Luke stood outside the line between him and the middle entry-way back toward that Unholy Flame. He could feel tense waves of heat waiting to greet him. A sense of nerves remained without his trusty pal, Sooty, beside him. Luke had two skill points, and seeing the situation before him, he decided to hold back on leveling Essence Bond. He threw the two points into Essence Fissure instead.
The ability had its knock-up effect go up to 2 seconds, and its cost was reduced to 30 essence. The cooldown had even reduced by five seconds this time. While that likely wouldn’t matter much, Luke wouldn’t complain about a freebie. He had thought to put the ability into Wayfinder’s Temporal North, but his Lance was his only form of AOE. If he couldn’t take down a large chunk of the Undead Worshippers with it, they’d turn him into ash long before the Unholy Flame would.
Preparing himself, Luke placed Infusion on both himself and his weapon, Whispering Edge. He had made the mistake of not doing so last time and would make sure not to repeat that mistake. Wayfinder still had his Infusion, but it'd likely be useless now that Luke had a weapon. You could never be too careful, though. His body turned slightly, glancing at Sooty again before returning to the middle entrance.
The ambient temperature around Luke was harsher than last time. His downtime wasn’t much, but this alone proved Wayfinder’s worries were valid. He ignored the smudged art that decorated the walls. Luke quickly made his way to the chamber that held the Unholy Flame. His breath quickened. His eyes scanned the area, looking for any advantage, but none came to mind. Still, he noticed that the vast majority of the worshipers were monks, with only four priests. He checked their information to be sure.
[Undead Flame Monk] (Empowered)
Level: 9
HP: 135/135
Hiken!
[Undead Crimson Priest] (Empowered)
Level: 10
HP: 170/170
That answered why they worshiped the thing. It made them more powerful. Looking back, it was apparent that the Monks' flames had come from somewhere. Luke shook his head and took notice of all four Priests. He was in luck. Two were at the very back. The entrance to the room holding the Unholy Flame was narrow. He'd had to do it in that spot if he wanted the undead to bunch up to take a few down at once.
Luke’s breath became faster, and not only from the heat. He’d been over his plan multiple times, but taking action left him terrified. He didn’t have Sooty to save him this time. Luckily, Wayfinder was adept at reading Luke by now. “Lad, you're burnin' daylight! Stick to the plan 'fore it's too late.” He reassured Luke.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, his eyes sharpened, and he took out a tool he hadn’t used in a while. His trusty rocks, wanting to use them for an entirely different reason. He took both of them and threw them as hard as he could. His body tensed, and adrenaline flooded his body. This was the start of a fight for his life.
The two rocks hit their targets, the backs of the two priests in the rear. They turned around, anger visible in their expression. Luke was ready for them. Without anything slowing the two down, they reached him in two seconds. The other undead hadn’t noticed quite yet, likely due to the passive of Whispering Edge. An unexpected boon. One that made Luke slightly change his plans. A scroll appeared in his hands. Luke's eyes settled down on the scroll.
All or nothing. Luke decided Internally.
The two priests reached for Luke simultaneously, but the entrance to the chamber only had enough room for one to pass at a time, causing the two to pause and stumble.
Luke sprang into action, and the scroll disintegrated, silencing one Crimson Priest. During that moment, Luke applied Essence Bond to the other Priest and rapidly slashed Whispering Edge. With Infusion making his sword swing both fast and highly damaging, the Priest further in front rapidly lost health, weakened by the Essence Bond. Not caring if he had to trade a blow, Luke threw everything he could into his strikes, getting off three in two seconds. This was the only part that relied on luck, and he could only increase his chances. As the Priest motioned to cast, Luke landed his fourth strike.
[Silent Strike Triggered, Target Silenced for 1 second]
Luke overexerted his arms, getting two more strikes off in that second. His Infusion wore off, and even as the Priest died to the last strike, he seamlessly used Infusion on his weapon yet again. The other Priest, still silenced, landed a blow on him. Luke ignored the pain of the impact, instead choosing to use the active of Whispering Edge, Wraith Wail. The other undead, who had now noticed the commotion, rushed over. Luke’s target was a 3rd Priest. The target stood in horror, and the rush of undead slowed.
Luke slashed at the Crimson Priest in front of him with everything he had, and with the assistance of the critical strike passive of Wayfinder, he landed an enormous blow on the Priest before him. The healing of the blood ring mitigated part of the damage he was taking from the silenced Priest’s staff strikes. The Priest was about to come off silence, and Luke knew the other Priests would surely cast to heal one another. The mass of undead had rushed up. In only a second, he’d be flooded.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
His voice slipped out. “Perfect.”
As he predicted, Luke cast Essence Fissure; all the undead were bunched up enough to be hit. The Crimson Priest before him was pressed against the entryway, still in range of his melee strikes. He finished it off with a quick slash and stab. His hands conjured up the first Essence Lance. The two remaining priests were next to each other, currently undergoing the knock-up effect. He threw the Lance, having it shatter at the central point between them. As soon as the Lance left his hands, he used Temporal North, and his hands held another Icy Essence Lance, which was immediately thrown. The second lance stuck true, shattering upon Luke’s mental command in front of both Priests. The Crimson Priests died alongside the four Flame Monks closest to the two of them.
The mass of Flame Monks was already beginning to come back down. Luke used the mobility the remaining three Infusion charges gave him and ran. His target destination was the corner one would have to go into when coming into the room he was in now. The slows of the lances gave him distance, but these Flame Monks quickly burnt away the frost aura with their empowered flames. Fists of flame rained toward him, but he dived to the floor. The searing heat ruined his shirt and scorched his skin. Most importantly, however, he dodged the attacks of the Flame Monks. Getting up instantly, he turned the corner.
Luke couldn’t help but let out a “shit” at the situation, things were mostly going according to plan, but even so, he was on the edge of a blade. His heart was like a war drum, and overusing himself to attack the Priests made his arms feel sore, and his breath grew ragged. He turned the corner, and adjusting his plan, he kept running. There was another turn up ahead. At the speed he was running, it’d take him five seconds.
Pumping his legs, Luke exerted his agility to its limits. With Infusion’s remaining 30% speed boost, he would make it to the corner in time. He could feel the heat increasing at a rapid rate.
Wayfinder yelled. “DODGE LAD!”
Luke immediately threw himself forward, crashing against a wall. He angled it well, however. His leg was against the wall, and he used it to spring forward again, getting behind the cover of the next turn he aimed for.
Ignoring the damage to his sides, he got up. Casting Infusion instinctively on Whispering Edge, he changed his mind at the last moment and also put it on himself. Those monks were all weakened from taking two Essence Lances. Taking them down wouldn’t need more than a strike or two. Still, he wanted every advantage possible. Luke abused Infusion’s refreshed 50% speed boost and ran until the next turn.
Even though the distance was further, he’d make it in time with his speed hitting a new high. His body was exhausted, and the heat of the place wasn’t helping. His running further from the Unholy Flame would make it more bearable, but it didn’t solve the issue. This was the last wall he could use to abuse line of sight for a while. Now that he had Infusion back up again and Essence Bond to help, this was going to be his best shot.
A few seconds later, the Monks’ rushing steps were dangerously close. Luke lashed out, slashing the overly eager frontrunner instantly, then stabbed another. Both died due to his assault. He stepped back, having the counterattack of the Monks hit the cathedral walls and not him.
Even with that play, the heat had sweat streaming down his brow, making his vision somewhat blurred. Luke cut the next one to pass the wall, stabbing it through the neck. Then he ripped his blade out, piercing the stomach of the undead Monk behind. He then put Essence Bond on the fourth Monk in the cramped hall, focusing his strikes on the Monk in front of it. He avoided fighting two at once using the other Monk's body and Essence Bond's debuff.
Swiftly, he sheared off the head of the Undead Monk, fighting his friend immediately after. With Infusion running out, he reapplied it immediately to himself and his weapon. Luke waited half a second before casting Essence Lance, hurling it into the middle of the remaining monks. Unfortunately, he traded blow for blow. His Lance shattered, killing all but two Monks, yet one of their flame fists finally hit him. His insides felt scorched, but he couldn’t stop now. Without looking, he swung up with both hands on the hilt of his sword. The undead Monk was bisected, and the healing of his blood ring relieved the damage slightly.
The other Monk was waiting, striking at Luke immediately. Only the boost in speed from having the full stacks of Infusion saved him, dodging the attack in time. Whispering Edge came down on the Monk like a guillotine, and with that, the pile of bodies stopped growing. Luke felt a surge of power enter him, and the sweet healing of a level-up soothed his burnt body. His shirt remained ruined, however, and he tore it off. Luke didn’t even bother to loot anything yet, immediately sitting down instead, catching his breath. A level-up may heal you, but it doesn’t restore your stamina. His body was spent. For a few minutes, all Luke could do was breathe.
“We did it, Wayfinder, I can’t believe that worked.”
“Your combat had me needle jittering on its chain, lad! 'Close' does not begin to cover it.” Wayfinder’s voice had trepidation.
Luke’s hands were still trembling. His grip on Whispering Edge wouldn’t loosen. Instead, he used the blade to help him stand. Walking over to the pile of dead Flame Monks, several light flashes entered his inventory. After strolling back to the chamber with the Unholy flame and looting everything along the way, an interface notice popped up in Luke’s vision.
[Quest Complete: Slay The Undead Flame Cult]
The reward of another level flooded Luke, and he could feel the resistance stat as well. The heat, which was sweltering a moment before, became much more bearable. Luke went around, looting the Priests. The Unholy flame was before him. It had weakened, but from the looks of it, that was all Luke could do. He didn’t have the ability to extinguish the flame. Nor was he meant to. In this trial, the real obstacle was the Spectral Lord. At least, that was what Luke thought.
This place had been cleared out, the entire cult wiped out by Luke. He ambled back to where Sooty was resting, taking note of the now-ruined art on the walls. The flame fists had done that. Luke arrived back where he had left Sooty; she looked recovered from the level-up the quest gave her.
A smile crept up Luke's face as he took count of his loot and newly stolen stats.