by G. Akella
My emotional state was rather peculiar. The gray icons of my friends had filled me with a boundless rage that hadn't abated one bit, but somehow I felt... calm. And it wasn't the kind of calmness that comes with popping a sedative. No, this was closer to what a skydiver might feel mid-dive upon deciding that there's no need to release their parachute because they're actually a bird.
With a deafening crash, the intact section of wall twenty yards ahead was consumed by a bright fiery blast. The enemy spell went right through it, smashing into the side of the well and spreading around it in a pool of black flame. One of the shards ricocheted painfully into my shoulder. I looked up at the titan's frame, rocking evenly as he moved, and smirked. Won't be long now, you shithead. The castle will be rebuilt, but you won't be. Not in the Gray Frontier, not anywhere.
The burning rock popped open, like slate tossed into a bonfire, as the wind drove out the smoke through the breaches in the wall. The air was so hot that breathing was a struggle even in combat form. And yet, I was calm. As calm as anyone would be when expecting an outcome and not doubting it for a moment. Thirty more seconds...
With a step forward, I went to unsheathe my sword... And went nearly blind from the flash that followed. I was expecting something kind of like it, but this... The blade of my sword shone crimson with the power of a setting sun, the luminescence instantly dispersing the tongues of black flame scurrying from the crater. I focused on it... and exhaled in shock.
Ruination.
Sword: one-handed. Great Sword. [Contains a Great Essence.]
Bound item.
Durability: 15,938/20,000.
Epic scalable.
No minimum level.
Damage: 2810-5620.
+????? additional Primordial Chaos damage.
+300 to strength,
+150 to vigor,
+300 to constitution,
7.5% to critical hit chance with a physical attack.
+300% to damage dealt to Great Essences.
+0.03% chance to paralyze a Great Essence for 30 seconds.
Winged Lord's Reprisal.
Creatures above level 900 suffer 2,000,000 damage when struck. The damage is doubled every second until the death of either the target or the owner of the sword.
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Weight: 10 lbs.
So that's how it is... No one was going to help me in killing the titan, and I was a fool to have thought otherwise. And what was up with all these bloody last-second revelations?! Thank Hart for the automatic calculator implanted by the System in our heads - you needed merely to think a question to instantly get an answer. Geometric progression times two meant that by second twenty the damage would surpass one trillion, and so...
The calculations were quickly overshadowed by a terrible realization. I looked back to the keep being devoured by the black flame, lingering on the distancing figures of the young women, then turned back toward the titan just as his own head turned in my direction.
Twenty seconds... I had planned on popping Setara's Shield before Step through Darkness, but now I'd need to activate it simultaneously with my first attack. Too late and his shield would burn right through me; too early and the titan would live... Hart! Why did it have to be me?!!
KELLAS... a low rumbling voice echoed in my head.
With a shift of the head, Vaepar's eyes flashed crimson as a massive dazzling sphere flew right at me.
I rolled forward, then Jumped! Rock fragments scraped against my armor as a howling wave of scorching flame passed overhead and smashed into the shrine, wrecking a section of the western wall and igniting a couple of nearby trees as if they were poplar wool.
That's it, you bitch! I've got my thirty seconds!
I used the broken rock to quickly get over the blockage, and then popped Sprint!
"KILL HIM!" roared Vaepar as he turned toward me.
The Darkaaneese centuries broke into a gallop, readying their lances as they yelled out their war cries. Still over a hundred yards away while I was just a few dozen steps from the Ancient's aura. I would make it! And I didn't give a rat's ass about their 400+ levels.
Seven-foot-long tongues of flame from the aura, smoke billowing from the ground, hundreds of attacking riders, and the colossal frame of the Ancient God... Taken together, it made for a terrible, beautiful sight.
Ten steps... Nine... I couldn't use Jump and Step through Darkness, not just yet.
The sun glinted off the tips of Darkaanese lances and sharp-edged helms. As Vaepar lowered his head, the cavalry commander lowered his visor with his shield hand.
Fury of Primordial Chaos! As I took my next step, a brilliant vortex spun and twisted all around me.
"Die, all you bastards!"
The knights bearing down on me dissolved in the spell's radius like moths in an inferno. And my reaction was uncontrollable, uproarious laughter.
You have gained a level!
Current level: 301.
You have 3 talent points to allocate.
Class bonus: +1 to intellect; +1 to spirit.
You have 3 stat points to allocate.
With a monstrous roar, Vaepar opened his maw and spat out a giant jet of black flame.
"Please survive, Roman, for the love of God..." I heard Masyanya whisper in the channel.
Survive? I laughed on the inside. What could these wretches do against an Elder?! This fat, dumb, fire-spitting cow would croak before the minute was done!
You have gained a level!
Current level: 302.
You have 4 talent points to allocate.
Class bonus: +1 to intellect; +1 to spirit.
You have 6 stat points to allocate.
Stopping a galloping mount was a hard task - harder still when death itself was galloping to meet you. The Ancient's breath drowned in a rainbow of Chaos, infusing the vortex around me with dark notes. Seventy yards... Sixty. With the stream of flame exhausted, Vaepar shifted his head, pointing at me with his horns.
Is he trying to gore me or something? I thought with mirth just as I realized it was TIME!
Infernal Rage! Setara's Shield! Step through Darkness!
Without even bothering to keep my balance, I drove the tip of my blade into the gray bone armor under my feet. The sword slid into the monster's flesh without resistance, lodging in there for good. Well, this is unexpected. I fell flat on my belly, clutching the hilt of Ruination that was growing hotter by the second. Gods! Let me survive the half-second when the Shield expires!
1…
Winged Lord's Reprisal hits Vaepar for 2,000,000 damage.
Attention! Your astral body has been damaged by 5%. The strength of your astral body is 95%.
Attention! Damage to your astral body changes your perception of and control over your character.
Attention! Complete destruction of your astral body results in the loss of your character!
Blood-red fissures were starting to form on the bone plate around the sword. My ears were fully clogged from Vaepar's terrible roaring. The goddess' shield shone like the sun, rendering harmless all hostile spells and blocking out the dark haze of the monster's defensive force field. Hart! I had counted on Chaos adding to my damage... And covering me in that fraction of time between the goddess' shield and my sword attack.
2…
Winged Lord's Reprisal hits Vaepar for 4,000,000 damage.
Attention! Your astral body has been damaged by 5%. The strength of your astral body is 90%.
Attention! Damage to your astral body changes your perception of and control over your character.
Attention! Complete destruction of your astral body results in the loss of your character!
Astral body?! I felt a chill as the meaning of the system messages finally dawned on me. But Setara's Shield was supposed to block everything... Hart! There was even a moment I thought I would survive this day... It must be the astral body that was powering the Winged Lord's spell. Screw it! So we'l
l die together! I knew what I signed up for...
3…
4…
5…
Winged Lord's Reprisal hits Vaepar for 32,000,000 damage.
Attention! Your astral body has been damaged by 5%. The strength of your astral body is 75%.
Dozens of arrows smashed into the goddess' shield as dark crimson blood began spilling from the cracks in Vaepar's skin. Suddenly, the armor underneath me turned to gray stone. The Ancient pushed off the ground and began to rear, slowly spreading his massive stone hands wide. Just hang on, don't get go... I clenched the hilt of the sword with both hands.
6…
7…
Winged Lord's Reprisal hits Vaepar for 128,000,000 damage.
Attention! Your astral body has been damaged by 5%. The strength of your astral body is 65%.
The stone titan shook his shoulders left and right, the tip of his tail glancing harmlessly off of me as I held on for dear life, like a carcass hung on a hook. I would have lost my grip long ago had we been in the real world, but this world was anything but! My blade was lodged in the monster's flesh for good, and with my strength stat I could ride a bloody roller-coaster while hanging on with only one hand.
8…
9…
10…
Winged Lord's Reprisal hits Vaepar for 1,024,000,000 damage.
Attention! Your astral body has been damaged by 5%. The strength of your astral body is 50%.
Two enormous six-fingered paws capable of crushing a bull struck the shield in quick succession. Choking on fury, Vaepar spread his arms and began falling backwards.
11…
12…
Winged Lord's Reprisal hits Vaepar for 4,096,000,000 damage.
Attention! Your astral body has been damaged by 5%. The strength of your astral body is 40%.
Due to your astral body being severely damaged, your senses of sight, hearing, taste and smell have been deactivated.
Due to your astral body being severely damaged, your Demonic Rage Form II is unavailable.
Attention! Complete destruction of your astral body results in the loss of your character!
I could neither see nor hear anymore. The monotonous female voice and the text somehow registered in the blanket silence and darkness, but I waved them away, clutching even harder while trying not to think about the waves of pain flooding into my consciousness.
13…
14…
Winged Lord's Reprisal hits Vaepar for 16,384,000,000 damage.
Attention! Your astral body has been damaged by 5%. The strength of your astral body is 30%.
…
Your Toughness skill has increased to 68%.
The impact against the ground knocked whatever wind I still had out of me. A terrible force tore at my body with jagged, razor-sharp hooks. I felt as if my joints were being turned inside out, and my bones were being stuffed into a meat grinder.
15…
16…
17…
Winged Lord's Reprisal hits Vaepar for 131,072,000,000 damage.
Attention! Your astral body has been damaged by 5%. The strength of your astral body is 15%.
…
Your Toughness skill has increased to 69%.
The pain was gone! It had dissolved in me entirely. Dodo... I have a sister, and she will be quite upset to hear of my demise...
A picture began to form before my mind's eye. The contours of a marble terrace. A huge red sun behind a shroud of clouds over distant peaks. Three dazzlingly beautiful young women in gold-trimmed ornate tunics and white-as-snow angel wings at their backs. Two young guys and a powerful older one with a thick black beard. The images resembled the Ancient Greeks' depictions of their gods. Is this the end? One of the women moved towards me, her gait brisk and easy over the marble floor. As her hand touched my cheek, I looked up into her eyes, filled with love and hope...
The picture shredded into thousands of pieces that were instantly devoured by the black flame.
19…
Winged Lord's Reprisal hits Vaepar for 524,288,000,000 damage.
Attention! Your astral body has been damaged by 5%. The strength of your astral body is 5%.
…
Your Toughness skill has increased to 70%.
Goodbye, Alyona, was all that I could think before falling into complete and total blackness.
Chapter 4
9, 8, 7...
A silvery shadows alighted on his shoulder. Glitch. The goddess' body looked like a broken doll in Halephos' hands. Though she had a little over half of her HP remaining, her hands drooped lifelessly as her head swung from side to side. With a mighty leap, Dylanneus threw up his bow as a dozen arrows flew at the monster's head, leaving dark trails in the air. Neima looked frozen with her hands raised, the goddess' palms radiating a soft green glow.
6, 5, 4...
There was an ear-splitting crash from behind, as if some unseen force tore a hundred millennia-old trees from the ground. The air grew thick and the temperature increased noticeably rose.
"Max..." the shock in Alyona's voice was mixed with fear.
3, 2, 1...
Glitch growled ferociously from his shoulder. Hazy images flashed before his eyes. His ears were clogged. Dark emerald vortexes were forming from his outstretched hand, spinning...
…!
A gargantuan spear struck Halephos in the shoulder. Rock debris rained as the titan was spun around by the terrible force of the blow, arms flailing, then collapsed heavily on his back. Loaetia's body was thrown aside, where she lay on the ground motionless.
"Bastard!"
The sensation was akin to having your skin and flesh ripped from your arm, right to the bone. Max gritted his teeth and closed his eyes to try and block out the pain.
"What was that?" Alyona exhaled in astonishment, touching him gingerly on the shoulder.
"Hold on..." Max staggered, touching the weasel perched on his shoulder with his left hand.
Only a quarter HP... He had planned on taking off at least a third. It would appear that the titans weren't merely hibernating these past two-and-a-half thousand years.
Loaetia still wasn't moving, the goddess' mantle torn and soiled with blood, but at least Kirana, Alak, Mara and Amerys were finally recovering. Leaping to his feet, Alak rushed Halephos as the latter was rising. Mara threw up her staff as a thick dark cloud shrouded her figure. With a powerful blow, Halephos threw Alak back, then turned and shambled toward Loaetia.
Why didn't he aggro? Did he regard the spear as an attack from the forest? Or did he simply not give a damn about the game's laws? It was now or never!
The gods were going to run out of prana. Once Loaetia died, Neima alone wouldn't be able to keep up Kirana's group.
Now or never...
The earth shook underfoot. Halephos froze in his tracks, turned his head north, then threw it back and let out a blood-curdling howl. Valeph joined in a second later. So filled with madness and hatred was this collective cry that even the gods seemed dazed by it.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Max took a step forward and spoke into the channel, trying to keep his voice level.
"All damage on Halephos! I... will help..."
"No, Guardian! DON'T DO IT!!!" Neima's face, twisted with fear, appeared before him.
He had expected something to this effect, so he gave the plea no mind.
Five presents... The thought was warming, soothing. Max smiled, then pressed the two dark red icons on his action bar, one after another.
Sacrifice! Fury of the Great Forest!
An instant before that, a deathly cold burned his left ear as an icy wave rushed over his body. The growling on his shoulder became wheezing as the air regained its thickness and honey-like viscosity.
The emerald spear struck Halephos right in the center of his chest, slicing right through and leaving a gaping hole with molten edges. The titan reeled, froze momentarily, then crumbled to the ground in a giant heap of rocks.
The ground kept moving in rhythmic waves. Neima fell to her knees, face covered with her hands. Ingvar's sword smashed into the Valeph's horn, slicing it right off. The next moment, the Ancient was hit with a pillar of light and a flaming arrow, sending his HP flying to the eighty percent mark. Max gritted his teeth in anticipation of the recoil, then looked down at his tingling palms.
You have gained a level!
Current level: 331.
You have gained a level!
.....................................................................
You have gained a level!
Current level: 380.
You've earned a unique achievement, Halephos' Slayer. Halephos is a unique boss that can only be killed once. You and your allies have been granted a permanent 11% increase to your physical and magic damage.
You've earned a unique achievement, Godslayer [Artifact rank]. You and your allies have been granted a permanent 5% increase to your damage to Great Essences.
"You... you killed him!" Alyona whispered in shock, her eyes still glued to the pile of rocks.
"Thanks to Roman," Max chuckled bitterly, took a squealing Glitch off his shoulder, and sat down wearily onto a log by the fire.
"What do you mean?" the young woman stared at him questioningly.
"Your brother just took down Vaepar a minute ago. Well, I assume it was him - who else could it be?" said Max with a smile as he kept petting his squealing weasel. "The Ancients' strength lies in their unity. When one croaks, his death weakens the others by an order of magnitude. I had explained it before, remember?"
"Do you think he's all right?" Alyona countered with a question of her own.
"I'm sure of it," Max nodded. Even if I never get to see my friend again.