Naran

I had rushed back as soon as possible. Both Fethee and Heba were positioned beyond the South gate of Purgatory. That would be the direction I would retreat in if I failed here. There was nothing for me to pick off. The Ritualist and engulfed the plaza.

The Airship Port was wrecked, the walls were also damaged as I passed by them. I circled to the Northeast where the level 3 bulbs were directing the majority of their attacks. It was as good of a signal as any as where I needed to go.

Hopefully Michael had managed to keep all his limbs this time. I swore the man had a death wish, losing them all over the place. First death with his left arm, then the Ritualist with his feet, and more recently his right arm to the Sky Worms.

Speaking of worms, I saw a very big one that had survived all the attacks. I looked around and no Michael, but I wasn’t worried about escaping. Once I acted, I was sure he would jump in as well. No matter what anyone else complained about the man, he was willing to put his neck on the line when it mattered.

I leapt off a building and brought my buster stick over my head. I then slammed it down on the metallic looking worm with all the force I could bring to bear. At the moment of impact, there was a loud clanging sound.

Despite being specifically reinforced and all metal, the handle of my sword bent slightly. The blade itself deformed a bit as well. The metallic scale was also bent slightly. I kicked off the side of the super worm and landed a distance away as it spun to face me.

Of course, the Ritualist had a nightmare as a pet. It lunged at me. A simple tap of my foot set me up into the air and onto a roof of a nearby building. My Body stat clearly allowed me to move much faster than the monster, but damage was the main issue.

“Fine, time to go all out,” I muttered and tossed my sword up into the air. “Imbue Reform.” I caught my sword and used the skill on the blade but didn’t activate it. I leapt off the side of the building and kicked off the wall. As I approached the ground, I kicked off the ground to increase my speed. I lowered my buster stick in front of me a like a spear.

The super worm spun, I leapt upwards and stabbed deep into the monster’s maw, full of razor-sharp teeth. The blade melded with the monster’s mouth, and it shook wildly. I pushed off the wedged blade, before the super worm could crush me. I landed on the ground once again. All the training I had done with Michael, paying dividends right now.

“Naran!” I heard a shout from Michael. I turned towards the city walls. He had run to the plaza and purchased several replacement blades for me. He began chucking them. His aim was terrible, but he had purchased around 10 buster sticks for me. One after another they slammed into the ground and buildings nearby. I raced over and grabbed the nearest one as the worm raced at me.

I easily pulled the blade free and whipped around. I used the momentum to kick off and carry me at the super worm again. This time when I rammed a blade into its mouth, it kept charging forward at a building. I pushed off the blade, then the side of the building right before the super worm slammed into it. I rolled along the top of its scales and then got back to my feet on top of it. The worm tried to roll but I easily leapt off.

Four hybrids leapt at me. I spun around delivering tight and quick punches. Their flesh exploded outwards from the force transferred to their bodies. I leapt towards my next sword Michael had so kindly thrown in my direction.

I had the measure of the monster now. It was just a very strong level 3 monster. Nothing I couldn’t handle. I drove blade after blade into its mouth as Michael kept throwing more of my buster sticks in my direction.

He probably wasn’t helping since the monster was resistant to his Acid Shot. If I was the Ritualist, I would have come up with something like that. But it wasn’t immune to getting giant blades rammed into its mouth. The was the problem with human opponents, they could innovate and create in order to adapt to one’s advantages.

The super worm let out a pitiful moan, its mouth a ruined mess. I noted the flesh trying to reform, but there was too much metal jammed inside of it. The monster was dying, it was only a matter of time before it dusted, since it didn’t appear to be a hybrid.

The side of the monster suddenly exploded outwards, scales, flesh, and viscera were scattered on the ground. Something leapt out from the worm.

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“Naran! Watch out!” I heard Champion Michael shout. I wanted to kick off the ground to get some distance, but why should I? There was no point. This was all so pointless. I missed my family, my old life. Tears began to run down my face. A mental attack! I kicked off the ground as a mechanical looking arm with white eyes, and ten fingers swiped where I had just been.

My mid-air leap was suddenly halted as I was slammed down into the ground by an unseen force. “Ahh!” I couldn’t help but let out a cry as I tried to recover.

“Air Burst!” I heard the familiar shout. I tried to move but the hand I tried to slap down on the ground to toss me away was jerked to the side. I was off balance and the Ritualist was too quick. Pointed puppet fingers dug into the side of my face and I lost control of my body. My entire body went limp. Fear gripped me, I knew I had screwed up big time.

Michael landed in front of me. “Ritualist, we meet again,” Michael said. I could hear the rage in his voice. He only spoke slowly like that when he was about to rage about something.

“Indeed we do. And it looks like I have caught your dog,” the Ritualist replied. My body was forced to let out a low groan as the Ritualist dug his fingers into my head. I tried to free myself but couldn’t move a toe or a finger. Even my breathing and the movement of my eyes was beyond my control. I would have been breathing in a panic, if it hadn’t been strictly under the Ritualist’s power.

“You kill him, I will melt you,” Michael said. I knew if it was anyone else, we would both be melting without hesitation. I was an idiot and got caught Michael. I could tell he was tempted to melt both of us regardless of the history I had with him. But he was holding back.

I saw the super worm moving and Michael was forced back.

Michael

Dammit Naran! I kicked off the ground rapidly as the super worm rolled towards me. I hated physical battles like this where I couldn’t just melt my opponent and I couldn’t retreat. “Air Burst.” I prepped the skill.

I scrambled out of the way as the worm swung its tail around, smashing a building. Fine, time to put on my big boy pants and win this fight. I leapt on top of the worm as it rolled for me again. There was the portion of flesh the Ritualist had burst out of.

I drove my hands into the scaleless gap. Acid Shot x5. The acid formed where it could. When trying to use the skill with a solid object in the way the ball of acid would form around the object in question before shooting off. With my hands in the monster, my range was extended into the monster. It wasn’t a person either with their energy acting as a barrier.

This worm was a summon. A strongly armored summon that was enhanced way too much. But at the end of the day it was still a level 3 summon. It had a gapping wound inside of it. My fighting the hybrids and summons constantly had given me some insight in how I might kill this thing. Originally, I was going to target where it had been wounded before by the bombs.

But then the Ritualist had given me the perfect opening. I wasn’t about to refuse his generosity. The acid formed inside the reforming flesh of the monster. It tried to roll and crush me. Air Burst. I shot away from the dying super worm and landed on top of a nearby pile of rubble. It took me a moment to get my balance.

Brownish red blood poured out of its mouth and the wound in its side was bleeding terribly as well. The worm struggled towards me, but it was clearly on its last legs. I looked around and saw the Ritualist and Naran enter Purgatory proper.

I kicked off the roof, leaving the dying super worm behind and raced after them. I could only hope that Naran would survive. Why did he let himself get captured?! At least he had provided the opening to kill the super worm, but the least he could have done was not get captured in the process.

I chased after them, not willing to use an Air Burst. I also noted the Ritualist was messed up with that arm of his no longer being human and missing an ear. His entire side was covered in blood, which was a good sign. Still, I wasn’t going to stop beating his corpse until I was sure it was dead.

I was not about to mess up again. The Ritualist entered the plaza with Naran carrying him. I noticed people were forming up in rows and that hybrids were there as well. Naran spun to face me with the Ritualist. I came to a halt in front of them. I noted the eerie silence from the sounds of battle just minutes ago.

“You have failed Champion Michael, I have won,” the Ritualist said with overwhelming glee. I am sorry Naran. Acid Shot x3. Naran leapt away before my attack could land. I could see the fear on everyone’s face.

“How?” I asked loudly. Taking control of people directly like this, shouldn’t be possible. This was going to be a blood bath fighting through all the people the Ritualist had taken control of.

“My skills have grown far greater than even you can imagine. For I am the puppet master, and you are my puppet. I have broken the chains of this, fake world,” the Ritualist said with an odd tilt to his voice. He was going completely unhinged. The fact he was clinging to Naran like a demented barnacle would make catching and killing him impossible. Naran you lost all your Michael points. They were revoked for being captured.

He should have killed himself instead of putting me in such an unfavorable position. We were going to be even on one of the times he had saved my life if he managed to somehow survive. There was only one hope now to win. Clarissa, what are you waiting for? It was time to step forward now and end this. There was no other way to beat the Ritualist and save Naran.

I hated that I hadn’t been able to win on my own power, but that was the power of having other people watch your back. They could step up when you couldn’t manage everything yourself. A hum began to resonate across the plaza and I smiled.