only stupid it was criminal. Those shields and lances were no more effectively used against me, than attacking using tissue paper.

Legionnaires that had trusted in their commanders watched in disbelief as the metal that formed shield and lance, each heavily enchanted, responded to my commands. They had no method to escape the chains and manacles I transformed that metal into, using my control over magnetism to handcuff, shackle and thread chains between each person.

Realizing that weapon attacks were useless, they finally begin using magic and skills, forming a barrier of energy that siphoned strength and power from each member of the phalanx. The barrier increasing in strength as each member joined in a gestalt of will and intent.

It was a novel approach and use of the Legionnaires, something that was a strategic advantage for those working as part of a cohesive group. It fostered group cohesion and trust, and it showed why Legion troops had been feared for so long. It demonstrated how the phalanx could be used effectively in a Universe of magic and was a deadly and effective strategy for army engagements. The concept of unity, that the many worked as one, each supporting the other, was the true brilliance of some Roman General.

Combining power signatures and using magic this way was something I would bring to King Teigh's attention. I thought he would find it novel and could see real uses for its implementation. Not in any organized army feature, the Sidhe concept of army and war was more primal than the organized and regimented men that made up Caesar's legions. If the Sidhe worked together, you could trust that that effort was temporary, and the true battle would begin once cooperation ended and each element that team tore each other apart with the same frenzy they had just unleashed on the enemy.

My admiration of their shield wall was interrupted by the release of a lightning barrage. Zeus was well known for his control of lightning, so it was no wonder to find that the Legions that were sworn to Olympus' service had the same abilities.

They went further than simply creating a shield of power to protect; they released a tribulation, a continuous lighting strike that would have been enough to destroy most people, but again they had ignored my abilities and my domain.

It was nothing to release some iron I had collected, forming it into a type of Faraday cage that collected and grounded every lightning blast that was sent my way. Their attacks did limit my movements because I needed to remain within the cage to ignore strike after strike, but they did no harm.

The attacks continued, each phalanx troop rotating when they released their concerted effort so that their casting continued without fail. There was never a second when lightning wasn't blasting the area once they had started. I knew their commanders only ordered this attack to continue, this onslaught of lightning that trapped me in place used as a delaying action. They hoped to keep me contained long enough for Tisiphone to reach me and put an end to my defiance.

I refused to stay contained. The street we were battling on was created with a mixture of cement and asphalt, enough metal from clinker, ash, and gypsum in the cement for me to rip large chunks of road apart. Breaking the slabs into fine particles, I created a cloud of grit that screened and obscured the sight of each Legionnaire.

The lightning continued unabated, becoming more area effect rather than targeted strikes. I continued to ignore their attacks as I reached beneath the road, grasping deep underground until I found what I was looking for. Deep underground, almost at the planet's core, magma churned. Lava was formed using many elements, and among those elements are iron, aluminum, and titanium.

The city of Ephesus was not located on top of a volcano, there had never been and never would have been a volcanic explosion. Until they decided to trap a Sidhe Knocker. Too late they realized the idiocy of waging war with a person who was willing to do anything, sacrifice anyone to prevail.

Controlling and channeling the direction and flow of the lava pool, I funneled that destructive force upwards. Tisiphone was the goddess of destruction, so it only made sense to pay homage to her abilities. Once the lava neared the surface, I adapted the Faraday cage I had created.

I began to braid Tungsten and Silinium within the metal filaments, solidifying the wire framework and creating a capsule that would protect me from the extreme temperatures of magma. Adding a quick enchant that would regulate heat and keep me from being boiled alive, I gave the final nudge needed to release the planet's magma and create an eruption that reproduced the titanic destruction of Mount Vesuvius.

The explosion was deafening, the ground shaking and disintegrating in the destruction. The capsule I had created was sent careening into the atmosphere, riding the energy of the volcanic explosion as Ephesus crumbled.

Caesar probably survived, he and those with Power were certain to have life-saving artifacts that would allow them to weather even a volcanic eruption, but for the Legionnaire's and those people that had refused to evacuate, most of them perished in those first few seconds when elemental forces were unleashed with fiery fury upon the city.

Once I had been blasted into the air, I reformed the egg-shaped capsule that had protected me, storing most of the metal once again. The small amounts I kept available, I used to form a platform, combined with mithral, that I could stand on. My control over magnetism allowed me to control the metal, directing the platform to hover over the ruins of Rome's capital.

Parts of the city itself miraculously remained standing. The enchantments and magic that had gone into the construction and infrastructure for those buildings that still stood was impressive. There was major damage, a large segment of the city, most in fact, simply gone. The Portal Authority, the Palace, a few other bureaucratic establishments remained. I wasn't surprised to see those institutions still standing, but as for the rest, barely two percent of the city still stood.

Hovering above the city, watching as the volcano I had unleashed continued to spew magma, ash, and debris, I was quickly discovered by Tisiphone. Not surprising, she would have been drawn to this carnage, like a bee to nectar. I may have made a strategic mistake with my wanton destruction, as it appeared the energies released in the mayhem were directed towards her. The destruction was a power boost to her Divinity.

[System Notice: Rewards for the destruction of Ephesus and those killed - one million experience. Tisiphone has entered stupor as she processes the gains she has made from your actions (Note: Time remaining 10 minutes)]

The experience was enough to let me increase my level from two to three. It was amazing how much experience was needed to continue leveling up. If I chose to grind the amount of experience, I would need to gain Rank: Queen, I would need to spend decades dungeon diving. The experience cost reached staggering amounts, the higher I advanced.

King Teigh once mentioned that he needed a billion experience points to gain a level once he had Ranked up. He had theorized that it would require a trillion experience points per level for those who reached Demi-God Rank.

As for the Gods, no one knew exactly how they leveled. But I thought it was events like this. Occurrences that took place daily that aligned with a God's Domain feeding them energy. This along with the faith and worship of followers increasing the size of their Divine well-springs would be required for them to Rank up.

An almost impossible amount of experience required to level up, or Zeus and Odin would have been overthrown by their children long ago. Loki and Athena would have assumed the mantel of Supreme being long ago if there were dungeons powerful enough for them to farm experience.

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