Chapter 127 – Bone Titan

Elera sent one tornado after another launching out towards Jack with the casualness of someone shooting spitballs at him. Jack grimaced as he danced around three tornadoes that ripped at his cloak and pulled him off balance in a desperate attempt to sweep him up.

To make matters worse Argyle had ripped himself free of the ice spears Jack shot through his chest and was now charging him, hammer held at the ready to slam Jack into the ground. Jack braced for impact only to watch as a giant sun came crashing down on the dwarf. The sun shrunk back down inside and slithered its way back to Elera, returning to a normal flail which she spun lazily. Argyle had managed to protect himself with three stone coffins that shot out of the ground and covered him like a tepee, shielding him from the assault. Jack used that moment to run away and regroup next to Nutt, who still seemed too stunned to be aware of anything going on around him. Jack hadn’t banked on the arbiter and the scion duking it out with each other, but he had to admit it was a welcome change.

“I told you your assistance isn’t needed arbiter. Begone. Or perhaps you wish me to rid the Tower of your existence?” Elera cocked an eyebrow at the dwarf.

Argyle stood up slowly taking in everything around him. He seemed to make some sort of unseen mental calculation and sighed.

“I’m afraid we’ve gone beyond the pale m’lady. While I have offered Lord Twilight my services safely to see you inside, I still belong to a power higher than even him. My sacred duty is to ensure the integrity of our city remains strong against the unending assault of Tower climbers. Everyone here clearly lacks judgment. I would be remiss in my duties as eternal servant and arbiter to Broken Moon City to allow one singular soul here within its ever-changing walls. I judge thee unworthy to enter.”

Elera stared at the dwarf, wholly bemused by the situation.

“[Bone Titan]” Argyle held out his two-handed hammer and let the pommel hit the ground with a resonating thud. Jack heard several shocked gasps and cheers of victory ring out as the hundreds of skeletons that Argyle had left behind to battle it out with the attacking adventures collapsed into the sand. They reappeared moments later, shooting out of the ground and wrapping their arms around the stocky dwarf. Soon he was picked up off the ground as a mountain of bones erupted from the sandy depths. Black miasma shot out from the dwarf in every direction, grabbing and pulling at bones, linking them into place and fusing them into a solid bone mass all around the dwarf.

The short undead dwarf was encapsulated in a titanic suit of bones that towered over everyone.

“Woah.” Nutt squeaked.

Jack glanced down at Nutt, who seemed to be shocked back to reality. The remaining adventures took one look at the titan and ran.

Argyle raised one giant foot and slammed it into the ground. Like dead trees, bones shot up from the ground and impaled the fleeing adventurers.

Elera still seemed unimpressed, sizing up the titan as she gave her flail several more lazy spins. The army at her back hadn’t budged an inch. As Jack narrowed his eyes at the lot, some of them even seemed to be enjoying the situation, like they were watching a show.

One of the still spinning tornadoes approached the titan and he sent out a giant boney hand that ripped through the winds, disrupting the flow and causing the tornado to dissipate. Then he opened his massive skeletal maw and shot out a beam of black miasma at the woman.

She held up her hand and conjured forth winds that created a barrier, fending off the attack with ease, even pushing it back some as she took commanding steps forward. With one final swipe of her hand a gust of wind completely defeated the attack and even threw the titan off balance.

“Good… More…” the titan chuckled, rumbling the earth with every word.

“Very well.” Elera acknowledged. She sent one tornado after another launching from her flail. They slammed into the hulking titan leaving his bones blackened and charred, knocking him further off balance. Elera launched forward at the opening, winds at her back sending her flying forward with a surprising speed and grace. She rode the winds as she spun her flail, increasing the size of the head to a miniature sun and sending it crashing down at the titan’s chest.

The titan caught the flail in his hand, showing an uncharacteristic burst of speed.

If skulls could smile Jack would have sworn the titan had a giant shit eating grin on his face. He yanked forward on the flail pulling Elera toward him in a whiplash and swung hard with his free hand. His fist made full contact and sent Elera flying across the desert like a skipping stone across the lake. He opened his mouth and shot out three large black orbs of miasma that exploded where Elera had landed. Then he turned back to the army and opened his mouth once more, a giant black orb forming in his maw.

“Nutt. What was your plan with the rest of the smoke bombs.”

“Huh? What?” Nutt looked at Jack as though he just remembered he was standing next to him.

“You said you had a plan. You needed to throw the smoke bombs in a certain order?” he asked, shaking the goblin more frantically as the titan charged up his attack to launch at the army.

“Yes!” Nutt remembered, “You throw your smoke bomb which spreads out and consumes everyone. Then I throw mine into the smoke using yours as a base to help spread the ingredients in my potions. In theory it should have turned your smoke bomb into a toxic acidic super fog that I can control.” Nutt finished, a look in his eyes that teetered between madness and the hunger for power.

“Uh. And what about me?”

“What about you?”

“I was standing in the middle of the fog.”

Jack stared angrily down at the goblin who seemed confused by the statement.

“I could control the fog. My mana is mixed with all these potions, remember? You would have been fine. Probably.” Nutt said with a placating pat on Jack’s thigh.

“Could it melt through bones? Your toxic super acid fog?”

“Of course!” Nutt squeaked, offended.

“Can you still do it? Create the super toxic acid fog?”

“No. It was designed around the smoke bomb you used. I’d need to create another one and I don’t have the ingredients.”

“You just needed something to help spread and mix the remainder of your potions, right?”

“Right.” Nutt nodded.

“How about that then?” Jack pointed at one of Elera’s tornadoes that was still rampaging around.

Nutt’s eyes went wide before he scratched at his chin in careful consideration.

“Maybe.”

“Well figure it out. Our lives are kinda depending on it.”

“What are you going to do?” Nutt squeaked.

“See if I can’t earn us a ticket inside,” Jack grinned. He stepped out from behind the sand dune and sprinted at one of the still rampaging tornadoes.

Jack’s plans had gone to shit rather fast. He had clearly bitten off more than he could chew. While it could be argued that he conquered most of the first floor without regular access to mana. He still always had his mana drops, which were a fantastic get out of jail free card. He didn’t have access to that anymore. Now he was forced to choke on the sandwich of fucked up situations he had created for himself, and he didn’t like it very much. Now it was time to play nice. At least for now.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Jack jumped into the tornadoe and let loose a scream of pain as the winds whipped him around. The tornado burned for some reason. Jack had only the brief clash with Elera, but something was different about the winds she conjured up. Her winds burned hot.

Jack tried to reorient himself in the tornado, catching glimpses of the hulking bone titan for a flash of a second on every revolution. He bit down hard as the winds scorched his skin and cut him to ribbons, his eyes threatening to burst as the speed of the spinning tornado picked up in momentum the longer he stayed inside.

“Now!” he screamed, using his [Zephyr Stride Bangle] around his ankle to kick off the wind. He poured every ounce of strength into the Jump, ripping free of the tornado and launching himself straight at the golems head with unprecedented momentum. He did a flip, slamming his foot into the side of the titan’s skull and cracking it slightly just as it was ready to launch a blast of miasma at the army scrambling to throw up a lackluster defense. The titan’s aim was knocked off course and he sent the orb of black energy flying off into the distance, exploding on the horizon.

Jack landed on the ground and let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Wiggleworm had released her cloak form and retreated back onto his arm. He quickly realized the little bug had taken the brunt of the burning tornado winds, shielding most of his body.

“Not bad,” he grinned at the tattoo. She tightened around his arm in response.

“So, you still live…” The titan looked down at Jack, raising his foot to slam down on him. Jack dashed out of the way but when the titan’s foot hit the ground, bones that looked like sharpened spinal cords shot up after the ground in pursuit of Jack. As the bones chased after him, he watched the titan thrust his giant hand into the ground and rip free a weapon to match his titanic size. It was another large bone with a slight curve to it, ancient runes carved up and down either side. It looked like the femur of some ancient long dead creature. The runes glowed black, and miasma dripped from them, slithering their way up the bone handle and pooling at the top of the femur, forming into a giant hammer. The titan took the hammer into both hands and fell into a stance opposite Jack.

“This just keeps getting worse and worse…” Jack mumbled as he came to a stop to inspect his foe. He glanced downward at the army that stood at the titan’s back. They were in retreat, heading toward the spot Elera had been unceremoniously punted across the desert. Jack let out a sigh of relief at that. If saving her entire army didn’t earn himself a free ticket inside, he was going to lose his mind. Sure, one could argue that he was the one who caused this whole mess in the first place, but that was in the past now. All he had to do was survive and wait for her to show back up. Even better if he could somehow kill the fucking thing first.

The titan launched off the ground and into the air, bringing his hammer down in a titanic slam that sent the entire earth quaking. Jack jumped up into the air as high as he could, flying out towards the titan with daggers at the ready.

He landed on the titan’s arm and sprinted upwards, lashing out with his daggers to no apparent effect. Every slash only earned him chips of bone in return and the titan seemed unbothered by the attacks. Even worse, his dagger's effects didn’t seem to do anything to just bone. He had some hopes that the ichor that bound the titan together could be corrupted but it was buried under thick bone plating. Somewhere in all this mess Argyle was at the center. If he could only find a way to the undead dwarf and remove his head from his body.

Jack thought back to Elera launching her assault. She had sent her flail flying directly at the titan’s chest before getting beaten off. Jack launched off the titan’s arm and pulled out his pistol, pulling the trigger as he aimed it dead center. The runes that ran along the barrel flared to life with an orange hue as two fireballs shot out of the barrels, hitting him square in the chest before fizzling out. The titan let out a deep rumbling chuckle as Jack landed on the ground in front of him.

“Shut up,” Jack complained to the titan, “I loaded the gun before I knew you were turning into a giant boney asshole. Had I known that beforehand I would have used these.”

Jack pulled the trigger, having reloaded the gun. Two giant spears of ice shot out and slammed directly into the titan’s chest, piercing a third of the way. The titan stumbled back in shock at the suddenly effective attack, ripping out the spears with his free hand. Jack grinned. Then immediately frowned. In response to his attack Jack watched as more bones scrambled across the titan’s body and reinforced his chest.

At least I know where Argyle is hiding now, Jack thought, slotting two more shots into his pistol. Jack glanced back at the sound of maniacal laughter only to see a very purple and green tornado spinning around behind him. Nutt was on the crest of a sand dune, tiny little hands splayed forward, veins bulging at his forehead and eyes froth with madness as he cackled wildly.

“Behold! The acid tornado!” The goblin squealed in pained delight as he wrestled for control of the force of nature.

Jack watched as the goblin sent the tornado in the titan’s direction, only for Argyle to take two enormous steps to the left, watching as the tornado passed him by unbothered.

“Hold him still!” Nutt demanded, and Jack rolled his eyes.

Always have to do the hard jobs, he grumbled, making his way back towards the titan. He charged Argyle down, pistol in hand as he readjusted tactics. Having an acid tornado in his back pocket changed things a bit.

Aside from raw devastating power, the bone titan wasn’t all that scary Jack considered as he landed on the monster’s boney thigh and leveled his gun at his knee. He pulled the trigger and the barrel runes lit up gray as two enormous boulders shot out and slammed into the titan’s kneecap, breaking off large chunks of bone plating.

Jack jumped off his leg and back into the air, jumping off it with ease as he landed on another spot on the titan, resetting his bangles once more. Argyle in his bone titan form was just too big and too slow to deal with Jack. The monster seemed to focus on large AOE attacks by slamming his enormous hammer into the ground and conjuring up a forest of spiky bones or sending large stone coffins firing up out of the ground at him, or just flat-out causing earthquakes every time he brought down his Warhammer. None of that mattered because Jack could just jump up into the air and avoid it all. A tactic that seemed to be causing Argyle to have a tantrum as he stomped his feet and swung his hammer around with reckless abandon as though trying to swat that one last fly that you just can’t seem to get rid of.

Jack sent shot after shot into the titan’s knee, throwing a casual glance at a tiny goblin chasing after a tornado and trying to bring it back under control. With each swing of the titan’s hammer Jack was bouncing off the air and repositioning himself, sending a shot to the back of its knee, then to the side, then to the front. Soon the boney armor was all but blasted away and the only thing to remain was the black ichor binding it all together. Jack grinned as he drew his daggers and launched at the titan’s kneecap one final time. He spun around the knee several times over, his daggers cutting through the sinew with ease as he cut the leg in two.

Argyle let loose a titanic roar and Jack felt his earbuds threaten to rupture from the pressure as the titan came crashing down. He pushed off the rumbling ground and launched himself out of reach as the titan tried to prop himself back up, using his hammer as a crutch. He got up just in time to be consumed by the still rampaging tornado.

Jack grinned at Nutt who was off to the side laughing maniacally as his acid tornado consumed the titan. As he trotted over to the goblin Nutt’s insane laugh quickly turned into panicked cries for help.

“He’s not dying!” Nutt screamed.

“Just keep cooking him.” Jack shrugged, watching as the titan writhed in agony in the middle of the tornado.

“Not enough mana! Can’t keep it going!” Nutt screamed again, a strained look on his face.

“God damn it,” Jack groaned, pulling out his daggers and walking towards the tornado.

“It’s going to hurt!” Nutt screamed behind him.

“Yea. I fucking know,” he complained. To Jack’s surprise, Wiggleworm reappeared as a shroud around him.

“You sure? This is going to suck,” he told the centipede. The shroud simply tightened around him in response. Jack jumped into the acid tornado.

Wiggleworm lasted for all of about five seconds as they whipped around the tornado. Jack bit back pained cries as acid ate away at his skin and he sited the titan at the center. The monster was more black ichor then bone as the acid melted away its armor. But it did seem like it was regenerating.

Jack launched off the air and slammed into the beast’s chests. His foot sunk into the ichor up past his ankles as he leveled his pistol dead center and shot. Two fireballs shot out this time and without the bone to protect shield him the fire rampaged through the miasma like an oil fire. As the ichor burned away Jack grinned at a stunned Argyle at the center of it all.

He removed the dwarf’s head from his body.

Jack hit the ground and let out a pained gasp as Nutt lost control of the tornado and it finally dissipated. He watched as the remainder of Argyle’s body sunk into the ground and gave his own body an inspection. He was covered in acid burns and Wiggleworm was nothing more than a strip of cloth tied around his neck. The centipede turned back into a tattoo, only much smaller this time and wrapped herself around the length of his ring finger.

“Nice work,” he said. She didn’t respond this time.

You have Slain Argyle, Arbiter of Sector One.

+1 Level.

[Warning: For the crime of killing an arbiter, Broken Moon City has issued a bounty for your head.]

“Get in line you fucking assholes.” Jack swiped the message away and stood up, turning around to find Nutt.

The goblin had a panicked look on his face. Elera was standing next to him with her arms crossed. Not a singular hair was out of place as her deep orange eyes bore into Jack.

“Tell me,” she started, her face contorting in confusion, “why in the seven hells didn’t you use your mana?”