Trial of the Slayer I Wave: 2
Time: 3 days, 0 hours, 23 minutes, 11 seconds
The Lords of this layer have become aware of your presence and have allied their forces with the Bestial Lord. Show them that a slayer cares not what enemy they face.
Alterations: Difficulty significantly increased, Time trial: Enemies will be allowed to enter the area of the trial for duration with no limit.
Warning: Several lords of the first layer have detected anomalous mana from this trial and have sent their forces to intervene in the trial. However, the lords do not have a sanctioned conduit under their control and have been forced to power their own, limiting the forces they can field inside the trial to numbers equivalent in strength to the bestial lord’s horde. Difficulty of trial has increased significantly.
Reward: Legendary Skill, Uncommon Chest x 2, Extra Class Upgrade Benefit
Optional Objective: Slay the Elite
Slay the anchor of each conduit in the trial zone. Reward given for each anchor slain.
Felflame Scion: 0/1
Gorefiend Butcher: 1/1
Seeker Shadow: 1/1
Kuroxet Bonedrinker: 0/1
Warning: Quest Escalation!
The elites are now free to roam the trial zone as they see fit and the Bestial Lord has sent his most powerful forces against you as he prepares to hunt you down personally.
Four days of near-constant combat had pushed his body to new heights gaining him six more levels and nearing a seventh.
Kalum Lesta
Status
Class:
Slayer of Fate [Epic] [Anomalous]
Level:
59
Race:
Human?
Health:
2690/2690
Stamina:
1232/6040
Wrath:
1023
Attributes
Strength:
607
Agility:
247
Endurance:
604
Vitality:
269
Intellect:
175
Perception:
244
Will:
610
Wisdom:
392
Available:
36
Titles
Ascendant, Core Bane, Core Smith, Defier of Dhinir, Planeswalker, Planar Appetite, Slayer of the Strong, Endurance Elite, Strength Elite, Will Elite, Demon Slayer, Paragon of Man, Planar Binding I, Soul Seer
Skills
Soul Forge [Rare], Wrathful Regeneration [Uncommon], Wrath Incarnate [Uncommon], Abyssal Consumption [Rare], Flames of Wrath[Uncommon] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Intent [Rare] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Apathy [Rare] [Soul Forged], Edge of Malice [Common] [Soul Forged]
Race
Birthright: Confined
As expected his body’s stamina was the main risk to him at this stage. So he was forced to delay his slaughter to maintain a safe level of stamina. More royal guards had come leading more hordes of their lesser kin but these fell far easier as the slayer’s strength continued to grow.
Now his strength had risen to the point that even without the benefit of Wrath Incarnate he could overpower them easily enough. Now even while pushed to battle by their leaders many of the weak demons simply fled as he approached. Most of them weren’t worth the time he spent killing them in regards to his growth but they allowed him to easily fuel his skills to slaughter their stronger kin.
As his flesh grew stronger it became more difficult to balance his wrath but the ability to ignore his maximum limit allowed him to always kill at max efficiency. The loss of his weapon was still inconvenient but his claws of malice made do for the short term.
Even the green felflame demons had begun to join the hordes arrayed against him but they did little more than warm his skin as their imps killed themselves against him in the hopes of doing any kind of damage.
The felflame conjures once again refused to join the battle and instead fled towards the center of the dome. He would end them later but now he would continue to grow and carve his way towards the center.
The rate of his current progress he would arrive back at the center in the next twelve hours, perhaps earlier if more of the demons that located him began to flee as well.
The raging storm of opposing mana continued to clash overhead as he continued his slaughter hacking through the necks of a kuroxet slaughterer who was foolish enough to think it could match him with its weak strength amplification. The slayer hadn’t even bothered to activate Wrath Incarnate as he tore its arm free and sunk his clawed hand through its neck.
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As the slaughterer’s head flew several feet and bounced onto the quickly accumulating pile of corpses the slayer couldn’t help but look up at the clashing forces. His mana and killing sight were active concurrently at all times now that he wasn’t held back by his weaker self so witnessing viewing the affinities was simple.
There was significance in what was happening in the storm above but what that was wasn’t clear. Why the normal mana was present the slayer had no way to know but he suspected it was the work of the system. With no evidence, it was only speculation but the display of power at the beginning of the second wave made it the most likely cause.
He knew that abyssal mana had tried to destroy him as he entered the abyssal horizon’s first layer. Perhaps it was this opposition of forces that made that effect. This knowledge had no meaning in regards to his goals but perhaps it could be useful in the future if it could be harnessed offensively.
Turning away from the storm and gazing across the remains of the most recent horde slain by his hand the slayer looked across the terrain to the garghound conduit. He scaled one of the nearby spires to see beyond the rocky cliffs that still dotted the area around the center of the dome.
It was clear the demons had finally understood his plans and started to gather all of their forces at the base of the conduit. All three remaining demon types were present in the largest horde he had seen gathered. Hoping to defeat him with numbers, especially filled with such weak demons was pointless and would only allow him to crush them even faster.
The royal guard that fled should have killed him while it had the chance. These demons were little more than beasts, attacking him with tooth and claw. Only those with skills that could enhance them could harm him significantly now and those were now few and far between with his immunity to fire and acid.
His perception had grown far beyond the feeble gaze of a child he had when he first arrived, so it was easy to make out the movements of the demons surrounding the conduit. Hundreds of demons surrounded the conduit, and all of them scanned the terrain waiting for his arrival. Each of the remaining types was among them guarding their own area of the approach to the conduit.
Three royal guards were also present moving around the horde. They were less of a threat than they once were but dealing with them would still be a priority. The average level of the horde as a whole had increased significantly but it appeared that he had slain the strongest of the royal guards already.
[Garghound Royal Guard | Abyssal Spawn 59]
[Garghound Royal Guard | Abyssal Spawn 60]
[Garghound Royal Guard | Abyssal Spawn 57]
They were not within range of his fear aura but spreading fear amongst the enemy as he approached would only make his task easier as the weak fled and stupid froze and died. With a gesture of his will, the slayer activated Slayer’s Intent.
[Entities Marked: Garghound Royal Guard | Hostile, Garghound Royal Guard | Hostile, Garghound Royal Guard | Feared]
Despite the long distance the skill activated without delay and the slightest pressure against his mind. All three of the royal guards froze their normally large and intimidating forms now still. The slayer received no wrath from the third but the amount from the other two was enough to activate Wrath Incarnate for the desired effect.
The crimson flames of his wrath infused his body with its might and his soul cried out for death but he did not move, the heat of its recklessness and bloodlust never reaching his true thoughts. He was better than that, he had purpose, a clear intent.
Kalum Lesta
Status
Class:
Slayer of Fate [Epic] [Anomalous]
Level:
59
Race:
Human?
Health:
2690/2690
Stamina:
6040/6040
Wrath:
63
Attributes
Strength:
607 -> 849
Agility:
247 -> 345
Endurance:
604 -> 845
Vitality:
269 -> 376
Intellect:
175 -> 245
Perception:
244 -> 341
Will:
610 -> 854
Wisdom:
392 -> 548
Available:
36
Titles
Ascendant, Core Bane, Core Smith, Defier of Dhinir, Planeswalker, Planar Appetite, Slayer of the Strong, Endurance Elite, Strength Elite, Will Elite, Demon Slayer, Paragon of Man, Planar Binding I, Soul Seer
Skills
Soul Forge [Rare], Wrathful Regeneration [Uncommon], Wrath Incarnate [Uncommon], Abyssal Consumption [Rare], Flames of Wrath[Uncommon] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Intent [Rare] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Apathy [Rare] [Soul Forged], Edge of Malice [Common] [Soul Forged]
Race
Birthright: Confined
The first two royal guards' reaction two to the sudden weight of his wrath upon them was to stagger, their weaker kin despite not being able to feel his presence understood what was happening and the sight of their strongest faltering was enough to make many of them scramble, losing all form of coordination the horde had.
The third royal guard however almost fell over itself as it suddenly fled, charging through its own kin in an attempt to flee. Dozens of lesser garghounds were simply crushed in their need to escape.
Without the need to maintain his regeneration, he was able to maintain Wrath Incarnate for several seconds before being forced to relinquish it, not willing to revert to his lesser self. Its cost was still prohibitive when relying on the generation provided by Slayer’s Intent but he had gotten the desired outcome.
He was in perfect condition and his next fight would be the last before facing the final elites and the Bestial Lord. As he began siphoning to bring his wrath to a more appropriate level the slayer glanced at his internals.
The sphere of will around the symbol on his neck was of course gone and the symbol itself was now dust coating the protective shell of Slayer’s Apathy. Only the memories of what had reached his mind before allowing his superior self to take control had any effect on him. Images of the dead flashed into his mind’s eye but as the pointless emotions tried to rise they were burned away by the influence of his soul, his purpose.
It was a problem that was not relevant to his task and simply remaining in this state was enough to prevent the weakness of his lesser mind from crippling him.
Health:
2690/2690
Stamina:
6040/6040
Wrath:
5500
A courtyard was aflame and two crimson lights begged to be extinguished, “Kalum?! Wait! What’s wrong-'' Bones broke and the pathetic light flickered as its ceaseless words were cut off. A scream reached his ears as he turned to fall the next corpse.
The slayer stood dismissing his status and returned his perception to the horde that would soon join the rest of the corpses in his wake.
----------------------------------------
Vorayx sat upon his throne while the kuroxet he had commanded went to die. He had no qualms about feeding the mortal some more weaklings to murder. The risk of them killing him had almost vanished by this point.
He had hoped the mortal would have fallen to Soul Maw by now but it appeared that the mortal’s will was stronger than he had anticipated. Soul Devourer had partially activated several times as the mortal’s will had faltered whether due to the draining effect of the ring itself or a near-death state but now it was like the mortal wasn’t even wearing the ring.
Soul Devourer still displayed the amount of attributes it had drained but he had lost most of his ability to view the mortal’s current state. He had been losing a battle with some of the Bestial Lord’s most powerful spawn when it happened. Vorayx had worried for some time that the demons had somehow disabled or otherwise avoided the activation of Soul Maw but the event hadn’t ended and he had eventually received a brief flash of the mortal killing some more kuroxet.
The area around the Forgotten One’s mountain was filled with countless demons who hoped to get the chance to join the next wave. Vorayx doubted they would get the chance, they had all received a notification that implied the Bestial Lord would be the next to face the mortal.
The mortal would likely die when he faced the Bestial Lord no matter how far he had grown but Vorayx did not worry over that fact. Nothing breaks a mortal’s will better than a painful death.