World-Tree's End

by E A Hooper

  >Vincent: Oh, so maybe we can reach the core by traveling inside of Lamat’s stomach?

  >Jim: It’s just a theory, but it’s not like anything else we’ve done has been very effective. His weak spot might be inside the core.

  >Vincent: I’ll start flying to his other end.

  >Jim: Xan and I will try to keep him distracted. There’s no way we’d catch up you anyway.

  Vincent followed the path in the serpent’s underbelly. When he found a spot where Lamat overlapped himself, he noticed the lower section connecting to the planet in the distance. He waited for the next wave of Vaporizes to pass before hurrying out of Lamat’s stomach. Vincent descended past the Elder God’s side, then rushed back into the exposed belly just before the next wave of attacks.

  The farther he traveled, the more Lamat’s insides seemed to react to his presence. Several intestines faced him, prompting him to zigzag and dodge their attacks. The skyscraper-sized ribs started to close in and entrap him inside the God’s stomach. World magic flying through Lamat’s veins gave his innards a strange glow, but Vincent still had to rely on his Darkeye upgrade to navigate.

  Finally, the disgusting path of intestines descended straight down as Vincent presumably reached the tail connecting into the planet. Rows of teeth began to appear around the pathway, and they tried to clamp down on Vincent. He increased his speed, narrowly avoiding getting pincered as he descended.

  The intestinal passage became smaller and full of even more teeth that constantly gnashed at him. Vincent shrugged off several glancing blows that he couldn’t avoid, and he continued on with shallow cuts. A light appeared below, and he thought he could see the end of the passage, but several dozen rows of packed teeth slammed down to close off the exit.

  Vincent cast Greater Voidfire, smashing through the teeth, and then dropped into a glowing rainforest below him. The moment he entered the giant cavern, he felt his magic vanish from his fingertips. His Zero Field collapsed, dropping him a hundred meters until he crashed through the canopy. A few dozen branches whipped him on the way down, and then he landed in several feet of mud.

  Vincent stood and tried to shake off most of the mud. He stopped to get a view of the surrounding rainforest. Everything seemed quiet and still, except for the lime green snake hanging in the nearby branches.

  >Vincent: Uh, guys. I reached the core. It’s… not exactly what I was expecting.

  Jim replied, but his voice sounded distant.

  >Jim: Vince, did you say something?

  Vincent spoke louder and enunciated slowly for his allies to hear.

  >Vincent: I’m in the core. There’s a forest in here.

  >Jim: You’re in a forest? What?

  >Alexandria: Vince, we can barely hear you. It sounds like you made it to the core, though. Figure out how to kill this thing. It’s getting bad up here. Lamat is acting even more erratic.

  >Vincent: Jim, what’s his Will at?

  >Jim: We knocked off two more points. It’s progress.

  Vincent trudged through the mud until he reached dryer ground. Even with his high Perception, he didn’t hear any other noises aside from his own. He picked up his pace to a jog and searched the forest for signs of life.

  The trees all had the same subtle glow of world magic, casting light on the dome-like cavern. The ceiling above appeared to be made of unrefined basteel, but it was difficult to tell at that distance. His first thought was to reach the end of the cavern and see if there were any tunnels, but after a few minutes of sprinting he reached the wall and found it completely solid.

  Yeah, it’s raw basteel, Vincent noted, tapping on the wall with his knuckle. If we could actually kill this boss, it would be the perfect world to farm for basteel. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about angels interfering with our mining operations.

  Vincent turned, staring back into the dense forest. His eyes caught sight of another lime green snake peering at him from a tree. It pulled its head back into the canopy, disappearing from his view.

  Okay, there’s definitely something up with those snakes.

  Vincent equipped Endless Edge and approached the trees. His gaze followed the branches where the snake had been moments ago, but he couldn’t find the reptile anymore. Eventually, his eyes found the familiar sheen of a Candy Apple hanging from a branch.

  Is this a reward for getting this far? he wondered. It might be a trap.

  Vincent plucked the apple from the tree. Something felt off about it, but he couldn’t quite figure out what that was until he crushed the apple in his hand. The surface caved in almost immediately, revealing an inside full of black rot and worms. He tossed the apple to the ground in disgust, only then noticing the snake hanging nearby. It lowered its head near his and hissed at him. Strange-looking game text appeared in his view, and he heard a hissing voice that almost reminded him of the whispers he heard when devils tried to communicate.

  Lamat is disappointed. He has waited eons for a mortal to fall for that trick. If you had eaten the apple, your body would’ve rotted from the inside out.

  Is this snake Lamat’s true core? Vincent wondered.

  The Ranger swung his sword at the snake’s head, but the blade shattered to pieces as it struck an invisible barrier. The snake replied to his assault with another hiss.

  Your weapons cannot hurt Lamat in his domain.

  Vincent stared at the broken sword and then back at the snake, finding it had moved to the ground in the blink of an eye. “So I can’t use magic or weapons against you?” Vincent questioned. “A little unfair if you ask me.”

  The little snake curled into a ball and hissed in reply.

  Lamat does not care what you think is fair. Offer him something of great value, and he will reward you with his blessing. With all six blessings, you may reach Xenith.

  “Your blessing?” Vincent questioned. “I thought I was supposed to break your will?”

  The serpent hissed in reply.

  If you break an Elder God’s will, you will also receive their blessing. However, you may choose to claim it an easier way. As you are now, you cannot hope to break Lamat’s will.

  “What do you want?” Vincent asked. “I have plenty of Soulbound gear to trade you.”

  The snake opened his mouth, and a whispering cackle escaped him.

  Lamat wants the only true thing of value that you can offer him: Freedom.

  Vincent grabbed the snake by the throat. “I’m not trading my body again. I’d rather figure out a way to kill you.”

  The Ranger tightened his grip, but then pain surged through his hand. He dropped the snake and watched a layer of skin peel from his fingers.

  The snake cackled in delight.

  Lamat is rot. Lamat is torment. Lamat is pestilence. You will give him your avatar, or you will suffer immeasurably for your prize.

  Vincent tightened his injured hand into a fist, then punched the snake’s head, sending Lamat’s skull into the dirt. The blow didn’t hurt the snake, but Vincent watched his own skin melt off his knuckles.

  That time, an almost-human laugh sounded from the snake. However, Vincent cut the laughter short with another strike to the head. He slammed both fists into the snake repeatedly, and within a few strikes, he wore his fists down to the bone. When he finally stopped, the snake rose, seeming quite mighty for a creature so small. Lamat’s black eyes locked with Vincent’s gaze, almost as if daring him to continue.

  The Ranger attacked again, breaking his hands in the process. After a few more punches, he watched pieces of bone fall from his fists, but he couldn’t feel anything because the nerves had already dissolved. His arms trembled in shock, but he’d learned long ago how to ignore such trauma.

  The snake seemed every bit as persistent, and anytime Vincent paused Lamat rose with renewed confidence.

  >Ezra: Did one of you do something? There are huge chunks of meat falling off Lamat.

  The voice sounded so far away that Vincent almost didn’t catch it over his own heavy breaths
.

  >Jim: Woah, his Will Points are falling fast!

  “Sounds like you’re not feeling too well,” Vincent said, punching the snake again. What remained of the Ranger’s left fist fell to pieces, leaving only the exposed bone at his wrist. He ignored it and punched with his right fist, only for that hand to break apart too.

  The snake laid on the ground for several seconds, then slowly raised itself up, appearing completely uninjured. Lamat opened his mouth, speaking back at Vincent with his own voice. “To destroy me is to destroy yourself.”

  Vincent struck Lamat with his left forearm, and the bone shattered. His arm fell uselessly to his side as though it were made of jelly. Every nerve and muscle from his shoulder to his wrist burned with pain, but he continued to ignore it.

  “You really must’ve never heard of me,” Vincent said, striking the snake with his other arm. It, too, shattered and went limp.

  “Oh, I know you,” Lamat said, still using the Ranger’s voice. “You are a desperate animal, clawing your way to the top of the World-Tree, but every animal has a breaking point.”

  Vincent stomped on Lamat, and his boot fell to pieces. He slammed his foot down several times, but then his leg shattered and left him hopping on one foot. With that one remaining limb, he jumped on Lamat’s slithering back several times before collapsing.

  “You have a breaking point too,” Vincent snarled. “If you know me, then you know I’ll do this a thousand times. I won’t stop until I get your blessing. It’d be easier for you to give up, because I sure as hell won’t!”

  Lamat slithered, wrapping itself around Vincent’s throat. The world serpent squeezed until the Ranger couldn’t breathe.

  >Jim: Vince, whatever you’re doing is working. His entire body is falling apart up here.

  “Just give up,” Lamat whispered, suddenly sounding more snakelike. “Your foolish journey has gone on for too long. You cannot beat this game. No one will ever reach the top.”

  Vincent opened his mouth wide, and then he bit into Lamat’s neck. Most of his teeth shattered, but he continued digging until, at long last, he drew blood from the snake.

  Lamat hissed in agony, bared his fangs, and plunged them into Vincent’s neck. The Ranger felt his entire body seize as if every ounce of him were rotting like the inside of that Candy Apple. However, he could taste the rot spreading through Lamat as well. The blood on his lips turned black, and the snake’s skin started to flake off like it was burning alive. Neither relented, and then they both crumbled like the apple had.

  You’ve died. Respawning at Edgelight…

  The moment Vincent respawned, he leaned over and vomited onto the street. He could still taste the blood and rot in his mouth, but it passed after a few seconds. After spitting out the last of the vomit, he noticed the game alert labeled from two weeks ago.

  Your team has received Lamat’s Blessing. You need blessings from five more Elder Gods to reach Xenith.

  You won’t be able to challenge Lamat again for five in-game years.

  Spirit Level Up: 626>627

  Perception Level Up: 619>620

  Your other stats are closer to leveling up.

  >Vincent: Woah, we did it! Did everyone on the team get the blessing?

  >River: Yeah, those of us that died got it too. Great job, whatever you did.

  >Jim: Hey, Xan and I did a good job too, you know! Vince, you should’ve seen what went down on the surface. The damn world serpent’s head fell off, and he sprayed an ocean of blood into the air.

  >Devon: I still have the taste of blood in my mouth.

  >Alexandria: Oh god, can we not talk about that? I’d rather get that out of my memory. What happened with you in the core, Vince?

  >Vincent: Uh, let’s just say I killed Lamat’s true form. I’d rather not think about my experience either.

  >Alexandria: Fair enough! Just so you know, everyone is getting ready to meet at the Jump Gate.

  >Vincent: Got you. I’ll get ready.

  Vincent touched the nearest daiglass structure and grabbed any items he thought he might need. When he approached the group at the Jump Gate, he noticed everyone’s demeanor had changed since the last time he’d seen them. The team looked happier and more optimistic. Quinn and Xan were talking and joking with Jim once again. Zhang had a smile on his face, something Vincent rarely remembered seeing in the old days. Even Fynn seemed more sociable as he talked to Devon and Jeanie.

  Ezra approached the team last, although he still looked out of place. “Enough of the chitchat,” he said. “We still have five Elder Gods to kill.”

  Vincent nodded, and everyone grabbed their Jump Crystals. The rest of the team discussed which Elder God to fight next, but he stayed out of the conversation since he knew little about them. Eventually, they settled on the God named Aefa. As they readied their crystals, Ezra glanced at Vincent.

  “By the way,” Ezra said, “you did a good job with Lamat.”

  “Thanks,” Vincent replied. “Don’t forget, though, it was a team effort. You all did great too.”

  Ezra snorted, but even as he turned away Vincent thought he saw a sly smile on the man’s face just before they activated their crystals.

  Chapter 22

  Even before the world materialized around him, Vincent knew what to expect. While traveling to the Challenge World, Devon had told him details about a few of the Gods, mainly the ones he found most annoying. So Vincent wasn’t surprised when an ocean world appeared below his feet and he fell into the water.

  After a second under the surface, solidified barriers caught him from sinking any lower. A multilayered platform carried the entire team back to the surface. The four players classed or sub-classed as Wardens had combined their efforts to create it, but they quickly added additional floors below their feet, knowing that Aefa could tear through a single platform with ease.

  Vincent watched the four Wardens—Xan, Ryker, Jeanie, and River—build their floating orange fortress as if they’d done the maneuver a hundred times before. Between gulps of potions, Ryker made anchors and chains out of barrier magic, helping keep the massive raft from being tossed about by the tides as the ocean came to life.

  Zhang cast a spherical anti-water field around the entire platform, and that seemed to push the larger waves away from them, although rain droplets still reached the group.

  Vincent looked at the sky, watching as the green instance in the backdrop was blocked out by storm clouds that manifested as the water grew more tumultuous. The first sound of thunder struck in the distance, and it was quickly followed by a second and a third.

  “Aefa seems more riled up than usual!” Athena noted, sounding worried. “You think she knows we killed another Elder God?”

  “I hope so,” River said as she and the other Wardens cast spells, binding each player to the platform with long barrier chains. “You’re next on our list, Aefa! I don’t want to deal with your crap anymore.”

  The sky grew ever darker overhead, and lightning still danced in the distance, but the massive ocean waves slowed to an unnatural stillness. In every direction, stretching into the horizon, the crashing waves fell flat, turning the world into a dark blue, perfect sphere of water.

  “Here comes the fun part,” Quinn said, watching the waters. “Vince, save your mana for clearing out the dust that’ll fall on us. Our Fighters and Wardens have a strategy we’ve developed for this part.”

  As she spoke, tendrils rose from the water. There were twelve in total, towering almost as tall as skyscrapers. Each looked about two-thirds the thickness of their floating barrier fortress.

  Vincent nervously True Scanned the tendrils while the rest of his team readied themselves.

  Aefa the Deep Leviathan (Elder God) – Monster Class: S+ | Ageless | Sex: Female | Respawn Time: Instant | Personality: Longing

  Will Points: 1,000/1,000

  When the first tendril came down, Vincent tensed, worrying that it might collapse the entire raft. However, the Wardens combined
their efforts to create a bubble-like barrier around the entire thing. The tendril struck the bubble and lost the vast majority of its momentum, but kept wrapping slowly closer.

  Quinn, Jeanie, River, and Fynn equipped basteel longswords, then cast a spell over their blades. Black static ran across their weapons as Quinn and Jeanie leapt into the air together and slashed into the tendril before it reached their raft. Vincent Scanned the spell as it struck.

  Negative Blade (Requires Gravity Fist | Requires Breaker Slash | Upgraded) – Mana Usage: High+ | The user may charge a blade with Breaker magic powered by negative energy for one attack. When the blade strikes a target, the cut is deepened by a gravitational wave. | Upgrade – Soft Tissue Destruction: The gravitational wave travels significantly farther across fleshy targets.

  With their two attacks combined, the slices spread through the entire length of the tendril, severing it. It turned to ash instantly, but the bubble over the raft slowed the dust. Zhang and Athena raised their hands, casting air spells to scatter the avalanche of dust away from their raft, and Vincent assisted with Zero Field.

  When the next tendril came down, River and Fynn jumped toward it together, cutting through it just the same. In that time, Quinn and Jeanie had recovered mana with potions and prepared more Negative Blades for the third tendril. The free Wardens continued to reinforce their defenses, and even Ezra made himself useful by helping Devon transfer mana to their teammates with light spells.

  “You lot seem to have this one figured out,” Ezra noted, grinning as another tendril turned to ash above him.

  “This isn’t doing anything, though,” Jim said. “According to True Scan, Aefa is still at one thousand Will Points.”

  “Let’s clear out the tendrils, and then we’ll figure out the rest,” Jeanie said, keeping her eyes on the next target.

  The next few tendrils came down faster, but the party reacted quickly and efficiently. Vincent felt proud watching his oldest friends and comrades work together with such skill and grace. Even Ezra had become a gear in the machine, knowing who to give mana to next without asking. When the last four tendrils struck, two were cut through instantly, but the other sank through the bubble and almost reached the raft before their Fighters sliced them apart. A tidal wave of ash flooded the platform, but Vincent and the other mages cleared it away in seconds.