I watched as the few hundred remaining vassals filed down the tunnel. Already I could see the trees swaying as the approaching army pushed towards us.
“Ready to give them hell?” I asked.
“It will be nice to welcome them to our home,” Jeriah said dryly.
“Come on,” I said. “We need to give our people some time.”
I drew a knife along my hand drawing blood and black mist rose from my skin. Red lightning filled the black mist as I activated Storm Fall and took to the sky. Guinevere and Jeriah joined me in the air and together we streaked towards the army.
I did a fly by attack lightning and fear effects scouring the army. Jeriah had an acid barrage he could use and Guinevere’s ice attacks coated the battlefield in every imaginable ways. Exar’kun swept in from above and his breath attack torched the battlefield.
The heavy clang of Atlas Armor rang out as champions charged across the battlefield our attacks doing little against the Rank IV artifacts. I slipped to the side midair as a projectile the size of a telephone pole passed through where I had been.
More and more of the projectiles launched out many of different sizes. Even with all my damage reduction titles and abilities I still needed my torso and head attached to each other. I dodged and twisted through the air.
“Get out of here!” I shouted at Guinevere and Jeriah.
Exar’kun was already above the cloud layer, he wouldn’t be joining us underground. I could understand as a creature of the skies not wanting to get trapped underground with the rest of us. I kept their attention as I ducked and dropped out of the sky with shrapnel and elemental attacks that could send me to the ground or one-shot me whizzed past me.
Mordred, Guinevere said to me. We’re all underground get out of there.
Yes ma’am, I thought back and my body became a smoking crimson blur as I left the battle. I hit the ground and strode into the tunnel.
“Hell-Dragon’s Armory,” I said.
I sealed all but one of the tunnels behind me. Arthur would either have to use the tunnel I provided him which was a death trap or waste time creating his own. Either one would suit me fine. My eyes could see perfectly in the darkness but not everyone had that luxury. There were lanterns among the woman and children who didn’t have any mutations to let them see in dark creating little pockets of light here and there. They were moving spreading out as leaders picked by Jeriah and the Myrmidon Clan leaders led them down various tunnels splitting up to find safety.
I sat down beside Guinevere, she sagged with exhaustion as well. I rolled up my cloak putting it in my lap as she laid her head on it closing her eyes. I ran my fingers through her hair closing my own eyes as I sank into meditation to rest before the upcoming fight. My meditation soon turned to sleep as my exhaustion overcame me.
---
Arthur looked at the empty streets and houses of the small town and the abandoned castle. There was no question about where they had gone, the staircase leading down into blackness gave that away clearly there was also no way he was using those stairs. Already champions and soldiers with any ability to move or alter the earth were creating dozens of tunnels.
Arthur had heard of the Underlands before, but they were a place more of legend than reality, a cursed realm where even the System was blocked from entering. It was almost a mythological place, the kind of land used in a cautionary tale for children to warn them to always do the right thing. Now that place was becoming a reality, but Arthur couldn’t understand why Mordred would willingly go somewhere where he was cut off from the System.
The earth began piling higher and higher as the thousands of gifted got to work preparing to dig out the chaos spawn and his army.
---
A blinding swirling vortex of colors surrounding me as I tumbled down losing all sense of space or time. I was spat out into black empty expanse. I couldn’t tell how much time I spent there as I wandered feeling a familiar comforting hand in mine.
A dark mountain rose before me, was it always there or did I create it? I couldn’t tell. Silver trees, their leaves and trunks growing with light and dark fruit hanging from their bows grew across the mountain. Buildings appeared somehow looking like a ruin yet also as someone might step out of their home at any moment. A black and silver sun hung over the mountain as I looked behind me then turned as I heard the growl of some unknowable beast.
The creatures, whatever they were threw themselves against me and I could feel my bones breaking, my flesh torn my armor sunder as I held the line to protect that place. Death came for me and I…
--
I jerked awake the confusing nature of my vision still weighing on me. It was not the first or even second time I had seen that place, that dark expanse or mountain. I had thought it might be the outcome of my duel with Arthur, but that event hadn’t even been worthy enough for my Foresight to give any vision about it. Instead, my Foresight seemed fixated on that mountain on that place where it seemed fate wanted me to die at.
“Fuck fate,” I whispered.
“Hmmm?” Guinevere asked stirring in my lap.
“Nothing,” I said closing my eyes again.
I couldn’t fall asleep again. Now that I was awake, I could hear the digging, they were at least an hour away still but the vibrations from their abilities still thrummed through the earth. I stroked Guinevere’s hair as I listened giving her more time to sleep. Half-an-hour later she was awake too and we both stood and prepared for the attack. Minutes ticked by and finally I could hear them hammering against the stone that formed the wall and ceiling of the tunnel. We all moved back and prepared ourselves.
The azure edge of a massive sword cleaved through the stone as Excalibur cut a doorway loose. A mechanized armored boot kicked out and Arthur in his Atlas armor stepped into the tunnel. We opened up with our attack lightning, fire, frost, acid, and physical projectiles striking his armor.
The plates of the Atlas armor heated up, but Arthur charged forwards thousands of soldiers flooded in after him. Many died to the barrage of attacks but more and more poured in. I stood my ground waiting for Arthur to reach me. I let lightning fly and my spearheads strike piling bodies in the entryway but my feet didn’t move from where they were planted.
Dying Star: (Rank 1); Creates a ball of light within 75ft that deals Minor holy and fire damage to all targets within 15ft of it.
Upgrade this ability to increase the range at which can be cast and does damage. Each rank up increases your Mind Attribute by 1.
Cost:
20 mana
Casting Time:
Instantaneous
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I dismissed the notification as Excalibur swung for my head, and I bent under it my feet unmoving. I struck like a viper with one of my nemean clubs, using my Matador title to deal one more damage stage, Mark of Cain to increase the damage I dealt with weapons made of stone, and Feral Barbarian to increase weapons made of bone by one stage. My attack landed on the back of Arthur’s knee; the armor didn’t break but it did dent inwards. There was no flesh there, but the Atlas armor did stumble awkwardly.
Arthur spun blocking the next attack I made with Clarent as I activated Void Asura. I swelled in size as I used Jotunn Slayer to match Arthur in size. Movement was a bit awkward with our limited space but se danced back and forth our attacks landed on armor or parried.
“Face me,” Arthur challenged.
“Yes,” I growled dismissing the notification before it even fully popped up.
Arthur’s strength began to grow, and he tossed something down to the ground. A tether of energy hit me and a new notification popped into my vision.
You have been hit by a tether; you cannot move 60ft from this location the strength of the tether growing in strength in accordance with your Spirit attribute. Duration 90 seconds
I tried teleporting away but couldn’t the tether as the yanked me back. Arthur wasn’t just keeping me locked in place he was also keeping me from stepping in front of an attack to break the duel we were in. I had to stop using all my AOE attacks or I would suffer from breaking the duel. I had no other choice right now but to stay here and stick out my fight with Arthur.
The howls and screams of pain echoed through the tunnel. I took a quick glance and saw that despite being taken out of the fight my side was still doing quite well. Bodies were pilling into walls that the opposing force pushing down the tunnel was tripping over and trampling eachother as they tried to push past. Some tried burning the bodies out of their way and while this made space if filled the tunnel with smoke that all flowed back up the tunnel they were coming down.
Guinevere was not idle her blade slashing and cutting specters rising from every man or woman she killed and giving our sides more numbers. Arthur wasn’t ignorant of the situation either. His helmet amplified his sound and I could hear him growl in frustration as he moved back.
“Retreat!” he called out cutting his losses for now.
I stopped and waited as he fell back. The seconds ticked down until the tether dropped and I moved forwards closing off the tunnel. We started dealing with our dead and wounded the hundreds of specters looming around Guinevere faded into the ground as she had them wait for her to call upon them again.
“New trick from Arthur there,” I said. “I’ll be ready for it next time if he tries it again.”
“He’ll have more than one thing like that prepared for you,” Guinevere warned me.
“I’m aware,” I said nodding. “But I’ll have some tricks of my own prepared for them. How much time do you think we bought ourselves?”
“Just a few hours, Arthur is relentless; he’ll keep coming after you until he drops from exhaustion,” Guinevere said.
“That’s enough time,” I said.
I sat cross legged pulling out my stylus and drawing runes across the floor.
---
Arthur cut through the wall again and stepped into the tunnel. Silence greeted him and his hair stood on end. Looking around he could see the tunnel bend and go on in both directions. More and more soldiers poured in and more champions in Atlas armor filed into the tunnel.
Princess Helen moved up beside him her own silver and white Atlas armor gleaming in the darkness.
“Where is he?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Arthur said. “But I don’t like it.”
“Let’s keep moving,” Helen said her armor rippling as a shiver went down her spine. “I don’t want to be down here any longer than I have to.”
They moved down the tunnel, thousands filling the tunnels. A scream tore through the air as inferno of fire engulfed a squad of men. Panic spread and the tight confines did nothing to help it amplify the screams so no one could hear each other as runes flared to life along the floor. Lighting, fire and frost exploded outwards engulfing squads. Holed appeared in the walls and spears and arrows shot through them.
Arthur charged the wall, cutting through it to reveal another false tunnel behind it. A boulder the size of a millstone struck Arthur in the chest launching him backwards as Mordred unleashed a storm of stones and spearheads controlled by telekinesis flew down the tunnel. Pushing himself back to his feet the glowing azure edge of Excalibur met the scarlet lightning of Clarent.
Guinevere moved forwards her specters rising out of the floor stabbing upwards into unarmored sections. Helen turned and faced her. The blood from all the dead and dying staining the lower half of her Atlas armor red the two woman both stained with blood now.
“Cousin,” Guinevere said.
“Guinevere, how can you be doing this? How can you have sided with everything we fought against?” Helen asked.
“You can’t understand,” Guinevere said. “But you maybe you can understand this; I don’t want either of our children to grow up without a father.”
“My husband isn’t a mass murdering lunatic,” Helen snapped back charging her.
The woman focused singularly on healing was gone. It had been months since they had last spoke and Helen had pushed herself since then, gaining new abilities to broaden her skills. Her staff swung down, and Guinevere spun under it. The massive size difference wasn’t as much a benefit in these tunnels as it would have been on an open battlefield.
Guinevere didn’t take it easy on her sword, freezing the joints of her armor as she ducked and dodged every attack that came her way with seemingly effortless ease. Helen was good, but Guinevere was a prodigy, and it would take more than a few months of intense training to catch up with her. Helen stumbled as the internal parts in her left knee gave out. Guinevere hit her with another attack and Helen fell to the ground before she could get back up Guinevere ripped open the pod door to the Atlas armor putting her sword to Helen’s throat.
“Stand down Helen,” Guinevere commanded.
“Or what?” Helen asked. “You’ll kill me like you killed…”
“My father?” Guinevere asked as Helen trailed off. “Yes, I will.”
A wild war cry sounded out as Atrel lunged forwards a spear in hand. Guinevere blocked his attack, yanked him forward and severed his hand. Her sword rested at his neck now as she held him down with a boot on the ground.
“I don’t want either of our children to grow up without a father,” Guinevere said looking from Atrel back to Helen who stared in terror and fear as she struggled to get out of the straps holding her inside the Atlas armor. “Don’t come after me again and try to take my husband from me, or your child will grow up never knowing theirs.”
--
I blocked the strike of Excalibur, Arthur tried to throw down another one of those tethers, but I grabbed it with my telekinesis and flung it away before it could bind me down. I teleported back taking a strike along my abdomen from a spear from a soldier. The attack only drew a scratch, but it was enough to break the duel.
Lightning blasted out and began cooking soldiers in their armor. Stone spearheads began stabbing from below soldier’s shields or hitting them from behind as they flew through the air like a swarm of hornets. As soon as I entered the battle proper the tide of bloodshed flipped in our favor, these tight confines favored us and their superior numbers were all useless up on the surface right now.
Shield Charge: (Rank 1); While a shield is equipped you move 12ft forwards in an instant dealing Minor bludgeoning damage to all targets in your path.
Upgrade this ability to increase the range of your charge and the damage dealt. Each rank up increases your Speed Attribute by 1.
Cost:
8 stamina
Casting Time:
Instantaneous
Your abilities, Lunging Strike and Shield Charge, have synergy with each other. Would you like to sacrifice these abilities to combine them into the ability Piercing Charge? Ability will be a more powerful combination of both abilities but will only get the standard amount of additional effects.
Yes / No
I selected yes. Currently both effects aren’t that powerful so upgrading them would hopefully give me a greater result.
Piercing Charge: (Rank 1); You flash forwards 20ft in an instant dealing Minor piercing and bludgeoning damage to all targets in path and x.2 damage on the final attack.
Upgrade this ability to increase the range of your charge and the damage of the final attack. Each upgrade increases your Speed Attribute by 2.
Cost:
12 stamina
Casting Time:
Instantaneous
I dismissed the notification and blocked a strike from a random attack. Arthur charged forwards to reengage me but stopped. I could see what had stopped him. Helen was down on the ground with Guinevere standing over her the pod door to the Atlas armor open.
“Fall back!” Arthur shouted, charging forwards.
I shot forwards pulling Guinevere out of the way as Arthur rushed in. He dragged Helen in her Atlas armor back as the soldiers fought a retreat; my own vassals making them pay for every foot they fell back. I let them retreat for now. I checked Guinevere over, but she was uninjured.
“We did good,” Guinevere said.
“Yeah,” I agreed but felt uneasy. “Which means Arthur will be thinking of a new way to fight us, he won’t try to match us strength for strength again.”