by Lucas Flint
“Mecha Knight is right,” said Olga. “While the Tower of the Cursed was never meant to look pretty, it didn’t look this bad until Holly took control of it not too long ago. And I fear that it is much worse on the inside, where Holly dwells.”
“Are you sure we should head there?” said Bait, looking at the Tower nervously. “If it’s as glitchy as you say, could it hurt us if we get too close?”
“I think you will be safe,” said Olga, “though I cannot be entirely sure. Most of Holly’s glitches are merely altering or obscuring graphics. I don’t think she has gotten to the point where she can literally infect players and NPCs, though I would caution safety just the same.”
“It’s not like we have much of a choice either way,” I said. I drew the Feather Blade and rested it on my shoulder. “Somewhere in that Tower, Valerie is being held prisoner. The whole reason we came this far was to save Val. The rest of you can go home if you want, but I’m going to the Tower regardless of who is with me.”
“I, too, plan to keep going forward,” said Mecha Knight softly. “Like Bolt, I came here to kill Holly, and I won’t log out until I do. This is our last chance to stop her.”
“You’re right,” said Bait. He gulped and readjusted his Feather Shield strapped to his back. “We said we’d help you and we always keep our word, right, sis?”
“I suppose,” said Switch somewhat grudgingly. She looked like she was afraid of the Tower. “Let’s just get this over with. The sooner we save Valerie, the sooner we can go home.”
“Okac will also travel with you,” said Okac, raising his sword like a knight about to charge into battle. “Okac owe life debt to Master Bolt and won’t give up until Master Bolt says so.”
I smiled at that, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure if that was Okac actually speaking or if Olga was making him say that. Olga’s strange facial expression didn’t help. She simply looked determined to help us save Valerie, which I appreciated, regardless of my reservations about her.
“Okay, guys,” I said. “Now that we’re all ready, let’s do this.”
-
I expected to fight a lot of enemies on our way across the plain between the Tall Mountains and the Tower of the Cursed. After all, we were practically in Holly’s backyard at this point. I expected Holly to throw everything she had against us, the highest level minions with the most powerful attacks and equipment that she could find. Heck, I even expected her to send a few boss monsters because we were so close to her Tower by now that there was no way she would risk us messing up her plans now.
Yet the journey to the Tower was surprisingly uneventful. The most exciting thing to happen was whenever Okac stumbled upon hidden coins every now and then, which he would then give to me. Apparently, Lizard Warriors had an Ability called ‘Good Luck’ that increased their chances of stumbling upon hidden coins and items in the ground. Unfortunately, Okac’s Ability wasn’t at a very high level yet, so he didn’t find anything particularly interesting or rare.
As we got closer to the Tower, the fewer items Okac found, and that had an easy explanation: We were getting closer to the source of the virus infecting the game. The ground underneath our feet began to flicker and glitch. Sometimes it was dry, hard-packed earth; sometimes it was waist high grass, still wet with morning dew; other times it was an ankle-deep pond that we had to trudge through, and still other times it would become slick ice or dusty sand. Oddly enough, the constant change in appearance did nothing to slow us down or even affect our movements. It really did appear to be cosmetic, though that didn’t stop the constant changes in appearance from feeling disorienting.
When we got to the front gates of the Tower, we found that they were closed and locked shut, yet there did not appear to be any guards on duty. We looked up at the walls and the guard towers on either side, but as far as we could tell, no one was here.
“Weird,” said Bait, who was holding his Feather Shield before him defensively. “No gatekeepers?”
“I bet they’re afraid of us,” said Switch with a smirk. “Probably heard about how we defeated those lizard idiots back in the Tall Mountains and became afraid of us as a result.”
“Afraid? Of you?” said a harsh feminine voice above. “You outworlders say the silliest things. It is a wonder that anyone fears you.”
A figure materialized on top of the gates before us. She was a tall, thin woman in a tight-fitting black dress who would have looked gorgeous if not for the constant scowl she wore on her scarred face. Her witch’s hat was tipped to the side, while her hands were on her hips, the rings glowing brightly as she looked down upon us.
“Holly,” I said. I held my sword before me with both hands.
“That’s her?” said Bait, staring up at Holly in disbelief. “She’s hot.”
“She doesn’t look that good,” said Switch crossly. “That outfit of hers is so ridiculous.”
Holly chuckled. “You’re one to talk, girl. That potato sack dress of yours really fits your earthy personality.”
Switch glared at Holly so much that I thought she was going to unlock a new Ability called Laser Death Beams and kill her here and now. “You’re just a stupid virus. What do you know about fashion?”
“More than you, apparently,” said Holly with a smirk. Her eyes shifted over to Mecha Knight and her scowl became even more pronounced. “Mecha Knight. I see you are working with these brats. My, how the mighty have fallen.”
“Holly,” said Mecha Knight without looking even remotely upset by her put down. “For the longest time, I believed you were dead. But it is now clear to me that the only way we can ensure your complete and total deletion is to destroy the Vaultwork itself.”
“How ambitious,” said Holly with a chuckle. “You do realize how big the Vaultwork is, don’t you? Ambition is fine to have, but I think you are overestimating your own abilities quite a bit.”
“It doesn’t matter how big the Vaultwork is,” said Mecha Knight. “It never should have been created. You never should have been created. And I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that you stay deleted this time.”
“And I’ll do whatever is necessary to save Valerie from you,” I said. I pointed my sword up at Holly. “Where is she, Holly? Where is Val?”
Holly folded her arms in front of her chest. “She’s back in the Tower, where she cannot escape. But I wouldn’t bother trying to save her, if I were you. She’s on death’s door even as we speak.”
“No way,” I said. “You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie about something so important?” said Holly, again with a smirk. “I may be a virus that hates you humans, but I am also quite generous to my enemies. If you four log out now, then I will leave you alone when I escape the Internet. But if you stay and continue to insist on fighting me, then you will be logged out the hard way.”
“We don’t want your ‘generosity,’” I snapped. “We want Val. And where are your minions, anyway? Or are you the only protection this place has?”
Holly smirked. “I don’t need more protection when I am strong enough to defend my Tower all on my own. But very well. I knew you wouldn’t accept my offer, but I thought I would make it anyway. That way, I can tell Valerie that you died because of your own gross stupidity.”
“We’re not going to die,” I said. “You, on the other hand, are.”
“Oh?” said Holly. “And how do you intend to kill me? You’re so low-leveled that your threats would be funny if they weren’t so depressing.”
“We’ll figure something out,” I said. “Between the six of us, we should be able to take you down no problem. Now, are you going to come down and fight us yourself or are we going to have to climb up there and kill you ourselves?”
Holly chuckled. “As if I am going to waste my precious time playing with you. That’s what minions are for, after all.”
Holly suddenly clapped her hands. “Reginald, dear! Take out this trash.”
I had no idea who ‘Reginald’ was until I hea
rd a deep growl come from behind the main Tower. It sounded like the rumbling of an earthquake, but before any of us could react, something huge flew out from behind the Tower, rising high into the air as it roared in anger.
It was a dragon. And it was coming for us.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The massive dragon did a complete circuit around the Tower of the Cursed before flying down toward Holly. It landed with a crunch on the walls, causing the walls to crack underneath its weight, but the walls somehow held nonetheless. That was when I got a good look at the dragon itself.
Like I already said, it was huge, easily big enough for all six of us to ride on its back and still have plenty of room to stretch our legs. It looked kind of like a fusion between a Chinese dragon and your stereotypical European fantasy dragon. Its body was long and serpentine, while its wings and limbs were thick and strong. Jagged, razor-like teeth gleamed from within its long maw, while blue smoke rose from its nostrils in regular puffs.
I instinctively Scanned the dragon:
Name: Reginald
Level: 500
Class: Boss/Dark Dragon
Affinity: Evil
Health: 1,000/1,000
Weakness: Light
Spoken of only in Keorian legend, few people have ever seen a Dark Dragon and even fewer have lived to tell the tale. As a result, little is known for sure about their strength and capabilities, which is why the standard advice given to all would-be Dark Dragon hunters is to kill themselves because it will save them a lot of time and be less painful than if they cross the path of a Dark Dragon.
My eyes widened in shock as I read that. “Uh oh.”
Holly smirked. She ran a finger down the side of Reginald’s face, which seemed to please the Dark Dragon because it practically purred under her touch. “Interesting, isn’t it, how you humans are so scared of big lizards like Reginald here? Makes me wonder just how much of that bluster was real.”
“Bolt,” said Bait under his breath, causing me to glance at him. He looked just as freaked out as me. “We can’t beat that thing. Even if we all work together, it’s too big and powerful for us to defeat.”
“Bait has a point,” said Mecha Knight, also in a low voice. Unlike Bait, he did not look freaked out, though he did look slightly worried. “I have some Light spells on hand, but I’m better at crafting items and equipment than I am in using combat magic.”
“I don’t even have any Light spells,” said Switch. “Does Fire count?”
“Probably not,” I said without taking my eyes off of Reginald, “but it’s not like we have much of a choice here. If we try to retreat, Reginald will probably chase us, which would put us on the defense. We need to take the offense. It’s the only way we will have any chance of winning.”
“What’s the matter?” asked Holly mockingly. “I thought you said you were going to beat me, yet it looks to me like you are all trying to figure out how to run away. You know, you can still log out now if you want. It’s not too late to take back your stupid words and make the right choice.”
I scowled, but I didn’t say anything just yet. Holly was clearly taking a lot of joy in mocking us, more joy than a virus should have to be frank. A part of me said it was better for Holly to be out here, mocking us, rather than inside the Tower torturing Valerie, but unless Holly actually came down to fight us, it was only delaying the inevitable.
“No response?” said Holly. “Oh, well. I have important business to attend to, business which doesn’t concern any of you.” She slapped Reginald on the nose. “Reggy, dear, please keep the outworlders busy while I finish my business. Don’t spare any of them.”
Reginald made a deep growling noise and nodded slightly to show that it understood.
“Good boy,” said Holly. She looked down at us with malicious glee on her features. “Goodbye, outworlders! I hope you have fun with Reggy. He likes to play rough, but you look strong enough to handle him. Ta ta!”
Holly snapped her fingers and disappeared into nothingness. As soon as Holly vanished, Reginald spread his wings as wide as an airplane and then shot into the sky. He flew up high and then immediately nose-dived toward us, roaring all the while.
All six of us scattered, just barely avoiding his claws as they swiped at us. Looking up, I saw Reginald heading back into the empty blackness of the sky again, ready to turn around and dive bomb us again.
“Mecha Knight, Switch!” I yelled. “Shoot him with whatever spells you got! And Bait, distract him as much as you can so I can get him from behind!”
Thankfully, Mecha Knight and Switch immediately began firing spells into the air. All of them hit Reginald in the side, but they only shaved off a few points of Health each.
That was enough, however, for Reginald to notice them. The Dark Dragon glared down at them, but then Bait activated his Call of War and Reginald immediately shifted its focus onto him, even as Mecha Knight and Switch continued to pelt it with light and fire spells.
Reginald swooped toward Bait and landed in front of him, its crash shaking the ground. Reginald swiped at Bait with one of its claws, but Bait evaded it easily, jumping outside of its reach while still holding his Feather Shield in front of him.
Seeing my chance, I rushed up to one of Reginald’s hind legs and slashed at his thigh. The Feather Blade took off a few points of Health, just barely scratching the surface of its scales, but I kept striking at it anyway, chaining each blow into a larger combo that did more and more damage with every blow.
Suddenly, Reginald kicked out with its leg, the blow knocking me backward off my feet. I hit the ground hard and saw my Health drop to half in less than a second, which made me realize just how powerful Reginald was if a simple, undirected attack like that could take so much Health off me.
Just as suddenly, a green aura flashed around me and I saw my HP rise back up to full.
“What the—?” I said, but then I heard Switch shout, “Get off your butt and keep attacking that dragon before I regret healing you!”
Nodding, I scrambled back to my feet just as Reginald suddenly took off into the air again. The wind from the Dark Dragon’s take off nearly bowled me and Bait over, but I managed to regain my balance in time to see Reginald flying away well outside of my reach.
“Hey, where’s it going?” said Switch, who stood well away from Bait and I. “It’s not running away already, is it? Not that I would blame it, of course, because I am rather terrifying—”
“It going to burn us!” Okac suddenly shouted.
Okac was right. Reginald twisted and turned in the air and swooped down toward us. As it drew closer, black flame began building up in its mouth and then it unleashed a continuous stream of black fire directly toward us.
It came too fast for me to dodge, but Bait got in front of me and raised his shield. A blue energy barrier suddenly appeared around us, and not even a second later, the flames struck, wrapping around the barrier like a snake. Though the flames hit hard and fast, the barrier held, although I could see sweat breaking out on Bait’s forehead as he attempted to keep the barrier up. It occurred to me that Bait likely didn’t have enough Mana to withstand such a powerful attack for very long and that sooner or later the barrier would break and we’d both die.
Just as it became clear that the barrier was about to break, Reginald closed his mouth and soared above us, going back up into the sky for another round. Bait dropped the barrier and fell onto his knees, clinging to his Feather Shield and breathing hard, sweat running down his face in rivulets.
“Whoa, man, are you okay?” I said, looking down at Bait in concern.
“Barely,” said Bait. He coughed. “Flame tore through my Mana and Stamina like a lawnmower. Can barely stand.”
I looked over my shoulder. Reginald was flying away, but I knew he would make another turn and come back for more soon. Yet we had barely dented his HP and it didn’t seem like any of us were strong enough to take him down, even if we all worked together as one. And without Bait’s s
hield, I knew we would not be able to survive another attack like that.
I looked over at Olga, who had somehow managed to avoid Reginald’s attacks so far. “Olga, can you hack Reginald and make him into a friend? Or at least make him go away?”
Olga shook her head. “No. I tried, but Holly has his AI locked down. He will only respond to her orders.”
I cursed under my breath, but then looked over at Mecha Knight and said, “Mecha Knight, you’re the strongest. What can you do against him?”
“Light spells are the only thing I have that could possibly hurt him,” Mecha Knight replied. He waved his staff. “And as you say, even my attacks don’t do much against him. And I don’t think it’s just because Reginald is a very high-level monster, either. I believe Holly artificially increased his strength through glitches.”
I scowled. “Wouldn’t put it past her, but—”
“He’s coming back!” Switch suddenly shouted.
Switch was right. Reginald made one circuit around the Tower and then shot toward us again. I could see the black flames building up in his mouth, so I shouted, “Everyone separate! Now!”
The party instantly scattered, with everyone going in different directions. I was about to head closer to the walls myself when I heard Bait say, “Help!”
I looked over my shoulder and saw Bait trying—and failing—to rise to his feet. That was when I remembered him saying that his Stamina was out, which meant that his movement was very limited. Even worse, Reginald was still flying directly toward him.
Cursing myself for forgetting him, I nonetheless darted back to Bait and put his arm over my shoulder. Helping him to his feet, I tried to lead Bait toward the walls as fast as I could, but helping Bait severely slowed my movement down, not helped by the fact that Bait could barely stand on his own. His Feather Shield also weighed a good deal more than I expected.
As a result, we didn’t get very far before I heard a roar and looked up just in time to see Reginald’s column of black flame rushing toward us like a lightning bolt. This time, there was no way to dodge or block the attack.