“Lucky S.O.B.,” Gerald muttered, having heard the exchange. “Focus on the wings. We need to ground that thing.”
Time passed by and the risen mobs were cut down, while the casters kept trying to ground the Dragon. Deathscale seemed to be having a problem of its own, continuing to hack and shake its neck.
“It’s almost time again,” Stein laughed.
“Al, please,” Karen whispered as she watched the Dragon above them head back toward barrier.
As if her words were a prayer being answered, congealed blood erupted from Deathscale’s throat. Luckily, the stuff splashed on open ground, causing it to hiss and bubble. A pair of legs became visible in the ragged wound that had appeared, followed swiftly by a torso, just before a figure fell from the wound.
Fluff Leaped, catching Alburet and cushioning his fall with her own body. Arms tightening around him, her lips pulled back into a worried smile. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”
“It was close a couple of times,” Alburet coughed as his skin began to heal from the caustic damage it had taken.
“I think it’s time for fun again,” Stein said, the anger clear in his words.
“Drink this,” Karen snapped as she shoved the open end of a healing potion into Alburet’s mouth. “Don’t you dare do anything that dumb again, dammit.”
Alburet drank the potion as he heard Stein continue the countdown. “I’ll do my best not to let the Dragon eat me again,” Alburet said and got to his feet. “Come on, you two need to help with the barrier while I help try to ground that thing.”
The countdown ended, leaving everyone with five percent of their life remaining before they got healed or drank healing potions. Stein gnashed his teeth, clearly upset as he watched his spell have no real effect except making the healers use more of their mana potions.
“Deathscale, you worthless beast! Attack the ones on my barrier,” Stein shouted, slamming the butt of his staff on the ground.
Deathscale came flying back, breathing onto the melee. The cloud wasn’t as strong as before, and half of it ended up spilling out of the hole in its throat. Those in the breath cloud coughed and did what they could to combat the damage while they turned to fight Deathscale.
“Now, everyone! On the beast,” Tyr yelled from the fore of the fight. “If we down this monstrosity, we can attack the barrier without fear.”
The fight with Deathscale wasn’t as hard as Alburet thought it should have been. The wings and tail were a problem, but since it was facing the melee, the casters stood well back from it. Its breath was only half as effective as it should have been, thanks to the rip in its neck that Alburet had made. The only hitch was that when two minutes had passed, Deathscale was still alive.
Dozens of them died then, their health dropping to four percent while still taking damage from the breath weapon and physical attacks. Deathscale died a few moments later, letting the raid transition to dealing with their dead friends.
Alburet was surprised to see all of the Ambassadors still alive as Stein’s Children were being fought with once again. As the last of them fell, Tyr turned to face the barrier and Stein. “Now... now, we shall finally stop you.”
Stein smiled indulgently, like a father to a favorite child who was being stupid. “Good luck breaking my barrier before my ritual is complete.”
“Justice, I know you have given much, but I, your long-time worshipper, beg you... strengthen us,” Justice’s High Priest called out with fervor. “Even if it costs me my life, please help the King.”
“Claudius, no!” Tyr shouted as the Priest collapsed to the ground, becoming a pile of golden dust that swirled around everyone nearby.
“Sometimes, Justice comes at a high price,” Justice’s voice said weakly. “Fight on, my children. Fight for your freedom.”
Chapter Fifty-five
“Fools, even that won’t be enough to stop me,” Stein sneered.
Gerald looked at the new buff he had, his mouth setting into a grim line. “For Stormguard!”
Sacrifice for Justice
Occasionally, justice can only be accomplished at great personal sacrifice. Anyone touched by this selfless deed will do triple damage to the foe of the sacrifice. Honor this sacrifice, made for the greater good.
“Claudius,” Tyr murmured as he looked to the sky, tears falling from his eyes. “May he welcome you home, old friend.” He raised his sword, the glow intensifying around it, “For Justice!”
The raid, which had already taken up the cheer for Stormguard, switched to Justice as they attacked the barrier with renewed fervor. Stein sat there watching them, a sour twist to his lips.
“He could have been useful to me,” Stein sighed. “Since my toys all seem to be broken, I guess I’ll have to take things into my own hands.” Standing up, Stein set his staff before him. “Shall we start with some cold?”
A chill settled over the raid as flakes of snow formed and fell from the air. Everyone started shivering as the temperature dropped rapidly below freezing. The spell applied a slow debuff to their attacks and a damage debuff that slowly ticked away at their life to everyone on the ground.
Alburet looked up and saw that the Imps were not being affected by the spell, being above where it started. “Bob,” Alburet chattered, “Fire Bursts above the raid. See if the heat will cancel out the chill.”
Bob cast a Fire Burst, causing a small steam explosion when the cold air was suddenly superheated. Those under it flinched, but the warm air that hit them made them hopeful. “Okay, I’ll coordinate with the others,” Bob said as BJ launched the next Fire Burst.
“Damnable Infernals,” Stein growled, eyeing the minions above the chill. “Maybe I should focus on you first.”
“We’ll be through the barrier a minute after the next health drop,” Gerald informed the Guild over the Raidstone. “If you don’t have any potions left, you need to get out of the area of effect of whatever spell Stein has going. Healers, prioritize as best you can and remember to top off with mana potions. Summoners, keep your Succubi on standby if they have the healing ability. The King and Ambassadors have priority for healing.”
“We’ll handle it. You need to focus on that barrier,” Marysue replied.
With the Imps disrupting his Ice Age and the raid refusing to back down, Stein started to get irritated. “Why must you all flail so hard!? Just lay down and die,” Stein spat. Slamming his staff into the ground, the Ice Age spell vanished. “Let’s see how you do without your helpers.” Raising his staff high, Stein slammed it down hard enough to crack the stone his throne rested on. “Now let’s see how you’ll fare.” Taking his seat again, Stein smirked at them.
Every healer suddenly found themselves unable to cast healing spells. Panic mounted quickly, before Tyr spoke over the Raidstones. “Calm down, it will pass. Just make sure to have your potions ready, and if you don’t have any potions, do your best to take no damage until the healers are able to join back in.”
They kept attacking the barrier, knowing the next countdown was coming quickly. Marysue was keeping track of the time, all the while trying to get one of her healing spells to cast.
“Any idea how long you’re locked for?” Gerald asked.
“No, we have no debuff or anything to give us a clue,” Marysue replied. “Thirty seconds.”
The seconds ticked by with the raid doing everything they could to bring down the barrier, but as the thirty seconds passed, they knew they weren’t going to make it.
“Good, time for fun again,” Stein grinned. “Three seconds.”
Those three seconds seemed to crawl by, but when the count came to an end, the raid was left on three percent health, and a dozen members fell over dead, coming back as Stein’s Children.
Potions were chugged by those that still had them, but lots of people were left trying to get away from the newly risen mobs, not having potions to heal themselves with. The King and the other Ambassadors drank their own potions, barely slowing their attack on the barrier.
“Finally,” Marysue shouted as her Halo went off, catching a number of the new undead and even more of the wounded raid members. “We’re back in business.”
That small delay had cost another few people their lives; they hadn’t been able to get away from Stein’s Children. As healing started coming in, the raid turned on the undead, cutting them down.
“Pity. I had hoped for more,” Stein chuckled. “Ah well, it does look like your attempts at stopping me will fail.”
“You will die today,” Tyr stated grimly as his sword smashed into the barrier again and again.
“I very much doubt it, even if you do manage to drop my barrier,” Stein said.
When the mobs fell, the healers made sure that everyone was healed to full. The next hit would drop them all to two percent life, and they didn’t want to lose another member. Marysue kept an eye on the barrier as she counted down, shaking her head when she clearly saw they wouldn’t be in time.
“Slow the damage,” Marysue said over the Raidstone. “We can’t make this one, and if we keep going as we are, we won’t have time to heal before it drops.”
Tyr grimaced but agreed with her. Using the command Raidstone, he told the entire raid, “Slow your attacks. Go at half, be ready for the next hit, and let the healers to do their jobs. Once we’re healthy, we will break the barrier.”
“Oh, are you giving up?” Stein laughed as he watched their attacks slow. “How wonderful for me. I promise to owe a favor if one of you turns on the King. I’ll even spare one of your races if it’s one of you,” he added to the Ambassadors.
“He can’t hear us over the Raidstones,” Tyr said. “Keep all important communication to the channel.”
“Time for fun again,” Stein laughed when the timer expired. “Two seconds this time.”
The healers were ready, so no one died, infuriating Stein. Seeing his anger brought the raid some joy as they renewed their attack on the barrier.
“My barrier might fall, but I won’t go down so easily,” Stein snarled as he got back to his feet.
Tyr’s attacks came faster as the health of the barrier dwindled. “For my friend, for my country, and for Justice!” Tyr shouted when the barrier shattered.
“Fool,” Stein smirked as his staff came down and a wave of super chilled air washed over the raid. Everyone within thirty feet of Stein froze solid, stopping the others from getting to him quickly. “Time to die, Justiceson.”
Alburet had gone airborne a few seconds before the barrier fell. Seeing Stein advance on Tyr, he dismissed Tiny, resummoning the Destroyer Lord in front of the King. “Stop him for me, Tiny.”
Stein frowned, his eyes going to Alburet with an amused laugh, “An Infernal? Have you learned nothing, boy?” A black beam shot out from Stein’s staff to strike Tiny in the chest.
The beam didn’t land. TW took the strike as Alburet had managed to Copy Tiny just in time. “Yeah, you seem easy to predict,” Alburet said as he flew down.
“Pathetic,” Stein snapped as he ignored the attempts to stun him by TJ and Tiny. Twin beams shot out, engulfing both Destroyers, banishing them from the world. “Now as I was saying… again?”
Violet managed to summon her Destroyer and his Copy, Theo and Dore, in front of Stein, again making him pause. “Get him boys, for me.”
Shaking his head, twin beams again banished both Infernals. “Foolish simpletons.”
“I disagree,” Alburet said, landing in front of Stein as the last two Infernals vanished.
“You think you can challenge me without a weapon?” Stein laughed as his staff blurred toward Alburet.
“No, he only had to delay you,” Tyr said, suddenly beside Alburet, his shield intercepting the attack. “My thanks to your Imp.”
“Glad to be of service,” Bob called down, his Fire Blast hitting Stein. “Damn, he’s immune to fire.”
“Of course I am,” Stein spat as he stepped back, deflecting Tyr’s attacks. “I think all of you minions should go now.” With a snarl, the staff released a wave of energy and each minion it touched— Infernal, Angel, or undead— vanished from the world. “Now that the pests are gone, we can finish this,” Stein said, no longer retreating even when more of the raid members surged toward him.
Stein was losing health at a rapid pace. He was doing his best to hold off the raid, which wasn’t too hard considering how few people could attack him at once. For every attack on him, his attacker took a tenth of it back themselves, forcing the tanks and damage dealers to rotate out.
“Time for fun,” Stein spat suddenly. “One second.”
“Damn it,” Marysue snapped, having thought that phase was over. “Area heals! Quickly!” She used her Divine Heal on Tyr, who had stepped back to heal up, bringing him to full life just before the entire raid lost ninety-nine percent of their lives.
“Hurry,” Marysue commanded the healers, “area healing! We need to save as many as possible.”
The healers had all been focused on individual healing, so they were not ready for the sudden massive life loss across the raid. A dozen more fell, joined by another handful before the healers could get those closest to Stein out of danger. The dead again came back as Stein’s Children, and were held off by pockets of the raid group.
Some of tanks had fallen during that last attack, leaving just a few to handle the rest of the fight. Gerald stepped forward into that void, flanked by Karen and Fluff, who had been waiting for their turns right behind him. Alburet, seeing his friends and family now on the front line, felt his heart clench as his fear surged.
“Alpha Company... Ophelia said much about you. Let’s see if she was right,” Stein said, ignoring the others starting to crowd around him again.
Gerald didn’t bother wasting words, taunting Stein and attacking. Karen and Fluff were to either side of Gerald, their blades and claws flashing as they sought to help bring down the boss before his next life depletion could go off.
The next minute seemed to flash by. Alburet had to retrieve his axe from where it had fallen, his spells useless against Stein. By the time he returned to the fight, Gerald and the others had switched out, but their health was not going up quickly. The healers were low on mana potions and had to prioritize anyone who was actively fighting Stein.
As the last thirty seconds before the next health depletion came, Tyr again came face-to-face with Stein. This time, Stein wasn’t taunting anyone, his face a rictus of hate.
Alburet glanced at Stein’s health bar and his breath caught in his throat. “We’re going to make it.”
Stein, Calamity’s Chosen (Level ???)
1,137/20,000,000 Health
325,643/500,000 Mana
Broken Class, Twisted Mind, Calamity’s Taint
“Die, and be forgotten,” Tyr snarled, his sword taking the last points of life from Stein.
Chapter Fifty-six
As the cheer went up from the raid, Alburet felt a twisting in his gut. Seeing Tyr turn to speak, Alburet dove, grabbing the King and flying him away. Tyr yelled, but the sudden explosion of energy where Stein had been silenced him. Looking down, the two of them could see the bodies of those that had been too close, now twisted and getting jerkily to their feet, while an oily black bubble rose from the ground, encasing Stein’s body.
“Death will not stop me, fools,” Stein grated. “All you’ve done is delay my eventual rise to godhood. First, I’ll kill you and use your bodies to replenish my children.”
“We got these, but what are we going to do about him?” Gerald called out from below as he led the attack on Stein’s Broken Children.
“Bring me down. We need to wipe out those unfortunate few before we can do anything about Stein,” Tyr told Alburet.
Alburet put Tyr down beside Gerald, then flew up toward Stein’s bubble. His axe hit the bubble and rebounded like it had hit concrete. “Always afraid, having to hide behind barriers? How sad for you.”
“That’s because Calamity is changing me. Soon, I shall be
ready to fight you again; I’ll be bigger, better, and stronger than before.”
Alburet snorted at the line, “The million soul man?”
“Impertinent whelp. I was kind to you before because you found my book, but now... now, I shall no longer be kind.”
“Bring it, caterpillar,” Alburet said, swinging his axe into the bubble again.
“So funny to see a minionless Summoner think he can be a threat,” Stein laughed mockingly. “Now it is time to show you what real power can do.” The bubble burst, pushing Alburet back. Floating in the air was what had been Stein.
“Damn, you got real ugly, real fast,” Alburet said.
Held aloft on tattered black wings, a Skeleton with green flames for eyes and covered in the remnants of Stein’s robe glared at Alburet. “Flesh is transitory if you understand the barriers. Your flesh is a weakness that can be exploited, while my new body is devoid of such concerns.”
Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8) Page 49