Chapter Twenty-Nine
[You have defeated a Fire Kraken-Level 82. For defeating a foe above your level, you have advanced to level 79.]
Ambrose threw the eight points he earned into wisdom; as he did, the vision in his one eye seemed to sharpen, and he could actually see the smoke rise from the lever before him, tiny, almost indiscernible wisps that curled upward.
Not wanting to burn the flesh from his hands, Ambrose kept his shield up as he pulled at the lever. The island rumbled, and the lava quivered as the whole island rose upward like a gleaming, obsidian elevator. Ambrose looked up and noticed that the jagged black stone of the ceiling above vanished as the rising island neared it.
The island rose through the black opening and into a frigid cavern of blue, light purple, and shining green ice. The platform burst into steam as it met the cold air that flowed throughout the cavern. The steam faded as the platform's black stone froze over. Noelle tightened around Ambrose, rippling as if she were shivering.
He kept his shield active to repel the cold. His constitution was probably enough, but he wasn’t sure, and if he were wrong, he would get instant frostbite in this cold. He scanned the area and noticed nothing but an expanse of frozen stone and ice. He stepped off the island, and his plated boots crunched on the frozen floor.
As he did, a voice echoed throughout the cavern, coming from seemingly nowhere upon the frigid air.
“You have something in common with Arthur. You are both failed fathers. It is a father's charge to protect their children. My father scorned me and saw me as nothing more than trash. When I came to claim my birthright, he sought to bring me low. Cursing me to lose my power, to wither into a shriveled husk, alive and yet not. He tried to inflict this upon his own son.”
A wall of ice shattered into dagger-like shards that exploded outward in a shower of deadly icicles that failed to pierce his shield, melting away to water as the black-red fire of his shield blazed as a thin layer around him.
Stepping through the hole was a massive, blue-furred form. Dark purple and sanguine tusks curled outward from the form’s boar-like head. Puss-colored eyes shot through with pulsing red veins glared at him with unyielding hate. The creature was huge, muscle rippling under its fur. The cold didn’t appear to bother it at all.
Noelle shivered again, rippling around him, not from the cold, but with fear. Ambrose replied with a mental probe of reassurance. Ambrose used [Insight] on the beast.
[Mordred’s Avatar-Cursed Yeti Level 90] Yeti populate cold planets or frozen areas. This yeti is cursed and under Mordred’s influence.]
Ambrose took out his axe, and the yeti’s eyes flicked toward it, flashing with blazing hate.
“I think,” Ambrose said slowly, “Arthur didn’t want you because you talk too much.”
Mordred’s second Avatar roared with rage and hate as it ripped a chunk of ice from the wall as easily as if it had been foam, tearing sounds echoing throughout the cavern as it chucked the huge chunk at Ambrose like a major league fastball.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
The infernal paladin was ready for it, cutting the ice in half with a slash of his infernal-infused axe. Steam exploded as the split chunk of ice fell to the ground. The yeti was already bounding toward him, the cavern shaking with every step of its powerful legs.
Ambrose activated [Infernal Sanctuary], but the ghostly chains writhing with black fire did little to the yeti. The yeti made a jerking motion, and a wave of white mist repelled the chains. Ambrose rolled to the side as the cursed avatar leaped forward and delivered a crushing stomp at where he had been.
Ambrose had not accounted for the wave of ice that blasted outward like a detonating grenade. Luckily, he had kept his [Shield of Conviction] active, and the abyssal flames flashed, and the ice melted before it could do him any real harm. Ambrose threw his axe after using [Infernal Smite] at the ice monster's boar-like head as he came up out of his roll.
The yeti roared at the axe, and a shield of shimmering light green, purple, and frost blue ice formed around it. The axe slammed against it, red-black flames crashing around it like a tidal wave.
Ambrose used [Recall], and the axe returned to his hand.
Firming his mouth into a line, Ambrose began to run forward, Noelle fluttering behind him like a white and black wave. The yeti roared, and white mist and ice started to coalesce in his hand, shaping itself into a massive axe of his own. The shimmering frost axe bled white mist, and it was massive as the yeti brought it around in an overhead swing that would have cleaved Ambrose in half if he allowed it.
Ambrose Severen was a trained killer. He had been taught how to deliver death since he could walk, and the arrival of the System had only enhanced that. He slid forward baseball style as the axe collided against the ground, producing a boom and crack of breaking ice that thundered around the cavern.
He came up out of his slide and continued running forward. Using his strength stat, Ambrose leaped upward, axe whirling, and slammed it into the yeti’s icy shield. This time, he tapped his core and flooded the axe with his infernal mana, and the cursed avatar’s shield could not hold against the blow.
The ice broke apart as easily as if he had used an ice pick and a hammer. Ambrose dropped the axe as his momentum carried him forward and onto the yeti’s head.
“Get off!” The avatar boomed as it reached upward to grab him with massive, furry hands.
Ambrose ducked his head and dropped to the monster's shoulders. As the yeti’s hands missed him, he reached around and grabbed its tusks, one in each hand. He yanked the monster around as if yanking a horse’s bridle.
It roared in protest, but Ambrose’s strength could not be ignored.
Its momentum from the turn slammed it into the icy wall. That didn’t harm the creature, but it did disorient it. He bent the yeti’s head downward to the left so its impressive head was at an angle. The monster struggled. It writhed.
But Ambrose Severen was a killer of men and now of monsters.
He set his jaw and leaned downward, green eye blazing.
“I’m coming for you, Mordred.”
Then, flexing his muscles with a great heave, Ambrose broke the yeti's neck like a twig. The yeti collapsed like a dropped sack of potatoes, rocking the cave with force. Ambrose clambered off the monster’s neck as he read the notification.
[You have defeated Mordred’s Avatar-Cursed Yeti Level 90. You have gained increased experience and have advanced to level 82. Your profession has advanced to level 10 for carrying out your duties as a Knight of Avalon.]
That was twenty-nine points to spend all together. Ambrose recalled his axe and put it in his bag after it slapped into his palm. He put thirteen points into willpower and then four each into the remaining stats. Ambrose brought up just his stats so he could see how they looked.
[Constitution: 153
Strength: 129
Intellect: 130
Wisdom: 141
Willpower: 167]
He frowned, rubbing the bridge of his nose as the frigid air blew over him in a sudden gust. He ignored it as he thought. His intellect was getting a bit behind. He made a mental note to ask Vivienne about stats a bit later as he looked through the hole the yeti had come from. Sure enough, another lever was waiting for him.
He walked over and pulled it.
It was time to take care of the third avatar.