There I was, out in the open and staring down a giant bull whose shoulders rose fifteen feet into the air. No one had followed me out of cover, so it was just me and the Bull of Heaven. The monster stood more than a hundred feet away, but I knew that the distance didn’t diminish the danger.
Slowly, the gargantuan creature turned toward me, and I drew my Esotech pistol from its holster. My breath caught in my throat as I waited for the Bull of Heaven to act. Perhaps I could interrupt the Bull’s beam attack if I timed my shot correctly. For several long seconds, I stood there, but no attack came. The Bull’s gaze crossed over me, but it kept turning as if I wasn’t even there.
Some memory in the back of my mind materialized, and I was suddenly acutely aware of what the Bull was doing. It wasn’t trying to kill anyone; it was just trying to clear land for the inevitable appearance of the [Fifth Greater Dungeon]. These buildings were just detritus standing in the way of the Great Tree that would rise high above that dungeon. It was heralding the inevitable rise of the Fifth Star Child, me. I was the rightful liege of the Bull of Heaven and every monster currently besieging this pitiful Human city.
I shook my head, violently clearing my head of Epsilon’s thoughts, before returning back to the group. Standing in cover behind Hamilton Hall, the three other surviving members of my group looked at me with unease, silently fearing the worst. Unfortunately for them, they were correct.
“The Threshold Guardian is here,” I said, and realization dawned in Carlos’s expression. “It used some kind of attack to destroy the nearby buildings. The Carolina Union and much of Davis Library are gone.”
An expression of utter, paralyzing fear descended upon Liz’s face. “B-but the survivors. There were nearly a hundred people in that building.”
They were all dead; there was no doubt. I knew in my heart that Professor Carlyle and everyone else hiding in the Carolina Union were dead.
“They might still be alive,” I said aloud. “The System might have warned them, and they might have escaped in time.”
Another deafening boom almost knocked us off our feet as the Bull of Heaven launched another beam attack.
Once the ringing in my ears had subsided enough for me to hear myself speak, I spoke again. “The Threshold Guardian intends to level all of Chapel Hill to make room for the [Greater Dungeon].”
“I’ll send a [Message] to Hellman,” Carlos said as he began navigating through his [Menu].
“Wh-what are we going to do?” Claire asked fearfully.
I fished my keys out of my pocket and tossed them lightly to Liz. Despite her shock, she caught the keys with fumbling hands. With a commanding voice, I said, “If we do nothing, we’ll be caught by one of those beams in a matter of minutes. Liz, my car is parked just behind Wilson Library. You and Claire will run and bring my car to the Pit while Carlos and I distract the Threshold Guardian.”
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I did not phrase this as a question, because I knew this was the only viable course of action. With their SDC bodies and weakened shields, the Bull of Heaven would kill Claire and Liz in one shot. Carlos couldn’t go with them to the car because his leg injury slowed him down significantly.
“O-okay,” Claire said, looking at the others who all nodded in agreement.
“What-” Carlos began, but I couldn’t hear the rest of his statement over the sound of the Bull of Heaven launching another beam attack. “What about you, Vincent? If you fight the Threshold Guardian, you could die just as easily as them.”
“No, actually. I just hit level 5. I’ve got 40 MDC protecting me.”
“All right,” Carlos said with a shrug.
With that, our group split in half. Carlos and I went left toward the Bull of Heaven while Claire and Liz went right toward my car. When the girls were out of earshot, a serious expression fell over Carlos’s face, and he said, “If things go south, save yourself, Vincent. I’ll hold it off while you run.”
I recalled the story Carlos had told me a year after I met him. He told me that most of his tuition was initially paid with a fencing scholarship. With some research, I found that he had apparently won a few fencing tournaments. Carlos was one of the best fencers in America until his injury. According to him, he tripped after an overextended thrust and tore the ACL of his right leg. With that injury, running wasn’t really in the cards for Carlos.
“Nah, we’ll be fine,” I said, drawing my Esotech pistol from its holster. “This little beauty will carry us through no problem.”
The two of us stepped out into the clearing surrounding the Pit. I tried to conceal the fear I felt when I saw that just about everything to the east of us was nothing more than rubble and dirt. Davis Library, that massive structure that had stood there since the ‘80s, had been completely destroyed. The Bull of Heaven had not moved from its previous position. It seemed to be interested in nothing more than charging and firing those destructive cone attacks.
Carlos drew his sword and threw his scabbard over his shoulder. He held his sword out and took an altered fencer’s stance where he put almost all of his weight on his back foot.
I knew that fighting against a giant monster with two pistols would inevitably cause Vinzadir to come knocking, but I couldn’t let that happen. Vinzadir didn’t know how my pistols worked. I needed something to keep me centered in the present.
Holding a hand out to signal for Carlos to stay back, I quickly pulled my phone out and began to play the first song I could find. An old big band song from the ‘80s began blasting at full volume, and I returned my phone to my pocket. That ought to work, I thought. Something so modern would keep Vinzadir at bay.
Carlos listened to the music for a second before smiling. “Groovy.”
As the music played, I drew both my pistols and prepared to attack.
[VINZADIR, LVL. 5 ELDRITCH ALCHEMIST & SLADER, LVL. 4 KNIGHT V.S. BULL OF HEAVEN]
VINZADIR, LVL. 5 ELDRITCH ALCHEMIST & SLADER, LVL. 4 KNIGHT V.S. BULL OF HEAVEN
[FIGHT!]
FIGHT!