by Ryan Rimmel
“Grebthar, you have to be in there somewhere! Resist him! You can’t become the Dark Overlord,” I yelled.
“Grebthar’s problem is that he always did what everyone else told him to do,” stated the Dark Overlord . “From the moment he arrived on Ordinal, right up until the time he was betrayed, the fool spent every moment fighting a battle that could not be won.”
“But you have been defeated,” I said, staring at the Dark Overlord. He smirked.
“You cannot defeat Evil. You can only temporarily contain it. Every time I was defeated, I would just find a new host. I always ended up back here,” smiled the Dark Overlord. “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
“Grebthar will resist you,” I yelled. He chuckled heartily.
“Grebthar and I fought countless battles over many centuries,” stated the Dark Overlord. “I know Grebthar like the back of my hand.”
A spike of earth materialized from behind me, but, with Fancy Footwork, I got out of the way. A second and third spike appeared on either side of me. I shattered one with my sword and smashed the other with my bracer. The fourth one blasted right through my intestines and exploded out my back. I shattered it as well, and the Dark Overlord’s smile faded. It should have killed me. Due to my Resistance, I survived, much to his chagrin. God, I love Hit Points.
“You are one tough son of a bitch,” stated the Dark Overlord, watching me. I cracked another spike off and waited for an opening. He tossed his head, his eyes frantic. “How about her? How tough is she?”
SueLeeta screamed, leaping onto Badgelor’s back. The spikes hammered into his fur. Finally, the badger stirred.
Spotting me, Badgelor’s eyes shot into focus. He started to snarl something, before stopping. He sniffed the air, becoming aggressive in his movements. He turned his head, his eyes glowing a deep, dark purple. The stone spikes shattered uselessly off his fur. Standing tall, Badgelor snarled, “Long time no see, Charles.”
Twisting my head so fast I was afraid my neck would snap, I gaped at Badgelor. “What?”
“Search your feelings. You know it to be true,” answered the badger.
“He’s Charles?” I stammered. “No, he can’t be Grebthar, Charles, and the Dark Overlord, too. That’s impossible.”
“Not only is he all of the above, he is also all sorts of crazy asshole,” responded Badgelor.
“If it isn’t my little Badgelor. I thought I recognized the smell,” stated the Dark Overlord. “I left you to die! I left you to die hundreds of years ago.”
“Yet, I’m still here. I warned you never to betray a badger,” growled Badgelor. “Every waking moment of my existence has been planning on how to kill and eat you. Now that I’m here, I find that my companion has already done half the work. You got sloppy, Charles.”
“Sloppy! I’ll show you sloppy,” screamed Charles. A massive Hellball, nearly double the size of the one he’d blasted at me, formed in his hand. Badgelor looked unimpressed, right up until he leveled it at SueLeeta. The Dark Overlord released it. Badgelor shuffled into the way, the subsequent explosion turning all the stone around him into molten rock. All that was left was a stone cutout that looked vaguely like a badger flipping someone off.
“Still sloppy,” tutted Badgelor. “You know what I’ve been doing since I got back? Getting ready for you. You like tricks so much, I’ll show you a trick. My current build is a perfect, magical, wanna-be-god-eating machine.”
“How?” asked Charles, as Badgelor moved toward him. The god’s eyes narrowed. “You are still my Path companion. I just wasn’t ever stupid enough to give you anything to make you resistant to my magic!”
“Have you met Jim, my current companion?” asked Badgelor.
Charles’ eyes went wide, staring at me. The mental arithmetic took only moments. “Badgelor’s a raging psycho. Why would you grant him resistance to any of your attacks?”
“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” I replied. “Frankly, right now, I’d say I was justified, asshole.”
“Okay, then,” replied Charles, drawing magical power into himself. . .before promptly dashing down a side corridor, away from the Dungeon Core.
“Shite, he’s running toward the Dungeon Door. How badly did you beat him up?” yelled Badgelor, charging after him. “He’s going to break his Path! When he does, I’ll lose my immunity to his magic.”
“He said he didn’t give you immunity to his magic,” I responded, as I paced the badger.
“I got it from you, you dolt! When you granted me immunity, it affected not only my Path with you, but also my Path with Charles.
“Is the immunity over instantly?” I asked.
“No, we have about five minutes after the bond is severed. Then, it will fade,” stated Badgelor.
“He killed Jarra! I’m going to go slow him down for you,” I yelled.
“Jim, he’ll kill you,” screamed Badgelor.
“Then you have five minutes,” I yelled, increasing the pace.
● Badgelor’s attitude toward you has increased to Friendly. You have achieved the first step on your Path to become a Beast Lord.
● Your Path is burnt into your soul. No other Woodsman paths are available.
● Your Path ability is based on your companion. You have gained Badgelor’s Fortitude and Badgelor’s Rage!
“Like hell,” yelled Badgelor, shrinking and landing on my shoulder. I smirked.
“Let’s go kill that motherfucker,” I shouted.
Chapter 45: Collapsing Star
“Where’s the damn demon? This would be about the only time he would be useful,” grumbled Badgelor, as we moved down the hallway.
“Banished. Bashara was trying to kill Charles and took him out,” I said, as I sprinted. My Arcane Vision kept catching bits and pieces of danger, as we rushed down the hallway.
“Shite, can’t be helped then. Don’t hold back one bit, or he’ll kill you,” stated Badgelor. “He broke the Path right after he fled the room.”
Gripping my sword more tightly, I fired a BioLightning bolt into a ward that someone had recently left at the end of the hall. My magic disrupted whatever spell Charles had laid. We were well past it, before it exploded.
“Where are we going?” I yelled, as we found another staircase.
“Follow this hallway. It should lead us straight to the Demon Door,” stated Badgelor. “He can teleport from there, if we give him enough time.”
“Surprised there weren’t more traps,” I muttered, as I cleared three flights of stairs in three steps.
“He knows healing magic. He’s refilling his Overhealing pool,” stated Badgelor. “Typical crazy-ass Charles.”
“Why did he go crazy?” I muttered.
“Not much to say on that. He went crazy before his last trip through the Demon Door. He found that amulet and, suddenly, he was the Dark Overlord. Then, he went extra crazy and tried to destroy the world. One of his lieutenants betrayed him and locked him inside the Tomb of Shadows forever,” stated Badgelor. “Before that, he’d already gotten sloppy. He left me as his companion. A bound companion doesn’t age.”
“Which is why you think the animal half of the bond is the better half?” I groaned.
“I think it is the better half, because it is the better half. Obviously,” replied Badgelor. “Smarter and better looking, too.”
“Hold on, are you saying the amulet is the Dark Overlord?” I asked.
“Yes and no. There is some cockamamie story about how the amulet was forged by a dark god to control a bunch of other amulets. It is said the god put most of his own power into the amulet. Supposedly, his body was destroyed afterward. The amulet is too powerful for any mere mortal to wear, so anyone who finds it will become the Dark Overlord. Right up until they explode.”
“Except, Grebthar is a god,” I said.
“Yes, and as a god, he’s immortal and immune to the effects of the amulet,” stated Badgelor. “So, he won’t explode, and
he has been locked away in the Tomb of Shadows for 800 years. I knew it was in Windfall Valley, but I didn’t know exactly where.”
“You sure had a long time to look,” I said.
“Wouldn’t have mattered. I was a level 1 War Badger. Even if I’d found him, I couldn’t have done anything. I needed a Beast Master, and there are precious few of those in the world anymore,” growled Badgelor.
“So, you are the actual Badgelor?” I groaned, “Grebthar’s Badgelor?”
“Yes, meet the legendary Lord of the Badgers,” growled Badgelor.
“That means you are over 800 years old,” I muttered.
“Closer to 1200,” replied Badgelor. “Grebthar’s first class was Woodsman. He chose Beast Master, after I saved him in a cave.”
“And Charles betrayed you,” I said. Badgelor snorted.
“We had gone to the most terrible place on all of Ordinal, searching for a Divine Shard. It was a place so unimaginably horrible that most people would rather die than go there. Charles called it something dumb. He said it reminded him of a place called New Jersey,” stated Badgelor.
I shuddered involuntarily.
“Is Charles from Earth?” I asked.
“Yes, place still sounds stupid as hell 800 years later. Honestly, I thought he was making most of that shite up,” replied Badgelor. “That is, until I met you. You are full of the same stupid tales. He even had me convinced that falling into water didn’t stop all Falling Damage. Anyway, we fought a few epic battles, and, finally, Charles found the Shard. We were supposed to enter into the Demon Door together, but he decided that he didn’t need me anymore. Words were exchanged. I may have called him a wiener dog.”
“So, he left you alone and in Ordinal’s version of New Jersey,” I replied.
“Yes, it was ghastly. Because he changed classes, all of my powers went away,” stated Badgelor. “One moment, I’m a 60th level killing machine. The next moment, I’m a plain old War Badger.”
“You escaped?” I asked. Of course, the answer was yes, but I was curious as to how he escaped.
“Everyone is always trying to escape New Jersey,” said Badgelor. “I’m just more clever than most.”
“One last thing,” I said, realizing that I could finally see light at the end of the tunnel. “Why didn’t you tell me who Charles was?”
“Oh, hi, guy I hardly know! Do you want to go fight the all-powerful Grebthar and the Dark Overlord. . .at the same time, because they are the same person now?” replied Badgelor. “You’d have slit your own throat, if you were smart.”
Chapter 46: the Final Battle
We entered the chamber at my maximum speed, blasting past the opening so quickly that the single trap detonated well behind me. There were no walls or ceilings here, just a flat, tiled floor and a series of pillars heading toward a circular door. Beyond that, there was an endless void that somehow seemed fitting for a chamber like this. Grebthar stood in front of the Demon Door.
I don’t know what I expected from the Demon Door, but it wasn’t this. The glowing maelstrom of power that it consisted of looked nothing like the circular wooden door in Windfall. I felt cheated. The glowing ring of power beckoned me, but all I really wanted to do was kill Charles.
Grebthar snorted, saluting me with my old sword. Glowing runes had been traced down the blade, and they glowed shadow black against the pitch black background. Grebthar’s visage was entirely gone. The shadows had consumed him. What stood before me was entirely the Dark Overlord. His face was severely distorted. All I could see were two glowing, blue eyes and a set of pearly white teeth, showing in a rictus grin.
I ignited my sword, as Badgelor leapt from my shoulder. As he flew through the air, he expanded to his full size. The pressure wave from an explosion behind me caused his fur to whip back and forth. My spider black armor shone from the dents and damage Grebthar had caused me. Badgelor’s eyes glowed a fiery red.
“Quite impressive, Badgelor and the Legendary Hero, fighting the Dark Overlord, as he attempts to escape through the Demon Door,” laughed Charles.
“I remember, you arse,” called out Badgelor. “You remember that the Dark Overlord perished here?.”
“Do you think that you and this one are up to the task?” chuckled Charles. “I just don’t see it.”
“You never saw anything you didn’t want to see,” stated Badgelor. Charles turned to look at me.
“What, no banter from you?” laughed Charles. “I was hoping for some dry wit!”
“I will kill you,” I screamed, launching the most powerful BioLightning blast I could manage. The previous one had hurt him, so twice the power should work even better. Charles casually lifted his hand, blocking it.
“You understand yet? Now that Badgelor is here, I’ve enabled my protections. I have the same resistance to your magic as you do to mine, at least until the cooldown expires. Then, I’m going to evaporate you,” stated Charles, flicking away the fragments of green lighting, before he realized I’d moved.
“Falling Star Strike,” I yelled unconsciously, as I flew downward. Charles tried to parry. My sword exploded into his, driving both of his feet into the tiles, as power washed over him. The floor directly under him shattered.
Charles pushed himself off the broken fragment of floor, striking with Quick Strikes. I returned blows with him, using Hack and Slash. The air between us was a blur of steel. He connected multiple times, driving me back a pace. I executed a Thrust and followed up with my own Quick Strikes, pressing him. The mighty Dark Overlord gave a pace, then a second.
● Unstoppable Force: Divine Tier Strike. You have been pushed for 9 9 9 logs.
Then, Charles struck me in the torso with an unreal amount of force, sending me rocketing backward. I focused my Airborne Control perk and adjusted my trajectory. Doing so caused me to slam into a pillar, instead of flying right off the edge. Badgelor tackled him. I still had too much momentum, and, despite slamming into the pillar hard enough to break ribs, I continued flying. I was going to skim right off the edge.
However, I had hit something. That meant I was able to use Airborne Control again, barely forcing myself back onto the edge of the platform. It cracked as I landed on the edge. Windmilling my arms, I realized I was going to fall. I frantically extended my hand and summoned my sword to me. The sudden jerk pulled me toward the platform just enough to remove me from the edge. My sword, unfortunately, flew over my head, into the abyss below. I felt my bond with it break.
There goes another sword.
Badgelor and Charles were hammering on each other. Charles’ sword glanced off Badgelor’s fur, while the badger snapped forward, attempting to tear off some delicious chunk of Charles. Dozens of cuts adorned Badgelor’s face and neck, and there were several glowing rents in the shadowy form of Charles.
Most of my ranged attacks on Charles had been lackluster. Now that he was distracted, I had a prime attack opportunity. Scorpow was with SueLeeta, but I had other options. Drawing Simple Bow 23 from my extradimensional space, I took aim and loosed an arrow into Grebthar’s shoulder.
● Power Shot: You have done 54 point of Piercing Damage.
“Fuck, why won’t you die?” he yelled out. Badgelor took advantage and bit down on his arm. The limb tore free, as Charles stumbled away.
“I’m a curious puppy,” I yelled back, firing a second arrow. The strike knocked the blade out of the Dark Overlord’s reach. I continued to bear down on him.
“WHAT?” screamed the dark god, as he used his remaining arm to slap Badgelor away. He stretched out his hand to call the blade to him, but I activated Flash Steps and my new Quick Steal perk. I shouldered his arm away and went for the weapon. Snatching it out of the air, I quickly dumped Mana into it, attuning the sword to me again.
Badgelor stood up, moving to Charles’ other side. That was more challenging than one might expect, because the cracks on the floor were getting larger.
“I must know,” asked Charles, as he picked himself off the
ground, “Was it
“Get used to disappointment,” I replied, saluting him with my new, magically-enhanced Soldier’s Longsword. He nodded. Badgelor launched from behind, and Charles leapt into the air. I met him with steel. He somehow dodged my first strike, so I executed a Cleave attack, catching him in the leg and sending him careening to the ground.
It was only Luck, and I mean that quite literally, as the bastard had a high Luck stat, that he managed to avoid being caught by Badgelor. Charles’ limbs bent unnaturally, while he attempted to keep away from both Badgelor and me.
“He’s trying to run out the clock,” yelled Badgelor. Suddenly, my entire body convulsed.
● You have gained the Sickened Condition for the next 24 hours. You will find all tasks more challenging, due to the effects of the sickness.
● Badger’s Rage is active. You can ignore the effects of status conditions, such as sickness. You have 2 minutes duration left.
I slashed at Charles twice more, but he was wily. Now that he’d decided on defense, his body kept morphing into shadows. He half-teleported, half-dodged away from me each time. I activated Unerring Thrust. Launching toward him, my sword altered direction three times, before I finally had Charles lined up. He Dodged away again, using Perfect Dodge to avoid the strike. He then materialized behind me, his own fist glowing. I used my Perfect Dodge to avoid his strike, before using Riposte to slash him, my blade carving deep into his flesh.
Charles landed hard, flipping back to his feet and firing off three massive stalagmites at my companion and me. That clumsy spell was easy to Dodge, and I continued trying to close. He desperately fired more and more stalagmites at us.
“Jim,” yelled Badgelor. I ignored him, leaping from one cracked piece of floor to the next, trying to catch up with Charles. The Dark Overlord continued trying to get his rocks off.