We had all given our best on this first round and had barely reduced the monster’s health by ten percent.
The creature ceased his howling and started laughing. “PATHETIC. YOU WILL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT, WORMS.”
His regeneration ability kicked in, gradually filling up his health bar. He arched backward and his chest expanded, enlarging the fissures covering his body. The green flames coming out of him intensified and burst in all directions, covering the entire area and shrouding us all in flames and ash. Malkyr held up his gauntleted hand, but the flames just washed over him. The gauntlet couldn’t absorb this strange green fire.
The flames inflicted 42 points of damage to all of us and the ash remained, filling our lungs and obscuring our view. Everyone started coughing and rubbing their eyes. Tempest alone was unaffected by the attack. Being a demon had its advantages when fighting one.
Half choked and coughing, I called out, “Bek – hack – hack – get back!” Our little mobile healing platform was not built to take damage like the rest of us.
Stubbornly, Malkyr continued to chop at Jawbreaker, his repeated hits making shallow marks on the creature’s tough exterior. Every time he struck, a small jet of flames erupted out, searing him for a small amount of damage. This was not going well.
Time to bring out the big guns. I took out the Fire Rod and loaded it with a level 20 void crystal. “Malkyr – hand!”
The big man took my meaning immediately. While fighting off a cough, he released one hand from his axe and held it out to me. I activated the rod, releasing a gust of flames at him, reducing its durability by 20 points. The flames were sucked in by the gauntlet and the axe’s rune lit up. Placing his free hand back on the hilt, the axe blazed even brighter. It then began to vibrate, displacing the air around it in what I now recognized as Malkyr’s Concussive Strike skill. He was going all out too.
His Greataxe struck true, shattering the demon’s tough armor-like skin, sending ripples of shockwaves directly into its body and forcing the creature to take a step back to steady itself.
Despite the awesome blow, it only caused 50 points of damage, and Malkyr was sprayed with another gust of flame, bringing his health down to 60 percent.
It took the demon only a second to recuperate from the shockwave. He straightened and bellowed a thunderous chuckle. “BETTER, WORM, BUT STILL – NOT ENOUGH!”
The creature raised both hands high above Malkyr’s head. His fists ignited with hot, green flames. Malkyr was in trouble.
“No!” Hoshisu cried, charging forward while coughing. Her daggers scrapped at the demon’s side, doing little damage. I couldn’t cast another spell for a few seconds, so I tried using Freeze. The effort took 102 of my MP. The creature gave off only the slightest indication of being impeded. Two globes of energy – one golden, one green – hit Malkyr, as our two healers targeted him, raising his health to 90 percent.
Then the fists came crashing down together. Malkyr tried to block with his axe, but he had no chance against that behemoth. The two blazing, rock-like fists descended on the man, flattening him against the rocks. I heard the audible crack of bones. The fists lifted and Malkyr’s body appeared, looking all wrong, broken, and misshapen. He was still alive though, with about 20 percent of his health remaining. He couldn’t survive another hit.
“Shadow-crap!” I cast Shadow Web, sent my dagger zooming at the demon, and ordered Tempest to attack. The web sizzled and withered in the green flames. Hoshisu rushed at her brother and tried to pull him away from the enemy. Jawbreaker wasn’t about to let her get away with that and raised his two flaming fists again. Then Tempest charged in. Coming from behind, the large Demon Wolf jumped on the possessed Ogre, its teeth sinking deep into the creature’s shoulder and clamping hard, interrupting the next attack and buying us a few seconds.
I could sense both Kuzai and Bek casting their healing spells over Malkyr. No one was facing Jawbreaker directly. I knew what that meant. “Time to go play the goblin tank again,” I grunted, stepping forward to stand before the huge creature and activating Mana Shield.
Bellowing a roar, the enraged Ogre grabbed Tempest with two hands, ripped him off his shoulder and hurled him across the chamber. Poor Tempest struck a stone column, hard, then slid to the ground where he remained, whimpering. Jawbreaker straightened, puffing his chest again.
“Shit, another wave – get ready!” I managed to yell before the green fire and ash exploded out of the demon’s body again, washing the area all around us. I was protected by my shield and wasn’t damaged, but the others were scattered and they each got their share. Luckily, the healers managed to get their restorative magic into Malkyr, or else the blast would have ended him. Everyone was injured to various degrees.
I launched a volley of drilling arrows straight into Jawbreaker’s face, doing 30 damage. That got his attention. The demon reached down to me with one arm, green flames dancing between his fingers. His palm was stopped by my shield, hovering a few centimeters away from my face. I breathed a little easier. I could sense him activating his Burn Soul skill. I wasn’t keen on discovering firsthand what that ominous-sounding skill actually did.
Then something unexpected happened.
Break Enchantment hits Mana Shield
Mana Shield spell will be unusable for one minute.
My shield shattered around me and the burning palm reached in and grabbed me. I screamed as the flames cooked my body and boiled my blood. My health plummeted; I was losing 42 HP per second. The others were still recovering from their wounds and couldn’t help. I lost precious seconds and large chunks of health as I writhed in agony before willing myself to act through the pain. I tried using Shadow Teleport, but for the first time, it failed.
You cannot teleport while being restrained.
The flames continued to cook me alive and I was reduced to 50 percent of my health. However, with nearly 300 points of damage inflicted, my Blood Wrath ability kicked in. I channeled the raw rage brought on by the pain, blasting it out around me as a pushing force. Triple-charged, the blast was strong enough to pry open the fist around me. I fell to the hard ground, losing a few more HP. I managed to stand and look up in time to see the two flaming fists descend on me.
Nihilator’s Sanction triggered.
Due to receiving a fatal amount of damage, you have transformed into a being of shadow for one minute. You are completely undetectable and invulnerable for the duration and may move freely. Once the duration is over, you will return to the material plane, fully healed. Mana regenerates at the normal rate.
This ability will not be usable again for the next 24 hours.
Well, damn. That demon basically killed me. I was saved by my boss tier 2 trump card, ‘Nihilator’s Sanction.’ The surrounding shadows were drawn to me like a magnet, bringing me back to full health.
It was obvious now; our enemy was too strong for us. We couldn’t hope to defeat him in a straight up fight. We had to change our tactics. I had nearly a minute to figure out what to do next. I just hoped the others would survive that long. The Shadow Hounds didn’t; that second blast of fire had taken them all out.
For the moment, Jawbreaker seemed content to secure his position over the shrine. The others maintained their distance and concentrated on healing themselves.
I looked up at the ceiling. Almost every book I read that dealt with defeating an overwhelmingly powerful monster underground ended with the resourceful hero causing a stalagmite to fall on said monster, winning the day. Alas, there were no such conveniently placed stone spears in the area above us.
Well, that only left one other possibility. I inspected the shrine carefully. Now that I was invulnerable, I could ignore the imminent danger long enough to concentrate. Luckily, despite being officially on a different plane of existence, I could still ‘read’ the streams of information coming from the material plane.
The shrine exuded darkness, no surprise there. Black-green ribbons extended out of it, stretching all over. I
could sense each ribbon connected to a creature, binding him. Most of the ribbons went upward. That made sense; most demons we encountered were higher up in the fort. A single ribbon went sideways, but to my surprise, it didn’t connect with Jawbreaker. Instead, it disappeared into a dark area even I couldn’t see into. That was weird. Jawbreaker did have a black and green ribbon tethered to it, but that one, like the others from the shrine, was going upward. Yep, weird.
The other party members finally came up with a battle plan. Holding up his amulet, Kuzai cast a spell. A wave of light pushed back the ash and lit up the place. A glitter of light remained on each party member. I snorted. Great, now he remembers to use his buff spells.
Tempest remained behind, still recovering, while the group advanced. Their healing spells were probably ineffective on a demon.
This time, moving together, the twins advanced on Jawbreaker in their usual stance. Kuzai wielded his maul and moved away from them. It looked like they were trying to flank the demon. Bek remained far behind, at the edge of his heal range. I had to admit it was not a bad plan. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t work. Jawbreaker was too powerful for us. His regeneration had already fully healed him. My party members stood no chance against him. Not on their own. With a few seconds remaining on the clock, I watched the melee fighters flanking the demon, who was unwilling to move away from the shrine. The fighters lunged forward, the twins with axe and daggers, the dwarf swinging his heavy maul. Before any weapon could connect, the demon chuckled and activated his Suffocating Flames spell. Fire erupted from his body, pushing everyone away, breaking their momentum. At least Kuzai’s glittering buff seemed effective at repelling the ash.
Still invisible to the demon, I moved next to the shrine, placing it between us. I crouched and hid behind the small structure. A second later I reappeared back in the material plane, fully healed.
The sounds of fighting continued. Still crouching, I took out the Book of the Damned and leafed through it. The book had proved to be invaluable in this adventure. Based on the ribbons I saw, I guessed Ka-De came from the lone, deserted pool we encountered in the great hall above us. I already I knew how to activate the pools. Now I was looking for a way to reverse the effect. Hopefully targeting the demon directly – instead of the pool it came from – would work.
There. Plain and simple. I just had to reverse the mana fluctuation and the pool gate would close. Without the open gateway to sustain it, the demon would be weakened and quickly ‘run out of gas.’ This approach would not have helped us fight the hordes of demons above since the guardian Pyrolith would have simply reactivated the pools. But now that the guardian was dealt with, it should work.
Grinning to myself, I closed the book and stood up, channeling my mana. “Hey, smut face!”
The demon turned its head to scowl at me. He was having a great time pummeling the others. They were all down to about 50 percent of their health.
I opened my mouth and released the mana with a roar. The stream of mana hit the creature and the green ribbon tethering him to our world was cut away. Jawbreaker stumbled, falling to his knees.
I conjured a trio of revolving drilling arrows and called to my dumbfounded companions, “Get it now, while he’s down.” Then I shot the arrows at its face.
His health bar was already shrinking and the drilling arrows hastened the process. Reinvigorated, Malkyr, Hoshisu, and Kuzai howled as they fell upon the kneeling demon, hacking and bashing its body. Jawbreaker was declining before our eyes, losing mass and height. Still, he wasn’t finished. The twins were both in bad shape, suffering damage from the flames that erupted with every hit they landed. Almost blindly, the demon swung his fists, connecting with both of them and hurling them away.
The siblings had a quarter of their health remaining. Kuzai was still holding his own. As a priest of light and higher level than the twins, he was naturally better equipped to battle demonic beings.
I tried using Shadow Web to force the demon onto the shrine. But even in his diminished state, his flames burned my web away. Normal fire wouldn’t be able to do that. Hellfire was a pain in the butt.
“Hack at the legs! Make him fall on the shrine,” I shouted to the dwarf who was trading blows with Jawbreaker.
“Ye want a freaking giant demon on a shrine, ye’ll get yer freaking demon on a shrine,” Kuzai grunted, expertly bashing the demon’s back, making it topple over.
Yes! I was going to make it! I called my dagger to my hand, getting into position, ready to perform the sacrifice.
“ENOUGH!”
The force of the voice blasted us all off our feet, allowing Jawbreaker to rise unsteadily back to his own.
A woman came out of the darkness. I could now clearly see the single horizontal ribbon from the shrine connected to her.
She stood tall and proud, her ebony skin smooth and perfect. Two small antlers grew back from her temples, holding her lush raven-black hair in place.
And she was completely naked.
With large breasts, flat stomach, and swaying hips, she was a sight few men would refuse. The unearthly, dark-skinned beauty glared at us. “You dare assault me at my own shrine?” Though threatening, her voice was rich and throbbing, sending tingles down my spine. “This is my place of power. Here, I reign supreme. Soon, I will be strong enough to bring forth my army of eager minions. They will sweep through your realm, sewing chaos and discord.” She passed her tongue over her blood-red lips as if savoring the notion. “Your mortal souls will be chained in eternal bondage, enthralled by corrupt pleasures, eager to cater to my every deviant whim. But first …” With a flick of her wrist, another ribbon shot out of her body, connecting to Jawbreaker. Immediately the demon stood taller, his wounds beginning to close.
I couldn’t agree more. Analyze.
Kusitesh, Demon of Desire
Level: 200 (10%)
Type: Boss Tier VI [Temptress]
HP: 7,234, MP: 14,296
Attributes: P: 6, M: 202, S: 41
Skills: Seduce 51, Charm 51, Barter 51, Withering Gaze 212, Dominate 212
Traits: Demonic
Resistances: Fire 100%, Armor 346, Mental 80%, Spell 60%, Cold -50%, Holy -50%
Description: Having lived for millennia, Kusitesh has achieved great power. Using her wiles and magic she dominated lesser demons and bound them to her will. After being summoned to the material plane by an incompetent Ogre summoner, Kusitesh capitalized on the situation. Unshackled by a flawed ritual, she was able to take control over her summoner, Jawbreaker, and infuse him with infernal energies which strengthened and further bound him to her will. Since then, she has used the power of the shrine as a conduit to summon her lesser minions, taking over the Ogre clan in the process. She now roams the forsaken fort, looking for ways to gain more power and wreak devastation upon the world.
Now that was the specific background I was expecting from the final boss. Crap.
Kusitesh’s demeanor changed. She wrapped her slender arms under her ample bosom and spoke in a cooing voice. “Come now, boys, there’s no need to harass my bodyguard, is there?” Her smile was ravenous and her eyes shone with an ethereal red. Waves of intense mana and information threads erupted from her like a tidal wave.
Malkyr stopped dead in his tracks.
I was about to answer with a drilling arrow to her head, then a realization hit me. Why fight against her? She is sooo gorgeous and defenseless. We could be good together … We are both monsters and bosses after all; it’s like we’re made for each other.
[Come to me, my love. Serve me, worship me.]
I could hear something else screaming inside my head. It sounded familiar, like a long-forgotten colleague. I shook my head to clear out the bothersome noise and obediently stepped toward the love of my life.
“What’s wrong?” Hoshisu asked sharply.
“Sorry, sis.” The big man was struggling to move. “She hit me with a debuff. I can’t move till it wears off.”
“Damn it,” she hissed. “I see it. There’s a ‘Charmed’ symbol over your icon. No wonder she got you. She has an ‘impossible’ tag; she’s way out of our league.”
[Kill her for me, my love and we shall be together for all time]
Yes! What an excellent idea.
I conjured my spinning missiles and launched them at the evil traveler woman.
“What the hell are you doing!” Malkyr yelled as the three projectiles hit Hoshisu, instantly claiming a third of her health. Fighting travelers was so much easier than having to deal with huge, possessed Ogres.
“You will not stop us!” I snarled at them.
“He’s got the Seduced debuff” Hoshisu called out.
“What? That’s impossible, NPCs can only affect the minds of …” His eyes widened at the realization.
“What’s the matter, you white-haired wench,” I taunted the woman, “I thought you wanted to fight me.” I was vaguely aware that the annoying dwarf was somewhere nearby, fighting Jawbreaker. “Well, here’s your chance.”
“Fine.” Her gaze shot daggers at me. She withdrew a chain belt from her inventory and slapped it over her shoulder. It was a chainmail bandoleer. It had eight holstered throwing daggers placed at equal intervals for easy reach.
I snorted. Like it’s going to do her any good.
The woman advanced on me, holding her daggers. I raised one hand leisurely and conjured another trio of arrows. Before I could complete the spell, Hoshisu rolled forward, instantly closing the distance between us, and slashed at my arm, breaking the spell.
Hoshisu’s daggers hit you for 18 damage.
Clenching my teeth, I channeled my mana into a roaring tornado, ready to unleash shadowy horrors and pain on the annoying woman.
Then something caught my eye.
Bek.
He was moving like a sleepwalker, his body rigid, toward Kusitesh. She bent down, her hands caressing his cheeks, then held his head steady. Her eyes shone brightly as she gazed straight into his eyes. Bek screamed, and his body started shriveling. A vaporous mist came out of his mouth and went into the woman’s. The goblin’s body deflated, leaving behind an empty sack of skin and bones. Kusitesh rose to her full height, licking her lips.
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