A slight grin began to spread across Furcas’ face up to the point that I hauled back and flung my axes in his direction. They sailed swiftly through the air, spinning like the blade of a power saw. Furcas rose his sword horizontally to deflect the rotating instruments of death, which was just the distraction Keeg had been waiting for as he activated [Holy Charge], covering the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
GRROOOOOOOoooooNNG!
The clash of holy and infernal energies radiated out across the impromptu battlefield intermixed with the clash of steel. Keeg stumbled backwards, slightly overpowered by the demon knight. He steadied himself with a smack of his sword across his shield and adjusted his footing in preparation for their next clash. I had already drawn my main set of pistols and was aiming while running to my left.
“[CRACK SHOT], [VITAL AIM]”, I brought the rail pistol up to shoot Furcas in the face, then squeezed the trigger.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!
The empowered round shattered the air as it devoured the distance between us. Furcas flinched as a crack formed in his right horn, a shard of obsidian breaking free to land at his feet. Keeg attempted to capitalize on the distraction only to be casually sent sprawling by a swift backhand from the ambivalent demon. Furcas stared down at a shard from his horn that had landed by his foot and slowly raised a hand in disbelief.
Rage flashed in his eyes, then a smile slowly formed, “Truly, this shall be a glorious battle!”
He flexed his toes slightly against the cracked asphalt road and launched backwards as Keeg released a beam of holy light in his direction. I took the opportunity to squeeze off some well-placed shots that caught the demon across his right arm and side. He flinched at this while reaching out and pulling on the fire that surrounded us and guiding a thick pillar of liquid flame to smash into my back. Fortunately, I had sensed the attack before it landed and managed to roll away just in time for one of Carly’s ice spikes to shatter against his chest.
He flicked his wrist and the pillar that was meant to disable me crashed into Carly. Despite the obvious surprise at seeing her step through the flames and fling several more ice spikes in his direction, he didn’t hesitate in his duel with the Dark Elf Paladin. Somehow, he managed to dance around both the young Ice Mage’s magical attacks and Keeg’s blade at the same time.
“It’s rare to see one so attuned to the nature of ice step through hellfire without flinching, girl. Color me impressed; too bad I can’t let you grow into your true power.” This fucker sure is chatty. I thought as he attempted to goad her into overcommitting.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Furcas was pushed back hard as light flared where one of Albert’s heavy .50 caliber bullets smashed into his shoulder. He looked balefully in the direction of the man as his weapon barked again.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Furcas stumbled further under the steady assault of the heavy weapon, I capitalized on the attack by emptying my own weapons into his side, steadily pushing him to the edge of our fiery arena. When both weapons clicked dry, I holstered them then slid across the asphalt to retrieve my axes, taking up position beside Keeg.
“He is a much tougher opponent than our last, but we are all here now.” Keeg looked at me forlornly, then focused his attention on the great demon.
With the demon on the back foot now, Carly and Stephen went all out. Heavy shards of ice and thick beams of black energy collided on Furcas’ position. The flames nearest him even began to flicker as they melted the remnants of Carly’s attacks, quickly forming a low hanging mist that fought for dominance in the space they occupied.
Keeg began charging counter-clockwise along the edge of our fiery arena while I charged the opposite direction. Our ranged fighters kept the continuous assault up on the large demon as we moved to intercept him. Just as we were about to sandwich him between our attacks he flared in power and expelled a ring of fire that lifted everyone off their feet and threw us back several meters.
The ranged assault had shredded Furcas’ robe, revealing a heavily muscled frame, clad in dark armor with silver inlay, carving arcane patterns in its surface. The demon’s previously mild eyes now radiated a crimson light that spoke of overwhelming power. He flexed his arms in front of him briefly to allow a massive pair of bat-like wings to snap out behind him, each tipped by a long black talon.
He opened his mouth revealing inch long incisors, “Foolish mortals! Don’t you see!? I AM YOUR DOOM!”
Furcas leap into the air with two heavy beats of his wings, then swooped down to scatter our trio of ranged fighters. Keeg and myself began charging back to the fight as Albert rolled away from the demon’s impact point, which seemed to be aimed in the exact spot he had been laying prone. He rose to one knee with my AK in his hands barking out rounds on fully automatic. Sparks danced across Furcas’ armor as he backhanded the older man then spun with a horizontal swing of his flaming sword across Carly’s midsection.
The young ice mage quickly erected an [Ice Barrier] that ate the majority of the flaming swords momentum. Furcas kicked through what remained of the barrier and reached for the girl who deftly danced backwards on flows of ice. Keeg reached the enraged demon before I did and caught him in the back with a stiff-armed shield bash. Furcas stumbled forward, steadying himself by flaring his wings.
He spun around to strike at the Dark Elf, but found me sliding beneath his legs. I snickered as I brought my foot up straight into his crotch, “[Cheap Shot]”. He was lifted bodily into the air with an angry growl, beat his wings and rose above us only to catch a [Void Beam] to the face.
While we had been fighting, Stephen and Courtney had retreated across the arena attempting to keep their distance from the significantly dangerous demon. Furcas chose to ignore us beneath him and barreled in on the considerably weaker Void Sage and his girlfriend. I cursed under my breath and drew my pistol as he closed on the couple.
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Suddenly I caught the slight waver of light and energy leave Stephen’s hands and Furcas was face planting across the asphalt. Courtney grabbed on to his shoulders and then he used [Lightspeed Movement] to teleport the duo several meters away from the demon who had already gained his feet and began stalking towards the pair.
Keeg quickly interceded himself in the demon’s path. Furcas took his flaming sword in both hands and swung it down to split Keeg in two. The Paladin muttered a prayer to his deity and was instantly infused with holy power. He raised his shield to meet the flaming sword had on.
BROOOOOoooooong!
Unlike their first clash, Keeg didn’t waver in the slightest. He redirected the demon’s attack over his left shoulder and drove forward with a swift horizontal slash that cut a bloody furrow through the demon’s barely exposed abdomen. Furcas hissed in pain, then attempted to press the attack with a kick that Keeg stepped away from.
I quickly plowed into Furcas’ side, shoulder checking him across the battlefield. He skidded to a halt, digging up dirt and asphalt as he arrested his momentum with thickly clawed hands and feet. In an instant he launched himself back in my direction, bent low with the aim to gore me on his horns. I barely managed to turn sideways and not get skewered, only to find myself tumbling uncontrollably through the air. I smacked into the cement head first, the sound of my collar bone cracking reaching my inner ear.
“Ungh. Fuu...ck” My vision swam as I attempted to sit up, the sound of combat echoed distantly in my head as I felt a pair of hands pulling me across the cracked asphalt. I gasped as the feeling of healing magic washed over my stunned mental state. It was clear Courtney had pulled me out of the fight and initiated my recovery.
“Mr. Stephen! Keep him pinned down! Ms. Carly! Help Mr. Albert!” Keeg was keeping the team on task while I recovered under Courtney’s careful ministrations. I looked up at Courtney’s concerned face, all five of them and attempted to sit again. Pain roared forth and her five faces became seven. Have to get back into this fight NOW! I roared internally, squeezing my eyes shut, attempting to force the status effect away. I looked up at Courtney’s seven faces which slowly narrowed to five, then three, and finally one.
Another pulse of healing energy surged through my body as my eyes fully focused and I watched Keeg sail through the air over our heads. Whelp, rest time is over. I pushed myself to my feet, giving Courtney’s knee a gentle squeeze. She looked at me questioningly then rushed off to aid the Dark Elf Paladin.
“Alright, you got me pretty good back there, let’s see you try that again.” I taunted Furcas as he spread his measured gaze across my party in search of his next victim. His eyes narrowed on me when I spoke.
“If you were any weaker, Reaper, I would be disappointed.” He said as he spun his sword in a flourish. The motion a silent challenge amongst apex predators.
Time seemed to slow momentarily as I activated [Reaper’s Fluid Grace] and [Heart Seeking Lunge]. I rocketed across the space between us in the blink of an eye. Furcas was prepared, already mid swing as I arrived within reach of the tip of his blade. He shifted his weight, prepared for me to slide underneath him like before. Instead, I flexed my toes and launched into a somersault that ended with both of my axe blades smashing into his ornate breastplate.
I kicked off his chest, shoving him backwards and landing in a low stance several meters out of his reach. He looked down in shock as a crack formed in his armor. The beautiful piece of protection split in two and fell from his body with a thick clang against the asphalt.
“Yes, now the r-eh?” Confusion spread across his face as a five-meter-long spike of ice slammed into his chest. Furcas collapsed to the ground clutching the offending projectile with one hand. He spit out a glob of blood, then wrenched the end of the spike from his chest with a loud roar. “YES! YEEEEEES! GIVE ME YOUR ALL, MORTALS!”
Furcas leaped towards me with his flaming sword held high over his head. I met his attack with crossed axes held high, catching the blade between them. Rather than strain against his massive strength I directed the motion of his sword to the side, then spun the head of my axe to hook against the blade of his weapon. Then I swung myself up into the air using his weapon as a fulcrum, quickly tumbling over his head to wrap my legs around his neck and gripping his horns firmly in my hands.
He reached up and dug his thick claws into my legs as I began to wrench on the horn I had cracked at the beginning of our fight. I hissed in pain, drawing my hand cannon and placing the barrel of the weapon against the damaged horn. I pulled the trigger several times causing more shards of obsidian to spray the ground in front of us.
Furcas struggled in confusion until he saw the pieces of his horn clattering about his feet. His attempts to remove me from his head increased intensity as he realized what I was trying to do. Fortunately for him I was too pissed to think straight or I would have put the heavy rounds through the back of his head. But I wanted that horn, and I wanted to take it while the arrogant prick was alive. So, I endured his tearing and rending claws while I worked on the object of my desire.
In the corner of my vision, I noticed a specific skill advancement notification constantly ticking up; Reaper’s Wrath has gained a level... Reaper’s Wrath has gained a level... Reaper’s Wrath has gained a level...
Heh, guess that makes sense. I’m going to extract my pound of flesh... er, obsidian.
While I worked on damaging the base of his horn enough to break it free from his skull my team continued their own work. At some point Stephen had managed to saturate the great demon’s arms with enough [Gravity Spikes] to make it so the demon could barely grasp my legs, let alone attempt to pry me free.
I tightened my grip as a visible fracture began to form in the horn of my obsession. Furcas howled in impotent rage as I continued wrenching his head around by his weakening horn, then the event I had been waiting for happened.
CRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!
After that nearly ear-splitting sound, Furcas went silent as the integrity of the large obsidian horn weakened. Suddenly I was tumbling to the side with his left horn clutched tightly in my fist. Albert, Carly, and Stephen unleashed everything they had as soon as I fell free.
I stared at the shiny black object in my hand, marveling at its surprisingly light weight and consistent texture. As I stared while the battle raged around me a notification appeared about the horn.
Left Horn of Furcas (Legendary); a legendary crafting material that can be used by several different disciplines to create various pieces of equipment. When paired with the Right Horn of Furcas becomes a Mythic grade material. In its current state can be used as an improvised weapon, any kills made while being used as a weapon increase the material potency and the end results of any equipment crafted using it.
The crash of magic and bodies tugged me from my inspection as the sudden need to take this fucker’s other horn became my driving motivation for killing him. Better yet, if I can deal the killing blow with his own horn, I wonder what kind of bonuses it will earn me? Time to find out! Furcas caught the greedy glimmer in my eye, a knowing look spread across his face, quickly followed by fear. I tucked the horn into a spare slot on my tac vest and stared down the now one horned demon.
“Th-this heresy cannot be allowed to continue! YOU! You dare wield the infernal magnificence of our Dark Lord!?” Furcas sputtered and yelled as my team gathered their energy in this brief intermission. Carly was spent, but still standing, as was Stephen. Both fished through their inventory for mana potions. Keeg had finally regained his feet and was powering up for the final showdown. Albert was stuffing fat .50 caliber rounds into the magazine of the Barrett he’d pilfered.
“Hmph, so be it. The end draws near.”