Chapter Twenty-Six

Ambrose descended; the cavern tunnel looked more like the forest above. Dark branches with sinister leaves grew out of the walls, and the dirt underneath took on that same sanguine color. As the tunnel opened, he found himself in a wide forest area, with a dark stream with thick, brackish water churning in a nearby stream. He assigned his attribute points before going any further and was likely attacked. He put four into constitution and four into strength. Not being able to break free from the dire mushroom’s grip indicated that he needed strength.

He felt power coalesce within his muscles, and newfound energy flooded through him as his health was bolstered. I’ll never tire of that. Ambrose thought as he scanned the area. His eyes settled on a beehive that hung from a nearby tree. Evil-looking beehives, I’ve seen it all now. The beehive was seemingly made of dried blood and scabs. It was also huge, larger by far than any beehive Ambrose had ever seen.

He noted it as a possible threat and swept his eyes along, passing over a large brown and black hill. He walked forward a little more, frowning. Ambrose felt the avatar’s presence. It was like a thick soup of sludge that hung invisibly in the air. More than that, it was on an instinctual level. As the Knight of Avalon, he simply knew it was there as he knew his own hand was at the end of his arm, of that he had a particular itch under his armor that he couldn’t get to right now.

Noelle sent him a sharp warning as the brown and black mass Ambrose had thought was a hill began to move. It rose up, a thundering, rumbling sound emanating from it. A sound that Ambrose realized was a growl. As the mass rose, he started to pick out a shape. He had large shoulders, paws as large as he was, gleaming red claws the size of young tree trunks, and a long snout with a maw of razor-sharp teeth as black as polished obsidian. Red eyes gleamed with absolute hatred on a deep level that could rival the ocean depths.

It was a bear—a massive, horrific bear with a crown of eldritch tentacles that wiggled like thick red worms. Ambrose used [Insight] on the bear and wasn’t surprised at what he got back from the skill.

[Mordred’s Avatar-Cursed Bear King-Level 85]: Once a majestic creature, the Bear King was a defender of Avalon and a companion of the Once and Future King. It has been corrupted by Mordred’s cursed influence and turned into his puppet.]

A voice as rich as honey came from the bear.

“The new Knight. Vivienne was so desperate for choices she was forced to choose a newly integrated. How pathetic. Why not run along, little ant? You have no attachment to this place.”

Ambrose shrugged,

“You’re right. I don’t. There’s no reason I should care about what you’re doing to this place.”

The bear shook, a chuffing sound shaking the nearby trees. It was laughing.

“Then why not lay down your arms? Work with me. Power is what you seek, yes? You can achieve that with me as easily as you can achieve that with Vivienne.”

Ambrose mulled it over for a moment. If he sided with Mordred, it would likely be easier. He wouldn’t have to fight this creature or the three others that followed to the death. Working with one spirit was much like working with another. All he wanted was the power that would come with cleansing the island. He could just complete the curse instead of cleansing it, allowing Mordred to subsume Vivienne and become the island completely.

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Unbidden, a memory played in his mind, the ghost of his wife’s presence moving through him as if she were wrapping him in a warm hug once again.

They sat on the bed. Alice had a positive pregnancy test in her hands. She was fidgeting with it.

“Are you happy?” she asked him, biting her lip.

Ambrose tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“Of course I am. I just don’t think I’ll be a good father, that’s all.”

Alice looked at him, eyes narrowing.

“Why would you say that? You’ll be an amazing father!”

Ambrose looked away from her considering eyes.

“I’m not a good man, Alice. You know what I used to do. A fixer for anyone who’d pay. I hurt people, Alice, hurt them badly. No kid deserves that kind of man for a father.”

Alice punched him in the arm. He looked at her, and her eyes were blazing orbs of blue fire.

“You’re not that man anymore, Ambrose Severen. When will you forgive yourself?”

Ambrose smiled gently at her, cupping her chin and running his thumb over her lips.

“When I’ve done enough to deserve it, love.”

The memory faded. Ambrose gazed up to stare at the bear, his eye hardening. Ambrose would avenge his wife. He would vent his rage as a storm upon Eric Delorsa, destroying everything he had ever built and casting him down to the deepest level of hell. But he had to do it while still trying to remain the man his wife married. Her tarnished knight. That meant making sure that those he went through and destroyed truly deserved it. Vivienne was a victim of Mordred, who was taking something beautiful and attempting to corrupt it to turn it into an ugly horror.

“I’m going to rip you out, Mordred. Like weeds in a garden, I will uproot you and throw you away like the trash you are. Then I’ll forget about you. You’ll be no more than a footnote. A chore I completed and nothing more.”

Ambrose activated [Infernal Infusion] and [Smite] as the bear reared its head back and roared at him in rage and fury. Ambrose threw his axe into his nose, the resulting detonation rocking the bear backward with a rumbling yelp and a flash of red-black fire. He used [Recall], and the axe flew back to him as the smite began to eat at the bear, which pawed at its face and roared in anguished pain.

Ambrose used [Sanctuary], and the ghostly ring of fire expanded outward from him as he poured mana into the skill. Chains of black fire lashed out at the bear. Mordred’s Avatar didn’t seem to care in the least about the chains, ripping them out with great jerks of its body. It reached out and ripped a tree upward from the ground, the sounds of ripping rock and tearing roots echoing throughout the cave. Dirt rained from the sky, and the corrupted bear king threw the tree at Ambrose like a massive spear.

Ambrose’s [Shield of Conviction] erupted around him, and he funneled mana into it as he tossed his axe to the side. The tree slammed into him at the same moment that abyssal fire writhed around him and through him like an aura of protection that pulsed and shimmered as the tree pushed him backward, bark and dirt breaking against his shield as the fire ate away at it before it could touch him.

The sound of it was like a battering ram against a door. Ambrose grasped the tree with both hands as he dug his heels in, bracing his knees as if preparing to pick up a heavy load. The scrunching, scraping sound mixed with the rush of air as the tree attempted to spear him.

Ambrose gritted his teeth and flared his strength as he whirled around, carrying the massive tree with him like a gigantic staff. He came full circle and slammed the tree into the bear, knocking him to the side. His massive right leg splashed into the stream, sending up a spray of water. Its massive shoulder crashed against the beehive as it yelled with pain, red eyes blazing.

The beehive exploded outward in sanguine shards. Dark bees buzzed outward in a cloud of black and brown. A red glow formed around the bees as they buzzed not toward the bear that had destroyed their home but toward Ambrose. The bear righted itself, its crown of tentacles pulsing in time with the glow of the bees. Its red eyes were gleaming with hate and satisfaction.

The deadly cloud sped towards him, ominous red liquid seemingly dripping from their stingers, which were focused solely on him.