Walt’s hands flew to the chain at his chest. His fingers found the hook. Just touching it sent waves of pain through his skin and into his nervous system. He grunted and managed to unhook himself. The chain fell to the ground and retracted back into the wall. He looked down at his torn clothes and at the bloody wound on his chest.
He glimpsed the hook on its chain disappearing into the cold blue light.
[Examine]
[Chains of Harrow]
Chains of Harrow. Weapon. Set: Leviathan’s Lair. Rarity: Common. The basic weapon of the Hellpriest. Hook and chain forged in the cold dimension where the Leviathan dwells.
Hook Slash: 7 Attack
Bleed: 3 Damage Per Turn, Expires after 3 Turns
Uses: 1/2
Cost: 2 Vigor Stones
Great, it had Bleed damage. Just fucking great.
He threw down the Zombie card. The digi-card exploded into motes and then there was a small eruption of earth. The concrete and stone floor of the quad cracked, bursting upwards. A hand covered in decayed flesh shot out of the ruptured earth and the zombie pulled itself out, gnawing its teeth.
The Hellpriest smirked. “A zombie. How lackluster and unoriginal.”
Walt winced because of his wound. “Sorry to disappoint.”
The zombie lurched up to the unimpressed Hellpriest and sunk its hand and dirty fingernails into her upper arm, tearing her skin. Then it opened its jaws wide and bit into her shoulder, tearing a chunk of flesh away.
The girl threw her head back and leaned into the bite, as if she was a woman enjoying the ministrations of her lover. She seemed to be savoring the pain.
At the same time the mortal tentacle knocked her head back even further with its psychic attack, Mind Shiv. As she was held in the thrall of the two lesser minions, the tentacle whipped out, striking her in the back.
She moaned in pleasure as her health decreased.
noobhunter13
Health: 88
The gong sounded and the match flew into the next turn.
Turn 3
Vigor Stones 3/3
03:00
How many to Draw?
Walt realized he was at the same health as his opponent until his minions continued their attacks, dinging her for more of her health.
Walt took more damage as well. The open wound on his chest left by the chain and hook pulsed. More blood spurted out of the laceration and a sharp pain spread through his chest. It was the Bleed effect left by the weapon. It would happen again on the next two turns as well. Nothing he could do to prevent it now.
As Beth still had Chains of Harrow equipped, she seemed to decide Walt's minions had been teased enough.
The chain and hook whipped out of the wall again, coming forth from the realm of cold blue light to strike the zombie. The hook pierced one side of its neck. The chain went taut, holding the zombie in place. It raised its hands and grabbed helplessly at the cold chain, but it couldn’t unhook itself.
The Hellpriest gestured with her fingers and the chain retracted. The hook tore through the flesh and spine of the zombie, ripping the head clean from the body. It fell to the ground in two pieces, then decayed at an exponential rate, as if it was one of those time-lapse videos showcasing a fast-forwarded decomposition. But instead of returning to the earth it turned into motes of brownish light and then scattered into the wind.
Walt saw Beth’s equip icon go blank as the Chains of Harrow had used up all its attacks. The chain disappeared completely into the hole in the wall. The cubed section of brick settled back into the gap and soon the wall was whole again.
The mortal tentacle whipped her again, drawing more blood. This time she began to back away from the minion. Walt thought he saw a flicker of anger on her face.
He smiled. So her unflinching stoicism was just a ploy, a front, even if her sadism was genuine.
He’d run the clock and let his mortal tentacle have its way with her until the turn had moved to her play. It didn’t do much damage, but over the next minute plus its small attacks would add up. That was, if she couldn’t or wouldn’t keep her distance from the minion.
If anything, maybe it would irritate her enough into making mistakes.
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Walt called forth his hand.
Replicate
Mouthy Succubus
Deadwood Witch
Boots of Nemora
Grave Grunt
He felt like he had a tough decision. Should he hold onto the Boots of Nemora or try to draw into more minions? He hadn’t seen anything of her deck yet except for her weapon. He didn’t know what to expect. But he had a feeling that she was going to play for board control.
In his experience with card games, classes that could heal extensively could do tricky things. They could keep minions that didn’t seem all that beefy on board by constantly healing them. So even though she didn’t have a minion on board now, the situation could quickly change.
He really wanted to hold the boots in his hand because he wanted to take them for a test drive. They essentially granted him the ability of flight, so what human being wouldn’t want to try that out? So it took all his willpower to resist the urge.
He would discard the Boots of Nemora to try and draw into more minions next turn. He needed to play for board control. He wasn’t even sure if the boots would allow him to dodge her chain attacks if she drew into more. The reach on those things seemed limitless.
And for now he would stick to his original plan and play the Mouthy Succubus when it was time.
He looked up and Beth was still backing away from the tentacle, keeping her distance. He tried to whip her with his body but he missed. She kept just out of reach.
“How did you know I would show up?” Walt said.
“You NPCs always show up once I start desecrating bodies,” the Hellpriest said. “I was operating on faith.”
“You believe in faith?”
“I’m a priest, aren’t I?”
“I guess. Of sorts. Do you have faith in your cards?”
“Always.”
“So, what’s the plan? Going to draw into some Legendary minion that’s going to stomp me into paste?”
Beth gave a smug smile. Before she could reply, she put a hand to her temple like she had a sudden headache. She shook her head as the tentacle hit the Hellpriest with another psychic attack and then followed up with a tentacle whip attack.
This time, she didn’t hide her anger. “You’re going to die like all my opponents do. Slowly. A death by a thousand cuts.”
She had just given him more information he could use. So, she wasn’t relying on one card to do the job. So she wasn’t going for a combo. It was as he had suspected. She was going for board control and was probably going to use a multitude of minions with mediocre attack power to prolong his suffering.
He suspected this because she expressed emotion at being hurt by such a minion. The mortal tentacle wasn’t even a medium-sized minion. It was common and small beans as far as minion power seemed to go. So Walt had essentially been using her technique against herself.
She was going to flood the board with small minions. He wondered if she had some type of card that had an area of effect healing. Something to heal multiple minions at once. Or increase their health pools while they still maintained the minimum of attack power.
She recovered from the tentacle’s attacks and was forced to dash away to create distance again. The indignity poked another hole in her façade. She didn’t hide her irritation. “Don’t you want to hurry up and play your cards?”
“I still have some time,” Walt said. “I don’t seem to have faith in my cards like you do in yours.”
“You can’t win this,” the Hellpriest said. “You were right earlier. NPC’s are just Psycho Points to real Duelists. You’re just a free win to help pad our numbers to get to the next phase. So you should stop wasting both of our time.”
“Didn’t you just say you were going to slowly kill me? A death by a thousand cuts? No, I think I’ll take all the time I’m allowed here.”
Beth scowled at him, while still having to keep her distance from his minion.
“How long does this tournament last, anyways?” Walt said.
“Not that you’ll be around for it, but a year.”
Shit. That was a long time to try and survive this. He wondered what the world would be like by the end of the year. Would there be anything left?
“A year?” Walt said. “How are all of you Psycho Slingers supposed to live here?”
“We take what we need. Any resource you can think of belongs to us now.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“You NPCs are too weak to stop us.”
“There’s never been a world that’s stopped you all?”
“NPCs never get far in the tournament. Now, your time is running out.”
Walt flung his card at the ground. The Mouthy Succubus appeared from the burst of light. “Why, hello boyo!” she said. “How splendid! You survived your first duel! Now you need my charms again, do you?”
The succubus looked around and noticed the Hellpriest. “A wee Hellpriest! They’re all degens, you know?”
The mortal tentacle wriggled with excitement at the sight of the new minion. “Finally, a partner! It turns out young master knows how to run the clock already! Come, my barbed tailed companion! Let us flog this Hellpriest together!”
The succubus lifted into the air with her violet and black wings and flew towards the Hellpriest. Her tail lashed over her head, striking Beth in the chest. The teen girl yelped as the barbed tail stabbed her.
She reacted by throwing a card into the air. It spun into a portal of cold blue light. Walt thought he could see shelves of ancient scrolls and huge tombs on the other side. A library of sorts.
Then a being fell out of the portal onto the floor, landing in a crouch. It rose, revealing a blue-robed figure with limbs that bent at all the wrong angles. There was brown leathery skin and lots of hair and wrinkles. Walt thought of the thick hide of an elephant. Except hairy. And brown instead of gray.
[Examine]
[Levitical Hellfiend]
Levitical Hellfiend. Minion. Set: Leviathan’s Lair. Rarity: Epic. Librarians of the Leviathan’s Library, tasked with curating and guarding all the tombs of forbidden knowledge.
Effect: After you cast a spell, reduce the cost of a minion card in your hand of your choice to 1 Vigor Stone.
Throw Black Tome: 3 Attack
Health: 15
Cost: 3 Vigor Stones
It pulled a huge tome out of its robe. It was the thickest book Walt ever saw. And its cover was worn leather, creased with glittering gems set on the front and back.
The Levitical Hellfiend spun and hurled the tome. It flew through the air and hit the mortal tentacle. The impact sent the tentacle flying. The tome smashed it against the wall.
The tentacle’s face disappeared between wall and tome, splattering into paste. The tome lifted and flew back to the Hellpriest’s minion, which caught the hefty book.
The remains of the mortal tentacle turned into dissipating motes of light.
The gong sounded and the next turn began.
Turn 4
Vigor Stones 4/4
03:00
How many cards to Draw?
The Hellpriest wasted no time. She healed herself, which triggered the Levitical Hellfiend's card reduction efffect. Her cards shot out of her gauntlet and swirled in front of her face in a rotating circle. Her eyes sparkled with malice.
Walt suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Beth snatched a card out of the air and slammed it into the ground.
A blazing portal formed in the ground that seemed to go straight to Hell. Hot air blasted Walt in the face and he dove out of the way as a gigantic red demon hand emerged out of the hellish gateway.