Blight Witch Haru: Minimum DPS to Defeat – 999,999
Haru worriedly stared at Opti, who was holding his hand out toward the precipice of her spherical shield. On the other side, a nondescript, feminine marionette controlled by the demon beckoned him to step out of the barrier and into her arms.
Around the shield, an uncountable number of frenzied minions, former player characters were enthralled by Irae, who urged them to bombard Haru’s sphere from every angle. Their howls and the endless chime of the shield being struck by their weapons and fists saturated the air.
Despite Haru’s overwhelming DPS requirement, Irae’s minions already brought her barrier down to 80%. The rate of decrease only hastened with the endless flood of new player characters continuing to fill every miniscule gap, furiously throwing themselves at the barrier. Seams and hairline fractures formed in the many individual hexagonal tiles which comprised the shield.
Seeing Opti inch closer and closer to the breach, Haru couldn’t contain herself anymore. “It’s dangerous over there, come back!” She couldn’t hide the desperation in her voice.
The sibyl, still standing beside Haru, reached down and picked up Opti’s sheathed sword that he’d dropped. She unsheathed it and ran her finger down the length of the blade’s fuller. The wake of her tracing digit left a pearlescent glow on the metal. “It appears my presence is of more use than first assumed.” Her voice, while calm and soft-spoken, overpowered the chaotic cacophony effortlessly. She sheathed the blade and turned to Haru, placing her free hand on her shoulder.
With the onset of the sibyl’s touch, Haru’s worry melted and what remained was only resolve.
The sibyl lowered her posture to meet Haru at eye level and she offered the sheathed weapon to the witch. “We move faster alone but can go farther together.” The sibyl turned her head to motion toward Opti then gave her a gentle smile.
Without hesitation, Haru clasped the sword with both hands, but in taking it, she looked to Oracle, concerned over her recommendation to stay put. The sage gave a similar smile and offered a reassuring nod. The witch wasted no time and took off toward her friend.
By the time Haru rushed to Opti’s side, her shield was already down to 50% integrity. The slight fractures in the barrier’s tiles shedded large plumes of light blue dust, turning hairline seams into growing canyons spidering across the surface of the barrier, threatening to collapse sections of the sphere.
Haru turned her growing panic at the sight of her quickly failing shield toward pushing herself to move quicker. She wasn’t sure what the sibyl’s plan was in giving Opti his sword back. There was no way the four of them could fend off even a fraction of the horde. They needed to figure out how to make an escape.
“Opti.” Haru called out over the blaring cries and crushing attacks of the horde against the shield.
The legionnaire was staring down the faceless marionette, his hand hovering near one of the few unshredded hexagonal tiles. Around the doll which the demon controlled, the horde was parted, a wretched gateway the marionette urged Opti to step through. She stood more than an arm’s distance away from the barrier, hands folded at her waist.
As Haru neared the opening, she had a clear view of Irae for the first time in a long while. Player characters spewed from beneath the cape under his arms which was formed by his tendrils. The thin lashes attaching his crooked, yellowed nails to the marionette were thicker now, much easier to see against the void.
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The witch closed on the legionnaire, and she slid to a stop on the crumbling stone floor, the vibration from the uncountable impacts shaking it to dust beneath their feet. “This is for you. We need to figure out how to get out of here, and fast.” Haru held out the sword, offering it to Opti.
As she neared, the puppet’s head ever so slightly tilted. If its face wasn’t a curved sheet of gray cloth, it would have been a subtle tilt enough to pass a glance. But even then, the surface of the marionette’s face creased downward at the forehead and brow upon the witch’s arrival.
Opti didn’t turn to acknowledge her. Nor did he lower his hand from the barrier. He stood there, statue-like.
A jolt caused a ripple to surge across the ground, and stone dust kicked up, pebbles dancing as it coursed through the ground. Behind them, a chunk of barrier fell from the pinnacle of the sphere, slamming into the ground before vaporizing. The shield fell to 40%.
“I can’t.” Opti replied, his gaze still locked on the marionette. “I can’t go.”
“What? Why?” Haru didn’t budge her arms, still holding his sword up near his chest, under his raised arm.
“This is where I’m supposed to be.” Opti spoke, deadpan. “Isn’t that right?” He spoke to the puppet.
The creases in the marionette’s forehead eased and it nodded to him. “Yes. It’s time to come home.”
Opti bobbed his hand and that’s when Haru noticed he wasn’t holding it up to the barrier. He was holding it out, in offering, to the puppet.
“Then let’s go.” He took another step closer, and his hand left the barrier, still motioning for it to be taken.
A snap in the thin lashes attached to the puppet gave slack. The moment Opti’s wrist left the shield, the marionette’s body glowed red and it lurched forward to snatch up the legionnaire with both hands.
“No, stop!” Haru stumbled forth and reached to help him and latched onto his waist.
Opti dug his heels in with a devious grin, still staring down the doll, and yanked. The horde that once gave way to provide an opening collapsed on Opti’s appendage and he began to get dragged out.
Haru was on the verge of being pulled with him.
“Stay away!” Opti shouted at Haru. With his spare hand snaking under his captured arm, he reached to unsheathe his sword and pushed her away in the same motion.
With a single swipe, Opti slashed at the horde, cutting away several of the minions, whom tumbled with the strike. Then as it seemed his arm was starting to free, he gasped and his eyes flashed. The legionnaire began to thrust his sword desperately into the mass attached to him. He used the grip on his arm to pull him forward, empowering his jabs, paired with frantic cries.
The mass of player characters tumbled down and away from the barrier, falling from his arm like tattered cloth. The tension that held his arm and shoulder outside the barrier eased and he stumbled back into the confines of the shield before falling down and sliding to a stop on his back.
In his hand was shredded gray cloth, what remained of the marionette he pierced. Through the closing gap, the lashes, no longer attached to the puppet, slid along an invisible ground consumed by the void, retreating back to Irae.
The demon cackled. “You think I would fall for such a telegraphed ruse? I’m insulted.”
Opti rushed to his feet and threw his sword blade-first into the sandy rubble. “Dammit!” He ran his hand through his hair, his arm scratched and cut.
After he shouted, the horde roused, redoubling their assault on the barrier with even more terrible cries.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Haru clasped her hands together, feeling terrible that she’d blown likely the only chance they had at dealing a blow to the demon.
Another boulder-sized chunk of shield fell from the higher parts of the sphere, crashing into the ground. The barrier was down to 20%.
The pain on Opti’s face eased and he closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head. “It’s not your fault. If we had said anything, it would have definitely blown our chances.”
The horde’s attacks slowed, and their yelling quieted.
Haru blinked at the sight of his torn arm. Her first instinct was to cast Mend on it. But that urge sparked an idea. Opti was a player. And he attacked other player characters. PvP wasn’t implemented in the game, it was against the rules. But the rules didn’t matter because the sibyl crown-broke them, removing the constraints of the game. Which meant that she could attack the demon, despite his status as a fellow encounter.
Haru summoned her staff once more and readied to strike out at the demon through the horde. As she opened her mouth to speak, she hesitated. At the front of the horde, lazily and mindlessly attacking the shield with her staff, was Haru’s old character.
Suddenly, the thought of downing her own surrogate gave Haru pause.