Fuck the gods and whoever decided to fuck with my day today! What is this bullshit?!
Roderick cursed intensely within his mind. He gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more than to be over with this day and go home to settle his own affairs.
But no. The system itself decided to come along and bring this absolute terror of a being to show up and ruin his plans. He didn’t know how in the ever living system that the townies managed to get this massive creature on their side, but seeing how their peons were going after his soldiers while ignoring the boss made it clear.
This massive figure of light was on their side, and somehow it was rampaging against them. It continued to bash and beat the Weaver without mercy, roaring all the while. If it hadn’t been for his enhanced body, he would’ve winced at each roar like everyone of his allies.
There were only a few Journeymen around that were competent. The rest were barely able to handle a sudden thrall from the massive giant, falling to their knees and screaming for mercy.
At that moment, a townie came in and puts them down, reducing their numbers. He was really having a very bad day.
Roderick gritted his teeth harder, feeling his teeth gnash to the point of cracking. He summoned his skill, Gravitational Purgatory, to head forth to kill the Weaver while it was being beaten down. They were already doing a ton of damage before this figure came in so he hoped that doing this would be enough to be considered his own credit.
But his hopes were being dashed further and further after seeing the state of the boss. Each blow practically singed and burned the Weaver, ignoring its attacks and resistance with ease. Each time it roared and bellowed a burst of fire from its mouth, the giant just took it head on and kept pounding at it. No matter how often powerful slashes of water and spikes of earth attacked the figure, it is as though a wall stopped them in their tracks, rendering them useless as the figure just punched with as much force as a bomb. He realized that there was some barrier stopping each attack. It was vastly superior and more defined than when Roderick conjures his flaming walls to defend himself.
With his skill, he tried to deliver as many potential burns as possible to the Weaver, adding to the damage as much as he could. At the same time, he cursed his useless son for not being there at this moment, probably having the time of his life horsing around with the townies.
He growled. This was the type he hated, the kind of meatheads that focused too much on combat and not enough on logistics and common reasoning. He has too much of his mother within his blood.
But a sudden flash of energy was ready to slice his head off. He willed his flames to block the attack, stopping the sudden band up front. The band itself looked like the same golden ring as before, but instead of fire, it was covered in a layer of ephemeral sharpness never seen from a circular band, like a saw ready to cut through wood.
Roderick growled after seeing it was none other than Cloud who appeared beyond him. He stood on top of the nearby stone pillar, somehow capable of withstanding the onslaught of the giants behind him.
“It’s over, Roderick,” Cloud said, flashing a grin. “You can’t last like this. Leave now, and we may just forget this ever happened.”
“Like hell I’ll leave!” Roderick roared, caring little about showing any sort of prudence.
He had enough of these townies thinking they were better than his army. The lord himself even had the gall to call him out as though he was his equal. Him, a master stage being, equal to a damn Journeyman. Someone who refused to keep moving forward and just settled down into a small town.
“Where’s that Master pride of yours?” Cloud barked back, his impudent grin not even fading. “Then again, I suppose you can’t really tell the difference between a Master and a rushed job. Tell me… how long do you have? A year? Two? I can barely tell, but I know you don’t have much time left.”
Without warning, Roderick hurled several purple flaming spheres right at Cloud. He ducked away in time, the flames cascading all over the standing pillar and taking it out in one blow.
Before he could do much else, he turned back around and used his flames again, this time as a wall as the barbaric woman slammed into it with her sword.
However, this time it felt even stronger than before. She always had a strong blow, but this one took more power than Roderick ever expected.
He grimaced and saw that Valorie, that damn fool’s wife, changed dramatically. She no longer had her usual beauty, and instead what looked like a horrifying monster with a mouth that was extended wide across her face. She opened her mouth wider, fangs as sharp as blades flashing at him.
Just as easily, Roderick pulled his other arm up to defend against a powerful two-handed blade that had the weight of a mountain behind it. He glared hard at the overly armored man the same size, if not bigger, than Roderick himself. His stoic face continued to pester Roderick as he felt his resources dry up.
Then more interference showed up. Lightning bolts, fire blasts, and ice spikes appeared and showered him. Roderick canceled it all out, roaring as he dispersed his flames all over. He melted everything and pushed the monstrous woman and the stalwart man aside.
He breathed rampantly, noticing that his supposed comrades were somehow being bogged down by the other townies. They weren’t supposed to be that strong, even if his soldiers were filled with rushed Journeymen. They were still Experts, weren’t they?
But just as Roderick was considering going all out, at least to take out the lords, the Weaver had reached the limits of the figure’s arrogance. It suddenly held the figure’s arms with its claws, digging straight into them as the Weaver roared with as much fury it could pack. It swung its massive body, ignoring the potential mayhem it was causing as it actually swung the giant figure of mana around before tossing it up into the air.
It had such power behind the swing, and the figure flew up high as Roderick realized that the Weaver had used all of its magic power to boost the wind element from its feet, allowing it enough power to chuck the damn figure up into the air.
Hopefully that would–
Roderick instantly stopped hoping after seeing the figure just launched into the air, then halted for a moment. A giant wall made of pure turquoise appeared behind the giant figure as it landed on its feet first. It was at the apex of the large throw and managed to push itself away from the barrier it made.
It launched itself with all of its power, roaring as it made a fist that seemingly became bigger and bigger with each passing second.
Roderick’s expression twisted to shock as the figure landed on the Weaver to deliver a strike that was just too heavy to avoid so easily.
The entire biodome cracked and shattered. Another Krattuuummmnm! echoed out as the entire fortress was vaporized. The Weaver’s head busted apart, blood and viscera flying everywhere as a tsunami of dust and debris covered everywhere.
All Roderick could see was his chance failing away as he felt a notification drop in front of him, as well as to all the other beings in this area.
Gods…dammit.
…..
They were lucky as both Piker and Zacharia gathered together to defend themselves as they were the closest to the impact. On the other hand, the retinue managed to get away in time thanks to their own ways of protecting themselves with their numbers. But even with all the protections in place, the blast was too much for anyone to handle.
The air burst and the biodome cried out in pain. It wasn’t hard to imagine that there might not be a biodome left anymore. As for the Weaver, Zeke pretty much took care of it.
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It lay lifeless on the ground, its head caved in to the point where everything they have done so far didn’t matter at all. As for who got the kill for it, it was obvious.
While everyone who didn’t know what happened might think that some strange force appeared and took the boss away from them, a notification appeared in front of her that proved who the true victor was.
> Quest Completed!
>
> One of your allies, Zeke Parlow, has defeated the king that lies within the fortress. Zeke Parlow has become the new king of Elemental Prison, and as his ally, you receive the rewards.
>
> You have received the following rewards:
>
> 500 Gold Coins
>
> 4 Levels
>
> 20 Free Points
Mikella widened her eyes at the rewards alone, much less the entirety of the message. While she wasn’t at all surprised that Zeke became the new king, she was completely surprised at the rewards.
Did everyone else in her team get this much? That felt a little bit too much, and she can’t imagine suddenly being the equivalent of 50,000 dollars richer. Then again, they did almost die a hundred times over if it wasn’t Zeke unleashing some super power he barely has any control over.
She put the rewards to the side as another notification showed her recent level increase.
> Level Up! You are now Level 57. You gain 8 free points (36 FP total).
>
> You have gained +12 STR from your class.
> You have gained +12 DEX from your class.
> You have gained +12 END from your class.
The rush of power flowed through her. She felt a little off from this one–not because she hadn’t done anything to the boss at all (she loved freebies), but because the system energy filling her wasn’t made by the monster’s death, but by something more grander than the boss.
With that, the Bastion army has no reason to be here anymore. If they were lucky, the army can just fuck off to god knows where and leave them be. Now that they have the biodome under control, they have no reason to fight–
Just then another notification flashed into her vision. Mikella was finally starting to relax until she read the new prompt and nearly did a double take.
> Quest Available!
>
> Intruders have invaded Eve Glade’s biodome, and it is your duty to kick them out. Defeat the intruders before they eliminate the current king of Elemental Prison: Zeke Parlow.
>
> If Zeke Parlow is killed, the rights to the biodome will be transferred to the invading force’s leader. Take up the task to defend your king!
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”
She wanted to strangle the notification in front of her, her fingers flexing and able, but as soon as she wished it away, it did, leaving her with no target to vent her anger.
The biodome sure is a fickle bitch to suddenly want to change owners as soon as invasion kicked in. Mikella no longer felt guilty about it being trampled underfoot at this point, but now was not the time for that.
Because she just heard Roderick’s voice shouting, as though new hope rose within his chest.
“Listen up! Attack that damn giant! Take it down and we’ll take over the biodome!”
Just as she feared, Roderick and the bastion army have also got a quest, and most likely would have told them about them trying to conquer a king just as they once had. As soon as the order was done, suddenly the surviving soldiers had a rise in morale as though the monster was nothing compared to the giant that literally killed it with his punches.
But they weren’t the only ones that have been invigorated by the new development.
“Defend Zeke at all costs!” Zacharia roared, reaching out to the soldiers that were still up and about. “Kill every damn Bastion you see! No mercy!”
‘No mercy!’
Everyone of Zacharia’s retinue shouted in unison, their souls and goals aligned for this single purpose.
Even though she knew that this was so they could keep the biodome for themselves, relief soothed her now that Zeke is under their care.
As for Zeke himself, he looked distant again, as though he had lost his goal once more. This happened already when he caught Clara and kept her safe. Mikella figured that Clara is safe as long as she’s inside of Zeke, but if the other Bastion soldiers managed to kill him, won’t that also kill Clara?
She acted as soon as the thought ran through her mind. Zeke didn’t move at all even as the Bastion army was slowly approaching and surrounding him. They started their skills, trying to do something that Mikella had no idea what might happen.
But when she approached one of the soldiers, her instincts flared before dashing away from her current position. Someone landed with a thud that shattered the ground. What remained, at least.
She looked up to find none other than Zyler in his bestial form. However, unlike the last time she saw him, he was utterly marred with burns. There were patches of skin that had no fur, showing burn marks that seemed unnatural. They weren’t made by fire, at least according to Mikella’s senses.
He looked up to her, his eyes flashing red once more. But there was also a hint of exhaustion on his wolf-like face.
“Finally… I made it,” Zyler spoke raggedly. His back was hunched over, and he released short panting breaths.
Mikella had to take a double take at this man. He looked like he’d been through hell. As far as she knew, he hadn't met with the lords yet since they were going after the leader and the other soldiers. Piker was already with the retinue, and Myra was with Jackie along with everyone else. As of right now, she was alone.
She could call out to them, but she preferred to have them near Zeke for protection. As before, he just stood there, unfazed.
“You look like shit,” Mikella said, already in her fighting stance. Her sword rested with the tip facing the ground as she stood upright to face him. “What happened?”
“Your fucking boyfriend, that’s what happened,” Zyler growled, though there was a hint of a smile on his face for some reason. That made Mikella raise her brows higher.
“My what?” She said, confused. Then she looked up to Zeke, and realized what happened.
It all poured into her the moment she realized it. The entire time Zeke was out of commision while they were fighting, he must have been fighting Zyler–alone.
Even though she already knew that Zeke can be stubborn at times, she couldn’t believe that Zeke was actually fighting Zyler, no matter how obscene that might look.
“Oh don’t even try to hide it, honey,” Zyler let out a scoff, but there was pain in that voice as he coughed once. “Your scent was all over the guy. And once I mentioned the things I did to ya, oh he went all out. Toughest bastard I ever fought, mind you.”
“Yeah, he can be pretty tough.”
She can already imagine Zeke losing control and wanting to fight now that Zyler revealed how it all started. Despite how cool-headed he can be, Zeke is what’s known as the sort of guy that won’t stand harassment to either her or Clara.
Though she did feel slightly embarrassed after hearing how her ‘scent’ was all over Zeke. Granted, they spent more time with each other than anyone else, but that seemed a little too extreme.
“So now what? You wanna help daddy dearest in taking out Zeke?” Mikella called out, lowering her stance to ready for a quick strike.
“Hah!” Zyler laughed out loud this time, finally standing upright. “Like I’m gonna go after that giant fucker again! If you didn’t realize by now, this is what happened when I was there when the guy grew to be that big!”
He displayed his body again, extending his arms wide. It all made sense in her head now that she saw the burns. In other words, Zyler was right next to that giant pillar of light when the figure was created, when Zeke transformed into that giant figure.
“So no, I think I’ll pass. I actually like to live, you know?”
“But isn’t your father trying to do exactly that? Didn’t you receive the quest?”
She knew it was stupid to ask, but her curiosity took the best of her. Surely even Zyler had received the quest prompt, didn’t he?
“Oh, I did. It kinda sucks that a tiny Expert managed to take out the boss, but I sure as hell ain’t gonna complain. Anyways, I got better things to do. I already took a full taste of Zeke’s power… but I haven’t even got a single lick of yours…”
He pointed at her with a clawed finger. There was a hint of want in his eyes, different from any looks of desire that Mikella felt before. It was made purely of battlelust, wanting more fights than anything else.
She stood back, flinching at the sight. In one way, she might have to deal with this Journeymen on her own now. Even considering his state, she might not last very long.
But in another way, two problems would be solved. For once, she would distract him well enough that everyone else can defeat the Bastion army on time and protect Zeke. And as for the other…
If Zeke was able to last that long against Zyler on his own, then what would happen if Mikella pushed herself farther against this man?
She needed power, and lots of it for the future. She opened up her status menu and put all of her newly gained free points into Vitality.
She needed to survive Zyler’s hits long enough to deal decent damage, and her highest physical stats were already in their 200’s. With all the points into Vitality, it jumped straight over 110, a surge of life energy filling her body and her regeneration kicking up a notch. This time, she will not hesitate to go all out.
“You want a taste of my power?” Mikella eventually said, propping her sword tip straight at the tired, dangerous man in front of her. “Fine. I’ll show you that I’m just as tough as Zeke.”