Alburet landed next to the structure at the top of the ziggurat and was about to step inside when it exploded. Alburet was thrown back, losing ninety percent of his life in that instant, tumbling across the top level and coming to rest just before he fell off the side.
Chapter Forty-nine
Getting to his feet, Alburet wiped the blood from his face and tried to regain his bearings. “What the fuck?”
Dimitry stood at the center of the ziggurat, his hair disheveled and his robes torn and bloody. Vladimir lay at his feet, unconscious and bleeding. Renful’s desiccated corpse lay to one side, a dozen knives riddling the body while his head lay a few yards away. Above the two brothers, Ophelia held both Andrea and Parsnew by their necks. Both Angels were unconscious and black streaks were visibly creeping across their wings and dresses as Ophelia whispered in their ears.
Hearing Alburet, Dimitry looked up from Vladimir. “Ah, the lone hero arrives, once again too late to stop me from doing as I wish.”
Alburet checked the raid panel to find Vladimir’s information; he was still alive but his health was dropping toward zero. Andrea and Parsnew weren’t losing life, but their bars were becoming translucent. “I don’t think I’m too late,” Alburet said as he started toward the deranged Vampire.
With a laugh, Dimitry grinned, showing bloody teeth. “I can feel the power of the false god inside you. Do you think that will be enough for you to save my foolish brother?”
“Probably not,” Alburet admitted as he continued forward. “Are you accepting recruits?”
Eyes widening, Dimitry laughed harder, an edge of madness creeping in. “You? You wish to join our side?”
“Well, it’s not like your brother will be able to keep the bargain I made with him,” Alburet shrugged. Coming to a stop near Vladimir, Alburet snorted as he looked at the dying noble. “He should have known older brothers are always right.”
“Unfortunately, he will not admit defeat and Stein has told me he needs to die,” Dimitry said, a note of sadness in his voice. “I tried so hard to keep him away from this business, too.”
“It always is when family dies,” Alburet agreed solemnly. Glancing at Dimitry then away, Alburet was able to get the information he wanted.
Dimitry Dracon aka Dragon Eater (Level ???)
82,751,975/90,000,000 Health
179,346/200,000 Mana
Twisted Class, Favored by Stein, Broken Mind
“What is she doing to the Angels?” Alburet asked as he tried to surreptitiously change one of his spells.
“Bending them to my will,” Dimitry smirked, looking up at the three women. “My sister was always talented at bending people to her will, even before she became my Succubus. It was the only way to ensure she bent to my will, and not the other way around. Stein was forgiving enough to keep our deal even though she failed to consummate their marriage before I returned.”
“Too bad. It would have been better for us if he hadn’t,” Alburet sighed. He was aware of someone creeping up the side of the ziggurat, and recognized Karen by her anger and anxiety. “Well, it’s time to end this encounter, Dimitry.” Kicking Vladimir, Alburet silently cast Demonic Vitality, giving the Vampire some life back.
“It is indeed,” Dimitry smiled, sounding oddly happy.
“Al!” Karen shouted, coming up onto the top level.
“Your wives… they’re waiting for you,” Dimitry said. “Very well, then, let this be the fight it should be.” Raising a hand, Dimitry snapped his fingers.
Alburet blinked. He was suddenly across the ziggurat from Dimitry and Vladimir lay at his feet. The familiar weight of his axe was on his back again, as well. “What the…?”
“Okay, what just happened?” Gerald asked, suddenly next to Alburet.
“The fight is about to begin,” Vladimir whispered as he struggled to his feet. “Dimitry wants it to be fair… wants to watch us struggle against him.”
“They’re monsters,” Andrea shuddered from above. “Ophelia overpowered both of us. She wasn’t affected by our songs. She didn’t flee... she led us into a trap.”
“Now that the stage is set,” Dimitry laughed, “let the play begin.” With an elegant bow— ruined by his crazed laughter— Voltis, Dimitry’s Undead Destroyer Lord, and Fallen, an Undead Cherub, appeared beside him. “Now, minions, kill these fools for me.”
Alburet couldn’t believe his eyes when he stared at the three arrayed against them. The combined health of the minions and Dimitry came to a total just short of 200 million. “Fuck this,” Alburet hissed as he pulled out the red crystal given to him by Yuna. “Mother, we could use that help now.”
Dimitry’s minions paused when Mother suddenly appeared in the air above the raid. “It seems my long wait is over,” Mother sighed. “Today is the last day I shall be allowed on this world. But to help remove the stain from my darling’s name, it will be worth it.”
Dimitry’s eyes were saucers as he stared up at Mother, “What’s this? Mother, how can this be? I must have you! I must test and learn from you…”
“Alpha Company, receive the first blessing of the Dark Lady,” Mother said.
Blessing of the Dark Lady.
It’s not every day a new goddess comes into being.
Ignore all Summoner and Necromantic spells and Abilities from foes, including those of minions.
“Charge!” Gerald roared as the blessing empowered the raid.
“Mother?” Alburet asked, staring up at her.
“This was my last act, Al. Stacia is waiting for you. Don’t keep her waiting too long.” Mother vanished in a puff of crimson smoke, though a hint of a song remained in the air as she vanished.
Andrea and Parsnew were both outlined in red, and the song grew louder as the sisters raised their voices in harmony.
“No, no! Bring her back! MOTHER!” Dimitry raged as storms of ice, fire, and darkness formed around him. “It’s his fault, he did this. KILL HIM!” Lances of ice and fire shot out of Dimitry’s hands, hitting Alburet and almost dropping him.
Gerald interposed himself between Dimitry and Alburet as he Charged after slamming his shield into Voltis. “He’s with me.”
Singing, the twin Angels took to the sky and sang directly at Fallen. The Undead Cherub began to shake as golden light enveloped him, his life dropping rapidly and the undead skin sloughing off his body.
“Damned bitches,” Ophelia snarled as she rushed at the sister. Spells, arrows, and other ranged attacks hit the Succubus, driving her away from the Angels, who continued their song. “No... master’s order must be fulfilled first,” Ophelia whined and turned her glare onto Alburet. “He must die first.”
Alburet was pulled back onto his feet by Stewart. “We’re with you.”
Grimgar, Almira, Ferrin, Fluff, Karen, Marysue, Ioaniss, and Vladimir stood beside him, with Ironhand’s and Violet’s groups flanking them. Seeing so many of his friends ready to defend him, Alburet felt a feral smile on his lips. “Killing her is the first step.”
“Sister, it is time,” Vladimir said, and vanished. He reappeared on top of her, his sudden appearance driving her to the ground in front of them. He plunged his daggers into her wings, shredding them. “Blood calls for blood, after all.” With that, he sank his fangs into her neck, prompting a scream of terror from the grounded Succubus.
“Mir, I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you for real! Get off me,” Ophelia raged as she tried to push herself to her feet.
Tiny, TJ, and TW all piled onto her, each of them grabbing an appendage to help hold her down. “Master’s command must be followed,” Tiny rumbled.
“I know that, fool,” Ophelia spat before she vanished from where she had been. “But if Fallen dies, Dimitry will be sad,” she finished from behind the sisters, her wings fully healed. “You should have run when you could.”
“I can’t bring her down again for another minute,” Vladimir said as he got back to his feet.
“I’ll go get her,” Alburet said and left
the ground. “Bob, BJ, BB, let’s go.”
“Should we wait or go help with Voltis?” Ioaniss asked, slotting a Light damage magazine into his repeating crossbow.
“I need to go help Gerald,” Marysue said.
A cry of surprise made everyone look up in time to see Gerald go flying over their heads. Ioaniss yanked the whip off his belt and was able to get it around Gerald’s legs before the Defender went over the edge. The others all grabbed onto Ioaniss, and together, they were just able to stop Ioaniss from going over with Gerald, and began to pull the Defender up the side.
Marysue ran to the edge to heal Gerald. He was missing a good half of his health. “What happened?”
“Tanks, be prepared for Dimitry’s big hit,” Gerald broadcast over the Raidstone. “He said, ‘It’s time to fly’ then hit me with it. Took my mitigation to not be killed.”
“That was with Unbreakable?” Marysue asked, eyes wide as she cast another heal on him.
“Yeah. Tanks, rotate out after he sends you flying,” Gerald added.
“Incoming,” Alburet announced from above.
Marysue and Gerald were running back to the others when Alburet crashed into the ground with Ophelia in his arms. Bob, BJ, and BB all bailed off before they hit the ground with them. Tiny, TJ, and TW all grabbed her again, but as soon as they did, Ophelia vanished once more.
“Raid mechanic. We can’t hold her down.” Gerald said. “We need a way to keep her grounded once she gets brought down again.”
“I got it,” Ironhand said as he finished putting a trap together, “if you can get her back here.”
“I can help with that,” Ioaniss said, putting his whip back on his hip.
“Al, ready?” Vladimir asked.
“Take three,” Alburet nodded as he and Vladimir took off flying.
“The sisters are soloing the Cherub,” Karen muttered. “That song is doing a number on him.”
“Which is why she keeps trying to stop them,” Fluff nodded as she flexed her claws. “This time, we get to tear her to pieces.”
“Yup,” Karen added, applying another poison to her blades. “I hope this one works.”
“Damage?” Leggylass asked and shot another arrow at Ophelia.
“A debuff that slows the target’s attacks,” Karen replied.
“Stop following me,” Ophelia spat at Alburet and Vladimir as they chased her, keeping her away from the Angels.
“No, sister, it’s time to prune back the family tree,” Vladimir chuckled.
A bolt of ice hit Vladimir’s wing and sent the Vampire plummeting to the ground, leaving Alburet as the only one chasing Ophelia.
“Now, let’s take you to Dimitry,” Ophelia smiled darkly, reversing her flight and slamming into Alburet. “Earth’s Embrace,” Ophelia purred. Blocks of stone encased Alburet’s wings, sending the two of them hurtling toward Dimitry. He was ignoring Hilda, who was tanking him.
Slamming into the ground with bone jarring force, Alburet coughed a bit of blood up and started to heal. He could feel the bracelet on his wrist warming slightly. Shaking his head to clear it, Alburet was unsure what was happening when he was picked up.
“Yes... you are the reason she left so soon,” Dimitry seethed, inches away from Alburet’s face. “This grows tiresome, and these insects bother me,” Dimitry’s foot slammed into the ground, a wave of ice shooting out in all directions and encasing everyone it touched.
Fluff— seeing the wave coming— scooped Karen up and Leaped up and over it. Marysue shot into the air with Gerald dangling from her grasp, her summoned wings beating hard. Vladimir vanished from sight and Ioaniss threw a trap at his own feet, becoming encased in ice a moment before the wave hit him. Violet, Ferrin, Stewart, and the other Summoners tried to take to the air, but weren’t fast enough.
“Ophelia, Voltis, deal with them while I chat with my new toy,” Dimitry said, not even looking at the few that had escaped being frozen. Instead, he focused on Alburet, who was struggling in Dimitry’s vise-like grip. “Now, Two-souled, you will tell me how you helped turn Mother into a god.”
Spitting into Dimitry’s insane face, Alburet snarled, “Make me.”
Eyes going wider, Dimitry locked gazes with Alburet, his irises starting to spin. “I shall. Look into my eyes and tell me what I wish to know.”
Alburet felt the pull of his gaze, but his immunity to mind-influencing effects stopped him from falling under Dimitry’s spell. Going slack in Dimitry’s grasp, Alburet let his eyes grow heavy, the lids half shutting. “Of course… master.”
“So weak, so easy,” Dimitry laughed.
“He could be lying, brother,” Vladimir said, appearing behind Dimitry along with ten Shadow Clones. All of them stabbed the crazed raid boss, two of the blades slashing across Dimitry’s wrist. He had used Disarm, making Dimitry’s hand open and drop Alburet. “Besides, this is a family matter. Do you remember the Ring of the Forefathers?” Vladimir pressed the ring against Dimitry’s face while sinking his fangs into his brother’s neck.
Dimitry stumbled back from Alburet. One hand went to his cheek, now marred by a bright red emblem, and he shoved Vladimir away from him. “The Ring? It’s been found? I need it for another of my experiments…” Eyes going to the clones, Dimitry squinted, “Give it to me, Mir.”
“He loses track of shit really easy,” Alburet said as he hit Dimitry with his flame covered axe.
“Pesky gnat! Leave me and my brother alone,” Dimitry hissed, spinning and slapping Alburet. An oily-black bubble appeared, trapping both the brothers inside of it.
Alburet grunted when he hit the ground, but the impact caused the stone encasing his wings to break away. Alburet got back to his feet just behind Voltis, who was fighting Gerald and the others. “Guess we take you down first,” Alburet muttered, carving a deep wound across Voltis’ calf.
“Al, we need the others out of the ice,” Gerald called out.
“We’re working on it,” Bob called out. He and the other Imps were throwing Fire Bursts at the densest cluster of Alpha Company members. “It’s melting, but not as fast as it could. The first group should be out in a moment.”
“Keep going,” Alburet shouted as he hacked into Voltis’ calf again.
“Get back,” Gerald shouted.
Karen and Fluff had been attacking the other leg, and at Gerald’s shout, they both ran away with him. Alburet wasn’t prepared and tried to get away, but was too slow. The arc of lightning from Voltis hit him, locking up his muscles and dropping him to the ground as the magic coursed through him. Every second, his life fell by five percent, then rebounded by three percent.
After ten seconds, the electricity faded, and Gerald Charged back in at Voltis. Karen and Fluff joined him, but looked over at Alburet getting back to his feet.
“You need to get out during those moments,” Marysue said helpfully.
“I got that now,” Alburet said as he staggered back to Voltis.
“Al, help the others. You can’t hurt them while they’re in the ice,” Marysue suggested. “We need more people.”
“You do, and without you, they don’t survive,” Ophelia laughed as her hands went around Marysue’s neck from behind.
Gerald was suddenly in Marysue’s place. He had used Intervene, placing him in the spot of the attack. “You’re right, but she’s mine,” Gerald snarled and slammed his helm backward into Ophelia’s nose, then his foot down onto hers. “So get your damned hands off.”
Marysue brushed at her dress, smiling at Gerald. “She fell for it.”
Darkknight and Jaxton Charged in. Jaxton took Gerald’s place on Voltis while Darkknight Shield Bashed Ophelia from behind.
“Mind if we cut in?” Violet snickered. “After all, you keep attacking my friends and family.”
Ophelia leapt into the air, getting away from the reinforcements. “Damn you, you miserable insects. Just be good and die.”
“Sorry it took us so long,” Andrea said as she cut off Ophelia’s retreat.
“Now that Fallen has been redeemed, we can help with her.”
“What!?” Ophelia looked past Andrea to where the overly large Cherub lay inert and unmoving. “He was master’s first accomplishment… he was family, you ungrateful bitch!”
“He was, and now, he can be at peace,” Parsnew said and wrapped her arms around Ophelia. “Now to put you to rest.”
“Bring her down and we’ll help,” Alburet said.
“Of course. A song while we do,” Parsnew said. She lifted her voice in song, a melody of winter being banished and spring arriving filling the area.
“Of course,” Andrea nodded, raising her voice to join her sister’s.
“No, damn you,” Ophelia raged as the two Angels brought her down to the ziggurat.
Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8) Page 44