Zectas Volume IV: The Salubrious City of Centzo

by John Nest

  It launched its hooves in a straight punch and bashed the skull helms of four Warriors. They were blown away and tumbled to the ground. Fortunately for them, their headgear was the only thing that got smashed.

  Adder and the rest of the Condortlians snapped out of being stunned. With his tower shield in the lead, Adder used Emerald Bash and his shield was instantly covered in a green light. He smashed it into Schrecklich’s torso, stunning him for three seconds. With the monstrosity stunned, he then used Emeridian Slash and reduced its defense to zero.

  Six bastard swords plunged into the monster's body from all directions. Their attack did not stop, and was shortly followed by numerous arrows from Smoke and the Centaurs. In the span of three seconds, Schrecklich took a total of 65,000 points of damage.

  Despite taking heavy damage, the monstrosity remained unfazed. It roared once more and stunned the Condortlians surrounding it. It quickly became a battle of who could stun first. This time, Schrecklich specifically targeted Adder and drove its hooves into his chin, sending him crashing into the ceiling.

  Smoke unequipped his bow and leapt to catch Adder before he dropped to the floor. Together, the two of them moved out of the monster's range.

  The Centaurs continued attacking from a safe distance, but their damage was not enough to stop the monstrosity from pummeling the Condortlians near it. Their life bars quickly went down to 75%.

  The Warriors who weren't targeted stabbed their bastard swords into the monster and dealt more damage than the Centaurs’ arrows. However, as soon as Schrecklich's stun ability was ready, it used it again and stunned the Warriors.

  As Schrecklich was about to attack the immobilized Warriors, Adder's shield bashed into its side and stunned it. The Condortlian leader could not allow it to continue damaging his brothers. Instead of attacking with his BlitzSturm, Adder backed away out of the range of the monster and readied his shield to stun it again as soon as he was able to.

  Schrecklich was attacked by arrows and swords. Even though its life bar still displayed 85%, it knew that the situation was not in its favor. It retreated to a corner of the room where more black wires converged. There, it joined its hooves together and created a ball of electricity. Before the Warriors could reach the monster, it pushed the charged ball towards the black wires. Sparks flew everywhere as the electricity travelled through the wires, headed for the remaining dormant Varanus Indicus.

  SPARK SPARK SPARK SPARK SPARK

  The straps that held the mutated Lizardites down were incinerated by the electricity. Slowly, thirty light green monsters stood up. Their life bars were at around 120,000 HP, half of their maximum value.

  Smoke quickly assessed the situation.

  "Everyone, fight the half-dead monsters. Adder and I will deal with that abomination," commanded Smoke decisively.

  The Centaurs focused on the Varanus Indicus nearest to them. Each of their fire arrows damaged the mutated Lizardites for 1,500 points.

  Groggy from the sudden awakening, the Varanus Indicus were sluggish and took the arrows to their bodies without defending. The Centaurs killed one of the experimental monsters in a matter of seconds, but they regained their senses after the first Varanus Indicus fell.

  The mutated Lizardites charged at the Centaurs with their sharp claws protruding out of their five fingers.

  SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH

  The Condortlian Warriors arrived from the side of the monsters and slashed their green flesh with bastard swords. The Varanus Indicus may have increased their life bars, but their defenses had clearly been lowered.

  Ten Varanus Indicus continued their charge at the Centaurs, while nineteen faced the outnumbered Warriors.

  The Centaurs kept firing at the charging monsters. When the mutated Lizardites got too close for comfort, they used their front legs and attacked the monsters, knocking them back a few meters. They used their arrows once more and waited for them to get closer for another kick.

  Concurrently, the Warriors had a difficult time facing two monsters at the same time. Luckily, their round shields were large enough to give them protection from one monster while they hacked their bastard swords at the other.

  Yet despite this, the Warriors' life bars were steadily being chipped away as the Varanus Indicus’ claws scratched their arms, legs and shoulders.

  Adder, who was distracted watching his brothers' difficult battle, was smashed into the wall when Schrecklich’s electrified hooves rammed against his Condortlian shield. After it produced the electricity to awaken the Varanus Indicus, its hooves retained the electrical charge.

  Smoke stepped in and threw his sickle at the bizarre monster, slashing its right arm.

  "Focus, Adder!" he yelled out as he stood between the two of them.

  ROOOOOAAAARR

  Schrecklich roared once more , aiming to stun Smoke, but the DarkElf expertly leapt backwards while throwing his sickle again, attacking the monster and escaping the range of its ability.

  Due to the confined space, Smoke couldn't safely use his Cyclone of Slaughter. He thought about using his Manatl, but he wasn't confident that it could block Schrecklich's stun attack.

  He briefly checked on the rest of his men and found that they were slowly being overpowered. He knew he had to defeat Schrecklich soon, but he couldn't think of how to do it. He unequipped his weighted chain and sickle and decided to risk it.

  "Stun him!" Smoke ordered Adder while he leapt up and scaled the wall of the black mansion.

  Adder charged his shield for a frontal attack, only to be pushed to the side by Schrecklich's hooves. He dug his Condortlian shield into the floor and stopped himself from moving farther away. Yet, this proved to be a grave mistake, as Adder was still within the range of the monster’s roar.

  Schrecklich used its stun ability and immobilized Adder. As it moved in closer and readied its hooves for another attack, Smoke leapt from above the abomination and tightened a noose around its mouth with his perlite chain.

  "Adder, now!" shouted Smoke as his legs locked around Schrecklich's neck, while both his hands tightly gripped the chains. This prevented the monster from shouting and Smoke hoped that this disabled its stun ability.

  Adder lunged his massive BlitzSturm into the monster's stomach and it went cleanly through its body. He then tried to pull it out to the side, but a charged hoof smashed into his chest and sent him flying towards the wall. Due to Adder's Death Grip ability, Schrecklich's attack forced the BlitzSturm to come out of its side and accidentally damaged itself.

  Inflicted with Bleeding status, Schrecklich's life bar displayed (525,450/700,000 HP) and was losing 500 HP per second.

  With his legs locked around Schrecklich's Werebear neck, Smoke checked on Adder's life bar and found that it was already at less than half, as it displayed (89,337/220,750 HP). He knew that Adder couldn't take much more of the monster's beating, but he had to stay where he was in order to prevent the monster from using its stunning ability. He was even more troubled when he saw that the rest of his men were still struggling with the Varanus Indicus they were facing.

  Deep in thought on what to do, he almost failed to notice the warning that Cunning of the Dire Fox sent him when both of Schrecklich's charged Tikbalang hooves went over its head and were about to flatten Smoke’s body. Luckily, he was able to dodge one of the hooves and took the other with his shoulder and was knocked off of the monster's neck.

  He tumbled on the ground and immediately switched out to his power chainsaw bow once he recovered his footing. He fired eight poison arrows and finally inflicted the monstrosity with Poisoned status. Coupled with Bleed damage, Schrecklich was now losing 600 HP per second.

  With its long Gargantuan Goblin legs, it took large strides and was almost in front of Smoke in no time. The DarkElf was only able to fire another round of arrows before he was within range of the monster’s stun ability.

  ROOOOOAAAARR

  Smoke was stunned. His firm grip on his bow loosened and stood helplessly in f
ront of Schrecklich. As the monster’s hooves were about to crash down on him, Condortl’s Emerald Tower Shield struck the monster's back.

  KLONG

  After Adder stunned the stitched-up three-meter-tall monstrosity with Emerald Bash, he leapt forward and brought the full weight of his BlitzSturm down on Schrecklich’s right shoulder with the intention of severing its arm, but he only reached halfway when the left hoof came straight at him.

  Due to its long arms, Schrecklich could reach abnormally far. Its charged hoof was met with a Condortlian Shield, as Adder managed to raise it in time. He was blown away from the monster, but took no damage from that exchange of blows.

  As Schrecklich was about to go after Adder, Smoke's chain and sickle came flying through the room. It looped around the monster’s right shoulder, with the sickle digging deep into the open wound Adder had made.

  With all his might, Smoke turned around and pulled as hard as he could. He heard Schrecklich scream out in pain as he felt the tension on his chain disappear. He smirked as he looked back at the monstrosity and found its right arm lying on the ground next to it. He was about to pull back his sickle when the monster stepped on it with its foot.

  Schrecklich then used its remaining Tikbalang arm to wrap the perlite chain around it and pulled the DarkElf towards it.

  Smoke used Earth Manipulation to create an inclined foothold on the floor to support his weight and prevented himself from being pulled by the monster. However, the chain felt painful, as the monster yanked on it stubbornly and with great strength. He was forced to release his weighted chain and sickle and watched it fall in front of Schrecklich.

  Even though both Smoke and Adder were out of range, the monster roared for the sole purpose of taunting the two of them. Before it was done, eight arrows stuck themselves into its chest. It hurriedly broke off the shafts with a single stroke of its arm and then shifted its gaze between Smoke and Adder. After seeing that Adder had less HP, it went straight for him.

  Emerald Bash was still on cooldown, but Adder charged forward with his green and black shield in front of him and his BlitzSturm stretched behind his shoulder.

  TWANG

  Adder's shield resounded when Schrecklich's charged hoof made contact with it. He planted his feet firmly and stabbed his BlitzSturm into the floor. He was able to prepare for the impact and was not blown away by the monster's attack.

  The monster then continued pummeling his shield with its hoof. He tried to launch a counterattack, but his sword was still stuck in the floor. Schrecklich would attempt to attack his side, which made him move his shield around. Simultaneously, he yanked his BlitzSturm hard with his left arm, but it still wouldn't budge. He stared at his regrown limb and concentrated on using all of its strength.

  SLASH

  Adder moved his shield out of the way as he pulled BlitzSturm out in one fluid motion. He sliced through Schrecklich's left arm and it dropped down as blood gushed out of its body. He still held his double-bladed sword over his head, as he couldn't believe the power of the attack he performed. He was smiling, when he suddenly noticed the monster's head coming straight at him with its mouth wide opened.

  Schrecklich sunk its teeth deep into Adder's neck. With his left arm still pulsating from the newfound strength, Adder brought back his sword and severed the monster’s head. As it rolled across the floor, its life bar displayed zero.

  Adder dropped to one knee, and a notification window popped up.

  + Your party has dealt a fatal blow to Horrabelle’s Monstrosity: Schrecklich.

  + Your party killed Horrabelle’s Monstrosity: Schrecklich.

  + Your party gained 1,800,000 experience points.

  Smoke dismissed the window and ran to where Adder was. Along the way, he swiftly picked up the items dropped by Schrecklich.

  + Acquired Elemental Stone: Electro Stone [3 Pieces]

  + Acquired parchment: Horrabelle's Notice on the Red Scamp

  + Acquired parchment: Ultimo's Request - Three Troublesome Villages

  Smoke didn't pay much more attention to the items, as he was more concerned about Adder. His friend was Bleeding and only had 5% of his life bar left. Despite Adder’s increased health regeneration granted by his Self-Heal ability, he was still losing HP.

  He always reminds his private army members of the importance of their lives, but Adder has a tendency to fight to the brink of death. "I told you not to overdo it,” said Smoke while supporting Adder’s back and helping him lie down. “I'm not letting you die on me, Abaven."

  With his open palm pointed at Adder, Smoke used Life Share. A small ball of white light formed in front of his hand and launched itself towards the injured Condortlian, hitting him in the chest and healing him for 3,640 HP. At the same time, Smoke’s life bar went down and displayed (149,765/181,997 HP).

  Thirty seconds and fifteen balls of light later, Adder was out of critical condition. However, he was still Bleeding. “Hold still, this will hurt,” said Smoke. He took out a fire arrow out of his backpack window and pressed the arrowhead against the wound on Adder’s neck. His friend cried out in pain as the arrowhead inflicted a small amount of Fire damage upon contact with his flesh, but understood that it served to cauterize the wound and remove the Bleeding status.

  Seeing Adder’s life bar slowly starting to fill up on its own, Smoke heaved a sigh of relief. Turning his attention to the other side of the room, he saw that the Centaur Rangers had 25% of their life bars remaining, while the Condortlian Warriors who hid behind them had less than 10% left. They were cornered by thirteen green monsters that still had 39% of their life bars..

  Fortunately, none of his men had died yet, but he needed to act fast to ensure it stayed that way. He equipped his white metallic staff and dashed towards his team.

  With the aid of his Lunar boots, he leapt over the green monsters and stood between them and his men. He then created a flat vertical Manatl as wide as he could manage, leaving only his head and feet exposed. He ducked immediately afterwards, as the Varanus Indicus wasted no time in reaching for his head.

  Due to the numerous Life Shares he gave Adder, Smoke was left with (95,165/181,997 HP) on his life bar. With most of the mutated Lizardites now going after his feet, he had to constantly jump around to avoid their attacks.

  "Centaurs, use your arrows!" ordered Smoke while desperately dodging.

  The Centaurs immediately followed his command and fired their arrows, while the Warriors took out pieces of grilled ancient bison meat to recover some of their HP.

  Only two minutes passed, but Smoke felt exhausted from evading most of the Varanus Indicus' attacks. His life bar had already whittled down to 33%, but most of the green monsters still had 25%. Meanwhile, most of the Warriors had recovered 10% of theirs.

  Smoke waited for the right opportunity to order them to attack. He knew that the Centaurs' arrows alone could not kill them all, as well as that his Manatl wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

  Suddenly, Adder's BlitzSturm came crashing down on one of the Varanus Indicus and sliced its torso in half.

  "Warriors, now!" shouted Smoke.

  Simultaneously, ten Condortlian Warriors climbed onto their Centaur comrades' backs and jumped over Smoke's Manatl. All of them delivered swift strikes across the backs of the Varanus Indicus behind them.

  At the same time, Smoke canceled his Manatl and drove his charged white metallic staff into the chest of the nearest Varanus Indicus, instantly depleting the monster’s remaining HP.

  Smoke was about to attack the next closest mutated Lizardite, but Adder's BlitzSturm beat him to it and sliced through its body. Meeting Adder’s gaze, he acknowledged his desire to keep fighting despite his weakened state, but still stayed close to him to ensure his safety. As the battle continued, Smoke’s team overpowered their enemies.

  After almost an hour since they entered, Smoke and his men finally cleared the third room of the black mansion. They all dropped to the floor from exhaustion and took out their emer
gency rations to replenish their HP and MP.

  While eating a piece of jerky, Smoke stood up and gathered the remaining pieces of paper on the desk. He then turned to his men and said half teasingly, "Alright, we have one more room. Remember to stay alive."

  Adder and the rest of his team groaned loudly, but knew he was being serious. After all, they all swore to wipe this black mansion clean of Horrabelle's wickedness.

  CREEEEEEEAK

  Slowly, the door of the room they were in opened.

  Smoke’s men tightly gripped their weapons and prepared themselves for the worst. Most of their life bars were still below 50%.

  A sigh of relief escaped from them as Sierra and her team entered through the door. Smoke walked over to Sierra and Ledur in order to greet them.

  "Glad you finally made it inside," he said.