Dorian defaulted to his girthy laser beam. He cut down swaths of Imps and Dragonflies all by himself.
Ayla took advantage and raised any salvageable Demon corpses, ready to juggle Life Tethers across the party any moment. Good girl.
Radiant Duelists, on Light Shards, sped forth and gunned for Zaine’s portals. They maneuvered as a mini swarm of golden, gun-less fighter jets. They dodged almost everything with ease. Quite a sight to behold, but very foolish.
A blizzard charged in seconds, Rowan simply rained tainted ice onto the their half of the battlefield. The thick downpour forced a retreat, ice shards tearing into dragonscale leather. More than one Light Shard fell from the air and cut deep welts into the soil. Gabrielle skelefied Jordan TheBlade before he made it back to their Light Screens, their Paladins not passing a Life Link for some reason. Horrible. Just horrible coordination.
Ideas springing, Rowan dished out orders while sipping blueberry syrup. Pings stacked at the right, and the party obeyed without question.
First ping: Ambiguous dropped two High-Gravity Zones, courtesy of Double Cast, directly on their formation to stop any retreats. Their advance slowed to a crawl.
Second ping: Gabrielle puffed forward behind the cover of newly-summoned Ice Harpies and planted an Invulnerability Totem, activating it. The impervious magic put an instant stop to their advance, Light Screen dispersing on touch. All incoming missiles were now focused on Gabrielle to no avail.
Third ping: Zaine abandoned his portals, blinked as close as possible to their position, and invoked his ultimate summoning, his flaming blade held high. Dimensional rifts tore open among their ranks. Hundreds upon hundreds of red-hot chains shot out from the void and seized the righteous many. Their pained cries were barely heard.
Fourth ping: Edward, SoSo, and Ambiguous stowed their weapons and let themselves be taken as willing sacrifices. Hopefully, one of them had a Resurrection Stone; between Zaine and Gabrielle only two Draughts remained.
With a flash of turquoise, the Queen somehow repelled the chains speeding for her torso. Her sleek features argued unwavering elven resolve. She yelled something, three words, and double-backed toward her two-way portal. The stacked High-Gravity Zones did not impede her panther’s bulky legs. How overpowered.
The chains squeezed, devouring flesh and bone with ravenous hunger. Every last Light Screen dispersed as a summoning pentagram flared to life by the portal frames. Clawed Imps flooded in to finish any survivors, Dorian managing to escape just before the Queen’s portal deactivated.
Burning corpses rendered down to piles of black ash, this grassy field ruined. Sad day for Oakwood Park. Really, it was quite nice with all these open fields and gardens—and that bizarrely-shaped fountain at the center behind the water lily pond, partially obscured by a trio of oaks. Angular, slate, gritty, like something out of steampunk art, it was completely out of place.
Wires sparked in Rowan's head. It wasn't just out of place.
Gabrielle followed his gaze and pointed at whatever it was. "Heeeey! That’s not a fountain!"
A pop-up window expanded.
New Quest: Oakwood Park
You have discovered something hidden in this lovely park. What could it be?
Difficulty: ?
Length: ?
Recommended Level: ?
Failure conditions:?
Success conditions: ?
Reward: ?
If anything, the light factions were skilled at hiding things in plain sight. He had to give them that. Too bad that their pitiful attempt at preventing its discovery only helped to blow its cover. Whatever it was had to be monumental.
Chapter 44
Prank
While Demons poured through the portal frames, while the summoning pentagram of blackish fire pulsated, the darkies conversed like regular humans, attention on Zaine once more. The children, now comfortable around the T8 World Boss, were most curious, drowning him with all sorts of questions.
“What does your Demigod’s Blessing do?”
“Which god are you related to?”
“How old are you?”
“Can you bring back my parents?”
As for the the twins and Ambiguous, they were back already.
And Ayla… She raised imps that she killed, a smart method of minion transfer.
And above them in the far distance, the great beast’s ambient fire now blazed among those earthen peaks and tinged the twin moons with blood. An apocalyptic scene.
With gentle wand dabs, Rowan tore his gaze from the impending conflict and re-raised eight zombies that’d been hit by stray spells and arrows. Two were beyond saving. Unlucky, but it didn’t look like they had any family—strays. A teenage boy and a middle-aged man. Oh well. No point in lamenting over spilt darkness.
Rowan glanced at the chatbox, a message thought. It had slipped his mind that a certain demigod could open group portals in seconds. Why hadn’t the bugger offered?
Rowan Black (Raid Chat): Zaine, take these thousand zombies back to the spire we captured.
Zaine Everlight: Give me a moment.
Thought he was going to be difficult there.
Rowan gave him control and skipped across the pond with three maximum-range Rime Blinks. The water froze under his boots and provided support for a second each blink. He caught up to Gabrielle with another, his elbow bumping into hers.
“Owie… My funny bone.”
“Accident.”
She pouted at him, rubbing her elbow.
Chuckling, Rowan brushed her off and circled the makeshift fountain with quick strides. She resumed flipping through one of Ambiguous’ lore tomes.
A diamond-shaped basin, holding peculiarly clean water, had been masoned from polished granite around the partially buried construct. Made of the same durable material as the Dark Temple, fifteen feet tall, the top of a pyramid pointed straight up. It had to be massive. No, it wasn’t steampunk-like in the slightest. Where had that image come from? The moons’ dim luminance was unhelpful.
And just like the buried Dark Tomb in Not Insane’s temporary pocket dimension, the building refused an Examine while buried.
Looping around back to Gabrielle, Rowan pulled on a thread of hope: “Is this a Dark Oculus?”
“I don’t think so. The other Oculi are all round.”
Damn. “Well, pyramids are usually temples in other games. Maybe it’s a Greater Dark Temple.”
“Hmmm. Maybe.” She poked his nose with an outstretched pinky. “Well, aren’t ya going to start digging?”
“With my scrawny arms? Pass me a shovel, if you insist.”
Her face deadpanned. “Ya know what I mean.”
He coyly smiled and conjured a line of bone marshmallows in the air with a sweep of his wand, a single-word incantation muttered. Then with a flick and stab, each exploded with frigid mist. Ten Ice Gargoyles sprung forth and hacked into the granite with their magically-empowered ice claws. Slices and chunks of stone were crushed and crumbled with each strike, the Gargoyles losing single-digit health points every few seconds. Rowan’s crafted minions had grown in power proportionally with his own.
Sips of Mana Draught splashed into Rowan’s mouth while he summoned additional batches until over a hundred Gargoyles were hacking away. The oak trio fell with three cuts, and earth piled by granite boulders further down the park. Dense mist obscured the excavation site, a good cover to block any nosy scouting Rogues.
“Ah…” Gabrielle stretched her arms. “This might take take a while. Let’s leave em to it."
“Yeah, we have a city to siege.” Rowan left a two-headed Drake and thirty Dragonflies to keep guard, then followed Gabrielle back across the pond. She cheated with her broom, zipped right across in a fraction of a second. A trail of dark-water mana vapor wavered in the air.
The thousand zombies were already gone, and Zaine was already back summoning more imps. Of the Dark Humans, only Skylar and Viola remained. That made Ayla’s job easier—in one way. Sky
lar was chatting her up again, asking about the real world. How everyone could be so… casual at a time like this was almost laughable. Darkies. Only them.
SoSo asked, “Did you figure out what that thing was? It could be nothing.”
"Nope," Gabrielle chirped.
“Needs excavation.” Rowan clicked his fingers twice, and the chatter cut off. “But right now we have to take out that spawnpoint otherwise assassins could flank us. Ambiguous, is your ward up? Are there any others out in the slums?”
She gazed off into the distance for a moment. “Just that one and another to the east. The Dusk Elf Queen ported out along with survivors.” Into the city, probably.
Rowan looked at the twins, "SoSo, Edward. Take them out." A ping made the order final.
They nodded in unison and disappeared with static buzzes.
Ayla said, "I think we’ve got this. They’re evacuating the city and farmlands. Check the forums."
Rowan took her word for it. "I’d do the same in their position to be safe. They were likely buying time again back there—"
Pink smoke, sickly-sweet, erupted from the summoning pentagram. In the smoke, something bounced up and down and made squeaking, bark-like noises. What kind of Demon was this? Rowan couldn’t examine it through the pink haze.
Zaine was suddenly ecstatic. "Finally! I’ve been trying to summon this one for years. Those Radiant Duelists must’ve done it." He looked at Seth. "No offense to you. Nihils make for good company even if you do die to assassins easily. Sometimes you even come with the Annihilation ultimate, though rarely."
Seth’s nose wrinkled, but he didn’t dare talk back to his summoner.
"What is this? Is it any good?" Gabrielle asked.
"I read this is Demon Knight’s best summon. One in however many. It takes up the majority of my elite slots. I only have one slot left."
Then it had to be amazing, but right now it looked like some sort of… Rowan didn’t have words.
The smoke cleared with a slash of Ayla’s greatsword, unveiling a—
A ball of pink yarn the size of a well-grown watermelon bounced on the grass. It had eyes sewn from white and back threads, airy dark mana leaking from them. It had a working mouth and a cute tongue woven from maroon threads. Its nose was a plain black button. This… Demon was something out of a child’s cartoon.
Rowan’s gaped—everyone except Zaine gaped—and examined the thing.
Primordial Yarn (Level 1)
Health: 100
Mana: 100
Stamina: 100
Buffs: Immutable (Does not gain experience, cannot be buffed)
"The fuck?" Rowan blurted.
Gabrielle abruptly squeaked. "Oh. My. God. It’s so cute!" She ran to the yarn picked it up as if it were a puppy, hugging it lovingly. The yarn reciprocated by rubbing against her chest. "You’re right! This is the best Demon in the world! Can I name it?"
Zaine shrugged. "Why not?"
"Then I name you… Fluffy!" Gabrielle held it high and spun a three-sixty like a ballerina.
The Primordial Yarn wiggled with elation.
Viola was the next to break silence. "Zaine, are you sure you read that book right? This has to be a prank."
"It’s exactly as described. You’ll see what it can do."
Ayla said, "It’s adorable." She laughed weakly. "Can I hold it?"
"Nope. You’re always trying to steal my things. My loot, my land, my lover." Gabrielle blew a raspberry, and Fluffy mimicked.
Ambiguous chuckled. "She’s got you there, Ayla."
"You’re the one who steals loot," Ayla snapped back. "And it’s not my fault Rowan bombarded me with false signals."
Skylar said, "Lord Black is a one-girl kind of man."
"Yeah, stay away, hussy. From both Row and Fluffy!"
The casual chatter picked back up, the yarn the center of attention. Zaine wouldn’t reveal what it could do. He seemed to enjoy savoring the surprise.
But Rowan was dazed—and not because of the yarn.
Lover. The word echoed in his mind, replaying over and over in Gabrielle’s cute voice. She really said it. Out of the blue. It had slipped just like that. Whether the thing was a prank by the gods didn’t matter, for its existence made this moment happen. Fluffy indeed was the best Demon in the world, better than all the Nihils and Colossus Enforcers combined. It could be a pet if nothing else.
Rowan was tempted to stand back and indulge in his happiness, but he knew very well this wasn’t the time for idling. He stepped forward and cleared his throat. "It’s time for battle." He spammed the party with pings. "Let’s go! I want to see what this thing can do." He tugged on every minion leash, except the laboring group, and ordered a forward march through the slums. Imps puffed one after another, a tide of smoky darkness, while icy Undead flew overhead.
"Me too!" Gabrielle sang and followed. She puffed with Fluffy in her embrace, but the Demon did not suffer a Nausea debuff interestingly.
Without further dawdling, the wicked few made a bee-line for the human capital’s gigantic area shield.
And above Greenwood Spine the great beast and its kin came as a rabid reptilian swarm, the skies lighting ablaze in their wake.
Rowan carefully evaluated many strategic lines from this point as they traversed this extensive park. Timing was going to be crucial. Maybe all that idling worked in his favor.
Chapter 45
Upon a Pale Horse
The party’s mood rapidly slid into the abyss.
Maybe it was Rowan’s mood alone, but the chatter quieted as the first corpses came into view. These slums—a jumble of mud, wood, and general run-down dilapidation—were as melancholic as it could get for a human existence, and these frail, rag-garbed corpses said as much. How loathsome. Oakwood Park was the only saving grace.
How could the righteous many want to protect this? How could they let these slums continually expand into the surrounding lands? These were little more than human weeds offering little value to the game. Rowan doubted many, if any, players visited. No wonder that pyramid hadn’t been discovered.
Rowan shook his head and noticed Gabrielle stopping by a small field of tall, messy grass. "A unicorn!" She puffed into the field. "Oh… Nevermind, it’s just a horsey."
He was about to tell her to get a move on as he realized the animal was still alive. It’d somehow survived the poison warheads. He approached and examined.
Pale Horse: Level 67
Health: 970
Mana: 300
Stamina: 2450
Nothing special. It had just been lucky.
"But it’s a pretty horsey," Gabrielle said, petting its head. It neighed and kept eating grass.
"Is it useful for anything?"
"A few low-level crafting recipes." Gabrielle’s left cheek inflated. "Want a mount? I’ve got a saddle. It doesn’t cancel acceleration or anything though."
Rowan assumed it couldn’t fly. "Wouldn’t blinking be faster?"
"Yeah… I was just asking. Thought ya might want one."
As she turned, an idea struck Rowan in the side of his head. He held her back by the arm. "Wait. Let me try something. Skelefy it."
She shrugged and smiled. "Kay." Her wand twirled, and a jet of airy darkness rushed into the horse’s side. Flesh and hair disintegrated, leaving behind an upright skeleton that surprisingly did not fall over.
"Raise," Rowan incanted in the dark language. He projected an intention for its flesh to not regrow; and for a core of dark-ice mana to swell in its ribcage. Ice coated its bones and made for replacement flesh. Those eye sockets lit up. The skeleton animated. It worked! Somehow. "Put the saddle on."
"Kay. Just don’t die on me again…" Gabrielle retrieved the metal and leather seat from her pouch and placed it atop its back. Magic held the thing in place.
"Don’t worry." Rowan climbed the saddle’s footrest and mounted the skeleton. He pushed his Mana Shield outward, just enough to cover every bone, and whipped its mental leash—
a hardy giddy-up. The skeleton sped forth at a good speed, faster than Rowan could run.
And with a sliver of hesitance digging into his stomach, he held onto the saddle and skipped forward with a Rime Blink.
The world shifted. The skeleton horse kept running on dried mud, no damage taken. Its dark-ice mana core had absorbed the blink’s splash damage. This makeshift mount was perfect for a caster.
Gabrielle suddenly appeared behind him, slender arms gripping his chest, lovely warmth seeping into his back. The saddle was now very crowded—in a good way. "Hehehe." She rested her chin on his shoulder. Strands of her hair blew into his face as they raced to catch up, Rowan blinking forward every second. It wasn’t too bumpy of a ride.
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