Chapter 82 – Final Stand
Gurthok wore an excited smile, his flaming red aura burning brighter than before. Onem, for his part, at least looked somewhat concerned that everyone was now healed. His expression went from shocked to angry in a second.
“These cursed oaths,” Jack heard him mutter. “Brother, we must kill the assassin first. He poses the largest threat.” Onem quickly said.
Gurthok wasn’t paying attention at all. He charged the Queen and Hannah. Jack watched as the archers jumped back, creating distance, launching volleys of arrows into a rapidly approaching Gurthok.
Then Jack looked at Onem and let loose a vicious smile.
“Where’s the faith, Onem? Don’t believe we can kill Gurthok?”
“Our strongest attacks only served to make him more powerful. Did you honestly think I would let myself be killed? You’re a fool. Healed or not, I’ve seen you at your best. The outcome will still be the same for you.” Onem scoffed.
“You’ve seen me at my best, have you?” Jack asked, flipping a dagger casually in his hand. “Onem buddy, I think right here, right now, is the first time since entering the dungeon that I’ve been at my best.”
Onem squinted at Jack, confusion plain as day on his face.
Jack fell forward, launching off the ground in an explosive burst of speed. Onem’s eyes went wide as Jack came face to face with the draugr, staring him down with a dangerous smile. Jack could barely keep three mana drops under control. Keeping four steady inside of his core was all but impossible for him. Jack dedicated every ounce of willpower to keeping them under control for as long as he could.
But Jack didn’t need them to be calm and steady. He needed them to be a storm.
Jack set free all four mana drops at once.
The four drops of mana instantly went berserk inside his core, slamming off the walls and slamming into each other in an erratic fashion.
The five shockwaves of mana drops crashing into each other happened in the span of seconds. Jack matched his strikes with the shockwaves perfectly, blasting through Onem’s defenses, cutting into his shadow armor and creating deep rents all across his body.
Black blood sprayed everywhere as Jack delivered five deadly cuts across the draugr. Lightning bit at the surrounding air around them. Jack winced in pain as his core began to crack, but he pushed it down, pressing his assault harder on Onem. Six shockwaves, seven shockwaves, eight shockwaves. Jack let them crash into each other more as Jack moved faster and faster to match the timing of his strikes to the shockwaves of crashing lightning mana. Onem was simply unable to keep up with Jack’s speed and power.
The four drops of mana finally synced up, and Jack’s smile grew deeper as he watched the erratic drops of mana all crash into each other at the same time. Deep cracks ran through Jack’s core and his entire body cried out in pain as an unprecedented shockwave of power rang out from his body. Lightning cracked and snapped at the air all around him. He matched his strike with the shockwave, his dagger ripping a hole through the middle of Onem’s chest.
The draugr stared at Jack, his pitch-black eyes wide and full of surprise, his body unable to keep up with Jack’s devastating attacks.
Jack was far from done.
The four mana drops threatened to destroy his core, and he had no hopes of bringing them back under his control. Might as well use ‘em. Jack immediately fed two drops of mana into [Storm Step], finding himself hundreds of yards in the air an instant later.
Jack let out a deep breath as he floated there, suspended in the skies. He felt an odd sort of resonance as he stared out across the land, the infinite blue skies. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he felt a sense of belonging now.
Maybe it has something to do with storm stance, Jack thought to himself.
Jack reoriented himself, looking to the ground below and finding Onem among the clashing armies below. At least what little remained of them.
Onem looked upward, his body stitching itself back together as he sought out Jack in the skies above. Jack watched as the draugr raised his scythe and fell back into a challenging stack.
Anything that stood in defiance of the oncoming storm deserved to be struck down. Jack would oblige.
Onem had managed to defend against the one mana drop version of the spell. Let’s see how well he does against the two-drop version.
Jack activated the second part of the ability, sighting in on Onem and crashing to the ground in a strike of lightning so powerful the entire valley went white. Jack couldn’t see anything past the powerful blast of lightning that filled his vision. He couldn’t hear anything, his eardrums exploding from the powerful thunder that rang out. He smiled as he felt his legs make contact with Onem, crushing the draugr under his feet. Jack winced in pain as he felt his legs crush along with it.
Jack rolled over onto his back, gritting his teeth in pain. As his vision returned, he looked over to see Onem, laying there, his body burnt to a husk, lightning still in the surrounding air biting dangerous chunks out of his body. Jack swung his arm over, burying his dagger in the draugr’s head. Then he dragged himself forward and buried another dagger in his head.
The shadows still frantically tried to repair Onem as he coughed up black blood.
How the fuck is this guy still alive? Jack grimaced, ripping his daggers out of Onem’s head.
Jack cut the draugr’s head off.
You Have Slain Onem the Cruel
+5 Skill Points
+500,000AP
Jack finally let himself breath at the notification. He pushed himself up off the ground and scanned the area for Gurthok.
The powerful lightning strike had scorched the world around him, shattered the ground, and left echoes of lightning ringing out through the air. Any draugr in the immediate area were dead. Jack searched around and spotted Hannah first. She was down to one bow now, sending shot after shot into the back of Gurthok. Blood was gushing out of both her ears, presumably from Jack’s attack. Gurthok was paying her no mind as he bashed in the queen’s skull over and over again.
Stolen story; please report.
“One more to go,” Jack grimaced to himself, staring down at his ruined legs. They were at least intact this time. He immediately bore down all his focus on the two remaining mana drops and started to cycle them, grinding them against each other inside his core until he felt the smothering of static energy spilling out into every nook and cranny in his body.
His wounds cauterized themselves instantly, and his legs began to repair themselves as the static energy pumped through his body. Jack took slow tentative steps as he pushed himself up off the ground, maintaining [Static Overdrive]. He grabbed Onem’s head and chucked it at the back of Gurthok.
Gurthok spotted the head and immediately stopped bashing in the queen’s skull in search of who threw it at him.
Jack smiled and waved at the berserker king.
Gurthok let loose a scream that rumbled the surrounding earth, his eyes no longer normal. Instead, two orbs of pure red fire replaced them, burning his sockets and running down his face like a river of tears. Behind that, though, was a smile that radiated pure madness. Gurthok charged at Jack.
Jack met the charge head on, static overdrive radiating in full throughout his body, bringing him back to full. Jack didn’t care about the lifeforce shit. He would pay whatever cost necessary to kill Gurthok. The static energy radiated throughout his body, infecting his every cell, sending him into overdrive.
Jack lashed out with his daggers as he fell back into [Storm Stance]. His strikes cut through Gurthok with ease. Red flames licked at Gurthok’s wounds, healing the berserker in seconds, but Jack was faster still. For every cut,scrape, and stab Gurthok was able to heal, Jack delivered five more in return.
Gurthok swung at him in a reckless frenzy, uncaring of any damage he took. Jack moved through Gurthok like a cloud, the man unable to land a clean blow. Jack spun around him, burying his daggers in the king’s back and ripping down. Gurthok twisted to meet him only for Jack to have disappeared, launching at him from the side and burying his daggers into the king's ribs and knocking him off balance.
Gurthok stumbled to his side, and let loose another roar of defiance, his red aura growing deeper and burning hotter. Jack removed the king’s arm in retaliation. Gurthok replaced it with an arm of red flames that latched onto Jack with an iron grip. Jack screamed out in pain as he felt Gurthok’s red hot mana flooded into his body and rampaged throughout his channels. He pushed back, panting hard as madness and rage poked at his mind. Jack buried it deep down, ignoring it all as he focused on nothing but grinding together the two drops of mana.
It became harder and harder to maintain [Static Overdrive] with every passing second. This wasn’t a technique intended for extending use. It was burning him alive; he could tell that much.
Jack only smiled, staring down at the berserk king. He didn’t care if this technique was going to set fire to his soul. He wouldn’t stop until he was nothing but ashes.
Jack ground the two drops of mana harder and faster against each other as he charged Gurthok once more. The king couldn’t hope to keep up. Jack pushed his speed harder and harder, delivering ten, twenty, a hundred cuts across Gurthok’s body. Red flames tried to heal him, but they had no hope of competing with Jack’s onslaught. Gurthok stood there, defenses stripped down, bleeding from a thousand cuts, panting heavily, eyes wide in shock. Jack launched in for the final kill.
The drops of mana slipped, and he lost control of static overdrive.
Jack stumbled forward onto the ground, mere feet from Gurthok, his entire body screaming in protest. He looked up at Gurthok, the red flames slowly piecing the berserker king back together. Jack grit his teeth. He still had more left.
Jack pushed himself off the ground, barely able to stand on his own two feet. Gurthok stood there, still in a state of shock. Jack fed a drop of mana into [Lightning Centipedes bite].
Normally, Jack had some modicum of control over the ability. This time, though, he couldn’t even feel his arms as two deadly black fangs wreathed in lightning lashed out in front of him. He watched as his hands buried themselves in Gurthok’s chest up to his wrists. Much to his surprise, Gurthok’s hands shot up and grabbed Jack’s arms, stopping him before he could rip cleanly through the man.
“This might be the closest I’ve ever come to death… I must thank you.” Gurthok growled, spitting up mouthfuls of blood as he fixed Jack with a knowing smile.
This asshole thinks he’s won.
Jack used his last drop of mana and cast [Lightning Centipedes Bite] yet again.
His channels were in pretty rough shape after the first use. Jack grimaced as his arms basically exploded on a second use so close after the first. Still, the ability worked. Once again two giant fangs wreathed in lightning tore through Gurthok, ripping out his stomach and chest completely.
Gurthok stumbled back, his face contorted in shock and pain, his insides spilling out on the ground. A chaotic amount of lightning radiated in the air from all of Jack’s abilities, and strikes of lightning continued to lash out at a still standing Gurthok. Jack’s arms fell limp at his side, daggers slipping out of his grip and falling to the ground. Jack panted heavily as he fought to stay standing up on his own two feet. He refused to go down until Gurthok did.
He watched as one axe slipped out of Gurthok’s hand and dropped to the ground. Then the second began to fall.
Gurthok’s grip tightened on the axe before it dropped. Jack groaned in annoyance. His arm’s no longer worked, but that didn’t mean he was out of options.
Jack kicked his dagger up off the ground, catching it in his mouth. He launched himself forward at the draugr, the only thing pushing forward was pure spite. He kicked out, slamming his foot into the remains of Gurthok’s chest, causing him to stumble backwards. Jack dove in, slashing across Gurthok’s neck next. He planted his foot firmly on the ground and whipped his head hard towards Gurthok, burying the dagger square in his temple.
Jack fell to his knees, the last of his energy drained. He stared at the still standing Gurthok with a knife planted in his skull. The berserker had a listless gaze on his face, like the body was dead, but the soul still raged on. Jack stared at his hand, the king’s grip growing tighter on his axe, his flaming red aura burning brighter and brighter.
Two enormous crystal arrows ripped through the air, both slamming into Gurthok’s head. They exploded on impact, an orange flame sending deadly shards flying all throughout the air. Jack, barely able to move, glanced back to see Hannah, holding the queen’s enormous crystal bow, another large crystal arrow forming.
She let it loose, and it flew through the air, duplicating itself a moment later and slamming into Gurthok in the same fashion, exploding again in deadly orange flames and sending more razor-sharp crystals flying through the air. She sent shot after shot into the body of Gurthok, stepping closer to the man as the area became consumed in fire and destruction from her unrelenting volley. She stopped, chugged a mana potion, and then continued her assault, draining her core twice over as she buried Gurthok in an endless rain of arrows.
She stopped next to Jack, the two of them staring into the fire and chaos. Hoping against hope.
You have Slain Gurthok the Berserker King
+1 Level
+5 Skill Points
+1,000,000 AP.
“I would’ve joined in sooner, but I wanted to make sure we had enough for the killing blow.” Hannah said, catching Jack as he fell to the ground.
Jack just smiled at her. His mind raced with witty comments, but his body refused to cooperate. The edges of his vision started to grow black. Hannah was saying something, but he couldn’t hear anything anymore.
Quest complete:
Oathbreaker
Quest complete:
The Secret Dungeon of Gurthok the Berserker
[Distributing Quest Rewards…]
[First Reward: 1 Random Upgrade to Tier level Rare]
[Selecting…]
[Selecting…]
[Selecting…]
[Random Selection Made.]
[Now Upgrading: Core Type: Modified Lightning Core [Uncommon] to Tier Level: Rare]
[Upgrading…]
[Error: Unable to upgrade Cursed Core]
[Reselecting…]
[Random Selection Made.]
[Now Upgrading: Race: Human [Common] to Tier Level: Rare]
[Upgrading…]