Book Three – Chapter Eleven – Part Six – Shattering the Collar

When it came to the defensive properties of heavy objects and materials, metal carried the torch, especially the reinforced steel used in constructing the vertical, vase-like cage that had trapped Servi. The girl standing naked in front of a crowd 15,000 big had a plan. It involved the metal pieces raining down from the sky.

The first piece landed in front of her, destroying the ground she stood on. However, she didn’t fall because she used Air Step to remain standing.

A second later, she wasn’t naked anymore and quickly snatched Sakdu and Roger with Telekinesis, tightly binding them to the point where it was difficult to breathe.

“That was good... I’ll give you that,” Servi whispered as the ground around her started to cave in from the rain of falling metal. Sakdu’s men stood nearby. Ever since they had accomplished their original objectives of launching Explosions and using Metal Wall, they stood motionless while waiting for a new command. Around three hundred of them fell into the spacious canyon was rapidly forming from the falling metal.

Servi carried a frown, which instantly twisted into a grin filled with malice. “But I think it’s my turn to have some fun, don’t you think?!?! Why… WHY… GGGAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” Servi shouted, grabbing her face as she screamed. One hand scratched her cheeks, pulling off strands of thick skin that became caught under her nails.

The last piece of falling metal struck behind Servi, landing with a loud smash about 480 meters below her. If she looked down, she’d see nothing but dirt and metal fragments with a few hundred dead warriors. But such a sight of destruction and death had no chance of positively or negatively affecting her psyche.

After all, there weren’t many substantial differences between one massacre or twenty massacres.

Instead, it was like her body was teetering very closely on the edge of becoming a different person.

Like a monster escaping from a seal, something happened as Servi shouted a name Itarr had never heard of before.

“NAVI, LET ME TAKE THE FUCKING COLLAR OFF!!!! LET ME!!!! I NEED TO FUCKING KILL!!!! THE MAD DOG NEEDS TO KILL!!! LET ME DO WHAT I’M FUCKING GOOD AT!!! NAAAAVVVVIIIIIII!!!!!!!” Servi’s hand fumbled with her exposed cheekbone as it trailed downward towards her pretty little neck.

Navi? Servi—Hey, stop! SERVI, STOP IT!!! Her ID flew up and tried to smack Servi’s hand away, but the girl smashed it to the ground.

Servi’s nails glanced against her own throat, fiddling around with the skin from her cheeks. Then her left hand flattened out, with all fingers side by side as it slowly entered her neck. Blood and crimson stained her newly equipped clothing. Roger tried to scream, but found himself unable to because he couldn't breathe. Sakdu, on the other hand, carried just enough air in his lungs to issue one final command.

“MY ARMY, ATTACK RIGHT NOW!!! ATTACK WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!!! RESCUE ME FROM THIS MONSTER! DO—”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! NAVI, CAN I TAKE THIS FUCKING COLLAR OFF?!?! NAVI!!!!!! LET ME DO IT!!!!” Her hands continued to fumble with her neck. Her shrill voice cut off her hostage’s final commands, but the gist of it reached his men.

All at once, a horde 15,000 strong rushed forward to attack Servi. Arrows and skills flew at her at such a speed that she couldn’t dodge. To remedy that, Itarr once again went against Servi’s orders and used Earth Wall to catapult Servi into the air. At the same time, she took control of Sakdu and Roger, putting them to sleep and sending them high in the air. Servi was so preoccupied with her own neck that her eyes didn’t register the two flying past her.

After being tossed half a kilometer in the sky, Servi fell back down to the ground while aided by gravity. Her screams were drowned out by the many skills targeting her. Black projectiles pierced her skin, destroying her new shirt as flame wrapped around her legs. Fire and True Immortality fought back and forth, and a curtain of black ash was scattered by a freak breeze. A few arrows found a home inside the back of her skull as a single one went up through her right knee. Beams of light punctured her chest, leaving holes like a well-used pincushion. Some of the more physical skills, like Rock Skewer or Boulder Launcher, ended up knocking Servi further in the air, which then allowed her to be pummeled even more. Bizarre clouds appeared above her as life-ending strikes of lighting assaulted her body, the force of it sending her flying back to the ground below.

But even as Servi suffered through a thousand lifetimes worth of death and pain, she somehow found the time to beg a person named Navi in between her screams.

“LET ME DO IT!!! NAVI, I NEED TO—” Servi flew down, sinking 500 meters below the earth in a hole created by an attempt at wiping her from existence. She landed on a sharp fragment of metal, completely cutting her in half. That wasn’t the reason why she stopped her screaming, however. Nor did the army attacking her stop their outrageous assault. The attacks kept continuing, pummeling the giant crater and making it bigger and deeper. Thick chunks of rocks were effectively melted down from the Lava Walls and Greater Fireballs. The luminescence they and other skills gave off was the only light source to brighten up the deepest depths.

The light also illuminated the two halves of Servi’s body and revealed the truth behind why her screaming had stopped. It was simple, really.

Her collar—head—had finally been removed. When her hand finally dug deep enough into her neck, she grasped her own cervical spine. Her final act was yanking her hand up and out, effectively beheading and removing her entire spinal cord with otherworldly willpower and strength alone.

Ever since that nightmare she had where she saw the bloody version of herself take her own head, something had been growing inside Servi. It was different from her other violent urges in that it felt primal. It was almost like the one thing that ultimately kept her from losing it all.

In a way, it felt like it was a restraint, but in the midst of the chaos, the 'collar' had finally been removed. From her top half, thick strands of red flesh squirmed around like blind snakes, searching for the lower half of her body. Eventually, they found each other and grotesquely fused together. Servi’s body moved to stand on its own without a head. The body walked to the head and violently snatched it by the hair. The boney spinal cord hanging out from the bottom of her head swung wildly with every passing second.

The two red eyes blazed to life, and the head released a cackling laugh that could shatter reinforced glass. An Earth Wall formed from underneath Servi and pushed her into the sky while the soul-stirring laughter continued. Of course, while she ascended, Sakdu’s army kept firing barrage after barrage of powerful skills.

But they all missed. More accurately, the headless body raised her hand and somehow used the ring to absorb every skill before they ever had a chance of causing her any damage. Itarr certainly didn’t know how it happened. She didn’t want to go against Servi’s orders again, so she focused on keeping Momo and the prisoners safe until Servi had finished slaughtering her enemies.

But with the way you are now… Will you even deal with them? Servi, you actually took off your own head. I fear the worst will happen... I—

Servi’s ride on her Earth Wall came to an abrupt end when she was at ground level, and Itarr immediately became quiet. Her heart anxiously shook with fear for the immediate future. The Servi she dealt with now was far different from the Servi of a few hours ago.

Was that true? Was she really different?

The hand that held her head let go, but it didn't fall. Instead, it levitated and remained in place. Servi grabbed the still-laughing head and slammed it down on her neck. The white spinal cord pierced down, digging deep into her body as True Immortality strived to reconnect everything.

Like the sudden explosive crackle of lightning, the laughter suddenly stopped. A blank expression appeared on Servi's face as the barrage continued. A surprise Venti Aqua reared its head behind her, sending up trees and becoming full of bodies and thick metal fragments as it made for the Mad Dog.  She took care of it with her all-powerful ring without missing a beat.

“The Mad Dog is free to kill to his desires, and he roams the battlefield once again…” Servi whispered. She ran a hand down her neck. Thanks to True Immortality, her skin was flawless, like a natural diamond. It was like she had never taken her head off in the first place.

Her red eyes locked onto the pathetic attempt at killing her. With the power of the ring, no attacks could pierce the ultimate defense. She raised her arm up and pulled the closest foe to her with Telekinesis. That turned out to be an Elf as thin as a stick. The blank look on his face didn’t change when Servi snapped his arms, which held a bow. His mouth moved, speaking a chant for some skill, but Servi responded by tearing off his lips and ripping out his tongue. Then she turned him up upside down, grabbing his legs, and splitting him like a walnut.

Her movements carried no emotions within them as she threw the two parts of his body into the crater behind her. It was like they had no other objective than to kill her enemies.

At least, it did at first.

A growing chuckle started from Servi’s stomach. It built itself into a giggle, then a snicker until it emerged from her mouth as a genuine fit of laughter.

“GODDAMNIT, THE MAD DOG IS FINALLY FUCKING HERE!!! I can’t really keep up with that serious shit!!! ” Servi shouted. Her face looked the most relaxed it had ever been in the past weeks. “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH I’M FINALLY FUCKING FREE!!!!!!!!” Servi roared and growled like a rabid dog until white spit drooled down her lips and smothered her chin. “HEAR MY VOICE TO KNOW THAT I’M COMING FOR YA!!! GET A HEADSTART IF YOU WANT, BUT THIS MAD DOG WON’T GIVE UP THE CHASE!!!  IT’LL MAKE THE SLAUGHTER THAT MUCH SWEETER AND REWARDING!!!”

SERVI!!!!! Itarr quickly checked Servi's emotional composition, and it was as she feared.

Nothing had changed.

It was the same as when she joined the Mafia.

Emotionally speaking, the Servi who had just talked was the same as the Servi from two days ago.

How could that be if Servi roared that she was finally free?

Servi always had freedom in front of her, right?

And how could she had suddenly showed such expert skill with the ring and Absorption? Itarr racked her brain for a moment to find out how it all made sense.

The only way I can put all of this together is to lay it out as so: Servi, as the Mad Dog, is the same as the Servi from a week ago. If that’s the case, then how can I explain her sudden proficiency with the ring? The only answer is that Servi was always proficient with it. If so, then why did she say she always needed more practice with it? Unless…

WAIT!

The prison where we met was my seal. Is it possible that your ‘collar’ was keeping your true power in check?

But you’re a Human. You don’t have any power, and I’m the only Goddess who’s blessed you. Is it possible that power, in this case, isn’t referring to abilities...but instead refers to something else? What if it’s understanding? I don’t get it myself, but it’s clear to me that you absolutely have an advanced level of mastery over the ring. I dare say that you’re almost as good as me.

I don’t know if that’s the truth, and I could be very wrong, but I can’t think of anything else. Servi, I—

“LISTEN THE FUCK UP!!! There are thousands of you, and there’s only one of me. If I’ve done my math right, THE FIGHT IS STILL IN MY FUCKING FAVOR!!! LET ME SHOW YOU HOW THE MAD DOG FIGHTS!!!!!”

Servi howled and stomped the Earth Wall below her, obliterating it into a thousand little chunks. Instead of falling with it, she remained standing through the use of Air Step. The Goddess inside of her remained quiet, choosing to analyze the situation around her. She didn't know what those growing objects were in the distance, and she didn't know why a large pillar behind Servi had sprung into existence.

Itarr's heart sunk to her stomach as she finally figured it out. She just couldn’t believe it. She only needed a quick glimpse to realize what her beloved friend had in mind, and the other pieces of the puzzle just fell into place.

Using a tiny piece of the metal fragments behind her, Servi used that to act as a base by forcing it to grow 15 kilometers in the sky using nothing but her stacks of Metal Wall. Then she used the skill again, casting off other strands of metal from the top of the pillar she had made.

In other words, she was in the middle of constructing a closed-off area-- a dome-- that was 7.5 kilometers in radius and just as high when measured in the middle.

“HAHAHAHAHA,” she laughed as the amount of light illuminating the area rapidly decreased. The speed at which the megastructure was constructed didn't seem possible. Not even five minutes had gone by until a respectable chunk of land had been cut off from the sun's light.

But Itarr wasn’t lounging around with her heart frozen by fear. She had the presence of mind to move Momo and the others out of the way. Though she couldn’t see past the metal dome, she knew her friend and hostages were safe because of the vast amount of Protection applied to each of them. That also accounted for her Telekinesis, and she was sure they were far and out of the way. Even from a range of 16 kilometers, Itarr had perfect control over them.

“Oh, but I’m not done yet!! I’m not done at all!!!” What fiery and lightning-based skills flying through the air slightly illuminated Servi’s joyous face. However, none even came close to damaging her.

Clapping her hands a hundred times, a hundred supercharged Lux Spheres suddenly appeared high above her, illuminating everything. Each one carried an intense brightness that rivaled that of the sun, and not a single millimeter of the area was left sheltered in the bowels of shadow.  The very last thing left was to get rid of the central pillar, and then the arena would be done. To accomplish that, Servi simply reversed Metal Wall, watching as the towering pillar shrunk before her very eyes. Before long, it had returned to its original form as a simple piece of steel, no bigger than a few meters.

“Now then! THE CAGE IS SET FOR BATTLE!!! I’M THE MAD FUCKING DOG, AND NO ONE IS LEAVING HERE ALIVE!!!!” Servi turned her red eyes towards the thousands of prey littering her sight. She didn’t see Humans or Kobolds. She didn’t recognize the stocky people in front as Dwarves. The scaled Koena and limber Elves weren’t Koena or Elves. She just saw prey and the meat on their bones.

The Mafia’s final battle for survival was about to begin.

Revenge was said to be a dish best served cold, but there wasn’t anything more suited for a ravenous Mad Dog, who had the chance of a lifetime to sate its hunger with 15,000 sacrifices.

Even though her emotional composition didn’t change, Itarr quickly realized that there was one stark difference between Servi and the being she called Mad Dog Servi: her complete, unabashed lack of self-imposed restrictions. Now that she thought about it, that seemed to be the one definitive distinction between the two. It sounded odd since the regular Servi already showed a lack of care, but Mad Dog Servi took it a step further.

Nothing was off-limits.

After Mad Dog Servi turned her wicked eyes to her prey, she instantly abused the power of Clarence’s soul. Fifty Venti Aquas were born into the world, erupting from the outermost edges of the dome-enclosed area. Each one was larger and much stronger than the one Servi created in Arcton because she did not hold back.

The powerful raindrops slammed into the ground hard enough to pierce thick holes in the rocks, and the wind ripped the aged trees from the roots keeping them locked to the soil. Hundreds of Sakdu’s warriors were yanked from the ground and diced into chunks of meat as fifty watery tornados made a beeline for Servi, who stood near the center of camp some 7.5 kilometers away.

She ran forward, using Air Step to dash across the crater until her feet touched solid ground, but someone was waiting for her. After meeting a sword with her teeth and snapping the blade in two, her right hand went to grab the shirtless attacker, a Koena, by his golden scales. Instead of ripping them off, she repositioned her hand and held him above her. She felt a hundred light vibrations as arrows rained down upon his back. A small red and blue orb appeared in her free hand. Half of it felt as cold as ice. The other half burned with a flame hotter than a volcano.

That was a skill called Frigida Flamma Ignis. It used both extreme ice and fire to freeze and burn an enemy. As small as it was, its appearance was highly deceptive. She held it to the Koena above her, and it launched him seven kilometers until he reached one of the approaching Venti Aqua. He flew through the air with half of his body encased in ice. Smelly ash from his inflamed side coated his fellow warriors as they continued their assault on Servi.

A short Elf darted around in front of Servi, using her short stature and quick agility to hide behind her fellow warriors. A greasy, lumpy collection of tangled brown hair trailed behind her. The knife she held was as simple as simple could get. It wasn’t unique in any way, nor did it carry any supposed emotional value to the drug-dependent girl. She waited until Servi was preoccupied with tearing out a Kobold’s scale-protected throat using her teeth. Her pearly whites were stained red. She looked like a zombie with the way crimson dripped down her her chin as she opened her mouth wide, revealing torn teeth and ripped gums.

Evidently, the scales were much too hard to chew, but that didn’t stop the Mad Dog. She gummed them until her teeth regenerated, then broke them again, trying to bite through. She repeated the process while dodging sword swipes and absorbing incoming skills with her ring. Eventually, the force of her bite alone shattered them, then she swallowed the fragments.

A few sharp fragments got caught in her throat, cutting it. When the Elf saw blood appear from tiny holes on her foe’s neck, she acted.

The Elf kicked off the ground and raced towards her opponent. The Mad Dog felt a tiny pinch and looked down. She saw the tip of a plain silver knife. From behind, she felt someone rub against her back as the foreign object twisted and turned, sending a cascade of blood down her stomach.

“Oh, you think that’s going to FUCKING WORK?!” the Mad Dog howled with laughter, exposing her bloody teeth as she pinched the tip of the knife with her thumb and index finger. “You’re doing it all wrong!!! THE HOLE IS SUPPOSED TO BE BIGGER!!!”

What followed was nothing like Itarr had ever seen. Even if she had her memory, there would be nothing in there that compared to the sight of Servi dragging that Elf girl by the knife until her whole body slipped through the gaping hole in Servi’s chest. Bits of her ribs stabbed the Elf’s cheeks when she passed through.

The nasty scrap of cloth the Elf wore as clothing became infused with her victim’s blood. Damp and full of crimson, it clumped tightly against her petite body, showing her total lack of curves. When her eyes blinked open, her two yellow orbs stared into red eyes belonging to death herself. Servi yanked her up by her arms. The Elf waved her knife hand around, but it hit nothing. A quick use of Telekinesis later, the girl had no weapons. She blankly fought against Servi’s grip while staring into the gaping wound she passed through not even moments ago.

“Now, that’s a real fuckin’ hole,” Servi said with a bit of conviction. It was like she was proud of the damage she inflicted on herself. With every word she spoke, Servi’s visible lungs expanded and contracted like someone blew into them. Her heart had started the process of forming anew. The corners of her lips curled into a smirk.

Releasing her grip with one hand, Servi grabbed the girl’s head and forced it into her wound. Again, the Elf’s cheeks were scratched and stabbed by the sharp bits of ribs that had only started to regenerate. Servi was aiming for her stomach, an organ that had suffered slight damage. Thus, it was the perfect place to take out her opponent.

Yes, Servi aimed to drown one of her enemies with the blood and acid stored in her stomach. She was aided by a seemingly infinite amount of crimson that was a product of True Immortality’s attempt at returning Servi’s body to a perfect state. The hydrochloric acid in her stomach burned the Elf’s face. A large amount splashed out as the fear of death overpowered her drug-dependent state. She whipped her hands and pushed against Servi’s arms, but they held her down as a new wave of blood and acid poured down on her. Out of breath, the struggling Elf had no choice but to involuntary breathe in an attempt to fill her lungs, but they only received a mixture of green and red.

There was no oxygen to be had.

The acid scorched her lungs, she involuntary cried out, breathing in even more of the deadly combination of substances, and the cycle continued until a red soul flew into Servi’s ring.

Servi, you just drowned her by forcing her head into your stomach…

That combination of words formed a sentence that had never been uttered before in the history of the world. Itarr felt afraid and frightened. Even more so than the cruel and unusual way of fighting she, unfortunately, had become familiar with.

But this new way of killing her foes? It didn’t sit right with her at all. She wanted to break down and cry, but Itarr found her resolve to stay strong not in the girl she shared a soul with, but within the girl who meant everything to her beloved Servi.

Momo. The pink Singi with blue eyes was the single key holding Itarr together as she witnessed the Mad Dog’s debut.

Would the Mad Dog be here to stay? Or would the Mad Dog go back and hide until it was needed again?

Itarr wished the Mad Dog would disappear forever, but she knew that was a pipe dream. The Mad Dog was Servi, and Servi was the Mad Dog. It didn’t take Itarr long at all to realize that the situation she found herself in was the ultimate culmination of her emotional meddling. It was as much her punishment as it was for the Mafia members Servi brutalized.

“Ya gotta get real fucking creative with ya murder methods. If ya don’t, then you aren’t a Mad Dog. THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF TAKING LIVES AND DESTROYING CITIES IS THE PLACE TO BE!!! YOU ALL HAVE A FIRST-CLASS TICKET TO HELL!!!!” Servi threw away the Elf’s body after ripping off her head. The skin on her cheeks had dissolved, leaving only bone, teeth, and a scant amount of muscle that somehow avoided disappearing.

Holding it in her hands, Servi pushed them together until the head she held was as flat as a pancake. Blood spewed every which way, pink brain matter oozed out of any opening it found, and bits of white skull was just hanging wherever. Servi picked at the bone and popped a piece into her mouth as if it was the most normal thing in the world, swallowing it without even chewing. Since the hole in her chest had yet to heal, the Mad Dog's mid-battle snack was entirely visible. She only looked to the arena's ceiling when her ears picked up on the quietest ‘plop’ when the bone reached her stomach.

The towering Venti Aquas tornados were no longer their original colors. After killing hundreds, their blood tainted the winds red. Suddenly, one of them was lit ablaze with fiery flames and frozen by the coldest ice. The Koena Servi attacked with Frigida Flamma Ignis finally came in contact with one of the twisters. Being a Rank 1 skill, it wasn’t something a simple gust of wind could cancel out. However, letting an ability take on the property of an entirely different skill was very rare. With Servi's current state, she didn't see the beauty in such an abstract sight.

Her eyes only focused on destruction as she dropped the rest of her mid-battle snack.

Servi laughed and reached her hands into her still open chest. After picking out two ribs, she turned around and slowly walked forward towards even more enemies. The blood dripping out of her wounds, the Venti Aqua filled with the power of fire and ice, and the other 49 Venti Aquas all wrecking havoc all came together to set the mood. The Mad Dog was certainly creative in her killing, but her canvas wasn’t finished.

After all, there was still nearly 11,000 enemies left to go.