I gave the hydra a solid eight hit combo with Grief Reaper to make damn sure the regeneration nullifying effect would keep it chopped up for good. It was getting scary how little resistance I felt to my weapons when cutting what should be tough monsters.
I felt my stats swell a little more, confirming the hydra’s death with Greater Drain. I’d need to check if I scored a new skill later, but for now I wanted to finally try out Grief Reaper’s ultimate ability Create Undead IX, and this huge pile of fresh hydra corpse was the perfect target.
I asked the tall lady that must be the person I was here to save to step back. A weak coughing groan made me look down and to the side at the injured tengu and knocked out young woman. I tossed him a couple of mid grade healing potions.
“Create Undead.” I commanded, holding Grief Reaper over the mountain of dead hydra flesh.
My vision suddenly narrowed to a pinhole, and I fought off a wave of nausea as my Soul Energy dropped to less than half instantly and continued to plummet. I forcibly kept myself conscious by biting my lip hard. An invisible wave erupted from the epicenter of the spell, and caused every tree in the nearby swamp to sway violently. The six enemy knights were knocked down, and Trasana staggered backward. A maelstrom of blood red clouds appeared overhead, spinning into a funnel that slowly descended toward the dead hydra.
I teleported down, and grabbed the tengu and woman, only then realizing that she not a woman at all, but a very tall child. Before they knew it, we were a safe distance away. I scooped up the shocked Trasana next. She squeaked out a surprised noise as I picked her up more or less princess style. Her feet and hair both still touched the ground, but that couldn’t be helped with how tall she was.
I let her down next to the tengu and she stared at me with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. She’ll have to get over it. The blood tornado touched down and disintegrated the hydra and everything near it which would have included all of them. The violent cyclone turned dark with the infusion of flesh and blood, and a stationary figure began to materialize at its center.
The solidifying shadow was around my size, and humanoid. Power poured from the churning sky into the funneling tornado. My hair stood on end. This energy was at least as dense and menacing as an Overfiend’s, but carried a distinct signature that I had yet to encounter in this world. My gamer instincts told me that boss music should be playing at any moment.
All at once the clouds and turbulent atmosphere disappeared, replaced by a foreboding stillness. The figure in the cyclone had vanished as well, I looked left, right , and up to no avail. A chilling aura of dark purple smoke drew my gaze down to a kneeling man. The first thing I noticed was the crown fashioned of gold with skeletal fingers wearing gaudy rings serving as the crown’s ten spires. The rings of ten kings... Oh no.
“Vathec the Only King.” I said as my face contorted in shock and concern.
The pale faced undead monarch lifted his dark eyes at the name. He was hauntingly handsome, a glaring stereotype of vampiric perfection clad in ancient ceremonial armor. He was the original wielder of Grief Reaper, a boss I never wanted to remember. He ruled a dead world, where no hero had managed to slay the monster and the logical conclusion had come to pass. He was unbelievably strong, as in Tabula would have her hands full with him.
“Mighty Cursebreaker who hath mastered Grief Reaper.” Vathec said in a stiff, antiquated accent. “My clever, merciful master who hath permitted mineself to hear the symphony of a living world for the very first time. I have received your gift of flesh and magic, and am fully reborn. What is thy bidding?”
“Defeat those knights and any monsters that are approaching. If they insist on resisting to the bitter end you may kill them.” I behaved outwardly like this was no big deal, but I was experiencing a minor meltdown internally. On one hand, he seemed genuinely loyal. On the other hand, he was definitely the most twisted and intelligent boss I had faced in EG, to the point of it breaking my immersion in the game.
He switched tactics mid fight after observing me drink a particular resistance potion, he summoned minions just so that he could kill them and abuse his own life steal mechanic. In other words he fought like a fellow player would, and it was unsettling.
“I-is that a vampire lord?” Trasana watched Vathec’s back as he strolled in the direction of the six honor guards.
“I wish that’s all he was.” I muttered under my breath. “We’ll just say he’s a unique undead.” I said so that she could hear.
“Salutations.” Vathec announced. “Thou hath committed an affront to my master. I shall grant a single opportunity for thee to surrender thyself to his mercy.”
“They can’t surrender while Legion controls them.” Trasana said. “They also can’t be killed. Yuther holds their souls within him, and can regenerate their bodies from a single scrap of flesh.”
“I see.” I looked more closely at the knights and was able to spot a thread of golden energy emanating from the head of each knight. “Hold, Vathec.” I commanded as the undead began to raise his hand to likely erase them.
Guess this was a job for me after all. I equipped a weapon that I had scarcely even thought about since reincarnating. It was a katana hilt wrapped in white silk with no visible blade.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
The story of obtaining this sword goes something like this. To commemorate the death of a famous Japanese game developer behind a certain beloved, long running JRPG franchise, EG released a wave of Yokai (evil spirits from Japanese folklore) world bosses in the base game world. It was the most chaotic and fun time I can honestly remember outside of an Abyss. There were also limited time Gacha boxes available for in game gold. I may have gone slightly overboard, in that I opened around eight thousand of them. Most of my signature suit cosmetic skins came from the Yakuza boss themed outfits in those boxes, and so did the rarest five star weapon known as...
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*Equipped: Ethereal Katana - 1H Sword
(Item Score N/A) Skin: Default
Damage (Omni): 1
Destroy Magic
Destroy Curse
Banish Spirit
Indestructible
“From smoke and dreams, a Yokai is born. By light and clarity shall it be purged.”
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This thing did next to nothing against your average enemy, but it could accomplish things no other weapon could. The Ethereal Katana could cancel skill effects, curses, crowd control spells, and banish incorporeal spirits.
I walked past Vathec whom had taken a knee when I halted him.
“We meet at last, Usurper.” The middle knight said in a tone that suggested he spent a little too much time thinking about me.
“Yuther?” I guessed aloud. “Speaking through your little puppets?”
“I am rather indisposed, or I might have come to slay that traitorous wench myself.” One of the other knights spat in the same voice. “That creature you just summoned is an abomination. The fact that you would stoop to such vile allies tells me all I need to know. You must be purged.”
“Good luck with that. I’m cutting your ties with these guys now. Any other messages for me?”
“Die!” All six shouted as they leaped forward in unison.
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Agony pierced Yuther’s skull as the distant scene in the swamp suddenly went black. His ultimate ability, a trump card that even the Pure were forced to acknowledge had been severed in the blink of an eye. How does anyone have that kind of power? Just what was that terrible being summoned from the clouds? What did it all mean?
“You won’t like the answer, you know.” An alien voice rang out clearly in his thoughts.
“Who’s there!?” Yuther peered around the underground laboratory. He found himself coming here more and more often lately. He found the space comforting, and oddly nostalgic.
“You really can’t guess? As usual I pray for competence, and the gods send fools.” The voice lamented bitterly. “You sit in my chair, read my precious tomes, and still you don’t get it.”
“Kutris!?” Yuther struggled to believe the word even as it left his mouth.
“Yes, my dimwitted boy. I am Kutris the Worm. You wish to know about that man’s power, and I tell you that you are unworthy to even ask.”
“What are you suggesting then, spirit?” Yuther quickly adapted to the situation. he was no stranger to the concept of powerful magic users disrespecting the boundaries between life and death.
“Find my amulet in the lowest level of these catacombs. I have opened the way. My guardians shall allow you passage. Place my amulet around your neck, and you shall gain the power you seek.”
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I put away the Katana as the six knights collapsed alive but unconscious. It seemed likely that they were bodies without souls if what Trasana said was true.
“We’ll take them with us. Maybe we can figure out a way to save them.” I said, opening a Blood Gate.
“Lord Gray.” Trasana was now bowing in front of me. “I know it is absurd of me to beg this of you, but please shelter my niece. In return I will offer you anything within my power.”
“That’s the whole reason I rushed over here in the first place.” I said, thinking that was obvious. “Anyways, yeah that’s fine. Everyone’s had to deal with a shitty boss once or twice. Welcome aboard.” I looked away as I spoke, noticing a huge number of gathering presences at the edge of the blasted clearing.
Maybe a hundred trolls, three times that many goblins, and even a couple swamp giants were beginning to filter toward us. Guess they were drawn to all the commotion. This swamp must be a real pain in the ass for caravans and regular people.
“Vathec.” I spoke up.
“I am eternally at your command.” Vathec answered immediately.
“I want you to clean up this swamp and make it safe for travelers. Take your time and use whatever means necessary to make that happen. My conditions are that you never harm the innocent. If they attack you out of fear, restrain them until they can be reasoned with. If they attack you because they are a mindless aggressive monster, obliterate them without mercy. Is that clear?”
I figured this was too tall of an order, but if he managed a good deed or two I’d call that a win. There was no duration ticking down, and the Create Undead IX skill had disappeared from Grief Reaper’s description. Did that mean he was a permanent summon?
“It shall be done.” Vathec answered resolutely. “I swear upon the rings of my ten brethren that this swamp shall become the safest land in this world. May I summon my own subordinates to assist in this task?”
“Oh... sure that should be fine.” I answered with a slight hesitation.
“Excellent. Then this swamp shall be tamed within a fortnight. Summon Household!” He turned with a flourish of his black cape, and a grand army of death appeared. A full legion of silver armored skeletons stood in rigid formation. Scattered throughout the ranks were skeleton mages, and a clearly high ranking lich stood next to a death knight commander before Vathec. The undead army filled the clearing, and judging by the surprised shrieks and roars coming from the treeline it extended into the swamp.
Trasana yelped something unintelligible, Gryphon gasped and turned pale, and the girl fainted.
“Sir Mallak, Archmage Thornwhisper.” Vathec addressed his underlings, and they held their skeletal hands over their heart as they knelt. “Our glorious master hath gifted us a new purpose. March over every inch of this swamp. If any creature of vile disposition should rise up in protest, purge them and raise them anew. Conduct thyself with virtue. Protect the weak and aid the righteous. Such is the will of the great lord Gray.”
“The undead... aren’t evil?” Trasana managed to overcome her terror and speak.
“They’re only as good or evil as the task I set for them, but I do get the odd feeling Vathec isn’t the same as when I fought him before.” I was similarly curious about the above and beyond attitude. “Vathec, what would you do if left to your own devices?”
“I might seclude myself in a vibrant and green place and admire life for many years. I cannot recall a time when I wasn’t surrounded by death and stone, and I find this place to be beautiful beyond measure. Is that a satisfactory answer?” Vathec stroked his finely sculpted chin as he spoke his thoughts.
“That is satisfactory.” I answered. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”
“Archmage Thornwhisper hath access to long range communication and dimensional gate spells. May she contact you in the event that we require your guidance?” Vathec asked as I turned toward the blood gate.
“Damn that’s amazing. Really glad I one shotted her with the Gorgon.” I mumbled. “Of course, I don’t mind if she contacts me. Good luck!”
I sent Gryphon and Trasana carrying the girl through the blood gate, then I tossed the comatose knights through before joining them in EDEN.