Chapter 105 – Old Habits
“What the fuck was that-“ Jack started.
“You absolute fool,” Gideon said, stepping towards Jack.
Whatever was happening, the king didn’t care. He sent another volley of his machine gun feathers flying at both him and Gideon, and the giant bird sentinel came swinging in hard with his fists again.
Gideon simply held up his hand, and an enormous barrier of flames erupted out of the ground, blocking off everything. Jack stared at the barrier, which cut off both the king and the sentinel completely. Gideon had clearly been holding himself back so far.
“If you can conjure up barriers that can block a literal boss mob, then why the fuck aren’t you instant killing thes-“
“Who taught you a lifeforce technique?” Gideon asked, cutting Jack off again.
“What?” Jack asked, looking at the dragon, confused. “Why do you care about that?”
“Who taught you?” Gideon asked again, his face growing angrier.
“No one. I figured it out myself,” Jack shrugged, “and if you didn’t cold-cock me in the back of the head, the king’s head would be rolling around on the ground right now.”
“Do you understand the price you're paying for using such a technique?”
“Yea yea, it steals my life or whatever. I’ll have you know I upgraded my race, so I’ve got a few more years to spare.”
Gideon stared at Jack with an exasperated look before palming his head and letting out a sigh.
“Here I am going through all this trouble to make sure you don’t die, and you’re here trying to actively kill yourself with a lifeforce technique.”
“What do you care if I live or die? I feel like it would be better for you if bird boy back there takes me out.”
“And you think Sarah would forgive me if I let you die on my watch?” Gideon said matter of fact.
That brought Jack up short. It also annoyed the hell out of him. Here he was actively plotting Gideon’s death and this whole time the dragon was protecting him? The nobility of it all was enough to make Jack vomit.
“Listen,” Gideon said, throwing a nervous glance at the flaming golden barrier that was starting to reveal cracks as the giant crow sentinel slammed its fists into it, “don’t use a lifeforce technique on a fight as simple as this. Save it for when it really matters – I fear you don’t understand the price you're truly paying, but it isn’t worth this.”
Jack glanced over at Rodeo, who was simply listening with an intense curiosity, then back at Gideon.
“Fine. But this fight is going to take a little longer than. Distracting the bird monster is your job.” Jack said, picking his daggers up off the ground and pulling out his flintlock and tucking it into his belt.
“Your terms are agreeable.” Gideon smirked. Then he dropped his barrier and launched himself off the ground at the twelve-foot crow sentinel, a trail of golden flames in his wake.
Jack glanced up at the king, who was still hovering in the air. He had talked a big game, but using [Static Overdrive] in any capacity took a hell of a lot out of him. If he was tired before, he was exhausted now, his hands practically shaking as he squeezed his daggers.
“Forget it all Jackie-boy.” Came Rodeo’s voice. “I don’t care how tired you are, how much you want to quit. Just forget it all. None of it matters. I didn’t teach you to slow down or stop.” He growled.
The words lulled Jack into a familiarity he had long since forgotten. How many hundreds of times had he been at the knife's edge of some insane training that Rodeo made him go through, only for the man to sit on the sidelines taunting him? He never got to rest or relax when Rodeo was around. Rodeo simply pushed, and pushed, and pushed, searching for ways to break Jack and push him beyond his limits.
Jack ignored his labored breathing, his aching muscles, his tired mind. It was kill or be killed, and the only option for him now was to move forward. Jack fell into [Storm Stance], leveling his gaze at the king.
“A little help, if you don’t mind.”
Rodeo sent four of his jagged blades flying up towards the king, chasing him through the air and slashing at his wings. The king flapped his six wings hard and came crashing down like a jet, an enormous pole arm appearing in his hand that he used to try to run Jack through as he swooshed past him. Jack lashed out with strikes of his own, but the king was gone before he had a chance. The king took back to the air and swung around hard, Rodeo’s blades still trailing after him.
The throne room rumbled as Gideon exchanged blows with the hulking crown sentinel. Gideon seemed to be winning, but Jack couldn’t be sure. Every chunk he tore out of the monster simply regrew, more feathers appearing in its place. In addition, the monster only seemed to be getting stronger and faster the longer the fight went on.
“Jack!” Rodeo screamed, and Jack rolled out of the way again as the king came in for another pass. This time he came to a dead stop right as he flew past him and swung his polearm hard, slamming them into Rodeo’s pursuing swords and sending them crashing across the room. Jack pushed off the ground and launched himself at the king, but he disappeared in a flash, flying across the room with unprecedented speed.
Jack watched as the king moved with unnatural speed through the air. He could stop on a dime and change direction, reaching full speed again in an instant. He tore through the throne room, flying back and forth, diving in at both Jack and Rodeo in erratic unending attacks. Jack dodged and deflected as best he could, but each attack sent his hands flying backwards, leaving him open for another attack. Rodeo wasn’t fairing much better.
His flying swords were little competition to the speed and momentum of the king, and he had eventually taken to pulling out several more of the explosive barrels he had used before, using them to form a sort of protective minefield around himself. Which left Jack as the king’s only target.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Jack glanced behind him at Gideon.
“What’s taking so long?” Jack called back.
“He doesn’t have a core. It’s not fair, he just keeps regenerating! I suspect you’ll need to kill the king.” He offered as he dodged another of the sentinels’ titanic blows.
The king simply laughed, hovering in the air above them all.
“Maybe I should just let my little pet kill you after all-“
“It’s the crown.” Rodeo offered, and the king fixed him with an angry stare.
“What?” Jack asked.
“The jewel on his crown. It’s the source of power for our friend back there.” He said, throwing a thumb back at the crow sentinel.
Jack squinted at the glowing purple gem that sat affixed at the center of the king’s crown. The king didn’t wait for them to formulate a plan, instead he resumed his frenzied attack, somehow moving even faster. Jack was panting hard as he ducked and rolled across the floor. This time he was aided by Rodeo, who kept placing explosives in the king’s path, but they did little aside from slowing him down.
“Alright Jackie-boy, you’ve had enough time. End it.” Rodeo said matter of fact, an almost bored tone to his voice.
Jack let out a sigh. This time, when the king came swooping down, he met the attack head on. Jack grinned as he got close enough to see the king’s eyes go wide in shock and he quickly turned out of the way, taking to the skies again in a flash.
“How?” He screamed, stopping mid-air to question Jack's sudden ability to meet his speed.
Jack ‘tsked’ in annoyance. He had meant to end things there, but he was more tired than he realized, and his body was still moving a little slow. It would still be fast enough to deal with the king, though.
“Because you're slow,” Jack shrugged.
The king’s face contorted in rage, and he swooped in hard again. This time, he lost a wing to Jack’s dagger and came crashing to the ground in a violent tumble. He got to his feet in a second and leveled his polearm at Jack.
Much to Jack’s annoyance, feathers floated away from the enormous bird sentinel and replaced the king’s missing wing.
“Is this more of your mind games, Rodeo? Have you finally found a way inside my head?” He asked, throwing accusing eyes at a grinning Rodeo.
“Fraid not. It’s like he said, you're slow and predictable. Just like old times aint it, Jackie?”
Jack only nodded in response, lazily flipping his daggers in his hand as he squared up against the king. Admittedly, he and Rodeo had been toying with their food. The king was fast, but it was like Rodeo said. He was predictable. The man had only been flying in straight lines only. It took Jack a few times to get the timing right, but he could match the king’s speed with relative ease now, even with his tired body. The king clearly wasn’t much of an actual fighter.
Just like every time before, the king leveled his pole arm at Jack and flapped his wings hard, launching himself at Jack.
Jack cast [Storm Step].
He was acutely aware of the fact that he was inside and didn’t want a repeat of slamming into the ceiling above at mach-speeds as his ability launched him into the sky. Instead, he just activated the second part of the ability before it could send him too high up. He doubted he made it ten feet into the air before he came crashing back down to earth in a dangerous bolt of lightning that shattered the ground, and hopefully the king beneath him.
Jack grimaced in pain as he slowly stood up, his legs protesting in pain as dangerous lightning cracked in the surrounding air. He looked beneath his feet to see one very crushed king. He bent down and ripped the crown off his head. As he brought it to eye level to inspect, the glowing purple gem cracked, and the giant bird sentinel that Gideon was fighting against came crashing down to the ground in a pile of a hundred thousand razor sharp feathers.
“Couldn’t have done that sooner?” Gideon called out after them. Jack didn’t pay the dragon any mind, instead he watched as the deep purple mana poured out of the cracked gem, feeding itself into the king, who exploded in power, knocking Jack to the side.
“Enough!” the king roared, pushing himself off the ground, eyes glowing a deep purple as he levitated in the air, his broken wings reforming behind his back. The king leveled his hand at Jack and purple energy coalesced around his hand.
Then Gideon batted him out of the sky like a fly, an enormous flaming fist slamming into the king’s back and sending him ricocheting across the stone floors.
Jack, Gideon, and Rodeo walked the king down, as he pushed himself up off the ground, pulling at more mana and gasping for breath.
“Wait! I surrender,” the king protested as the three men got closer. Both Jack and Gideon came to a stop before him.
“What’s the rules on killing someone who surrenders in the Tower?”
“It’s pretty bad form,” Gideon sighed. “We can just make him swear a few oaths and drag him back to camp with us.”
“I mean, everyone said he was a boss, though. I feel like if we kill him I can maybe eek out another level, or at least some more skill points.”
“Oh, duh. I was so wrapped up in all of this I forgot he was a Tower creation. Yes. Let’s kill him.” Gideon said matter of fact, conjuring forth golden flames that wrapped around his fist.
“You want into the dungeon of Xinnolath correct?” The king said, a panicked look in his eyes, “you need me alive if you hope to conquer that dungeon.”
“How convenient,” Jack said with a flat look at the king. “I’m sure we can manage without you.”
“It’s true!” The king screamed more fervently. “A powerful demon resides inside the dungeon, one capable of destroying the world. Tell me, how do you hope to kill such a monster that even the seven heroes were unable to defeat? The secret to defeating the demon lies with me, passed down from king to king since the ancient times of the seven heroes.”
Jack glanced over at Gideon, who wore a contemplative look on his face.
“He might be telling the truth. Secret floor quests are often an enormous pain in the ass to solve. Perhaps we should keep him alive for a full interrogation.”
“No need to interrogate me. I’ll gladly share with you the secrets, so long as you guarantee-“
Rodeo’s sword slammed into the side of the king’s skull before he could finish his sentence.
You Have slain King Reynard Crowen
+1,000,000AP
+3 Skill Points
“What the fuck was that Rodeo?” Jack said, turning on the man who stood beside him, a wolf-like grin plastered across his face.
“Insurance. Now I’m the only one who knows the secret to killing the demon Xinnolath. So, you probably shouldn’t try to kill me until after we complete the dungeon.” He said in a low, gravelly chuckle.
“Bullshit.” Jack growled, his grip growing tighter around his daggers as he stared down Rodeo.
“Jackie-boy, do you really think I would spend all my time in this castle and not learn every single one of its deep, dark secrets? The king was right, there's only one way to kill Xinnolath. I’ve figured it out and destroyed the evidence, leaving me as the only person who knows how to put him down.”
“Then I’ll just beat it out of you.”
“That’s where I’m afraid I’ll have to stop you,” Gideon chimed in, stepping between him and Rodeo. “Remember your oaths, Jack. We’ve already guaranteed Rodeo a spot in the dungeon, and if what he says is true, then we’ll need him down there more than ever.”
Jack bit down in frustration and turned away from both of them. He had gotten caught up in Rodeo’s pace again and it was so much worse this time. Rodeo hadn’t even been messing with his head as far as Jack could tell, but there he was, fighting alongside him like nothing had ever changed.
Jack felt disgusted with himself. He had been working with Rodeo of his own volition this time. He was so caught up in the fighting and the action that he never stopped to remind himself just who it was he was working alongside. He glanced at Rodeo, who was still grinning at him.
He had to put a stop to him, and soon. Else Rodeo might actually manage to worm his way back into Jack’s life completely.