Gabriel opened up his eyes and could finally take a direct look at him.
He smiled wickedly, reveling in the sight of an unprepared Tyrant.
The man had been sleeping in the first half-hour of his rest, registering nothing from any of his senses.
Once he woke up, he felt the weirdest feeling in the world.
He was in a void, in utter darkness, and he was weightless, bodiless, sightless, tactless. He simply existed. Gabriel panicked, thinking: Is this what death is like!?
Needless to say, at that moment, he prayed quite a lot. Then as he calmed down, he felt a new sense extend. With that sense, he started feeling something… a… threshold.
It took him a while to understand what that was. They were the internal walls of his core.
As he realized that, he suddenly knew more, he understood that his soul was beyond that point. It was made entirely of Mana. A flowing liquid made of azure flame, this liquid fire was rather dried up at that moment but maintained a frame, a sturdy, immovable frame made of Mana itself.
After he realized where he was, he started visualizing it. But what he saw was not a proper sight. His eyes could still only perceive darkness. It was more as if the information was being loaded directly in the back of his mind.
From there, he started noticing the battle more and more, he heard sounds coming from his body, movements, and finally, he started actually seeing what was going on.
Last but not least, his connection with Lizzy stabilized.
Though his lizard was incapable of emitting sounds or expressing proper thoughts, she made herself clear.
She had been fighting the Tyrant for almost an hour. The weaponless and exhausted Tyrant could but remain on the defensive as she chipped at his Life pool and armor.
Gabriel knew, though. Liz was exhausted. She had started slipping and managed to even get hit by the bastard's random kicks and counters. Noticing her weakness, the mayor had begun pushing once more. Gabe could not allow it. One wrong hit and it could be the end of him.
It was time for him to take the bridles once again. And so he did.
Before he knew it, Gabriel saw the Tyrant in front of him once more.
"I guess this is where we draw the line, right? Or have you got any more transformations for me? I swear if you transform into a little guy with a long tail on me, I'm gonna get mad, really mad. My hair might turn blonde if you do, so be warned." Gabriel said, pointing his spear at him and profiting on the startle about the change of attitude to draw nearer.
"What- what in the Old Gods' name are you talking about, now?"
He's agitated, good.
"Oh, you don't know? It's an old story, it starts with you killing my best friend. Thankfully my best friend is probably fucking her fiance on her sofa, back on Earth right now. So, our story might turn differently, after all."
"You are crazier than I thought."
Yeah, he talks and all, but he's backtracking as I advance. He is sincerely scared.
"Listen, Gabriel. I'm sorry things went this way, but there is a way for you to leave this place. I can open the portal, a way to make you forfeit the Challenge, it's up to me to offer it, it's up to all hidden bosses to do so."
"Oh, yeah? How fun, I recall very well the Anchor's words saying that this was a one-way ticket."
"That's what the Anchor says to everybody, but we have a free pass for the Challengers. It is something that can be given one time only, and I have never used mine. You'll even receive the victory prize. You just have to accept it."
"So, you're not playing tricks on me! Look at that; our mighty Tyrant Boss is scared of weak, small me!" The mayor didn't answer. It kept backing away as Gabriel kept walking toward him at a smooth pace.
"Here, look! You just have to accept it."
An Anchor prompt burned in mid-air in front of Gabriel. Though the man kept his attention on the Tyrant, the bastard was still fast; he read the words.
Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.
You have received a one time only free pass for the Challenge of the Tyrant. If you accept, you'll immediately leave the Challenge, and you will receive the unique reward.
Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.
Do you wish to accept the free pass?
Yes/No
Warning. If you choose No, you will not receive the offer one more time, and you’ll have to either complete the Challenge or eliminate the Challenge holder.
Gabriel was surprised by the reality of it.
The Tyrant, noticing his wavering emotions, kept pushing.
"See! I was not lying to you, not this time. You are far too valuable, and I understand that I could have at least handled things differently…" his voice started changing, becoming a bit whinier, "I'm sorry, Gabriel, it's just that solitude… it makes you die inside. You have no idea how many times I killed myself only to respawn in here, but it's useless… I just respawn every few months. Since… since I first saw you in Turtle Forest, through the eyes of that Tyrant, I could feel you were special, I pushed it into only fighting you, I wanted to draw out your potential, you see! Maybe I could have let you come to me, teach you all I could! Train you! And I- I just couldn’t believe it when it was you the one coming toward me! I felt it was destiny that wanted us to meet! And I’m still sure it was!"
The Tyrant kept talking, and Gabe followed up on his act, partly interested and partly to give him more space. Just to see up to which point he would push himself.
"Really… if there was a way to stop this torment, I would have already. But only being killed by somebody else can free me of this torture. That way, at least my Spirit will lose all its memories and just be reborn in a new entity of the Dungeon. Alas, ther-"
"Is that true?" Gabriel asked.
"What is?"
"If you are killed by someone else, you… reset and become a regular creature in the Dungeon?" He clarified.
"Yes. It is, absolutely."
Gabriel's big grin opened up wide, "Good to know then!"
He wished 'No,' on the Anchor’s offer, and an expression of pure panic exploded from the Tyrant. "Because you will soon have your much-desired freedom!"
All the pent up anger, stress, and malice finally shot outward from Gabriel. As he traced the direction in which the Tyrant had started backtracking, he shot forward, using his only Burst Attack, empowering two full actions, a swipe attack with the spear, and a strengthened step. At the same time, he activated Built to Fly to conserve his energy.
The power sent him forward as he spun around in mid-air, like a spinning top. He used up his lone Energy Point, one of his two points of Mana for BtF, while the remaining one he imbued in the Sk'rayr spear, to increase his momentum.
The spinning attack, continually pushed by Burst Attack, kept its momentum thanks to the strain he kept putting on his muscles and Built to Fly's conserving factor.
Finally, the speed he generated was enough to reach up to the monster just in time, to connect with the edge of his left leg as he was turning away.
In an explosion of debris, the already damaged leg exploded, sending projectiles everywhere.
The Tyrant was finally on the ground.
Gabriel stopped its spring, waving around for the spinning.
"Oh… what a twist, eh?" He said to the Tyrant with a cheerful voice.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The panicked monster kept backtracking on his hands. “No! Don’t you want to know who you are!? Your true mission!?”
Gabriel would not let himself sway, "Where do you think you're going!?" He said with glee.
Gabe reached up to him, whipping his spear on the other leg, once, twice, thrice, shattering that too.
"It's time I put to use what you taught me in the forest training. What do you think?"
The mayor screamed, this time in desperation. He would feel no pain, but for Gabriel, it was good enough.
Blow after blow, Gabriel cracked, exploded the Tyrant's pieces. He started from the stumpy arms, waving about and giving him the chance to crawl away, then once he was immobile, he slowly walked his way up to his head. Blow after blow, he tempested the Tyrant with attacks full of resentment. If he had any Mana left, it would be sipping out of him, tainted in Darkness.
It was once the Tyrant's head exploded, and an Anchor tab appeared in front of him, notifying it of something, that his body, a wreck of sores, and emaciated for the massive overuse of Helping Hand, together with his tired mind, finally gave out. Gabriel fell backward with a satisfied smile on his face and the warmth of Liz's glee from inside of his soul, nudging him to take a well-deserved rest.
***
"How is she?" Greta heard Lorad ask Nadiya.
Nadiya shook her head. The fairy blood girl's eyes closed even now.
They were in the grotto closest to the battle. Greta had once been treating some of the refugees when Lorad had brought a shattered Graskielle inside of it. Following them was Nadiya and Theor. Jiao remained on the lookout, to overlook the battle among the bosses.
The moment they had seen her, Lorad hat asked her to heal the Champion of Giants. She knew the request was one which would bear no fruits, but the moment he did, Theor had come closer and empowered her in every which way he knew.
She felt exploding with power, and though she still thought it unlikely, she started giving healing the Giantess a try.
Needless to say, it was well over an hour in, and her arms had healed only up to her elbows.
If only there was someone with a direct Recovery enhancing Skill, damn, even Helping Hand would at least double the healing speed.
But she was the only healer at that point, and they were feeding her Mana potions to keep her going. She felt like a damn toilet filled with water, then draining herself, she sent away all the damage, then she repeated it time after time, after time.
Push the thoughts away, Greta. It's not the time.
Bjorn, whom she had hidden in her soul until then, bleated.
How can you always sleep? Just how? At times I wonder if you're just faking it! Seriously just how many times have I told you to always be on the lookout when my concentration is elsewhere?
Bjorn bleated questioningly.
Wh-what? You really are trying to guess it? It was a figure of speech… Greta gave herself a mental slap on the forehead. But her internal musing was interrupted by Jiao's call.
She could hear her from there.
"SOMETHING'S GOING ON! THE TURTLE WAS AT AN ADVANTAGE! BUT THERE WAS A SUDDEN RUSH OF MANA AND-" she stopped shouting as Lorad stormed out of the grotto to join her. Theor followed suit, and Graskielle though she had closed her eyes to focus on stopping the dark-tainted Mana from invading her body, meekly tried to get up. Yet she was so weak that all it took Greta and Nadiya to stop her was pushing her back down on the slab of rock on which she had been positioned.
A loud explosion followed by surprise expressions had them come all back in. Then the whole of the Dungeon started shaking.
"What is going on!?" Greta shouted, stopping the healing.
Lorad was the first to answer, "We need to leave. Nadiya, pass the message to every Raid member. There will be a Dungeon Switch shortly. We shall all rejoin at an exit. I will open the passage for us."
"What? It won? Just like that?" Greta asked, but Lorad did not answer. She switched to look at Jiao Liu. She looked… troubled.
"Yes, I had never seen anything of the like. It's Mana surged, almost doubling its strength; then it killed the Turtle. Burst right through its carapace with a beam." She shook her head as she explained.
The shakes became even more violent. Though Greta had never witnessed it, she knew that the Dungeon was reassembling itself to fit the Tyrant's desired layout. The danger was, in fact, not in the Boss' aggression anymore. If left undisturbed, it would peacefully head to its Throne. No, the danger lay elsewhere.
The danger lay in the Dungeon itself, in its reshaping. During the switch, they could be immediately buried in hundreds of tonnes of rock, or disappear in an immediate void, or even drowned in the sprouting of a pool of liquid Mana.
They had to get out as soon as possible.
"I contacted them all, but your son. He's unreachable." Nadiya said.
Lorad flinched, his armor of darkness dissipating for a second, showed his pale face and intense black eyes going entirely white.
Graskielle croaked something. "He's alive… I see it from my Raid interface…"
Lorad's sigh of relief was audible to all.
Greta could see him tightening his fists.
"We can't wait for him. I don't know what he's pulling, but… I'm the only one able to pull us through the barrier now. I can't go lo-"
"You won't have to." Jiao interrupted Darte's soliloquy. "I'll go look for him. I can break through the barrier if things require it, so go."
"Jiao, you can't…" But Jiao was already gone.
As Lorad pulled himself together, Theor took command, "Nadiya, directed them where the majority gathered."
After Nadiya nodded, a couple of seconds of true silence passed by.
Lorad broke the silence, "Let's go."
***
When she arrived at the grotto, Dustille did not ask for anything. She did not ask for the others' fate. She could feel it already but didn't want to confirm it, not right now, not when she needed to do what she felt she had to do.
The very moment she saw her, Dustille knew she had to bring the girl to Darte and Olivia. She was Gaia, Gaia Waterfront. Yggdrasil's promised Guardian. She would grow to be a monster, just like her mother was.
Not only was the girl very well known, but Darte had also talked about her. Crystal, the wolf Olivia used, was her Bond Spirit, and a Bond Spirit shared an unbreakable bond with their druid; she studied it in her mother's books.
They quickly passed through the plains, reaching the forest as soon as they could. Once they reached the dispersed body of water, which was nothing but pure Mana, that if vaporized could be deadly, the girl started manipulating it as if it belonged to the Rapids of Mana, which blessing she had received.
With gentle movements and waving, the liquid Mana raised up from the ground, lifting them up. Gaia made brusque arms movements, pointing toward the forest, and they were thrown at the forest's skies with unparalleled speed. Dustille couldn't hide her surprise. Though there had been a price to pay for such acts, she could see Gaia's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, releasing tears of blood.
The girl's expression was stern though; she only looked forward. She desired no compassion.
By the time they arrived at the location where Dustille had last seen Darte and the crazed Olivia, the turtle Boss died.
Luckily for them, they were still there, Olivia on top of Crystal, and Darte on top of his panther, Death.
Dustille and Gaia saw them coming without uttering a single word, almost expecting them.
"Darte. Explain to me what I'm looking at." She said, before their arrival, she had cleansed herself of the blood.
"Gaia, come here and sit. It seems we're going to be shown a wonderful spectacle," said Darte.
Dustille did not know where all that calm came from. Even Olivia was immobile, not showing a pinch of the animosity she had toward her when she followed her in the forest.
These humans are downright crazy…
"Don't take it personally, Dustille. We had to chase you out of the forest. To pick her up," Olivia said, pointing at Gaia as if reading her mind.
What?
But Gaia interrupted her train of thoughts.
"Olivia Wanderlust. What have you done to Crystal? I feel as... if he's asleep. Are you planning to kill me?" She was unwavering and so direct, Dustille couldn't help but marvel at the girl's integrity.
"Kill my Herald's very tide? Why? No." Olivia shook her head, "I just used my venom to inhibit your wolf's conscience and make him think he's my Bond Spirit."
That's… that's perverse. But Herald? Why are they talking about Heralds now? Thought Dustille. Gaia answered differently.
She seemed to flinch at the emphasized word. "What did you mean by that? That word, why did you use it? And can you please release him?"
"But of course!" Said Olivia, descending from the giant wolf.
She passed a hand over Crystal's head and gave him some space. Crystal's legs gave out, but after a couple of seconds, he got up, shook his head then jumped toward Gaia with a startle.
The two fused in one of the many ways druids do, the process was not very clear to the Giantess, but she had grown used to seeing it now. Then the talks proceeded.
"Why am I here, then…" Gaia took a little time but then added, "Witch of the Deep? Am I right?"
Darte exploded in laughter, "You caught on pretty fast, though I had to explain it to you!"
"I had your people interrogated after you disappeared with Nastia's team. I'm not a fool, Darte. But now tell me, why am I here?" Gaia asked.
Dustille couldn't help but look bewildered at their exchange.
Darte was about to open his mouth, but Olivia stopped him, anticipating him. "You are here to do your job, tide."
Gaia seemed to be taken aback, yet her answer was ready, "Why? If the book of prophecies is true, it should all happen naturally. Why would you have to guide the events?"
"If there was only one book of prophecy, that would be the case. But what if the Book of Prophecy wasn't unique? What if the Herald wasn't the only one? What if there were more?" Olivia, with a smug, promptly asked her.
Dustille could see Gaia's confidence entirely shatter, though she as well was taken by surprise.
The Book of Heralding? Is that what they are talking about? Dustille, in her life, had just come upon it a few times when she was still very young. But every time she did, she felt repulsion toward it and ended up not even going through the first page before she had to put it down. Her grandma didn't know what to do about that behavior. A behavior that slowly started staving her off the path of the seer.
"You see that over there?" Olivia pointed in the distance, over to the disembodied lake.
Dustille and Gaia turned to look. The Tyrant King was descending inside of the void created by the Turtle Boss coming out.
"That was not supposed to happen, and yet, it is real. Our Herald should have stopped it for the consequences it will bring. What does that mean? It's pretty clear to my eyes. It's what happens when two major destiny's fall one into the other," Olivia, her air still effortlessly floating up in the air, said. Her expression was not one of amusement now.
"'...the defeated ruler will once again fall, for The One will choose the tall people. Their heritage was one of Sight and Might. Thus, he shall be erected as a saint among them and follow him will his companions…'" Gaia started citing what looked like a passage from the Book of Heralding, her voice becoming a murmur toward the end.
"What is going to happen to the sky-island, Witch?" She asked as she refocused.
"What are you talking about?" Dustille shouted, but before she could even continue with her questions. Her senses screamed at her to move. An instant later came a mighty shake, so strong that it shattered the forest in two and exploded the mountain on which Olivia and Darte were sitting.
Dustille and Gaia lost their balance and couldn't evade in time the considerable gap that had appeared under their feet. They fell through it, toward an abyss of darkness that seemed to have no end.