The One Man Army

Having killed Poseidon, I found myself some peace. 

Thankfully, there was no one else left nearby, so I was free to gather my thoughts. Of course, just because there was no one around, that definitely didn't mean I was alone. 

"How can I help?", Yama asked, trying to prove himself useful. Bar giving me a proper explanation, there wasn't much he could do. "When we were sent here, most of us decided to try and enact revenge, or to be the last man standing. I am truly sorry that you're all being caught up in this, but we didn't have all that much choice."

His comment confounded me. If they didn't have much choice, then presumably, someone was forcing them to do this, someone capable of manipulating all these Gods and magical creatures - but who? Anticipating my question, Yama opened his mouth, "I can't tell you."

I had plenty of questions for him, like how they were sent here, where they came from, or even, which came first - the creatures or the myths. Still, one seemed far more important and far more relevant. "What's stopping you?"

"They wont let me", before I could ask who 'they' were - although I was sure that 'they' wouldn't let him tell me that either - I heard something running down a nearby street. 

I quickly backed into a nearby alleyway and ignited hellfire to protect myself. 

I heard it again, closer. 

I rushed towards the other side of the alleyway, moving further from the sound.

Still, it was only getting closer. 

When I managed to reach the end of the alley, so did someone else.

A mysterious, dark figure appeared, far taller than most people, with shadowy eyes and a handsome face. If I were to describe him in a single phrase, he would be the typical, cool protagonist. Backing away, I noticed something suspicious. A large clump of hair had been torn from his head. 

As he began to run, so did I, turning and rushing away. 

I approached the other end, thinking I could escape, before bumping into something else. Another person. A person with the same towering stature, dark complexion, even accompanied by a second, suspicious bold patch. 

I knocked the second away, as the first caught up and threw a punch at me. 

The punch itself didn't have that much force behind it, but the technique was excellent. It hurt like absolute hell. 

While still recovering from the first punch, the second attacker launched a flying kick at my chest. Again, the attack itself wasn't all that powerful, but I could hardly breathe afterwards. 

I quickly wrapped some hellfire around my fist and punched at one of the men. He wasn't fast enough to dodge, but he did manage to block it well. 

His arm was burnt, but not badly damaged. My fist, on the other hand, was in agony, as though I'd just punched a wall. 

As another kick was launched at me, I barely managed to catch it. From my palm, I concentrated all my hellfire. 

I ignored a punch to the back, as I focused on melting the man's leg. He should've been crying out from pain, but hardly seemed to be reacting at all, I was convinced he just couldn't feel anything. 

I raised the heat even more, splitting his leg in half and burning his entire body. 

As he should've died, and a message should've appeared, I noticed nothing. I belatedly realized something even stranger - he had no supporter. 

To my knowledge, no one had been spared from the myths, so everyone should've had a sponsor, yet neither of these men did. 

While I wasn't certain, something was definitely off. 

having dealt with the first, it was time to take on the second. 

I raised hellfire around my ankle and shot my foot towards him. He tried to block, only for his arm to be cleanly torn off and for my fist to then smash into him, pushing him back. 

Shooting hellfire all around him, the alley quickly filled with fire and smoke, allowing me to quickly restrain him and punch him to death. 

Still, no message appeared. 

Instead, a voice did. Through the smoke, I heard a chuckle, followed by the words, "Strong. I like that."

As the smoke parted, a man appeared. Identical from the two men from earlier - although with less of his hair missing - he still seemed more menacing. He gave off a massive, formidable presence. But it wasn't him who'd spoke. 

Behind him, stood his supporter. A tall, handsome monkey, with golden hairs cascading all over his body and a suit of shining steel armour. As his golden eyes locked on me, I couldn't help but respect the warrior. It was him, the great sage, heaven's equal - Sun Wukong. 

I summoned a ball of hellfire in my palm, but sensed no malicious intent from him. 

"I'm Ulric", the man spoke in an upper-class, dignified voice with a watered-down German accent. "Ulric Wycliffe."

He explained how he'd been using his body out of body skill to create clones, and to use his clones to sweep the city. He also explained how, at level 2, the clones were only 20% of his strength, but were far easier to control than his main body, as he could ignore any pain inflicted on them - making them better at martial arts, and he also said that he was looking for useful allies to help him. 

Only one question came to mind, "Why me?"

Before answering, Ulric lead me towards a train station, where he had already set up camp, and pointed to a pile of corpses outside, "No one else beat the clones."

I was shocked. Sure, Ulric was a threatening guy, but, having spoken to him, I could hardly believe that he'd killed all those people. 

Seemingly reading my mind, Ulric offered an explanation, "I did try to let them escape, but they all ended up killing each other anyway."

Walking into the train station, a chill ran down my spine. Inside, hundreds of clones were wandering around. Some drawing over maps, some were bringing supplies in, while others were sorting out equipment. 

I was suddenly glad he didn't want me dead. If he had, then I would be. 

"Looks like you don't really need much help", I commented, looking at all the clones. 

"I can't do everything myself."

Thanks to all the clones, he was already able to establish a base, and complete work that should take months in less than a day. He had really become a one-man army. 

While we were speaking, we both received the same message.

[Next round of inheritance will take place in 11h, 59m, 59s]

As all his clones rushed around, Ulric sat down casually, in his suit with matching fedora, looking like some sort of mob boss, not having to do the dirty work himself. "Please, make yourself at home."

I found a nearby chair and sat down, before properly introducing myself, "Hello, I'm Jack Night."

Seemingly curious, Ulric then asked me what skills I had. 

"Hellfire, the one I used before, and I also have 'judge of the dead'."

"What does that do?", as he asked, Yama pointed out the share feature on the skill screen. I willed, and the screen appeared before Ulric. 

[Jack's skills (2)]

[Judge Of The Dead Lv 1]

[Can select the fate of those that you kill]

...

"Can you resurrect people?", he asked, clearly with something in mind. 

"Well, I can reincarnate them, which is close."

Ulric seemed disappointed, as though this ruined his newly formed plan. Seeing this, Yama added, "He will be able to later."

"Not good enough", Ulric replied, "I need something until I inherit some form of immortality", Sun Wukong, previously not listening, then decided to chime in. 

"It's not like anyone can kill you yet."

"But, don't you want me to kill him?"

Having heard the exchange between the two, I felt compelled to ask, "Who's him?"

Instead of replying normally, Ulric stood up from his chair and spoke, "I'll tell you later. We have another visitor."