Zectas Volume IV: The Salubrious City of Centzo

by John Nest

  Adder and Mamelon checked on the still captured Zectians. Both of them realized why Ledur spoke such words. They gave each other a regretful nod, and ordered their teams to retreat.

  The remaining captured Vigilantez had less than 10% left on their life bars, and they were in too deep inside Horrabelle's Therianthrope army for them to rescue.

  Even if they could free them, they would still soon die from their fatal wounds. The liberated Vigilantez were carried off by Centaurs and Tikbalangs while others hitched a ride on the war chariots pulled by aardwolves.

  Adelige, Rasant, Stark and Weise reunited with their war elephants and rejected Ledur's order. They stayed behind and tried to help the dying Vigilantez that were still captured.

  Stark and Weise rode their own war elephants, while Adelige and Rasant shared one. The trunks of their massive mounts flicked away the Werewolves blocking their path towards their comrades.

  Weise got to one of the half dead Ranseurs whom he recognized as Veinard Gars, one of Sierra's promoted lieutenants.

  "Come on, Veinard, we've got to get out of here," said Weise and pulled him up to his war elephant after he pierced the surrounding Werewolves with his Narwhal Horn.

  "Thank you, Weise, but you shouldn't have come. We've already accepted our fate," said the half dead Ranseur. "If you stay here any longer. You'll all be killed, and the four of you are the last Maneators alive."

  Before Weise could argue with Veinard, Horrabelle's Werewolves swarmed their mounts and quickly brought down the war elephants' life bars to 40%.

  Weise gulped; and watched Adelige, Rasant and Stark fight off the furry monsters. He knew that Ledur and Veinard were both right. With a heavy heart, he turned to his fellow Maneators and cried out. "We have to leave. King Smoke, would want us to live."

  At once all three war elephants turned around and ran after the fleeing Vigilantez.

  Ledur, who was scouring the skies, created several blockades behind the Maneators and delayed the Therianthropes that were coming after them.

  Weise looked back and memorized the faces of those they left behind. He applied pressure on Veinard's open wound to slow down the bleeding. Even though they weren't able to save all of them, he consoled himself with the fact that they saved at least Veinard Gar's life.

  The trapped Vigilantez knew what their role was. The Arcus and Ranseurs went berserk and fought without a thought of defending themselves. Their suicidal attacks managed to hold off most of the Therianthropes from chasing after their escaping comrades, but only for a few minutes as they were quickly devoured by Horrabelle's monstrous army.

  From the sky, Ledur attacked the Werebears with elemental spikes sprouting out from the ground, temporarily impaling them to it. Yet, the Therianthropes continued on with their chase.

  Despite their alphas being stopped, more than three hundred Werewolves pushed on and went after the Vigilantez who were still trying to get away.

  Baldaquin, Earat and Louche; who were waiting for their guildmates inside the forest patch, had set up traps in advance and activated them when the Werewolves entered the tree lines. Yet despite their numerous preparations, they only caught less than two dozen Werewolves.

  The injured Vigilantez fled through the gaps in between the trees, and broke branches along the way. The Acolytes who rode on the war carriages tried to heal as many as they could, but their mana quickly ran out and could not keep up with everyone's injuries.

  At Thyrsus suggestion, all of the Vigilantez teams scattered. Mamelon's, Adder's and Guro's team went straight. Whereas, Thyrsus, Vijaya, Ichaival and Laernea went right. Sharanga's, Gandiva's, Sharur's and Jinggu's went left.

  Meanwhile, the Maneators stayed behind to fight some of the off. Weise handed over Veinard to Laernea, who had an Acolytes and Shamans riding with her.

  Thyrsus hoped that this would give the Werewolves a harder target to follow, and expected the monsters to disperse even more and chase after all the teams.

  Seven minutes after the Vigilantez entered the forest patch, Baldaquin's eyes glowed white. "Macher has entered the treeline," said the Light Wizard to Gandiva, who he hitched a ride on her war carriage.

  "Don't worry, old man. We're almost at the hidden tunnels," replied Gandiva with a grin. She then pointed to a winged Tikbalang waiting for them on top of one of the trees.

  "What about the Maneators?" asked a worried Baldaquin.

  "They're too big to enter the emergency tunnel, and they know how to handle themselves. Besides Ledur is gonna help them out, soon. Right after he secures us," answered Gandiva confidently.

  Ledur waited for them near the trees of the forest patch ended. It was here where Smoke and Ledur created another tunnel on the ground that was connected to the tunnel system in Mount Vorteil.

  After a few seconds, Laernea's team arrived. One by one, all of the teams of the main strike force and the special teams that were scattered entered the entrance of the escape tunnel.

  Despite this, they did not completely lose their tail as almost two hundred Werewolves were still chasing after them. Without decreasing their speed, Horrabelle's minions charged in after the Vigilantez into the dark passage.

  After the last Werewolf disappeared into the tunnel, Ledur landed in front of it. With both his open hands apart, he brought them together and closed the opening on the ground. He manipulated the earth in the area and completely camouflaged the former entrance.

  Ledur then flew towards the fighting Maneators, with the sole purpose of leading Macher's Cavalry Knights to a different direction.

  * * * * * *

  The earth-dome that Ledur made was completely sealed. Their only source of light was from Igniz's flames and the electrical charges coming out of Horrabelle's body.

  Smoke was knocked back as soon as the Witch regained consciousness. He looked around the sturdy, airtight structure and knew that he had a few minutes before Macher and his army could break through.

  However, it dawned on him that he had to defeat Horrabelle as fast as he could as there was another element gunning for his life, oxygen.

  "Igniz, back inside, bud," he quickly called out to his symbiote.

  His symbiote followed his orders without question, and flew into the metal container on his chest.

  "Stay there and keep your fire to a minimum," he said as he worried that if Igniz's fire could quickly burn up the limited oxygen inside the dome.

  With Igniz's safely hidden, the only source of light was now Horrabelle. The Witch was the only one clearly seen, out in the open. She quickly canceled her electrical charges, but not before Smoke's sickle nicked her stomach.

  "Argh!" cried out Horrabelle in pain, but her suffering did not end as she was quickly attacked by Sierra's claws.

  The red Werebear used her Double Slash attacked and smashed the Witch hard against the earth-dome behind her.

  A loud thud was heard, but then complete darkness overtook the earth-dome. A few seconds passed, Smoke didn't move a muscle as he couldn't see anything.

  His Cunning of the Dire Fox allowed him to sense Horrabelle's and Sierra's general locations, but he had no idea what the Witch was doing. He thought about calling out Sierra, but decided not to as it would only give out his position.

  Suddenly, a bright blue light erupted out of Horrabelle.

  "Sierra, jump!" he shouted, but it was too late. He saw a powerful Lightning Strike ram into Sierra's back. She tumbled forward and rolled on the ground.

  Fortunately, for her, her cursed form had a high resistance to most elemental attacks and a colossal life bar which displayed (359,199/478,933 HP).

  It became pitch black again after the attack. Smoke could sense Horrabelle getting closer to him, so he threw the weighted iron ball at her.

  'There's no way she could dodge this,' he thought as he smirked at the charging Witch.

  However, the iron ball went right through and completely missed her. She got in front of him and her palms glowed an electrified blue color. The lumina
nce allowed him to see her face. She gave him a maniacal look before she fired several lightning bolts in his direction.

  Smoke left an after image of himself after he used his Hyper Jump ability and dodged to the right. He didn't want to use this ability so soon, but there was no other way he could have dodged that many lightning bolts at such a close range.

  "Nyak nyak nyak. Is running away the only thing you're good at?" taunted Horrabelle. "I thought this was what you wanted? Me by myself, without my army?"

  Horrabelle then turned to Sierra. "And my most precious, Werebear. I saw you made two other Werebears on your own. You proved how potent your blood really is. I look forward to draining it from your lifeless body. Nyak nyak nyak!"

  Smoke shook his head in dismay. He thought that this earth-dome would give the Witch a big handicap, but he was wrong. Despite her reduced life bar and the poisoned status, Horrabelle was still putting up quite a fight and wasn't going down easy.

  'She must have a sensory ability like my Cunning of the Dire Fox and Sierra's Animal Instinct,' he surmised. It was the only thing he could think of as to how the Witch could find them in this absolute darkness.

  Also, he thought that the Witch's ability was above his, as she easily dodged his frontal attacks and delivered a counterattack on Sierra. He would have wanted to use his current favorite weapon, but he thought that Aral's Lightning Rods would most probably have no effect on her.

  Several things passed through his head, and a question suddenly popped up.

  'But if she had a sensory ability, then how was Sierra able to deliver her Double Slash attack earlier?' he wondered to himself. He couldn't find the answer to that puzzle, but he decided that it was safe to talk out loud as Horrabelle had her own way of finding them.

  "Sierra, are you hurt?" he asked loudly enough for her to hear.

  "I'm fine. But I'm not sure if I could still eat a ram after that attack," she answered him with a pained voice.

  Smoke smiled after he heard Sierra's encrypted answer. "But a tenderized ram is one of the tastiest dishes this world has to offer."

  He suddenly used his Hyper Jump ability and changed to a different location. He used his Extra Sensory ability to see whether Horrabelle was looking at him, but it appeared that she was desperately searching for him instead.

  Sierra then called her attention. "If you say so, Smoke." She paused and waited until he got into position. "Then, let's have ram after we kill this Witch," she said and moved in on Horrabelle.

  "Stop with this nonsense!" yelled out Horrabelle. "The only thing you'll be doing is dyi—"

  The Witch stopped talking as both Smoke and Sierra charged at her simultaneously. Sierra with raised claws came at her from the front while Smoke with his Armored Armadillo Shield ran to her right side.

  With her left hand, Horrabelle fired several of her lightning bolts at Sierra. The Witch then turned to fire the same attack at Smoke with her right, but found no DarkElf to be hit.

  'Yes! I was right. She doesn't have a sensory ability, she was only seeing us in the dark,' he thought confidently and smacked his shield on the back of her head.

  TWANG

  Smoke used his Hyper Jump ability to move behind her almost instantaneously. He used his shield's Armadillo Bash and stunned her. His ability should have a full second before she recovers. He switched out his shield with his weighted chain and sickle. He was about to trap her with its chains, but lightning bolts blasted him away before he could capture her.

  Horrabelle quickly fired a Lightning Strike at the blown away DarkElf before he could recover his footing. Smoke dodged to his right, but was shocked when he felt a pair of hands grab him. The Black Lady of Malady caught him.

  "You're not the only one who can move fast. I can also ride my Lightning Strikes in short distances," she said maniacally.

  Her body emitted black lightning, which brightened the room. Then, a small mouth formed on each of her palms. Their sharp, jagged teeth sunk into Smoke’s flesh. He had already experienced this before and knew what was coming next.

  "Ability Devourer!" cried out Horrabelle and a black progress bar appeared above his head with ‘Cunning of the Dire Fox’ written on it.

  Sierra, who was on the opposite side of the earth-dome, saw what the Witch was doing. She moved as fast as her Werebear legs could carry her.

  Unfortunately, the progress bar indicated that it only had ten seconds left before completion.

  Smoke was in a bind, but he already prepared for this situation. He pointed his hands at the ground behind the Witch and an earth spike came out and struck her squarely on the back.

  Horrabelle released her grip on him and sunk down to the ground. Instantly, the progress bar of the Ability Devourer was canceled. Smoke was about to hit her with his sickle, but the Witch fired a Lightning Strike away from both Smoke and Sierra.

  The Witch's body vanished as she merged with her lightning and materialized again, from a safe distance away.

  "Nyak nyak nyak. Looks like you learned your lesson, Dark—" Horrabelle stopped talking as numerous stone daggers fell down on her. Smoke used his Earth Manipulation to create an attack similar to that of the invisible knives he experienced in Mystique Forest.

  Horrabelle used her lightning to escape the rain of stone daggers, but she got hit several times before she escaped and her life bar now displayed (820,000/1,200,000 HP).

  Yet, the red Werebear followed the course of the lightning and was already running towards her.

  "Sierra, now!" shouted Smoke as he equipped his Armadillo Shield and used his Hyper Jump ability.

  This time, he appeared in front of the Witch and smacked her head with his shield. Shortly after, Sierra used her claws and grabbed a hold of the Witch's shoulders.

  Sierra opened her mouth wide and sunk her sharp teeth into Horrabelle's neck. Blood spurted out, but the red Werebear kept on going. Fighting in such a feral manner used to appall her, but trained to use it after she saw how deadly and effective it was.

  Horrabelle vanished as she merged with her lightning once more and disappeared to the opposite side of the earth-dome. She was breathing hard. She touched her bleeding neck with her hand. The mouth in her palm sucked out the poison. It then coughed out a black goo, closing the wound and ending both her Bleeding and Poisoned status.

  "Thank you, my Werebear. I was having trouble with that poison earlier, but you helped me get rid of it," said Horrabelle sarcastically.

  "Now, allow me to show you two how much I appreciate it," she said calmly. She then chanted and aimed her hands at both Smoke and Sierra before she yelled out. "Dark Chain Lightning!"

  Several branches of black Lightning Strikes appeared out of her hands and hit the two of them at the same time. They were knocked back against the earth-dome and was held there as her Dark Chain Lightning attack did not stop.

  Smoke's life bar quickly depleted to 45% as it displayed (89,017/197,816 HP). He quickly switched to his white metallic staff and created a purple concave barrier.

  His Manatl completely absorbed the Dark Chain Lightning attacks. He looked at Sierra and saw that she was in pain as she struggled to block Horrabelle's attack.

  He knew he had to do something soon or else Sierra could die. He tried to move to the side, and the Dark Chain Lightning slowly followed his Manatl, but it wasn't fast enough to change directions.

  Smoke left an afterimage of himself as he used his Hyper Jump ability and appeared on the Witch's side. He was charging in fast with his Manatl in front of him.

  Horrabelle shifted her attention to Smoke, which gave Sierra the opportunity she needed to escape. The red Werebear rolled to the side, away from the branches of black lightning.

  After she recovered her footing, Sierra also sprinted towards the Witch.

  With both Smoke and Sierra coming at Horrabelle simultaneously, the Witch canceled her Dark Chain Lightning and was about to create a Lightning Strike to ride on.

  However, before her body could merge
with the lightning, the gathered energy from Smoke's Manatl walloped her in the back as he struck her with his white staff.

  Horrabelle's escape was thwarted as she rolled on the floor. Due to the absorbed power of her Dark Chain Lightning, Smoke delivered 244,000 damage points, and her life bar displayed 48%.

  Sierra pounced on the crouched Witch on the ground. Horrabelle's eyes almost popped out, as the red Werebear squatted on her with her full weight.

  Even in the darkness, her big, sharp claws went straight for Horrabelle's pale neck. Slash after slash, blood splattered on the ground.

  Smoke ran to where he could sense Sierra and Horrabelle were, but panted hard as he found it difficult to breathe.