Gilgamesh slid to the side and his hand flew out to grab my wrist. Shadow claws from one of my other limbs lashed out at him and he was forced to yank his hand back a mere moment after stopping my blade. A presence appeared behind me, but I didn’t twist behind me to deal with it letting Voidra block the strike of the dagger with Thorn.
Lancelot rammed into me shield first but I braced and knocked him back. Kay came at me from the other direction spears stabbing up through the earth all around me rivers of blood running down my skin from the wounds they were able to inflict. An arrow exploded against my back liquid fire running down beneath my pauldrons as some sort of napalm burned over my skin. I weathered every strike then released a roar the shockwave of my voice knocking them back.
I rushed the wall of energy and slashed my weapons into it but they skidded off.
Dome of Reflected Strength increases its strength in proportion to the force used against it, you will not be able to break through, teleport or open portals for the next ten minutes.
“Where is Guinevere,” I snarled turning back around and moving forward.
The fight with these champions was a distraction, but since they were holding me back from getting to Guinevere and my child I would send their souls to their gods as punishment for standing in my way.
“She is safe,” Lancelot said. “You will never see her again.”
“There is no where safe with you people,” I said blocking another attempt by Ammerila to backstab me. “No rock you can hide under where I will not find you.”
Ammerila appeared to my right stabbing forward with twin daggers my spear spinning to block both strikes.
“Enough talk, its time to die already,” she snapped.
I grinned. “On that we are agree.”
I caught an arrow with telekinesis and dodged the fist of Gilgamesh as a spectral sword shot from the end of his fist. I punched up deflecting the ghostly blade and lunged forwards with my gauntlet sword. Lancelot appeared in his place blocking the sword with his shield and miraculously not go flying when my full strength hit him. Another arrow hit me in the back and exploded taking out a chunk of flesh.
I grit my teeth in frustration, their ability to block themselves from my Foresight was a major thorn in my side. I needed to increase my strength even farther. I had one ability left to rank up. I didn’t think it would be very useful but it would at the very least increase my Spirit attribute.
“System,” I said. “Upgrade Living Stone to rank twenty.”
I left Ares to handle the individual rank ups as I blocked attacks from all sides my five sets of arms moved from defense to assault in the span of single second. Abilities exploded against my side or bounced off my skin or armor leaving only minor scratches. I could see the dim shapes of a war being raged outside the energy dome I was trapped in.
Falcons descended from the sky clawing at my face and eyes but I didn’t even bother to brush them away my helmet keeping them off. Scarlet lightning shot out and the birds fell to the earth and my instances of Black Rage refreshed with the summoned kills. I stabbed Janus through Ammerila’s side and she fell back blood fountaining out of the wound as purple flames raced across her body. Lancelot raised his hand and her wounds immediately began to heal across her body.
“So you’re the tank and healer now,” I mused.
I needed to stop doing a straight up fight. There was no point holding back my cards I needed to show these champions that I was more than them. Lancelot charged forwards again with his shield and I braced my legs. He hit me and I caught the edge of his shield with my left hand. He tried to yank it free but weight and strength were on my side.
“Hell-Dragon’s Armory,” I said pushing eather into the ability.
White fracture lines began to spread across the shield and Lancelot’s eyes grew wide behind his helmet.
“That’s not possible,” he said.
I didn’t answer as I let my spirits keep up my defenses as I focused on shattering the artifact shield. Lancelot pushed forwards with desperate strength and he lifted me off the ground wings sprouting from his back made of white feathers. He took us up into the air and dropped us so we hit like a meteor. He took damage from the fall too but he’d managed to dislodge my fingers from his shield preventing me from destroying it. I raised a hand to blast him with lightning then saw something, a shadow inside the dome from another person trapped inside with us. Kalin.
Why is he here? I growled internally to Ares.
He’s been following you with the main army, Ares said. I didn’t realize he was this close though. I’m telling him to stay put now as long as he stays low he should be relatively safe.
I moved back to take the fight farther away from Kalin.
The champions were more wary of me now. They might not understand it but they had all seen me try to destroy Lancelot’s artifact shield. Gilgamesh appeared in front of me unleashing a flurry of unarmed strikes at my torso. He was far to cocky in his higher rank and I let some of the hits land before doing something I tried on Arthur once.
“Hell-Dragon’s Armory,” I said using one of my most powerful abilities on him.
Stone flowed up his feet and crept up his legs hardening as I trapped the man in place. He didn’t panic but he was forced to only defend himself and I could see his legs strain as he tried to break free from the earth. A spear bypassed my defenses hitting me under the armpit where my cloak didn’t hang and stabbing into one of my hearts. I staggered backwards snarling as my lifeblood drained out onto the ground.
Despite being physically stronger than them I was having the same problem Exar’kun had when he was hunted. A group of people prepared to counter most of my abilities and who had isolated me from outside support. I would not lie helpless on the ground reliant on someone else to save me, I promised myself. I grabbed Kay’s spear next time he struck at me and pulled him close.
“Hell-Dragon’s Armory,” I said again white lines traveling down the shaft of the weapon.
Lancelot hit me with his shield and my grip broke as he came in low this time accounting for my much greater weight. There attacks started coming in faster as they harried me like wolves. Without my Foresight I was forced to rely only one Tremor Soles to give me a split second to react as Ammerila repeatedly snuck inside my guard stabbing me sending venom flowing through my veins. My blood was draining from my body at a remarkable rate and I started to feel lightheaded.
I teleported away and downed one of my health potions something I hadn’t had to do in a fight for a long time. I didn’t need the healing so much as I needed more fluid for my body to replace its lost blood. I blocked Ammerila’s daggers a second before she could dig them into my side but Lancelot teleported swapping places with her just before I could counter attack with Bloody Riposte.
I wasn’t the only one getting injured but Lancelot was able to provide them healing. This would likely be a battle of attrition ending when Lancelot ran out of mana to heal them or until one side made a major error. Several minutes of non-stop fighting had already gone by far longer than most fights usually went. My duel against Arthur had been the longest fight against a single opponent ever most fights even against creatures like World Bosses done in only a few minutes with one side having to rapidly obliterate the other or be destroyed.
My opponents were flagging but they had time to move back and down potions to restore their health and mana and I couldn’t interrupt them thanks to the constant attacks against me. Gilgamesh had broken free of his stone shackles and was back in the fight his fist joining the torrent of damage I was taking.
A notification popped up in my vision for a split second but even that minor distraction was almost enough to get my head cut off.
Living Stone (Rank 20, Max Rank): You animate up to 15 tons of stone you shape to move and act as it were a living creature. The constructs will not take any actions unless you command them too, constructs can be inhabited by spirits to give them their own autonomous will the loyalty of your constructs will depend on the allegiance of the spirit inhabiting it.
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Your constructs gain a regain speed equal to your own repairing themselves of any damage they take.
Your constructs act as weapons gaining bonus damage dealt based on your titles and abilities.
Max Rank Bonus: Constructs will not deanimate until destroyed.
Cost:
20 mana per pound of stone
Upgrade this ability to increase the abilities of your living stone and its abilities. Each rank of this ability increases your Mind Attribute by 2.
At the moment I couldn’t see an immediate use for the new ability even with its upgrades, so I dismissed it turning my full focus back to the fight.
An arrow hit me in my collar bone burring itself up to its fletching before exploding spraying blood out as it took out a major artery. I teleported next to Mira, and she blasted me back with a blast of wind as she took to the sky her wings carrying her up to the top of the dome. Lancelot slammed into me again and I hit the side of the dome, a shocking sensation hitting me as the dome struck me with backlash.
Stunned for 30 seconds (Reduced by Troll Hide to 1 second)
That single second was enough. Ammerila appeared in front of me plunging a rune inscribed spike into my sternum.
You have been afflicted with Mana Binding; your own mana will restrain you for the next hour (reduced by Troll Hide to 36 seconds)
Even my limbs of void energy were held down as bands of black energy wrapped around me coming from withing my own flesh. I could instantly see what had happened, this spike would hold someone in place based on the amount of mana they had. My massive mana pool had been noticed by my enemies and they had planned accordingly using it to restrain me for so long that even my ability to reduce stuns and binding effects by ninety-nine percent could only reduce to it a little less than forty seconds.
30 seconds remaining on mana bindings
Ammerila slashed out again and again my throat being flayed open my blood spilling out on the ground. Arrows began peppering me from Mira.
25 seconds remaining on mana bindings
Lancelot hacked down into me with his sword joining in the attacks.
20 seconds remaining on mana bindings
Gilgamesh began beating on me, his fist striking my helmet again and again rocking my brain inside my skull again and again as my body couldn’t even move a centimeter even with the impacts against it. Only the superhuman strength of my flesh and skin from Troll Hide and the effect of Stygian Blessing from my pauldrons keeping them from just instantly killing me.
15 seconds remaining on mana bindings
Kay ran to the other side of the dome, and I was confused for a second until I saw his body and spear start to glow as he crouched in a runner’s stance. He was preparing a charge attack.
10 seconds remaining on mana bindings
“Move!” Kay shouted as he began to run towards me.
The bands of energy held me down as Kay charged forwards, his body blurring and the tip of his spear glowing and turning white hot. He seemed to be running in place of his legs moving in a blur, but he wasn’t moving across the ground at the same speed that should be generated by them. Whatever the ability was it would likely massively increase the damage of his next attack.
5 seconds remaining on mana bindings
There was no way for me to break free. I tried flooding my body with eather, but the bindings held. The spear tip was a second from impacting me then… a boy stepped in the way. The spear struck and Kay looked in horror at the child impaled on his spear.
“No!” I screamed and at last the binding ended as I caught Kalin’s lifeless body.
He had no last words I couldn’t do anything for him now his body instantly killed the moment the spear had hit him.
“Why did he…” Kay said the battle suddenly halted as everyone, but Ammerila stared at the dead child.
“Your death would have been quick,” I said the anger and grief clouding my voice. “But now… you will suffer as few have ever suffered.”
“I didn’t mean to…” Kay said but I wasn’t listening the blood pounding in my ears blocking out all outside sound.
My hand caught Ammerila around the throat and I tossed her with the force of a meteor crash against the ground hearing bones snap like twigs. I didn’t know if she was dead and didn’t care, the target of my immediate wrath right before me. My body began to swell in size as I used the effect of Jotunn Slayer to grow to twenty-five feet in height my weapons and armor growing in size with me.
Blood poured down in a fountain from my wounds.
Your body is Lethally injured and your regeneration has been temporarily blocked by an outside ability. Time until death 30 seconds.
Right now all thoughts of saving Guinevere were gone. Thoughts of living were non-existent all I had was rage. While I hadn’t been able to admit it while he still lived Kalin had been like a sort of son to me, someone who I could save from the life I had. And now his life was over.
The blade of Clarent rumbled the noise suppression around it not able to fully contain the sound from its increased size. I swung it down and the earth blackened. Ammerila drove her daggers into the skin above where my boots ended but my skin was four times as thick there.
Time until death 25 seconds.
Kay stumbled back barely dodging as he became my singular focus. Attacks landed against me but even my spirits were infected by my rage my link to them filling with the singular desire to destroy Kay. The earth shattered as my spear, sword and claws racked down.
Time until death 20 seconds.
My spear clipped Kay sending him flying into the side of the dome and it was his turn to be stunned.
Time until death 15 seconds.
Lancelot flashed forwards standing over Kay but I flung him to the side with sweep of my spear sparks flying off his shield as he crashed into the dome and was also stunned.
Time until death 10 seconds.
I drove Clarent down. Kay screamed as his artifact armor tried to resist the blade but lightning surged across his body making it spasm. He thrashed and screamed as his flesh smoked and burned.
Time until death 5 seconds.
Kay went limp and died and my wounds closed as my body repaired itself after the kill.
247 rank points gained.
Phalanx Commander (Rank 1): You are the leader of armies able to organize your troops into unbreakable ranks. While in a coordinated formation within 300ft of you your vassals deal Minor bonus damage with all attacks.
Rank up this ability to increase the bonus damage it grants and the range of its effect. Each rank up increases your Mind by 1.
The dome locking me in blinked out. Gilgamesh charged forwards; I was barely even aware of what was going on anymore the Shadow rising up to take control as my rage went rampant. Gilgamesh froze midair as I gripped him with telekinesis. I moved on Lancelot, slowly reducing my size slowly reducing as I reduced it to ten feet of height.
“Where is Guinevere,” I snarled my voice barely understandable.
Lancelot coughed blood as he pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll die before I hand her over to you.”
“No,” I said with merciless certainty. “You will break before you die.”
Gilgamesh screamed as my Telekinesis compressed him, blood running from his ears, eyes, and nose. With one last scream of agony his bones snapped in on themselves his broken rips stabbing into his heart.
349 rank points gained.
Lancelot raised his shield, but I swept his legs out from under him. Grabbing his shield, I didn’t try to break it this time, instead I placed a boot on his chest and with a twisting yank I ripped his arm off. Pulling out cautr fennel I packed the wound, and he screamed again as my other foot stepped down on his other wrist keeping him pinned down. I raised Clarent and hacked off a leg and he screamed again. I poured a healing potion down his throat and packed the stump of his leg with cautr fennel. I would leave him a cripple and he would beg to tell me where Guinevere was before I was done.
---
Mira tried to rush forward to Lancelot’s aid but a hand yanked her back pulling her into the shadows.
“Stop!” Ammerila hissed. “We couldn’t beat him with all five of us we can’t take him now.”
“He’s killing Lancelot!” Mira screamed headless of giving away their position.
“No, he isn’t,” Ammerila said. “While he is still alive there is still a chance we can save him. If you kill yourself in a futile rescue attempt you aren’t helping him.”
Mira’s eyes were wild but she forced herself to calm down.
“What do we do?” she asked.
“We need to find Arthur,” Ammerila said. “We need to get him back in the fight, he is the one whose come the closest to killing him and he’s probably the only one who can.”
The two champions disappeared into the shadows fleeing the burning city of Camelot as Lancelot’s screams joined the thousands of others as the city smoked and burned behind them.