Chapter 81 – Battle of the Dungeon Bosses
The air around Gurthok radiated a hot red fire and pure rage to a point it was even threatening to affect Jack. He felt an anger burning deep inside his heart, seeping into his thoughts, driving him insane. Jack’s smile grew more severe as he stared down his opponent.
Focus, don’t lose control. Came a voice from the back of his head. Despite Jack's every want and desire to give way to the madness and rage that radiated from Gurthok and throw himself haphazardly at the berserk king, he denied the urges at every stop. Jack squeezed tighter on his daggers, his barely broken arms crying out in protest as he fell back into storm stance. He charged Gurthok, his heart steady and mind clear. Gurthok met him halfway, almost matching Jack’s speed as the two exchanged a flurry of blows. Each deflecting a thrust meant to kill and countering with a devastating attack of their own.
Gurthok broke through Jack’s harried defense in seconds, delivering a front kick to his chest and knocking him back into the surrounding draugr, all affected by Gurthok’s aura. Jack quickly found himself overwhelmed by draugr, who spared no thought for self preservation as they dog piled on top of him. Jack cut and slash but there were too many. The draugr instantly overwhelmed Jack.
He felt hot flames and an explosion knock him to his side as Hannah sent a charged shot into the group of draugr dog piling him. He clawed his way free, slicing through draugr and putting them in the ground as he did so – only for Gurthok to fall back on him in a flurry of blows. Jack winced in pain, each swing of Gurthok’s axe sending a resonating ring throughout his body as he deflected and blocked more of the unrelenting assault.
Where the fuck is everyone? Jack thought, gritting his teeth and launching his daggers in for an attack of his own. Gurthok was able to block his every counter, but Jack was keeping up. He fell deeper into himself, ignoring the world around him, ignoring the rage from Gurthok that poked and prodded at his mental defenses. Jack fell deep into himself. One false move, one mistake, and it would be over. His body ached, his head pounded, his lungs burned with every breath. He couldn’t even feel his arms anymore. Jack ignored it all.
Jack lashed out with unrelenting strikes of his own, putting Gurthok on the defensive. He pushed his assault harder and harder. He just had to move faster, strike harder. Jack focused on the storm, his strikes like lightning as he pressed forward with an unrelenting assault of his own.
Gurthok couldn’t keep up with his speed.
Jack let loose a smile as he snaked through the berserkers’ defense, slicing him across the neck. He followed up with a strike to the liver, then the leg. He spun around Gurthok, who was falling further and further behind as Jack fell even deeper into the storm. Jack felt deep inside himself as the dark, ominous clouds built themselves up. He felt the rumbling of the winds, the boom of thunder cascading throughout the skies, the steady rhythmic patterns as waves of rain came crashing down on his soul.
Jack’s attacks bit into Gurthok’s flesh with ease now as he blew past his defense, his strikes letting loose dangerous cracks as they ripped through the air like unstoppable lightning. Jack could feel the unrelenting storm raging inside of himself as he bore down on Gurthok. The king wore a panicked look on his face as he tried and failed to stop Jack.
Mastery Upgrade
Storm Stance of the Lightning Centipede
Apprentice-Low -> Adept-Low
Jack grinned at the notification; he wasn’t quite expecting an entire jump in rank. Jack realized he had only been focusing on one part of storm stance – the lightning part. It seemed so much more than that, as he felt a wealth of information unlock in his brain. He needed to be as evasive as a cloud slipping through his fingertips. He needed to be as steady and unrelenting as heavy rainfall. He needed to let the booms of rolling thunder strike herald his arrival and strike fear into his enemies. Jack let the storm culminate inside himself as he dropped low beneath a reckless swing of Gurthok’s axes. Finally, he lashed out like lightning, destroying anything that dared to stand against his dark storm.
Jack felt his daggers pierce deep inside Gurthok’s chest, and he tore down, ripping through the berserker king’s body. Gurthok stumbled backwards, blood erupting from his chest as he fell to his knees. Jack stared at the man and took several deep, panicked breaths. It felt like he was suffocating. He wasn’t even sure his heart was still beating. He burned hot, steam pouring off his body as he stared down at Gurthok.
Onem erupted from Jack’s shadow, covered head to toe in pitch black armor, an enormous scythe in his hand that he swung down hard on the wounded Gurthok, sending a pitch-black cut vertically down the center of his body. Onem followed up with a blast of shadow energy straight through Gurthok’s heart.
Before Gurthok could fall to the ground dead, a giant crystal pillar shot down from the sky, slamming into him. The giant prismatic crystal radiated a cold that fought with the radiating heat from Gurthok’s aura. The queen soared in the skies above, bow still leveled at the crystal pillar.
Why aren’t they attacking? Jack screamed in his head.
“Don’t… Stop…” Jack wheezed, unable to catch his breath enough to complete a sentence. He fell to his knees as his body gradually gave out. Jack didn’t believe Gurthok was dead for a second. He knew the Tower and was completely aware of the sort of bullshit it was prepared to put him through. He wasn’t the slightest bit surprised as he watched the enormous pillar crack down the middle, exploding outward and sending Jack and whatever draugr were unlucky enough to be close by flying outwards across the field.
Hannah was on top of him in a second, pouring a greater health potion down his throat. Jack felt the fire in the potion burn throughout, restoring his beaten and broken body. He still didn’t think he would be able to stand.
A roar of defiance rang out across the battlefield as Gurthok erupted from the crystal, and it got noticeably hotter. Jack felt the rage in the air redouble its efforts as it tried to infect Jack with its madness. He watched as Hannah grit her teeth in defiance.
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“This fucking asshole wants me angry? Does he know who I am?” was all she said, her eyes burning a hole through Jack as she stared down at him.
“It’s your turn…” Jack grinned. “Give ‘em hell.”
Hannah gave him a tight nod, fishing out three bows and launching them into the air as she stalked toward the fight. Gurthok really had no idea what sort of bear he was poking with Hannah. Jack was the sort that got sloppy with anger. Hannah, however, was a finely tuned rage machine.
Jack looked back at Gurthok. He now had a hot red fire radiating off his body, and any damage done was gone. He was just like Gilfred in a way. It seemed like any damage done would only serve to make him stronger. But it was so much more than that. Gurthok was the progenitor. The strongest. Gilfred had been a pale imitation of what Jack was witnessing now. Gurthok sent one of his axes flying upwards at the queen, chasing after her as she soared through the sky, narrowly dodging its swipes as she rained down crystal arrows on Gurthok. He tossed his second axe back and forth in his hands as he stared down Onem.
“Brother,” He growled, menacing smile on his face. Onem responded by sending another beam of black shadow at Gurthok’s face. Gurthok charged forward at Onem, only to immediately get blown back by three separate charged shots from Hannah. Hannah waltzed in with a swagger that radiated anger as her bracers flared to life, arrows shooting out from her wrist as she put down any remaining draugr that got in her path. Hannah dived in past Onem, taking control of the momentum. Her bows hovered high in the air, raining down careful shots as she lured Gurthok into traps of explosive arrows. Hannah was incredible to watch, and Jack felt himself smiling at how awesome his partner was. She read Gurthok like a book, always five moves ahead. Any time Gurthok gained ground on her, another explosive shot from Hannah stopped him in his tracks.
Onem joined in moments later, giving Hannah breathing room to continue her assault on the king as he exchanged blows back and forth with Gurthok. Jack watched as the dark shadowy armor crawled and morphed around Onem’s body, reinforcing itself against Gurthok’s powerful strikes.
I wonder if that’s an item or an ability, Jack mused to himself, watching as Onem exchanged blows with Gurthok.
The queen continued raining down arrow after arrow, but Gurthok’s axe was still chasing after her in the skies above. Anytime she stopped to charge up ability, it showed back up swiping at her wings with a mind of its own. Jack took a deep breath, forcing himself up off the ground. His body was healed, but he felt so drained. He wasn’t sure he would be more than a walking corpse at this point if he threw himself into the chaos. Onem swung in hard as Hannah blasted through Gurthoks defenses.
In an explosion of speed that Jack had trouble keeping up with, Gurthok caught Onem’s scythe, just like he had Jack’s daggers. The man let loose a vicious smile as he ripped the scythe free from Onem’s grip and slammed the shaft of the weapon into an approaching Hannah’s head. She was sent flying across the battlefield. Gurthok spun the scythe straight into Onem’s chest, bringing the draugr to his knees. He didn’t stop there, though. Gurthok bent down low and launched himself up into the air straight at the queen, shrugging off arrow after arrow that pierced his body and slamming straight into her. He wrapped her in a hug, crushing her wings and bringing her back down to the ground in a powerful slam. He picked her up off the ground and spun her around, sending her body flying into Onem, who had removed the scythe piercing his chest and sending them both tumbling back.
Jack watched this all take place in an instant. Pushing down the terror that was building in his heart. His eyes flew to Hannah, who was quickly joined by the bodies of Onem and the Queen. She pushed herself up off the ground, wobbling to her feet, face covered in her own blood. She fished a health potion out of her void sack and downed it – reorienting herself on Gurthok. Onem and the Queen stood up moments later, Onem coughing up black blood, the queen’s wings bent and broken. Hannah and the queen walked forward raising their weapons at Gurthoks in defiance.
Jack moved to intercept the stalking Gurthok. But then stopped, his eyes going wide in horror.
Onem waited as Hannah and the Queen passed him. Then he leveled his hands at their backs and sent two deadly beams of his shadow energy blasting straight through them.
Jack froze. His heart stopped. His blood ran cold. Time stood still as he watched Hannah fall forward to the ground.
“Why…” the queen gasped as Onem disappeared, appearing a second later in Gurthok’s shadow.
“You didn’t honestly think I would play for the losing team, did you?” Onem scoffed from behind his brother.
“You forget my queen. Onem is my dagger in the dark. Did you truly believe he would betray me?” Gurthok laughed as he walked her down, axes at the ready to finish her off.
Jack couldn’t take his eyes off Hannah, the rest of the world dead to him. He stared at her lifeless body on the ground, unable to process what was happening.
His heart hurt. It wasn’t injured, he just had a health potion, but there was a crushing pain that bore down on him. He felt his eyes burn hot. He bit down hard as hot tears streamed down his face. What the hell is happening to me?
“Hannah…” he choked out, staring at her lifeless body on the ground. She was the only person in the world who actually knew who he really was. She was his best friend.
Jack’s thoughts turned frantic as every voice in his head, known and unknown, began to scream in pure rage. He couldn’t think, couldn’t hear past the screaming. He stumbled towards her, dropping to one knee as his body refused to cooperate. He felt so numb.
Hannah moved.
Jack stared at her. Hoping against hope she was still alive. He watched as an ethereal energy poured down from the heavens above, wrapping around not only her, but the queen as well. Jack watched, confused, and then the energy broke off again, charging towards him and wrapping him in its warmth.
“What the…” was the only thing Jack managed to get out as his broken mind pieced together what was happening. He watched as Hannah pushed herself up off the ground, the energy swirling around her in a rapid fashion. The queen followed in suit.
“You’ve broken your oath to me.” The queen said in a tone of disdain that rang out throughout the valley. Her eyes were a crystal white, radiating a deep hidden power. Hannah checked herself up and down, and then looked over at Jack, giving him nothing but a simple wave.
Jack tilted his head, choking out a laugh as he felt power radiate throughout his body. Onem had sworn an oath not to betray the queen. He had sworn not to kill Jack and Hannah.
“I was going to punish you for killing my opponents, but I see your actions have served to extend my pleasures.” Gurthok bellowed, letting loose a raucous laugh.
Jack watched as the ethereal energy swirled around him, pouring into him, healing him, restoring him. His eyes went wide as he watched his core.
One drop…
Two drops…
Three drops...
Four drops.
His smile went wide as he bore down all his focus on maintaining four fully charged drops of mana. He watched as the energy faded out, disappearing into the sky as quickly as it came, leaving the group fully restored.
Jack gripped his daggers, staring down Onem and Gurthok.
Onem had broken his soul oath. The Tower was dishing out his punishment. It grated Jack that he was now working on the Towers behalf, but the enemy of my enemy and all that shit.
It was time to kill these assholes.