Inexorable Chaos: God Games

Karthis did not flinch beneath the glow of those bestial eyes. His hand rested lightly against the hilt of his runed longsword, the blade humming faintly, as though eager to be drawn. His team spread wide, practiced movements settling them into a half-circle around their leader: Dregan, the towering wall of muscle and metal-flesh; Korrin, already crouched low, armored appendages flexing like coiled serpents; and Veylric, staff in hand, silver spikes rising from his shoulders like jagged monuments.

The floor was too quiet. Dust hung in the still air. The silence pressed heavy, taut as a bowstring.

Then came the first crack.

The sound was sharp, alien—a whip crack tearing through the silence. Veylric's head snapped up, his staff surging with mana as a translucent barrier shimmered around his skull. The second shot followed immediately, slamming against it with a ripple of force. The third tore hairline fractures through the weave, violet mana sparking wildly.

Karthis's lips parted. "Veylric—!"

The fourth shot came before the warning was finished.

The barrier shattered like glass, weaves of mana scattering in the air. The bullet punched clean through Veylric's forehead. His eyes went wide with shock, then glassy as his staff slipped from his hand and clattered against the cracked concrete. His body folded in silence, toppling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

For half a breath, no one moved. Dust swirled lazily in the still air.

Then Dregan bellowed, the sound a deep, metallic roar that shook the floor. His violet-veined muscles bulged as he stamped forward, each step leaving fissures in the stone. Korrin shot upward onto the wall in a blur, appendages stabbing into concrete with a wet crunch, carrying him like some armored predator circling for a kill.

Karthis alone remained steady, goggles fixed on the hulking beast still standing amidst the ruin. The monster had not moved. It merely watched them with those unblinking, glowing eyes, eyes that burned with uncanny intelligence.

Karthis exhaled slowly, his longsword whispering as it left the scabbard. The runes etched across the steel flared to life, violet light dancing along the edge.

"Steady," he said, his voice low, commanding. "It's dangerous."

And then the beast moved.

______________________________________

Quasi surged forward with terrifying speed, concrete cracking beneath his bare feet. His bulk was monstrous—muscle straining against gray skin, tail whipping like a barbed serpent behind him. Each step shook the floor, a drumbeat of raw power that made even the reinforced walls groan.

Dregan met him head-on.

The giant's roar was a furnace blast, hot and full of rage, his violet-veined arms swinging in wide arcs. Each strike was a hammer blow that could cave in walls, but Quasi met him without flinching. Fist slammed against fist, shockwaves rolling out from every collision, rattling loose dust from the ceiling and sending cracks spidering across the walls.

Every impact was bone-rattling, the air trembling with the weight of it. Quasi's bones and flesh cracked, blood spraying with each strike, but the wounds sealed as quickly as they came, blood coagulating mid-air before it could hit the ground. His laughter was guttural, half-snarl, half-madness, as if the fight itself was feeding him.

From above came the shriek of metal on stone. Korrin darted along the walls, his armored appendages stabbing and retracting like bladed anchors, dragging him at breakneck speed. He moved like a spider with the strength of a predator, darting in to slash with surgical precision.

Steel arms ripped shallow gouges across Quasi's back. Another sliced through his thigh, spraying blood. Quasi snarled, twisting to retaliate, but Dregan seized the moment.

The giant lunged, arms locking around Quasi's torso in a crushing bear hug.

The sound was sickening—bones straining, flesh tearing. Quasi's arms were pinned to his sides, muscles screaming as Dregan squeezed with all the force of a hydraulic press. Veins pulsed violently across Dregan's metal-sheened skin, violet light burning brighter with each second.

"Break!" the giant bellowed, spit flying, teeth bared. "BREAK!"

Quasi roared back, a guttural, primal sound that made the floor vibrate. He twisted, kicked, bit, but the hold was unyielding. Korrin was already moving in, appendages spread wide, ready to impale.

And then Quasi's laughter returned—low, cruel. His tail whipped tight around Dregan's neck, locking like a noose.

"Let's see who breaks first," he growled.

The skin of his flesh flared with mana. Heat shimmered from his skin. For a heartbeat, everything was still—

—and then the world exploded.

A fire erupted between their bodies, the blast deafening in the confined space. Concrete shredded, jagged chunks blasting outward. The shockwave tore Korrin from the wall and slammed him hard to the ground.

Dregan screamed.

The explosion sheared flesh from Quasi's body, burning away skin and muscle in grotesque strips, leaving muscle fibers visible. But it burned Dregan worse—the violet veins blackened, flesh split apart, his bellow turning into a choking gasp. His arms loosened instinctively, his monstrous grip faltering.

Quasi seized the moment.

With a brutal kick against Dregan's chest, Quasi launched himself free, tail still locked around the giant's throat. The snap was loud, sharp, final—like an oak branch breaking underfoot. Dregan's body toppled backward, a mountain of ruined muscle and scorched skin crashing to the floor.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

The dust swirled thick in the air.

Korrin scrambled upright, appendages twitching, rage twisting his face. Karthis stood further back, longsword raised, goggles fixed squarely on the beast now dripping blood and charred flesh yet still upright. Still grinning. Still alive.

The monster turned its head slowly, glowing eyes settling on Korrin.

"You're next," Quasi rasped, laughter bubbling behind the words.

__________________________________

Korrin struck first, scuttling across the walls in a blur of steel and muscle. His armored appendages stabbed like spears, each strike fast enough to leave trails in the air.

Quasi ducked and weaved, but the blades still kissed flesh—slicing across his arms, gouging a line into his side. He roared, his tail whipping out in retaliation, only for Korrin to clamp down on it mid-swing. Sparks shrieked as the armored pincers tightened, dragging Quasi off balance.

That's when Karthis moved.

The man flowed in from the side, longsword flashing with glowing runes, each strike impossibly precise. Steel cut a burning line across Quasi's thigh, then another across his ribs. Quasi snarled, swinging wide with a fist, but Karthis twisted under it with uncanny grace, his sword stabbing back in answer.

The room shook with every exchange.

Korrin hammered Quasi from above while Karthis pressed him from the ground, their rhythm almost surgical—one overwhelming with speed, the other cutting in with perfect timing.

For the first time, Quasi staggered. His flesh was a patchwork of gashes and burns, his blood spattering hot against the floor, sizzling where it struck stone.

But he was still smiling.

"You two," he growled through broken laughter, "almost make me work for it."

Then he lunged.

His tail snapped forward, wrapping around one of Korrin's appendages. Quasi yanked hard, dragging the man in. Korrin adjusted immediately, spinning his other limbs inward in a perfect killing thrust, blades punching into Quasi's torso, shoulders, even neck.

Karthis shouted, "Korrin, finish it!" and cut low with his runed blade, aiming for Quasi's leg.

The beast didn't flinch.

He leaned into the storm of blades, blood geysering as steel sank deep into muscle—and drove his fist straight into Korrin's chest.

The explosion tore the air apart.

Korrin screamed once before his body was flung like a ragdoll, smashing through one wall—then another—and another, until the sound of shattering concrete faded into silence.

What was left of him didn't return.

Quasi staggered, his body shredded, chunks of burned flesh sliding wetly down his arms. His regeneration struggles under the sheer damage, but his grin was wide, eyes glowing violet in the haze of smoke.

Karthis stood frozen, his sword trembling in his grip, veins around his eyes pulsing violently. His breath hissed between clenched teeth.

"You…" he rasped, his voice raw with something between fury and disbelief. "You're a monster!"

Quasi only laughed—deep, guttural, and unrelenting. The sound rolled through the cracked chamber like an animal's triumph, shaking the dust from the ceiling.

__________________________________________________

The chamber was a ruin already—concrete walls cracked, chunks of stone littering the floor, dust hanging thick enough to sting the eyes. Quasi lunged through it all like a predator unleashed, each strike trailing fire and heat, each roar shaking the air.

Karthis was already gone before the blows landed.

The runed longsword flashed like a silver tongue, answering every dodge with a cut. One slash scored across Quasi's chest. Another nicked the side of his face. Another buried shallow into his thigh before Karthis flowed back, light as smoke, impossible angles carrying him out of reach.

Quasi's tail lashed. His fists thundered. Spells erupted off his body like miniature suns—yet Karthis weaved through it, every movement perfectly timed, perfectly placed, as though the fight had been rehearsed long before Quasi ever raised his hand.

The beast's flesh was already regrowing where steel bit deepest, blood drying black and hard as stone. But the wounds kept coming.

Quasi snarled, spinning with a flaming backhand that would have torn the head from most men. Karthis bent at the hip, gravity pulling him sideways into an unnatural lean, the strike passing inches over his scalp. His sword snapped up in return, slashing across Quasi's ribs before his boots even touched the ground again.

From the far corner, Daiyu leaned out, eyes narrowed behind the smoke. She raised a musket, hammer already pulled back.

"Die!" she shouted.

But Karthis was already moving—his body twisting sharply before her finger even touched the trigger. The shot cracked like thunder, lead sparking off the wall where Karthis had been standing.

Quasi landed in a crouch, eyes glowing as they tracked the line of Karthis' dodge. Then he grinned, sharp teeth showing through blood.

"Shoot him," Quasi barked.

Daiyu hissed back, incredulous. "He'll just dodge—"

"Do it!"

Her jaw tightened. She grabbed a pistol, aimed, fired.

Karthis shifted before the hammer struck. The bullet cut through empty air, his body already sidestepping the path.

"Again," Quasi growled.

Daiyu fired. Karthis slipped away.

"Again."

Another crack. Another dodge.

It went on until smoke curled heavy around her, pistols discarded, fresh ones in her hands, flint snapping bright. Her breathing grew sharp, each shot more frustrated than the last.

Finally, the last pistol fires. She curses under her breath, staring at Quasi. "That's it—I'm out! I'll need to reload!"

Quasi ignored her. He stood still, tail twitching, wounds smoking from half-healed burns. His eyes were fixed on Karthis, who was watching him with that same tight, almost mechanical composure.

"1.27 seconds," Quasi said at last.

Karthis froze.

"That's how far you can see," Quasi continued, his grin widening. "Into the future. Just enough to run, just enough to bite back before my teeth close."

Karthis' jaw flexed. The veins around his eyes pulsed like ink spreading under glass. His grip on the runed sword tightened until the leather creaked.

"It doesn't matter," he said coldly.

Quasi laughed—low, guttural, animal. "Oh, it matters. Because now…" He rolled his shoulders, flames crawling across his arms. "…I know how to break you."

Then he lunged, the floor cracking under the force, and the chamber shook as beast and man met again.

__________________________________________________________

The hallway thundered with the sound of their clash. Quasi drove forward like a storm loosed from its cage—every blow wild but aimed, fists sparking flame, tail smashing into walls hard enough to leave craters.

Karthis slipped between it all, movements sharp and surgical. His boots kissed stone and rebounded; his body tilted at wrong angles, gravity bending for him where physics should not allow. Each dodge came with a cut—across Quasi's arm, his thigh, his shoulder. The runed longsword gleamed each time it drank.

But Quasi didn't slow.

Each step he gained drove Karthis farther back. A meter. Then three. Then ten. The beast's laughter chased him, guttural and hot, echoing down the cracked hall.

Karthis' precision faltered for the first time when his back brushed against a doorframe. He glanced over his shoulder—a broad chamber yawning beyond, lanternlight spilling across stone and dust.

Quasi came on like a freighted avalanche. Karthis pivoted, slipping through the threshold with a fencer's grace. His boots clicked against the floor as he widened his stance in the open room, sword lifted.

He smirked—calm, almost mocking. "You think walls make a difference? A smaller room won't change the outcome. I'll still cut you down before your claws touch me."

Quasi slowed at the doorway. His ears flicked forward. His glowing eyes swept the chamber, measuring every span of stone, every pillar, every meter of air. Then he grinned, sharp teeth gleaming.

"Smaller?" he chuckled. His tail lashed once, cracking the stone behind him. "This room isn't big enough for me."

And he stepped inside.

Karthis' smirk faltered. His eyes flicked around the chamber, reading lines of escape, predicting paths—but each one too slow. Confidence quickly replaces panic as realization hits 1.27 seconds before.