The Eternal: Hellbringer - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 5)
Page 21
I was acting on impulse now.
And I didn’t have a damn problem with it.
“Diablo?” Figure two said. “What’s—”
I shot forward, with my fist retracted. I smashed up from underneath the Dragon, and the beast surged into the air, rising high into the skies. A fallen tree trunk laid at my side. Perfect.
I put my arms around the base of the trunk and lifted it up. It was heavy, but I was strong enough. I looked at the sky, and watched the falling Dragon. It was still alive. After all, I’d made sure I didn’t do anything strong enough to kill it immediately.
I jumped up, surging into the air, and then thrust the tree trunk up at it, like a javelin. The blunt end went smack through the Dragon’s chest, and we both dropped to the floor a second later. Blood poured down the wooden surfaces, and a whimpering roar echoed through the skies.
I stood before the dead dragon, with my clothes bloodied. My hands were all coated with the slick texture of red. And yet, I stared at the Dragon with a cold expression on my face.
Flashes of light spiked my vision once again, and darkness surged in from the sky, flooding the lands. In the blink of an eye, I was back where I had been before, the world of utter black. But this black was different. It wasn’t the one I was trapped in, it was the one I had dropped into.
Walls of rugged stones stood around me. And on the floor sat a smooth surface, only now, the pillar had sunk back in. The circle of runes flashed white once again, and a howl rang through the air.
A burst of white light shot from the intricate drawing and surged into me. Heat exploded through my veins, like lightning was surging into my body. I dropped to the floor, gasping. Air caught in my throat, refusing to go into my lungs. My chest throbbed, already aching, but now hurting even more.
I grit my teeth, bearing the pain. My body trembled, shaking with every wave of hurt that passed through me.
And then it all stopped.
DING!
Congratulations! You have broken through:
The Seal of the Eternal (5/5)!
By uniting with your spectral spirit, you have now broken through a part of your seal. Stats have been updated. Inventories have been updated. Skills, Subskills, and Special Moves have also been updated.
DING!
Congratulations! You have now completely broken through:
The Seal of the Eternal!
All stats have returned to previous configurations. All inventory items have been returned. Skills, subskills and special moves have all been relearned.
I swiped the air with my fingers and my Ga’em menu slid down. I opened up my Stats menu and looked at my screens.
Name
Zoran Diablo
Level
2325
Health
34950
Constitution
3495
Mana
40340
Intelligence
4032
Stamina
32090
Endurance
3209
Strength
4588
Wisdom
5191
Agility
7013
Dexterity
4108
Charisma
1004
Luck
34
Is this enough of a boost? I’d finally reached my full strength, and that meant this was all the strength I had to take out the Time Lord.
I put my finger on the screen and swiped, letting a new set of information fill in.
Name
Zoran Diablo
Race
Eternal
Abilities
Resurrection
Spirit King
Re-animator
Fear Uprising
Living Nightmare
Red Death
Titles
Phantom Lord
Undead Emperor
Necromancy Demon
Master of Ikarius
Lord of the Night
Blood King
Class
Necromancer
Alignment
???
Resistances
All Arts
Reputation
Infamy Level 10 - “The World shakes in your presence”
“Your alignment still has question marks,” Nyx said.
“That is worrisome,” Acnologia said.
We don’t have time to discuss this now.
I looked at my title section. Blood King, I thought. Should I be worried about that? I tapped on my new abilities and the info screens popped up.
RED DEATH
Blood had become your ally. The presence of blood on the battlefield increases your stats. The actual increase depends on the amount of blood spilled. Additionally, enemies within a range of 50 yards will be automatically given a bleed damage. The strength and duration of the damage depends on the level difference between you and the targets as well as on the amount of blood already spilled.
This is useful, I said and closed the screens. A little concerning, but useful.
DING!
A Ga’em prompt screen popped up in front of me.
Congratulations! You have obtained a new skill
Phantom Arts Level 63!
Spirits have been fulfilling your desires since the day you were born. Now you can use the strength of your bonds to cast spells from the forbidden art.
Effect 1
Attack increased by +65% when in places of darkness.
Effect 2
Mana regeneration increased by +55%
Effect 3
Intelligence increased by +50%
Effect 4
Health regeneration increased by +60%
Effect 5
+2.5% Bleed Damage caused by any Phantom Arts Attack
Congratulations! You have obtained a new skill
Elemental Swordsmanship Level 51!
The language of magic and swords never fuse together well. However, you have mastered the art of both, and therefore the art of a great strength. You can now combine your magical Arts knowledge with swordsmanship and use Elemental Sword strikes. The strength and type of the strikes depends on the user.
Effect 1
Attack increased by +40%
Effect 2
Agility increased by +40%
Effect 3
Mana Regeneration increased by +10%
Effect 4
+1% Bleed Damage
Congratulations! You have obtained a new skill
Blood rising Level 23!
The red of the world is both death, and life. Effects may increase if the amount of blood is substantial.
Effect 1
Gain +2.5% Health per minute while in the presence of blood.
Effect 2
All bleed damage increased by +10%
I swiped the screens close. Am I actually strong enough to beat that guy? If I wasn’t, then that was going to be a huge problem.
The Phantom Heart throbbed in my hand. Nyx, can you put it in my inventory?
“Yeah,” the spirit said.
The heart dissolved into a stream of lights and disappeared.
A battle cry sounded from above, and I threw my head up.
“Diablo,” Acnologia said.
And I needed to hear nothing else.
I pushed off the surface, and shot up through the air, back onto level ground. I touched down onto the open surface, and my eyes widened. Buildings around me stood collapsed, and knights ran amok between the debris. Sure, I’d caused a lot of this damage, but I knew there was a lot that I hadn’t as well.
Smoke drifted within the air, hiding everything on the other side. I launched myself up yet again, climbing onto the nearest tower. I took a glance down, and then froze.
A large group of men, all adorned in white armor and dragon-shaped helmets, had infiltrated the enclosure.
The Army of Markus Goodfields were here. And that meant one, annoying thing.
I grit my teeth.
The Time Lord was here.
***
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Horace,” I muttered.
“Wonderful to see you here as well, Diablo,” he said. “I like the weaponless look.”
I clenched my fists. “Of course, you do.”
Beneath us, his army was pummeling through the Knights of the Alliance of Light. Most of them ran away, and I didn’t blame them. They were horribly outmatched.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Destroying the Alliance of Light of course. Although I must say, you’re way ahead of me.”
“You’re doing all of this just to defeat the Alliance of Light?”
“What do you think?”
Wait a minute. I quickly used my Analyze skill on him.
DING!
Name
Horace Zentheniel
Race
Ancient
Level
2571
I could actually see his information now.
“His stats are way too high for his level,” Nyx said.
His race must give him a boost, I thought. “So,” I looked at him, “you really aren’t an Eternal, Mr. Ancient.”
He chuckled. “I see you’ve been talking.” His head turned up to the skies, and he blinked. “Ah, so Irmeia is here. I have not seen her in a long while.”
“Since you used her the last time.”
“Now, now, you would have done the same if you were in my position.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
The Time Lord floated closer to me, and I tensed my muscles, ready to strike.
“What are you doing all this for, Horace?” I asked.
“Have you heard of the Phantom Heart, Diablo?”
My shoulder’s tightened. “What about it?”
“It has a very interesting…past. Maybe you should ask Nyx about it.”
“Huh?” the spirit said. “Wait, why does he even know about me?”
Horace thrust his hand up, and a blast of white surged out of it. I leapt into the air, dodging the attack, and the beam broke the tower instead. It crushed through the stone and passed through the four others behind it before sinking into the floor.
I landed atop another tower and gazed at this man. He was much stronger than I’d anticipated. That attack was massive. Nothing like what I had expected from him. Had he been holding back before?
But I was the Phantom Lord now. I had enough strength to go against Horace, even if it wasn’t enough to completely defeat him. Limiting his powers somehow was a good starting goal for me.
I shot up, and the force of my leap crushed the tower roof. Oops. I shot to the Time Lord, with my fists raised. He threw his hands down to me, but didn’t attack.
Instead he simply caught me by my wrists, and held me high in the air. “How silly. You really thought this would work?”
I grinned. “Jia!”
A flash of darkness sprung out of me. The skies darkened, and in that instant, a massive blast of darkness surged out of my palms. They struck the Time Lord at point blank and he went flying away. His grip on me released, and I dropped back to the ground.
Acnologia, where are you?
“Still up in the sky with Irmeia,” the Dragon said
Fine, just keep her safe. If we need to get into Dragon Fusion mode, we can find a safe spot for her.
“Diablo, what about Freya and the Death Lord?” Nyx asked. “You asked them to come here, right?”
Probably not my best move.
“Also, what did this Horace mean when he said I and the Phantom Heart had some sort of connection?”
I have no idea.
War cries sounded from beneath me. The Knights of the Alliance of Light turned on each other, joining the Time Lord’s army and attacking their own Headquarters.
I blinked. what the hell?
“They’re doing it for Markus,” Nyx said. “He’s their leader. And they’ll follow him blindly.”
That’s stupid.
I put my hand up, and concentrated hard. “Erkiela, Peona, Qeteria!”
A blast of fire surged out, and singed the men. A twister broke seconds later, tearing through them. And to finish it all off, a massive earthquake shook, and in seconds, a large fissure opened up. Men fell through, descending to the flames burning inside. The land shut a moment later, and nearly a quarter of the men were gone, with a lot of the Markus Goodfields missing as well.
Good, I grinned.
“You’re still holding back.” The Time Lord’s form flickered before me. “Why do you pull yourself away from unleashing your true strength, Eternal?”
A blast of gold light surged from him, but I dived out of the way. I rolled onto my feet, picked myself up, and shot right to him.
My fist thundered into his chest, and I sent him flying through the air. I touched down on a rooftop, and leapt up, surging to him once again. I rose above his flying form and swung down, smashing the Time Lord into the floor. Fissures broke from where he laid, and the very ground crumbled from the force of the attack.
I guess this place is coming down either way.
“You’re right about that.”
A green light shot from the Time Lord and rose high into the skies. The clouds I’d summoned all vanished, and in their place stood an aurora of fluorescent green, mingling with the blues and purple surrounding it.
I blinked. “What the heck is that?”
The Time Lord flickered before me. I swung at him, but my arm passed through harmlessly. A blast of gold struck me from my side and I went flying through the air, crashing into three towers before falling into a pile of rubble on the ground.
I stood up a second later, and shook off the dust from my outfit. Surprised I didn’t break any bones from that.
“Well, you did level up a ton,” Nyx said.
“This is interesting, Diablo.” The Time Lord hovered before me. His golden armor now glowed with a jade-green aura.
Acnologia, put her down.
“How much time?” the Dragon asked.
Ten seconds.
A boom sounded in the air, but neither I nor the Time Lord paid any attention to it. A mental pressure slowly slithered into my mind, turning worse the more intense the glow around Horace became.
My eyes widened. His strength is growing?!
“Not exactly,” Nyx said. “I don’t know what he’s doing. His levels are all the same, and yet he seems stronger now.”
“Wonderful.”
The Time Lord pointed at me. A blast of green energy sunk down from above and smashed me against the ground. The surface cratered, and I laid in the middle, gasping for breath. My eyes turned to the skies and I saw the aurora shift, moving toward the air right above me
I picked myself up again. Pain tore through my limbs, but I ignored it and dived for all I was worth. A blast of green energy sunk down from the skies once more, and thundered into the ground right behind me.
Rocks and mud flew into the air, and I bent over, shielding my head from the flying debris. Acnologia.
“Ready.”
“Dragon Fusion!” I yelled.
A stream of lights shot from behind a tower, and swirled around me a second later. Heat sunk into my veins, and my limbs trembled. An aching sensation went through my muscles, and they twitched involuntarily. The heat built up inside my body, and my eyes watered.
And then I dropped to the floor, gasping. I still felt the heat, but a reduced version, a controlled version. I’d gotten into Dragon Fusion mode alright.
“Even further?” the Dragon asked.
“Not yet.” I looked up at the skies, at the Time Lord hovering over me. He pointed at my form yet again, and a massive blast of green, even bigger than before, sunk down.
; I thrust my hands up. “UHER!”
A dark phoenix broke from the surface. This one was the largest I had summoned, easily half the size of the entire enclosure. It broke through towers and stones as it shot straight into the green attack. The two strikes collided against each other and a deafening explosion broke away from the impact point.
Dark smoke flowed over the grounds, hiding Horace and I from each other. I activated my Night Vision skill, but it didn’t help. I hadn’t really expected it to.
Acnologia, where’s Irmeia?
“In a tower towards the far end of the enclosure,” the Dragon said.
She should be able to run away if something attacks her, right?
“Indeed.”
A shadow emerged through the smoke, hovering a few yards in the air. I leapt up to it, pulling my arm back as I did. “Peona!” I yelled. A twister of wind sprung around the form, clearing up the smoke and then cutting off. The Time Lord emerged, with his back towards me.
I grinned and punched down for all I was worth. The man went flying to the surface, and cracked into the ground, breaking through thirty yards of stone and mud before he came to a stop. The streets shook, and ground destabilized. The stone lining the pathways cracked, and fissures spread wide inside the enclosure.
“Impressive.” The Time Lord hovered back up. His health was still at 75%, but I knew I was starting to cause good damage on him, especially with my Dragon Fusion Mode active.