Elle cradled her leg trying to muster up the concentration for a healing spell. Typhus left Michael with the captured bandit to help defend Armand from the newly refocused left head of the serpent. Armand rolled the corpse of Lenny off himself and stumbled around dazed. Deacon then jumped out of the remnants of the snake skull jogging over to Elle. He dug in his bag for one of the potions he bought at the market quickly handing it to Elle. Typhus went flying past them after narrowly dodging a snap from the left head. As the head reared up to come down with another bite three soldiers leaped from the downed column on top of its head. They began to bash it with their weapons while it tried to shake them off.
“Get this potion in you. You can heal the others. Someone needs to go after Victor and I’m the fastest.” Deacon said to Elle as she popped the cork and downed the potion.
“Wait, my slate tells me that’s an unholy bolt he’s firing from that dagger. I think it takes concentration since he can’t just fire it at will. That will definitely hurt you. Be careful. We will join you once this thing is dead.” Elle said getting back to her feet.
Deacon shot off toward the Ziggurat relying on his friends to handle things. There were several different supporting structures on the way to the ziggurat and the tail of the two headed abomination went a quarter of the way up the steps. As he turned a bend around a building, he saw the tail whip out at Victor sending him careening back into one of the small outbuildings. Deacon changed direction to intercept before he has a chance to leave the building. That looked like a bad hit so Deacon assumed Victor would be badly hurt. He managed to find the hole to see the interior of the building had several chests and an unconscious Victor glowing on the ground. One of the chests was busted open and there were silver coins spilled all over the floor. Deacon grabbed several handfuls of them to stuff in his bag as he made his way over to Victor. If he could get the knife away from him, maybe he could end all this madness. Victor's free arm shot up hitting Deacon in chest and shaving off 25% of his health. Deacon jumped back seeing a burn mark sizzling on his chest. He grimaced and his aura bloomed. Of course, it couldn’t be easy.
“Victor you have to stop. Are you even in there?” Deacon asked.
“The final subjugation of Gossamer has begun. The stored souls will be fed to the Hunting Preserve and our coven will be reborn. None shall stand in our way again. Vengeance is ours.” Spoke a voice that was not Victors.
“I’ve got bad news you for you. That shit ain’t happening.” Deacon said squaring up in a fighting stance.
“You will be the perfect final sacrifice. Prepare yourself to be hunted for eternity in the Preserve.” Said the possessed Victor.
Deacon took a step forward as Victor raised the dagger just when the tail of the snake came crashing through the roof separating them. A cross beam came down between Deacon and the tail, but it gave Deacon a good look at it. The rattle was wound around the bone like the spiral pattern of a screw. If Deacon didn’t have his aura up he might not have avoided it. To his right side was another chest with the lid smashed in. It had several gold bars in it. Deacon could see Victor getting up from the ground and decided to drop the whole chest into his bag. The tail then pulled out of the ceiling and Deacon didn’t see Victor anymore. He looked up and saw Victor had one hand on the tail riding it out of the building. He dove out of the Victor size hole in the wall and sprinted toward the ziggurat. He just had to get to him. Deacon also believed Victor was a victim now and whatever’s possessing him will end up just killing Victor to satisfy the ritual.
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Deacon reached the base of the ziggurat and checked his status. His health was at 60% but his soul bar was down to 40%. He shut off his aura to preserve what he had left and started up the stairs. Grabbing another potion out of his bag he brought his health back up to 80%. Next time he would buy better potions. The Snake's tail came down and Victor hopped off. The tail reared back to swipe when the bones just fell apart like a brittle cookie. The Cardinal Unit must have finished it off. Now there was nothing slowing down Victor. Deacon put some pep in his step to try to close the distance, but Victor was hovering over the steps like a cheater. Taking a chance Deacon hopped onto the smooth ramp sides of the temple hoping his feet would find purchase. There was so much grit and grime on the angled walls that Deacon started to make up the distance.
The possessed man crested the top of the ziggurat and went straight for the dais lifting his hands clasped around the dagger facing toward his own chest. The open-air temple roof had ten slabs reminiscent of Stonehenge surrounding the central prayer circle. Victor's head snapped up with a silent scream before other worldly chanting began spilling from his lips.
“Not today.” Said Deacon with his left hand around the wrist of his right palm facing Victor he fired a Nether Beam center mass. Ice started growing around his body covering his shoulders and chest and spreading out over his arms and hands. It began covering his waist and legs until it made it to the floor pinning his feet to the ground. Deacon stopped all of Victors movement as the ice began covering his head. With a sigh, Deacon released the technique noticing his soul bar was at 15%. He crossed the last twenty or so feet over to the mansicle and tried to pick him up off the floor when he noticed a white foxfire glow and felt heat coming off the ice. A pool of water started growing at Victor's feet and Deacon had just enough time to grab his wrists as the ice shattered under Victor's straining arms. The white glow around Victor's body was starting to burn his hands and he couldn’t overpower him. Maybe he could force him to drop it by forcing his fingers open but once his hands brushed the hilt of the dagger it shot out of his grasp and embedded itself in Victors chest. Victor died instantly and his body went slack.
“Fuck.” Is all Deacon said as ten individual portals opened along the top of the ziggurat. One for every slab of stone on the roof. Everyone of them had a terrible scene displaying. One had the same orange-blue light that he fired into the moss ghouls. One was billowing mist as the cold temperatures met the warm air in the cavern. There was yet another shining a deep crystal blue with something horrifying swimming by the mystical oval. These had to be the ten hells Deacon has heard so much about. Deacons vision was then obstructed by a black outlined message from his slate.
Hidden Quest-You have finished the Covens ancient ritual. The final sacrifice was credited to you since the death blow was of your doing. Now you must choose to either consign ten million stored souls from the ritual to a hell of your choosing or reclaim the city of Gossamer adding it and its resources to the current realm. If you feed the hells, you will be able to raise the old witches coven from the dead as part of the original bargain. If you raise Gossamer from history the Mulvarians will join the world stage. Choose.
“So, you finished the ritual. I knew you could do it.” Said Bael as she manifested on the mortal plane for the first time in a thousand years. She strode out of nothing, tall and beautiful with a black halo over her head undulating and dripping like tar.