Leo could barely believe what he was seeing. How had Kalum gotten here? Leo could feel Kalum’s domineering aura in full force but he couldn’t bring himself to care, he was just too tired. It took every bit of his willpower just to kneel through the pain of his injuries.
“Mortal! You failed once, do you really think you will succeed this time?!” The Shadow Lord roared into Kalum’s face but the man barely seemed to notice. His eyes burned crimson and gold as stared into Leo’s chest, his expression cold and calculating.
Suddenly Kalum was gripping Leo by the throat, painfully tearing him from the ground, careless of his injuries. Leo barely had the energy to groan in agony but didn’t even get the chance as he was thrown across the ground to smash into the line of fighting soldiers. Leo’s consciousness flickered but he managed to lift his head to see Kalum explode into an inferno of crimson.
“You wish to be my weapon?”
Kalum’s words twisted strangely through the chaos of the fighting and with it both the legion of demons and the followers of The Order froze, “Then kill… Kill until nothing is left…”
Leo gasped as something clamped down on his mind and everywhere around people staggered with a united groan mixed with pain and something else. Leo resisted at first but it felt as if his mind was about to burst into flame, “Quotz! What is happening?!”
Warning: Kal??????? Kalum Lesta Slayer of Fate has attem[ERROR].pted to use Slayer’s Apathy against you[ERROR]. Do you accept?: Yes/No
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
Warning: The Slayer of Fate has used Slayer’s Apathy. Do you resist? Yes/No
Leo’s eyes widened despite the decline of his consciousness. He had never seen a skill warning appear like that but should it really have surprised him with a class name like that? Leo gritted his teeth and selected no.
----------------------------------------
Laryk Orayn dragged Elder Jak’s body back several lines of warriors as blood pumped from what remained of his destroyed arm. He had only gotten a glimpse of the exchange but he had seen enough to know they had lost.
But then The Bearer had arrived.
[Kalum Lesta | Slayer of Fate 77 | Human]
Laryk could feel his aura like the rest but he had felt much the same from other fear-focused classes, “Is this what we are fighting for? A level seventy-seven?”
Below him, Laryk felt Jak chuckle, “I thought you were dead…”
Jak paled even further than he already was but gripped the stump, or at least the portion above his managed arm to slow the bleeding, “And miss this? Not a chance!”
Laryk shook his head, “It can’t be, he isn’t strong enough.”
Jak’s wandering gaze hardened and locked on Laryk's face, “You haven’t seen his eyes yet…”
“You wish to be my weapon?”
A chill shot down Laryk's spine so potent that he dropped Jak to the ground. Jak grunted but dragged himself up in time to spot The Bearer through the crush of soldiers.
Laryk turned from his charge to lock onto The Bearer’s form its back to their soldiers but a single eye scanned across each and every one of their faces. The eye burned with gold and crimson light and darted between faces faster than he thought possible.
Then it fell upon him. Laryk's heart froze and he staggered with the rest of the hundreds of fighting men and women, even the demons paused in their attack as strange quiet crushed the chaos of the battle.
“Then kill… Kill until nothing is left…”
Laryk’s eyes rolled back into his head for an instant as notifications shattered his concentration.
Warning: The Slayer of Fate has used Slayer’s Apathy. Do you resist? Yes/No
Laryk panicked as he felt the monster’s intent wash over him, he had to run, he needed to escape. They were all going to die. He had been wrong. He should never have joined the order. Laryk selected yes and turned to run and abandon Jak and the rest of The Order.
Contested: Laryk’s Will 289 vs The Slayer of Fate’s Will ????
Laryk screamed as he tried to resist whatever horrible skill the monster had used but as if an icepick was brought against his skull and lance of agony shot through his mind and he stumbled and fell, all of his points in agility forsaking him.
But before he hit the ground everything changed. A lesser man would run. A lesser man would resist the need to kill and grow strong. The ground beneath him was slick with the blood of men and demons alike but suddenly neither fact mattered. He had killing to do.
Laryk rose from the ground his body registered the strange warmth of the slick ground and the way his robes matted together but like everything else it was irrelevant. Others like him stood, their bodies completely and utterly still. The one his lesser self had dragged to safety pointlessly stood as well, blood pumping from its injured limb.
Layrk understood. Pain was irrelevant, fear was irrelevant, camaraderie was irrelevant. Only one thing was worth doing. The combined gaze of The Others turned to the demons and the others who fought. Layrk urge to kill was indiscriminate but his body must remain intact enough to continue the purpose bestowed upon him.
He would kill.
----------------------------------------
The Slayer watched the corpses as they discarded the useless fear and the hesitation bound the lessers of men. He watched as the broken rose to stand on broken legs and stumps. He watched as their focused and uncorrupted gaze fell upon the ranks of the corrupted.
Blood sprayed from his burning eyes and several of his constructs within him shattered burning his insides from the mental and physical strain of activating Slayer’s Apathy.
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Health:
4954/5850
Stamina:
8630/8630
Wrath:
8032
Health:
4954/5850
Stamina:
8630/8630
Wrath:
3500
Warning: The Target of Slayer’s Apathy core is incompatible mental degradation should be expected.
Warning: The Target of Slayer’s Apathy core is incompatible mental degradation should be expected.
Warning: The Target of Slayer’s Apathy core is incompatible mental degradation should be expected.
Warning: The Target of Slayer’s Apathy core is incompatible mental degradation should be expected.
Warning: The Target of Slayer’s Apathy core is incompatible mental degradation should be expected.
Warning: The Target of Slayer’s Apathy core is incompatible mental degradation should be expected.
…
..
.
Warning: Mental capacity greatly exceeded. Reduce mental load immediately.
The Slayer ignored the notifications and turned his gaze back to the Shadow Lord, his wrath would not hold for long but it was a worthwhile experiment. The loss of wrath could be mitigated for a time.
The Slayer’s eyes darted through the ranks of the corrupted, each worth the effort was marked by his burning will.
[Entities Marked: Seeker Shadow Lord | Enraged, Shadow Fiend Banner Bearer | Hostile, Shadow Fiend Banner Bearer | Hostile, Shadow Fiend Banner Bearer | Hostile, Shadow Fiend Banner Bearer | Hostile, Shadow Fiend Banner Bearer | Hostile, Shadow Fiend Banner Bearer | Hostile]
The Slayer’s shell bent over in unfelt pain as its nerves clenched and its brain quivered under the load. It was irrelevant. He would hold. The sudden flash of furious crimson was the only thing The Slayer detected before he sidestepped and Wrath Incarnate raged through his shell. The ground just inches away detonated shattering the ground in all directions for over a hundred feet.
The Shadow Lord had finally acted as it should, only a corpse would allow its advantage to shift at all.
“You will not escape me this time mortal! You will all die!” The corpse screamed making the strange expression cross The Slayer’s face again.
Even as the earth shook The Slayer stepped across the moving ground as if it was flat terrain and swung himself as the Shadow Lord’s next swing came. The concussive force from even a miss pelted The Slayer’s body but like everything else, it was discarded.
The Slayer brought Exterminator’s Regards up to hack into the remaining arm of the Shadow Lord. The strike landed but even under the power of Wrath Incarnate it barely chipped the Shadow Lord’s bone and The Slayer spun away from a counter. As the hammer ripped through the air a cloak of shadow mana exploded from its head and surged into the sky.
The Slayer immediately sensed the similarity to another skill his lesser self had witnessed but as his will tendrils sprung forth to sunder the shadow spikes before they formed his left shoulder burst into crimson flame and over a dozen tendrils disintegrated. The Slayer didn’t slow despite the setback and in one smooth motion, his blade left his hand to arc around the back of the Shadow Lord. As the blade flew The Slayer pivoted and kicked off the demon's chest with both legs as it arched backward from the surprise strike. Black and crimson sparks showered through the air as Exterminator’s Regards carved up the demon’s back.
The spikes moved almost as fast as the Shadow Lord did but Eye’s of the Slayer allowed The Slayer to easily judge their trajectories as they fell. A tilt of the head as he landed evaded one, a step the next before The Slayer moved into Destruction’s First Step. The Shadow Lord recovered almost instantly and was on top of the Slayer in the next but his hammer strike was just another strike to avoid, another thread of destruction, another tapestry of the void.
Health:
4654/5850
Stamina:
8321/8630
Wrath:
3700
As The Slayer’s body performed its part of the step, his will did the rest. Exterminator’s Regards did not return to his grasp, instead, it arced through the air and into the closing corrupted ones. Where once threads were severed now corpses fell to the ground, their souls leaving them in sprays of dark blood.
The Shadow Lord was faster than The Slayer but its every move was fueled by pointless emotion, not purpose. Whether The Slayer could kill the demon was irrelevant, it allowed the broken to kill the corrupted before he moved on to finish them off it was an efficient slaughter as well as a successful experiment.
The broken marched like a calculation beast. Hundreds moved in a pattern of death and destruction but not a word or shout could be heard. An army of butchers, an army with a purpose. Interestingly, they moved in spearhead formations cutting through the horde regardless of their losses, and with savage efficiency bolts of fire and volleys of arrows cut through lines of off-balance demons.
Even the healers, those who went against his purpose focused their abilities on healing the strongest, the ones who would kill. The weak were left behind. In pools of their own blood but even as they lay dying skills were activated to kill. Whether they lived was irrelevant they had performed their duty.
----------------------------------------
Leo’s body clicked and snapped back into position as the other standing over him healed his broken shell. His power was needed, his ability to kill was greater than the rest but if they were to kill them all a deadlier foe must die.
He rose to his feet the forms of the greatest among formed up behind him. A pillar of crimson pulsed before his eyes and the others also felt its draw. Their quarry was there. Their purpose lay with The Slayer.
The Others parted before their elite as they should and Leo led them through, his gaze only deviating to incenerate swaths of pathetic corrupted who would slow them from reaching their bestowed purpose. The only question upon Leo’s tranquil mind was, “What will die next?”
----------------------------------------
“My Lord! Hear me! It is as you say. The monster has defeated our soldiers, the first culling is complete and he has somehow managed to intervene at the anchor.”
Dhinir smirked as he released his grip from the Conveyance Sigil. He would have preferred the entire order to perish but any amount of deaths made it worth spending his weakest followers on.
Uton faded into existence and took a seat beside him, the golden light of their council room twisting around him, “If he has made it to the anchor he must coasting on the deaths of those there. Now that the space mages are dead. He was nowhere to go and once the fighting is done he will be weakened, of that I am sure.”
Dhinir nodded and turned back to the Conveyance Sigil, “Prepare the six…”