EPISODE 148: SLAYING CALAMITY 5
— GREAT EDRYAN, YEAR 7291. SEASON: COLOR FADING.
“Liana, Akeem,” she ordered—no other words needed to be exchanged. They’d known each other for nearly half a century—most of it from being on the battlefield.
Queen Titiana’s eyes were wide. Her face was bright as she tested the first of her divine skills. She felt the essence drain from her Law of Love, similar to when she created [A Mother’s Gift].
She closed her eyes, her concentration was on the object that felt like a second heart—a second soul. A second… everything —as it slowly became an integral part of her body.
Zephyron struggled, the (Life-Drain Chains) did their job, but only adequately. She stood in midair a distance away, watching calmly, before calling to her previous (Party) members.
“How is your strength?”
“It’s barely done anything,” Akeem began, referring to the Queen’s buff. “Only about a five percent increase—perhaps it could be more if we were worshipers of the Demigoddess of Love,” he chortled finished. His eyes were playful, and he radiated an excited, ecstatic , energy.
Queen Titiana sighed before giving her response. “The moment we achieved our goals and left the bounds of mortality—the Prime System, at least the part that governs mortals, no longer held the same sway.”
“INCOMING,” Liana warned, her body flashed before Titiana. Zephyron, its irritation peaking, opened its mouth and roared. That action signified the start of the battle.
The expected sound came as nothing but hot breath with long decayed pieces of flesh firing in their direction. Liana didn’t let her guard down—the large wave of mana that left the Thunderwing Lord far too clear for a magi-human to miss.
The trio sharply looked up, their companions a small distance away did the same as well. At that moment, lightning fell like yellow and blue raindrops.
“(Guardian’s Shield),” Liana activated. An icy-green shield held above them and halted the bolts like an umbrella. The trio stood in silence, not out of a desire for it, but the booming thunder prevented normal conversation from being held. Queen Titiana turned to face Margret.
Invisible snake-like tendrils of mana bypassed the lightning storm and connected to the former [Seven Heroes].
‘My shield is almost up,’ Liana warned.
‘The attack is nearly done—let us resist the rest with our bodies and test our defenses,’ Queen Titiana responded cooly.
‘This one is (Thunder Wrath’s Roar). What a silly bird—it possesses two different roar-based skills. It must like the sound of its own voice,’ Margret mused.
The shield popped seconds afterward, and the dwindling lightning struck the trio. Its strength far more diminished as Titiana held True Earth and a greater resistance to the conflicting element.
‘Hmph, nothing special. Can I…,’ Akeem began asking. His body twitched like a child high off candy who waited for a parent's permission to play.
“We are here to test our powers and understand them… take your best shot. Let us see what the first Edryan Prestige in hundreds of years can do,” Queen Titiana responded.
Their vision cleared. Zephyron remained bound by the chains, but their strength was severely diminished. It was clear they wouldn’t last much longer, as the silver-grey chains appeared marred with multiple links nearly snapped in twain. The carved formation on the ground hadn’t held to its first attack.
“Mortal materials aren’t qualified to bind a calamity for long. Hmmm,” Camilla observed. Her voice easily traveled through the hundred meters that separated them. They’d never hunted a calamity before… well, there was that one time during Camilla initial joining of the [Heroes], but that couldn’t count, and the beast was still certainly alive.
Akeem clanked his oversized gauntlets together. A wild, wicked grin was on his face as he flew through the air. A trail of flames followed him—sparks from the clashing of steel upon steel. His gauntlet ignited, and he let off a burst of speed as he closed the distance between him and the calamity. He felt like a youth on his System Day, gaining access to skills and a broader base of abilities for the first time.
“(Inferno Strikes).”
Inferno Armament:
Function:
Ignite your weapon of choice with flames of chi, increasing flame-based attacks by 60%.
Cost:
150 Chi Points, 300 Stamina Points.
Several strikes hit the chained calamity. With each hit, flames did their best to ignite on Zephyron’s body, only to be extinguished by the green glow of the wind.
“Barely two hundred damage per hit. Its defensive skill is strong—at least four thousand,” he exclaimed in surprise. His earlier high was cooling down as frustration presented itself before him. He let out a complaint, while throwing a few final punches. His turn on the playground was almost up. “Ahhh, it has been far too long since my skills held a single function.”
“Vivian,” the Queen called. And, as the man approached, Akeem retreated. The older gentleman happened to be much more composed than his counterpart, but the grimoire that whizzed around him showed excitement.
“How gracious of our host—allowing us to test our skills upon him,” Vivian joked.
“The (Life-Drain Chains) won’t last much longer, use your one ability and make way for the next in line,” Marna urged.
“Zephyron is the youngest calamity in Edryan—we would have a far different experience had we chose to challenge Calamity Stormlord or Calamity Frigid Lady,” Margret mentioned. “Besides, we’ve had decades to discuss and theorize our skills without truly using them—Calamity Stone Guardian does not venture from is territory and none challenge the might of Zephyron. It’s probably used its new skills maybe once or twice in combat ever.”
Vivian grabbed toward his grimoire. The excited object landed in his hands but could barely stay still as it vibrated. He lightly flicked the cover, causing the object to calm significantly while the conversation between his peers continued. His attention remained locked onto the ten Path Skills of his Prestige class.
“Hmmm, my Path is more utility based as I’ve always been—both a mix of healing, attacking, and restricting. Let’s try out (Verdant Growth).”
Verdant Growth:
Function:
Transform the surrounding landscape into a bountiful forest that restricts enemy movement and heals allies by 5% of their maximum HP for the duration.
Cost:
10% of Maximum Mana.
Large trees burst from the ground and shot upward toward the sky. The (Party) watched in interest as the trees shot past ten meters in height and easily covered over a hundred meters on the ground. Large flowers sprouted from vines among the continuously growing trees, and they began to release a gentle glowing pollen. The forest continued to grow, its grounds becoming darker the taller it got. Once the trees hit forty meters in height, they began to slow their growth, and the former [Seven Heroes] looked down in disappointment.
“Well… that was… I mean…,” Vivian began, a sigh escaping before he went silent.
They were well over three hundred meters within the air—a far cry distance from his skill effecting the Thunderwing Lord.
“Do not trouble yourself Vivian—once the summit is done, we will gather to test the full range of our abilities,” Queen Titiana consoled. She shot the snickering Akeem a look, but the soft chuckles coming from the other members of her party did nothing to ease Vivian’s wounded pride. Even Camilla held a slight smile on her face.
“BAHAHAAA,” Vivian burst out, and like just like that, the floodgates were released as the party laughed. “I should have expected the skill to be restricted to the ground. Against any ground-based enemies, it would be terrifying for them to face and a relief for allied forces. If I were to include (Wildwood Summons) then…,” he trailed off, still smiling.
GRRRRRRRRRROOOOAN.
SNAP!
SNAP!
SNAP!
The attention of the party immediately snapped back to Zephyron, who remained partially forgotten as they watched Vivian’s failure. Lightning crackled across the calamity’s body, and it let out a thunderous roar at its captors.
“Oh, I believe our laughter has upset him. Marna, my dear, if you would,” Queen Titiana stated, pulling away as the large creature finally freed itself from the chains. Her spear remained tightly grasped in her hand as she moved into position.
The rest of them split up, following the Queen’s example, as they surrounded the [Thunderwing Lord] on all sides. The only direction Zephyron could head freely was up into the thunderclouds above or down to the ground below.
“Liana,” Marna called. “Prepare yourself—(Wisdom’s Grace).”
Wisdom’s Grace:
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Function:
Increase the critical hit rate of yourself or a chosen ally by 50% for one minute.
Cost:
500 Mana Points, 500 Divine Points.
The moment she activated the skill, two golden constructs appeared above and below Liana. They passed through her body before converging at the middle. The large skill constructs decreased in size before slowly hovering before Liana’s black armored chest—superimposed upon one another as the different mana types mixed.
Although confused, Liana needed no prompting to attack Zephyron. She flashed forward, taunting to get its attention, as it hadn’t yet decided on a path of attack.
“ HEY YOU OVERGROWN CHICKI! ”
Zephyron’s body turned, nearly faster than any of them could react—his wing’s slicing through the air in a powerful attack. Its title’s namesake immediately smashed into Liana who just managed to position her sword-shield before the strike met. Her body shot downward—falling nearly two kilometers away, and impacted into a large mountain-size stone before it shot through as she slammed into the ground. Only the sound of the strike came far after it already hit.
Its eyes flashed with yellow and blue lightning, both left and right respectively, as it was no longer in a lax state. No laughs were heard as the (Party) began to act. They were silent in their methods, as no words needed to be exchanged. Marna vanished, her body reappearing moments later next to the large crater Liana was pulling herself out of. Her armor was shattered in places, blood flowed from the visible wounds.
“Looks like your skill works,” Liana commented jokingly. The pair took flight to rejoin the battle as Marna kept a hand on Liana’s shoulder. The soft glow of magic spread between Marna’s palm and the black armor—healing the wounded woman at a visible rate. Above, thunder roared as Zephyron fought.
Queen Titiana dodged backward, and with that momentum at the height of her dodge, she shot forward, her spear slicing across Zephyron’s flank. A large gash opened up, the blood of the calamity spraying into the air as a roar of pain followed. Akeem kept is attention, red chi flames repeatedly smacked into Zephyron as he attempted to inflict (Attribute Limiter) and attach his mana draining flames onto the beast. Margret and Camilla pulled back, both silently waiting for their turns. The strongest blow was already promised to Camilla, who could barely keep her expectations in check.
The Queen had promised her an opportunity to release grand devastation upon a target and originally, Camilla was to use a newly developed spell, instead she'd changed that opportunity to a powerful divine skill. The sky continued to rumble, lightning struck against the party and wind slice at them like blades. Zephyron was slowly adapting and growing more confident as time passed, but the same could be said for its opponents. Like him, they too were unfamiliar with their new skills and abilities, however he was one while they, seven .
The Calamity rose into the air, approaching closer to the clouds above. Lightning surged, its strikes not against the party, but against Zephyron.
“It’s healing—what a powerful skill! It’s nearly back to full health but a third of its mana and a small quarter of stamina is gone,” Margret alerted. Two magenta glowing spell-constructs rested above her glasses as she observed at alerted her team.
When the [Seven Heroes] fought, Liana served as the tank. Akeem was one of the damage dealers in terms of close combat and secondary tank. Marna was the healer and usually was the one to provide buffs, Vivian utility and secondary healer, while Camilla served as the greatest damage dealer. It was Margrets responsibility to deal with strange effects and skills, while the Queen directed them all.
The lightning surging into Zephyron didn’t stop there, as the raging calamity opened its mouth and spewed out lightning. Its target was the small, annoying fly that kept shooting flames at its body. Zephyron’s horns glowed green, and the wind around Akeem halted him for a moment. It was enough for the powerful bolt that streamed from Zephyron’s mouth to strike Akeem—sending the large man tumbling to the ground. A trail of black smoke signified his fall path.
“He’s stunned,” Margret warned. Immediately she began to prepare a spell. Vivian opened his grimoire and began to flip through the pages.
Zephyron closed its mouth, its head snapped backward as the attack flashed. Then, without waiting to see the results of its attack, it dove toward the falling figure.
Queen Titiana’s eyes widened. The moment Zephyron cut loose and began to get serious, the two main tanks were injured immediately.
“Camilla, prepare yourself—on my signal,” she alerted as she dove after both Zephyron and Akeem.
Zephyron speed was far faster as the wind assisted him, and pushed against her. Queen Titiana's eyes narrowed in concern, but a moment later they flickered as two figures made themselves known. In the same instance, she opened her mouth and spoke.
She’d long ago spread her aura to the range of her Intent, and although she didn’t monitor everything, she kept track of the big mana signatures. Caimen and Pancratius swooped in. The former fired off (Fireballs) in quick succession at Zephyron. While the latter caught the falling Akeem and quickly retreated.
“(Alluring Presence),” Queen Titiana activated—infusing a bit of her Law essence into it. She faced Zephyron directly and her voice traveled as a pink wave with her at the epicenter. As it passed the Thunderwing Lord, spread faster than it could fly through her Intent, changes began. Zephyron, who hadn’t slowed in its chase for Akeem, instantly halted. Its large body turned toward the Queen as a light pink fog began to appear over its eyes. Queen Titiana kept her gaze focused on Zephyron, doing her best to attract the large bird closer to her and away from the stunned Akeem.
“HOOOoops,” the Queen chortled, her voice spread throughout the area of her Intent. Immediately, she clamped her mouth shut as Zephyron stirred. She kept quiet, her skill accidentally targeted more than just Zephyron. Fortunately, she managed to release the magi under control.
Caimen Lordstar clasped his hands together, and as he began to pull them apart, darkness formed between them. With each centimeter, his palms, and his arms began to shake—the strain evident. At the center of that darkness was a tiny, white light barely visible, but the pressure it created began to pull at the surrounding area.
A fragrance spread, the Queen’s skill made her appear as the most attractive person, or in this case beast, in the eyes of the Thunderwing Lord. The lightning, that crackled over its body, began to diminish as it seemed to calm down. Sweat began to form and slowly drip down the Queen’s forehead as she continued to release the fragrance and attract Zephyron to her. Liana and Margret finally returned, and the Queen signaled them with her eyes. Both woman backed off and out of the direct line of sight of Zephyron.
The Queen looked at Caimen, attempting to give him a warning, but the Grand Magi’s concentration remained locked to his spell. His palms were nearly three inches apart, and the tiny white light began to grow.
A throbbing vein appeared on Titiana’s forehead. She only held a tenuous connection to Zephyron and-
“(Genesis of a Heavenly Body),” Caimen shouted as he released the skill. The tiny white star expanded and struck against Zephyron before it could fully recover its senses.
Queen Titiana pursed her lips, but seconds later her eyes snapped to the battlefield of the South Gate Army and her Lawruthian. Her attention drawn away from seeing the results of Caimen’s attack.
RAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOC!
“A second calamity?”
Her attention snapped back to [Raid Boss: Zephyron — Thunderwing Lord] as the world turned hostile .
“IT’S ACTIVATED (World Bound),” Margret shouted.
“Camilla,” the Queen ordered, sighing as she withdrew.
“(Divine Skill: Trinity — Falling Swords).”
Caimen’s attack tore at Zephyron, a large inferno burned away a portion of its body. Yet, it still flew as its wings were no longer necessary for flight. Over half its feathers on the left side of its body were gone, burnt away in the inferno that attempted to consume its body. Zephyron shook its head, the flames dispersing as the world came to its aid—its damaged body showed rapid signs of regeneration. In seconds, the burnt feathers fell and were replaced by shinny new growth in a matter of moments. The mana and stamina it lost rapidly replenished until it was once again at its peak state. The changes weren’t done, but Zephyron still seemed to be mentally recovering from its previous state.
Titiana and the others continued to retreat, quickly evacuating the area the Thunderwing Lord hovered in. One hundred meters, then five hundred. A proud Caimen and a recovered Akeem flying in the rear.
They quickly escaped a thousand meters, then two, and three before they finally began to halt.
Camilla began to giggle, like a teenage girl who escaped from strict parent’s oversight to do something she was restricted from doing.
Above, the first of the falling swords appeared. It was shaped like a knight's arming sword, but solely made from stone. Its tip was superheated as it reacted to the atmosphere and dispersed the storm clouds before it. Camilla held a tenuous connection to the sword, but it was enough to direct it toward its intended target. She did so gleefully, a pure childish laugh erupted from her mouth.
Zephyron finally shook off the dregs of the skill from its body, and subsequently, recognized the danger it was in far too late.
The first sword impacted into it, directly through the thickest part of the Thunderwing Lord's body, and the blade's weight dragged it to the ground. The eyes of the nine widened and the Queen quickly called out.
“Margret!”
“Already on it!”
“(Divine Skill: Rune Creation — Mitigation).” She waved her wand, directly writing into the air with the essence of her law. The rune appeared like two hands carefully cupped together—and in the region around Zephyron, two lightly glowing hands did appear.
The second Falling Sword impacted, slicing into Zephyron’s lower body, completely igniting its body. Queen Titiana was certain the beast was dead before the final sword hit. This time, directly slicing through the neck of [Raid Boss: Zephyron — Thunderwing Lord].
The party retreated another two kilometers, as the intense heat ignited the area. The ground churned and superheated, turning red-hot. Yet, the devastating effects stayed in the five kilometers in a circumference around Zephyron—where the hands created by Margret held the devastation in place.
The former [Seven Heroes] stood in silence, not out of shock as they’d seen such destruction, but simple appreciation. The silence was interrupted by a notification that appeared to all those involved.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
[Raid Boss: Zephyron — Thunderwing Lord] has been slain. Rewards shall be given based on contribution at the end of the battle.