She reached Lily first, grabbing her by the pauldrons and lifting her from the sands. When she'd hit the wall, her plumed helmet had been smashed. Blood was leaking from her head, forming a line down the right side of her face.
"Come on, get moving," said Alex, dragging Lily away.
Walls of ice from Blaze and Lily's mage had slowed the boss down, but it was smashing through them, sending ice chips into the summer air.
Lily shook Alex off. "No, there's no way we can win unless it's just you and I fighting the Behemoth. We need the max debuff to get through its armor."
"I'm not sacrificing my team to win," said Alex.
"Then you're dooming us both to failure," said Lily, gaze dark with purpose. "It's just a game and they're just NPCs. Don't let your feelings for them screw this up."
Alex glanced back at her teammates, who were valiantly keeping the Darkstar Behemoth at bay. She'd connected with them from the first time she'd met them as a novice gladiator in the Bravebear clan. Without them, Alex would never have become battleleader, or beaten the other clans to qualify for the Arena of the Gods. More importantly, they'd shown her true friendship. Even if Dr. Althud hadn't told her that she needed to form relationships to survive her sickness, she wouldn't have given them up.
"No," said Alex. "They're my friends. A clan that bleeds together bleeds as one."
Lily shook her head with disgust. "Then you've killed us."
To her left, the Darkstar Behemoth had broken free from the cages of ice that Blaze had cast around its feet and was charging towards them.
Alex prepared to move away, but the Behemoth roared, its furnace-like maw blasting out hot winds that melted the sand around her feet, trapping her in its path as Lily nimbly escaped.
Chapter Forty-Two
The first thought that went through Alex's head was that it wasn't going to matter if she sacrificed her team or not, she was going to get pulverized by the enormous creature, sending her out of the game permanently. The second was that getting hit was going to hurt, a lot.
Alex had to lean her head way back to see the top of the Darkstar Behemoth as it charged towards her. It felt like she was watching a skyscraper in motion. She tried lifting her boots to free them from the puddle of glass, but they were trapped beneath the glossy surface.
The Darkstar Behemoth lifted its foot, preparing to smash her, and this time she couldn't distract it with Tactical Phantasm while she skittered away. Trapped and alone, Alex closed her eyes as she waited for her doom.
A rush of vertigo later, she heard the slagged glass explode as the Behemoth crushed it, only to open her eyes to find Nayiri had teleport-hopped her out of the way.
"Nice one," said Alex. "I thought I was a goner."
"I couldn't lose you," said Nayiri, mouth pinched with worry.
Alex ran her hand through Nayiri's jet-black hair before turning her attention on the Darkstar Behemoth. Lily was dancing between its feet, slicing it along the inner legs, while the rest of her team tried to keep up with her energetic assault.
But unlike her, they weren't quick enough.
The mage in her group got caught by a stomp when she moved too slow. This meant that Lily's team was now doing 60% more damage and that the Darkstar Behemoth was 30% easier to hit.
Immediately, Alex saw an increase in damage taken by the boss, but it was still at 89% after three minutes of fighting. There was no way they were going to win the race of damage against the boss timer.
"The ear is a weak spot," said Alex. "Can we hit it from here?"
Sophia lifted the angle of her massive crossbow, firing at the head of the Behemoth, but the bolt deflected off the curve of its shoulder.
"I can't reach it from this angle," said Sophia.
They kept up their attacks, but its health was coming down too slowly.
"Can you teleport-hop me up there?" Alex asked Nayiri.
"Too high," said Nayiri. "I could reach from the waist at best."
"Blaze, build me a ramp," she said, and the mage switched from his fire spells to ice, laying down a thick ramp, using the pillar at the center of the arena as a structural relief.
By the time another minute had passed, the Darkstar Behemoth was only at 84%, but her ramp was in place. Holding onto Nayiri for balance since she had no problem with running over ice, they ran up the slippery surface. When they reached the midpoint of the boss, Nayiri teleport-hopped them onto its shoulder.
As the beast lurched around, Alex almost fell off, but Nayiri grabbed her before she could slide down the black metal armor.
Alex snapped her whip into the Darkstar Behemoth's ear hole.
The Darkstar Behemoth has resisted shock!
She tried hitting two more times, but the difference in levels made it impossible. She thought about using Fighting Spirit to close the level gap, but didn't want to take the hit in health loss when it went away.
When the Behemoth finally tried to swipe them from its shoulder as if they were only annoying gnats, Nayiri teleport-hopped them back onto the ramp.
Alex thought they were going to get a quick ride down, but the Behemoth kicked the angled ice, exploding it into snow when they were halfway down.
They tumbled to the sandy floor, skid-rolling until they both popped up ready to fight.
Alex glanced at her health, which was at three-quarters.
"It was a good idea," said Nayiri.
"I just can't hit hard enough. My whip isn't made for high damage, and even if I had a strong pointy weapon, I'd need to hit the Behemoth a million times harder. There's no one here strong enough," said Alex.
By this time, the crowd was on their feet. The five-minute timer was almost out, and they'd only knocked the Behemoth down to 76% health.
Another one of Lily's teammates got smashed by a black iron fist, which increased the final two members output up to 90% of original and the armor of the Behemoth down to 45%, but even that change wasn't enough to finish the boss in the short time they had left.
Then the battle hit the five-minute mark and all hell broke loose.
A deep purple aura like the warping of space emanated from the beast, sending out continuous waves of damage that ticked Alex's health down. It had a cloying smell that caught in her throat and made her feel like she couldn’t catch her breath.
You are affected by the Aura of the Darkstar!
Within moments after the aura hit, the final member of Lily's team perished, turning her into a one-woman wrecking crew, but even that wasn't going to be enough to take down the Behemoth in time.
"What are you waiting for?" shouted Lily as she furiously attacked the Darkstar. "If you don't sacrifice them, we're going to lose and you're going to die. It's the only way!"
As Nayiri threw her daggers, she asked, "What does she mean? Why is she saying that?"
"It doesn't matter," said Alex, who was no longer attacking. Instead she was looking around, trying to figure out a way to deal a lot of damage in a short amount of time. "I'm not going to do it."
"But she said you're going to die," said Nayiri.
"I'm not doing it. It would mean losing you, losing the others. Sometimes the price of winning is too great."
"Even if it means you die?" asked Nayiri.
Alex glanced at her rapidly declining health. She'd never backed down from a challenge, but there was no way she'd sacrifice her friends to save her own skin.
"Even if I die."
Chapter Forty-Three
Alex had always wondered if in the final moments of her life she would have flashbacks. Not that she was actually going to die, but it felt that way, seeing her health tick down to zero. She wasn't sure which was going to reach the end first, the boss timer or her health bar.
It was a race that meant she lost no matter what.
Part of her wanted to jump into the fray, go down fighting, even if it were a futile gesture, but what was the point?
How could she still hold out hope that there was a solution to the pr
oblem, a way to defeat the boss without sacrificing her friends?
It was starting to feel like there was no other way to win.
"What do we do?" shouted Sophia as a bolt of blinding light sped from her crossbow, exploding on the Behemoth's armored leg.
As the seconds ticked past, a bone-crushing despair started caving in on her. She felt the air leaving her lips, an exhale of hopelessness.
Alex squeezed her hands into fists at her sides, fighting back the tears that she knew would come when she was kicked out of the game.
Suddenly, Nayiri was by her side, shaking her out of her stupor.
"Alex, come on. We need you," she said.
Alex looked at Nayiri, the way her eyebrow arched slightly even when she wasn't trying to, the soft curve of her jaw—things she would no longer get to see. Alex just wanted to capture her girlfriend in her arms, hold her for those remaining seconds.
But Nayiri grabbed her by the arm and shook her.
"Every fight is a puzzle," she said. "We need a solution to cut this big dumb Behemoth down to size."
Her own words, thrown back at her, woke her from her stupor.
"Cut down to size..." repeated Alex, looking up at the enormous boss. She needed someone a million times stronger to deal the killing blow, and that's exactly what she had. "That's the answer!"
"What? Really?" asked Nayiri.
"Yes!" said Alex, running over to her teammates as she pulled the Ring of Expansion from her finger, shoving it into Blaze's hand when she reached him. "Put this on."
"Why?"
"I need you to do your trick, but do it bigger and badder than you've ever done before," she said.
"But I didn't wear my chainmail underwear," he said.
Alex didn't bother answering, she was already giving Mancalf and Sophia instructions. They understood right away, rushing towards the Behemoth's legs.
Blaze hurried to a spot near the Darkstar Behemoth. He crouched down, as if the added tension in his muscles was going to increase the effectiveness of his spell.
One moment, he was a fairly average guy in a bright orange robe. The next, he was a roiling pool of fire. He looked like someone had dropped napalm on him.
Alex just hoped his fire would burn hot enough.
While Sophia morphed her crossbow into a chain and grappling hook, Mancalf parked himself near the Behemoth's feet and activated his Immovable Object ability.
The only problem now was that the Darkstar Behemoth needed to be focused on her, so she activated her Fighting Spirit, increasing her effective level to 36, which would allow her to affect the boss. Then she fired Cloud Taunt after Cloud Taunt, hoping to get its attention before it was too late. The damaging aura had reduced everyone to less than a quarter of their health.
As the Darkstar Behemoth lurched around, summoned by her spells, Alex yelled to Lily, "Come here! I need you!"
With the boss at 47% health, Lily must have seen there was no point in continuing her furious attacks, and she whirlwinded nearby.
"What's the plan?" asked Lily, hovering on a storm of dust and sand, red hair whipping around her face.
But there was no time to explain. The Darkstar Behemoth groaned towards her, spittles of fire dripping from its furnace-like mouth.
When its massive foot swung forward, it went through Mancalf's double gravity field, which put the Behemoth slightly off balance. Then as the foot came down on the sheet of glass, newly blasted into the arena floor by Blaze's conflagration, it shifted forward, tipping the boss off balance.
The last bit of work came when Sophia, who had wrapped the grappling hook around the Behemoth's leg, tugged hard to get the boss to turn as it fell.
As the Darkstar Behemoth plummeted towards the ground, its head aiming straight for Alex, she wondered if it was a good plan after all.
Before the boss' head reached her, Alex snapped the eldritch two-handed sword from Lily's hands with her whip. The attack surprised Lily, so she gave no resistance to the maneuver.
You have been affected by heat of the battle!
Alex snatched the weapon out of the air and jammed it onto the ground, pointy end sticking up, aiming right for the ear hole.
When the Darkstar Behemoth impaled itself on Lily's blade, Nayiri teleport-hopped Alex out of harm's way.
You have slain the Darkstar Behemoth!
You have gained experience: 350,000 XP
You have reached level 32!
You have gained a skill point: +1 Cunning Strategist
You have gained a skill point: +1 Leadership
Quest Completed: Deal the killing blow to a great beast
Silence held the crowd in stasis.
Not far from her location, Lily in her battered red armor stared at her. The heat from her face could have started forest fires.
A noise murmured up from the other side of the arena, like a flock of birds rising into the sky.
At first Alex didn't know what to make of it, as if the battle had broken the chains of reality and her mind was filling in strange noises.
Then she realized what was being chanted.
Al-ex!
Al-ex!
Al-ex!
Before long the whole arena thundered with her name.
Quest Completed: Win the crowd's favor in the Group Battle
You are Champion of Warsong!
You have gained conquest points: 20,000 CP
You have gained an item: Ring of the Gladiator
You have gained an item: The Wyrmwood Key
You have reached level 40!
Second year completed!
Third year unlocked!
Chapter Forty-Four
The rest of the day, Alex's memory was a blur of wine and parties. The nobles of the city rambled on about how it was the greatest fight they'd ever seen in the arena, better than Larius of the Song or Olga the Elder, whose exploits were left vague. Not knowing the names, or really caring about the false history of the place, Alex agreed with whatever they said.
Some of the nobles offered minor magical items as gifts, which she graciously accepted. The only one that she kept for herself was a pair of Nimble Goat Boots that would allow her to balance on any surface. The rest she gave to her teammates.
But despite the festivities, Alex didn't feel like the victor as she should. Maybe it was exhaustion, or maybe it was knowing that Lily wouldn't be able to continue in game and find her brother.
Alex was startled out of her thoughts when the High Priest approached her.
"When the clan bleeds," said High Priest Altarius.
"It bleeds as one," said Alex. "That was a dirty trick, not to tell us that our teams would be at risk for the final fight."
"Would it have mattered? You still would have fought, and the surprise adds a little drama," he said.
"It was still shitty," she said.
The High Priest arched an eyebrow. "But yet you understood that sacrificing your friends would not win you the battle."
Deep inside, a spot of guilt flared up because she had considered giving them up. Not long, and not seriously, but those thoughts had been there.
He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up. A proper strategist, no, a cunning strategist should consider every option, even if they have no intention of using them. And more importantly, a proper clan leader never gives up on their members."
Alex didn't like being toyed with, but the High Priest had a point. She nodded to let him know that she was fine, and he left her alone, returning to his cadre of priests that drank harder than the nobles.
A little while later, a bone-deep exhaustion set in, so she had Nayiri sub in for her. Looking at a real-live version of herself was strange, but mostly she was happy she got to sneak away and return to her apartments, while Nayiri was equally excited to be the center of attention.
Behind closed doors, Alex climbed onto the huge cushy canopied bed wearing a plush robe that had been left by the priests. She crossed her legs, tied her hair
into a ponytail, and pulled up her character screen.
The first thing she did was pull out the mysterious cube, whose powers had been unlocked because of the fight.
Token of the Beast
Use: Take control of a single enemy for 10 minutes (Max Level 40)
"Well that would have been convenient to have for the fight itself, not afterwards," said Alex, shoving it into her Handysack.
Next she examined the ring she'd received for winning the battle.
Ring of the Gladiator
AC: 25 ׀ 250/250 Durability
+5 to All Stats
General purpose bad-assery
The increase to all stats was a welcome bonus, since she had few plans to sink anything into them. Between the occasional Heat of the Battle procs and her Fighting Spirit self-buff, she could masquerade as a fighter in tough spots.
With a boatload of ability points at her disposal, Alex put the majority into Cunning, pumping the stat up to a cool 90, then put the remainder into Endurance. The Arcane Reversal ability had turned her health into a faez pool, and having more survivability in the coming years would be valuable.
Lastly, she examined the final item she'd earned in the fight.
The Wyrmwood Key [SOULBOUND]
A mystery, wrapped in an enigma...or maybe it's just a key
The smooth wooden key felt solid in her hands. The design of a moon, either waxing or waning, she couldn't tell, had been etched into the base. The notches along the blade of the key felt soothing under her fingertips.
A knock on the door startled Alex. She shoved the key into her Handysack before answering her visitor.
"Come in."
Alex was expecting one of her teammates, or another noble wanting to talk her ear off about the fight, but not the person who stepped through the door.
Lily Brodziak looked like a boiled-down, reduced version of her normal self. She hadn't bothered to tame her red hair, which partially hid her face, and her hands were clasped in front of her like a petitioner.
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