Cole hit the ground, a pounding headache behind his eyes forcing him to stumble.
Strike Force Talos rushed over to him, Malena and Stannis each grabbing one of his shoulders. Tamika leaned over him, her staff crackling with green energy. She slammed it directly into his chest.
The young man gasped as a surge of adrenaline suffused his entire body. It was similar to when Thesta would charge him with mana, but not quite as strong. This green spell had the added effect of removing the pain of the headache, as well as the burn that she had previously healed.
Stannis and Malena pulled him to his feet, causing his head to spin for a second. Strangely, it served to clear his mind. Combined with the reenergizing effect of Tamika’s magic, Cole felt refreshed, as if he had a second wind. Stannis clapped him on the back,
“Can’t have you dropping on us now lad. We’re almost at the Gate!”
The young man nodded thankfully at the party, making a praying gesture towards Tamika. He could clearly see why she was a member of the party, while she didn’t really seem to have any sort of direct attack power, her buffing and defensive magic was the glue that held Strike Force Talos together.
After he’d taken a few breaths, the group set out once more, Cole quickly giving himself Runic Speed to stay caught up. The incline began to increase in gradient, and he realised they were almost at the site of the Gate. The increasing steepness was the first tell, but a suffocating, oppressive heat was what made it certain. It was much, much hotter than it had been earlier in the day. He wanted nothing more than to dive into a cool pool of water, or even just step into a fridge. Anything would be better than the stifling humidity that wrapped around them.
Soon after, they reached the top of the hill. A red glow was filtering over it from the other side, like a hellish sunrise. As the group breached the crest, and looked down towards the valley-like area, they could only stare in shock. Tamika gasped,
“How could anyone close that?”
The tear in space that had already seemed so big to Cole hours ago now stretched around that entire side of the hill, too big for any single team of adventurers to defend against. The ground, green grass singed black before, was now completely scorched, with no life to be seen. The trees too were gone, Infernal flames only leaving twisted, blackened stumps behind. A horde of demons and various Infernal creatures streamed out, not quite a constant flow, but enough to swamp the village in seconds. Cole shivered, the various roaming Strike Forces had to seriously be pulling their weight.
Of course, there was a significant filter in place, right at the mouth of the Surging Gate. Two brothers, clad in full suits of steel armour. The vicious red tide of the monster wave broke upon their stalwart defence. Godrick was only recognizable because of his abilities. Like before, he was blasting them with smoke, blanketing the smaller monsters with white ash. When the smoke was blown away by the wind, the smaller monster’s bodies were gone with it. Percival was using the space created by the area of effect smoke attacks to whittle down some of the larger monsters, flashes of white light punching holes through monsters that were at least 3 metres tall. Cole was stunned as he watched a huge Infernal Drake march out of the Gate, seeming to be even bigger than the one he’d taken down. How could Percival possibly strike that creature down?
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White light blazed out of the gaps in the Branch-Master’s armour, creating a beacon that shot straight into the heavens. He leaped, propelled by points of light at his feet that acted like jet thrusters. Percival aimed himself directly for the creature’s head, and just as he seemed like he was going to make contact with the beast, slamming directly into its head, he whipped his hands forward, thrusters braking him in the middle of the air. The armoured man swung them down, thrusters holding him aloft, before a pillar of white energy fell from the sky.
Just like that, the Infernal Drake was gone. Cole could only watch, amazed. Without the efforts of the two brothers, Venture would have fallen hours ago. The pair would have probably annihilated most of the monsters that had tried to exit the Gate.
But it wasn’t enough. While Percival was taking down the Infernal Drake, many monsters escaped past Godrick, streaming around the hill to head towards the town. Because of the nature of the Surge, the volume and strength of the Infernals that would exit the portal could only increase, and their stamina, while obviously incredibly fortuitous, would have to eventually run out.
That was why he was here. To close the Gate. To end the Surge.
All Cole needed to do was get down there.
He turned towards Strike Force Talos, who were all similarly drenched in sweat.
“Can you get me down to the Gate?” he asked, hoping for a positive answer.
The party of adventurers looked back at him grimly. Malena spoke first.
“Can you feel the heat? If its this hot up here, imagine trying to get close to the Gate. You’d burn up halfway down the hill, let alone touching it. That’s why Percival and Godrick are the only ones here. Only class users like them, Thesta and Argyle have high enough resistance to survive that sort of environment. Unless you have some other secret ability we don’t know about, there’s no way anyone is getting down there.”
Tamika piped up.
“I have a spell that can buff someone’s thermal resistance, but it only works on one person at a time… I’m not sure how well it will work next to the Gate either.”
Cole contemplated both her and Malena’s words for a second. He was hesitant to charge into the bottom of the valley if it simply meant he would burn to a crisp the moment he got there. But what choice did he have? It was either do that, or let the town and everyone who lived there be overwhelmed by the horde of monsters.
‘There’s a third option..’ an insidious voice whispered at the back of his mind. Cole tried to ignore it, but he knew, technically it was right. The power of the Empire was obviously formidable, if the fear around them taking over was anything to judge by. But that same fear was the reason that the adventurers of Venture kept fighting for their independence and freedom. He looked at the armoured brothers. They could have given up at any time, called in Imperial support. It would definitely be a lot easier. Yet, they didn’t, instead choosing to continue fighting against what seemed like an unstoppable force.
But they wouldn’t be able to do it forever, and sooner or later, they would need help. Or they would die.
Cole was going to give them that help.
He nodded at Tamika. “Give me the buff. I’m going in there.”
She raised her staff, a cool, icy glow emanating out from it. The same glow settled around the young man’s skin, and he instantly felt its impact. It was like someone had turned hundreds of tiny fans on, pointing them directly at his skin. The sweat on his brow began to cool, and he felt the smothering humidity leech away.
He bowed slightly towards the group, feeling somewhat awkward, but something told him it was the right thing to do.
“Thank you. All of you. I wouldn’t have made it here without you.”
Strike Force Talos returned the favour, bowing or inclining their heads in turn. Malena clapped his shoulder. “Good luck down there. We’ll do our best to support you from up here, but Bellisaire is our only true ranged fighter, so you’ll be mostly on your own.”
The young man nodded, unsure what more to say. He turned to face the Infernal Gate, activating both Runic Speed and Strength focused on his legs. Cole leapt off the top of the hill, down towards the Gate. If he was right about the way the Surge worked, Venture would be saved, without having to fold to the Vestrian Empire.
It was time to end this.