Was it bluff and bluster, intimidation to make us back down and flee, or was their threat very, very real? Normally, I wouldn’t even blink an eye at the big villain speech so many of EO’s bosses laid down. Great acting, sure, but in the end, it was just that. This time, there was the chance that we could lose something very special, our characters.
Yeah, I know, it seems like nothing to most people, just some data in a game, but for anyone that actually plays, who invests the hours, days, weeks into a character, you will understand the stark panic that such a loss could inject into your heart.
On top of that, most importantly, there would be no guarantee I’d find Kayla again. Running into Wynona/Crysta at the hospital had been a one in a million shot (there were ten million people in the New Los Angeles arcology alone). Even if we both made new characters and immediately tried to contact old friends, who could say if the Filter would let us find each other? It had played dirty pool a few times already, after all.
I wasn’t the only one who was thinking and feeling the same thing as Kayla spoke up in the group channel.
Kayla: So, what do we do? I know I don’t want to lose you and what we’re building here but, moose-braid knapsacks …
Shale: Agreed. I don’t want to have everything I’ve worked for go away, but at the same time, they are afraid of the Rings. I wasn’t crazy when I heard that snuffling, was I? I think we can do this. They wouldn’t make this quest unwinnable.
Kayla: I heard it. Even if that weren’t the case, we should do this. Others have done it and we can, too. Besides, if we turn away now, we won’t really be Promised. We won’t really be together.
Shale: You took the words out my mouth.
I took a deep breath as we circled back-to-back, tracking the red outlines in the fog. “If anyone is leaving around here, it’s you. Maybe the Elohjin didn’t send us, but we’ll be more than happy to cleanse this place of your corruption.”
For once, it wasn’t an act of me trying to seem more confident than I was. This time, I felt it. We were going to kick these things’ butts. We were together, and we were working in perfect harmony. They basically had zero chance in my mind.
The beast that had silenced the others let out a howl of rage. “So be it! Tear them apart!”
With that, the mists exploded before the bulk of all three massive wolves. Two were distinctly familiar, recognizable even during their black blur of motion. Though almost identical in size and form, each had a different name emblazoned above them. One was my old friend the Eater of Hearts, and the other was probably the one Kayla had faced, the Breaker of Clans.
The last wolf was noticeably larger and more warped than the others, almost a shadow like the Dark Rider we had faced in the Shadowyard. The only reason I thought it might have physical substance unlike that monster was the heavy footfalls it made with each bounding step toward us.
Black corruption seeped through its entire coat, clumping the thick fur of its ruff into slimy dreadlocks and puddles of ichor were left behind with every loping stride. This one was labeled quite dramatically the End of Harmony, but its horrid appearance helped back up the claim of its name.
With all three charging right for us, the course of action seemed obvious to me, and Kayla shared my idea. As the wolves launched into their leap with jaws gaping wide and teeth slavering, I immediately activated Meet the Charge, lowering my banner as I lowered my stance. I pointed the front of my banner right at the Eater of Hearts, while Kayla D-Doored away from the entire scrum. The Breaker of Clans landed in front of where the Sorceress had once been, teeth snapping at the air, while I managed to stuff my Solar Guardian shield right into the Eater’s jaws, the Elohjin metal frying the inside of the wolf’s mouth with Primal Light, even as the banner pole pierced its chest, spraying black ichor all over the both of us.
Unfortunately, there was nothing to save me from the End crunching into my left shoulder, teeth grinding into meteoric steel and injecting a viscous, chilling venom into my body.
The Eater of Hearts’ Black Bite hits (blocked) you! You take 127 (-127 blocked) Physical Damage and 159 (-41 resisted) Darkness Damage. HP 3394/3680
Your Meet the Charge hits (critical) the Eater of Hearts! It takes 708 (+393 critical, -78 resisted) Physical Damage! HP 2214/3000
Your Light Thorns hit the Eater of Hearts! It takes 364 (+182 vulnerability) Light Damage! HP 1850/3000
The End of Harmony’s Corrupting Bite hits you! You take 212 Physical Damage and 388 (-96 resisted) Darkness Damage. HP 2794/3680
Bane ‘Corrupting Ichor’ gained! You will take 46 (-4 resisted) Darkness Damage per second and a -10% penalty to Darkness Elemental Resistance per stack for 10 seconds or until cured.
My arm was starting to grow cold where the ichor had seeped in but somehow, I managed to twist my body out of the End’s crushing jaws, escaping the savaging that Kayla had experienced under my control.
As I did so, I took a step back toward Kayla, ripping my banner free from the Eater’s chest in the process, looking to position myself to both keep the vile pack away from Kayla and give them a taste of my Solar Shield Skill. Behind me, I heard the Sorceress’ disciplined chanting and, from my new insights into her abilities, knew exactly what she was casting.
That was the thing: the easy teamwork we had already fallen into was sharpened now. Maybe it was that simple fact that we had each controlled one another’s avatars now or maybe it was something more to do with what the Filter AI’s therapy program had shown us of one another. Whatever it was, I knew what she was doing and she seemed to know what I was doing. Everything was going according to plan.
Though the Eater seemed stunned, shaking its head as the insides of its mouth continued to sizzle from the light, the Breaker rushed to fill the void I made, raking at me with its forepaws in an effort to take me to the ground. For once, their immense size was a boon to us as it forced them to maneuver more to gang up on us. Still, that size did let the End of Harmony puff up its lungs and vomit a glob of pulsing black goo in an arc over its comrade.
Score one (two, three? I was losing count!) for my immense shield and all the practice, Passive Gems, and gear I put behind it. I deftly caught the Breaker’s paws on the glowing surface, searing its paw pads as I threw it back before barely pulling it into position to catch the caustic venom on my shield. It almost immediately burned away but not without some of the vile stuff splattering onto me.
Bane ‘Corrupting Ichor’ now has two stacks! You take 100 Darkness Damage and your Darkness Elemental Resistance has been reduced to 0%. HP 2366/3680
None of them moved nearly enough to avoid what Kayla now cast as she slammed her staff into the ground with both hands, unleashing the Grasping Earth on the entire pack. The broken cobblestones and salted earth ripped up into clawing hands, tearing at corrupted flesh and clutching at legs and fur.
Though the poison passed into my fingers and my chest, I flashed a grim smile as the wolves tried to scatter. The foul spirits weren’t fools. Of all the opponents I’d ever faced, they knew more about us than any. However, if they were still pure, if they still embodied the principles of the Lykos, the beasts would have had a chance, with one of them taking the risk of trying to knock me down again instead of fearing for their own hides.
They were all taken over by the Darkness, though, and knew nothing of harmony or order or sacrifice, and that was going to cost them big. Their panic to save their own hides were putting them in perfect position to eat everything we were about to dish out.
Through gritted teeth, I focused my will on my shield, activating the Solar Shield configuration in its linked Gems. “Suck on some Light, you terrapin shells!”
Even as my shield exploded outward with a searing solar flare, Kayla raised her right hand clenched, her Ring of Promise surging with power, one of the wolf heads glowing neon pink even as the Role Fusion Gem let loose a rainbow light.
Bane ‘Corrupting Ichor’ chills your bones! You take 110 (+10 vulnerability) Dar
kness Damage and your Darkness Elemental Vulnerability has been increased to 10%. HP 2256/3680
Your Solar Shield engulfs the area!
The Eater of Dreams takes 1,044 (+544 vulnerability) Light Damage and is Blind! HP 606/3000
The Breaker of Clans takes 1,202 (+606 vulnerability) Light Damage and is Blind! HP 1190/3000
The End of Harmony takes 1,420 (+710 vulnerability) Light Damage and is Blind! HP 4095/5700
Kayla invokes the Power of Love! You heal 1,000 Health Points! HP 3256/3680
Kayla initiates Role Fusion with you! You gain the Boon ‘Soul of the Paladin’! All your Support and Defensive Gems are 40% more effective, your Maximum and Current Health Points are increased by 1,000, all of your Resistances increased by 20%, and you emit a pulse of healing energy every 5 seconds that heals 400-600 Health Points to every ally in 20 units. All of these effects persist for 30 seconds. HP 4256/4680
My Boon tracking bar at the top of my vision exploded with icons as both Kayla and I were wrapped in pure white phantom armor with broad, feathered ghost wings spreading from our backs. The rush of power through my veins, flowing out from my ring and over every inch of my skin, was almost too much to process. While that heady feeling didn’t completely soothe the sickness in my stomach as the ichor continued its path in my veins, it also didn’t overwhelm my fighting instincts. Even though we had the upper hand and our foes were blinded, stumbling, and burning as the Darkness was seared off their bones, this wasn’t over, not yet.
Kayla rolled her orb in her hands and held it high, the Light Gem mounted on the edge of the stone bowl shining like the noon sun.
“I’ll wash away the pain, Shale, don’t worry!” she cried as she threw herself into another spell. The sound of her voice drew the sharp ears of the wolves and the scent of the black blood all over me attracted their even sharper noses. Even blinded, they were still dangerous. I needed to hold them where they were. If I was right, we were going to be adorned with the tears of Heaven and channeled spells don’t go anywhere when wolves are eating your face, Soul of the Paladin or not!
With a guttural cry, I charged, shield forward and low. While I would have given my left arm for a Phalanx Charge Gem right then, I made due with a conventional shield smash to drive the Breaker back, letting the Light Thorns make up for the weak strike.
Occupied as I was, the Eater, barely holding on as grasping stones ripped it down to the last dregs of its Health Points, looked to make an end run around me, but I drew its full attention with a backward gesture toward my Promised, activating my Threat Transfer Gem in the same moment. Backed by the Paladin Boon, all the aggro poured off Kayla and into me, making me every wolf’s public enemy number one.
While my burning shield in the face trick knocked the Breaker off balance, the Eater managed to get a dying bit of revenge on me, slamming into me with its immense bulk and throwing me off balance as the burst of radiance from my Thorns blasted it into dust. That left me wide open as the End of Harmony, the true terror, managed to get the momentum, Grasping Earth or not, to leap over its struggling brethren and crash down on top of me. I smashed into the ground with enough force for my vision to go blurry. The blackness that dripped from its every pore rained down on me as my back cried out from its impact with the thorny vines and stones at our feet.
Your Light Thorns hit the Eater of Hearts! It takes 320 (+160 vulnerability) Light Damage and dies!
The End of Harmony’s Cancerous Pounce hits (critical) you! You take 240 Physical Damage (+120 critical) and 1,091 (+606 critical, -121 resisted) Darkness Damage and you are Knocked Down! HP 2715/4680
Bane ‘Corrupting Ichor’ now has three stacks! You take 150 Darkness Damage and your Darkness Elemental Resistance has been reduced to 0%. HP 2515/4680
“Kill the girl,” the foul wolf howled triumphantly over me, its fetid breath almost making me puke as its claws dug deeper into my shoulders. It must have been a thousand pounds of slime, bone, and muscle, all of it pressed on my shoulders and chest.
The Breaker of Clans whined a terrified refusal, torn between its master’s orders and the inexorable pull of thousands of points of threat on its poor little AI. I could live with that brain freeze; it kept the thing off Kayla for a moment more. Despite the pain and the cold that seemed to engulf every part of my body from the foul poison, I grinned. All I had to do was hold on for a little bit longer and that was what I did best. I endured.
“You can’t kill a fly,” I spat back at the End of Harmony, even as its jaws descended for my skull. Too bad for it I hadn’t used Last Stand yet, something I activated mentally right before those venom-dripping fangs crunched down.
Boon ‘Last Stand’ gained! You heal 468 Health Points and are invulnerable to all damage and negative status effects for 10 seconds! HP 2983/4680
The soft white glow only mingled with the ghostly paladin’s armor around me, blunting the bite and turning aside a fresh gout of ichor. From my currently poor tactical position, I did have a good view of the sky above us. As the End howled in frustration and pulled back from its ineffectual attack, the cloudy skies overhead split wide and glorious sunshine lit up our little segment of the battlefield. That sudden light threw the wolves into confusion, just long enough for the rain to begin.
The heavy drops were shining silver, falling with the weight of the sword of Damacles onto our foes, even as it felt like the nectar of the gods for Kayla and I. Each splatter of rain was like a mini-meteor of holy water, sending bursts of flame up from their bodies as it burned away the corruption and melted into my wounds, causing my blood to burn with the water’s redeeming power.
See, Kayla leveraged the kind of tricky game numbers I liked to do as a Warlord. With the Soul of the Paladin amplifying all Support abilities and Tears of Heaven being classified as purely Support, it amplified the damage and debuffs it inflicted as well as its healing. Couple that with the Darkness’ major weakness to the Light and the result was obvious and deadly.
Kayla calls down the Tears of Heaven!
You heal 1,008 Health Points and are purged of the Bane ‘Corrupting Ichor’. HP 3991/4680
The Breaker of Clans takes 1,008 (+504 vulnerability) Light Damage and dies!
The End of Harmony takes 1,008 (+504 vulnerability) Light Damage and suffers the Bane ‘Anathema of the Heavens’. HP 2685/5700
“No!” the End howled, fear now plain in its voice as more of its body caught on fire from the holy waters. It backed off me, to the joy of my aching ribs and chest, and tried to flee out of the circle of tears, even as those endless hands kept pulling it down.
To give the hideous monster credit, it did make it to the edge of the spell’s radius just as the channeling ended. There was little left of the once-terrible wolf as it swayed on its paws, most of the black foulness burned way to reveal patches of muddied white fur and ugly burnt muscle and sinew. Black blood mingled with fresh red as its extensive wounds poured out its last bits of life onto the already corrupted earth below it.
Still, we couldn’t let it get away and start this all over again, no matter how pitiful it looked at that moment. “Kayla,” I grunted as I clambered to my feet, “can you –”
The air crackled with the sound of forming ice as Kayla’s orb hurtled past my shoulder, exploding into a Crystal Tomb around the fleeing wolf.
“I thought you’d never ask!” As I looked back at her, she raised her staff once more. “Do you want me to finish it off or …?”
I flashed her a grin. “I’d like this one if that’s okay?”
Her smile made my heart thump harder. “All yours, Shale.”
Honestly, it was a mercy kill as I drove my Solar shield into the side of its frozen head. The burning alien metal seared into flesh and melted bone, shattering the End of Harmony’s jaw along with the last of its Health Points.
Victory! You gain 35,000 Experience (10,000 for the Eater of Hearts, 10,000 for the Breaker of Clans, 15,000 for the End of Harmony)! Experience 1,235,000/1,540,000
The corpse shuddered on its feet in a mockery of life before it fell over, shaking the earth with its immense bulk … and something more. It set off a ripple, a shockwave that expanded out in the blink of an eye, rattling my teeth as it blew the fog away and parted the clouds above. The carnage of war was laid bare, the bloody spectacle of when brother was forced to fight brother showcased across the barren field. Lykos of every tribe, of every race, were scattered around us, dead, dying, and wounded. It would have been a complete tragedy if not for the steady flares of spiritual light that signified an elemental soul being reborn at a Life Crystal.
“Wow,” Kayla gasped softly as she walked up beside me, “was that really it?”
I frowned, unsure of why my gut still felt uneasy about this despite our victory. “I don’t know. It … it was too easy, don’t you think?”
She sighed and nodded. “It did, didn’t it?”
Quest ‘Three Wolves Howling’ updated!
Objective completed: You have defeated the three corrupted totems of the Lykos once and for all!
New objective added: Undergo the Trial of the Three Wolves to restore the power of the totems and the Rings of Promise!
We looked at each other even as the three dead wolves surrounding us were suffused with a warm, white light. In almost perfect unison, we sighed once more. “Definitely too easy.”
That white light turned blinding as it engulfed the field, ourselves included, drowning out the world with uniform white, a not entirely unpleasant experience oddly enough. It was a comforting presence, like a blanket straight out of the dryer on a cold morning, and it helped that the link the Ring of Promise provided told me Kayla was still within arm’s reach.
Unbidden, we reached out and entwined hands in that white nothingness. Unknown moments passed and when that nothingness finally faded, we were somewhere else entirely … and we were not alone.
The Vale of Three Wolves: A LitRPG Adventure (Elements of Wrath Online Book 2) Page 16