Rel stared at the Raid Boss in horror.
“Crystal Merciful,” Kur whispered. “Is that one of those flying things?”
Wings stretched behind the monster's back, maybe about 30-feet long on either side. The spikes, now revealed to be the legs of the thing, twitched and moved.
A screech filled the air, as the flying thing, with its two cylinders, dropped from the monster’s back.
It crashed with a loud thud on top of the vanguard, crushing countless Climbers under its weight.
“Don’t let it fly!” Juf shouted. “Right and left bridges, shoot those spiders! Shoot the spiders! The Raid Boss is under 25%!”
It was utter chaos.
Projectiles flew across from both sides, exploding against the giant spiders.
From the sides of the bridge, spiders continued to climb up with pause.
The side Climbers denied them passage, but there was no obstacle preventing the spiders from climbing up at the front or the back of the bridge, where both vanguard and rearguard fought a desperate battle to keep the middle parties safe and focused on the Raid Boss.
“I’m starting to run low!” Cor shouted.
She and Cen aimed their staffs up at the air, shooting their [Aura Projectile]s in angled trajectories, aiming at the spiders and their brilliant blue tubes.
“Cen?” Kur asked.
“Down to 30%!” Cen replied, letting go a flurry of small projectiles across the chasm.
“Just focus on destroying those things for now,” Row said. “If they shoot, it will probably be the end of us.”
Rel gripped her bow in frustration. From where she stood, she could neither reach the big spiders nor the thing emerging from the Raid Boss’s back. Unless…
“Kur, please!” she asked him again.
“No!” Kur said.
“It could make a difference!”
“I know, but I’m not risking it. You can barely stand as it is! Leave your HP alone!”
Rel exhaled in frustration. She knew he was right. Of course she did. But she felt so useless.
Even without the Yearning driving her on, she wanted to be a part of that fight. She wanted to help!
A sudden loud buzzing drew their attention.
“Is it moving?” Kur asked.
The giant flying thing that had fallen off the Raid Boss’s back was slowly rising in the air. Arrows, [Aura Projectile]s, and many other ranged attacks chased it, as it rose from the rear of the vanguard. Everything bounced harmlessly off the machine’s hardened carapace.
“My Crystal, what is that thing going to do?” Lim shouted.
Barely a second later, they had their response.
The thing opened a hideous, mandible filled maw, and a cloud of dark green was exhaled over the vanguard.
The screams were immediate. High pitched and desperate.
“Is that poison?” Row asked, her eyes wide with fear.
The flying monster angled its body and sped forward, leaving the middle bridge. It flew above the chasm and the nine remaining spiders and headed for the left bridge.
“Where is it going?” Cor asked.
“It’s going to attack the left bridge!” Kur shouted.
The monster turned, positioning itself right above the left bridge, and shot forward, covering the entire bridge in dark green.
“My Crystal… What the fuck?” Row whispered. “What… The… Fuck…”
This is beyond unfair… Rel thought. This was hatred. This was wanting them all dead. Why Crystal? Why?
She knew what she was. But all these people? What sin was worth this?
A massive boom made her look behind her. The Raid Boss was straightening itself again. It was not out of the fight yet.
“Kill the Raid Boss!” Juf shouted. “It’s the only way we’re getting out of here! Vanguard and rearguard ranged, focus on the Raid Boss! Ranged, anybody, bring down that flying monster! Everyone else, fight with everything you got! Don’t let our sacrifices be in vain!”
Rel turned slowly, searching the air for the flying enemy.
It had completed its run over the left bridge, and it was slowly coming about, heading back towards the middle bridge. Would it attack them next? Would it fly over to the right side?
She had no way of knowing.
She bit her lip, considering the thousands surrounding her, and the thousands now suffering within that cloud of green on the left bridge.
A good deed…
If this was not one, then she didn’t know what was.
All these people were about to die.
Her party, the people she had betrayed, and who had given her a second chance, were about to die.
Nar, who had stayed by her side, doing everything in his power to keep her sane and alive, even going so far as risking his life for her, he too would die. Without seeing the light and the colors he so dreamed of. Without becoming a Named Few, and without saving his dad, who had given everything for him.
The arrow was notched before she even realized it.
I won’t let him die, nor this party, nor all these people. Not when I can do something about it!
It was laughable, really. She who had betrayed and delivered countless Climbers into the hands of cannibals, was now attempting to save people instead?
However, she did not laugh about it.
Instead, a silent tear ran down her face.
Yes, that was exactly what she was trying to do. She didn’t know if she would ever find forgiveness for what she had done. She didn’t even know if she would ever forgive herself. She had done horrible, despicable, indescribable things, and although she wanted to hide behind her Yearning, she knew that she was not without fault. Her hands were not clean, and perhaps, they would never be again.
If only she had been stronger back then. If only she had been braver, she could have at least ended her own life, thus ending her betrayal. But she hadn’t been strong then.
She inhaled, slowly.
She would be strong now. Not for forgiveness, or atonement, but for Nar, the party, and all these Climbers, who had suffered more than enough.
In her mind, as she had expected, the skill appeared available to her.
“Rel…” Kur said, his voice cracking. “You don’t have to.”
“Look what’s happening to us,” she said, her voice both firm and soft. “I don’t think It wants us to get out.”
“It could kill you. Don’t do it. Please.”
“It’s not your decision to make.”
“That’s why I’m begging you,” Kur whispered, his tone defeated.
Rel gave him a sad smile. “I’m a monster Kur. Let me at least do something good with my life, before the end.”
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A tear ran down his face, but he did not say anything more, or try to stop her.
Rel looked up, and tracked the monster with her eyes.
She lifted her bow, and aimed her arrow straight at its head. Maybe there, she would find a weak spot where her red arrow could pierce through.
“It’s coming this way,” Row said, her tone also subdued. Kur must have explained her class, new skill and its cost.
And just as Row said, the thing had angled itself to fly right through the middle of their bridge. If that cloud dropped over them, there was no telling of the damage it would cause. Perhaps, it would be enough to end them all.
“Kur?” she asked, her voice wavering.
“Yes?”
“If you can, can you bring me outside? Even I…”
“Rel…”
“Please?”
Kur nodded. “Yes. I will. I promise you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, and tears fell down her eyes.
At least, they were no longer from shame or guilt. In that short span of time, she had fallen for Kur’s party.
Oh, how cruel You are. I wish I could’ve gone on with them, and seen the whole of the Nexus. Together.
The monster screeched, and zipped forward on its powerful wings, ready to deliver its deadly payload.
But Rel was there, and her arrow shone a red so bright that Climbers around them shouted and screamed in fear and surprise. She was not going to let that tragedy go on for any longer.
[Arrow of Redemption].
The pain was immediate.
She bit her lip harder, to keep from screaming and screwing her aim.
Hot wetness dripped out of her nose, eyes and ears. She tasted it in her mouth. She felt it in her heart, her lungs, her stomach.
Her legs shook, but she held.
Her arms quivered, but she held.
Red aura exploded around her arrow. Dark and sorrowful and vengeful.
She saw faces in it. She saw tears. She saw the things she had enabled and which she would never forget.
The things I did.
But now, she was here. On this bridge. And she would do a good thing, even if it was the last thing she ever did.
The last of the demanded HP was drained from her.
Her aura cried.
It was an eerie, almost howling sort of sound. The despair and weeping of one’s very soul.
The flying monster approached the start of the bridge, opening its mouth to spew its poison.
“Not with me here,” Rel whispered, letting out a stream of red from her mouth.
And then, she released the arrow and everything went red.
*********
“Nar, look!”
Nar pried his eyes from the incoming flying monster, and followed Jul’s pointing dagger.
A familiar red light was getting brighter and brighter just a few feet away.
Rel?
Who else could it be?
“No!” he shouted.
The red arrow exploded towards the flying enemy.
A split second later, a red, furious explosion engulfed the head of the machine.
Nar could have sworn he heard the sound of sadness, amongst that raging, dark red, fire like aura.
The monster’s angle was thrown off, and its left wing seized. Streaming red aura, the thing flew towards them, but its path angled off to the right.
From the brief glimpse he had, from boosting his [Sight] at the last moment, Nar thought he caught sight of the flyer’s carapace melting. Slowly being eaten away by the red aura.
The red projectile that was now the flying monster, streaked the air above them, and disappeared beyond the Raid Boss.
No poison came from it, and seconds later, a loud crash echoed through all the bridges, and a cloud of fire and dark green rose into the air, somewhere between theirs and the right-side bridge.
“IT’S DOWN!” Juf celebrated, causing another cheer.
“She did it!” Jul shouted.
Yes, but at what cost? Nar thought, feeling his stomach turning in on itself.
“Come on!” Nar said. “Let’s get to them!”
“Bring down that Raid Boss! It’s down to 15%! Come on people! The end is here! We’re about to get out! THIS IS THE END!”
Is it? Nar wondered.
Nar eyed the still bright blue spiders across the chasm.
Why aren’t they firing? We’re about to win! Surely, they must be ready to fire by now!
“Jul, keep an eye on those spiders to the side!” he shouted.
Something’s not right. Did they decide to let us win? Did we pay enough? Are there enough dead? But then, why are those things still aiming at us?
“10%!”
More cheers.
“Where are they?” he muttered.
“Right ahead!” Jul said.
Nar risked a glance at the Raid Boss.
Its other arm was dropped. Limp, it pointed at the floor. The thing looked almost pitiful. No more electricity blasted from its back, and its face was covered in cracks. Liquid blue leaked from those cracks, and only a few of its red eyes survived.
Smoke rose from the Raid Boss’s many wounds, and more blue poured down its body.
Is that aether?
Nar pushed past a muscled morsvar and almost toppled onto Rel and Kur.
“Nar! Jul!” he shouted. “You’re safe!”
“We held a point!” Jul announced, proudly.
“You did?” Kur asked, his face confused. “Oh! You did!”
Nar kneeled next to Rel.
Her breath was painful to listen to.
“I’m sorry,” Kur said. “I didn’t stop her.”
Not that he couldn’t stop her. But that he hadn’t.
Nar passed a hand over her bloody check. Her eyes were tightly closed, pressing hard against a pain he couldn’t even imagine.
“It was not your choice,” Nar said. “It was hers.”
“5%!”
“It’s almost over!” Row shouted above the cheering. “We need to get ready!”
“I’ll carry her,” Kur said. “It’s not over yet.”
Nar shook his head. However, inside, he wasn’t so sure.
Her HP was depleting, slowly but surely. Perhaps this was the end for her.
“Once we’re out, I’ll use my boon!” Kur said, standing up. “Then we’ll go and find whatever it is that she needs!
Nar however, did not reply. He could only stare at the dying archer.
“Come on, Nar!” Kur shouted, shaking him. “Help me! Put her on my back! This isn’t over yet!”
Mute, Nar gently lifted Rel onto Kur’s broad shoulders. Jul grabbed the clothes scattered on the floor, and secured her position again.
“Tuk, can I leave Viy to you?” Kur asked.
“Of course!”
Only then did Nar noticed booth Viy and Raf, passed out on the floor.
“What happened?” he asked, his tone flat and dead.
“Those exploding orbs knocked them out,” Kur muttered. “Luckily, that’s all they did.”
“Jaz! Lim! You grab onto Raf!” Row shouted.
“On it!” Jaz replied.
The two of them bent over the burly human, and hoisted Raf from under his shoulders.
“Come on, big man,” Jaz said. “We’re getting you out of here.”
Raf mumbled something, his head lolling against his chest. But he did not wake.
“Gad!” Kur shouted. “Get back here! And bring them with you!”
“3%!”
Nar gripped his sword, pushing some more aura into it.
In the end, he had managed to spend almost nothing of what he had. A whopping 1157 points of aura were still his to wreck as much devastation as he wanted to. But what was the point? It was over. It was all over.
Come on, Nar. There’s still hope. And your party still needs you.
Swallowing with difficulty the pain that threatened to crush him, Nar took a deep breath.
“I’ll go grab them,” he said.
Kur nodded at him.
“Bring my people too, Nar. Please!” Row begged him.
“I will.”
He dashed off through the pressing bodies. He burst out of the frontlines and slashed his way in front of it. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, and he clenched his jaw in rage and powerlessness.
“Nar!” Gad shouted.
“Where are the others?” he asked her, from within his personal whirlwind of aura.
“Mul is further right. I think Tun and Teb are with him!”
“I’ll grab them! You go back to Kur!”
“I got it!” she shouted, and she allowed the crowd to move around her, taking her place.
Nar continued down the line, cutting and slashing as he went.
Everywhere he looked, he began to see signs of the line’s imminent collapse. Everyone was going to make a run for it.
“2%!”
“Mul!” he shouted. “MUL!”
Nobody else cheered now. The gate rush was about to begin.
“Mul!”
Where in the pile is that idiot?
“Nar? Is that you?” a voice shouted.
“Here!” he heard another voice shouting.
He made his way through enemies and Climbers alike, towards the source of the voice.
He found Teb and Tun, and an unconscious Mul in Tun’s arms.
“Is he okay?”
“He’s fine!” Tun said. “Just got a sentry’s sized leg to the face!”
Well, he’s hard headed enough to survive that…
“Come on!” Nar said. “Let’s get back to the others! Follow me!”
“I’ll help you!” Teb shouted.
Together, the two of them cleared a path for Tun, and soon enough they were all together again.
“Mul!” Cen shouted.
“He’ll be okay!” Tun said.
“I’ll take him!” Gad said and Tun passed the lengos over into her arms. “Let me take you as well, Cen. This is going to be bad.”
“Okay!”
“1%!”
The two parties formed, side by side, separated once more.
They were ready to sprint for it.
Kur carried Rel on his back. Tuk carried Viy in the same way. Gad carried Mul under her arm and Cen up on her shoulder. She had stored her weapons away, and would leave their protection to Cen. That left Nar and Jul to protect them.
“We’ll cover for them,” Nar said.
Jul nodded, her breath ragged.
“It will be okay,” Nar told her, squeezing her shoulder to try and comfort her, even as his own mind spiraled.
“I know. We’ll make it!”
Nar looked towards the big Raid Boss. It was barely moving now, and it was so bent over that it looked as though it might topple at any second.
No red eyes survived on its face now. That blue leaking mess was about to be destroyed for good. No more tricks would save it.
Wait… Blue?
He spun in place.
In the distance, the spiders’ tubes were shining even stronger. Two more had been turned into wreckage, but seven still lasted. Each and every one of them ready and aiming at the middle bridge, but at different angles.
“Kur! The spiders!” Nar cried in horror.
Color drained from his party leader's face. “They wouldn’t…”
A series of aura projectiles exploded against the Raid Boss, at last ending its part in the story of the Climber’s suffering.
“0%! It’s over! IT’S OVER!”
Loud clunks and clangs sounded, and the bridge shook once more.
Nar looked forward.
A line of the most brilliant white he had ever seen was widening in the middle of the gate.
It was opening.
“Run! Get out! Everyone! Run for your lives! And may the Crystal finally have some mercy on you!” Juf shouted. It was clearly her final words for them.
Unfortunately, the opening of the gates also marked the final moments for a lot of them.
Nar felt nothing from his [Instinct], but he still turned around, already knowing what he was about to see.
How could You demand my loyalty and faith after this? Nar asked.
The spiders launched their projectiles with booming shudders, one after the other.
How can You demand my love, when this is what You give me at every turn?
The projectiles flew high, much higher than needed, and for a moment, Nar dared to hope that they had missed.
What a fool he was.
A fool to the end, he had been.
The only magic they were deserving of, was that bright blue, coming to end them in their moment of victory.
One by one, the projectiles exploded into hundreds of much smaller dots of magic. Magic that dropped onto the thousands of fleeing Climbers.
Crystal. I hate You.
Explosions shook the bridge, drowning out the screams and the tears and the begging.
“Come on! Let’s go!” Kur shouted, above the chaos.
“Go! Go! Go!” Row urged them.
The crowd surged forward as one and Nar only had enough presence of mind to grab onto Jul’s hand.
It was good he did it when he did. The panicked Climbers pushed everyone apart.
“Kur!” Nar shouted.
He looked around him, frantic. He couldn’t see any of them.
“Keep going!” Kur shouted, from somewhere not too far. “Don’t stop!”
“What do we do?” Jul asked him.
Nar looked ahead of them, to the mighty gate slowly opening.
The end.
The reward.
The pardon and freedom.
Magic.
The whole wide Nexus waited for him.
He wanted to puke.
However, his dad also waited for his son to return, down there, in that miserable hole.
“We keep going,” Nar said. He didn’t even recognize his own voice.