“Uh-uh, I don’t care…” It was very painful for the elf to speak, his mouth convulsed.
Esten drank two further bottles of Full Recovery, one after the other. The elf felt much better, finally, and he sighed with relief. His eyesight and hearing were fully restored, and he heard the sounds of battle clearly. Esten stood up with difficulty, but he did not like what he saw at the tower. It turned out that five of his strongest warriors had been destroyed. Both auxiliary military squads were still fighting in full force, although most elven hit bars reflected poor dynamics, and three of them had life parameters in the red sector.
The fight was going on across short distances, and it looked like bloody, inexplicable chaos.
Esten was suddenly distracted from his observations. Gray Gouvdi got in touch. It was fun to watch the old elf startled at the sight of Esten, almost breaking the connection, but he quickly handled the intense emotion and said firmly, “Don’t refuse my help. We will work together. Get out of here and take care of your face. You look terrible and obviously need a rebirth.”
Gouvdi disconnected from Midday, and Esten heard the battle howl of one hundred and thirty elite elven rangers on the terrace immediately.
Esten went berserk and swore, spitting, “What a shame! Three groups of exterminators and a whole squad of rangers can’t cope with one monkey. Well, no! I won’t give up so easily.”
The enraged elf pulled a small bright jewel out of his subspace pocket. It was an acid-green vial of Instant Rebirth. Without delay, he drank it, not caring for cuts at all.
This rare alchemical potion had cost him a fortune. Among the noble youths of the Belt of the Worlds, it was prestigious to wear a ring with a crystal ampoule of instant rebirth. It was even cooler than rings with enhanced stats. Everything worked: automatic transfer of binding and all the phases of rebirth seemed to merge into one action, in one instant.
“Anyway, I will be the one who will kill this bastard!” Esten said pathetically.
Midday, exposing his swords, habitually jerked his head, throwing back his hair. But something was wrong. He didn’t feel his thick hair. The stunned elf dropped his swords and took out a small mirror. He saw a freak with burgundy, bubbly skin without eyelashes and eyebrows. There were melted stubs instead of ears, and several tufts of hair on his bare, wrinkled skull. The light elf dropped the swords and lost consciousness. The noble Esten now better resembled the circus freak who often and successfully performed in the Belt of the Worlds’ capital on the eve of the entrance examinations to the Altarum Academy.
***
The strike was successful. The enemy was thrown out of sight, collapsing somewhere over the hill. Yar shuddered and pressed his crippled hand to his chest. The use of magic was causing painful sensations in his wounded hand. Yar didn’t want to think about the causes of the discomfort. He thought about more important tasks.
I was lucky that this blond elf didn’t fly off the terrace. I need to pick up the dagger containing the poor portaler’s soul urgently ... Heck! It’s not the right moment; I have to wait, Yar was upset, putting tags on everyone who was on the terrace. It would be useful to know the silly elves’ locations who were using disguises.
He quickly set up the first Remedial Unit to trigger every thirty seconds and put his old Earth artifact on his right wrist. Yar had never used it before, but now it was necessary to equalize his chances.
Chronometer ‘Clock Stopper’, Philippe Patek Workshop
Dexterity + 50
Evasion + 100
Jump + 125
Acceleration 1 + 63% (16 seconds, implementation: Philippe Patek voice command)
Acceleration 2 + 25% (36 seconds, implementation: Philippe Patek voice command)
* Required conditions and abilities:
Level 180
Adaptation 2
‘Walking over the Edge’ skill was replaced by a higher implementation:
‘The Three, Five, Sixteen’ Watch of Speedup, Erwin Sattler Workshop
Judging by the two open characteristics at the bottom of the list, the watch came up perfectly for Yar. As far as he remembered, these skills weren’t available before.
Not bad. I need to try to use these accelerations at full capacity to destroy all the most dangerous and strong enemies at the very beginning of this battle.
Yar saw the light elves running toward the tower in an orderly manner. They no longer hid, instead lining up in regular pentagons. However, the first squad lacked one soldier.
Yar grinned. They seem to appreciate and respect me because as many as three groups of exterminators were sent, and these four are probably the most advanced ones.
Yar saw the light elves’ levels, but he was neither scared nor surprised. Rather he was agitated because he was ready for anything. Although there was no need to be fooled. The little worm of uncertainty was slowly tormenting Yar’s confidence.
After all, the majority of his enemies’ levels were either comparable to his own stat points, or a little more than ten thousand.
I wish my hand was fully recovered! A vile, doubtful thought pierced Yar’s consciousness.
He really didn’t want to destroy the tower, although it would obviously be the easiest way out.
Without hesitation, Yar jumped down, turning his energy shield to full capacity. Landing on the terrace was tough, but his defense worked perfectly, extinguishing the inertia, softening the blow, and preventing any possible injuries. Nevertheless, Yar lost his balance and stumbled over.
He jumped to his feet instantly because he was under attack from three energy strikes simultaneously, and his multilayer shield had been partially destroyed. Immediately, his aura flashed brightly. They were the Symbionts of Aura that had successfully repelled the attack.
“I can’t set up debuffs!” one of the elves shouted.
“Long-range is not effective!” one of the archers echoed him.
“I confirm! Fight with power strikes and swords!” a very tall elf yelled from the first squad.
Wow, Yar thought and got out of the line of fire, shouting clearly, “Philippe Patek!”
Space was blurred, and time seemed to stop. The elves were certainly trying hard and reacted very quickly, speeding up too. It was impressive how they fought orderly and predicted possible lines of attack.
However, Yar seemed to have an enviable advantage in acceleration, thanks to the Swiss craftsmen.
He didn’t feel sorry for the attackers; the acceleration time was enough to decapitate six elves. There were a fierce fight and an exchange of power strikes.
Yar, one man, fought against eight elves—although they had nothing to put against Yar Recus and his effective and fast magical energy strikes. The elves were still alive, but only due to their quantitative advantage and excellent coherence. They replaced each other in time and used many alchemical preparations. Despite the equal levels, Yar turned out to be noticeably faster and more creative. His opponents sometimes didn’t understand what was happening and where another strike would come from. These tactics allowed Yar to effortlessly control the battle.
Periodically, Yar also missed strikes because he was getting more and more tired. However, he and the elves understood clearly that the advantage was on the man’s side. Yar’s remedial unit worked satisfactorily—despite several minor injuries, the health indicator was still in the green sector. The attackers suffered more. Two of them had a hit bar in the red zone.
The clan leader chose them for their purpose. He’d sent one elf to rebirth, knocking his knee, and then chopping his head in half.
However, Yar’s hopes on a successful outcome for this battle did not come true.
He cursed mentally because the elven reinforcements were approaching him. In accordance with their clothes, movements, and battle cry, they were huntsmen. There were many of them. A whole squad.
Lyan spoke quickly and nervously, “You have to retreat. The chances of survival are negligible—even in your combat form.”
&n
bsp; Yar assessed the situation instantly. His sources were fine and seemed to have reached a new level. Their power was frightening... No, I will continue the fight.
At this very moment, the strongest mental blow affected Yar.
He missed it again, but, fortunately, his Symbionts of Aura were fully armed and repelled the blow successfully.
The Snake-Enchantress also didn’t miss the chance to take part in the fight. It burnt Gray Gouvdi’s eyes and brain, and he fell at the very edge of the terrace with a loud shriek.
Yar didn’t have the time to turn into a dragon. The angry Blacky was the first to jump out of a wide and very noisy portal. Ten more furious scrads, and the Shadows, led by Uyu and a wide-smiling Gelic, arrived next. Instantly, the elf huntsmen were chopped into pieces. However, nobody cared.
“Hello, my friends,” the widely smiling Yar said, leaning against the tower in exhaustion.
I wonder who told them?
A beautiful girl was standing next to Uyu. Yar didn’t remember her, but there was something familiar, earthly even, in her—the blue sky in her eyes. This was...
“Alice?”
Her scent, hugs, and frame confirmed Yar’s conjecture.
Chapter 64. The Dark Legacy
R umors always spread very quickly. They said this ancient communication system could even sometimes reach superlight speed.
Anyway, in the early morning in the Belt of the World’s capital, incredible rumors were circulating. Yar Row Dark was featured in each of them, as well as the increasing number of defeated exterminators.
In this regard, the light elves tried to reduce their reputational losses, but they did so poorly. As usual, the desire to hide the truth led to an even larger disgrace.
The consequences of the battle were somewhat unexpected. Seven exterminators led by Esten Midday avoided the fate of falling into the Cage of Oblivion. Moreover, the old elf—the commander of light huntsmen squad— managed to flee for rebirth.
Yar was most depressed by Esten Midday’s escape with the dagger. The Midnighters’ clan leader determined the location of Aire, the portaler, on the tactical map: the target elf had a mark. This fact was encouraging. Looking closer, Yar was horrified: the distracted Esten was sitting in a dark room, the mirrors were covered with cloths, and his head looked like a burnt match.
He deserved this, Yar thought. He noted with joy that his chances of getting the coveted dagger had increased substantially.
At the tower, several oddities and inconsistencies occurred: the Midnighters arrived on time, and they managed to open the portal despite the suppressors’ work. Yar guessed from the very beginning that it was Alice who helped to accomplish this. It was she who announced the alarm, saying that their clan leader was in a trouble, she also managed to produce a clear picture and a link to the tower, as well as open the portal.
However, the most unbelievable thing was that they all tried to use the portal many times, but they didn’t succeed.
“Suddenly,” Alice said, “I received this message. Look!”
She showed it to everyone.
Alice, try again! Come on!
Wasp
Yar immediately looked at the castle’s stats; it was already listed twelve percent in the perimeter defense. He smiled and pressed his forehead against the stone side of the tower, saying softly, “Thanks. You helped me out.”
However, this was not all magic ... Turning around and looking at the Shadows, Yar was stunned and froze. This, as it turned out, was the second part of the Dark Legacy.
At first, he thought that there weren’t plenty of opportunities, but then he realized that it was something unbelievable and promising. Yar felt that this could bring his capabilities to a new level! Especially, the last part.
Wow, that’s incredible!
There were runes and strange symbols there. Yar read them carefully once again.
Attention!
The second part of the Dark Legacy was discovered
Curse of Pain Horror:
Implementation (randomly)
Application (only enemies)
Area of Application (visibility zone)
Pain: (inflammation and pinched of a ternary nerve, genital nerve, sciatic nerve)
Duration (randomly)
Curse of Four Friends:
Convulsion (72 hours)
Weakness (72 hours)
Nausea (72 hours)
Diarrhea (72 hours)
Arbel Quiet’s Universal Refuge:
Instantaneous response (5x10 yards)
Protection (any aggressive environment - randomly)
Air regeneration (Random)
Maintain temperature (randomly)
Absorption of waste (randomly)
Secret Runes of the Shadows (the strengthening runes)
Secret Runes of the Shadows (the upturned weakening runes)
Elyambi—movement (acceleration: running, jumping, swimming, portals, speed + 70%, accuracy + 90%, range + 100%)
Secret—masking (invisibility + 70%, landscape transformation + 90%, mimicry + 100%)
Ognis—authentic fire (gain: fire traps + 70%, attack spells with fire component + 90%, destruction, clarification of truth with the fire + 100%)
Zizha—ash (counteraction: spraying curses, poisoning, debuffs + 80%)
Rambo—protection (reflection + 70%, Power + 80%, Mind 100%)
Magitik—magic (gain: attack spells + 70%, protection + 80%, creation spells + 100%)
Akash—modification (reinforcement, types of modifications randomly: body + 70%, things + 90%, materials + 100%)
Application 1: air (collective amplification, validity period—random)
Application 2: objects (artifactory, creation, amplification—random)
Application 3: flesh (gains, abilities—random)
The interaction of the runes in blocks (random)
* Addition is implemented once. 100% memorization is not specified in the register of spells and abilities. Not transferable (restriction valid for 500 years)
* Rune application includes distraction with false characters
* Upturned weakening runes apply only to enemies
The morning was fussy. Yar slept less than an hour. There was an unbearable smell of burning everywhere.
First, a whole team of investigators from the Imperial Attorney General’s Office arrived at the hotel. They wore a stylish dark blue uniform, high-branded hats hiding their stats, and large luminous patches on the chest, confirming their credentials. Two gloomy and important-looking elves in black suits were security officials. They demanded that they be urgently allowed to see the location of the night’s battle. Yar had to obey and led them to the terrace, which seemed to have been bulldozed. While the investigators were measuring something with their indicators, Yar decided to hide the scrads, as the elves shouldn’t have seen them yet.
Yar gladly embraced all the scrads in turn. He kept embracing Blacky for a long time, whispering the most cherished words of love and friendship.
Finally, he opened a portal to Elate. The scrads seemed to love this planet; they disappeared quickly and quietly. Black Rainbow was the last to leave at the portal gates, she roared softly, rubbed against Yar’s shoulder, and left in one jump.
“See you!” Yar shouted after her.
Then Uyu came up to him. She approached the clan leader rapidly as if to greet him, but then she turned aside and quickly kissed Yar’s lips. Then she instantly stepped back. Uyu did it so quickly that hardly anyone could see this frivolity. The Dark Recus School’s adherents only might notice her acceleration.
Yar admired the Shadow elf’s cultivation.
He suddenly thought, If I had to fight with her in the City of Forgotten Shadows now, I could have hardly won.
In the meantime, Uyu, as if nothing had happened, reported to him, “Master, the investigators are dissatisfied. They demand a meeting and want to enter the tower.”
Yar smiled, came closer, and whispered softly
, almost to her ear, forcing her to cringe as if tickled, “Thank you. It was unexpected and fast. I won’t say I didn’t like it. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Magic of Affect can be used for such purposes.”
Yar also went into acceleration, repaying the elf with a kiss on the neck just below her ear.
“Well, let’s talk to them. I wonder what they’ve found out.”
“I can do a lot,” the pleased and smiling Uyu said playfully and rushed forward, being ahead of Yar to take precautions.
In the light of the morning sun, the results of the night’s battle looked depressing. The plants suffered, and the stone decor, the ornamented pillars, and the beautiful benches were torn apart or melted.
“Hello, gentlemen. I am the owner of this hotel. What can I do for you?” Yar said loudly.
“Hello, sir,” one of the secret service’s representatives replied politely.
All investigators immediately completed their work and moved behind the chief’s back.
Odd. It looks as if the prosecutor’s office submits to the security service.
“This is unthinkable!” the security official continued. “You got into a battle in the center of the capital, a few miles from the Emperor’s palace! It’s outrageous!”
Yar interrupted the speaker, deciding that otherwise this official would likely talk for a long time. “I agree this is outrageous! The light elves are completely insolent.”
The investigator, a light elf, was astonished. He cleared his throat and asked brazenly, “Do you think that you were attacked?”
“Of course not! Three squads of exterminators and one hundred and thirty huntsmen came here at night merely to pay their respects to me. Or maybe they went for a walk? In a thunderstorm? What do you think?”
This is suspicious, Yar thought.
Yar found Alice on his tactical map quickly—she was very brightly displayed. As soon as he kept his eyes on this bunch of light, he immediately saw the girl.
Alice, I need your help urgently. Look at these investigators. What can you say about them?
She was silent for seven seconds, closing her eyes, then said very confidently, Commander, I don’t understand much, but those who came shouldn’t be here, and the elf who speaks to you, Ouaris Akeks, is the father of an elf who is in the Cage of Oblivion now.
Dark Legacy Page 36