---BOSS BATTLE INITIATED---
[Valgraiva, Lord of the Damned]
LVL 50
HP: 950/950
WILL: 1000/1000
The cave shuddered as the massive form of Valgraiva rose from the darkness. His body was a twisted amalgamation of shadow and bone, dripping with a foul, necrotic energy. His eyes gleamed a sickly green, glowing like twin orbs of hellfire in the dim light of the underground chamber.
Ethan quickly activated his Mass Hide, slipping everyone into the shadows and commanding them to flank the warrior. They became a series of shadowed flashes – each one striking out with attacks that would have felled lesser creatures. Ethan’s scimitars sliced into the Undead warrior’s shoulders, Tara’s knives slashed at his armored kneecaps, Klax battered his chest and Theodore stabbed at his feet.
Finally, Fauna sent a wave of burning light slamming into his body and the party retreated back, the skill wearing off as Ethan Appraised the beleaguered monster now.
HP: 560
WILL: 700
Big damage! Ethan smirked. “Everyone! Keep up the pressure, soon as his Will drops below 400 I’ll –“
An explosion of light suddenly ripped through the air towards the party. Valgraiva, who had once been enveloped into Fauna’s killing magic, emitted a roar that tore through his tomb. The next thing Ethan knew, the magical blast was redirected right towards him.
It slammed into him as he brought up his scimitars in defense, feeling the light sear his very bones.
HP: 360/550
D-Damn…
Valraiva – the most human enemy they’d ever seen so far – lowered his shield and smirked at them with his scarred slit of a mouth.
“It – it can redirect magic!” Fauna shrieked. “That shield is a Mana Nullifier!”
“That…presents a problem,” Klax murmured.
Ethan wasn’t to be deterred.
“Faun!” he shouted to the Hopla. “Focus on giving us some light-based buffs to burn through this fucker. Stay back, and –“
Ethan felt a flash of air tear through the tomb – Valgraiva had appeared right behind the rabbitgirl and was currently aiming a downward thrust at her exposed neck…
[Wing Buffet]
Ethan’s back legs flapped up a storm just in time to send the warrior back, even as he dug his dark blade into the ground to stop himself from being repulsed entirely. Seemed like his strength score must have been strong enough to resist the attack.
“Klax,” Ethan commanded. “Protect Fauna. This guy’s fast. Tara, Theo – you know what to do!”
Tara smirked. “Kick ass? Can’t say I’m comfortable fighing beside a filthy rat.”
Theodore flashed his little tail at her before he charged at the recovering Undead soldier.
Valgraiva let out a low growl that reverberated through the cavern. His voice was like the grinding of stone, each word dripping with malice. He wanted nothing more than to hear some sarcastic response from Sys right now, but nothing was forthcoming.
No quips. No commentary. This was serious.
Valgraiva weathered the trios attacks, his shield managing to even rebuff Theodore’s rapid silver strikes. Attacks from the front would be useless – that much was clear.
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And when the silver eyes of the old General suddenly vanished again, Ethan knew what had happened before he even heard Tara’s scream.
“Fuck!”
He turned to see the deep black gash that Valgraiva had just torn into her back before he skated away from her retaliatory strikes. His speed and defense were equally impressive, and from the fact that Ethan’s Mass Hide wasn’t working again, it seemed that he had absolute command of the shadows in his lair.
When he then brought his crackling blade to his chest and slashed it through the air, he sent a dark wave of sparking energy flying across the entire tomb.
“Spread out!” Ethan growled, his voice guttural in his current form. “Don’t let him hit us all at once.”
Tara darted to the right, moving like a shadow herself, her blades flashing in the dim light. Fauna and Klax followed suit, taking positions at either side of the chamber. Theodore stayed close to Ethan, his small but powered-up form ready to assist. They had fought side by side from the beginning. Now, they'd do so as equals.
Valgraiva raised a clawed hand, summoning dark energy that crackled around him like lightning. The air grew thick with the smell of sulfur and death. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a wave of necrotic force surging toward them again.
Gotcha, Ethan smiled.
Sticky, gleaming webs shot from his limbs, creating a barrier that absorbed the brunt of the attack. The force of Valgraiva’s magic rippled through the webbing, but it held—barely. The webs fizzled, dissolving in patches, but the attack was slowed enough for the others to dodge.
“Fauna! We’re gonna need some light in here!”
The Hopla, who’s spells had been summoning nothing more than flopping fish for the last few seconds, finally managed to enhance the party’s weapons with the blinding light she’d sent towards Valgraiva before.
[Radiant Coating: Activated]
Tara used the opportunity to lunge at Valgraiva’s exposed side, her daggers glinting with the blood of the dead. She struck fast, aiming for his joints where the bone was most vulnerable.
The strike hit true. Valgraiva recoiled, a low hiss escaping him as black ichor oozed from the wound. But the Lord of the Damned wasn’t fazed. With a roar, he backhanded Tara, sending her flying into the cave wall with bone-rattling force. She crumpled to the ground, dazed but still alive.
Theodore didn’t hesitate. With a snarl, he leaped into action, his massive form crashing into Valgraiva’s flank. His claws raked across the demon’s side, leaving deep gouges in the bone and shadow-flesh. He bit down hard, his teeth sinking into the dark tendrils that wrapped around Valgraiva’s chest, tearing away chunks of his essence.
Valgraiva HP: 400
WILL: 650
Valgraiva staggered, his glowing eyes narrowing as he turned his full attention on Theodore. Hatred burned in those silver orbs.
He raised both arms, summoning a massive sphere of necrotic energy above his head, pulsing with dark power. Ethan recognized the danger immediately. If that hit Theo, it would be over.
A faint glow surrounded the sphere as Ethan tried to leech the energy away, but Valgraiva resisted, his power too great to be fully siphoned. Still, it was enough to destabilize the spell. The sphere wobbled, shrinking slightly as it lost potency.
“Tara! Klax! Now!” Ethan commanded.
The wolfman and catgirl launched their attacks simultaneously. Klax, moving with surprising speed for his size, slammed his fists into Valgraiva’s exposed knee, shattering the bone with a sickening crunch. Tara followed up with a strike from her blades, severing one of Valgraiva’s armored feet in a swift, clean motion.
The Lord of the Damned roared, stumbling backward as his form flickered and wavered. Dark energy seeped from his wounds, spilling onto the ground like a flood of black oil. The air grew heavy with the stench of decay as Valgraiva’s form began to lose cohesion.
HP: 330
WILL: 575
“We’ve got him!” Tara shouted, her voice filled with hope. “Keep the pressure on!”
But Ethan wasn’t convinced. Valgraiva was too powerful to fall so easily. As the Lord of the Damned staggered, his body collapsing into a pool of shadow, Ethan felt it—a deep, primal shift in the air. This wasn’t over.
[VALGRAIVA, LORD OF THE DAMNED: PHASE 2]
The silver eyes of the warrior gleamed with a vibrant, malignant red, and the darkness of the tomb suddenly became all-consuming. Where once there had been a tomb filled with sarcophagi and untended graves, now there was nothing but an all-consuming void.
The shadows on the ground began to twist and writhe, taking shape. Ethan’s many eyes widened as forms emerged from the darkness—beasts made of pure shadow, their eyes glowing red with malevolent hunger. Each one carried a halberd or broadsword, picking up their equipment from the depths of the shadow realm around them. They howled as they surrounded the party, their numbers growing with every passing second.
[Swordsmen of the Damned Legion] x35
[HP: 150/150]
WILL: N/A
Ethan tensed up as the party felt themselves consumed by the horde.
“Now the real fight begins…”
The shadow beasts surged forward.
Ethan leaped into action, slashing through the first wave with his Petrification Coating, turning the closest creatures into stone as his scimitar-claws cut through them like butter. But for every beast he felled, two more took its place. They were endless.
Tara and Fauna fought valiantly, slicing through the beasts as best they could, but the swarm overwhelmed them. Within moments, both were caught, dragged to the ground by the sheer weight of numbers. Klax tried to hold his ground, but even the mighty wolfman was pulled down, disappearing beneath a sea of gnashing teeth and claws.
Ethan’s heart raced. “Tara! Fauna! Klax!”
But their cries were drowned out by the howling of the shadow beasts.
Only Ethan and Theodore remained standing, pressed together as the horde closed in. The beasts circled them, snarling, their eyes glowing with hunger.
And above them all loomed the smiling form of Valgraiva, his armored body towering, seemingly untouchable.
“Just like when we first met, huh?” Ethan muttered, his voice strained as he prepared for the final stand.
Theodore bared his teeth, his fur bristling.
Ethan flexed his spidery limbs beside him, preparing to unleash everything he had left.
“Let’s show them what we’re made of, old friend.”