Master Art unlock in progress: {???}; 60%
With a setting of complex mental instability, Kaine trashed through the minions of undeath, Nidhogg moving the body and Jor giving directions from the backdrop. His monstrous form crashed into a lesser Dreadknight, pushing the monster’s own hands apart before kicking it back with his sheer strength.
As the goliath fell, Kaine plunged his weapon deep into its chest, a weapon of pure demonic energy sizzling out of his fleshy black hand, it cut and seared through the bone and rotten flesh like acid.
{Body Well}
1/666
Pulling away, Kaine slashed through three more zombies that slowly came up behind him, turning to face the rest.
{Body Well}
4/666
He smiled, wide and wickedly Kaine smiled.
Yet none of the madness was visible within his eyes, keen, narrowed and calm his eyes took into account everything before him.
“Shit, ya ready ya baffon!?” He asked himself.
Ready as I’ll ever be, let’s go.
“Aight brother,” Kaine chuckled, “You navigate, I drive…right? Right!? Right!” breaking out into sickening laughter right after.
Right…Get those two!
Kaine swept his weapon ahead once more, cutting two skeletons down to size just as they reached his range.
{Body Well}
6/666
This will take a damn while to fill!
“Gahh! Why was yours only 7!?” He grumbled, stepping to another lesser dreadknight, Kaine’s massive mana-blade sliced through the monster’s descending greatsword.
A clean cut, confusing the monster as its eyes rose to meet his just in time to see that same blade befall onto its face.
{Body Well}
7/666
But no matter the notifications, still Kaine felled enemy after enemy, and he could feel it…
He could feel time running out for him.
This form…wouldn’t last much longer.
Jor knew this, so he prodded Nidhogg onwards, pushing the maniac into a contained frenzy.
Using his hunger for battle, Jor did his best to control the beast that was Nidhogg.
Enjoying just being free to fight, Nidhogg didn’t think much of Jor’s directions, it didn’t matter to him which enemy he fought as long as it was a fight he knew he didn’t know the outcome of.
And facing this unknown dungeon of undead? It excited Nidhogg.
It excited him, not to know what the next room had to offer.
As his blade cleaved through the last skeleton, impatiently he kicked on the door.
Scanning his notifications, both sighed.
Your party’s total combat level is insufficient to continue onto the next room.
“Seriously!? Really!? You’re fucking with me!” He exclaimed, disappointed and annoyed.
We’ve got worse problems…
Feeling a chill crawl up his spine, Kaine turned around just as the sound hit him, watching as the already corpse-littered ground began to crack and rise.
More undead were spawning.
“This isn’t normal, I think…” He began to say before cutting himself off.
“You think!!?? Ha! Huh!?” He exclaimed in both surprise and replenished excitement.
“I think, we’re in a horde room.” He explained to himself.
“The fuck is that? Oh wait, more shit to slay, never mind that’s all I needed to know!” He said, about to step forth into the midst of battle once again.
Wait!
The figurative hand of Jor stopped Nidhogg from rushing in, “A horde room, means the monsters will NOT stop spawning, not until everyone inside that room is dead or we make it to the next room! Monsters will keep following us until two rooms over too…Here’s the issue,” He slammed his free clawed fist into the door behind them.
Your party’s total combat level is insufficient to continue onto the next room.
“We’re fucking trapped! Shit! Shit? Shit!?” Kaine exclaimed as one half realised what the other already had.
“No…We can do this…If we just manage to kill enough to boost our level to what we’d need to unlock this door…” He then mused.
“Then we’ll be free! Free? Free!?” Kaine chuckled, maniacally he cackled, “Alright home-boy, let’s get the ball rolling!” He exclaimed as once again Nidhogg got ahead of himself, his thirst for conflict never going unquenched.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvMhS0BTXyA
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“Hah…You’re crazy, I might just be as crazy! Yeah, let’s do this, for them!” He then exclaimed, as both alter egos figuratively fist-bumped.
“Helll yeahhh! For glory baby!” He bellowed.
Let them come to us! Focus on the big guys first then AOE down the small fry!
Taking the backseat as planned, Jor mentally gave Nidhogg tactical support, as the maniac himself regained the reins.
“Cuz creatures that crawl, creatures that slither slither slither! Beings that fly, beings that…whisper~ Imbue my weapon! Imbue my hand! With your damn name!” Kaine chanted, a maniacal smirk wide upon his face as he did, “Demonic Path; Weapon Imbue; Type Hell. I call forth your minions, demon, answer my god damn call!”
Hissing into his very mind, the demon patron’s voice resounded with great amusement, “Your request I hear, your request I accept! Tezembre!”
As the chant was finished, and the demonic mistress accepted the summoning, Kaine’s monstrous back suddenly arched as a sensation of great pressure flowed through him. Up his spine and then down his arm, as if coming from inside himself, the energy flowed into the bladed arm.
The blade itself then, that was a constant flow of dark green hellish energy like a constant perfectly contained flame, the markings within it changed.
Whilst at first the blade was covered in markings that seemed like utter gibberish to both Nidhogg and Jor, as one of the markings was then crossed off just as the two below it, and alongside the ensuing notification.
Master Art unlock in progress: {???}; 80%
A light figuratively flicked on within Jor.
Do…that again!
“Busy!” Kaine chided himself, as the first lesser dreadknight crashed into him, sheer sudden brawn pushing him into the two doors.
{ [Life]: 43/48 }
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
But not for long.
As Kaine’s maddened eyes met the undead’s empty blue sockets, “Fuck, outta, my, way!!” He hissed, using his own raw strength to push the monster stumbling several feet back before suddenly slashing him across.
Gutting the dreadknight and leaving it wide open for the final blow, Kaine let not a second go wasted, he abused that opening.
Rushing in even as the monster’s blade came in from the side, he drove his weapon deep into their chest, slaying it on the spot yet not stopping, not pausing, there was no space for breathers here.
Not as the monsters swarmed around him.
Swinging his weapon with purpose, Kaine’s demonic form bathed through rotten flesh and shattered shards of bone, cutting down a handful of skeletons or zombies in a single swing before turning to clash singlehandedly with a lesser dreadknight. Still taller, the monster proved little challenge to them now, as his greater strength overpowered the undead creature before diving in headfirst for the kill.
Kaine was unleashed, no longer held back by one…two and three were unleashed upon this hall of undead.
No longer held back by Kaine, Jor and Nidhogg let loose with no second thoughts of going back.
{Body Well}
27/666
Yet the monsters did not stop coming.
No matter how many Kaine cut, stabbed, crushed or eviscerated.
No matter how many he destroyed, more kept coming.
An unending flow of enemies.
A seemingly infinite wave of monsters.
A horde of undeath, it surrounded him, with the ground now utterly ruined as more and more rose from within.
Experience just streamed in, notifications going completely ignored by Nidhogg as he trashed the scene.
Jor micromanaged each incoming level and its corresponding points to enter, at the same time giving the maniac pointers on where to go, what to focus on, and any incoming attack Nidhogg might have chosen to take the hit instead of evading just to land his own.
If Nidhogg was the hound, then Jor was the leash.
But not all, was flying colours.
As the monsters swarmed him, rusted blades, bony claws, rotten clubs and monstrous weapons, Kaine couldn’t avoid them all.
Even with his demonic form, even as scales grew to cover his fleshy body, growing seemingly with each kill strewn out onto the ground. As the zombies clubbed his feet, as the skeletons sliced his flesh, as the lesser dreadknights broke his shell and began to push him back.
{ [Life]: 35/58 }
Kaine took a worn-out breath, a single pause that brought panic to Jor.
Don’t stop!
The thought came but far too late as the unseen lesser dreadknight’s blade cleaved down his back.
{ [Life]: 27/58 }
Snarling and hissing, both Kaine and Nova’s voices bellowed out in pain then and there, as he stumbled forward right before another of the goliaths.
Previously disarmed, this one drove its meaty fist into Kaine’s head, knocking him back towards the other.
{ [Life]: 24/58 }
Dizzy and confused, Kaine still tried to turn and face the monster, stumbling further as zombies and skeletons swarmed his feet.
Hacking and stabbing at his legs, the undead were like hyenas bringing down a lone elephant, but there were just too damn many of them.
{ [Life]: 19/58 }
Slowing Kaine down just enough for the first lesser dreadknight to land another blow, charging into him with his weapon held two-handed and pointed forth, the monster drove it into his chest.
{ [Life]: 10/58 }
Kaine’s eyes opened wide then, horrid pain filling him as the blade ran through his torso, it only worsened when the monster pulled back and kicked him forward.
{ [Life]: 6/58 }
Pull back!
The voice told him, barely audible through the agony, Nidhogg pushed himself to leap.
Putting his everything into this one jump, Kaine leapt over the approaching lesser dreadknight, using its own face to leap up once more, higher and further.
Landing, stumbling, then tumbling off, Kaine had escaped the swarm surrounding him.
Yet only temporarily as each monster turned to come after him once again.
Rising from his crumbled state, he pushed himself through the pain and ran, dripping a path of blood from the pool of red he had left after falling.
“Shit? Shit!? Shit!” He swore as he huffed, “Hahahah!” He chuckled, an exhausted bit of laughter yet still filled with insanity, “Oh we’re so gonna die!”
No…No we can’t! Damnit! Damnit!
“Damnit!” Kaine exclaimed, turning about and taking aim with his blade, “Nova!” he called on the demon.
And the blade flashed brighter than before, “Hold on tight master!” The serpent’s voice warned as the weapon lost not its current form but instead continued to gain in glow.
Still taking heavy breaths and dripping with blood, Kaine steadied his stance as well as his beaten and bruised body allowed. Taking aim with the blade, as sheer heat seemed to be building up within, “Lesser Hellnova!” Kaine chanted and the gathered magic burst forth.
At first a formless projectile of dark green flames, the attack briefly took the shape of a long four-winged serpent, before colliding with the horde’s frontlines.
Exploding on contact, the entire room was filled with blinding light, fading to reveal a tenth of the swarm had been charred black.
{Body Well}
59/666
A tenth that as the horde approached Kaine, was quickly and horrifyingly easily replaced.
“No…No I won’t…I won’t fucking die here!” Kaine shouted at the incoming stampede of undead, preparing his weapon, preparing his mind, he was ready to keep on fighting.
Hah, face it, we’re done for ya buffoon!
“No, not till I say I am!” Kaine told himself, clenching his bladed right hand tightly.
“Hahaha! That’s the spirit then! Fine, let’s blow off as much steam as we can! We’re fucking dead after this anyway! So dead! So so dead!” He laughed, a maniacal cackle that chilled even himself.
“Maybe…Maybe he can…” He then pondered, “He could think of a way out…He could…”
“Hell no! After that sweet pep talk?! You swallowing your own words now!? Hell no!” The other argued, “You wanna win?! You wanna live?! Let me loose, fully!” Nidhogg offered.
“You’ll get us killed even faster!” Jor was the one to laugh now, feeling then the supposed maniac take the back seat.
Is that, really all you think of me? Hah…hahaha! You really think, after all this fun shit, that I’d wanna hit the sack!?
“Who knows! You’re fucking bonkers, so maybe!” Kaine groaned, facing the incoming massacre only a few moments away from running him over.
Alright then…Guess we are fucked.
Jor then suddenly felt a pull, and his vision briefly blurred.
“Well, now ain’t that nifty! Hahaha!” A voice said in great amusement from his left, as before him now lay the same exact scene he had just been staring at.
An overwhelming horde of maddened undead rushing at his soon-to-be corpse. Yet now everything was moving so much slower, as if time had severely decelerated. Not to mention, he was no longer looking at it through the same eyes, instead it was the same sight he’d see when he was in the back seat.
Looking through the eyes of someone else, with surroundings blurred, the scene played out in the reality before himself as he could glance down and see himself, his figurative body.
Looking then from where the voice had come from, he met eyes with himself, the self Jor knew from the crazy filled eyes and grin to be Nidhogg. Sitting with legs crossed.
But if he was there, and so was the maniac… “Who’s-” Jor was about to ask.
“Heh, no one? Who knows, you do you buffoon!” Nidhogg snapped back. “Ya know the rules I guess, at least two of us right?! Hahaha! Guess that backfired horribly didn’t it!?”
“No…” Jor shook his head, horrified, less so that it was Nidhogg but that he was indeed right. “None of us are agreeing…” Jor realized, turning back to face the scene, presumably of their demise. “There has to be at least two, at most three…always two!” Jor groaned, falling to a squat as he held his head. “Damnit Kaine…Damn you Kaine!” He cursed himself.
“Bah, ya rely too much on that fool ya fool!” Nidhogg exclaimed, standing up he swirled and stumbled over to come by Jor, “Oh Kaine this, Oh Kaine that! I might be a fucking nut case but at the very least I don’t go kiss the scaredy cat’s ass for advice every time I hit a stump!”
“Hah…I’m being lectured by the crazy one…Brilliant.” Jor grumbled to himself. “It doesn’t change the fact that there has to be two, we’re frozen, fucking immobile as a vegetable without at least two of us agreeing!” Rising to face him, annoyed, Jor stepped to Nidhogg. “So fucking agree, give me control…I…I’ll figure something out!”
To which, Nidhogg’s usual amused expression turned sour. “You? Hah, yeah right, you’re just gonna beg Kainey boi back into action and kick me off into the abyss! You really can’t do shit yourself, can you?” Nidhogg asked.
“At least we’d survive.” Jor replied.
“You will, I wouldn’t even know if ya do, will I?” Nidhogg laughed, “Tell me, mamma’s boy, are you always this much of a prickly bitch?” He then asked, pushing Jor’s chest with his hand. “Is this really what ya wanna be? His bitch, his fucking glorified pacifier? Just how he only lets me out like I’m his fucking dog. Do you like it? Do you like our situation? Do you like? Huh? Huh?! Huh!” he asked, stepping to and pushing him further with both hands this time.
“Like…It has nothing to do with liking it or not! This is our fucking situation and we’ve got no choice but to deal with it!” Jor argued, “You know a way to fucking pull ourselves together and go back to being a single person in a singular body!? One whole mind! No? Of course, you bloody don’t.”
“One mind…Nah, not really no. But us two, we weren’t much different before were we?” Nidhogg then said, smirking as Jor grimaced. “After all, we used to be one and the same, before.”
“Before we split…” Jor grumbled.
“I mean sure, we’re the invention of one sick as fuck mind, we don’t actually exist! Bah, it’s obvious ya buffoon!” Nidhogg exclaimed, lightly slapping Jor across both cheeks.
Who’s eyes widened as he realised what Nidhogg was rambling about, “No normal way of thinking can solve our problem…none of this is normal in the first place…”
“No shit ya buffoon! We’re two alter egos fucking arguing! No normal train of thought is gonna solve crazy!” Nidhogg exclaimed, “So, we agree on something! And that something is? Issss! Is?!” Nidhogg asked, edging him on to answer.
“Only crazy can solve crazy…” Jor said.
“Only crazy can solve crazy!” Nidhogg repeated with great amusement, “Throw ya damn rationality outta the window! Come outta the cage! Take the fucking key and step out! Breath a little! Move a little! Live a little, crazier!” He laughed maniacally, pulling Jor in, Nidhogg put his arm around his neck and over his shoulders.
“This is crazy, you’re crazy.” Jor mused.
“So what if it’s a little crazy? Live a little crazy! What if it’s too fucking crazy!? We’re fucking crazy!” Nidhogg added, continuing to laugh. Raising his free hand and making a fist, Nidhogg faced him as he did, “So what do ya say?”
Jor turned his head to meet his insanity filled eyes. “This’ll change the rules, of how all this crap works.”
Nidhogg raised his fist closer, grinning from ear to ear as he said, “Ohohoh, that’s what I’m hoping for brother!.”
Glancing in between the fist and his other self’s smile, Jor just sighed. “I’m curious, really. The game sees you as a demon. It sees me as a Dark Elf…What will it see us as, if this works?”
Nidhogg chuckled, lightly punching him in the chest, “Let’s fucking find out.”
“What do we have to lose?” They both then mused in unison, their eyes meeting once again as they did.
“This is crazy.” Once more they spoke in unison.
As Jor raised his right hand up, forming a fist.
“But let’s find out.”