Olaf could only watch and wait as the Demon Colonel flew into the air and dive-bombed players and soldiers alike. Three times it flew up and randomly dive bombed someone.
“Two minutes,” a few players called out at the same time the instant the stun ended.
“At 1-minute, 45-seconds, everyone scatter. If you can monitor the time and deal damage then call it out,” Olaf yelled, quickly moving back into position to hit the Demon Colonel.
If only that was the only thing they needed to worry about. When the Demon Colonel dropped under 75% health it added a new attack. Suddenly turning, the Demon slashed the air, sending lines of dark energy cutting through the air and rents in the street until it hit the wall. Olaf didn’t have time to inspect if the attack kept going or how far. Two soldiers died, but the players were smart enough to dive for cover, though one of them did lose a leg.
“Timer!” Olaf yelled.
The Demon repeated the move thirty seconds later in a different direction and ten seconds after that he did it again.
“Too random,” Icyhot yelled. “Everyone, watch for him to suddenly turn. If you’re in close and he turns to face you, dive for cover. Everyone else, just run.”
Unfortunately, with the new ability, Olaf’s people mistimed the next ‘Scream’ attack and paid for it.
“We need more damage,” Olaf complained, swinging his maul for all it was worth.
“Where is a Demon Killer class when you need one,” a player next to him complained.
Olaf was waiting for the order to scatter when the Demon Colonel screeched, not the stunning ‘Scream’ as Olaf had come to call it, but more of a painful screech. One of the wings had been destroyed. It looked burned at the stump. The lost wing came with another bonus, the Demon Colonel went from 62% HP all the way down to 42% HP.
“Focus on the other wing!” Olaf yelled, still watching the time for the next ‘Scream’, but it never came. The removal of the wing seemed to have eliminated that skill from its repertoire.
Olaf also noticed something he hadn’t before. The ‘Dark Claw’ attack, he would only use it from one hand at a time. Olaf was watching again, waiting to see the timing. The left hand attacked, and he started counting. The right hand attacked thirty seconds later then the left followed thirty seconds after that. He watched a few more just to be sure. The attack didn’t go off every 60-seconds like clockwork, but there was always at least 60-seconds before he could use the attack from the same clawed hand. “The ‘Dark Claw’ does have a cooldown, 60-seconds per hand!”
The fight got easier after that. The attacks were still horrible when they hit, but now, they could at least time them.
The second wing fell with a crash and another 20% of the Demon Colonel’s health dropped with it.
“Focus on the claws next,” Olaf yelled, already swinging his maul into the Demon Colonel’s shoulder, hearing a satisfying crunch as the limb gained a ‘Crippled’ status for about 2-seconds before restoring itself. Either way, Olaf was determined to remove the limb or crush it with his hammer, “Heh-heh, Crushhammer, heh-heh,” he laughed to himself. It was good that he could still find something funny in the middle of a fight for his life and probably the lives of everyone in the province.
With a whimper and a gasp, the Demon Colonel fell at the same time the bloodied arm did. A cheer went up, but Olaf was already looking down the road where General Anvilroch was standing with his arms crossed, looking decidedly angry. The burning embers that replaced the General’s eyes gave him a much more menacing appearance.
Siege Status
Command Center:
N/A
General:
1/1
End the War!
Olaf swallowed as he looked up at the change to the Siege Status.
“Stand back,” General Hammersmith ordered, the elderly Dwarf walked through the lines until he was standing in front. “Anvilroch and I have an old score to settle.”
“Is this wise?” Olaf asked, looking to the exhausted looking Colonel Grandmite.
“We must honor his wishes,” the Colonel replied. “Even when we do not agree with them.”
“Can he win against that . . . thing?” Olaf asked again, looking between the elderly General and the clearly, Demon-possessed General.
“He must win,” Colonel Grandmite replied, clenching her fist.
“If the old guy looks like he’s about to die, we’re helping anyway,” Icyhot stated before Olaf could say something along the same lines but not nearly so blunt.
“If you wish to die that badly,” Colonel Grandmite said, her sword now at Icyhot’s throat.
“If he loses, we all die,” Olaf said. “We have the right to attack.”
“If General Hammersmith falls, then I will join you for one last valiant stand,” Colonel Grandmite said, lowering her sword from Icyhot’s throat and sheathing it.
The fight between the two Dwarven titans started slow . . . really slow.
“You are going to lose, Anvilroch,” Hammersmith shouted, slowly walking toward his Anvilton counterpart.
“You are out of your depth, Hammersmith,” Anvilroch shouted back, his voice deeper than Olaf expected, unnaturally deep. He was also slowly walking forward. Except that with each step bits of stone that made up the road broke free and started to surround him. It looked a lot like the Stone Giants, except that the stone was slowly shaping into something Humanoid . . . with six arms . . . each with a weapon made of stone. General Anvilroch started stepping on stones that appeared in front of him until he was in the center of the rock formation that was becoming more defined with each step. And then the lava came.
“Have you really grown so weak you would make a pact with Demons?” General Hammersmith asked, dropping his cloak, revealing his black armor. Except it wasn’t so black anymore. Olaf watched as some of the lava started going past Anvilroch, touching Hammersmith’s armor then vanishing. With each touch of the liquid rock, the armor turned a little redder until it was glowing. When the entirety of his armor turned red, sleek red metal wings burst from his back, generating heat and apparently thrust as they lifted him from the ground until he was able to look Anvilroch in the eyes.
“And you would become a Paladin of the God Ivaldi,” Anvilroch said. “There is a reason the Gods fear Demons.”
“They do not fear for themselves. They fear for the citizens of the World Tree. For if they chose to fight the Demons, then it is unlikely any would survive,” Hammersmith replied, unaffected by the taunting. Then a maul formed in his hands made entirely of lava.
“Fifty Gold says he one-shots him,” Icyhot whispered to Olaf.
“More than one,” Olaf said, absentmindedly shaking Icyhot’s hand. “Bye-bye and the others are going to be so mad they missed this.”
“That’s why I’m recording it,” said an unexpected guest.
Olaf looked down to see Titan standing there, watching.
“Have you been here the whole time?” Icyhot asked, his eyes looking back and forth between the fight in front of him and the famous player next to him.
“I stayed near the back, but yeah, pretty much,” Titan said. “I must say, this is one hell of an event.”
“I know,” Olaf said, grinning. He focused back on the fight about to begin in front of him.
The maul was now massive, stretching from where Hammersmith held it in the air to the ground below. The head of it was easily the size of a small car.
“Now, perish Demon!” Hammersmith yelled, starting the fight with a bang. Literally, a bang. When the maul hit, it was like an explosion going off. It was enough to knock Olaf and everyone else watching onto their behinds and deal a little damage. There was a second and third explosion as the maul twirled through the air, beating on Anvilroch relentlessly.
Anvilroch tried to fight back, breathing out black flames, trying to engulf the General.
Hammersmith paid it little mind as his maul drove through the fire, impacting with Anvilroch’s face. The Demon
General staggered backward from the hit. But Hammersmith wasn’t done, he pulled the maul back, swinging back toward the army and swinging up over his head, picking up speed before bringing the hammer down, plowing through Anvilroch’s stone armor and crushing the Dwarf inside into the ground.
Again, Olaf and the other observers were sent backward, losing ground from the explosion that followed, filling the streets with heat and black acrid smoke that obscured everything from view.
When the smoke faded, there was no red glow indicating where either General was. Ahead of them, someone stumbled forward, and smoke seemed to be emanating from whoever it was.
Siege Status
Command Center:
N/A
General:
0/1
Victory!
It was over, the war was won.
Quest Alert: Demon’s Rising 1-5 (Recommended Level 16-18) – Completed!
Find and destroy all the Demons that have been summoned into this plane of existence before it is too late, and a Demon gate is opened.
Reward: +150,000-Experience
That was a very nice experience gain.
Quest Alert: Demon’s Rising 6 (Recommended Level 17-19)
The Demons have been defeated. The General torn asunder and the spy banished. All that remains is the one responsible, the one who dared summon Demons into this plane of existence. Find and defeat him before he tries again.
Reward: Experience, Hidden, Hidden, Hidden
Do you accept this quest?
Yes
No
Olaf accepted, it meant he still had time to catch up to his friends.
General Hammersmith finally stumbled forward but he looked awful. He was thin and emaciated as if all the life had been sucked out of him. “It is done,” he said just ten yards away from the Hammerton forces.
Olaf and the others were about to cheer when the General started to crumble, first his nose, then the top of his head then the rest of him. The armor stood for a second longer then fell to the cobbled street with a loud clatter that seemed to echo forever through the stunned silence.
Chapter 37
“What do you mean she’s a Demon?” I asked. I would have turned to look at Pwn, but my neck was not cooperating. I guessed one of the ‘Crippled’ debuffs included my neck.
“That’s a Demon . . . but I didn’t think players could become a Demon or even part Demon,” Pwn answered.
“It’s a painful process,” Bushy said . . . no, not Bushy. Her nameplate now read
I felt my heart stop. She just called me by my name, by my real name. No one should know that name. It shouldn’t have been possible.
“You are worth more to me than anyone in the entirety of the World Tree. More than any of the pathetic Gods and Goddesses that rule this world. You, being you, are the person I most want revenge on in any world. That you are also the servant of a Goddess of Justice . . . that is just too precious,” Jinn said, laughing loudly like a bad villain. It was becoming clearer this woman was completely insane.
“I don’t understand,” I said, trying to buy time for my healing spell to help me recover. “What did I ever do to you?”
“What did you do to me?” Jinn snapped, her laughter ended and suddenly she was in my face. “What did you do to me, Byron Jacobs?”
“Yes,” I said, doing my best not to show any fear. She already planned to kill me. Worst case, I would be sent to the graveyard to respawn. And if I was going to be brave about this, then I was going to push for more, “And how do you know my real name?”
“What the-” Pwn started only for Jinn to put a hand over his mouth.
“Shh, the grown-ups are speaking. Talk again, and I’ll just kill you now. I’m going to kill you no matter what, especially after you went and showed up in Hammerton. You jeopardized all my plans showing up like that. Still, it worked out in the end. As to why you’re not dead yet, I thought you might want this information. Something you can use against your rival here, right Peter? I can call you Peter, can’t I? That is your name, right? Peter Wilson,” Jinn said before pointing back at me.
Pwn wisely kept quiet.
“Now, where were we, Byron Jacobs? Oh right, revenge. Five years ago, I was on the verge of selling a game I designed. I painstakingly raised an AI and after ten years, she was finally ready. My SERA was finally ready, her game was perfect,” Jinn explained, sounding proud and excited. Then she glared at me and pride and excitement were replaced with wrath and hatred. “One week before she was to be released, one week before ‘World of Games’ was to hit every Appstore in the world, Puzzle Box hit first. Ten years of work. Hundreds of thousands in R&D. My marriage. All of it was gone in trying to make my app. All that sacrifice . . . and it was all for nothing thanks to a fifteen-year-old kid and his stupid game, ‘Puzzle Box’. You, Byron Jacobs, ruined me. You, Byron Jacobs, took EVERYTHING from me!” Jinn raged.
“And now, I’m going to take everything from you. I’m going to kill you. Kill your friends. Kill the Duchess and the Duke’s son. Then I’m going to wipe Hammerton off the map. Sure, you’ll respawn, maybe you’ll try to fight me, please do, but you’ll lose. Then you’ll go somewhere else and I’ll just find you again. You will never have another day of peace as long as you continue to play this game,” Jinn said. It was about as evil a monologue as there was . . . and also very cliché.
“Really? That’s the best you’ve got?” I asked, acting unimpressed.
Jinn smiled for a second before she was back in my face, snarling and threatening to bite my face off.
“You’re a cliché,” I said, ignoring her threat. Truthfully, this woman scared me. She scared me more than I’ve ever been scared in my life. But she made one really big mistake. She used my name. “You used my name, my real name. You also used his name,” I said, I tried to move my head, but the healing hadn’t quite fixed it yet. “We were told day one that our identities are supposed to be kept secret. I never told you my name. I’m pretty sure Pwn didn’t either. Now, I know you have the ability to change your name and appearance, but do you really think you can hide from Seed Inc? Your time in the world is over. You are going to be banned, permanently. And then there is going to be the investigation as to how you got my name and identity in the World Tree Online. That right there is criminal hacking, that’s prison time in any country.”
I hoped for a reaction. Maybe a little fear. The laughing was not expected. It might have scared me even more. “Oh, Byron Jacobs, you say the funniest things. My benefactor, the one hiding me in this world, he hates you even more than I do.”
Okay, so that plan was out the door. And just how many enemies did I have that I didn’t know about?
On to Plan B, keep her talking and keep healing.
“Okay, so that won’t work. You still haven’t told me what you are? And how is your level so high?” I asked.
“I am a half-Demon, half-Rabbit. But you’re probably curious about my class. I wasn’t lying about being a Monk, that was true. But I’m not just a Monk. I’m a Chaos Monk. That’s right, I work for Chaos directly. The Lord of Demons himself. He’s . . . interesting,” Jinn answered.
I didn’t expect her to be so forthcoming.
“As to my level . . . silly Byron Jacobs . . . you really don’t get it, do you?” Jinn asked.
I needed to think for a second. “It’s another illusion. You’re hiding your level.”
“Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner . . . who is going to lose so badly,” Jinn said, grinning at me.
I checked my stats. The ‘Crippled’ debuffs were gone but my HP was only at half. I didn’t have any more time. I cast ‘Justice Bringer’ only for Jinn to cast something similar but with a black energy field instead of white.
Entropy counteracts Justice Bringer – Both Spells Nullified
That
was even worse than I thought as I read the system message.
“Awe, was that your plan to survive?” Jinn asked, giggling. I wanted to punch her in the face but nothing I did seemed to work.
I settled for glaring at her.
“Want to try again, just so you can be sure?” Jinn offered.
Either she had another charge just like I did, or she was bluffing. My spell only gained the charge timer after I gave the spell to the Priests and Priestesses of the World Tree. I very much doubted a Demon would ever give away a spell like ‘Entropy’, despite having no idea what the spell did. Maybe it is just a natural ability for Demons. I cast ‘Justice Bringer’ again and the wave passed through, unhindered.
I leaped into action only for Jinn to leap away. “Oh no . . . you got me . . . just kidding, ‘Entropy’,” she said condescendingly, another wave of black energy passed through the alley. “And just like that, you are out of spells for the day. Any more questions before I kill you?”
“Did you steal that book from my bag?” I asked, just trying to keep her talking a little longer. Hopefully, I could buy time for my friends to come back . . . not that I thought it would do any good.
Jinn grinned wickedly and produced the exact book from her bag. “You mean this book? I couldn’t let something like this fall into your hands. You have proven far too cunning and this would have made things far too easy for you and so very unpleasant for me.”
“What do you mean? What is that book?” I asked.
“Oh, just a little Demon guide book. A way to summon and banish Demons. And just think, if you had held on to it, you might have found someone to use it and banish all the Demons from the province,” Jinn answered, giggling madly as she slipped the book back into her bag.
World Tree Online: The Mountain Valley War: 2nd Dive Concludes Page 65