Chariot fled through the basin with the demon close behind. No matter where they ran or at what speed, the mananngal was always just behind, slowly gaining. Basem turned around as he continued, firing a volley of base arrows doing just enough to widen the distance as the monster stalled. It was all they could do. The party had held their ground slightly to fend it off and that was a mistake. It had done nothing but allow the monster to draw nearer.
A frustrated Basem turned back forward with a tsh. “You said you don’t run! Do something magic man!”
Dante looked back with a confident smile. “Retreating is a tactical move.”
“This is no time for jokes…” Kamala said curtly. “The stage told us to survive and now we know why. It is likely the boss is unbeatable.”
“Even for the Tower this is bullshit.” Yen cursed. “Maybe we should lure it out of the basin. Lose it in the forest or something and come back?”
As the party rounded a turn, the mananngal passed through trees and stone as if they weren’t there. It did not phase through as with Ashley’s Phantasm skill, but simply brute its way past with no regard for the damage it received, damage that healed immediately. Yen did not need to hear a response. She knew her plan was out.
“The pursuit is strange…” Jean spoke up. “It might have a skill that makes escape impossible to begin with.”
“It feels like more than a skill. Too weird not to be.” Yen agreed.
“What about the weapons of that party?” Mujin interjected.
“The risk is too great.” Kamala answered. “We do not know if the attack has lingering effects or if the blood from the moon is harmless.
Ancient blood orcs lunged from ahead with frenzied roars. An arrow claimed one and a scythe two, but Shin was the first to take a different approach. He took the features of a monstrous ape and threw an orc behind him. Other member of Chariot followed suit, knocking or immobilizing the orcs as they sped past. And with them, came the demon, who opened its mouth wide.
“Shit!” The mananngal inhaled the souls of the ancient blood orcs in its wake and followed without change. Yen waited with anticipation but what she feared didn’t come to pass. “...was it not enough or do monsters not count?”
Two trios of blood orcs attacked from different directions and Shin knocked them all back into the pit that was the demon.
“Hey!”
The mananngal absorbed the new offerings before it and still nothing changed.
“They don’t count.”
“What if they did?!”
“This is better for us.” Donny said. “Feed the monsters instead of dealing with them ourselves. Just need to not get caught.”
“Fruit.” Basem reported up ahead in the distance.
But the moment he spoke, the plants were eaten by a brontosaur as it spared the effort to swoop its head down during a frenzied charge. An arrow split open its skull but it was too late, the fruit all mashed within its jaw. Basem cursed the dead beast in frustration.
“Yeah, that’s not great.” Donny glanced up at the sky. “Five and a half hours left till dawn. Let’s get what we need as fast as possible and leave. Should be easier on the beach.”
Shin looked back at the demon, a cold empty feeling filling him with displeasure. But still he ran with the party bearing Inari’s simmering ire and demands of retribution for having to suffer its presence.
---
Basem blitzed ahead and two arrows nocked and shot them straight through the skulls of a pair of brontosaurs before another batch could be stolen right under their noses again. He snatched the plants up and handed one each to the remaining women in the rotation. Ashley fused and ate a large fruit while Karla stored hers.
The party had planned to wrap things up quickly but things had not gone their way. Fruit was sparse now, far too sparse. Hours had passed already yet they had gotten their hands on one batch only. They needed only one more but the way things had gone so far had some feeling less than assured, most of all an orange haired mage.
“What’s the problem?” Donny asked. “Aside from our general situation.”
“We won’t get any spares at this rate…”
“Spares?”
“To buff up traits after we get off this shitty island.”
“I doubt they’ll allow that.” Jean said.
“Probably not but it’s stupid not to try.”
“Thought you was all about booking it once we finished up.” Donny pressed her.
“I was gonna bring it up when everyone was done and we had time left. But this…”
“Oi!” Donny caught Yen as she started drifted back from the party with slowing pace. “What’s wrong with you?”
“...I don’t know…”
Donny thought for a moment then asked the rest of the party. “Anyone else feel like taking a break?”
“A little…” Jean responded. “This isn’t good…”
“The boss.” Kamala voiced the theory, glancing at Mujin and Basem looking a little weary. “Locking the distance is only half its strategy. It’s draining our will to escape.”
“Like a damn demon.” Donny muttered.
“It is.” Shin informed them.
“You gotta share information like that sooner, mate. Don’t you have holy fire?”
“Not strong enough. Probably.” Inari’s temper flared at his response.
“Guess running’s our only choice…”
“We may not last-”
“Fruit!” Basem's yell interrupted Jean as he burst ahead to the plants in sight but stopped in his tracks halfway. Like wisping miasma a figure rose up from the ground, a freckled young man in a dark hooded robe with hay blond hair. An arrow drilled through a chunk of his head but his flesh stitched itself together, and Micah smiled, full of jubilant malice. Like smoke, he faded away and a horde of rabid ancient blood orcs charged.
“Yen!”
Donny’s yell snapped a bit more life and focus into the mage. Fire swirled and raged into a sphere in the palm of her hand, Yen straining every ounce of intensity into her spell, and fired. The firebolt soared straight into the center of the horde and struck like thunder. Pressure blasted orcs into chunk and flames turned them to ash. But still they charged.
Yen raised her hand again and fell back behind the party lifelessly, her expression devoid of passion as she drifted towards the mananngal’s opening jaw. Shin caught Yen’s back with the palm of his hand and flung her into Kamala’s arms. Vile wind inhaled around Shin and his soul writhed as it started to rip from his very body.
And Shin’s will fell on the world. Instinctively. Unwaveringly. Tyrannically. His prismatic soul flared around his body like armor as he raised his fist. Wisping green mana snapped and crackled, the iridescent light shrouding him swirling over his fist, and he struck with the shatter of light.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
[Greater Lambast has upgraded to mythic tier Truestrike.]
The bloodsouled mananngal screeched as prismatic cracks spread over its head and it stopped in its tracks. Donny reacted instantly, leading the others to fend off the ancient blood orc horde as Shin stood before the demon. Pained wails filled the area but Shin knew it had not been enough.
As the cracks started to fade and close, a will resonated with Shin. Familiar and distinct, and able to bear things no longer. Inari summoned by Shin’s side and light enveloped her too, shattering to reveal a grand figure. Red tipped hair, white as pristine snow with seven fox tails to match. White and black robes of a warrior priestess adorned with red garments and talismans bearing the symbols of yin and yang. In her hand, she held a double sided naginata, the edge of each blade facing opposite directions and its hilt bearing the taijitu.
[Skyward Kitsune Throneguard (epic) - Greater Lord]
Strength - 1800
Agility - 2402
Constitution - 1024
Vitality - 1448
Dexterity - 1905
Perception - 1572
Force - 2377
Spirit - 1992
Control - 1539
Willpower - 1941
Skills:
Duality lvl. 1, Sacred Fire lvl. 1, Greater Foxfire lvl. 1, Greater Slash lvl. 1, Greater Glare lvl. 1, Supreme Sword Combat lvl. 1, Greater Rapid lvl. 1, Greater Swiftness lvl. 1,
Traits:
Unity (mythic), Greater Hallowed (legendary), Greater Impious (legendary), Greater Soul Weapon (legendary), Greater Windwalker (legendary), Greater Foxtail (epic), Greater Poison Resistance (epic), Greater Disease Resistance (epic), Greater Curse Resistance (epic), Nightvision (epic),
Inari lingered in the air, appeased and vain. She stepped forward slowly, twirling the naginata in her hand faster and faster, white and black mana blooming like flames over the blades. The mananngal opened its jaw and she sliced straight through. In a blur of white and black she carved the demon over and over as if to vent and finally spat set it ablaze in golden flame.
The mananngal screeched in pain as it burned, even more than before but the flames subsided and it remained. In great frustration, Inari cast sacred fire again and again and third time but the demon would not perish. Before she could cast a fourth, Shin appeared behind it, white and black mana swirling among his prismatic fist. A truestrike slammed into its back aided with the borrowed power of Duality.
Prismatic cracks shot over the demon’s body this time and deep into its soul. Just barely, it tried to hold up, and Shin struck again. With final wail, the mananngal burst apart, its unkillable body crumbling away to ash. Shin dropped down to his feet and Inari joined his side with a nudge of complaint about stealing her kill.
“I was just starting to think you wouldn’t do anything ridiculous this time.” Donny said as he walked back, the rest of Chariot having put down the horde. “We only got one more chance with this last minute power up ting you keep doing, you know.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“You keep saying that so much I might start believing it.”
“Hey…” Yen walked over, the sluggishness worn off from her expression. “Did you even know you could survive that?”
“No.”
“Listen…”
“But I won’t die.”
Yen opened her mouth but her words melted away before his genuine eyes. She settled into a lean with a sigh. “You keep doing this… just wait, one of these days I’ll save your a-”
A piercing screech filled the valley, its source the image of a mananngal’s face formed from miasma. Inari cut through the dark smoke to no effect as the wailing continued, loud enough to spread over the whole island. Without any warning the head burst apart, tendrils of miasma shooting into all of Chariot before they could react, marking them with no resistance.
Like a chain reaction, a chorus of screeches returned from all directions and soon, large red figures appeared in the distance. Dozens of mananngal clones encircled them in the sky, slowly and drawing near fast, all straight towards them.
“You’re joking…” The resolve Yen had started to build broke in an instant at the inevitable.
Most of the rest of Chariot fared no better. Panic and fear through some, a strained worry of rapid thoughts, calm contemplation, indifference, amusement, intensity. None were without reaction. None but Shin, calmly watch the doom approaching.
“I need mana.”
Dante was the first to move, projecting raw mana which Shin immediately absorbed. Mujin moved next, adding a wave of lightning to the pool, as much as he could. Yen shifted back to life at the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and bombarded Shin will clumps of concussive mana, what little she had remaining. Shin spread his absorption wide, taking in all the mana he could till they had nothing left to spare.
Inari turned to mist as Shin invoked her and took to the sky. He waited for the demons looming all around to draw close enough and held golden fire in his hands. Wisps of white and black flickered through the flames and red lightning around Shin. The more he filled the sacred fire with duality the more it resisted, and the more lightning sparked across him, until finally he fused them into a great blaze.
Golden flames of white and black shot out all around, igniting the mananngal clones to terrible wails. The red lightning weighed more heavily on his being with each defiant attack but he pushed himself further and further, until finally something absolute restricted him and the flames rejected his will.
Shin stood in the air, all demons in sight ablaze but none yet dead. He waited and waited as they burned all around. And soon, the flames slowly started to subside. Inevitably and callously they snuffed out. A charred mananngal drifted closer, and crumbled away. The rest crumbled with it until the sky rained ash around Shin.
[Achievement: Boss Slayer II. 200 Attribute Points rewarded.]
The invoke dispersed as Shin dropped down from the sky once more. This time, the world froze as he landed, for all but Chariot. A screen appeared before him with the final rankings of the trial.
1. Shin
2. Leon Moore
3. Sereth Narmer
4. Attila Atreus
5. Genjiro Igarashi
6. Bando Koga
7. Amadeus
8. Lu Kang
9. Karla
10. Chandra Pandavas
11. Titon Saba
12. Ashley Gray
13. Xerxes
14. Yasunori Kamo
15. Yuna Igarashi
16. …
“Early, innit?” Donny questioned, his tone and demeanor lacking any tension with the curtains of the stage drawn. “Everyone in the top 100?”
“Yeah~”
“Yes.” Confirmations from all the party returned.
“Just barely made it~” Ashley harassed Jean once again, who claimed the 98th spot. “You might have got kicked out if you didn’t. Happy~?”
“Overjoyed.” Jean replied with no emotion.
“Fruit’s gone. All types.” Dante informed them.
“Not the end of the world. Don’t think we’ll do much trading.” Donny commented.
Yen slapped her face awake, drawing the attention of some, though they left her alone seeing the focus and reignited resolve as she scoured the skill list. Shin too turned his focus to the final stage rewards.
The first was the choice of a Great Attribute along with an accompanying skill slot. He picked vitality without thinking twice and filled his stats to the brink of greater lord, 37 into Vitality and 93 into Spirit. The system then granted the third free legendary ability option as well as a second additional skill slot. He had already acquired the regeneration he intended to since the end of the second stage though he had some replacements in mind since. That was until this last fight threw those ideas away in favor of only one.
[Acquired legendary tier skill Meld.]
‘Fuse the effects of two compatible skills as one.’
[Acquired the Title of Patriarch]
‘30% bonus to all stats.’
[Title improved to Ranked Initiate.]
‘Tenfold increase in the ease of improving and upgrading skills.’
‘Appraisal: Inspect the status bar of a being up to a full rank beyond the player.’
[Human Invoker (legendary) - Greater Lord]
Strength - 200 (320)
Agility - 600 (960)
Constitution - 50 (80)
Vitality - 152 [228] (365)
Dexterity - 33 (53)
Perception - 300 (480)
Force - 24 (38)
Spirit - 793 [1190] (1904)
Control - 150 [225] (360)
Willpower - 100 [150] (240)
Skills:
Heal lvl. 10, Greater Mystic Protection lvl. 10, Summon Skyward Kitsune Guardian lvl. 1, Supreme Martial Combat lvl. 9, Greater Rapid lvl. 10, Spirit Communion lvl. 10, Greater Mana Meditation lvl. 10, Invigoration lvl. 10, Harvest Soul lvl. 10, Greater Invoke lvl. 10, Quake lvl. 10, Greater Channelling lvl. 10, Greater Spirit Gyro lvl. 10, Greater Ward lvl. 10, Soul Fusion lvl. 10, Truestrike lvl. 1, Greater See Through Spirits lvl. 10, Invoke Skill lvl. 10, Overshadow lvl. 10, Mana Absorption lvl. 4, Meld lvl. 1
Traits:
Body Supremacy, Eyes of the Spirit King, Ethereal Soul, Vessel of Spirits, Unfettered, Instant Regeneration, Martial Eye, Third Eye, Summon Master, Great Control, Great Spirit, Great Willpower, Poison Immunity, Disease Immunity, Curse Immunity, Golden Body, Golden Mind, Golden Soul, Great Vitality, (40/42)
A significant and much needed boost to all stats, since Inari now likely cost 1500 to summon, going by past patterns. Shin looked at his status, pleased. It was nowhere near what he wanted but he could see the path unfolding before him, deliberate or otherwise.
“Hegemon, huh.”
“What did you get?” Yen asked Shin.
“Patriarch. 30%.”
“Not that much of a difference. Hegemon’s 20 by the way.”
“Ranked Initiate is a welcome surprise.” Kamala stated.
“Gonna make things suck a lot less for sure.” Yen agreed. “Depends on how many ranks the system has though.”
The goddess Ate appeared in the sky above in all her grandeur once more. She glanced at Shin, just for a moment, and raised her hands in silence. Grand magic far beyond what any of them had felt thus far consumed the world, and in its place came a stadium fit for the gods.
Chariot found themselves together in the stands surrounding by countless amorphous humanoid silhouettes, just as had been in the empty zone at the start. Above them floated their goddess among scores of other beings just as grand, though none that any of them recognized.
“Hark, thou blessed chosen. Behold, thou fortunate lambs.” The gods spoke in unison. “So begins the tournament for all who stand atop their worlds.”