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Lonn strode across the long, dusty path westward, leaving the lands that would one day be known as the chaparral and into the foothills of the mountains. He had spent weeks observing the people of the eastern coast, watching as one by one the disparate groups made their way towards the Red Pillar; it was working exactly as intended. Regardless, his collection of observed groups grew in number. It was only a matter of time, of course, that he noticed something deeply disturbing. The Red God began to see, rarely but in increasing numbers, the presence of disease among the mortals. At first he had not been worried; such pestilence had proven to be a normal part of the apocalypse and only added to the complexity and fascination of the human experience. 

It had only donned on Lonn that something was particularly amiss when he was given time to himself, sitting beneath the darkened skies as the solar disk dove across the other side of the mountains. His thoughts, as they often did, descended on topics darker in nature and found their way to Ahtziri. She had been an enigma at the time of her discovery and yet still proved a niggling thorn in the side of Lonn’s mind. The divinity he had interacted with up until that point had been openly human in nature, or at least held some semblance of mankind within them; though she certainly did reflect some of humanity herself, as he admitted openly, Ahtziri had proven to be the first actively opposed to their continued existence. Though he stewed on this topic, it wasn’t long until dots began to connect. Unwilling to let sleeping dogs lie when his plans were this close to blossoming, Lonn directed his considerable mind towards investigation. With divine senses he dug deep into the nature of disease, observing it in men and beast and plant. The Man-God determined rapidly that it was a perfidious thing indeed. But, far more importantly, Lonn calculated that if there was a Goddess of Monsters and God of Mortals, surely there must be a God of pestilence. 

The realization had eaten at his heart but quickly turned towards action. This figure, by the very nature of what Lonn had observed, was perhaps even more antithetical to Lonn’s interests than Ahtziri. With his first battle with another god having ended ultimately in a semblance of success, confidence had swelled in his divine heart. Action not only could be taken, but had to be taken, in order to secure the future he so utterly craved. With that Lonn set off westward, focusing all his attention on tracking the spread of pestilence from a presumed central source.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/0Rt2466.gif[/img][/center]

It hadn’t taken a God of the Hunt to track the spread of corruption from deep below the mountaintop where the wellspring of the world burst forth. Lonn had followed the wave of pestilence that had emanated forth, following and turning about wherever the pattern showed itself clearly. It was obvious to Lonn, by that point, that his prediction had been completely correct. No doubt there was another Divine at the end of his path and by then he had set himself clearly to the task.

Either the God would swear to reign in his actions or Lonn would choose a more direct approach.

In the dull light of the setting sun disk, Lonn glared up the hillside at the rotted stack of stones and gnarled rock that opened into the mountain face like a sickened maw. Though the emanations of its effluvient breath was ultimately invisible to the naked eye, Lonn had no such difficulties. Rot poured forth from the maw of pestilence with heavy gasps, billowing in great clouds to Lonn’s red eyes. The dark skin of his false-form paled as the wave of diseased air rolled over him but it was made of tougher stuff than mortal ken. Eyes now raging red, Lonn strode forth with a determined gate, shoulders wide.

As he arrived at the yawning portal of Pestis, Lonn placed a hand on one of the rocks only for it to be singed with corruption. Recognizing the momentary pain, Lonn raised the wound to his eyes and grimaced with disdain. Pockmarks and scar tissue already formed, partially blacked, on the face of his left palm.

[color=#988600]”What brings you here to this blessed place of decay eternal?”[/color]

Xem lifted his gaze to stare at the Red God.

[color=#988600]”It was not made for one such as you, even though your flesh will mingle with it in due time.”[/color]

The God of Rot rose from his fetid throne, bones creaking and flesh sloughing in a seemingly endless draught. Lurching forward he approached his fellow god, stopping only when there were naught more than the span of four steps left between them.

[color=#988600]”Or do you intend on joining me early? If so…”[/color] he chuckled, a horrid burbling of tattered flesh and torn chords, as he raised a worm riddled hand and reached out for Lonn. [color=#988600]”That is something I can most certainly arrange.”[/color]

Stopping just as his fingers were about to brush against the Red God’s steadily paling face, Xem turned away to retake his seat upon the throne. Regarding Lonn with what could only be described as an amused smirk, for that is what the skewed angle of his jaw most readily implied, he rested his head in the crook of his palm.

 [color=#988600]”Or perhaps you intend on challenging me to a test of martial prowess?”[/color]

He sighed dramatically, the sound of which emerged as more of a wispy rasp than anything else.

 [color=#988600]”I will admit that such a contest, while I am not necessarily averse to it, would not exactly be fair to either of us. I am not a god who is in possession of immense physical strength after all, and you…”[/color]

Xem gazed at the Red God in silence for but a moment.

 [color=#988600]”Well you, to put it bluntly, do not seem to be the kind of being suited to fighting in a place like this.”[/color]

Lonn had remained quiet from the very moment the Rot-God Xem had presented himself, his burbling voice more than enough clamor for the moment. Every word dripped with arrogance, a tone Lonn had become incredibly familiar with as of late, and so he simply held his tongue. As the dark deity monologued Lonn took a further step into the cavernous hall of the God of Pestilence. Though he didn’t allow for his gaze to drop he could feel his bare feet clearly balking at the corrupting presence of Pestis. His sneer remained penetrative, however, bristling black mustache and beard looking all the part of some great boar, ferocious in its visage. When at last Xem made his assertion about their coming conflict, Lonn had to suppress an urge to speak more thoroughly on the subject.

[color=ed1c24]”Seemingly.”[/color] retorted the God of Mortals with a laconic quip, a one word response all he gave in reply.

There was a pause as Lonn allowed himself one step further inside, his gaze wandering only to the peripheries of his vision. His lip pulled back into a slight sneer once more, revealing the gentlest hint of his ivory-white teeth. There Xem was, sitting upon his throne of effluvium, and all Lonn could do was look on in distaste. The irony of it all was palpable. Though he felt his organs prickling at the new found pathogens boiling in his lungs, Lonn didn’t much pay it heed. Though tears started building at the corners of his red eyes, Lonn seemed to only glow more. His eyes now sparked with crimson lightning and a circular aura about his person roared into a carmine blaze. Even with the weakening of his flesh, it was clear Lonn was no simpering puppet.

[color=ed1c24]”I need to know something, friend,”[/color] spat out Lonn as he stood with surprising strength despite the evident weakness of his fleshy form, [color=ed1c24]”It’s clear to me from what I’ve seen that you don’t intend any good for the life of this last shard of reality. Do I got that right?”[/color]

Xem responded with a curt nod.

[color=#988600]”That is correct. Though if you are curious it is not spite but hunger and inevitability that drives my decay. Everything rots just as everything dies, so in a manner of speaking everything ultimately becomes one with me.”[/color]

Although his expression was largely unreadable on account of how mangled his face was, Xem was regarding Lonn with the slightest tinge of curiosity.

[color=#988600]”I assume you take issue with this? What with the ferocity lacing your words...”[/color] 

[color=ed1c24]”Correct,”[/color] pronounced Lonn matter of factly, by now seeming utterly feverish in complexion, [color=ed1c24]”Their lives have value to me. So I say once, buddy, and only once; do something else.”[/color]

Xem shook his head and steepled his fingers beneath his chin in reply.

[color=#988600]”I am afraid that is something I simply cannot do. My hunger will be satiated one way or another, whether it is to your liking or not.”[/color]

He leaned forward in his throne.

[color=#988600]”It seems we will have no choice but to come to blows, for you do not seem like the type of god to let someone off with a stern warning alone.”[/color]

Rising from his seat once more, Xem stood with his hands clasped behind his back in clear invitation for Lonn to make the first move.

In contrast to the caution shown in his first fight with another divine, Lonn now enjoyed a far greater level of experience for divine conflict and instantly moved to claim the initiative. His left heel hurtled forward along the rotten floor, darkened flesh-matter tearing as it ran across the jagged ground of Pestis. When his foot came to plant itself into the vile soil already his left foot seemed ruined, yet it planted with the firmness of a veteran fighter unbowed and unbroken. False human muscles, built with greater understanding after the loss of his first body, responded with power and poise in equal measure as his powerful form lurched forward into a throwers pose and his hand shot back into position. A thundercrack sounded as the space between Lonn’s fingers tore itself apart and a crimson line of light screamed out into either direction, ending at two flashing points in reality. The red lance was fully born in the very moment Lonn’s arm launched forward, hurling the bolt at godly speeds towards his opponent while the rocky earth around the Red God cracked and shattered from the unleashed energy.

With nothing more than a simple upwards flick of his fingers, the Exarch of Decay caused a bubbling wall of acid to surge forth from the ground below and interpose itself between the bolt and his body, though he did not remain standing in place for very long. Sparing only a second or two to see if his countermeasure had successfully blocked the bolt hurled by Lonn - which it had, thankfully, the acid evaporating into a thick screen of vision obscuring steam testifying to its effectiveness - Xem quickly vaulted over the back of his throne and fled deeper into Pestis, manipulating the mire around him so that it aided in his flight. He knew this would not be enough, however, and that the Red God would catch up with him eventually. So, deciding he needed a more physical means of self-defense, Xem took hold of his lowest rib and tore it free. A movement that sent liquified flesh flying and organs spilling as he shaped the bone into a more effective shape, one that resembled a sword, albeit one whose curvature flowed into a span of straightness before abruptly ending in a comfortable handlelike length. Shape aside, the blade hummed with latent traces of the Exarch’s pestilent power, for it was taken from him. With that done, and his new weapon in hand, Xem glanced back at the way he’d come. His eyeless sockets scanned the area, looking for any trace of the Red God or another one of his crimson bolts.

Just as Xem finished his grizzly work a second red lance flashed into view, a scorching line of energy that dragged behind it a scar of crimson light into the rotten realm. The bolt of lightning slammed into the ground just a hair's breadth away from the Divine of decay. Though he was able to move away from the initial bolt, the detonation hurled Xem away to catch himself in the muck, the smoke and fire of the explosion giving way for Lonn to come roaring out of it. He looked the part perfectly, by then, with semi-ruined limbs, bristing hair, and eyes blaring red to the point of no longer quite being visibly eyes. Twin streaks of red light remained behind Lonn as the God erupted from the smoke, marking the passing of his baleful gaze as he leapt forward, flashing red spear in hand. The first thrust came as fast as the throw, shattering the sound barrier with a loud boom that kicked sludge and muck up in all directions outwards from Lonn’s arm. The scorching tip of the lance thrust directly for Xem’s head, burning the very air around it with the harsh scream of its travel.

Xem barely had time to dodge, and would have had no time at all had he not been watching for further attacks, diving out of the way of the bolt before springing back to his feet and re-engaging the Red God with a diagonal slash aimed at his hip. Despite this blow landing, however, Xem quickly found himself outmatched and then reduced to doing naught more than parrying the oncoming flurry of blows.

[color=#988600][i]’I can’t keep engaging him in melee like this…’[/i][/color]

Reversing his grip on his blade, Xem summoned up several streams of acidic muck with the slightest movement of his free hand, before sending them snaking through the air towards Lonn.

[color=#988600][i]’I need to keep putting as much distance between myself and him as possible.’[/i][/color]

With his second attack still in progress, Xem proceeded to blanket the area around him in a noxious smog, one that would hopefully let him disengage and escape. For aversion was still the name of the game as far as his battle with the Red God was concerned, and it was a tactic Xem planned on making good use of despite how cowardly it might have seemed.

By then, Lonn was looking all manner of thoroughly damaged. The longer he spent in the realm the more sickly his form appeared, nearly all color seemingly drained from his hide. When Xem’s blade dug in the damage only worsened, blackened flesh puckering and growing outwards like a cancer. Beneath the once dark skin and powerful muscle, glistening metallic bone revealed itself. Unwilling to continue waiting as Xem threw every manner of barrier at him, Lonn pushed through the cloud of smog that burned away hair, pocked skin, and scorched lips. Projectiles of acid muck were hacked apart, boiling away as he dove forward with a crackling weapon bared. 

Lonn closed the distance with ridiculous speed, leaping across the small pocket of muck to slam into the ground beside Xem with incredible balance. He left hand flashed out with blinding alacrity, smashing against Xem’s backswing to knock his hand away. The lance surged forward, gouging into the hole Xem had already made himself, punching out the otherside in a burst of gore. The lance detonated into nothingness as Lonn let go of it, hands snatching at Xem’s rotted clothes. With two fistfuls of the vile linen, Lonn spun on his heel to build momentum only to launch Xem back towards the way they had come. Moments later and he leapt after, nearly looking like a skinless monster. Just as Xem crashed into the rockface, Lonn followed suit, smashing into the floor just a stone throw from Xem’s landing.

Xem struggled to lift his head from the rubble in which it was presently buried, but after a bit he finally managed it. Staggering slightly as he rose to his feet, insides still smoldering from the cooking they’d gotten mere seconds ago even as they released the most disgusting stench imaginable, Xem brought his blade to bear once more as his fractured visage settled on the metallic, skeletal form of the Red God.

[color=#988600]”Well color me surprised,”[/color] he said, tiny flakes falling from the bones comprising his face. [color=#988600]”You’re a better fighter than I gave you credit for. I won’t make the mistake of underestimating you a second time, however.”[/color]

The god’s gaze fell to his opponent’s arm, Xem’s reasoning being that any manner of weakness he could inflict was a good one. So, focusing as best he could, Xem drew upon the forces of magic. His hate and ire towards the present situation helping to shape the curse that tumbled forth from his skinless lips.

[color=#988600][i]”Mitran, vodros, plaga!”[/i][/color]

As soon as those words had been uttered, the air around them became stuffier, more oppressive. While the acidic seas became agitated to the point of writhing and churning with unnatural force. A single lightning crack later, another impossibility given the locale, and the Red God’s left arm was suddenly afflicted. Its metallic surface became brown with rust, and riddled with pitts of varying shapes and sizes. Stumbling back, Xem found breathing even more difficult than it had been previously, the casting of the curse having clearly taken its toll.

Lonn recoiled in equal parts fury and astonishment, eyes taking only a moment to absorb a vision of his scarred left arm. Crimson glare burning back towards Xem with furious intent, Lonn burst into motion. An attempted swing by Xem, despite his self-inflicted weakness, was caught at the wrist by Lonn as the Red God suddenly appeared before him. Skull-like features glowered at Xem in the millisecond between Lonn’s grapple and Xem realizing he was no longer in control. Just as Xem’s mouth opened for another curse, Lonn’s free hand launched forward to smash into his mouth, shattering teeth and silencing the God as gore and his own dentition filled his throat. 

[color=ed1c24]”Quiet, you fuck!”[/color] Lonn roared as he twisted with masterful skill, one hand pushing Xem’s head away as the other wrenched at his wrist. 

Keeping his balance despite the speed and ferocity of his strike, Lonn raised his left leg up in the flash of an instant only to kick down into Xem’s ribs. Splinters of bone, splashes of blood, and a surge of giblets spewed from the horrendous wound as Lonn kicked, hard. With his vice grip on Xem’s wrist, Lonn tore the Plague God’s forearm clear off, disarming him from his weapon in the most literal of senses. In a single, smooth motion Lonn hurled the arm and blade aside, hurtling off into the distance of Pestis to be forgotten, then raised his now free hand high above his head. Lonn’s hand pinned Xem’s head to the floor recoiled, Xem having only moments to look up before seeing the screaming head of Lonn’s crimson gada crash into his chest with a bellowing warcry from the God of Mortals following suit. 

Xem’s chest imploded from the impact, lightning and fire bursting from it heralded by a detonation of more effluvient gore. The Exarch of Rot slammed into the ground beneath him, shattering the floor into splinters of stone to be filled in with roiling putrescence. It was clear by then that Lonn was not having any more of it, a reaching hand grabbed as leverage to lift Xem rapidly from his prone position only to be thrown overhead at his own throne. The stone edifice was crushed by the impact, the back sundered into numerous pieces. Lonn was only a moment behind, traveling the distance as a bolt of his true self only to regain solidity above Xem.

The purulent, ravaged hulk that was Xem’s battered form lay repose, half leaning across the remains of his throne. Lonn, for his part, looked equally worse for wear. His left arm in particular, despite its semi-metallic nature, remained rusted and pitted in a way no other part of him was. The rest was, ultimately, superficial; a flash in his mind allowed Lonn to quickly guess he would not leave this place unmarred. His baleful red vision dropped back to Xem, his smashed face coughing up blackened bile. Though Xem had no eyes, Lonn recognized hatred in that empty gaze. Lonn gave it back ten fold.

[color=ed1c24]”There was only ever gonna be [b]the first time[/b], [i]friend[/i].”[/color] spat Lonn, throwing Xem’s words right back to him. His perfect smile, revealed properly for the first time, glowered mockingly down at the fallen God. As the Exarch of Rot rose one last time, in a hopeless but unwavering attempt to continue the fight, Lonn’s extended, flat hand launched in an arc, making contact with the plague-lord’s neck. Soft tissue and rotted bone, despite being godly in its resilience, parted like water before the blow. 

Xem’s head erupted from the stump that once held it in a rush of black blood, flying a stone toss away as the body left behind toppled on itself. Lonn stood in his fighting posture for a few moments later before sighing heavily, smoke and sparks hissing from his skeletal maw. The God of Mortals stood to his full height then, looking down at the corpse of his bested rival with disdain. A scant few strides carried him the distance to the head, plucking it from the floor with a handful of rotted, greasy hair. Lonn sneered at him with his perpetual leer, red orbs blazing in his skull. Moments later and he stood above the throne, dropping to a sitting position as his false body shuddered from the exertion. It had been an exhausting fight, yet as Lonn stared into the dead pits of Xem’s skull, he knew his victory had been necessary. 

Time passed well beyond what Lonn was willing to keep track of, simply wishing for a moment of respite. As the sun flashed in the mouth of the cavern once more, Lonn could only assume that night had passed and day had come upon him once more. Lonn stood, his metallic body groaning from the damage he had sustained, and he stepped around his temporary resting place to observe the corpse. Luckily, Lonn remarked to himself, it had remained dead. The Red God’s gaze dropped to his companion, the disembodied head of Xem, and gears began to turn within his mind. With one outstretched hand plunging deep within the cadaver’s chest, Lonn drew from within the fetid corpse of the Exarch the power of divinity. The body sparked and fizzled, dissolving into nothingness as Lonn stood to observe his prize. His eyes flashed with curiosity and fascination, devouring the sight of pure divinity in its unfettered state as it drained from Xem’s heart. With no hint of trepidation or doubt, Lonn devoured the black heart of his enemy, the fires of his internal, true self vaporizing it in an instant. The energy of divinity surged throughout his false form, every gouge, cut, or hole in him glowing a fiery carmine.

At last the moment passed and the new strength was his; Lonn groaned with satisfaction, feeling empowered and driven like never before. Lonn stepped around the throne to place his new-found friend upon it, leaving Xem’s head to rot where it sat. This was a sign, Lonn assured himself, of the correctness of his work. In that moment Lonn knew his vision of the future was the path reality would follow. [color=ed1c24]And if it wasn’t[/color], Lonn thought to himself calmly,

[color=ed1c24]”I will [b]force[/b] it to.”[/color]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/0Rt2466.gif[/img][/center]

[hider=Summary]
Lonn, ever one to watch and wander, has been observing mankind traveling to the Red City and has noticed an ever increasing rate of disease being present among them. Putting two and two together like the Super-Sleuth he is, Lonn determines there must be a God of Pestilence perpetuating this act. Determining to follow it to its source, Lonn sets off on the hunt.

Lonn arrives at the entrance to Pestis, to find the realm of the Exarch of Rot. His false body is immediately beset by the plagues present there, but he remains unwavering in his direction. Met by Xem, perched upon his throne. Though initially polite towards this new interloper, the Plague God realizes fairly quickly that Lonn is no friend to him. With only a few words shared by Xem, and fewer still by Lonn, it is determined that either of the other existing was a direct threat to each God.

The fight ensues, Lonn using his experience fighting Ahtziri to claim the initiative. Xem, for his part, does an excellent job skirmishing with him in a fighting retreat to gather his bearings. Xem pulls from himself a rib and forms it into the Bane of the Exarch, a deadly artifact weapon. Though the weapon easily damages Lonn’s form, the God of Mortals remains persistent despite his fleshy body rotting away.

The chase continues as they fight through Pestis, Xem always inches away from being caught but continuing to heap harm onto Lonn’s form. At long last, with clouds of poison burning away what remained of Lonn’s newest body, Lonn’s more honest, semi-metallic, skeletal body is revealed. Xem realizes, at that point, that this is not the mortal-esque deity he thought he had been fighting. 

Lonn tosses Xem into a wall and Xem responds with a divine curse, permanently scarring Lonn’s left arm. Lonn, far too angry to let sleeping dogs lie, smashes Xem’s face so he can’t curse him anymore. This is followed by a disarmament of Xem’s weapon, and the arm attached. Resultant toss and violent hitting by Lonn’s gada leads to Xem crashing through his own throne and being truly and utterly fucked. One last attempt to fight leads to Xem’s head being cut off, leaving Lonn painfully alone once more.

After some time of resting, Lonn turns on his newly created Wilson-esque friend and hatches an idea. Plucking Xem’s heart from his chest, Lonn devours the organ to drain it of its divinity, empowering himself and mantling the Domain of Conflict. Pleased with his success and leaving Xem’s head to continue spewing out the occasional disease to keep the mortal world on its toes, Lonn departs.
[/hider]

[hider=MA Summary]
1 MA: Creation of the [url=https://divinus-mkv-encyclopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Xem,_The_Pestilent_King?section=10#Exarch.27s_Bane]Exarch’s Bane.[/url]

1 MA (And two Godly fights): Lonn mantles the Domain of Conflict, wording to be determined. 
[/hider]