The scene as I landed on the street outside the Guildhall was utter chaos. Low-level players were running away like they had their life savings on their characters. Some of the high-level players had created a cordon around the center of the street. And at the focal point of it all, a large cloud of smoke hung unnaturally in the air, immune to the wind and the host of spells flying through it.
Through the smoke cloud, five figures were outlined, their movements hard to read through the concealment. Waves of spells rained upon the five figures, but seemed to have little effect.
Five! In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t noticed the other Rogues, but looking back, I had definitely felt attacks coming from multiple directions.
It was a goddamn hit squad!
I had already been angry before, but now I was furious.
All in all, there were probably a dozen high-level Con players that had decided to engage with the Rogues. Of them, only seven were max level from what I could see – and only one of them had gear reminiscent of Raid-level gear.
My health was still dangerously low, and despite the pulse of bravado running through me, I didn’t want to engage the Rogues with only a quarter of my health.
“Any healers?” I called out to the high-level players that were engaging Ysillith and the others.
The max-level player in the Raid gear raised his hand, examined me for a moment, then started casting a spell.
The sky seemed to open up and a bright white light came down like a spotlight, illuminating me and filling me with warmth. In only a few moments, my health had climbed 10% and was rising rapidly.
I tipped my head in thanks. He nodded in reply and began casting another spell, when a dagger slammed into his shoulder, breaking his concentration. He staggered back, his health dropping by a quarter.
My health was climbing fast, and I wanted to end this soon. If Ysillith and the others escaped, we’d have no time to organize a more thorough defense. But if we managed to kill them, we could strategize while they did the corpse run. Maybe even dissuade them from coming back anytime soon.
At least, that was what I hoped.
Before I could close the distance, a barrage of daggers flew out from the smoke cloud, winging a handful of players that had been containing the Rogues. Players all around me cried out in shock and backed away as their health dropped into the red.
I braced, my glaive held out in front of me defensively, expecting the Rogues to come at me as one. Instead, grappling hooks shot out in all directions from the smoke cloud. They wrapped around gutters, pipes, and roof edges, and within the blink of an eye, the Rogues were pulled away by the skill.
All except one.
A new quest popped up in the corner of my vision.
New Quest!
An Honorable One on One!
It’s your time to shine, Ray. Time to make a statement. If you don’t put this motherfucker down hard and fast, they’ll never stop coming for you. Let all these bitches know what’s up. Put them on notice.
There’s a new Boss Bitch in S&S, baby!
Strategy: His throwing daggers are a distraction. Ignore them. He uses them to get in close where his evasion and Dexterity make him difficult to tie down.
Use sweeping strikes to force him to his left – he’s shit going left.
When he uses [Shadow Decoy], he’s always the one on his right – his right.
You got this!
Now go kick his ass, Sea Bass!
I quickly scanned the quest as we faced off. That would be useful information.
Ysillith’s red eyes burned. I could feel the hatred like a physical force. He stood there, his eyes boring into me, unmoving.
“I see through you,” he growled.
I pulled back in surprise. I had been expecting him to charge, or stealth up, or flee. Maybe the villain monologue thing was his move? He’d seen too many movies.
“And what do you see?” I asked, my lip curling with a smirk.
“You’re just an S&S puppet,” he spat. “Another ploy to manipulate the game.”
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Now that I hadn’t been expecting. “Huh?”
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An arrow came flying in from the side, but Ysillith swatted it away with his superior Dexterity. Without even looking, he launched his own dagger back in the direction the arrow had come from. I hadn’t noticed the player crouched on the roof across the street before. A shimmer surrounded them, so they must have been stealthed before shooting the arrow. Ysillith’s dagger caught them in the leg, knocking them from the roof and down to the street below.
“Hold your fire,” I shouted, putting up my hands. Ysillith had another dagger held lazily between his fingers, his eyes scanning the crowd slowly. “What are you even talking about?” I asked him, my tone incredulous.
He snorted, shaking his head. “You think you can distract me while backup arrives?” His dagger twirled between his fingers with dizzying speed. Distantly, I noted what Al had said about using them to distract. “Not falling for that, bitch-“ He never finished his sentence, his dagger whipping underhand at me. I managed to slip out of the way, but he was on me before I could even blink.
He had a dagger in each hand now, the blades moving so fast I could barely track them. I arced my glaive towards his right side, pushing him left, but was too slow. He dodged back out of the way, then lunged in before I could get my weapon back in a guard position. Pain flared against my elbow where his dagger sliced. I swung my weapon back the other way, forcing him to leap back again. He paced around me, his body full of deadly animal grace. My eye flicked down to my skill bar, noting that my [Freezing Wave] was back up.
I stood still as I watched him, only turning my body to keep him in front of me. I was looking for any hint, a suggestion of movement, which would signal an attack.
When it came, I almost missed it.
As he lunged for the second time, a thrown dagger came flying in high as he went low. I smashed the [Freezing Wave] skill as I tried to dodge both attacks. The thrown dagger went past my shoulder as my skill crashed against his ankles. I knew rooting him would mean the fight was over.
Before I could celebrate, that same dark shroud enveloped him – the one he had used minutes earlier to defeat this very skill. He pushed through the icy wave like it was nothing, his dagger slamming deep into my gut.
You have been poisoned! (Amplified by [Poison Master]).
-35 (x2) HP/per sec (20 seconds).
I staggered back, the pain in my stomach crippling. He danced away to avoid any retaliation, but relaxed when he saw me doubled over.
He chuckled, sure the fight was over now. “Well, you weren’t lying about those pain reducers being borked, I guess,” he said. “That’s one good thing about being a true player – we can power through hits.”
I swung my glaive in an arc, grunting from the pain and exertion. He easily dodged the strike.
“Do you want us to help, Ray?” the max-level player that had healed me earlier called out.
Yes, I fucking want you to help! But I immediately pushed away those thoughts. I remembered what Al had said. I needed to do this myself. I needed to send a message.
I waved away the player, forcing myself upright through the pain. Ysillith reacted to my movement by crouching, his guard back up.
I forced myself to take a calming breath, even as the poison felt like it was eating through my flesh. My health was at 35% and dropping, but I pushed that out of my mind. It was time to change strategies.
My glaive was pointed low now, the blade resting against the ground. Ysillith approached cautiously, then burst into action, feinting three times before committing to an attack.
I let him inside my guard, dragging my glaive up and into his side even as fire traced across my chest.
A blow for a blow, and though I could hardly believe it, I had come out ahead.
His strike had been partially blocked on my chest plate, bringing me down to 20% HP, while my strike had caught him under the armpit, nearly severing the arm entirely.
Gear disparity or not, I was still level 100.
His health had dropped over 50% from the strike, and he darted away quickly, his eyes wide in panic.
“That’s not fuckin’ fair!” he shouted. He sounded like a child, his tone petulant. “I’m completely outplaying you, and you’re still not buried!” He threw out three daggers in quick succession, but his aim was erratic, and I was able to dodge or deflect all of them, even through the pain.
“Waaaaaaa,” I cried, mimicking him. “It’s not fairrrrr.” I just couldn’t help myself. This little fucking baby was one foot stomp away from a toddler’s tantrum.
I couldn’t see his face behind his mask, but his body visibly tensed. I kept my shoulders relaxed, but crouched on the balls of my feet, ready to move.
Without warning, his body triplicated, two shadowy forms materializing on either side of him. They moved independently and began circling me, while the central Ysillith stayed put. Just from the look of the skill, I would have sworn the central figure was the real Ysillith. The other forms had looked hazy at first, and had only materialized after a couple of moments. But Al’s quest information had said he would be in his rightmost decoy.
I didn’t move as the two Ysilliths circled me. I kept my eyes on the central one as the other two flanked. Not knowing what kind of autonomy they possessed, I wasn’t sure if the central Ysillith’s movement would tip me off when the others attacked. I let my eyes unfocus so that I could track my peripherals better.
When the two decoys stopped moving, I noticed a slight tension in Ysillith’s body. He was going to lunge with all three simultaneously. I turned my head to the rightmost decoy, the one I knew wasn’t real. As I took my attention off the real Ysillith, he struck.
Without looking, I whipped my glaive around and straight behind me, impaling the decoy I hadn’t been looking at – the one Al had warned me would be the real one.
I felt the satisfying weight of his body sliding up the blade, the arrestment of movement as he got stuck on the cross guard. The other two decoys dissipated as he lost control of the skill.
I turned casually, a beaming smile on my face. His eyes stared into mine, two little pinpricks of raging fire, before slowing guttering out as his HP hit 0.
Quest Complete!
An Honorable One on One!
Woot woot! You smoked his ass!
Reminder: Open Achievement “The Hunted” to claim your reverse bounty. Ahem, see Bonus Bounty in “The Hunted” for additional rewards. Quick, before he goes to the graveyard!
The quest update filled my vision as Ysillith’s body slipped to the street. I opened up the old achievement Al was talking about, looked down at the side bounty, and snorted with laughter.
I looked down at Ysillith’s corpse, and I could tell he hadn’t released his spirit to the graveyard because his body wasn’t a skeleton yet.
“Stream this, bitch,” I said.
Then I stood over his head, and I fulfilled the side bounty.
Current Teabag Count: 1
Bonus Gold: 1000 gold
Current Teabag Count: 2
Bonus Gold: 2000 gold
Current Teabag Count: 3
Bonus Gold: 3000 gold
Current Teabag Count: 4
Bonus Gold: 4000 gold
Current Teabag Count: 5
Bonus Gold: 5000 gold