On completion he thanked the boy and told him to stay clear of the yard.
“Should I re-roll too?” Lee asked.
“No, Nick said. “I need you just the way you are.”
“That’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
“Let’s go,” he grinned. “And hope like fuck this works.”
Thankfully the battle was still hot, though the royal army was fading fast. The hell knights were ripping through the human ranks with practiced discipline. Nick’s heart sank when he realized they hadn’t lost a single individual.
“I’ll lead,” he said to Lee. “With their focus is on me, you might be able to land some hits.”
Lee nodded nervously. Nick could tell her normally unflappable calm was wavering. It was time for hope. Not just for himself, but for all these brave people defending their home to the death. He stripped down to his loincloth and charged into the fray with more confidence than he felt.
Almost immediately a hell knight swung his greatsword at him. Nick executed his first Slide Step and was impressed by the results. He moved so fast that he was on the other side of the probing blade before it had a chance to connect. He slashed at the knight’s exposed torso with his sword and axe, ecstatic to see 150HP drained. As far as he could tell, this was the first hit anyone had landed on these fucking knights.
Confused, the orc exchanged a glance with his nearest comrade. Lee took the opportunity to slash at his back with crossed swords, doing more damage than Nick had. The hell knight was down to 60% of his HP, which was a massive step forward. Using the Slide Step, Nick continued to pepper his target with light blows.
His attacks might have been weak, but his elite agility and new skill meant he could successfully evade the knights. Most importantly, his constant movement allowed Lee critical opportunities to flank and strike. As effective as the Slide Step was, Nick couldn’t let his concentration waver for a moment - without armor he was ridiculously vulnerable.
He and Lee worked in beautiful harmony until she was finally able to land a killing blow. A cheer erupted as the enemy knight fell for good. The rapidly tiring human soldiers seemed to regain a little confidence at the sight.
Convinced they now had a winning formula, the Bonded pair drew a second hell knight into their trap. Bishop Haam performed an admirable job of blocking other knights from swarming them. The big priest had the heart of a lion, but his HP was flagging. Nick re-doubled his effort - they couldn’t afford to lose Haam at this juncture. He would be needed when Hager made his appearance.
Maintaining intense discipline and focus, Nick and Lee not only worked over the second knight, but were able to bring down several others. Identifying Nick as a key threat, the remaining hell knights tried to flank him, but a line of pikemen valiantly defended his fighting space.
When the human defenders had whittled the enemy knights down to four, the elite orcs howled in frustration and retreated across the moat. Exhausted, Nick slumped against the stone wall of the keep. He hadn’t expected this style of fighting to be so draining. On the other hand, he was elated to have found an effective build against the hellspawn.
As an added bonus, Bishop Haam and a few of his priests were still alive. The bad news was that the royal army was gravely depleted. The men that remained were either tired or injured. Nick and Lee set about encouraging the remaining soldiers to take their families into the Great Hall. This left a small but focused force in the courtyard.
Only two other pixel runners had survived - a Zealot by the name of Maelstrom6 and a Knight called Deathbound. Both had to be highly competent to have made it this far. Apart from the odd glance in Nick’s direction, neither looked particularly interested in attacking him. With Lee by his side, and his new attack style, it was probably a wise move.
An ominous silence descended - the calm before the storm. Hager wouldn’t bother sending in more orc infantry now that his elite force had been routed. Sure enough, a fierce glow appeared under the drawbridge and the Devil’s son appeared in all his unholy glory. The sight took Nick’s breath away.
This was a true Titan - an entity with the power to ruin Nick’s future several times over. Hager needed to bend over to get through the gatehouse - he was truly enormous. He didn’t have a goat’s head, like the demon Nick encountered in Ashk. If anything, Hager was leaner, more sinewy. His head was somewhat humanoid, with bloodshot eyes and a snub nose. He even sported a gold earring in his left ear.
The beast held a leather whip in his clawed right hand, a massive silver shield in the left. A long, furry tail extended behind him. His most distinguishing features, however, were the bright red veins and arteries that glowed like hell fire. They lent a spectacularly fearsome aspect to an already-formidable monster. All up, Hager looked like a cursed jackal from the pits of Hades.
The Devil’s son wasn’t interested in dialog, wasting no time in cracking his whip. The serpentine leather wrapped itself around Maelstrom6 and literally cleaved her body in two. Nick exchanged a look with Lee.
“Tactics?” he asked hopefully.
“Intel,” she said firmly. “Watch his movements. Follow Haam’s lead.”
As usual, it was sage advice. Nick fell in behind the burly bishop, watching Hager closely. The demon was now standing in the middle of the corpse-littered yard.
“Try to break its shield,” the bishop said. “Only then can I bring my power to bear.”
Nick nodded, but he didn’t have the faintest clue how he was going to do it.
“Under the legs,” Lee said, already sprinting across the cobblestones. Nick followed, eyes trained on Hager’s whip. Lee got several slashes in before the demon lashed out with a clawed foot. She was slammed against the castle wall, losing most of her HP. Nick tried slashing at Hager’s ankle, but he couldn’t see Hager’s other foot from his position. Sure enough, he was crushed against the wall, his HP instantly disappearing. He and Lee respawned in the cellar.
“Well, that didn’t work,” Lee quipped as they rushed back up the stairs to the courtyard. Haam was manfully defending himself against Hager’s whip attack. The grunting demon seemed omnipotent as it towered over them.
“Head along the wall,” Nick urged the Bishop. “We’ll try and draw it away.”
The Bonded pair backed into the northeast corner of the yard as the Bishop sprinted toward the western gatehouse. Thankfully, Hager seemed intent on killing Nick again and again. It was probably embedded in his programming.
“Hurry!” Nick yelled at Lee as the demon quickened its pace. The pair used their high stamina to sprint under an internal gate that was used to cordon off this section of the yard. Lee was just behind Nick, but wasn’t quick enough to avoid a violent shield butt that sent her flying across the stones. The demon’s arm was now extended through the gate’s archway.
Nick rolled to the lead-weight controlling mechanism by the side of the gate and cut through the ropes there. The heavy wrought-iron came thundering down, neatly severing Hager’s left arm at the shoulder. The demon howled in a mixture of anguish and surprise. The silver shield crashed free from the still-twitching hand, narrowly missing Lee, who was barely alive.
The demon’s footsteps faded away as it went to engage the Bishop. Nick had no intention of leaving Haam alone with Hager, taking Lee’s hand and leading her up a stairwell to the keep. They passed through the Great Hall, watched by the hundreds of panicked common folk.
Back in the main yard, Hager was savagely cracking his whip at the Bishop. Pinned against the wall, Haam was barely alive and trapped like a rat. Brandishing intact diadem prisms, two of his priests remained. His injured shoulder dripping with ichor, Hager flinched from the silvery spheres.
“I think Haam has something planned,” Nick said. “Let’s go up to the battlements.”
Lee nodded - the elevation of the ramparts might be useful when Haam needed them to intervene. By the time they reached the upper level, Haam was busil
y conjuring his ‘shock and awe’ attack. He’d ditched his weapon and was ‘molding’ something in his hands. A grey veil appeared and gradually transformed into the outline of a frail woman.
“Holy shit …” Nick breathed.
Bishop Haam was calling on the essence of his queen - the Lich Queen.
“Begone, devil spawn!” Haam thundered, sending the wraith into Hager’s ribcage. The Lich Queen’s essence sank into the demon’s tough hide without a trace. For a horrible moment Nick thought the attack had achieved nothing. Lee cried out when a triumphant Hager dropped his whip and slammed a fist into the exhausted Bishop. No one would’ve survived that blow. Haam crumpled to the ground. Their last great ally had fallen.
When Hager straightened again, it was obvious he was in some discomfort. In fact, his chest was caving in. Chunk by chunk, the flesh was spilling free. The Lich Queen’s essence was eating him from the inside.
Nick looked at Lee. They leaped off the ramparts together, weapons drawn. Nick plunged his katana directly into Hager’s brain. Lee sank hers into the back of his neck. Together, the critical attacks amounted to over 1200HP damage. It didn’t kill Hager outright, but with the ongoing decay damage, the demon’s demise was imminent.
The Bonded pair dropped to the ground and started sprinting to the far side of the yard. Hager followed, but slowly. It was obvious he was no longer a threat. There was no sign of activity across the moat - the underworld army was either waiting for Hager’s return or was already retreating.
“This way!” shouted a familiar voice.
It was the little boy with the water bucket - the Seer.
“I thought I told you to go inside,” Nick said sternly.
“Like hell I am,” came the belligerent reply. “This isn’t over yet.”
Nick immediately thought of Vanen, the Great Dragon. The founder of Neutron Syndicate was yet to play his hand.
The boy disappeared into the southwest tower. Lee shrugged and followed. Nick had no choice but to chase after them. He was panting by the time they reached the circular rampart at the top. Down in the yard they watched Hager topple and fall. Further west, the orc army had lost their appetite for destruction and were now rapidly dispersing.
Nick would’ve hugged Lee out of pure joy if it wasn’t for the ominous shape against the mid-afternoon sun - Vanen was approaching.
“Why are we up here, Janel?” Lee asked the boy.
The young’un looked at her with an adult’s shrewdness.
“One of you should stay,” he said.
“Stay with him, Lee,” Nick said quickly. “I think Inez is controlling him.”
Lee didn’t argue the point, knowing Inez had the ability to turn the tide of battle against Vanen. Nick rushed back down to the courtyard, where he nervously paced back and forth. Vanen would come to him, there was no doubt of that. The only other person in the courtyard was Deathbound, the last pixel runner. Knowing the climax of the game was about to play out, the Knight took the opportunity to collect his bounty. Nick stepped from the shadows of the wall, giving himself space in all directions. He would need to wrap this up quickly before Vanen arrived.
Nick needn’t have worried. A punishing lance of flame struck Deathbound flush in the chest and knocked him off his feet. The residual damage killed the runner outright. Nick couldn’t see where Vanen had attacked from. After a tense silence, the Great Dragon’s roar preceded him. Nick rolled to the side just as the beast’s huge bulk dived from the side of the keep.
The ground shook as Vanen landed, but Nick was already up and running. He would never have been able to perform such a feat with his previous build. Hell, with a strength build he would’ve been squashed like a bug in no time at all.
Nick turned to face his nemesis calmly. If Vanen was going to win the day, he was gonna have to earn it. Inevitably, the river of fire arrived. Nick used every ounce of his agility to roll free of an incendiary attack that nipped at his heels.
Looking to launch his own attack, Nick cut in close to Vanen’s left leg and slashed twice before withdrawing. As expected, Vanen’s tough hide was heavily resistant to melee weapons. Nick had barely drawn 50HP from a long bar. He was never going to win this battle on his own.
Had Janel intended to draw Lee away from the confrontation? Was the Syndicate controlling the boy? If that were the case, Lee would’ve returned by now. All he could do was bide his time, survive, and hope that Inez had something up her sleeve.
His flame reserves depleted, Vanen tried a different tack. The dragon advanced without caution, knowing that Nick couldn’t deliver much damage. The runner was forced to roll through Vanen’s stomping legs, which was no walk in the park. Nick used every ounce of his gaming skill to negotiate that forest of death, reaching the other side only to be confronted with a barbed tail.
He rolled under the swinging appendage and found space. Vanen grunted in frustration - an encouraging sign. Nick noticed that the game timer had disappeared - all that mattered now was who won this duel.
Sensing a power-attack, he backed against the keep wall.
Vanen launched himself into the air and dived straight his quarry. The movement was so brutally direct that Nick thought he done for sure. But his rolls were long now that he’d ditched his armor and boosted his AGL. Executing a string of them he was able to clear the incoming beast with inches to spare.
Even so, the concussive force of the impact sent him sprawling. When he staggered to his feet, Vanen was already priming his flame sacs. This time the dragon didn’t miss, lasering Nick with a tongue of potent flame. But the runner was ready for it. His contingency for this situation was quick access to his snow hunter armor. The high fire resistance saved his life for the duration of the fire burst, but when it was over he was back in his loincloth and sprinting under Vanen’s belly.
He slashed as he had before, dealing very low damage before withdrawing. If there was anything he regretted about his time as a DEX build, it was not being able to find a trusty weapon he could upgrade. The white katana was a serious weapon but not really suited to fighting a dragon. In an ideal world, a greatsword, greataxe or greatscythe was the way to go. Of course, he would never have made it this far as a strength build, so it was a circular argument.
Nick couldn’t continue chipping away at Vanen - the Great Dragon was too big, too strong. All the beast had to do now was wait for Nick to make a mistake. With no armor to speak of, one claw-swipe or flame attack would be enough.
In the end, the Syndicate’s fear was its downfall.
As Nick sprinted back and forth across the yard, dodging Vanen’s lancing flame and narrowly avoiding his stomping feet, he noticed a subtle green halo around the dragon. It was like the beast had been buffed somehow. Sure enough, Vanen’s attacks became more frenetic and sustained, like someone was artificially ramping his stats so he could finish off Nick quickly.
The runner wasn’t sure if it was obvious to anyone else, but he did begin receiving a flood of Love points. He was gratified to see them, but they weren’t going to protect him against Vanen. There was less cooldown between the dragon’s attacks, meaning Nick couldn’t sustain his frenzied dodging for long. The Syndicate would probably explain Vanen’s sudden boost as a “sustained power attack” or some bullshit. They were the game makers had could do whatever the fuck they wanted. It had always been that way.
Vanen purred with delight as he rammed home attack after attack. Nick was pinned against the wall now, running desperate Slide Steps to avoid getting killed. It was humiliating, like being forced to dance by some sadistic thug before being knifed for kicks. Gradually, inevitably, Nick’s heroic stamina bar was worn down. Until he had nothing left in the tank.
“Do your worst, Sandor,” he spat, close to passing out.
Vanen’s powerful leg was raised to crush him once and for all. At the very last nano-second something slammed into the side of the beast’s massive head. Vanen trembled and shuddered with agony. An enormous iron spike had
passed straight through his brain, sending a torrent of sticky ichor out the exit wound.
Nick backed away in shock, wondering where the hell that projectile had come from. It took him a few moments to realize that the dragon was critically wounded, not dead. Nick rolled forward with carefree abandon, a grin plastered across his face.
“This is for Gideon,” he snarled, slashing at Vanen’s left hind leg. He didn’t stop there, utilizing his high AGL to scale Vanen’s thigh. The armor plating was slick and treacherous, but Nick used his katana as a climbing pin.
“This is for Emily,” he grunted, plunging the sword hilt-deep into Vanen’s belly and hanging off it for several moments, twisting it mercilessly. He climbed further up the beast’s torso with his bladed weapons, narrowly avoiding Vanen’s clumsy claw attacks. Nick had passed beyond the point of knowing what the fuck he was doing - this was just blood lust, feral and primitive. He reached the ridge of Vanen’s collarbone and sank his axe into the groove under the bone.
“And this is for me,” he muttered tiredly.
Using the axe haft as a platform to launch from, he pushed the tip of his white katana through Vanen’s throat. The dragon expelled a sickening blood bubble as it fought for breath. Nick dropped to the slick cobblestones, taking damage from the fall.
The Great Dragon, last of its kind, toppled forward and landed face-first on a grisly mat of corpses.
Thousands of Love points trickled in, but Nick barely noticed them. He stumbled across the yard, exhaustion threatening to overwhelm him. He was vaguely aware of Lee and Janel emerging from the south west tower.
“Where did that missile come from?” someone asked. It was him.
“A giant ballistae materialized at the top of the tower,” Lee replied, supporting Nick. “I think Yul Sandor’s programmers are in revolt.”
Dexterity Build: A LitRPG Saga (The Complete Dexterity Build Cycle) Page 18