The Renegade Death Knight

[Abomination]

The Homunculus blinked, almost missing the moment when the storm seemed to stop. When it started up again, countless shards of light were glistening in the air. The next thing he knew, his creations were falling to the ground in meaty piles, the essence of undeath holding them together seeping out like a thin smoke from their bodies. Not only was this stranger a swordsman, but also a wizard! It was like he was straight out of Raiaera! He felt a familiar twinge while observing his actions. Of course, there was only one sure way to know who or what he was: Assimilation.

Homun's arms grasped, but they stopped when their target seemed permanently out of reach. He pulled them back so there were once again a couple meters from his body, swaying in the storm and gripping the knives tightly. Raelyse had almost jumped down, but once again lifted himself up and fluttered in the wind. His figure was grainy in the endless torrent of rain. Homun knew... this man was out of his league. However, he was exactly the reason why Homun needed to be stronger. What if he had decided to stop the Homunculus from his little experiment? To know that people like this were out there and threatened his existence just inflamed his desire for power.

It was difficult to see, but it appeared that his opponent could fly away at any moment. Such a wasted opportunity that would be! Homun had to act now. He was clearly no match for this kind of magic, but he had one strategy that was uniquely his. That's right, his power of self-regeneration. He was, perhaps, a creature designed for ruthless experimentation. Gathering information from every powerful mind was also a way to determine his origins. He would make an attack that would be considered fatal.

Detaching the underground arm for a future attack, he broke into a sprint. He scaled the hotel, digging his claw-like nails into the walls and climbing to the roof in seconds. Pushing aside his zombies, he knocked several of them off the roof. They were just standing there, staring at Raelyse, unable to pursue him. Such creatures were no longer needed in this fight. Due to how malleable his body was, he coiled his legs into large springs of flesh and bent his knees, positioning himself on a crash course with the stranger. He didn't know the limits of the swordsman's speed of flight, but his movement so far wasn't instantaneous. If he went fast enough, he could catch him. Concentrating, he felt his body change. His organs seemed thin, his bones light and hollow, and his skin tightening. He was reducing his body weight, creating a situation of optimum speed and acceleration. His arms dropped the weapons they were holding. When that was done, he put his left hand on the sheath of his short sword, and his right hand on the hilt.

With a thrust, he released himself, his coiled legs immediately decompressing and shrinking down to normal size as he flew. The force of the liftoff displaced most of the zombies off the force and creating a visible expanding sphere of water that flew in all directions. Homun flew, the very rain cutting through his clothes and flesh due to the speed. No, these were the glistening shards of ice that were suspended in the air. Homun knew what was coming, and he was prepared.

[Raelyse]

There were few things that Raelyse enjoyed more than using his magick. His vanity and formidable abilities ensured that every occasion he channelled the Eternal Tap was a display of beauty as much as power. The prince was often so cocksure in his strength that he would often sit back and admire his attack take form and strike. As soon as he had realised that his magick was limited only by his imagination, Raelyse began to see it as another offshoot of his persona. Like everything else, it needed to be perfect, in his eyes, in every aspect.

His icicle rain was flawless in that respect. The individual shards of ice were no bigger than pins, but they pierced through the flesh of the zombies by the thousands. It was a stunning sight. The zombies still looked like ordinary humans and the frozen icicles raining form the sky still looked like ordinary rain. But neither were what they seemed.

The only thing that soiled the perfection of the attack was that the master of the zombies was still standing. His eyes shifted from the beauty of his attack to the place where he had last seen his target. It almost did not register in his mind when the creature was not standing there. It took Raelyse a moment of searching before he could find the monster.

The prince was slightly impressed by what he saw. The sight of the creature sprinting and scaling the hotel was one that impressed him. It was quick and the way that its body contorted to suit its movement was impressive. Not only could this creature manipulate its body for offensive purposes, but it could also twist it into seemingly whatever shape it wanted for whatever purpose. This was no simple being, it was sophisticated. The way that it moved was almost primal in its single-mindedness. It knew what it wanted. It wanted Raelyse.

While this display of physical prowess allied to sheer desire was enough to shock the prince, it was a far way away from scaring him. Raelyse eyed the creature as it reached the top of the hotel, knocking away any of his remaining minions that still stood in his way. He watched as his legs coiled up as an improvised launching mechanism and he watched as the creature unleashed that potential energy and flew towards him. All the while, the prince looked on with confidence. Confidence in himself and his abilities, that he would not need to exert himself to defeat this creature.

As soon as the monster leaped off the roof, Raelyse attacked. With a flick of his wrist, he sent all of his icicles flying into his target. They moved at an unavoidable speed in a seemingly unlimited amount. Not one of them missed, every single one of the mini spears hit their mark. Some embedded themselves in the creature’s flesh, some pierced right through its body.

But this time, the attack was not enough. Raelyse’s eyes fell to the ground expectantly, anticipating seeing the lifeless body of the creature crushed below.

Then, something grabbed his shoulder hard. His head pivoted, only to see that the monster he had expected to see dead had closed the distance between them. Far from killing the creature, Raelyse’s attack had not even slowed it down. The loss of balance and concentration ended his levitation magick and he instantly fell to the ground, the creature’s powerful hand still latched onto him.

[Abomination]

As he closed in on his target, Homun knew full well what was coming and braced himself.

During the times of the Eternal Tap, there were many experiments to try to test the limits of that endless power. The living beings of the world could not endure too much of it, so they created artificial humanoids; The Homunculi were born.

The ice crystals pierced his flesh, punctured through his body and exited out the other side. His acceleration was pushed to a dead stop, his body suspended in mid-air shaking violently from the converging shards. His blood spilled in every direction, his eyes a stark white and his mouth agape from the shock.

Created by the brightest minds and the most ancient of magicks, The Homunculi were the most malleable, hardy experimental subjects in the world. Kept in a constant state of torment to observe their reactions, they were fed various stimuli endlessly. The most primal of creatures, some of the toughest Homunculi were known as ancient, unstoppable threats to the planet.

Homun's yellow irises returned to his eyes, and they filled with the darkness they are accustomed to. Suddenly, he stopped shaking. His extra arms from his back stretched to the front and met fist-to-fist. The skin between them connected, and Homun thrust them outward several meters, deflecting the frontal ice shards in the process, sending them flying towards the ground, putting holes through buildings and digging into the ground. Then, his new bat-like wings thrust themselves behind Homun, giving him a powerful short burst of speed that closed the remaining distance to his target almost instantaneously. His condition was not that great, however. As he flew renewed, most of his body's flesh was torn off, his body was a tattered rag of its former self. The bottom half of his face was eaten down to the bone. His right arm and left leg were missing entirely. A few fingers from his left hand were gone and large chunks of flesh were absent from the arm itself. As he reached with his remaining hand, he felt himself losing control of his body.

A sudden rush of euphoria, followed by the complete silence of the world. His left hand, on the shoulder of his opponent, snapped off as Homun's body flew by Raelyse and crashed into a stone building. The impact caused the entire building to collapse, raising a large plume of dust in its wake.

Designed for rapid gene manipulation, The Homunculi were not only good at experimenting with the fundamental building blocks of life, but they could also emulate memories, abilities, and even items of those they assimilated. Each assimilation added to its evolution. It was only a matter of time before one achieved sentience.

Like before, the storm stopped for a moment, and glistening shards of ice floated helplessly in the moist air. Pointing at the freshly downed Raelyse, they converged onto their target, as if betraying their former master. The stones of Homun's crash site shook, and he emerged from the rubble, his body fully assembled and not a single scratch on him. His hair had turned silver, and his eyes were now pupil-less, iris-less white with a blue glow. His entire body seemed to glow as well, and his expression was calm, almost somber.

In a low voice, Homun spoke to himself, "I see. So.. he was a Bladesinger. A rather unorthodox one." His mind seemed at odds with his current self. The assimilation was fierce, and Homun almost lost his sanity to it. He resolved with everything in his being to keep himself this time. "This is the first time I could actually explore the possibilities of an assimilation... there are elemental stones in my back. I didn't know I could copy these." His clothes regrew over his unharmed body.

He didn't care much about Raelyse's history or motivations. The Myrusian's ego and vanity were affecting his personality. To Homun, Raelyse seemed like someone who detached himself from his previous life entirely, instead pursuing his own selfish agenda with his power. The two weren't all that different, actually.

Deciding to see the extent of his new abilities, he concentrated and slowly lifted off the ground, gradually increasing speed and rising to the clouds above. He stopped, the water droplets avoiding him as they did Raelyse. He spread his arms, pointing his palms at the sky. The sky was bright for a moment as thunder crackled above.

"Come! Show me the perfection of lightning!"

Just as he willed, a lightning bolt came crashing down upon him, sending a surge of electricity through his body. Sparks and small currents ran around his body, his brightness like a beacon that could be seen for miles. Small whirlpools of water floated nearby, since Homun could not fully control the various affinities he possessed. Seemingly forgetting about Raelyse, he was lost in his new power, laughing at the sky itself. Even though he kept his personality through the assimilation, he couldn't be more unhinged.

[Raelyse]

Raelyse saw his barrage of needle-like icicles cut into the monster’s flesh, tearing its body. But still it advanced. The attacks had little bludgeoning force even in their great numbers and were not enough to halt enemy’s advance. A normal foe would have winced at the first strike and fallen at the last strike, but this opponent apparently did not hurt for its trajectory continued forward. Even with thousands of holes in its body, the creature still continued towards him, its claw like hand then grabbing Raelyse’s shoulder and forcing him downwards to the ground.

It was only thanks to his quick reflexes that the next few seconds did not pass by like a blur to Raelyse. He felt the creature push him towards the ground but he chose to do nothing when he saw it up close. It was literally falling apart and even the arm that grabbed onto him was about to fall off. As the duo fell, Raelyse used his magick to slow his descent, before levitating himself away from the falling creature, allowing its momentum to send it crashing into a nearby building. The prince of Myrusia then slowly lowered himself to the ground, eying the area where the creature fell, wondering whether it had survived the near tearing apart of its entire body.

What he saw next interested him.

From the prince’s perspective, what interested him was one of the most important motivations in his life. This creature was now one of those interesting things. Raelyse knew that the creature had some magical properties after seeing it twist and contort its body for its attacks. When it had moved up close towards the prince, Raelyse had noticed that its face was unique. It had human characteristics. Its face had morphed in an unnatural shape, just like its body but there were definitely human traits. Its eyes bore at least some form of emotion, a drive and motivation that the prince instantly noticed.

When he saw the creature rise again, its body fully regenerated, he knew instantly what he was dealing with. The rain freezing and flying towards him in a manner identical to what he had done before was more than enough to confirm his suspicions. This creature was a homunculus, a magical construct that Raelyse had read of in books or heard about from wizards. He had never thought he would run into one of them.

They had always intrigued him. This one would make a nice pet.

Raelyse saw the frozen ice needles fly towards him, but with a flick of his hand, they instantly melted before they were within feet of him. The prince kept his hand raised, briefly wondering what type of attack he wanted to use on the creature. But then, he faltered, just as he was about to release his magical energy.

This creature was interesting. Raelyse wanted to observe it. He didn’t want to kill it.

Not yet.

[Abomination]

Fragments of memory entered and exited his consciousness, his mind combing through the recesses of Raelyse's history involuntarily. Homun personally did not care about what the Bladesinger knew, but it was by his design that every possibility be explored. It was his function as a Homunculus. In fact, it was that word that popped up in his mind: Homunculus. It was what he called himself, but it was on a whim based on a vague, distant memory. He had no clue what the word actually meant until now. With access to the great libraries of Eluriand, it was likely that Raelyse had chanced upon the term and its meaning.

The zombies had all been released, free to rot once more in silence. Their meaty piles made the hotel look like an inverted morgue. Homun looked down at his opponent, his arms dropping to his sides and his jovial expression turned ponderous. He now willingly probed this memory. It never occurred to him that Eluriand's massive libraries would contain a clue of his origins. Of course, he understood what Raelyse was thinking all too well. The Bladesinger must be aware of what he's dealing with now. He was also looking down upon the Homunculus, which made Homun think that his race was not threatening. Homun tried to find more memories, but sadly there wasn't much. They were either deep in memory, or Raelyse simply didn't know enough about them. He now had another reason to head back to the land of the elves. His very body knew that there was more to this. He finally had a clue!

Homunculi, in their natural state, are blobs of constantly changing flesh that resemble a humanoid shape. In this state, they are highly susceptible to any stimuli, but they are also extremely fast and vicious. If by chance they were allowed to fully assimilate with another being, the result would be a highly amplified version of that being, meaning that the first assimilation is the most important. Homun's first assimilation was a weak human, so his current state is inferior to that of his Homunculi brethren. If a Homunculus were to have its first assimilation with a powerful being, it would be nigh unstoppable.

With an increased understanding of the abilities Raelyse was employing, he figured there was no way to damage him from range. Any ice or water would simply be dispelled before it got too close. It was likely that Raelyse primarily operated as a mage, but had swordsman abilities in reserve. Being the original owner of his abilities, Raelyse had superior control and power in his magic, so a caster duel is out of the question. In addition, the Bladesinger had already seen the extent of Homun's own abilities. There seemed no way of surprising him this time.

"Enjoying yourself, Myrusian?" Homun called out, levitating downward while sparks still flicked themselves off his charged body. He fished for any attachment Raelyse held for his former home. "Your ruse interests me. Going through all the trouble to make a clone of yourself for that forgettable island. Why not destroy it if you hated it so much?"

Lowering himself further, he put his hand on his throat as his vocal chords were rearranged. Emulating Raelyse's voice, he sang the song called Pegasi Strain. After ten seconds, from each shoulder blade emerged an ethereal white wing spanning six feet. Landing on the roof of a wooden house, he felt his mind relax from the strain of the levitation spell. Homun was fully aware of Raelyse's weaknesses. The spell required concentration and had a slow acceleration. The wings would allow him to react much quicker if the Bladesinger had decided to take off again.

Holding out his right arm, he pointed at Raelyse with his index finger. The lightning had been channeling through his body long enough. Widening his eyes for a moment, he felt the charge converge into his arm and exit out his finger in a magnificent display of electricity. The force from the attack shattered all the windows on the house he was on. Homun fully expected the response to this kind of attack. It was too strong to simply be dispelled. There was, however, an effective counter-attack.

[Raelyse]

And Raelyse’s eyes did not leave the creature, especially when it displayed its latest skill. Grabbing at its throat, it apparently rearranged its chords to more resemble the prince’s and began to sing. It was song magic from the hallowed halls of Istien University, one of the symbols of Raiaera before the elves succumbed to the undead. The homunculus sung it pitch perfect, at least in Raelyse’s opinion, because it was performed in the exact same manner that the prince would have performed it in. Seeing the same ethereal white wings emerge from the same back where monstrous arms minutes before seemed like a perverse insult to both Raelyse and the elves’ song magic.

Normally, he would have taken offense from a lower being plagiarizing an ability he had made distinctly his. This time however, he was too distracted from his curiosity to bother.

This homunculus now appeared to have assimilated one of Raelyse’s abilities. And it was all from a touch so subtle and brief that the prince did not even know it had existed. A quick inspection of his shoulder revealed a tiny rip in his suit jacket and shirt and a tiny abrasion across his shoulder. Just from that, a touch so miniscule it could not even be called a scratch, this creature had absorbed some of Raelyse.

“That was a long time ago,” the prince replied matter of factly. There was no reason for him to lie to this creature, it knew everything. There was no point looking down on it, he was unsure what its nature even was, whether it would even see Raelyse as a superior. “I haven’t even thought of Myrusia in an eternity.”

The fact that not only prowess and powers, but memories as well had been absorbed further interested the prince. He wondered about the extent to which this creature assimilated its targets. If memories and powers could be copied almost identically, how exact a copy could this homunculus truly become? It was rare that Raelyse adopted such a philosophical and scholarly approach to any matter in his life, but the presence of this homunculus was almost a revelation. The prince had never encountered anything like it before.

As if to further enthral the prince, the homunculus unleashed an attack that Raelyse had used so many times before. He watched as the lightning bolt left the outstretched finger. Without losing an ounce of composure, the prince lifted his right hand directly into the path of the attack. It collided into the centre of his palm, briefly sending shockwaves through Raelyse’s body. But the pain was only brief and the shocking sensation moved around his torso and into his back, channelled into the magical stones imbued into his back.

Raelyse looked up at the homunculus, without so much of a scratch. The magical stones on his back prevented any magical attack from being lethal. The homunculus’ copycat attack was no stronger than anything the prince himself could strike with and was barely even a problem.

“There’s no point attacking me,” the prince said. “I know what you are and I know what you can do. You may think that by taking my powers you know what I am going to do. But you forget, that I also know what I’m going to do. You can’t surprise me.”

[Abomination]

Homun lowered his hand, his ethereal wings glowing vibrantly among the falling water that avoided him. If there was one thing that Homun had that Raelyse didn't, it was an outside perspective. Seeing how the Bladesinger dealt with his own attacks was unique, and every detail mattered. In fact, this was the response Homun was expecting. Simply copying someone would never be enough to beat them, in the end it was his own Homunculus abilities that he had to rely on.

Wait, why was he bothering with this? The original plan here was to gain these powers of flight and take off to find Xem'zund. Why was he suddenly so interested in fighting Raelyse? The Bladesinger's influence on his personality was becoming more apparent. Pride, vanity, and a sense of superiority permeated his demeanor. He felt like he was a prince of some sort. Yet, he wasn't. No... This wasn't a true assimilation after all. His mind had been tampered with, and now he had intentions that were not uniquely his.

He was not aware of his change of plans. Lost in his insatiable desire to explore the possibilities of his new abilities, all other plans had been put on hold. Looking up at the sky, he closed his eyes and let the rain hit his body. As he became soaked, the water hardened into ice, slowly covering his body. The ice crackled and grew, forming patches on his skin and clothes. A chilly mist began to rise from his body; his mouth, nose, his skin, as if it wasn't just his outsides that were turning to ice. Lowering his head, he opened his eyes and stared at Raelyse.

"Clearly you've never fought a Homunculus before," sneered Homun, his voice reverting to its original sound.

It wasn't Raelyse's offense he was interested in; it was his defense. Seeing how he nullified that attack and how he dealt with the shards of ice only confirmed his next route. He stood on the edge of the building's roof he was on, spreading his arms and allowing his body to fall forward. Before reaching the ground, his wings took over and turned his fall into a glide towards Raelyse. With those wings, his target couldn't simply levitate away. He flew past the doors he had earlier busted down, the walls he had torn through, the windows he had broken, the objects he had shattered, and the people he had killed. The smell of dead bodies and dust was washed away in the storm. The dim light of the sun beyond the clouds was all but gone, replaced by whatever lanterns were not knocked over in Homun's killing spree.

Two steel swords came out of his palms and stopped at the hilts, which he grasped with his outstretched arms. More arms came out from each side of his body, also becoming very icy from the rain. The blue ice turned the arms into sharp weapons, the ice cracking as they were bending. Even the swords seemed like icicles with the frost growing over them. He was capitalizing on his last successful attack, the one he performed when he was just a Homunculus, this time intending to skewer the Bladesinger with both the swords and the arms. It was true that as a copy, Raelyse could anticipate Homun going for his weaknesses with his own abilities, but as something that evolved; as something that became more than a copy, the ancient creature could not only diffuse Raelyse's offense, but use his abilities to augment his natural Homunculus powers. With this, he may not only defeat powerful magicians such as Raelyse, but perhaps Xem'zund as well.