Chapter 36
Death, Thy Bidding Done
Thunder ripped like a cord, flashing brightly across the darkened sky. Asher cleaved forward with his blade, swiftly like a wind, ripping into a goblin riding a direwolf. Blood sprayed out in the midst of rain, being washed mid-flight. Before the creatures could even yelp out in pain, the second strike came, swifter than the prior one. He angled the blade such that it cleaved through both beasts at the same time. The sword cut cleanly and evenly, its blade forged for this purpose.
Though he was not being controlled by the forces beyond, Asher found it natural--each swing felt purposeful, and he dictated each action with precision befitting a veteran. He never stopped attacking, however; even while the two monsters’ bodies were being splayed, he stepped forward and sliced vertically, disembarking yet another goblin from the direwolf.
At the same time, Asher felt a strange kind of energy surge within him like a storm, quickly overwhelming him. His body began to distort and bleed into its surroundings, and within the blink of an eye, he burst forth into the rampaging dozens of monsters--arrays of light caused by the beyond-quick slashes of the blade rivened through the rain, distorting it till it was falling sideways. Fifty strikes befell the group of rushing monsters--like minced meat, their parts began to fall and crumble onto the ground. Blood sprayed out as though from within a fountain, but still couldn't overcome the raging rain.
The rapid onslaught of the strikes left even Loe momentarily bewildered, let alone Asher. The same power that morphed him into becoming one with the world pulled him back. A coveting sensation enraptured him, cruising through his veins. He wanted to return to the world, to become one with it once again. It was a fleeting feeling, however, though mostly because Asher immediately nipped it in the bud.
At the same time, the world around him froze in a poetic canvas. There were around a hundred yards on each of his sides that the monsters had slowly begun to converge toward. Soon, they would encircle him if he wasn't careful.
In his rampage, he managed to Level-up five times, all the way to Level 6.
[Dawn Ripper -- +1UPG]
[Effect Upgrade]
1 -- rapidly slash in the targeted direction, dealing base (10) damage to the targets hit. Consecutive strikes to the same target deal 60% more damage, but they must be done under 1 second of the previous.
[Invoking Rage -- Rare]
Effect: every 3rd strike with the Main Weapon deals 40% more damage. If it kills the target, increase your damage for the duration of the Stage by 0,4. Stacks up to 20 times.
Level: 1/3
[Muscle Training - Uncommon]
+20 HP
Level: 2/99
Asher didn't take too long to make a choice, electing to go with the Invoking Rage. He'd not only gotten it at the perfect time--virtually right at the start of the stage--but he had a sneaking suspicion that the effect of damage increase might work with his own weapon’s 3rd strike effect. Even if not, however, it was still the best choice.
[Nimble Footing -- Common]
+0,3 Movement Speed
Level: 1/50
...
[Dawn Ripper -- +1UPG]
[Stats Upgrade]
Damage: 22 --> 34
Attack Speed: 1 attack every 0,77s --> every 0,71s
+!
+1% Critical Strike Chance
...
[Soulform Mirror -- Epic]
Effect: 50% chance to replicate an attack at 25% efficiency.
Level: 1/3
...
He paused when he came upon the last choice--as he was being offered two Ultimates once again.
Master of the Sword [Ultimate Ability]
Level: 0
Effect: become the Avatar of the Sword for a duration. Gain bonus damage, attack speed, movement speed, critical strike ratings, damage leech, and convert your basic attacks into their advanced forms where applicable.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Duration: 10 seconds
Bonus Damage: 500%
Bonus Attack Speed: 200%
Bonus Movement Speed: 150%
Bonus Critical Strike Chance: 30%
Bonus Critical Strike Damage: 120%
Damage Leech: 2%
Cooldown: 300s
Art of Primordial Iai [Ultimate Ability]
Level: 0
Effect: disables normal attacks. Can only attack through the art of drawing the sword. All of your Iai-related charge effects are extremely lowered. Gain a massive amount of damage for the duration, all of your Iai attacks become their Perfect Variant, the damage is split evenly between all the inflicted targets, and all of your attacks gain extra range and area. Upon the ability's expiration, embody Primordial Iai State for a singular attack.
Duration: 10 seconds
Bonus Damage: 600% --> 1000%
Iai Charge Duration: 2/4 --> 1.5 (for every attack)
Range: 40 yards --> 80 yards
Area: +160%
Primordial Iai State: aim at a direction and unleash a paper-thin blade array. It will kill everything it touches, excluding bosses. Instead, deal 25% of their Max Health as damage. Will execute them if they are below 25%.
Cooldown: 300s
Asher strained himself for a moment, thinking deeply.
Neither, truly, had any shortcomings, they were simply good at different things. Master of the Sword was perfectly suited for a boss battle--stupidly strong stats juice that he doesn't have to play around, and can fight while focusing on the boss mechanics. It wasn't as though it was bad against monsters, either--it was just as strong--but limited in how many monsters it could attack at once.
On the other hand, Art of the Primordial Iai was perfect for gangs of monsters. Each attack would likely one-shot everything excluding the mini-boss variants, potentially killing even those with a bit of luck. Its finishing attack, too, was absolutely insane, though the limitations were clear--unless the monsters were perfectly lined up, hitting a good number of them with it would be difficult. However, that 25% to the boss's Health part... tempted him. Though Asher was certain he'd be able to deal more damage with Master of the Sword to the boss directly, he first had to get there in one piece.
Ah, screw it, not wanting to overthink it too much, he grabbed Art of Primordial Iai. As soon as he did, the world unpaused and the roars of the monsters resumed.
He continued attacking, waiting for the monsters to converge toward him and encircle him to test out the Ultimate.
“No, don’t,” he saw Loe move to his more exposed flank to cover for him and quickly spoke. “Stand back for now.”
A scoff later, the knight withdrew and opened up Asher’s right side where roughly forty monsters were approaching from rapidly. In front of him, there were some hundred; he withdrew back, stopping his attacks and drawing them in a bit further. From his left, another thirty appeared. When they were all within sixty yards or so, he took a deep breath and activated it.
Immediately sheathing the blade, he soon felt it--energy similar to the one that made him one with the world. His fingers tickled with ravaging electricity while the blade shook. For a moment, the world blurred in all its glory--the rain, the sky, the hideous terrain composed of death, ruin, and decay all became a canvas of perfect stillness. The world awaited, bowing.
Asher drew his sword out--the weight it bore was insane. His muscles taut, teeth gnashed, it felt almost as though he were drawing it out in slow motion--but it was all in his head. Sparks flew out, embers extinguished in the rain, and he slashed out wildly.
Previously invisible, milky threads of white became corporeal, surrounding the Dawn Ripper from the handle to the tip of the blade. The dark world became illuminated with the light of life, it felt, the cold, wet rain temporarily carved out of existence under the weight of something far more perfect.
He finished the slash in the blink of an eye--no, it was faster. Much, much faster. It was the speed that had no human comparison, for it was no longer in the realm of a man. There was no loud boom, no loud explosion, nothing of the sort. There was silence--so deadly, so loud, so suffocating that even the thunder in the sky grew quiet, terrified.
The array of the blade flew out in a singular motion, some twenty feet wide, ripping through everything it touched. Monsters, by the dozens, seemed to cave to some force beyond life itself--akin to defying the laws of physics, they just... stopped. There was no momentum to carry them forward and tangle them with the mud. They just stopped and... fell--in pieces and onto the ground.
As the light of the blade faded, the world seemed to finally brave its light anew--thunder resounded across the sky, synchronizing with the abrupt explosion of blood that finally overwhelmed the rain.
There were no screams of pain and agony, just a gasp of shock, horror, and awe coming from behind him. Asher had already withdrawn Dawn Ripper into its scabbard, waiting. He angled himself in the next second so as to cover as many monsters as possible--they didn’t stop. They kept rushing like mad beasts overcome with something far more primal than the instinct to live.
1,5 seconds passed.
The world, once again, stilled. And, once again, he drew.
This time, the weight, if at all possible, felt even greater--sparks, once more, flashed out, now in the hundreds, temporarily blinding everyone behind him.
The light of the blade flew out and, once more, stopped everything in its tracks. It was the death that could not be understood or rationalized--it went against every law Asher knew, though, in fairness, most things here did.
A shower of blood exploded once more, rivers crimson forming in the mud, ponds growing larger and larger. By the time they exploded, however, his sword was back in its scabbard.
Again.
Death beckoned, in all its glory, and the monsters threw themselves at it. There was no rhyme or reason to their actions--every instinct should have been telling them to run away, to turn heel and retreat. But they pressed onward, as though there was something behind them that was even more terrifying than what was in front of them. A force so monstrous it overwhelmed death itself.
Again.
And again.
Six times in total--that's how many Perfect Draws Asher could execute in the duration of the ability. He'd lost count of how many monsters he had killed, but to his ire, the last two attacks managed to kill only around forty each as the monsters simply couldn't replace the thinned-out frontlines as quickly as he could kill them.
The sword still in the scabbard, the ultimate's duration expired.
Asher felt his body heat up suddenly--so much so that blood-stained steam began to flow out of his skin. Within less than a second, it coalesced into a visage of a humanoid figure behind him--it wasn’t a person, not really. It was more a concept--red like blood, a pair of plasma-white eyes burning with primeval glee. It moved its misshapen arms and formed the drawing posture, and Asher’s body followed, wholly against his will. He could simply turn toward a direction and aim--and even that just barely.
Struggling with all his might, he managed to shake himself an inch to the side and aim toward the largest group of monsters.
At that moment, his arms burst out into flames--it hurt, though it didn’t damage his Health.
His eyes blurred temporarily and combusted, too, the ardor of death within them overt. White plumes of fire framed his eyelids, flaying about wildly, as he screamed in pain.
And thus, both he and the visage compelling him drew.
The skies above shattered, yielding to the force that ripped them apart like two arms reaching out and stretching them out until they were clear. The monsters rushing forth became statues frozen in time, their skin melting under the ire of the primordial.
The rain stopped, suspended in perfect stasis.
Even the stars grew still and silent, halting their celestial journey, bowing.
The world held its breath, this singular moment seemingly stretching into an eternity. The gaudy light of everafter flamed out, and all became nothing for that single breath.
Asher finally managed to draw out the blade and cut it downward.
For a moment, all light was snuffed out, and the whole of the world was blind. A singular array of light flew forth both in suspended slow motion and at the speed of light, beginning and ending its journey at the same time. The world itself came undone at its seems, like ripped sheets of paper, wherever the array traveled. For a moment, Asher grasped the void beyond reality, dark and devouring, but the wounds healed just as quickly as they were inflicted.
Everything the bladelight touched... disappeared. It didn’t die. It didn’t explode in a shower of blood and gore. It simply ceased being... as though it were never there. No, in a way, it never was there.
“Death,” a chilling whisper sang softly into the world undone. “Thy bidding done.”