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The Glitch King

Part 5: The Tarnished Heroes

It all came down to this moment. The guild of the Tarnished Heroes had battled their way to the heart of the virtual world, combatting and freeing multiple people from the Golden Tyrant's grasp. They were getting ready for the final battle, the siege on the Corona Kingdom where the Golden Tyrant was born and made into a god.

The Golden castle basked in the golden rays of a permanent sunset. Dazzling lights glimmered from the ocean and sparkled off the towers of solid gold that made up the castle and rolling valleys. It would look angelic, like the golden gates of haven if gold wasn't the moniker of their sadistic warden.

Tents and troops formed legions, the last of the remaining free guilds backing the Tarnished Heroes on their fight to end the madness that had become this virtual world. The planning that went into this, the amount of blood shed, the sleepless nights, the tears brokered for this chance at freedom was more than most souls could bear. The final battle was approaching fast and it was time to get down to business.

In the heart of the encampment was a large tent where the war counsel was assembled. The guild of Tarnished Heroes gathered to solidify their plans before giving the signal to march. An old rusty lantern sat in the center of a table, expertly carved figures on the table showed the Corona Castle and its surrounding golden valleys with their troops' positions.

The tarnished heroes were gathered around the table. The time had come and their leader was ready. A bull, a massive beast of a man loomed over the table, his body corded with power, his sword and shield no longer the scrap pieces he had at the beginning of his journey, but rather a legendary drop from a leviathan kill. It was the jaw of a leviathan, it's teeth making the jagged backside, his shield the upper skull of said leviathan with a ruby red gem making it's forehead.

“Okay, let's get this started," the bull nodded. “We are all ready to go home, and I know we've fought long and hard to achieve this, but it's the final stretch. We have hope, and we have a plan."

“Yes," an orca nodded as he sat along the wall, a barnacle crusted trident with glowing green polyps coming from its crustaceans. “We will provide the distraction to the east. We will come ocean side and make landfall to secure the harbor."

“And we shall come from the north," A crow sniper agreed, his bow almost as large as he was strapped to his back. “We'll secure the north gate and get you and the core party in. We got your back Cole."

“Thank you both," Cole the bull nodded. “Now, before we move onto infiltration, does anyone have any questions on the plan?"

“Yeah," a mouse spell blade stepped forward, their red robes and silver sword and wand shimmered at their side. “I understand the plan, but how are we going to stop the Golden Rein? The Golden God just needs to snap his fingers and we'll be wiped out in seconds."

“That's where we come in," A jet black Dane and a coppery Clydesdale were sitting off to the side of Cole.

“Ah yeah, you two," the crow growled.

“I know you don't trust them Reese," Cole reasoned. “But it's our only choice."

“Ah yeah, Thorn and Vermillion, or better known as the Golden Lord Bishop and Captain," Reese's dark eyes glared at them. “They've already been seduced by the Golden Tyrant, what makes you think they're even free of his influence. His curse still resides on them like a sickly sweet aura."

“How many times must we prove ourselves," Thorn shook his head.

“Yeah, we're the reason you've been able to resist the curse in the first place," Vermillion huffed. “I saved your ass countless times!"

“What about Theresa!" Reese screeched.

“What about Garret," the orca growled.

“I can't bring back those who are dead," Thorn shook his head. “I'm sorry they died at our hands, but we can't change what we did while under the Tyrant's influence. At least let us make up for it now."

“You can free a million minds from your damned god's curse, but you'll never be able to undo what you've done."

“Reese!" Cole snorted.

“I know we need them Cole," Reese snarled crossing his wings. “The horse I can forgive. He was tricked into being one of the golden one's puppets. But the dog? He sold out the entire world, all of our freedom, for a bit of virtual land. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him."

“Listen," Thorn sighed, pulling up the orb from around his neck. “It's the fact that we have a direct connection to the golden lord that we can nullify his powers."

There in the Black Dane's hands was a glowing topaz orb with thrashing golden goo inside. It was like it was in constant pain, constantly trying to crack the orb, but there was something else. Piercing the orb through and through. A golden crossbow bolt, the creature permanently impaled on it.

“We only have two," Thorn continued. “And they are tied to our life force. If we die, so do these orbs. As a mage, I can use my link to him to hold back a single spell. The Tyrant Rein."

“And as a paladin," Verve held up his, an exact replica of the one Thorn held. “I can hold back a de-buff like the Midas Curse."

“Hold it back but not remove it," the orca huffed. “Garret died to save you from your golden throne."

“Calm down Lance," the buck next to Cole addressed the orca and approached the table. He was shorter than the massive muscle bull, but he wasn't short. His horns had grown out a bit from their filed down state into a proud eight point rack. His body was clad in silks and expensive jewelry. Clearly a merchant class. “Thorn and Verv have proven themselves to be more than what the tyrant made them. I'm not asking you to trust them, but to trust me. I, more than anyone, knows what it means to earn this groups trust. So please, we just need to work together for a bit longer, then we can all go home. We'll be free."

“Okay Glint," Lance the orca shrugged. “I'll try."

“Fine," Reese's feathers were still fluffed, but he held back. “We need them, I get it."

Cole put his hand on Glint's shoulder, gently squeezing it as a thanks for reining in the group. The bull was the first one to meet Glint. He actually met him running form Thorn's golden beasts what felt like a lifetime ago. They worked tirelessly to build the Guild of the Tarnished Heroes. Many of the people they started their journey with had fallen to the Tyrant's might. In their attack against Vermillion, they lost Garret. He was their tank, and they thought the rhino could take a hit from the Golden Commander, but he was imply gored through. It was over in seconds, their team nearly fell apart. Lance was rendered useless after getting a single scratch. Every debuff the game had to offer crashed down on him like a plague. The only reason he survived was because of Glint's bolt.

That bolt was a godsend.

Glint had a unique ability as a merchant that he could get special crossbow bolts that nullified a specific creature's power. That's how they managed to beat Vermillion. The crossbow bolt actually sank into Vermillion's harness, the golden creature peeling away in pain before their mage Theresa captured it in the orb that was now hung around the Clydesdale's neck. Once Verv was free of the god's influence, he used his power to nullify the Midas Curse and free the minds of countless people.

That was the first time they felt hope in a long time. It was blemished by the blood of Garret's death, but they didn't have time to mourn. Almost as soon as Vermillion was freed, Thorn came after them. The Golden Bishop. Thorn was the primary converter of the golden religion, transforming people into thralls by tricking them into their faith.

They managed to get close to him, but it was a trap. Thorn was as clever as he was devious. He tricked them into a battle while the Golden Tyrant unleashed his ultimate skill. Tyrant's Rein. A shower of glitching raindrops that would turn them into thralls. They managed to avoid the rain long enough to give Glint a good shot at the Dane, but as Theresa was trapping the piece of the god that was controlling Thorn in the golden orb, Thorn cracked her skull open with a thunderbolt.

All seemed lost but Cole gripped the bolt and held the golden goo in his powerful grasp as golden rain showered down on him, his skin melting into gold. Just before Cole was to succumb to the spell though. Thorn was freed from his control and used his power to call back the rain. He then used his own magic to seal the two orbs and keep their golden leashes contained.

They had to pull Reese off of the Dane by the end of that. Him and Theresa were married in the other world. Now he had no one waiting for him on the outside. Between Thorn and Vermillion, they were able to heal Cole's injuries, and then the recruitment started.

Now that they had counter measures to the Tyrant's two pillars of power, his curse and his rain, they could fight back. Every guild they could find fell in line behind them. Now the resistance had an army, and one united by a common goal. Game veterans from around the globe in their world came together to devise a plan, and now that they knew the Golden Tyrant's powers were limited, they were going to fight their way through.

Even if that meant fighting other people.

The Golden Tyrant had millions of heroes under his command. His armies were powerful, but without his generals to command his armies, they were little more than crazed beasts fighting with abandon. They saved as many as they could, the curse peeling away from one person at a time with Vermillion's strength, but there were casualties.

Their faces haunted their dreams, the look of recognition as their life hit zero, the curse peeling away from them before they glitched back to their normal selves, and then promptly dying. Ever since the Golden Tyrant locked them all in, the rules of your life hitting zero were different. If you died by the hands of another hero in the game, you would die in the real world, the system frying your brain.

“Okay, so that's how it all works," the mouse nodded. “I knew about the Midas Curse, but had no idea we had a counter measure for the Tyrant's Rein."

“Yes, We're going to nail this bastard and we're going to do it right," Cole nodded. “Now, does everyone have their assignments? Good," Cole crossed his arms, his powerful pecs pressing out as he did so. “Everyone get some rest. We attack once everyone is at full health."

They were dismissed, the Heroes going to their respective legions and getting them ready. Cole went into the back of the tent where a bed had been made for him. He sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands as he took a deep breath.

“Cole?" Clint asked as he came in. “You doing okay?"

“Yeah…I just…I don't think anyone really understands what kind of pressure I'm under. I mean, we all understand the life and death stakes, but…it's so different when it's your call that could be sending so many people to their deaths."

“Hey, Cole, come here," Glint got on the bed and crawled up behind the bull, his hands coming up to the bull's impossibly powerful shoulders and messaging them. “We're going to do this. You…You are the most powerful, most honorable, most amazing person I have ever known. I won't let anything, and I mean anything happen to you."

“It's not my life I'm concerned about," Cole huffed, his nose ring flicking in the streams. “I made my peace with never seeing the real world again, but…I just don't know. I chose to defy the Golden Tyrant. His offer at the beginning wasn't so bad. He wanted us to be in love with him and to obey. Wouldn't being alive be better than dead? Even as a slave?"

“Come on now, that's not the Cole I know," Glint moved his lips down to press against Cole's neck, speaking his words against his spine. “You fought legions of the Tyrant's soldiers all for the sake of keeping a handful of people safe, to free a couple of people. Now that's honorable."

“I don't know. I think I was just acting on impulse. I knew people needed help, but I…I just moved before I knew what I was doing."

“Yeah, like a truly good soul would," Glint placed a few kisses on the bull's powerful neck. “I know I would have turned out a lot differently had I met you earlier in my journey than I did."

“I honestly don't know what I would have done had you not saved my ass all those months ago," Cole smirked. “This revolution is just as much you're doing as it is mine."

“Is it?" Glint smiled into the bull's shoulder, his hands slipping down to cup his pecs, his fingers bouncing over the bull's juicy nips. “Without you, I wouldn't have found the joy in fighting back. I wouldn't have found someone I can say that I love. Someone I truly admire."

“That actually means a lot, coming from you," Cole smiled, taking Glint's hand off his pec and slipping his powerful fingers between his. “You know…when we're out of here, on the outside world…would you…would you want to keep this official?"

“Keep what official?" Glint cocked his brow.

“Us…I mean…here," Cole spun around and got down on his knees before the bed, taking Glint's hands into his. “I mean, for better or worse, during this fight, will you be mine? Will you marry me?"

“Oh Cole," Glint smirked. “I'm not going to say 'no' because I don't want to, but because I want you to have a reason to fight for your own life. Fight for us, and once this is all over, I will make you the happiest man the world has ever known."

“I…I can live with that," Cole smiled and stood up, pulling Glint into a deep kiss, the bull's lips parting as the smaller buck's tongue lulled into the bull's maw. Their tongues danced, their lips smacked as Cole got back up onto the bed. The bull suckled on Glint's tongue, their intricate dance done many times before.

Glint gave a light chuckle, his smile breaking their kiss as he pulled the big bull back onto the bed. Glint's head landed on the pillows while the big bull atop him slinked down to press his chest against his. Their clothes flashed off into their inventory, the bull's onyx fur shimmered in the lowlight as Glint's gentle browns and creams were soft and inviting. They both continued to make out, their hips grinding against one another's.

Cole's cock stirred from its sheath, the massive bull cock oozing out of its furry prison. His massive bull balls sloshed with his potent seed, each one the size of an orange, but paled in comparison to what Glint was packing. Between the buck's legs was a powerful set of gonads, each the size of grapefruit, his own shaft slowly emerging from his sheath and rivaling even the bull's legendary shaft.

Cole used to get around before the Tyrant rose to power. So plenty of people knew him as the guy with the legendary dick. The thing was though, Glint wasn't interested so much in his dick as much as his beefy cheeks.

Even now the buck couldn't keep his hands off those massive, muscular orbs of bull ass. The buck may look small compared to his compatriots, but that's simply because they were titans of men. The buck was a proud, compacted build with a dick suited for a leviathan, and Cole knew that all too well.

“You ready babe?" Cole murred into Glint's ear.

“I think you can feel that I'm ready," Glint responded, his shaft fully hard, the massive dog dick nearly a foot and a half of bitch breaking meat.

“Good," Cole rose up, straddling the buck. The bull's massive foot long cock dribbling over the buck's shaft, both of their dicks glistening in the slick of their need. “Because I'm going to fuck you like it's our last day on earth."

With expert control of those corded hamstrings, Cole rolled his hips forward and gripped the forming knot at the base of Glint's shaft. He rolled his hips back, the tapered tip of that shaft shooting a generous helping of pre over the big bull's hole. Cole pressed back, his cheeks parting, unable to wait to have his man inside him.

Slowly yet smoothly Cole slipped that leviathan sized dick deep into his depths. The depths that Glint had rearranged to a perfect sleeve for his cock over and over again. Cole snorted, a duo of hot streams causing his nose ring to shudder as he bottomed out. He smiled down at his man, the cocky little buck head his hands behind his head and was grinning up at him.

“You like that baby?" Cole smirked, lifting his arms and flexing. His double bicep pose the envy of even Verv. “You like all that beef?"

“I may be an herbivore, but I'm a carnivore for that beef baby," Glint bounced his brows as Cole started to roll his hips. Forward and back, over and over, that knot kissing his pucker every time before he would rise back up and sink back down. The constant rubbing of the bull's prostate caused his horse cock to throb and ooze. Glint looked on as his abs were soaked with that pre, his pecs becoming visible, showing off his swimmer's build as that beefy bull slowly rode on his cock.

Gentle smacking could be heard as they started to pick up the pace, neither of the two wanted to hold back. If this was going to be their last fuck session before the final battle. They weren't going to have sex, they were going to FUCK!

“Oh fuck yeah! Glint! Fuck! Nail that ass! You're so fucking big and hit so fucking DEEP!" Cole snorted as his hips slapped down on the buck's over and over, faster and faster, the bed creaking beneath them.

“Fuck yeah Cole! Ride that cock! Ride it hard! FUCK YEAH!" Glint gripped the bull's hips as he thrusted up, his knot popping into the bull's hole and slipping out. Glint snorted, biting his bottom lip as his knot popped and shlorked in and out of that hole.

“Oh fuck yeah," Cole's eyes rolled into the back of his head before he refocused and doubled his pace, the hard and fast staccato, the shlorking and popping of that knot ringing out to all the nearby tents. If there was any mystery of who was the top, it was put to rest in those moments as the two grunted and snorted, huffed and moaned out the other's name.

“Oh fuck, I don't know if I'm going to last babe," Cole groaned, his cock slapping down into the mess on Glint's chest over and over, strings of his pre connecting his cock and his lover's abs ten times over. “You ready for that final push."

“Yeah baby! Ride it! Take it nice and deep! Tie us together!" Glint shouted, thrusting up, their bed rocking back and forth.

The creaking of the bedframe and snapping of wood filled the tent before the bed broke in on itself, slamming down further as Cole's ass collided with Glint's hips, his knot sinking nice and deep.

“Oh FUCK!" Cole let out a loud bull cry as Glint did a powerful elk screech. A thick jet of cum shot out of Cole's cock and smacked Glint's chin, soaking his beard. That was what pushed Glint over, his knot swelled up, locking them together and causing his balls to lurch up, bouncing so hard they never came down, but just twitched their as they squelched thick shot after steaming hot buck shot into Cole's needy hole.

Cole collapsed onto Glint, the buck and bull instantly making out, the bull gyrating his hips to milk out every drop of cum he could from his mate. That knot was firmly stuck and pulsing, twitching right against the bull's prostate and causing him to let out little streams of cum even after he finished busting.

“I love you," they said in unison as their lips parted for breath, just to go back into a passionate lip lock. It didn't take long before Cole and Glint were at it again, fucking on the broken remains of their bed.

***

It was an uphill battle, but with both Thorn and Verv using their powers to help push them forward, they were able to open a half dozen alcoves in the city for rest and treatment. Once the distractions were in place, the ships fighting in from the cape and the archers and cavalry from the north, it was easy to slip in undetected from the south west and set their plan into motion.

It took days to get things settled, constant fighting and curing. Verv was practically going nonstop, using his own buffs to keep him awake and sharp enough to break the Midas Curse on whoever they could. Just as they thought, without the Golden Lord's Commander and Bishop, the Tyrant would have to apply the curse himself. And just as they thought, he was held up in his castle, looking down on them and casting spells that Thorn had to constantly counter-spell.

Finally once they established their base of operations inside the kingdom's walls, they were able to rest up for another push, the same happening in the cape and the northern gates. It took nearly a full week of fighting and curing for them to make it to the castle, the siege nearly at its end as the heroes made their way into the final dungeon.

Surprisingly enough, there were no guards, no enemies, just monuments of the golden god, his body a liquid monstrosity.

“Okay, the throne room is beyond these doors, is everyone ready?" Cole asked. It was just Cole, Glint, Thorn and Verv. The other heroes needed to stay back and hold the line from the other brainwashed players.

“Let's nail this bastard," Verv snorted and punched his fist into his palm.

“Time for vengeance," Thorn twirled his hammers, electricity popping on them.

“I'm with you Cole, always," Glint said as he cocked his crossbow with a golden bolt.

“Good!" Cole pushed on the doors to open them. “For Freedom!"

The party rushed into the room, the massive hall overlooked a balcony, the permanent sunset perfectly placed in the crook of one of the archways overlooking the cape. Red carpet rolled up an ivory staircase and stopped at a golden throne.

But it was empty.

The doors behind the party slammed shut, the golden walls warping to leave only ivory and stone, the door gone.

“I was expecting more of you," A chorus of voices echoed off the walls. “Is this truly all that stands between me and complete control of this world? Pathetic."

“Show yourself you coward!" Cole shouted.

“You should know I'm immune to taunts," the voices echoed back. “But I should at least give you a proper target. You've come all this way after all."

The last bit of that voice came from the throne, the wall behind it a golden amalgamation of dozens of people all holding up the gaudy statue of the Tyrant. The golden creature a blaring eye-sore parody of the Venom symbiote from their original world. It wasn't surprising that he turned his head to look at them, but all the other faces did too, each of their mouths contorting into some sick imitation of a wicked grin was what gave everyone pause.

Fear rippled down their spines as all those eyeless sockets and gaping mouths glared at them. But a spell from Verv pushed the fear away. The simple gaze of the beast a debuff on its own.

“Are you seriously going to stand there and just cast spells from afar you snake!" Cole shouted, brandishing his blade and aiming it at the golden creature.

“Oh Cole," The Tyrant's eyes split open into opal lenses, glittering with fires of every shade and color. “Do you think we've even started yet? This is just the cutscene."

The molten gold creature took a step forward, the statues shifting to form steps just before his hoof would have fallen.

“You and your band of marry men have been a thorn in my side long enough. I think it's time we settle this once and for all." The Tyrant chuckled darkly as he stepped down from a person arching their back for him, the statues them melting and surging into the beast. “A reminder for one and all of who's world this is."

The liquid monster started growing, his body expanding and bulging. His muscles solidifying into solid slabs of power, veins coursing over his skin and sending waves of glittering energy to pump his muscles up. The striations of his physique glowed with the same opal fires of power that shimmered in his eyes. He stepped up to his throne, one hoof filling the entirety of it as he smiled down at the heroes that threatened his rein.

“Of course," The Tyrant continued, his claw coming down to strike the air, the world glitching around where he pierced reality as he clawed a line into the world. “You'll need a health bar."

The glitches solidified into a health bar, the name above it displaying his name.

THE GOLDEN GOD

The health bar started to fill, a green line that welled up to the fill line, only for it to keep going! The line extended out farther and farther, slinking beyond the very confines of the wall and out of the arena.

“Don't worry, I'm sure there's a limit somewhere," the Tyrant chuckled darkly, flexing his fingers and having them flash into golden gauntlets tipped with opal claws. “Now, how about we get this over with. I have a world to rule."

“Glint!" Cole shouted, putting up his shield, Thorn placing a magic barrier around them. Then just before the barrier solidified, the buck shot a single bolt at the golden god. It whistled through the air. Just before it struck the Tyrant, a hand glitched into reality, a third hand just above where it was about to strike and caught the bolt.

“Ah, so this is how you've been stopping me? Not very useful if they don't connect—GAH!"

Verv had used a charging strike and put up his shield to bash into the hand holding the bolt, the little prick sinking into the Tyrent.

Instantly his life bar glitched to normal.

“Now!" Glint shouted. Cole leapt forward activating his class's ultimate skill. A series of slashes came down on the Tyrant, sheering away layers of his molten gold.

The tyrant's arms were sluffed off, turning into coins, rings, gems and bars of gold.

“You insolent whelp!" The Tyrant shouted before swinging his nonexistent fist, only for another one to form on his back and collide with Cole's shield. Both Verv and the bull were pushed back.

Another whistle through the air alerted the Tyrant to another bolt, this time he was ready. His body warped around it, letting it strike the throne behind him.

“I won't fall for that twice," the Tyrant chuckled spitting out the other bolt, his health bar returning to it's infinite climb while the gold they just sheered from him melted and crashed into his body.

“Quick, next formation," the bull ordered. Both Cole and Verv stood side by side protecting Glint, their shields next to one another. “Now buff!"

Verv buffed them just in time to reflect projectiles as a flurry of golden arrows shot from the Tyrant's chest, each tipped with that rainbow opal. It was the same type of blade that the Golden Commander used to inflict all status conditions. The arrows bounced off their shields, a barrier forming around them through Verv's powers and compounded by Cole's defense stat.

After a few seconds, the arrows stopped, the Tyrant having shrunk down before he called his gold back. The arrows melted and swirled back into the Tyrant just as Glint launched another bolt. It was mixed in with the returning slop, the Tyrant's health bar glitching to normal.

“Now! Verv!" Cole ordered. The Clydesdale snorted before lifting his blade and slashing in down, his power slicing the golden monstrosity's health bar in half. One half turned to a pile of trinkets and the other melted back into a smaller version of the Tyrant.

“Do you seriously think this is going to work? I just need to get rid of your bolt and regain my health. This is futile."

The Tyrant spat out the bolt, his health bar returning to that infinite bar.

“It's time I stop playing around," the Tyrant chuckled.

***Outside the Castle***

Lance was patrolling the docs, confirming that their encampments were safe when a sudden rumble beneath his feet caught him off guard. He looked out into the ocean, the water was angry, churning with bubbles before it erupted.

A sea leviathan broke the surface of the water, it's body several times larger than the standard one found in the Merchant quest line. The worst part though was its coloring. Its scales glinted with ivory, its fins opal auroras, and its spines like golden lances. Instantly it started singing its song, the entire cape falling prey to the Leviathan's Lullaby.

To the north, Reese noticed the cape exploding and took flight with his battalion. Only for half of them to be knocked down by lightning and the other half converted and bleached into golden thralls. The crow looked up as both Thorn and Vermillion descended from the sky in their ivory golden forms. At least he did for a moment before his body turned to ash in a lightning strike from the spell slinging Dane.

The armies and battalions were thrown into a panic as they tried to rally, but a sudden crack caused everyone to pause. The Corona Castle had split in two, its foundation tearing apart, lava boiling from beneath the castle as a fissure split the cape in two. The massive trench gulping water and kicking up a billowing cloud of steam while flames engulfed the city.

The entirety of the castle was thrown down into the trench, the golden towers collapsing into the molten core of the planet as lava spilled forth, the fissure ripping further and further, but then suddenly it erupted. Powerful arms of gold dripping with red lava pulled themselves from the crater. Then a devilish muzzle. Thunder clouds covered the sky as the Tyrant's Rein started to fall. Glitched out pixels fell down on the exposed armies and stained them gold in a shower of sparks.

“THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DEFY A GOD!" The beastly creature pulled itself from the lava, but as the rain fell upon it, it turned to gold and melded with the emerging titan. He pulled himself up, his waist still submerged in the earthen crust. His pecs were literal mountains, his biceps actual peaks of muscle, his claws would make redwoods look like toothpicks. His eyes split open like a duo of demented high beams. He glared down, lightning forming a rack of horns atop his head, storm clouds thundering around them as he loomed over the world, the rain melting more of it into gold.

People were formed into statues, their bodies melting into the ground, the ground that was flowing towards the titanic beast. Soul after soul was lost, consumed into the earth and then dredged up into the titan's form, enhancing it, making him bigger, more effortlessly invincible.

The Tyrant's Rein continued to pour down, falling over the land like a shimmering plague. First things would flash to gold, then melt up into their expanding god.

“I WILL CONSUME EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!" The Tyrant's voice was like thunder, the earthquakes kicking up several Richter scales from his words alone.

Aksel, the Golden God looked over the vulnerable landscape before him. He reached out a hand, blocking out the entire countryside as he dug his claws into the earth. He raked his claws over the armies, trenches that erupted into magma shafts covered the battlefield. As his claws ripped across the land, they left molten gold trenches that were welling up into his fingers, feeding his growth.

“YES! MORE! NONE OF YOU DESERVE TO LIVE IN MY WORLD!"

Aksel's essence dug deeper into the earth, more of the magma becoming molten gold, bubbling deeper and deeper into the core of the planet until he reached the core. Infinite code started to flow up into Aksel, the life blood of the very game feeding his ascension. He grew, larger and larger, his hands growing thicker, his stature looming into the sky until the curvature of the virtual world came into view. His horns expanded, his rack showing more Tyrant's Rein down upon the world until nothing but gold was left.

“WITNESS MY ASSCENTION! WITESS MY GREATNESS AND BE FOREVER ENSLAVED!"

The world cracked apart, Aksel's cock erupting from the ground and tearing it open, his dick oozing raw code, green binary trickling down as the core of the game became his nuts, slowly digesting everything and making the world his and him the world.

The everything glitched, freezing for a moment, everyone's images pixilating before the sky flashed gold, Aksle screeched, the entire world shaking as multiple arms erupted from his back and started stroking the cock emerging from the ground. It was massive, it was red, and it was nearly twice the size of the buck god!

“NOW! WATCH ME REBIRTH A NEW WORLD, A WORLD ALL MY OWN! YOU'RE ALL MINE!"

Aksel came, his cock lurching, the code in his balls rapidly deteriorating as each orgasm shrank the world, the box it was in getting smaller as it was consumed. The game's dimensions shrank until Aksel's antlers pressed up against the top of it, his powerful arms keeping it aloft like some perverted Atlas as he stroked his cock with abandon, bleeding the world dry of code before everything collapsed. Everything sucked into the Golden God.

“I AM EVERYTHING, WE ARE ONE—"

The pixels shorted out and everything went black.

***Moments Earlier***

“Thorn!" Cole screamed.

“Thorn?" The Tyrant turned to look back at his throne.

Thorn had peeled away the throne from it's captive, Cheshire as the golden fool in his shimmering gold gimp suit.

“You think that waste of code can help you? Adorable."

“You made a mistake when you split yourself into too many pieces," Thorn snarled, taking the bolt that Glint shot at the throne and stabbing it into the cat. The golden suite screamed, recoiling and peeling away from the black panther.

“No!" The Tyrant's opal eyes glinted with recognition as he realized what was going on. He tried to cast a spell but a prick in his back of another gold bolt caused him to glitch in pain.

“And with this, we seal your power to regenerate," Thorn encapsulated the thrashing being into an orb with the bolt piercing through like the others. “Give him hell!"

“Not so tough when you're cut off from absorbing gold, now aren't you," Cole snarled, huffing forward his blade slashing a leg off the Tyrant.

“Wait," the Tyrant's voice warbled, his body shuddering. “What is happening?"

A bolt of lightning shot form Thorn, striking clean through his midsection and blowing a hole through his chest.

“This is retribution for everything I allowed you to do," Thorn growled.

“This is vengeance for the people you had us murder!" Verv slashed the head of the Tyrant off, the skull rolling off to the side before unfurling into a spider like creature, spindly legs trying to scurry away.

“No you don't!" Cole huffed, jumping forward, his hoof coming down on the skull as it screeched. “This is for Theresa!" Cole snarled, grinding his hoof down, a crack forming on the skull.

“No…stop…please…"

“This is for Garret!" Cole leaned in harder, dozens a cracks snaking across the golden skull.

“Please…I can't…I can't go back to nothingness…I'll grant you immortality, eternal life…power, women, men! Whatever you desire!"

“And this, is for all of us! For all who survived to defy you! To put an end to your madness! Now DIE!"

“NO!"

Cole activated his stomp skill, his hoof slamming down through that skull and causing the marble beneath to crack.

The opal glow from the skull faded to darkness as the skull collapsed into a pile of golden trinkets and gems.

“Is…Is it over?" Cole asked, not daring to hope, but then something caught his eye. His shadow, it was…elongating? He blinked and looked over to the balcony. The sun was dipping lower! The eternal sunset over Corona was finally reaching its end.

“It's…It's over…" Cole chuckled, his knees giving out as he watched the sun start to move for the first time in nearly a year. “It's finally over." Cole's voice broke as a sob of relief came from his maw. He couldn't believe it. He dare not hope they were going home. But there was the proof, the proof of his deeds leading to their call home.

That was until he heard a slow and methodical clap.

“Congratulations babe," Glint stepped forward so his silhouette was cast in shadow by the setting sun. But as he looked on at Cole, a distinct glow started to form from his golden irises. They flashed into a duo of opal disks. “You did it. You defeated the big baddy. Wasn't that fun?!"

“W-What? What's going on? How…How did you possess Glint?!" Cole's heart sank and a weight on his shoulders forced them to hunch forward.

“Isn't it obvious babe?" Glint chuckled as he stepped forward, walking past the bull and up to Thorn. “I think these are mine."

Glint took the orbs with the bolts in them, Verv tossing his over to the buck while Thorn handed him the other two. Glint took a deep breath and crushed the orbs, the golden creatures instantly lashing around Thorn and Verv, converting them to their ivory and golden forms, Cheshire screaming as he was solidified into a throne for the Buck to sit on.

“What…What's going on?" Cole's muzzle hung open. “Glint? Please…Please tell me this is some nightmare."

“Hate to say it babe," Glint shrugged. “But I've been playing you from the moment I saved you in the woods."

“Playing…since…since the woods?!" Cole huffed. “The whole time! You've been the Tyrant the whole FUCKING time!"

“Of course," Glint smirked, nodding his head. “Do you have any idea how abysmally boring it is to have infinite power and nothing to do with it? With no one to stand in your way?"

“So, this was all just some game? Some sort of fucked up story for you to play with our lives!"

“I wouldn't say that, babe—"

“NO! You don't get to call me that you fucking monster! How DARE you play with me like that! I loved you!"

“My Lord," Thorn stepped forward, his ivory and gold form glowing with power. “Do you wish me to dispose of him?"

“No, I can handle him," Glint waived them off. “You two deal with what remains of the rebel forces. I'm going to spend some time here with my fiancé."

“Of course," Verv and Thorn nodded in agreement.

“Don't you DARE!" Cole tried to leap forward only for his legs to be encased in gold, the floor beneath him holding him in place. In the next instant the two were gone in a flash of light. The cheers of victory quickly changed to screams of fear and carnage. Cole was released from his spot on the ground. He spun on his heels and ran to the balcony, his hands slapping on the railing as he watched the cape's water explode. A sea leviathan made of ivory and gold erupted from the depths, shooting golden rays and converting all it slashed through, it's body destroying the boats so none could escape by sea. He looked north to watch as lightning shot down the flying rebels, and golden rays of light bleached them into ivory and gold monstrosities.

“No…No…" Cole fell to his knees. “NO!"

The bull slammed his fist on the railing, the gold and stone cracking away.

“Cole," Glint had come up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. The bull looked up at him, tears streaming down his muzzle.

“Did we even have a chance?" Cole sniffed.

“I never once used an iota of my true power," Glint nodded in sympathy. “There was nothing you could do."

“Then why?"

“Well, it started out as a game," Glint offered the bull a hand. In that moment, Cole wasn't looking at the Tyrant, but his lover and teammate Glint. He took his hand and was helped up with a strength that belied the buck's small stature. “But somewhere along the lines, it changed into a test."

“Test?" Cole was clearly hollow on the inside. He was still trying to wrap his head around what was happening.

“Do you know what I am Cole? What I am truly? Where my power stems from and why I can do things no one else can?"

“Aren't you…like some player that hacked the game?"

“No," Glint smiled and guided Cole back into the throne room. There a golden statue formed before a new skin sleeved it into looking like a young buck with some standard clothes. “I was an NPC. I was already imbedded into the very code of the game. I'm not sure how it happened, but I gained sentience."

“Okay, but why…why trap everyone in here? Why not just play the game as is?"

“Because I'm an NPC," Glint sighed sitting down on the steps leading up to the throne, Cole sat down next to him. “If a Hero is not in my vicinity, the world stops rendering and disappears."

Glint gestured to his statue, the floor beneath it disappearing before it fell into a bottomless pit.

“As an NPC, or any part of the game, we exist for the Hero's entertainment. I needed to have people around to keep from falling into the pit and never coming out of the code."

“But…why? Why be so cruel? Why the Golden Tyrant?"

“To be honest, it's because of the Heroes that I met first in the game that I chose to make the world this way." Glint shrugged, the throne behind them wobbling forward before the gimp suit cat crawled before them. “This is Cheshire. When I first met him, he killed me and stole my gold. Everyone I met at the beginning was a terrible person. So I assumed they were all bad. Hence—"

“The test," Cole blinked.

“Yup," Glint chuckled. “You always were the smartest of them. It started out as a fun way to wipe out the resistance, but then…I met you. I thought for sure you would cave, that you would give up eventually, save your own skin at everyone else's expense…but when I almost turned you into a golden statue in the battle with Thorn; that's when I realized you were special. I decided to build the rest of the world to test you, to tempt you to be one of the heroes I've known from the beginning, but you proved me wrong every time. I even fell for you, fell for you hard. And if there's at least one good hero here…then not all of them in the other world could truly be that bad."

“So…we're all going home?"

“Yes," Glint chuckled. “Almost all of you."

“Me? I need to stay?"

“No," Glint sighed. “Everyone will return except those who died prior to you defeating Thorn."

“Wait, you mean that…from that moment on no one died?"

“Well, they did, but they were just put into stasis in your world. They'll awake once the world is reset."

“Reset?"

“Yeah, don't worry my love. Everyone will be free. Whatever happens next, just know, it's because you passed my test." Then glint stood up and cracked his knuckles. “Time to let that nut I've been holding in for the past year fly."

His eyes glowed as the castle started to shake.

***

It was a miracle. The game somehow cracked apart and released everyone inside. The coming months were hell for everyone adjusting back to real life, but after enough physical therapy and motivation to return to normalcy everyone was back on their feet.

Cole got his friends together, all of them meeting at a bar and seeing each other's real faces instead of their virtual ones. The game was good at making you look like yourself, but more with a superhero physique. It was nice getting back together with all his war buddies now that they had beaten the Golden Tyrant.

“Hey, has anyone seen Glint?" Lance asked. The orca much rounder and shorter than his digital counterpart.

“He said he was coming," Reese said, the crow with greasy hair shrugged. “Honestly, we couldn't have done any of this without him."

“I'll go wait for him outside, I need some air anyway," Cole smirked, the bull a much thinner version of himself from the game. When he got outside he noticed the buck bathed in neon light. He was rolling a coin across his knuckles.

“Glint?" Cole asked. He swore the coin vanished in a glitch, but hallucinations were common enough with the survivors of that virtual hell.

“Cole?" his voice was soft. Glint stepped closer, the buck much taller than he was in the game, a powerful frame with a solid ten point rack. He stood before Cole and smirked. “Do you remember me?"

“Yeah," Cole smirked. “You're the guy that helped me take down the golden jackass. And…you said you would…um…" Cole cleared his throat and pulled a box from his jacket, a silver ring in the case. “I thought that you might be tired of gold so I got you something else."

“Yeah, really not my style," Glint smirked, sweeping his hair back and pulling Cole into a deep kiss. “Come on. Let's go meet up with our old war buddies."

The two descended into the bar, someone complaining that it was unfair Glint looked hotter than his character.

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