The first wave of ghouls was no harder than the ones they fought at the bottom of the descending passage. The downside was there just were so damn many of them. Thanks to Tezeno's defensive buffs, Joe was able to hold Kendell’s place. The archon's [Aura of Iron], ramped up his already decent physical resistances to the point where the enemies claws were mostly tinking off his metal-hard skin, allowing Joe to perform his role of healer and support, while plugging the line at the sentinel's side.
He was relying on his soaring radiant gauntlet for offense. This attack method meant he never had to extend himself to make his strikes. He just thought about which ghoul to batter, and the fist hammered away on the unfortunate wight.
Yuk’s vortex tore at the undead coming up the ramp, and the dual [Heart Fires] weakened the assaulting dead even further. RC and Hah’roo layered more damage on, leaving Joe and Tez to hold back any of the particularly sturdy creatures until they could be hit enough times to finally drop.
“All right. The beacon is on. I can swap with you, Joe.”
“We’re good, Kenda,” Tezeno replied before Joe could answer. “Just keep an eye peeled for a response and be ready with Vex’s sigil. Those mummies are almost to the bottom of the ramp. We want out of here before they get to us. I’ve heard some really horrible tales about mummy rot.”
The tall, greasy shuffling dead exuded an aura that drove the ghouls even wilder than normal. The wolf hood turned out to be a huge boon, protecting against the flailing claws that kept finding their way past his shield or making it through Tez's aura. The repeated punches to the head were a bit painful, but they were far better than having his face ripped off by the enemy’s claws.
As Joe knocked one of the gangly rotting attackers off the ramp, he sensed a spell wash over his team. Whatever it was seemed to leave him unaffected, but a window popped up at the edge of his vision, demanding his attention.
P
A
R
T
Y
Name
Health
(Current/Max - %)
Stamina
(Current/Max - %)
Mana
(Current/Max - %)
Conditions
Earcellwen
231 / 265 - 87%
821 / 1053 - 78%
447 / 658 - 68%
Cowering (Fear 3x)
Hah’roo
393 / 457 - 86%
1244 / 1885 - 66%
313 / 978 - 32%
Cowering (Fear 3x)
Kendell
518 / 529 - 98%
512 / 1651 - 31%
535 / 990 - 54%
Cowering (Fear 3x)
Tezeno
794 / 1393 - 57%
1250 / 2977 - 42%
630 / 778 - 81%
Frightened (Fear 2x)
Yuk
521 / 883 - 59%
449 / 1872 - 24%
696 / 1266 - 55%
Uneasy (Fear 1x)
Joe
508 / 1081 - 47%
874 / 1956* - 38%
4975 / 5564* - 76%
Looking to his side, Joe could see the effect the spell was having on his shieldmate. Tezeno’s movements were becoming slow and shaky. His angular eyes were popped open wide, and sweat began to drip down his face. A ghoul reached out and latched on to the sentinel’s shield, preparing to drag it or him away. Loosing their defender would be the death of them all. Joe kept the team going but only because Tezeno mitigated a huge chunk of the damage coming their way. The archon was the true anchor of Wild Order.
An amber fist of force magic distracted the marauder by shattering its jaw, keeping Tez at his side and still armed.
Looking down, Joe could see the bearlike Mournful Thralls staring at them. The effect seemed to redouble as more of the decaying bear-like creatures joined the casting. Even through the major fear resistance provided by [Undaunted], Joe found himself feeling uneasy. The rest of the group was quickly moving toward panicking.
Your skill [Spirit of the Pack] has increased to rank 7
You have reduced the Fear level on your party members.
This momentarily stopped his allies from fleeing in terror, but Joe didn’t think it would hold for long. If the mummies layered any more such spells on Wild Order, the team would likely break and run. Losing the formation and cover would be the death of them all. The wights would eventually run down each separate guilder and tear them apart.
Joe began [Dual Casting] in rapid succession. Glancing over his shoulder, he targeted two of the women behind himself.
You have removed the Cowering affliction from Earcellwen and Kendell
You have removed the Cowering affliction from Hah’roo and the Frightened affliction from Tezeno
You have removed the Frightened affliction from Earcwellwen and Yuk
Your skill [Exorcise] has increased to rank 17
RC seemed to have the least resistance to the Fear effects, whereas Yuk was almost as well protected against them as Joe was. Tezeno was a little less shielded than the living swarm. Hah’roo and Kendell were only a fraction better off than the slight elven archer.
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Joe fired up [Mana Surge] to help maintain the mana he needed to keep wiping away the combined spells being hurled by the coven of mummies. Even with that mana boost, he watched his reserves dropping faster than he liked. Collectively, the Mournful Thralls were just too powerful for Joe to keep ahead of for long.
The wights were still relentlessly slashing at the two frontliners. Joe was getting stretched thin trying to both purge his team and hold the line. A single claw managed to hook into his jawline, slicing through his skin and spraying blood. Another necrotic bastard hammered its bony fist straight into his groin. Joe managed to keep his footing and his shield up, but the world blurred as the excruciating blow brought tears to his eyes.
“This is getting bad!” he groaned as loudly as he could. “How much longer?”
“No way to tell? Swap?” Kendell shouted back.
“I don’t think so …”
The oppressive weight of fear vanished only to be replaced by a different mental attack. Beguilement effects began to stack up on his team. Again, thanks to a trait, this time his dwarven [Iron Mind], Joe had a nearly complete resistance. Tezeno, on the other hand, was in the process of dropping his shield and stepping into the attacking pack of wights, with a dopey-looking expression glued to his typically stoic features.
You have removed the Beguiled affliction from Hah’roo and the Charmed affliction from Tezeno
You have removed the Beguiled affliction from Earcellwen and Kendell
You have removed the Charmed affliction from Yuk
Looking back had left Joe open to another attack. A dirge wight was all too willing to capitalize on it. A claw cut deeply through his [Dreadstalker Leggings]. Thankfully the pants had a mending enchantment, and a quick self-heal closed the wound. Still, the lancing pain nearly caused his leg to give way.
Tezeno cast a warding that blocked some of the enchantment effects, but it was only big enough to shield the front line. Joe didn't really need it, but he felt better knowing Tez was shielded—maybe some of Yuk too.
“Yuk, I need help. Can you flare your vortex spell for me? I can’t keep this many things going at once. Kenda, you might have to swap with me.”
“Hold on, Joe. The beacon just flickered,” the savant yelled. “One more second, I think, and we’re … WAIT! WHERE’S RC?” Kendell’s horrified scream smashed through the air like a hammer.
Joe looked at the party status list and found [Enthralled] ominously etched on the screen by RC's name.
“Oh shit!”
“She is below us,” Yuk whispered in Joe’s mind. The swarm caster had dropped the party communication to power up his attacks on the ramp. “She still has our tick, but we can’t break through the spell on her.”
Joe launched his fist at the closest mummy, hoping to disrupt the enchantment, but the glowing gauntlet was repelled by a dark shield that interposed itself between the attack and the creature. After swearing again, Joe reiterated Yuk's words to the group.
“You all, get ready to go,” Hah’roo hissed fiercely. “I’ll go get her.”
Kendell moaned loudly. “Oh gods,” before turning to the wind-walker. “You can’t. You don’t have enough mental defenses against that cabal of thralls. Only one of us does, but if Joe goes, then they’ll overwhelm the rest of us when he’s gone. We can’t save her,” the trainer cried.
“Where is she, Yuk? Exactly where?” Joe demanded.
“She is crawling through a tiny crack that only we or she could fit through. She will climb out into the main cave in a few seconds.”
“Then it’s a timing thing. As soon as the portal opens or she gets to the edge of the cavern, I’m going. Yuk, you are my signal,” Joe barked. His fury transferred itself to the battering golden fist. The spell construct hit a ghoul so hard, it tore the creature's head clean off. “Tez, you have to hold for just a second. I’ll jump, grab, and throw her to you and then jump back. I can take a few hits. The rest of you go as soon as you can. If needed, I should be able to purge Tez but I can’t do this and cleanse all of you.”
“Then it’s now!” Kendell shouted. “The portal is opening!”
“She is close to the end,” whispered the voice in his head.
“Alright! Be right back!”
Taking cues from Yuk, Joe locked his eyes on the ground below. Tezeno gave him everything the sentinel had in terms of protection. The heavy shield and whirling truncheon smashed the ghouls back, giving Joe some breathing room.
As soon as he had a fix, Joe jumped. Without Yuk’s small voice directing him, this would never have worked. The wights and mummies were not prepared for his translocation. In that second, Joe dual cast a second gauntlet. Earcellwen probably weighed less than the 125-pound limit of a single hand, but Joe needed as much force as he could get.
The amber hands lit the area in brilliant golden light, momentarily causing the dead to recoil. Joe shot the constructs into the crack and easily spotted the elf in the bright glow. Grabbing her, he yanked her small form from the hole. His woundsight showed red scraped wounds running down her sides from being dragged out of the crevasse, but he had no time to be gentle.
You have inflicted significant structural damage to Earcellwen Rhuival.
Wincing at his excessive use of force, Joe cast [Exorcise] through the digits and hurled his friend at the ledge above. She crashed into Tezeno, and the two vanished into the tunnel.
Joe had hoped for another second to target the ledge, but his window of undead hesitation ran out.
Dozens of gangly putrid ghouls piled onto him. Teeth and claws were everywhere. Outside the the range of the sentinel's defensive enhancements Joe was no longer fortified against the undead assault. Talons found gaps around the pelt and cut through both his gambeson and flesh. Joe's moderate physical resistance helped but only his hardened hands were impervious to the gnawing teeth; everywhere was getting battered and cut.
By far, the worst was the long claw that lanced through his eyelid and burst the orb below. The sickening pain was almost more unbearable than what Sougath had done to him.
Joe poured healing into himself, reknitting dozens of wounds, again and again. Yet he was trapped. With undead bodies blocking his one good eye, Joe could not jump out of the jumble of attackers to the ledge above. Just as he was about to activate the mana expensive [Lavalier of Talons], a voice spoke in his head
“Joe. They’re gone. We need you to heal as much as you can on our command,” demanded Yuk.
“What are you still doing here?”
“SHUT UP, JOE! Just do what we say. Ready. Set. HEAL!”
Joe did, and, half a second later, the sound of the explosion was so loud his eardrums burst. The scores of bodies clawing at him actually turned into shields against the blast. Ghouls and even a few mummies were torn into meaty chunks. Many of the flying bone fragments ripped into both Joe and the remaining dead.
[Bug Bomb] has critically injured you. You have lost 71% of your Hit Points.
You have resisted being incapacitated by traumatic damage.
Your skill [Stun Block] has increased to rank 14.
“now. jump now.” creaked a tiny voice in Joe’s mind.
With his one good eye Joe locked his sight on the top of the tunnel opening. As soon as he had a fix on it, he activated the medallion. Joe appeared upside-down, with his feet on the tunnel’s ceiling, before he tumbled onto the ground below.
Joe healed and ran, diving through the twisting tunnel. His body was badly broken, but he pushed every skill he could muster into his flight. [Hunter’s Pursuit] and [Spirit of the Pack] gave him speed. [Morphic Form] allowed him to squeeze through cracks. [Savage Claws] allowed him to scale up chimneys of stone. [Efferous Endurance] kept him moving while [Healing Touch] kept repairing the damage his flight was doing to his broken body.
You have restored 11.3% of your lost health. Your current health is at 23.2%. You have severe underlying structural damage preventing any further healing at this time.
The strangest thing was, behind all the pain was an inexplicably warm sense of bubbling joy. Even with his body more broken than whole and pursued by an unknown number of ghastly hunters, Joe was tingling with an expectant jubilation.
Finally, he could run no further. He had scuttled down a long passage that terminated in a dead end. There were at least a dozen ravenous predators not far behind him. He teleported two of his obsidian stones from his [Bullet Bag] into his hands and began charging a dual [Grit Razor].
This might be his last fight, but he damn well planned to take as many of the rotting bastards with him as he could.
By the light of his [Glorious Gauntlet], he saw the hunting pack closing on his location. Counting the steps down, Joe unleashed both fully charged spells the moment enough wights crossed into medium range. The shards tore through the pack of decayed flesh, dropping the entire front line.
As they fell, Joe’s euphoria burst into a kaleidoscope of sound and light that only he could witness. Wellness flowed through his body, from his head to his toes.
You have reached level 17. You do not gain an attribute point on this level.
By leveling, you have repaired much of your structural damage, and the following condition has been removed: Overloaded
Suddenly, Joe’s hearing returned. He stood up straight, facing the remaining cluster of wights. His depth perception still seemed a little wonky, so his eye was not quite fixed yet. Other than a few remaining broken ribs, he felt amazing.
He curled his taloned hands out at his sides.
“My turn!” Joe growled before completely letting the wildness run free.