Dorian Ambersworn: Lmao! Now Ayla’s in one of those slutty gold underwear glamours…
How rude!
Victor Sharp: She’s allowed to wear whatever she wants, mate. It’s not even that revealing. Why are you laughing at her body?
Well said! Jonathan agreed with Victor on all counts, but a nagging feeling urged that Ayla had someway somehow been brainwashed. How could she betray the guilds after everything? There had to be another explanation. Could it be that she was a double agent? Lance had always been a great leader, though he had never resorted to such dishonorable tricks. This would be a justifiable exception, however. Evil needed to be stamped out.
The mana bath ceased, and Jonathan sucked in an involuntary breath, his eyes taking in his bondmate’s changed form. Slightly matured, much more fearsome, Idra was far too heavy to carry now, as tall as a golden retriever. And he could fly! Suddenly he took off with a beat of his veined wings and hovered in the air, flapping every other second.
“That’s all?” Lily mumbled.
With much guilt, Jonathan had to agree. Nevertheless, he mentally thanked the Matriarch and moved on to the reason they had journeyed all this way through the lava caverns. “I beseech you, great Matriarch of the Red Dragons, to not abandon righteousness when so much hangs in the balance. Rowan Black must be stopped in his deranged rampage across these lands!”
If that scaly reptile face could make a disdainful expression, it did. “My Initiate. It beguiles me that you were the one who managed to pass every trial, but I do see potential in your future, though it is uncertain. Receive my blessing, and with it, you shall be able to summon me to your aid. Use it wisely, for any foolishness will beckon my wrath.” Her nostrils blazed once more.
Airy fire-light mana bypassed his leather armor and seeped into his skin, mixing with his own. A sprinkle of new knowledge fell into his mind. A dialogue box opened before his eyes.
Quest Complete: Red Dragon’s Challenge
You passed the Red Dragon’s challenge, made your way to the Matriarch’s chamber, and proved your worth to their nameless god.
Reward: Dragon Stone, Rapid Growth Blessing, Matriarch’s Blessing
Jonathan examined both blessings to make sure he wasn’t being deceived by dark trickery. LeMort and Black could be hiding behind every stalagmite.
Rapid Growth Blessing
Triples the natural speed which a being matures. Stacks multiplicatively with other bonuses.
Matriarch’s Blessing
Grants the skill Red Dragons’ Trumpet, which opens a portal for their Matriarch to come to your aid for up to thirty minutes.
Yes. This was precisely what the forces of light, of justice, needed. Jonathan let the heat of ecstasy blossom within while he savored his success, because this was a glorious success for once. He had brought home the enchanted bacon, so to speak. His allies were going to see he was truly worthy of the title World Boss.
“That’s all?” Lily wasn’t nearly as impressed as he had imagined. “Why did you need to wait for Jonathan to come to you? Your fellow lizards got slaughtered out there.”
The Matriarch’s jaws opened then snapped shut. Hot air, not too putrid, buffeted Jonathan’s face. “I am bound to this eternal roost—the price I had to pay to grant my children eternal, cyclical life.”
“Wow! It must really suck being cooped up in here for years upon years.”
“It is endurable. Through my children’s eyes and ears I experience the outer world. My Initiates also allow me temporary freedom.”
“How many have you had?”
“Jonathan Bladestrider is my first.”
“Thought so. Did you see LeMort capture your whelp?”
“Unfortunately, the mental bonds don’t mature until their bodies are.”
“Hmm.” Lily scratched her chin. “Is there a Red Dragon Patriarch?”
“That is a tale for another time.” The tone was sad.
“What about…”
They had a small-talk session about an assortment of dragon-related topics, and Jonathan patiently did not interrupt like a darkie would. A minute or two could always be spared for the ladies. It was only courteous.
A message in a larger font clanged into the chatbox.
Argon Redux: You guys aren’t going to believe this, but Skylar said Black granted him Ayla as a sex slave. She doesn’t look to be bothered, smiling and nodding at him, in fact. Something is up. She’s not acting anything like the Ayla we know.
Sour disgust tossed up Jonathan’s throat, the chamber heaving back and forth like a ship. Now, he knew, undoubtedly, that Ayla Frost had been brainwashed. There was no way a woman like her could ever wish to be humiliated in such a deplorable way.
Dorian Ambersworn: SIGH
Meggie Power: Dorian, cut it out! You aren’t all-knowing.
Jordan TheBlade: This is just plain sick. I don’t think Skylar is even an adult. It’s hard to tell when they look so inhuman. I’m going in. Flashing in five seconds.
Dorian Ambersworn: Wait! They have a Life Link type skill!
Darkies with Life Links. Overpowered was the only word to describe it.
Temper Nox: Just pile in on Rowan. We’re twenty Radiant Duelists.
Jordan TheBlade: GO!
Attack pings cascaded at the right.
“Holy fuck!” Lily spat before Jonathan could with slightly less profanity. “Sorry, but we have to go! Fight’s starting.”
Indeed. “Then let us be off.” He jumped back onto his Light Shard with agile legs, muscles hardly straining. He gave a parting nod to the Matriarch.
Mounting the eagle, she growled deeply. “I wasn’t watching the chat. Why didn’t you speak up? I thought I had time for some talk.”
“I didn’t wish to be rude.”
She pinched her nose bridge and shook her head. She said under her breath, “Sometimes I wish I were on their team.”
“Excuse me? Why would you ever want that? Please, I beg you to not join them—”
“Just kidding.” She flashed him a clownish smile and flew ahead.
Chapter 40
Not Her Viola
Two more daggers pierced Rowan’s neck and stomach from opposing wide angles, zero damage dealt. Excellent. Ayla’s Life Tethers weren’t bugged despite sporting no graphical or sound effects like every other skill in the game; that needed to be patched. While the blank canvas before him slowly dimmed, the torrid pain was nothing less than bewildering. The heat was kept at bay as though swept behind a protective layer coating his nerves—not quite there, easy to brush off. The dissociated sensation was unlike anything he had felt before, unique to this world.
Through a minion leash, Rowan felt Redwing send in the entirety of the swarm’s fire and ice power. Not a good idea. Rowan pulled back the swarm’s descent, especially the dragons, and prevented them from raining hell on the area to avoid friendly-fire. Unlike Life Link, Life Tether’s damage calculations were based off the targets’ armor and resistances. Viola and Skylar taking hits would plummet Ayla’s dragons and cause a potential wipe.
The Ice Harpies and a few supporting Dragonflies would have to do. They swooped down in a protective formation at Rowan’s order. Redwing gave a sentiment of understanding and apology through his leash, quickly learning.
The blinded debuff counted down, two seconds remaining, and Gabrielle’s reply came at last.
Gabby LeMort (To Rowan Black): Come ASAP! Spawnstone’s already up at the intervention site. Activating in 7 minutes!
Rowan relayed the order to the party.
Rowan Black (Raid Chat): 7 minutes. Finish these clowns off then retreat.
Sight returned, the night darker than before, chaos ensuing around Rowan. Ice Harpies rapidly perished with two slices apiece only to be unendingly replaced at Redwing’s command. And just like in the naval battle, those bluish-white light spikes bypassed Rowan’s Mana Shield—but harmed neither him nor his gear this time around. Ayla’s Life Tethers were working in ove
rdrive to divert every last point of light damage to her minions. The health bars atop her raised dragons within the hundred-meter tether radius were draining at an ant’s crawl.
Viola cried above the muted noise of battle, snatching attention, “Rowan!”
“Hurry! Over here!” Diana called from behind Angus’ Light Screen. The dome was far denser and shone golden light more intensely than usual.
Damn. Of course they were going to try rescuing the cousins. Rowan dashed forward with a Rime Blink, losing the trio. The faux-pain ceased.
Jordan TheBlade, the leading Radiant Duelist, was already on the chase. He appeared in front of Rowan with a static blur, sneered with far too much confidence as though he had been one-hitting Necromancer bosses in dungeons all day, and impaled Rowan through the gut. What a fool, but he promptly frowned and glanced at his wrist-dagger. His silver irises jumped toward Ayla direction—then hopped left and right. He blurted to no one in particular, “The dragons have Life Link? How did he stack more than one? What kind of Life Link is this?” His breath reeked of something sour—a Stamina potion.
From the hip, Rowan flicked him a point-blank ice blast and another for his two buddies. Misty black ice exploded against Rowan’s Mana Shield.
They dodged in a blur of torsos and limbs. Their acrobatic movements were something out of a martial-arts blockbuster, Jordan’s most of all. He did mid-air spins and somersaults to dodge Harpy blades and Dragonfly bolts, though they didn’t need to. Angus’ Protection Aura combined with their legendary-rarity dragonscale gear was more than enough to face-tank Rowan’s icy minions. No doubt, these were veteran players. Tainted Ice blasts missed by inches each time, slipped through the fight, and detonated against trees in the backdrop. Their reaction rates were breathtaking.
The moment an opening widened, Jordan sprang back in and stabbed Rowan’s neck again. How daft was he?
Rowan simply blinked toward Viola.
Ambiguous intercepted Jordan before he could chase again. Her scimitar parried his stab. A High-Gravity Zone descended on the area, a neon pentagram. She took long enough with that one.
Limbs heavier, Rowan gunned for that pretty blonde Duelist with extra-pointy ears. She was evading Harpies and Dragonflies, having much trouble ferrying Viola away toward a needy Diana. A Tainted Ice Blast shooed away the kidnapper. Another made her hiss in pain, ice tearing into her back. Rowan finished her off with a third and roughly grabbed Viola by her free elbow.
Fancy boots were clinking. “Don’t you dare!” Angus bellowed under his full-helm and charged through the Light Screen. His heavy plate armor and Paladin stats offered most-sluggish mobility. Harpies blocked him without effort; their blades cut into weak crevices in his armor. Blood squirted as he knelt onto the grass.
Rowan was long gone with Viola. He sent seven Dragonflies on his ass to finish him off. They buzzed into maximum range and pelted his ornamented armor from above as he limped back to his Light Screen. He was a fool to leave its protection with such poor mobility.
Now, time to end this.
Rowan pinged Ambiguous to get ready for the combo they had discussed. Lament’s incantation sang from his lips, Duelists targeted, two groups of six. Anton’s wand cut circular patterns and glowed with intensifying dark-ice mana. The air rippled before him. Ghostly bone and ice rings encircled the Duelists, bone for Jordan.
Ambiguous blinked behind Jordan. She pointed as he reacted, ducking. His wrist-daggers spun a whirlwind and scored three cuts onto Ambiguous’ arms and chest. She screamed, lost balance. The time-stop froze a beetle on a blade of grass instead. Ambiguous blinked away and guzzled from a flask.
Damn. There goes our only root.
And they were not unskilled, reacting without a hint of panic. They had Lament’s mechanics figured out; those with icy rings were already far from each other, and those with bone rings were nearby and ready to clump together. A perfect mechanical dance. These were experienced MMO gamers, experienced raiders.
Rowan deflated and let them have their small victory, looking away.
He guided Viola away in a backward retreat while Lament counted down, Diana and Angus shouting madly for Rowan to return her.
Viola ignored them and slashed an uppercut with her sword. The blade glinted with dark light. A vertical crescent of dark-light mana, identical to the attack Oron had displayed, burst forth from the edge and cut a deep welt into the soil while it sailed toward a Duelist engaged with Ambiguous in rapid combat. The crescent missed by whole yards—far too slow at its current tier.
“Do you have any other skills?” Rowan asked while Diana and Angus’ pleas washed over his head.
“None. The chest by the altar only had this.”
“Unfortunate,” he muttered. They’d have to do a lot of dungeon grinding—Ayla and himself included.
Ambiguous, Onyx Skin active, twirled a three-sixty, her staff spinning. A purple wave of force pushed back five Duelists. But they were on her again in seconds. Their wrist-daggers passed through her limbs harmlessly, Ambiguous not bothering to dodge most of their swipes and stabs if she could at all. They moved with astounding agility, humanoid blurs in the moonlight.
Then the world bleached to white again. Four seconds of blindness counted down instead of ten this time—resisted due to successive exposure.
Rowan kept running toward the encampment with Viola in his grasp, and the Duelists kept chasing down the river. Gabrielle wouldn’t be pleased if her favorite Dark Human fell here or worse. Those sci-fi blades could mutilate a corpse.
"Viola! Please!" Diana shouted far more loudly, her voice breaking. "Please! I’m begging you! Don’t do this! We can help you!"
Viola shouted back for once, “I’m not the Viola you knew! I’m sorry!”
"I’m not! This is payback for carting me off to the countryside!" Skylar barked.
The night darkened. Rowan ran up the incline toward the area shield.
Jordan sidestepped Ambiguous and four Harpies. Growling, he darted straight for Rowan, dodging everything with ease. He was meters away when a translucent onyx circle expanded in front of him. He crashed face-first into the barrier, which Rowan recognized as Dark Mana Shell. Undead Paladins’ version of Light Screen.
Skylar! Void Rider is just like Undead Paladin except stronger.
A gory blood spray snatched Rowan’s eyes. Ayla. Protecting Skylar, she had cleaved a guy in half at the ribs, already parrying blows from the next two. She was agile as them, danced around the lucky teen most sensually. On purpose? Maybe they had a thing going on now. And her greatsword was as deadly if not more so than those wrist-daggers; such was the power of dark-ice classes. Male Sun Elf corpses trailed at her feet while they retreated together.
Ambiguous finally managed to best Jordan. His pointy-eared head rolled, his body falling backward.
Six Radiant Duelists remained, and Dorian was nowhere to be seen, Rowan noticing. What a coward. Well, not really a coward but rather a smart man for regrouping with their main force.
Skylar’s barrier expanded into a wall and cut off their chase—though only for a moment. Three swipes were all was needed to shatter it.
But three swipes were enough of a delay for Rowan and co to capitalize on. He didn’t even need to send in the swarm to finish the lot; instead, he raised Duelists corpses. Retrieved by Harpies, only four were of sufficient integrity. With helix-like swirls of dark mana, they rose behind the remaining chasers and caught them off-guard. Their screams were short-lived, blades of darkness eviscerating their hearts from behind.
The last duelist, a sandy-haired girl, hissed at Ayla, "Traitor bitch! After everything we’ve done for you!" She lunged for Skylar, going for the neck.
Ayla stepped into the way, round-house kicked, and gutted her with an impaling stab. "It was worth it. I don’t care if I’m being selfish."
Meanwhile, the Wintersow parents were retreating on their Light Shards within Angus’ tier-ten Light Screen. The sphere had half a million shield
points at maximum dark resistance. Diana gave a final sad glance, teary-eyed. No more words. Really, her daughter was dead. This Viola was someone else possessing her daughter’s memories.
However, Rowan allowed them a getaway, for it made little difference and the chase would only waste more time; they’d revive at their spawnstone anyway.
Viola grabbed his robe sleeve. "Hey! They’re getting away!"
"So? They have Blessings."
"Yeah, but I wanted to grab their corpses."
"For what?" Skylar asked.
Devil's Waltz Page 40