The creature that emerged out of the flaming portal was around twelve-feet tall and had skin the color of dried blood. It was a muscular humanoid with two arms and two legs, but the similarities to other humanoid forms stopped there. It had two mouths. One on the bottom of its eyeless face, and the other on the center of its chest.
Corrugated ridges of flesh framed its head and shoulders. It looked like it had gone through some machine that stretched and warped its skin and features. Just looking at it triggered Walt’s fight or flight response, flooding his system with adrenaline.
Its arrival was heralded by the sound of discordant trumpets and mandolins. The sky within the battleboard barrier turned blood red and then the thing opened its mouths and roared.
Its entire physiognomy was surrounded in a fiery red imbue. It appeared to be a shield or force-field of some kind. Within the flames inside the imbue, Walt thought he could see people burning and screaming.
The Mouthy Succubus looked at the minion she had to face. Its shadow fell over her and Walt.
She didn’t bother to hide the truth of the situation. “Yep. That’s gonna be a problem.”
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[Examine]
[Cenobite Chimera]
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Cenobite Chimera. Minion. Set: Leviathan’s Lair. Rarity: Legendary. A composite demon forged in the Leviathan’s Lair, sewn together by the priest-surgeons of the Order of the Slash.
Lifedrain: Transfers Damage dealt into Health Points
Hellfire Shield: Absorbs 2 Attacks
Scour: 10 Attack, Cooldown: 10 seconds
Health Points: 18
Cost: 6 Vigor Stones
“How the fuck…” Walt said, but then realized how the Hellpriest was able to play a 6 Vigor Stone card on Turn 4.
There was a blinking adjustment next to the cost. The normal cost of 6 Vigor Stones had been reduced to 1 Vigor Stone. The glow of this blinking message matched the glow of his opponent’s other minion that was on the board.
It corresponded to the creature that killed Walt's Mortal Tentacle by hurling a tome of forbidden knowledge at it.
The effect from the Levitical Hellfiend had reduced the cost of this Legendary card.
Walt backed away from the behemoth that was the Cenobite Chimera purely on instinct. Part of him wished he had held onto the Boots of Nemora. He could be dead in under a minute and a half if he got hit by every one of its attacks off cool down.
His succubus put herself between the Cenobite Chimera and Walt. “I don’t think I’m long for this world, boyo. But it doesn’t mean I’m not going down without a tussle.”
To make matters worse, Beth still had 2 Vigor Stones left she could use. But it looked like she was going to run down the clock with the chimera on board before she finished making her moves.
Walt turned and ran. He needed to keep away from the Legendary minion and mitigate as much incoming damage as possible. He just didn’t know how he was going to do that.
The Cenobite Chimera and the Mouthy Succubus collided. It raked its massive fingers across her face and torso, opening up her skin. The succubus screamed, blood and vapor poured out of the wounds, splattering the concrete and flecking the Hellpriest.
Somehow, the succubus was still standing. She clawed back at the chimera, her talons meeting the fiery imbue surrounding it.
It was the monster’s Hellfire Shield. The flames within flared as it absorbed the hit.
Walt vaulted over a ledge and headed for the building on the opposite side of the quad. He could hear Beth’s voice sound after him, taunting him, “Yes. Run. Prolong the inevitable.”
Walt drew his hand and the cards appeared in front of him as he ran.
Replicate
Deadwood Witch
Eldritch Death Summoner
Desecrate X
7-Fingered Ghoul
The Levitical Hellfiend hurled a black tome at the Mouthy Succubus. It hit her in the back as she continued to battle the chimera. It dipped her health dangerously low, but she was still alive. She ignored the tome and focused on her task at hand.
She clawed at the Cenobite Chimera with her hand. The Fiery Hellfire shield flared, absorbing the hit and then it disintegrated. Its uses were expired.
The succubus used the opportunity to use her stronger attack now. Her barbed tail lashed out, hitting the chimera right in the mouth on its chest. The barbed end of the tail shattered the teeth and tore the lips.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The chimera roared now, taking damage and feeling pain.
But now its own attack was off cooldown. It retaliated and the succubus knew she wouldn’t survive this attack. She looked back at the building Walt had disappeared into.
“I’ll see you next time, boyo,” the succubus said. “If you survive, that is. And I hope you do! You’re a handsome one!”
The chimera’s giant nails ripped her in three parts. Her head came off her neck, and her torso separated from her legs. Her separate parts fell to the ground and then dissolved in a pool of glowing blood. The blood turned into motes of light and returned back to its card.
The Hellpriest’s minion watched the trail of light motes flow into the building Walt had fled into.
Walt was somewhat relieved to see he had drawn into a card that would maximize his resources. It wouldn’t save him from the Cenobite Chimera immediately, but it had the potential to help him defeat it.
Eldritch Death Summoner. Minion. Set: Darkened Soul Arts. Rarity: Rare. A dark magical apprentice trained in the Eldritch arts, driven by an obsession with life after death.
Death Cry: Summon a random minion from your hand onto the battle board.
Eldritch Bolt: 8 Attack, Cooldown: 5 seconds
Health: 15
Cost: 4 Vigor Stones
As soon as the Hellpriest had finished her plays, he would throw the card down.
“How quickly the tables have turned,” Beth said. She strode towards the building.
The chimera lowered its head and entered the building, its bulk tearing apart the entire door frame as it pushed its way through.
Walt pushed through a door into a flight of stairs. He ran up two floors as the Cenobite Chimera and the Levitical Hellfiend pursued him. The hellfiend tracked him from outside and hurled its black tome through one of the third floor windows.
Glass shattered and Walt slid to the floor of the classroom as the black tome passed over his head, hit the adjacent wall and then flew back towards the minion.
“C’mon, c’mon,” Walt said, checking the turn timer on his interface. The Hellpriest still had close to thirty seconds remaining to use up the rest of her Vigor Stones.
He peaked outside and saw her put two fingers to the Slaynami Chronico device hovering near her head. Three parts split off it and flew into the air.
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[Examine]
[Slaynami Chronico Mini-Cam Drones]
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Slaynami Chronico Mini-Cam Drones. The three extra drone cams that come with each Slaynami Corporation Chronico Streaming Device to get those extra angles on your duels! Get total coverage of important moments in the Battleboard Zone by deploying Mini-Cam Drones!
Walt saw one of the cams tracking the third-floor windows. The other two flew inside the building, one eventually entering the room he was in. It hovered in the air, recording him.
“Fuck off,” Walt said.
At that moment, there was a large crash.
Walt poked his head out of the room and saw the Cenobite Chimera emerging out of the stairwell and destroying another door frame. It hunched its body and brute-forced its way down the hall.
He cursed and ran out of the room and headed away from it. It increased in speed behind him and the walls on either side of its shoulders accordioned as it struck Walt across the back, sending him sprawling.
Walt felt a razor hot pain scrape across his back. It was such an intense pain he nearly saw red. He turned, groaning and looked up at the Cenobite Chimera staring down at him. Its mouths were smiling at him. Well, the one on its face was. The mutilated mouth on its chest looked more like the parody of a smile.
He knew he had ten seconds until its cooldown wore off. He checked the turn timer.
That’s when Beth made her play. She dropped her card to the ground. It transformed into an obsidian cistern, a sinister red glow coming from its center. It looked like part shrine, part well.
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[Examine]
[Hellwell]
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Hellwell. Object. Set: Leviathan’s Lair. Rarity: Common. At the start of the turn, restores 3 Health to a friendly minion or hero of Leviathan’s Lair.
Health: 5
Cost: 2 Vigor Stones
Now, it was Walt’s turn. He flung the Eldritch Death Summoner card at the chimera. With a brilliant blaze of light, the card transformed into the billowing dark robes of the apprentice summoner from the Eldritch Void.
The robes were the color of the night and it was hard to discern the figure inside save for the pair of violet eyes glowing within the cloaked hood. It helped Walt to his feet, grabbing his arm and putting it around its shoulder.
“There, there, master,” it said. Its voice was elegant and bespoke of someone who spent lots of time by lamplight reading and studying forbidden tomes. “I will help us deal with this problem of the Cenobite. Interesting amalgamation of demons from an even more interesting extra-dimension.”
The dark magic-user raised one of its pale hands. The fingernails were purple and tapered to a point.
A charge of violet light crackled around the hand and then a bolt of black energy shot forth, blasting the chimera in the face. It was knocked backwards, clutching its face. It let out a tortured moan.
The gong sounded.
Turn 5
03:00
Vigor Stones 5/5
How many Cards to Draw?
The Cenobite Chimera scoured the Eldritch Death Summoner with its clawed fingers. The dark apprentice tanked the hit for Walt. Inky darkness floated into the air, torn from the summoner’s robes. He groaned but then quickly recovered.
Walt scrambled away from the two minions battling. Outside, the Hellwell healed the Hellpriest. Red vapor steamed out of the obsidian cistern and blew onto her, restoring her health points.
Walt’s summoner shot another Eldritch Bolt at the chimera, this time melting the flesh of its second mouth.
“That will force it to use its Lifedrain ability,” Walt’s minion said. “But worry not, master. In my death, the veil to the realm of the beyond will open and you’ll find yourself with a new minion in my place who I shall call forth.”
Walt held onto two cards and drew three new ones. He needed to draw into minions, preferably powerful ones. When the summoner perished, its Death Cry effect would summon one of the minions from his hand onto the battleboard.
The new cards flew out of his card gauntlet and hovered in front of him.
Replicate
7-Fingered Ghoul
Flesh Golem
The Blood Queen
Abyssal Blast
Walt’s heart soared as he saw Legendary card in his hand. The Flesh Golem could turn the state of the board in his favor. But the other minions being pulled onto the board wouldn’t be bad either. He just needed something to deal with the Cenobite so he could have a little breathing room.
He would hold off his play until the summoner perished. It would only be a few seconds.
The Cenobite Chimera loomed over the summoner and raised its clawed hand. Blood dripped from its mouths.
Walt’s lone minion on the board turned to look at him. The glowing violet eyes within the darkness of the cloak glittering. “Fear not, master. We’ll be seeing each other again. Whether you win or not. For I spend my days gazing into death.”
The chimera raked the summoner and the dark robes collapsed.