”Grim Hearts, take heed! Presences cannot be killed, but the damage they sustain is reflected back to the user. It will be unsummoned as soon as its HP hits zero!”
We only had seconds before the fight would truly begin. Cerus and I stood a few blocks down the street from the Presence while Opix was engaged with Ciz in the distance. Opix insisted he would be fine, and I had no choice but to trust him on that. As for the two of us, we knew there was little chance of beating the Presence in a straight fight. Instead, we mutually decided that the best course of action was to lure the Presence out of town to have it brought down to 0 HP by the mobs I’d summoned.
Cerus had been the one to suggest the plan, and while I was happy that it involved the two of us fighting the monster as equal teammates, I had to admit to myself that I wanted more. Cerus said earlier that everything didn’t need to be a “glorious battle” – and maybe she was right – but I did want to have my moment someday. Cerus got Henrietta and Opix currently had Ciz, but who would I get? My options in Satyrsong weren’t exactly–
Boom!
The house Cerus and I had just been in blew up like it’d been rigged with TNT. When the smoke cleared, Ciz’s Presence stood atop the rubble standing almost as tall as the house it’d just been feeding under. Cerus smiled as she sank into a battle position, revealing a rustic spear with indecipherable runes etched into the wood. I equipped my Satyrsonian Crossbow and sank to match her, eager to carry out my part of the plan.
“Do not forget to rely on your weapon proficiency! Maintain distance, and be intentional with your shots!”
“Got it. Good luck.”
“Luck does not apply where skill is involved!”
Ciz’s Presence rumbled like an old car as it trudged forward. The ground shook as craters formed with each step. It stopped about 500 feet from us and smiled for the first time, revealing a set of blade-like teeth. When it spoke, its previously androgynous voice was now low and bassy like you’d expect a monster like it would sound.
“I’ve always preferred my food feisty. The hunt makes the meal taste even better.”
Cerus leaned closer to me. “If this fight goes bad, perhaps you can offer yourself to the Presence? I think you both would find pleasure in one another.”
“Shut the fuck up, Cerus.” I groaned. “Let’s just do what we have to do.”
***
I inhaled.
Cerus closed the distance between herself and the enemy. The Presence lowered itself, standing on its hands and feet like an overgrown monkey. It roared, opening its mouth as aura formed in the Presence’s maw.
I exhaled.
Cerus shot a weak version of her Big Ice Attack into the creature’s mouth. It recoiled, and Cerus cast Pollination on the Presence in the confusion. The Presence stood tall again, flexing its clawed hands as Cerus twirled her spear in her fingers.
I cast Boost.
Your next attack will deal double damage!
I focused on the creature’s left eye. I drew my Satyrsonian Crossbow and allowed the proficiency of the weapon to flow through me. The Presence walked up to Cerus as she charged a second Big Ice Attack as if daring her to cast it.
I waited.
Cerus exchanged words with the Presence. She gave off a domineering aura that the Presence didn’t take kindly to. It drew its right arm up for a hammering strike. Cerus squinted, the signal that her Big Ice Attack was fully charged. The Presence’s arm drew up 85 degrees. 86…87… 88… 89… 90!
I shot.
I fired the shot directly into the Presence’s eye. A debuff appeared over its head, “Partially Blinded”. Cerus dashed to her right, leaving the Presence between the two of us. The Presence thundered, sprinting for Cerus who’d been backing up toward the eastern gate.
My Strength was higher now, and Cerus had insisted that my body could do things I didn’t think it could. I swapped to my Sabertooth Splitblade for its agility and leaped to the nearest rooftop. I did it in a single bound, and my Stamina ensured I wouldn’t get tired as I ran from rooftop to rooftop for the perfect angle. As I shot, I tested the effects of my attacks with and without Boost and noted that the ones that used it pierced flesh while those without did not – unless the arrow landed directly in its eye.
The battle had gone on for three minutes now, and I’d used the lesson that Opix taught me to better improve my shot timing. Ciz’s Presence preferred overhead shots, so I made sure to shoot its exposed side just before it attacked when it was most vulnerable. When it’d focus on me, Cerus would attack at point-blank range with a Big Ice Attack. Pollination ensured she could endure any hit she took, and each time her health filled up she’d attempt Mamudoon for the instakill. After three failed attempts, though, she’d given up on it to focus on close-range spear combat and mid-range magic. Opix relayed to us over chat that Ciz would physically react to the attacks we bore into the Presence, and encouraged us to target certain areas whenever possible. Pride surged within me as I fought alongside them, the three of us working together to take down this powerful opponent.
The tide began to shift soon after Cerus managed to inflict the Bleed debuff on it by spearing it through the stomach. It’d begun losing health at a faster rate, though it was still at around 60%. In retaliation, the Presence started playing defensively and eating the environment around it. It ate whole cars, chunks of houses, and even pieces of the ground beneath it. With each bite, it’d regain just a bit more of its health.
Cerus and I couldn’t just let it do that, though. I cast Taunt on it to take its attention off of the old towncar it’d been chewing on and I shot at its eyes as soon as it turned to me. Cerus, meanwhile, shot a Big Ice Attack at the same time at its torso. Rather than dodge, the Presence sank into its monkey pose once again opened its mouth wide, and ate our attacks. My crossbow bolts provided little healing to it, but Cerus’ Big Ice Attack damn near topped it up.
I expected it to go back on the offensive, but it remained evasive; desperately eating everything it could get its hands on while I attempted to find the proper angle to debilitate it from the rooftops. Cerus, meanwhile, started to get more aggressive. Gymnastic poise was replaced by savage fury as she swapped from a spear to the conditional claymore she just earned from her Achievements. I shot Boost-ed bolts into the Presence in time with Cerus’ sword strikes, but with every good hit came a rapid heal from another devoured part of the city.
“My belly has been filled,” The Presence thundered, standing eerily still in the middle of the street. “And yet, I need more.”
Cerus was slashing it relentlessly while I rained arrows from the rooftops. Its health steadily ticked down, but my mind couldn’t get over how odd it was acting. The Presence wasn’t dodging any of our attacks, and it took me too long to understand why.
“I’m not exactly threatened by you.”
If this Presence was an extension of Ciz, then surely her Presence would share that view? There had to be a reason for that, a reason why it’d just let us attack and not guard. I instinctively equipped my Cheap Boxing Gloves and shouted for Cerus to get back.
I was too late. The Presence let out a booming, eardrum-destroying belch that leveled the entire block. The house I’d been standing on caved in on itself, bringing me crashing down back to the splitting ground. I survived thanks to my Health, though it was dangerously low in the red. I managed to recover most of it though thanks to Cerus’ Pollination and the healing potions I still had in my pack.
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Cerus: It is time to end the fight. Are you prepared?
Grim: Yeah. What’s the minimap looking like?
The last part of the plan involved using Cerus’ Big Ice Attack to make the ground slippery while I cast Taunt on it and led it out of the city. I’d wanted to start with this plan, but Cerus was correct in assuming that the stronger mobs I’d summoned early seemed to be anticipating that based on their movements beyond the city gates.
Cerus: They have moved deeper into the forest. I suspect they intended to ambush us when we left. This works in our favor.
Grim: That’s good. You have enough liquid on the ground for the plan to work, right?
Cerus: I made an effort to bleed the beast over the course of this battle. You would do well not to question my battle prowess, Grim Hearts.
Grim: Just making sure…
Cerus charged a weak Big Ice Attack, and just like it did during the Honeydew Henrietta fight, the blood on the ground froze solid. The Presence sank to its monkey stance to gain purchase, but Cerus’ relentless Claymore assault prevented it from keeping upright. It fell backward, the impact loud enough to shatter the ice beneath it.
Grim: Now!
I nodded at Cerus and we swapped places. The Satyrsonian Crossbow made it easy to avoid falling, though Cerus seemed like she was having a rough go of it. I cast Taunt on the Presence when it arose, shooting a few dummy shots at it to keep its attention. I ran through the steel archway out of the High Tier Zone, and the Presence followed close behind me.
Cerus: I believe the Presence may be weaker if the proximity between itself and Ciz is too great. This is merely a hypothesis, but you would do well to consider it as you lead it out of the High Tier Zone. Remember, your Taunt skill drains your MP relatively quickly and your Stamina is waning. Do not do anything rash, do you understand?
Grim: Thanks. I have enough MP to keep Taunt active for a minute, and as long as I’m not in a fight or using Boost I won’t need to worry about my Stamina.
I took a page out of Ciz’s book and jumped from tree branch to tree branch. It kept the Presence’s eyes on me instead of the incoming mobs, and it was surprisingly less Stamina-intensive than running. Cerus’ hypothesis was proving to be accurate; the Presence’s movements were growing more sluggish by the moment. While its health didn’t decrease, it’d started charging for that earthquake attack by taking chunks out of trees and rocks surrounding it. When it opened its mouth, though, it didn’t attack; instead, it sank to its monkey position and spoke in its androgynous tone once again. The Presence’s eyes shifted in their sockets, blood red replacing milky-yellow like dye in water.
“Do you feel it too, boy? The overwhelming weight of futility? I wonder what your dreams are. I wonder who you were before you entered the Ellalara Belt. Did you dream of changing the world? Did you dream of being a husband? A father? It doesn’t matter whether you did or not. Every single choice you have ever made has led you right here, in front of me. Your superior. Your better.”
The longer it spoke, the longer I felt something in me change. Shift. I wasn’t sure whether it was something mental like my growing ideal or physical like my body finally hitting its limit. Either way, I felt compelled to listen to the Presence; forced to take in every single word that came out of its mouth.
“To make it this far means you have a dream much larger than yourself. It would’ve been so simple to succumb to death. Yet, here you are. At my mercy. Do you believe your ally can save you from me? Do you believe you have a chance of killing me?” The Presence gave a mocking laugh. “I am not threatened by a failure. You failed to stay alive on your home planet, you failed to make a name for yourself, and you failed to do anything but annoy me in our battle. Take my advice, boy: Run. The Ellalara Belt is no kinder than whatever rock you died on. Everything you do, every fight you think you’ll win, every item you’ll ever earn, every achievement you’ll ever see. All of it is in service to the Felzian Queen, whether you realize it or not. There is no dreaming here, boy. No success. No life. If you were a failure on your home planet, you’ll either become a failure here.” It scoffed. “Or a Ranger. Take your pick, but do it outside of my presence. I must return to my master.”
The ground shook as the mobs made their way toward us. They were behind me, far enough that they didn’t appear on the minimap but close enough that I could hear them. I heard their guttural clicks, their whiny growls, their catlike screeches.
Cerus: Be cautious, Grim Hearts. There is a high amount of activity on the minimap. This is the High Tier Zone, so native animals and mobs will be powerful. I imagine they got mixed in with the summons.
I didn’t respond to the message. I’d been staring into the blood-red eyes of the Presence in front of me, weighing its words carefully. I had been a failure in life, and I had missed the opportunity to accomplish my dreams. The world was unfair, and life was cruel. This Presence understood that, and accepted its role as the unfairness in my life by acknowledging its superiority over me.
I stared into the eyes of “futility”, and I wanted it dead.
The same visceral anger I felt looking down at the Rangers flowed through me like rushing water. So what if the world was cruel? So what if it was unfair? I had the freedom to fight back against it, and I’d be wasting this second chance at life if I let “futility” keep me from fighting.
Cerus: Grim Hearts, the mobs are closing in!
I cast Essence of Aura and paired it with Boost. The Presence responded in kind, standing to its full height as it flexed its massive claws.
“I’ve been fighting against the world for eighteen years,” I spat. “What’s a fucking 4-Star to someone like me?”
I jumped off the tree, swapping to the Cheap Boxing Gloves as I landed. The Presence opened its mouth wide as it shot beams of clear aura at me, condensed versions of that earthquake attack; something I only knew because of the explosions they caused behind me.
I closed the distance and swapped to my Sabertooth Splitblade, dancing around claw strikes as I prepared my killing blow. Opix said everything had an instakill condition so long as you were strong enough to activate it. Good thing for me, all the cards aligned.
Cerus: The mobs are right behind you!
The Presence’s fatal flaw was its lacking speed. Just like Opix said, you could figure out a fighter in the first three minutes. While strong, Ciz’s Presence was slow and bad at close-quarter combat. Cerus had used that to her advantage the entire fight, and now it was my turn to do the same. I dodged an overhead strike and jumped high into the air, spinning to dodge its attempt to grab me.
The Presence tried to guard, but it was too late – I was too close to it. I cast Boost on top of my Essence of Aura and slammed my Sabertooth Splitblade into its right eye socket. The Presence flailed and roared, but I maintained my footing. Unfortunately for me, I was still a 0-Star. The Blade didn’t go deep enough to kill it immediately. Its health bar did pop up and it did lose a considerable amount of HP, but as long as it was alive I still had more to do.
It thought it was tough shit. Now look at it.
“Unfairness?! Cruelty?! Futility?! Those don’t mean shit to me! They never have!”
I gripped its fur with my left hand and slammed a Boost-ed palm into the hilt of the blade with my right. I kept casting Boost, striking the hilt with each cast. The Presence’s health went lower with every hit. Green, to yellow, to red.
“If this world wants to fuck with me so bad, then I’ll just have to fuck with it!”
I brought my right hand up to hammer the hilt, hoping to cut through the Presence’s head.
“I’m fucking done! You had eighteen fucking years to kill me, and you failed! You know what?! It’s my t–”
Cerus shot through the air like a vulture, snatching me up in a princess carry. She jumped through the branches like a ninja, wordlessly carrying me back to the High Tier Zone.
“Why did you do that?! I was about to–”
“Look.”
I turned to see just what Cerus had saved me from. The Titan mobs from earlier were all there, joined by about three of the bug mobs who were fighting over the bottom half of the Presence. The top half had been eaten whole by the 5-Star Titan mob, who’d been staring directly at me as Cerus carried me into the High Tier Zone.
“Th…thank–”
“You would think someone with the Taunt skill would know not to be Taunt-ed.”