by Shawn Wyatt
No name appeared over its head, though an empty nameplate blurred in an all-too-familiar way. I knew the end result of this process, but I’d never seen it happen.
The creature was being corrupted.
The beautiful sea dragon fell into the water and grew still. No one spoke for several seconds, until Evey whispered. “Is it dead?”
“I’m afraid not.” My voice was grim. “Get ready.”
The dragon rose out of the waves once again, but it no longer writhed against the pain. It focused its glare on the party, and the name above its head solidified.
[Withered Leviathan, Ocean Guardian of Shella, Level 35]
Chapter Thirty Seven: The Leviathan
The Withered Leviathan’s HP gauge pulsed beside its name. The monster had more hit points than I'd ever seen: 7,000.
I barked out orders. “Bastion, focus on healing. Deal damage when you can, but don’t let anyone drop below 50%. This is going to be a long fight.”
The anxiety I had felt before vanished, replaced by a grim determination to win. The calm of a battle settled over me. I didn’t know how to handle endless darkness, but I had learned how to handle almost certain death.
An HP gauge meant an enemy could die.
“How do we start?” Evey asked. Her voice held the same cool quality it always did in the midst of a fight—something I appreciated. Should I ever begin to lose my head in the fight, she would bring me back down to earth.
“It has to have a weakness. We find it and beat on that spot until it dies.” I laughed to reassure myself and hide the fear I felt. “Simple, but effective. But we wait until it makes a move to strike back. Until we know what kind of abilities it has, it’s too dangerous to make the first move.”
And so we waited. The Leviathan fixed its gaze on us.
And it laughed.
The sound was a horrible, grating sound. It sounded like the last desperate gurgles of a drowning man, but still the creature did not strike. It watched with that fiery gaze, but showed no interest in attacking. Instead, it seemed to relish in its newfound strength.
The scales on its body, once so beautiful, now crackled with power. A half-visible shield formed up around it.
The pirates had not heard the plan. One of the pirate crews in the cove launched a volley of cannonballs from their ship. The attack slammed into the Leviathan, but none of the iron balls dealt any damage. The huge dragon turned to the ship with a dismissive glare—and then its tail lashed up from the sea and pierced the ship from below.
The pirates scattered. All had dodged the attack, but their ship took on water. Even I could tell it was going to sink. The men scrambled across the deck and leapt onto the deck of a nearby ship.
The Leviathan turned back to us, as if daring us to attack. “That’s two abilities,” I muttered. “It has a shield that at least blocks physical damage. And its tail can strike from below.”
Wish had been quiet throughout this entire event, but she finally spoke up. “The Leviathan has kept its lower stomach below the waves,” she said. “I’m willing to bet that’s a weak spot.”
“I think she’s right,” Evey said. “And if we wait any longer, that thing may take out another ship. We need to strike.”
“I agree.” It wasn’t ideal, but this monster meant to bide its time.
And time we did not have.
Evey drew back an arrow and aimed below the surface, a string of magic words on her tongue. “Care if I lead?”
“Go for it,” I said.
She nodded, and a moment later, the arrow flashed into the waves. Even beneath the water, I heard the cracking sound as it penetrated the Leviathan’s armor. The monster screamed in pain and fury.
Its HP dropped by 175 points.
Lightning crackled through the waves, and with each pulse of energy, another 25 HP vanished.
Evey hissed between her teeth. “Not much damage, but it hit. That shield absorbed most of it. But at least we can break it."
She pointed. A 1,000-point HP bar had appeared in the air—the shield.
“We shatter that, and we can focus all our attacks on the Leviathan itself,” I said. “Let’s go. Rune, Bastion, go nuts with those cannons.”
I aimed my revolvers at the Leviathan and activated Bombardment. The shells landed around the Leviathan in a flurry of explosions. None did significant damage to the monster, but the shield took a beating. The small amounts of damage began to add up.
When the smoke cleared, the shield had suffered 250 points of damage. 750 HP remained.
Rune launched a cannonball at the Leviathan, but the monster’s tail lashed out of the waves and knocked the projectile aside. It hunched forward and coiled its body into a spring, hate in its eyes.
“I think you made it angry,” Rune said. He loaded another cannonball as he spoke. A second later, Bastion’s cannon sounded. The Leviathan did not block this one. It slammed into the invisible shield and took off another 25 HP.
Evey and Wish spoke in hushed tones, and a moment later, Nova flew from her perch on Boris’ back with a stone in her talons. “Watch this,” Evey said.
Nova flew over the Leviathan and dropped the stone. It slammed into the scales on the creature’s back. The stone did no damage, but it distracted the monster for a moment. That’s all Evey needed.
She fired three arrows at once toward the monster's weak point. Each dealt another 175 damage. The lightning pulsed twice more with each arrow.
The Leviathan now sat at 6,100 HP.
The stone rolled down the Leviathan’s back and exploded in a burst of light. In the place of the stone floated a wyvern, ten feet long with wicked sharp talons and fangs of bone. The Leviathan reared back in shock at the sudden appearance of Wish’s minion and failed to move in time.
The Bone Wyvern opened its mouth and launched a volley of Spiritshards at point-blank range into the Leviathan’s face.
The shield absorbed the damage, but it brought the total amount on the shield down by 250 points. Now only 500 points of damage absorption remained.
The Leviathan screamed in rage and lashed forward with its head. shattering the Bone Wyvern into pieces. Wish cursed and blasted another Spiritshard at the monster, but the Leviathan dodged out of the way and opened its mouth.
Purple light built within the monster’s throat. A moment later, a ray of pure energy rocketed past us and into the wall of the cove and shattered the rock.
“Down!” I shouted.
The Leviathan moved its head in a line and obliterated anything in its path. Rune rolled out of the way in time, but the attack destroyed his cannon.
The attack had to signal a phase shift. This battle was about to get much harder.
The light faded and I pulled myself to my feet in preparation for what came next. The battlefield had drastically changed.
Stalactites had plummeted into the waves, shorn in two by the power of the beam. Another pirate ship lay in ruins. Its crew crowded on the four that remained.
We had lost one cannon, but two more remained. The Leviathan held itself aloft, its body dipping and bobbing like a cobra swayed by the tune of a snake charmer. Purple light pulsed within its body.
Definitely a phase shift.
“Everyone okay?” I called out.
When everyone had checked in, I allowed myself a sigh of relief. A small one.
“Keep your eyes open for another attack like that,” I said. “Let’s keep going. This thing has to go down. Wish, good job with the Bone Wyvern. It dealt a lot of damage.”
“I want revenge," she growled.
“Keep your head,” I warned. “You’ll get payback, but we have to stay alive to make that happen.”
The sound of music drew my attention. Quinn stood on the deck and hummed. Magic poured from his body and washed over the pirates.
The pirates fought tooth and nail against strange frog-like creatures that sprang from the waves and onto the deck of the ships. I pivoted on a heel and looked below us to
the lower decks of the crashed ship. Sure enough, those same monsters had begun to make their way up.
“Incoming,” I said. “Boris, you up for fighting?”
The bear roared his approval. A moment later, four ethereal wolves sprang into existence beside him. “I’ll help, too,” Wish said.
“Guard our backs, big guy,” I said. “Quinn, you okay down there?”
“He’s fine!” Scarlet answered. “We’ll handle these guys. Take down the boss, Ren! You only have fifteen minutes left!”
I slammed the hammer back on my revolvers and turned to the Leviathan once more. “This next round of attacks has to get rid of that shield,” I said. “We can’t waste anymore time. Everybody attack at once.”
“Wait!” Wish closed her eyes, muttered a word, and vanished from existence—only to reappear a few feet to the right. Where she had stood, a ghostly echo of herself remained. “Now let’s attack.”
There would be time for questions later. I fired two more Lightning Shots flying through the air toward the Leviathan. I aimed for its weak spot, but accuracy didn’t matter so much with these rounds. As long as the electricity was close enough to arc up its body, I would do damage.
The ghost-Wish launched Spiritshards with the same speed and intensity as the real one, mimicking all her movements—but though the figure might not be real, the damage was. I watched as the shield dropped by 50, then 100, then 250 points. Arrows, bullets, and spells slammed into it one after another.
The report of a cannon sounded to my left, and the iron projectile cracked and shattered the shield. The Leviathan roared with fury.
Now it lay exposed, completely open to the damage from our attacks. “Don't let up!" I called.
The battle continued in a rhythm: a burst of damage, then a guarded lull while our attacks went on cooldown. I kept one eye on the fight behind us, but it turned out there was no need. Boris and the Spirit Wolves were more than a match for the frog-creatures. I ignored the monsters.
They served only to distract us. If I still cared after the battle, I’d find out what they were called.
The Leviathan took significantly more damage without its shield. It launched blasts of energy from its mouth and lashed out with its tail, but the monster kept half of its attention on the battle below. If the pirates weren't there to distract the Leviathan, this would have been a much harder fight.
I glanced at its nameplate while I reloaded.
[Withered Leviathan, Ocean Guardian of Shella, Level 35]
[HP: 4,875/7,000]
We had hurt it, but not enough. And we had eight minutes left. Our damage clocked in at just over 500 damage per minute, but it wasn’t enough. We would still be 875 damage short when our time ran out.
“We have to do more,” I said. “But how?”
“Just keep fighting,” Evey said. “We’ll find a way. We can do this.”
Hope warred with despair in her words. She wanted to believe we would make it out of this, but she had done the math, too.
I reloaded and fired. Evey shot more arrows, and Wish filled the air with spells.
500 more damage.
7 minutes remaining.
500 more damage.
6 minutes remaining.
500 damage.
5 minutes remaining.
At 3,000 HP, the Leviathan began to build up another wave of its ultimate attack. “Watch out!” I shouted, but the party had already scrambled.
But this time, the attack was different. It moved in an arc. The Leviathan angled the attack at the ceiling and swept down and over, the line unpredictable. One of the pirate ships vanished—along with its crew. I winced and fought down the wave of nausea and guilt at the loss of those lives. The line swept up once more, straight toward our platform.
I traced its path. It would miss me, but Evey stood in its path. And she had turned her back to take on one of the frog-creatures.
My legs moved before I realized. I shouted a warning and slammed into her at full force. The attack swept underneath us, missing my legs by inches, but it sheared the platform in half.
We fell.
Black waves rose up to meet me, but a roar and a blur of motion flashed in my vision. I landed on a soft surface and bounced off onto the rocks below. Evey landed beside me, dazed but alive.
Boris lay on the rocks, his HP at 25%. Cuts and gashes covered his body, but the bear took a ragged breath. “Are you okay?” I asked Evey.
She nodded, the color gone from her face. “I think so,” she said. She put a hand on Boris’ hide to reassure herself he was alive. “Thank you,” she said.
“Thank me later. We still have a monster to kill.”
I looked up at the Leviathan, but its attack had destroyed the two remaining canons. Our party was scattered and distracted. Now only 4 minutes remained on the timer, but it still had 3,000 HP.
There was no way to defeat it in time. We would be stranded here. I gripped my pistol tighter. I couldn’t let it end this way.
At that moment, a burst of golden light filled the cove.
Chapter Thirty Eight: Kalia
I shielded by my eyes from the light. Was this another attack?
The golden light flared out and bloomed into a circle. A figure fell from it. As the figure fell, it lashed out with a huge sword and scored a strike down the side of the Leviathan—underneath the monster's scales.
The light faded, and the figure landed on one of the floating pieces of driftwood that now filled the cove. A girl with faintly Asian features and an unkempt black ponytail stared at the monster with contempt.
Bastion let out a strangled croak. I shot a look toward him, but his eyes locked onto the girl, disbelief written in every line of his face. “Kalia…?”
Surprise slammed into my gut. I turned to look at the girl once more. She fit the description he had given me of his late girlfriend, but the woman in front of us was very much alive. And very angry. She spewed furious words at the monster, but I only caught the tail end of her tirade.
“…days of darkness, only to emerge to a twisted snake. Give me a break.” She crouched and jumped to land another blow across the monster’s scales.
The two hits had dropped the Leviathan by 500 HP total. I called to Bastion. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s all for nothing if that monster doesn’t die in the next two minutes. We kill it now.”
My words snapped him out of his daze. “Right.” He leapt from the top of the platform and landed on a piece of wood. Bastion moved with an agility I had never seen from him before, jumping from platform to platform until he landed beside the girl.
A moment later, golden light bloomed from his outstretched palm and bore into the Leviathan’s side. I launched another volley of bullets at the monster. Evey sank arrows deep into the exposed sections of flesh where the newcomer had shorn away the scales.
The Leviathan’s HP dropped fast. It had 500 HP left when it dropped like a stone under the waves, out of view.
Not a chance. I readied my Tracer ability and fired a shot at the churning water. A split-second later, the outline of the Leviathan appeared as it raced away from the battlefield. “Evey, it’s all on you!”
The Beast Tamer took a breath and lined up her shot. The weak spot on the Leviathan’s stomach pulsed under the power of the Caster Shell. Evey tracked it with her outstretched arm, the power of the bow cracking under her fingertips, and released the arrow.
It sped through the air and sank into the Leviathan's body. Lightning arced over and through its body.
I watched its HP drop from 500 points to 300, then to 100, and then to 25.
The attack hadn't been enough. The Leviathan dove out of sight. Hopelessness hit me like a hammer.
And then the lightning pulse hit, and the monster’s HP bar vanished.
A lightning bolt rocketed from the waves and through the roof of the cove, a column of electricity a thousand feet high and twenty feet wide.
A system prompt appeared.
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<<<>>>
Congratulations! You have purged the corruption from the realm and completed the unique, hidden quest: “Foscor’s Influence: Shella.”
Universal Alert: Players Ren, Evey, Bastion, Wish, Rune, Quinn, and $*&$ have cleared Shella of the influence of the evil necromancer Foscor and brought the world one step closer to peace. As a result, all factions on the realm recognize them as Honored and bestow discounts at all shops.
In addition, inter-realm transportation service has been restored by Toris and Shella, and between Shella and *&$$. Inter-realm messaging is also available.
Quest Complete! The Walls That Bind
You have proven your strength and defeated the corruption. The Great Turtles of Shella now hold you in high regard. You may ask of them a single favor within reason, and they will do all in their power to grant that favor.
<<<>>>
I blinked. Just like that, it was over. We won. I looked across the water at Scarlet, but the Pirate King only flashed a thumbs up. She had a grim look on her face. I didn't know how many of her men she lost. And I didn't want to know how little time remained.
It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.
Also: who was $*&$?
Before I could explore the question any farther, Evey threw her arms around me and cheered. “We did it!”
I pulled her against me. “Yeah,” I said. “It’s over. Finally.” From the deck of the ship, Quinn raised an eyebrow.
I gave him the middle finger.
“Now, who is the girl?” I asked.
Evey pulled back and looked to where Bastion stood. He only stared at the newcomer. She cocked her head to the side and gave him a crooked smile, but for the first time, our Prophet had been struck speechless. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was Kalia. But that’s not possible, is it?”
“Possible? No. Not at all. She’s dead. But this world doesn’t seem to operate under the laws of possible.” I grinned. “Let’s go find out.”
We made our way across the planks of wood and rock to where the two stood. Rune and Wish joined us a moment later. Bastion had found his voice, but could only seem to utter a single word: “You…you…”