Duke Xander Marth, the Nemesis Hunter, was an intimidating sight to behold. His aura of malevolence was no less palpable since the first day I had the misfortune of seeing him in all his unholy glory. Even from the back, his mere presence seemed to infect the majesty of the forest around him. He was a ghastly shadow posing among the living. His void-black plate mail, with its many jagged spikes threatening to easily catch either steel or flesh if one ventured too close, looked straight out of a horror movie. As I watched, his mailed fists thrust skyward, releasing a sphere of roiling plasma rocketing towards one of the many platforms overhead.
At first, I had only eyes for the Nemesis Hunter. Before us stood the man who casually snuffed the life of Stella’s dearest friend, allowed goblins to raid my home of Winterfalls, causing a slaughter of defenseless innocent souls, and was ultimately responsible for my parent’s deaths. His condemnable actions were all an attempt to uncover an Accelerator to further his goal of rising beyond this world, all at the expense of everyone else. For the life of me, Duke had no redeeming qualities. He was vile and cruel like a serrated blade eager to rend flesh.
We knew which Accelerator Duke was hunting. It had been Stella all along and only chance caused him to overlook her. She was his ultimate goal, and there was no way I would be handing her over. She meant more to me than he could possibly imagine. I doubted Duke cared for anything but his own satisfaction. He would never know love or friendship.
Duke’s fireball and the subsequent blast far overhead finally tore my attention away from the armored warrior long enough for me to take in our surroundings now that we had a clear line of sight. Dozens of fires raged several hundred feet in the air looking as if Duke had randomly thrown fireballs at anything that caught his penetrative gaze. The city of Quarris was on fire. But, it was not undefended. Though many of the massive wooden platforms strung between the giant sequoias burned, most of the fire was being dispelled by sleets of rain and biting ice. The elves had mages aplenty, though I doubted any came near the power of the foe casually flinging death from the forest floor.
Countless elves stood staring down at Duke from elevated wooden platforms strung with incredibly thick ropes to secure them against the forest’s giant sequoias. Each platform varied in height and thickness. It must have taken decades to create the grand city of tree houses, verandas, and terraces linked by hundreds of rope bridges spanning across the sky like a giant spider’s web. Though we could only see a small portion of the city from our limited position, it was not hard to imagine the city presumably spanned several miles off to the east and south.
Arrows rained down by the hundreds, slicing through the air beside magical bolts of lightning, and pulses of arcane-infused orbs, all racing towards the singular threat. Duke was not content to only throw overpowering fireballs around. With a series of articulate gestures and flicks of his wrist, his much deadlier bolts of electricity twisted through the air to find new targets. Next came cutting blades of wind sharp enough to slice through armor, planking, and flesh with equal ease. Nothing short of the massive redwoods themselves had any hope of slowing their menacing flight. Duke’s repertoire of arcane magic dwarfed my own, even in the short ten seconds I stared in amazement as he through spells of every element.
Blackened bodies, some with limbs severed by wind blades, others seizing and convulsing from a demented spell, fell from the sky to slam against the forest’s undergrowth with sickening crunches. Those few not instantly killed by Duke’s deadly spells had no surviving such a perilous hundred-foot fall. My gut wrenched when several elves, looking little better than living torches, flung themselves off their platforms to end the misery they were suffering.
Duke laughed when one such poor soul slammed into the ground a few feet away from him. Bones and limbs protruded at unnatural angles and, even though the elf was clearly deceased, an arcane word from Duke, along with a belligerent thrust of his hand caused the body to explode as if a grenade had detonated within the elf’s chest. A shower of sanguine horror was thrown out in all directions but, instead of splashing across Duke as I had been expecting, the blood landed harmlessly on a semi-visible translucent spherical barrier.
Unlike the last time, I came face-to-face with Duke, when he was surrounded by heavily armed and armored guards within the capital city of Allerton, the elves of Quarris were having better fortune than those soldiers did. Though a large portion of arrows plinked harmlessly off his mana barrier, several were able to breach the magical protection, only to then ping harmlessly off his suit of armor. Harmful spells of lightning, ice, and arcane had a better time of it, though Duke seemed to shrug those attacks off as well. He was a titan standing unconcerned against an advancing hurricane.
Duke’s raven black hair was tied in topknot reminiscent of old Japanese samurais. What little of Duke’s bronzed skin was visible, between his obsidian plates which seemed to pull in the light around him, was surprisingly unblemished. An impressive feat considering the multitude of spells and unfriendly projectiles constantly slamming into him from above. Either he was fortunate none of the attacks had been able to touch his body, or he had impressive regenerative abilities. Pondering the man’s capabilities, the thought prompted me to fully inspected my rival. The last time we saw him before we teleported away from the capital, we only got a brief glimpse of his information. As we remained, thus far, undetected, we finally got a complete picture of the man’s capabilities as he continued to sling dark magic.
Duke Xander Marth the Nemesis Hunter, Scourge Titan-Lord (Level 30 MAX Human Hunter)
Health 24,032/24,964. Mana 13,122/17,525. Stamina 9,670/9,800.
Active Abilities – Juggernaut Resolve, Vampiric Grasp, Smoldering Duplicant, Infernal Surge, Sanguine Blood, Rune Weapon, Scourging Touch.
Seeing the names of his domineering abilities felt like a hand reaching into my chest and grabbing hold of my heart. While we couldn’t afford to delay our ambush against Duke any longer than necessary, as elves continued to die by the score, we needed as much information as possible before engaging. Perhaps we could find, as unlikely as it seemed, a weakness in the man’s impenetrable armor. Mentally probing the System for detailed information on each ability, I directed the data to flow into my consciousness instead of reading the information line by line to save as much time as possible.
Juggernaut Resolve – You are able to ignore all but the most overwhelming magical and physical attacks. While this does not diminish the damage sustained in any way, you experience only a slight sensation of numbed pain.
Vampiric Grasp – Each melee attack with your attuned weapon drains health proportionate to the total damage inflicted on a living target. The target’s blood must make contact with your weapon, creating the necessary conduit, for this ability to take effect.
Smoldering Duplicant – Your brief touch with the infernal has altered you. Once per day, you are able to create a living-flame duplicate of a single minion, pet, familiar, or similar entity. Your summoned companion perfectly matches the target minion’s physical capabilities, while its active abilities will be modified to equivalent infernal variants.
Infernal Surge – Your repeated exploration into the infernal powers has marked your core. Once per day, you may call upon this brand for a burst of accursed healing which restores you to maximum health and reduces the duration of all negative aliments and detrimental effects upon you.
Sanguine Blood – Every drop of your blood has been augmented, becoming denser and far more potent. Your maximum health is increased by 25% and any healing effect with an aspect of blood heals you for an additional 25%.
Animated Runic Weapon – Furthering your bond with your attuned weapon, you can transcribe mystical runes which allows you to temporarily animate it. The living blade will attack any target you designate with 75% of your fighting prowess and skill.
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Scourging Touch – You have fundamentally tied your being with the infernal, saturating every melee attack with your attuned weapon with fiendish ferocity. Even the lightest touch with your wretched weapon causes additional abyssal fire and shadow damage while also leaving behind a festering wound.
Duke’s abilities were as astounding as they were powerful. Not only would his sword drain health, as long as it drew blood which was a near certainty with how devilishly sharp it looked slung across his back, but would also inflict increased damage because of his scourging touch ability. Going even further, his sanguine blood ability boosted his weapon’s life-draining ability. As if that wasn’t enough, those same blows would also leave a necrotic damage over time effect which, unless I missed my guess, was probably as powerful as some of my own spells, if not more so.
That’s not to mention Duke was able to create a flame-variant copy of either Ripley or Lowki which would be just as powerful as either of them. I could only hope Ripley’s tier-two enhanced minion status would nullify the ability from working properly. It would hardly seem fair for a single ability to copy what was gained only through a Hunter tier advancement.
Then, there was Duke’s ability to bring his wicked blade to life as if the man himself was wielding the cursed weapon. Even at seventy-five percent of Duke’s proficiency with the blade, it would still be a monster in its own right. With the ability, Duke could summon his weapon to attack a foe, while he sat back and slung devastating spells at whoever was foolish enough to engage him. Instead of fighting one foe, you would be facing two, one an intangible melee attacker while also being bombarded by another with deadly magic. Hopefully, the animated sword wouldn’t have too far range, but as it appeared to have been gained from his tier four Hunter advancement, I wouldn’t be holding my breath.
Duke’s ‘attuned’ weapon sat affixed to his steel-clad back, clinging there as if magnetically attached. Black as the void, it was difficult to make out all of the long sword’s intricacies. From our limited vantage point, the ebony pommel was shaped like a devil’s snarling face, though it could have simply been a fearsome beast with how dark the metal was. The hilt’s length was closer to a hand and a half sword and the grip was wrapped in dark leather with blood-red stitching. The upswept guard was capped on both tips with opaque rubies, looking as if both were lifeless devil eyes. The blade, from the ricasso, fuller, and the tip was made from the same inky-black metal as Duke’s plate mail.
Duke’s weapon perfectly embodied the lethality rolling off his body as if anything nearby would start to wither and die. This was a man who was as dangerous as an entire armada, yet wrapped into a singular being. With the shocking synergy of his many talents, only a single potential weakness stood out to me, his juggernaut’s resolve. If my inkling was correct, I could possibly turn his strength into a weakness.
Turning to Stella, I whispered my question, hoping she would confirm my suspicion. “Stell, will my DoTs go largely unnoticed because of Duke’s juggernaut resolve?”
Stella’s eyes flicked to the ground in serious contemplation before shooting back to me. With an excited and wide-eyed expression, she confirmed my guess. “Yes!” she whispered, her voice tight with excitement. “The initial damage and subsequent ticks deal less damage than direct damage spells like those bolts of lightning and ice spears, so he probably won’t notice them right away.”
“Okay, then here’s my plan…” I said to my huddled team, quietly laying out my idea. Tallos, Lowki, and Ripley would hold still and only engage Duke directly when he became aware of our presence. I readied myself. Our countless uphill battles, our extensive dedication to improving ourselves, everything all came down to this. Either he would die, or we would. We would have no way of retreating. It was all or nothing.
“Don’t start with scent of decay,” Stella quietly stated as I began pulling up my sleeves. When I shot her a questioning look, she elaborated. “He, or more likely his Accelerator, will probably detect the spell right away since it doesn’t inflict damage. It’s also rather obvious since, you know, it explodes like a rotten watermelon on contact. It’s not worth it, plus with it being only a minor spell I doubt it will do much against his tier four resistances.”
Starting my initial casting, Stella turned to Lowki who was crouched beside Ripley to give one final instruction. “Lowki, do whatever you can to not get hit by that devilish sword. His drain will affect you, but not Ripley,” she instructed with a tilt of her head towards her skeletal friend. It was good advice.
Though the liberal use of my quick cast skill, by the time Stella finished her sentence, Duke had synaptic toxin, blood boil, wyvern sting, ignite bones, arrested affliction, and soul leech ravaging his ample health pool. In less than five seconds, all but my newest two DoTs, other than minor acidic bolt and poisoned breath, were ticking away at Duke’s health every six seconds. Slowly, his body would be ravaged with a destructive mix of arcane energy and, with any luck, would go unnoticed due to the man’s juggernaut ability. Meanwhile, my newest spells, pyroclastic funeral pyre, and gnawing blizzard, would be held in reserve until he realized he was under siege.
Sadly, Duke’s resistances were as impressive as predicted and, while he didn’t so much as flinch or twitch his head as each spell landed, he partly resisted nearly every lesser-tier spell. Though it was a risk, as soon as my rotation of spells was completed, I went back into spell casting in the hope a second time would do the trick. To further the goal, I pushed extra mana into those resisted spells via dual casting this time around. Not only would it enhance the damage inflicted every six seconds, but the extra oomph could help circumvent whatever magical resistances he had.
My efforts rewarded another three spells landing fully. Only ignite bones and arrested affliction were resisted this time. With the infernal blessing Duke appeared to have, my ignite bones would probably never take hold fully, so I opted to focus only on getting arrested affliction to land.
As my latest attempt, magical energy crashing into Duke’s shield, he flinched and peered around himself briefly. Thankfully, with the continuing barrage of attacks from above, he returned his complete attention to the elves. He may have had an inkling something was amiss but with his extreme confidence, he was not overly concerned. Redwood bark and twigs crunched under his ebony sabatons as the wicked man continued to fling devastating spells with enough mirth it seemed to everyone Duke was overjoyed from the act of murdering innocent people.
Though my actions went unnoticed by the Hunter, his Accelerator was not so easily fooled. Resembling a fledgling raven, it must have decided to check on things itself. Rising from the man’s shoulder, twin beams of azure light shone from its eyes as it began scanning everything in a counterclockwise rotation. Back when I first saw the small device, when I was still an unwitting NPC cowering behind a bush, the Accelerator had spotted me but stated to its master I was ‘nothing significant.’ Duke’s Accelerator had deemed me worthless.
Today, that opinion would no longer be true, far from it.
Knowing we had little time before our position was discovered, I combined quick cast and dual cast into my strongest DoTs. First, pyroclastic funeral pyre, quickly followed by a gnawing blizzard. We were right at the edge of the range of both spells, a paltry fifty feet, but with how overbearing Duke appeared, even at this distance, we would soon require every drop of damage we could inflict.
The moment his Accelerator locked on to our location, Ripley would shoot forward faster than an Olympic runner with her curved sword and silvery shield embossed with a foaming mug leading her charge. Likewise, Lowki would leap across the distance like a cannon ball fired from a nine-pounder off the deck of the Moon Siren, ready to rend flesh and impale my nemesis with poison-barbed quills. Tallos, crouching with his enchanted bow already fully drawn, would send a mighty barrage as fast as elvenly possible.
When the funeral pyre landed, Duke’s feathered Accelerator spin noticeably increased, its gaze was nearly on top of us. When a gnawing blizzard created a wintry tempest, engulfing the hateful man in a torrent of ice, those piercing high beams instantly latched onto us.
About to shout for an all-out attack against the madman, who would soon be informed of our presence, Stella visibly shuddered in the corner of my vision. Fearing she was under some type of assault, I risked looking at her directly. Her words tight with effort, she halted the impending attack. “Trying… to stop… his Accelerator… from notifying...” It was all she could manage as her face grimaced as if she was lifting a hundred-point weight.
Knowing she couldn’t hold her AI counterpart at bay indefinitely, and with every DoT ticking away at Duke’s massive health pool, I pulled out two items from my inventory. First was my defense-busting crescent-moon flintlock dueling pistol. The second was my wand of grasping roots. A viscous blob of roiling thorny vines leaped away and, a split second later, an explosion rocked the forest floor as I pulled my pistol’s trigger sending a piercing bullet rocketing at our mortal enemy.
As soon as both projectiles were inches away from crashing into his back, Duke's defensive shield flared to life. An arrow from Tallos crashed into the barrier just over the small of Duke’s back. The ranger had been aiming for a gap between his breastplate and plated arming belt. Ripley and Tallos sprung from cover, tearing across the distance toward the deadliest opponent any of us had faced so far.
As for me, as soon as I pulled the trigger of my pistol, I quick cast one of my favorite spells. Even though we only had a single target, the crackling bolt of energy about to crack to life, would deliver a small fraction of the seething fury raging in my chest for who could very well be the worst Hunter in existence. To add insult to injury, I duplicated the chained lightning instantly by tapping into the magical properties of my new magian tiara of twin cast.
Our war between life and death, at long last, had truly begun.