Jace knew he would have to take on Karo by himself. He glanced to the side and saw Leah taking shelter behind a pile of stone, looking on with a helpless expression. The witch had probably spent all her mana. Psycho kept his distance, also huddling behind an outcropping. He wouldn’t run out of arrows anytime soon, but his health was dangerously low, and he couldn’t risk standing out in the open to get a clear shot. Delly had already done her damage and, unfortunately, had taken more than she’d given. She should stay out of the fight for now. Jace returned his eyes to Karo, took a deep breath, and closed the distance between them.
“Didn’t we do this already?” the demon asked.
“This time will be differ-” Jace started to say, but a full stream of demon fire stopped him. He staggered under the onslaught for the first two seconds, pushed through the flames for the next two, and arrived at the Flat-Footed demon by the end of the round. His fist found the left side of Karo’s extended jaw, and the punch rocked the demon to his core. The smaller opponent flopped back into the air as if launched by a catapult and hit the ground flat on his back.
Molten rock ran off Jace like rain, and he already felt his stone protections severely weakened. Still, he didn’t pass up this opportunity and jumped on the prone demon, straddling his waist and smashing the demon’s head further into the stone with his boulder-like fists.
Karo’s condition only lasted a round, and he came to in a furry, slashing at Jace with a vengeance. He forgot how to attack the stone elemental properly, and his claws scrapped uselessly against Jace’s hard skin, giving the shaman an extra round to pummel his foe. Karo figured it out eventually, balled his fingers into fists, and punched his way free of the heavy elemental.
The brief encounter had dropped the demon’s health by almost 2,000, and he stood uneasy on his feet, his eyes wary of this aggressive opponent. He let Jace come to him, and the shaman didn’t hesitate, throwing punches with far greater accuracy than before. Karo played defense at first, but when the player’s attacks failed to do more than just a few dozen damage with each strike, he regained his confidence and responded in kind, once again cracking open Jace’s skin and filling it with bursts of fire.
Jace needed another critical strike and figured the game would roll a 20 for him eventually, but he got nervous as his health continued to fall. Eventually, he did the math and realized he would need to knock Karo down at least three more times. At the current rate, he wouldn’t survive to get even one more. In the back of his mind, Jace heard Tami’s ever-present song change tunes, and unnatural strength rose within him. When before it had aided his strikes and parries, now he felt his stone muscles tighten and flex. On a whim, Jace closed on the demon and Grappled him.
He didn’t find instant success, but the punches stopped as the two behemoths shoved and wrestled each other. Eventually, Jace’s size and strength won out, and he managed to pin Karo against the curved cavern wall. The hellspawn wasn’t Helpless, and as Jace looked hard into his demonic eyes, he saw a smile spreading over his lips and his mouth parting slightly as acrid smoke wafting out.
Jace would have to release him in order to punch, so he tried a different tactic. He reached into his limited spell library and pulled up Righteous Judgement. As he had hoped, he had two deities through which he could cast the spell. He knew Dexmachi wouldn’t work, as they were both Honest, and he hoped Shimbatu and the demon differed in more than just one area. Since they were mortal enemies, he counted on getting the full x8 modifier.
Unfortunately, since it wasn’t a stone spell, he only had access to his shaman mana pool, which hovered around 800. He dumped all he had into the spell, and the lightning blinded him. The explosion threw Jace back, and he heard Karo scream in pain as energy coursed up and down his body, seeking out his soul and burning it inside out.
After the spell ended, Karo still stood, his body smoking after having lost about 1,000 Hitpoints. The damage confirmed to Jace that he was getting an x8 modifier on the spell, but it still wasn’t close to defeating him. He had pulled off two powerful routines to get Karo down to half health, but they would be difficult to repeat. As the demon caught his breath, a frosty arrow sunk deep into his chest, dropping his health by 200 and yanking him out of his trancelike state. Karo screamed in anger and lifted his clenched fists high in the air.
Fire rushed up around him like a veil, the heat causing Jace to take a cautious step back. Rocks and ore got caught up in the spell, rising twenty feet in the air and then cascading back down, molten and charred. Jace saw Psycho try another shot, but the arrow burst into flames and incinerated before it could fully penetrate the incendiary barrier.
The display lasted two rounds, and when the curtain finally fell away, Karo emerged back to full health of 6,000 with a vicious grin on his face. “I bet you can’t do that again,” he growled and came after Jace.
The shaman had foolishly spent the brief reprieve staring into the firestorm and not healing himself. He doubted his stony hand could have manipulated a healing potion, and he didn’t have any to begin with. The only piece of his inventory that had been returned to him was his sword. Tami seemed to detect his vulnerable state and shifted her song, bringing a wave of vitality and soothing to his battered body. His health rose, but with each punch from Karo, it fell further. Jace felt something shatter against his back, and liquid ran down his crenulated form, seeping into the cracks. He didn’t know what it was at first, but as his health spiked almost to full, he figured Gromphy had decided to help. A glance to his left confirmed this as he saw the goblin riding on Adam’s back.
The pair had been standing guard by the entrance, pounding down any giants that ventured in, but the goblin steered his golem closer to the action to throw the potion at Jace and lingered a bit too long. Karo noticed Jace’s sudden revitalization, summoned a ball of molten rock to his hand, and hurled it toward the crafter. Gromphy shifted his mount just in time, so Adam took the strike full in the chest. The projectile had cooled slightly in its short trip and exploded into the golem, sending rock and fire in every direction. It knocked the magical construct from his feet, and Gromphy had to direct him into another dexterous maneuver to keep from getting crushed beneath him.
Jace had thought Adam to be nye indestructible save for electric attacks, but that one blow had brought the golem’s health down by a quarter, and once he stood back up, Gromphy kept his distance again, guarding the entrance.
Jace turned his attention back to Karo in time to receive another jarring punch to his stone head. He returned the favor with far less effectiveness. “Your friends can’t help you,” Karo sneered. “And if they try, I will kill them.”
The player knew Adam was probably the strongest character he had access to and was most likely to do significant damage to the demon. Yet it appeared it would only take four hits from Karo to kill the golem. With Jace distracting Karo, Psycho could get off one good shot a round, but it would take 30 shots to whittle away the demon’s Hitpoints, and that assumed he didn’t have another fiery healing spell or that he wouldn’t focus on the elf at some point.
Esther and Kai were still cleaning up the few remaining minions, but neither of them had the damage output necessary to hurt Karo, and he could squash either one of them if they got close enough to attack. Delly could do damage and take a beating, but since she had healed herself, ending her barbarian rage, she would be exhausted. Jace didn’t see her anywhere and imagined she was hiding while the worst of her exhaustion passed. Even when it did, she wouldn’t be able to call on her rage for some time.
Leah appeared to be out of mana, and while Tami’s rousing songs helped Jace, Karo, as a demon, would likely be immune to any negative tunes. The shaman didn’t know where Snowy was, and other than her cold spells, her attacks weren’t likely to cause much damage, and she was the most susceptible to fire. Jace knew if someone was going to take down Karo, it would have to be him. He just didn’t know how.
As he traded punches with Karo, Jace called up his Righteous Judgement spell again. His shaman pool was almost up to 100, as his Mana Generation ability operated on overdrive while in elemental form. Still, that would only do about 150 damage to the demon, less than each of Psycho’s arrows. His Armanacore sat at about 3,500 mana, plus or minus 100, as it maintained his stone form each round and then regenerated. That would produce over 5000 damage, well over half the demon’s health in one blow. Even if Karo had enough magical protection to save him from a death spiral, the shock of an attack that large would have to Stun or Paralyze him for a few rounds, and Jace, Psycho, and Adam should be able to finish him off. Unfortunately, that mana pool remained grayed out and unavailable for the spell.
“Dexmachi,” Jace mumbled to himself in an unorthodox prayer, “please, give me what I need. Everyone thinks I cheat, but you know I play by the rules according to your standards. Just this one time, give me the Deus ex Machina for which you were named.” Jace looked again at his spells and saw no change. And why would there be? His request made no sense. It would be like rewarding an alcoholic who had remained sober for a year with a drink. No, if Jace wanted his god's help, he needed to do it the right way. He needed to find a way to transform his Righteous Judgement into a stone spell.
Then it hit him.
“Gromphy!” Jace cried out. “Tell me you brought the crystal.”
The goblin undoubtedly had hundreds of gems in his chest but knew his leader could only be talking about one. “Aye,” he replied, his voice undulating as Adam moved about, pummeling a frost giant who had just walked in. “But now ‘tis hardly the time or place.”
“I don’t care,” Jace replied, stumbling under a tremendous blow from Karo, lava running down his chin like blood. His health was close to half again. “I need it now!”
“I am presently undisposed,” Gromphy replied.
Jaced hazarded a glance toward the cavern entrance and saw Adam pounding away at a frost giant who had wandered in while two hill giants joined him. “Psycho,” Jace said, finally getting a critical strike against the demon. It wasn’t enough to knock him over, but it Dazed him for a moment, giving the shaman a chance to pile on some damage. “Help Gromphy!”
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The archer obeyed his leader, turning his attention to the goblin. Usually, a frost giant would be no problem for Adam, but the hill giants tried to flank the golem, and while a blunt strike against his adamantium back would do minor damage, if they hit Gromphy, he would die in one strike. Adam danced about for a couple of rounds while Psycho placed an arrow in the head of each smaller giant. Soon, it was only the white-bearded foe to worry about, and the golem smashed him to the ground while the crafter tossed firebombs.
“I still see no purpose in . . .” Gromphy started, not wanting to leave the protective perch on top of his mount.
“Get it now!” Jace screamed. The demand compelled the NPC into action. Gromphy climbed off Adam’s back, threw a wary eye over his shoulder toward the entrance, and popped his magical chest onto the cavern floor. “It matters not regardless. I hath not the ability to . . .”
“Then give it to Psycho!” Jace grew tired of Gromphy’s reluctance. He knew the goblin didn’t like engaging in combat, and Jace didn’t want to strain their relationship. Gromphy had gotten close to the demon to splash the healing potion on his back and had paid the price. He would probably have to get even closer to give Jace the crystal. Psycho was a better choice.
The crafter stopped complaining and obeyed. Psycho took the level 50 crystal, got as close as he dared to the demon, and hid behind a boulder, trusting his leader would give him more direction when needed. Jace guessed that trying to catch the crystal or bending over to get it mid-fight would leave him Flat-Footed, and Karo would punish him for it, probably keeping Jace from obtaining the item. The shaman didn’t want to think about what would happen if the demon got a hold of it. He seemed to have ignored the conversation with Gromphy, scripted only to pummel Jace into oblivion, which he did a bit too effectively.
Jace had to last a bit longer. He still felt the effects of Tami’s health-giving song, slowing his negative progress, but it wouldn’t last forever. He needed another good punch to execute his plan. Jace promised himself that he would take up boxing in the real world to train himself on where the natural twenties were, but for now, he was reliant on the game's random dice rolls. He didn’t know any way to help the process, so he pulled up the Bible passage from Ezekiel he had quoted earlier. The first half talked of Satan’s beauty and splendor, while the second half outlined his demise.
“In the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.”
“What type of spell is this?” Karo said, stepping back from Jace as he read the passage, fearing some kind of trick.
Jace didn’t reply other than to pursue his opponent, throwing as many punches as he could while he continued. “Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.”
“Ha!” Karo laughed, resuming his attacks. “You have only caught a glimpse of my splendor. Whatever spell you cast to undo my glory is irrelevant once you’re dead. Since you have so graciously returned the fallen angels to me, I will . . .”
Jace cut him off. “I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings to feast their eyes on you.” Jace felt a punch land solidly, but it wasn’t enough. “By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you.”
“Ha!” Karo laughed again. “You think you can burn me with fire? Have you not seen . . .”
And then it happened. Jace caught the demon monologuing, and a stiff uppercut connected solidly under Karo’s chin. Stone chips flew from Jace’s boulder-like fist, and Karo’s eyes rolled back in his head as his feet left the ground, and he fell to his back on the ground. Jace didn’t take his eyes off the demon and held his right hand out toward Psycho’s hiding place, knowing the elf would understand his request.
“All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you,” Jace continued out loud as Psycho placed the level 50 crystal in his open, three-fingered hand. Inwardly, Jace spoke to Dexmachi. “I am enchanting a stone,” he prayed. “A stone I promised to give to Karo. Don’t make me a liar.” His plea had the desired effect, and Jace watched his secondary mana pool light up.
The stone elemental moved to stand over the fallen demon lying prone before him. Jace lifted his right hand and dumped all the mana he could into the crystal. It shone like he had plucked the sun out of the sky. “’You have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever!’” He ended the fitting Bible passage and punched down with all his might.
Karo began to regain awareness just in time to see the mammoth stone giant bury a fist into his slack jaw. Jace shoved the gem as far as he could down the demon’s throat and pulled back before Karo could clamp his teeth shut or spew fire. The demon gagged and sputtered for a round as he tried to loosen the foreign object and couldn’t help but reach into the crystal to probe its magical signature.
Lightning erupted from Karo’s head as if from a mighty storm cloud. Jace had to shield his eyes from the blast as he stumbled backward, almost losing his balance. The electrical display was mindbogglingly intense but also extremely brief. When Jace uncovered his eyes, Karo was gone, only a scorched patch of stone to indicate what had happened. Jace realized that while he had pumped up the difficulty of the spell when he had cast it earlier to ensure Karo didn’t save against it, it probably didn’t compare to the difficulty of the spell once it came from a level 50 item. Karo must have failed with a few criticals, and the roughly 5,000 damage had been multiplied a few times.
Jace walked up to the scorched stone and dismissed his elemental form. Psycho stood beside him after a moment, and soon, most of the NPCs huddled around, staring at the absence of remains. Jace’s vision still flashed red, and he looked over his shoulder to see Esther and Kai dispatching a few remaining monsters. As the now undisputed owner of this stronghold, Jace navigated to the settings and found he could turn off the spawning monsters. It was a feature Karo or Vithium had added and wasn’t natural to the monk stronghold.
{Don’t forget Draya is still buried under a pile of rocks,} Gracie reminded him. {Oh, and great job killing the demon. I never doubted you for a moment.}
Jace’s eyes found the rockslide and knew if Draya’s health was in critical condition, Gracie would have told him. Even Delly limped out from behind an outcropping, still looking exhausted but wanting to join in the victory celebration. After a quick head count, the shaman was pretty sure everyone had made it. The only one missing was . . .
“Does anyone know where Snowy is?” he asked.
“Your wolf?” Tami asked.
Jace nodded.
“We saw her race toward the exit as we were coming in,” Tami said.
“I sensed she was chasing something,” Leah added, “but I couldn’t see what.”
“A shadow,” Gromphy clarified.
Jace nodded as he understood. The assassin was still alive.
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Jorl heaved himself up the rock face as the wind whipped at his exposed skin, snow biting into him like tiny daggers. His hand slipped on a patch of ice, and he nearly fell, but his nimble fingers found another purchase, and he maintained his precarious balance. He looked down at the fifty-foot drop and knew it would probably kill him. But if he didn’t take this hazardous route, the wolf would definitely end him.
Jorl had never fought an animal like this one before. He had pumped it so full of poison that the wolf should have been dead three times over. While the icy wind sapped the assassin’s strength, the chilly environment seemed to bolster the wolf, giving it energy to fight off his attacks.
To top it off, Jorl found that his greatest strength, being able to create shadow out of nothing to render himself invisible, was utterly worthless against this adversary. Once the animal had tasted his blood, it had his scent permanently, and nothing would shake it from his trail. Jorl’s only option was to take a route the wolf could not follow.
He looked back along the tiny handholds and narrow ledges he had just scaled, knowing that such a path should have taken only seconds for him to traverse, but in his wounded state, with several bleeding banes and the icy environment, Jorl was just happy he hadn’t fallen. He heaved himself up one final ledge and rolled to the comfort of a wide patch of snow, somewhat sheltered from the wind. The top of this particular peak was still fifteen feet above him, but he could catch his breath here and finally felt safe drinking a healing potion. Before he could pull a vial from his inventory, a low growl stole his attention.
Snowy stalked toward him, emerging from view around a bend of rock, having found an alternative route up the mountain. She carefully navigated the snowy ledge, her massive body rubbing against the steep climb on her left while her right flank hung out over the deadly drop. The formerly white fur was mainly red now, and the poison rushing through her veins would end her life in a few rounds. The wolf’s only hope was to feed on this assassin and then find her way back to Gromphy and his healing potions.
Jorl scampered back on his hands and feet, wondering what other tricks he could play on this relentless predator. His hand slipped and fell away beneath him as he reached the edge of the miniature plateau. He looked down the way he had come and knew he couldn’t back up any further. The only escape was continuing up, but he doubted the wolf would give him the time he needed to resume the ascent.
Just when it looked like the wolf would pounce, Jorl heard the growl of a different animal from above, and a sleek body of fur and spots tackled the wolf and carried her off the ledge. The assassin rolled over to see the two animals hit the ground far below in a plume of snow. They both seemed to have survived the fall, and the new hunter ripped out Snowy’s throat before the winter wolf could get her bearings.
Jorl recognized this new animal as a leopard and thought it odd such a creature would be out here in this environment. The assassin decided not to dwell on it and pulled the overdue healing potion. As he drank, he watched in horror as the leopard turned its attention to him and proceeded to scale the icy wall he had just climbed as easily as if ascending stairs. He still lay Flat-Footed on the snow as the new cat crested the ledge and looked him over.
Instead of attacking, the leopard rose to stand on its hind legs and transformed into a beautiful young woman. She stood naked before him for a few moments, seemingly unaffected by the cold weather, before a thick wrap appeared around her body, and she smiled.
“Jorl Dreadmont,” Lexi said, keeping her distance from the dangerous assassin. “It seems the rest of your party has been killed. What will you do now?”
The assassin looked on in shock. He had run from the fight, for his strength did not lie in straightforward melee combat, but he had not expected Karo and his crew to lose. Jorl had felt too disorientated after losing the immense powers that had been granted him, so he decided to flee the cavern and then return after Jace’s group had been killed. Now, it appeared that in addition to stripping him of his power, Jace had killed his master and left him orphaned.
“They are all dead?” he asked for clarification.
Lexi nodded. “Every last one of them. Jace and his friends killed them all.”
Jorl lay in the snow, distraught. He had assumed the succulent taste of invincibility he had briefly experienced would be returned to him. That whatever trick Jace had pulled would only be a minor setback. He must have freed the angels, but if they remained in the realms, Jorl could have tracked them down now that he knew who they were. However, with Selvecia and Karo dead, his immortal powers were lost forever. He suddenly felt as naked and cold as his new visitor must have.
Lexi saw the emotions run across the assassin’s face and could imagine his thoughts. “What did that power feel like?” she asked. “What would you do to get it back?”
Jorl scoffed at her. “It is a fanciful wish I shall not entertain. A fool's errand.”
“Is it?” Lexi asked. “I have a unique ability to grant impossible wishes.”
“You can steal the power of the gods and imbue it within me? Are you not a simple shapeshifting druid?”
Lexi smiled, letting her confident expression answer any questions the assassin might have. Jorl shrugged. Even if she were lying, he didn’t have many better options open to him. “And what would I need to do for you?”
“Join me,” Lexi said, offering her hand to help the prone man up. “Swear an oath that you will never use your powers against me. And that you will help me to kill Jace Thorne.”
Jorl grinned and took her hand. “Gladly.”