My weapons snapped out as I spun about me in in the air cutting down the angels as quickly as they spawned. Below me the webs covering the fortress were thick with the things some still thrashing before being stilled by spears to the heart or fangs to their necks. I had killed over a thousand of the angelic humanoids with Void Asura active. Unending Flow had reached its max percentage bonus and I had gained a little over twenty-seven Ethereal per second to my regen rate as well as nearly three-thousand to my max Ethereal.
Blood and Souls (Repeatable): Kill 20,480 monsters or humanoids. Current Progress 11,246 out of 20,480. When you complete this quest, you will gain 4096 Rank Points, and the next quest will require double the amount to be completed but will award double the rank points.
The horn finally blew out across the sky, the remaining angels falling to the ground below as they lost their animating life force.
The World Boss Decay has spawned
Decay is the World Boss of this raid and represents the Vastitatheon. As long as the boss is alive every one of its minions on the field will be stronger and will spawn in greater numbers, kill the boss to reduce the difficulty of this wave.
The ground rumbled once again as creatures crawled out of the earth. At first I thought they were wearing armor made of bone but then I realized that they were all just made of bones. A large skeleton serpent with a humanoid torso instead of a head and multiple arms pushed itself out of the dirt its tail dragging a massive cauldron behind it.
Decay, Gifted- Undead/Naga-Queen (World Boss), Hero, Rank: 700
Close to three dozen nearly identical naga creatures in bone armor surrounded the World Boss forming a defensive perimeter around her.
Naga Death-Knight, Elite Raid Monster- undead/death-knight (Dungeon Creature), Hero, Power Level: 550
Decay began waving her hands and the thousands of corpses across the battlefield crawled back to their feet a pale green glow to their eyes as they began rushing towards the fortress. Angelic ghouls took to the skies as renewed the goal they had in their past life. A dark mist crept up from the ground approaching the fortress. One of my vassals still outside the walls fell to the ground coughing and choking as the mist swirled up his body and flowing into his lungs.
Swooping down I snatched him up smacking his chest driving the mist out of his chest. I tossed him back inside the fortress. The mist traveled up my legs and went down my throat. I could feel the poison try to eat into my lungs, but I had Venom Resistance III and blew it out like a smoke ring meeting the eyes of the World Boss as I did so. She stared me down from across the battlefield, her hands never stop there gestures as she waved them above the cauldron.
“Ready?” I asked my strike force through my helmet.
“The monsters are getting to be on the same level as the first World Boss,” Jeriah said. “They don’t have the abilities, but their Attributes are outstripping all of ours.”
“There is nothing for it but to continue,” Korsis said.
I shot into the air towards the World Boss, the heavy wingbeats of Exar’kun drawing closer. Bolts of green light shot up from the death knights around cauldron and I spun around them teleporting down to the ground. I rolled under the crack of skeleton snake tail that struck at me like a whip.
A bone spear stabbed down at me, and a flail swept down towards me. I turned incorporeal and phased through the weapons as I assaulted one of the death knights. They were not quick or easy to take down; my body was a blur as I attacked ripping through its bone armor and taking apart its skeleton.
More and more of the undead veered off from heading to the fortress and sprinted towards me. Phantom Form ended and it had a five second cooldown before I could activate it again. A bone sword slid off my skin as I turned to the side letting my armored skin take the hit as I blasted everything in range with Chain Lightning.
My strike force cut through the horde of undead and began pushing past the World Bosses bodyguards. I shot through the air twisting around their weapons as I took on the World Boss by myself. It was forced to stop conjuring more undead and drew four bone sickles.
Our weapons hit as we blocked, parried reposted trying to break past the other’s guard. Despite its power the System either couldn’t or hadn’t given it a real mastery of swordsmanship. I was better with my weapons, but it had the advantage of higher attributes. I used my spear to vault through its guard hitting it in the chest with both of my feet. Flames engulfed us both as Exar’kun hit the ground like a comet and unleashed his breath attack over the World Boss.
Her defenses began to weaken as the flames continued non-stop. My claws and sword slashed out in a blitz attack as I activated the boost from my boots and ran circled around it vaulting her tail with each pass. I brought all of my weapons down on the vertebrae of its spine, nearly disconnecting its tail from its body.
She reeled back slashing at me with her sickles, but it was like trying to swat a fly with your hand as I easily ducked and weaved in-between her strikes with superior speed. The fire had not stopped, and my strike force began peppering her with attacks engaging with her as she struck at them with her tail. My own blitz attacks and those of my vassals were too much for her with her weakened defenses and she was quickly crumbling under the strikes. It also didn’t help her that I had a title especially for fighting undead creatures just like her.
Rolling under the swing of her bone sickle I drove my spear through her chest and both my swords into her skull. The bones all across the World Boss’ body shattered and fell to ground in patch of white and grey mulch.
350 rank points gained.
I stood breathing heavily ending the speed bonus on my boots and enduring the backlash as my Speed attribute dropped.
You have defeated the World Boss, Decay, reducing the number of spawns for the rest of this wave.
Blood and Souls (Repeatable): Kill 20,480 monsters or humanoids. Current Progress 9,885 out of 20,480. When you complete this quest, you will gain 4096 Rank Points, and the next quest will require double the amount to be completed but will award double the rank points.
Still no new abilities, it was disappointing, but the rank points would have to suffice for a reward.
“Get back to the fortress and rest up,” I said to my strike force. “This was a good match up for us be we can’t expect any more like this so prepare yourself for the next wave. I’ll handle the rest of these.” I gestured out to the horde of undead bearing down on us.
“Don’t you need to rest?” Jeriah asked, looking me over with concern.
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“The more I kill the stronger I get,” I said waving him off. “As long as I have enemies to slay, I can go for days without sleeping.”
Lightning and flying spearheads and weapons surrounded me in a storm of violence as I plunged into the swarming ghouls. I was briefly filled with feeling of nostalgia for when I’d first come to this world and my early days of doing this exact same thing. Teeth and claws broke against my skin as I they tried to bring me down with sheer numbers, but numbers was what I excelled against. People like Arthur were perfect against creatures like World Bosses, he probably could have soloed one if the backlash for doing so wouldn’t kill him afterwords, but he couldn’t do what I did, his kit just wasn’t built for it just I as I wasn’t really built for one-on-one duels.
Ghouls practically exploded on contact when I hit them with my weapons. With Voidra and Karnen fighting with me none of the undead could lay their claws, bone weapons or swords on me as they shattered on the void armor over the black spectral limbs.
Claws shot out as I crushed a ghoul’s head my spear, and two swords spinning in my hands as I blazed through the continuously spawning army. Clarent left my enemies burning while Thorn let their black ichor spill out onto the blood marsh of the battlefield. The dead were so many they lay like a carpet stacked one atop the other. The attacks against me stopped and I looked about my vision sharp and focused without its usual blood red tinge.
Blood and Souls (Repeatable): Kill 20,480 monsters or humanoids. Current Progress 13,553 out of 20,480. When you complete this quest, you will gain 4096 Rank Points, and the next quest will require double the amount to be completed but will award double the rank points.
As my battle ended for the moment the System took the opportunity to tally up my current quest progress showing just how many undead, I’d been killing for the past three hours. The horn blew out and the few remaining undead collapsed to the earth as this raid ended.
The World Boss Warden has spawned
Warden is the World Boss of this raid and represents the Fysitheon. As long as the boss is alive every one of its minions on the field will be stronger and will spawn in greater numbers, kill the boss to reduce the difficulty of this wave.
A roar shook the earth and dark storm clouds above. I realized they’d been forming for some time, and I was soon going to be receiving my typical electrical treatment, those choices I’d made with that ability seemed to make less sense with every storm I drew my way.
My head snapped towards the forest ten miles to the south. My vision narrowed as my many pupils contracted telescoping my vision out across the battlefield to see the distant trees of the forest. A massive creature the size of an elephant stepped out of the forest, its stripped fur and massive dark red mane making it stand apart from the brown and green behind it. It was something I had seen before, if a much smaller version of it.
Warden, Gifted- Mage-beast/Nemean Lion (World Boss), Hero, Rank: 800
“Well… fuck,” I said as the World Boss came sprinting towards us.
More creatures emerged from the forest, giant cats, deer, moose, wolves, and bears, some normal, others fantastical in their appearance. There were also some humanoids looking creatures, chimera, human and animal hybrids.
Satyr Archer, Raid Monster- humanoid/satyr (Dungeon Creature), Hero: 650
An arrow sped towards me, but Karnen deflected it with Thorn as I focused on the rapidly approaching World Boss readying myself to face it.
You nearly died the last time you fought this, Voidra said.
“But I didn’t,” I said. “Besides, I need a new cape.”
The nemean lion pounced while it was still a hundred yards away, its body blurring through the air. I disappeared teleporting above it and landing on its back. I drove Clarent down on its spine, but it skidded off only a bit of its fur smoldering as a response to my attack. Exar’kun did a pass by his fire flickering around me as he breathed out over the lion.
Its fur smoked on it but it gave no other response to being attacked as it bucked flinging me off into the sky. I stopped midair lighting flickering around me as I activated Storm Fall and shot back towards the earth to strike it full force with my spear. I rebounded off the lion and its paw snapped out its claws ripping through my skin only my void arms curling into to protect me keeping me from being eviscerated.
I hit the ground rolling for few yards before springing back to my feet. A wolf-like humanoid pounced on me knocking me back down to earth as we tussled.
Lycan Warrior, Raid Monster- humanoid/Lycan (Dungeon Creature), Hero: 650
Clarent appeared through the creature’s back, and I pushed if off of me stepping to my feet and shooting back into the air. I hung Clarent at my belt Janus and Thorn disappearing as I pulled out my remaining nemean Club. Exar’kun was on the ground, one of his wings bent at an odd angle more of my strike force moving into support him.
My body a blur of scarlet lightning I rocketed out under the nemean lion. My club slashed up as I dragged it along its under belly ripping through its skin and pouring out a torrent of blood across the ground. It howled in pain and dropped low spinning and lunging forward. Its teeth just missed my toes as I pulled myself into a roar and dropped down to the ground.
“Blood Renewal,” I said mist rising up to rapidly heal myself and Exar’kun of our wounds.
Warden rose back to its feet the gash on its underside already rapidly healing.
“Stop,” I commanded my strike force through my helmet. “I have the only weapon that can hurt this thing.”
“What do you need of us?” Exar’kun growled.
“Stand back for now, I’ll need you in a second,” I told them. “Hell-Dragon’s Armory.”
The earth under the lion grew soft as I tried to swallow it up, but it was too quick for that leaping free and landing a hundred yards away. I had expected this, so I wasn’t to disappointed as I stood with the links of a long chain in my hand. The lion was racing towards me again as I spun the links in my hand.
It pounced and I teleported appearing just under it as threw the chain like as lasso letting it wrap around its neck. I grabbed hold and dropped to the ground.
“Hell-Dragon’s Armory,” I said again. “Now! Hold it down.”
Stone flowed up my leg’s thighs, and torso as the hardened earth formed itself around me and deep into ground as I anchored myself. The lion still flying through the air hit the end of its chain and flipped its back hitting the ground. It clawed at its neck, but the chain had dug deep into its fur and skin. Despite its near indestructability the claws of the nemean lion could not cut through any material and scratched against the hardness sixteen links of the chain uselessly.
This did not mean I was having an easy time of it as the chains dug into the skin of my back pressing down on my collar bone through my pauldrons. I grabbed and pulled as the lion tried to put some slack in the chain. My vassals began piling onto it using abilities or their bare hands to grab its limbs and tail and hold them fast. Jeriah was sent flying as it kicked out with its leg.
I couldn’t worry about him now as I strained against the strength of the World Boss pulling the chain tighter and tighter around its neck cutting off its airflow. I could feel the ground straining under me as the lion tried to pull me from the stone encasing me. Blood dripped from my hands, but I couldn’t even feel the pain.
I pulled the chain tight the earth around me straining as the nemean lion tried to break free. I didn’t relent pulling the chain tighter and tighter, the links of it digging into the skin of my hands and I felt my own bones cracking from the strain of it. Finally, the World Boss went still as the last of its breath was used up and it gave into the suffocation.
400 rank points gained.
You have defeated the World Boss, Warden, reducing the number of spawns for the rest of this wave.
Blood and Souls (Repeatable): Kill 20,480 monsters or humanoids. Current Progress 13,555 out of 20,480. When you complete this quest, you will gain 4096 Rank Points, and the next quest will require double the amount to be completed but will award double the rank points.
I let the stone encasing me drop away the bruising around my shoulders and back fading in a few seconds. Some of my vassals were wounded, several near death.
“Blood Renewal,” I said letting the mist rise up to heal everyone. “Return to the fortress,” I commanded them as I blocked an incoming arrow. “Get the troops into formation to and ready, don’t overexert yourself we have eight hours left of this thing before it’s all over.”
Jeriah limped forward, his gait slowly steadying. “That last boss was rank eight hundred, they’ve each been going up by two hundred points, you know what that means right?” he asked.
I breathed out a sigh. “It means this next one is probably going to be Exarch Rank.”
“There is only one Pantheon left for it to come from as well,” Tobias said. “The Kataktheon, it will represent your own Pantheon.”
“We shall adapt as we must,” I said.
“And how many of us will have to die for you?” Jeriah asked.
“Have I ever asked for you to stand in my place?” I asked him sharply, staring him down. “When the time comes and there must be a sacrifice made, I will make it myself. You are not my countrymen, I have no love for any of you, but you are mine. I always protect what is mine.”