Zogarth
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Chapter 304 - Treasure Hunt: Punching Back
🕑 Added 2021-09-03 11:01:07 +0000 UTCMiranda felt a moment of distress as the vampire rose and its aura spread out the gate and into the hallway. Sylphie didn’t seem to be that on edge, but the same couldn’t be said about the people behind Sven. Sven himself didn’t display anything but just drew his weapon and yelled for his party to get ready.
She also took this yell as her wake-up call and waved her hand as magic circles began being summoned around her. She doubted she could do much direct damage to the Count of Blood as the Viscounts already outmatched her, but she would do her best nevertheless.
Carmen threw a glance towards Sylphie, and without further ado, the two made their move. Sven followed, wielding a large two-handed sword, with his four party members also doing their own thing. One summoned runic lines that appeared on the armor of Sven and Carmen; another began summoning root spears, the third charged with Sven, wielding a sword and shield, while the last one was the most impressive, at least visually. He roared as his body slowly began morphing, and before long, a large armored bear had joined the battle.
The Count of Blood was a large male who summoned armor of bone upon seeing the charging humans, as a black spear also appeared in his hands. Red energy exploded out of his body. Miranda had to defend herself as she began doing what she thought was most valuable: creating a barrier between her and the two casters in Sven’s party. Not one that could hold back the vampire for long, just long enough for them to react.
Magic filled the air, and the two sides clashed, a powerful vampire on one side and a group of humans on the other. Oh, and a green bird that fast proved to be one of the most dangerous things in the room.
Sven could only chip off parts of the bone armor with his swings, making it crack and sometimes knock pieces off, but Sylphie? Sylphie did a fly-by and cut up the vampire’s back, sending blood flying as the armor failed to block her glowing green wing. How the hell the bird had such potent attack power Miranda truly didn’t understand.
The bear proved to be impressive-looking but unable to do much. All it did was try and pre-occupy the vampire by holding onto parts of it, or sometimes land mostly-ineffective blows with its large paws. On the other hand, the bear-man did prove to be very durable, but the vampire handled that by simply not attacking it.
Besides Sylphie, Carmen was the one who found the most success. Her glowing fists cracked the bone armor with every hit, and with her far higher rate of attack, she was by far the main danger of their entire group. Fortunately, the vampire seemed not to have much attacking power besides the spear – which he did wield skillfully, but even so, the human side did take quite a few injuries.
Miranda worked on her barrier while the wood mage fired off wooden spears, and after seeing they did nothing, switching to summoning roots to try and restrain the vampire and limit its movements. The rune caster was some kind of healer and used his magic to temporarily make Carmen or Sven stronger while also creating runes that summoned shields.
Overall their group was balanced, and it became a battle of attrition. The vampire kept yelling horrible dialogue about how it would drink their blood and feast on their flesh, but from what Miranda had learned, that was just par for the course.
She was beginning to feel confident, even if the vampire healed any wounds they inflicted, and the wounds accumulated on primarily the bear, Sven, and the woman with a sword and shield. On a side note, Sven had attempted to use the Stake but found that it failed to penetrate the bone armor and only made the vampire even madder. After that happened, she feared for a moment they would have to flee and hopefully find Jake to help them, but that didn’t seem neccesar-
“ENOUGH!”
The Count of Blood screamed as his entire body exploded in white light, sending all the melee fighters back and interrupted the spellcasting of everyone as Miranda felt her magic be disrupted. Then, she saw the vampire raise its spear as it stabbed it into the ground.
“Forest of Bones.”
Miranda barely had time to react before the ground erupted as thousands of spear-like bones shot up from below. The barrier she had made also protected downwards, but only barely. She dodged back but still ended up being speared through the thigh and an arm, making her yelp in pain and lose her concentration.
Those who had been close to the Count and were blasted back now faced angled spears of bone aimed towards their backs. Sven turned in mid-air blocking with the flat side of his large blade but still took a few minor stabs in his chest.
Carmen didn’t even bother with it all as she was speared from behind, and the bones barely penetrated a few centimeters, allowing her to quickly shoot back towards the vampire, her wounds visibly healing. The one who handled it the worst was the woman with a shield. She had already been wounded by a spear earlier and now failed to adapt as she was impaled through the chest.
Miranda turned and saw that the runic healer had also been stabbed by a spear and was trying to get to healing again. The wood mage had handled it well by shooting vines up from the ground himself, making him be shot up into the air.
The bear was the one that took the most spears due it its size, and the man had now reverted back to his human form, retreating towards the back wall as blood dripped from dozens of wounds on his body.
This isn’t good, Miranda thought, gritting her teeth. The only one unaffected by the attack had been Sylphie, courtesy of her small form and being airborne.
Would she have to call Jake? Could Sylphie do it?
Carmen clashed with the vampire again, but the vampire appeared stronger than before. The armor of bone began changing into a smaller version, and the spear moves became faster and even more deadly.
As Miranda was seriously considering if they should retreat, Carmen jumped back and quickly glanced around the room. Sven had also gotten up and looked Carmen’s way. He only looked at her for a moment before he nodded.
“Retreat!”
The bear-man didn’t have to be told that twice as he began running out of the chamber, while the wood mage summoned roots to extract the damaged shield-wielding woman.
But… two ‘people’ didn’t retreat. One of them was Sylphie and the other one Carmen.
Miranda was practically pushed by Sven to leave and exit the chamber, leaving the bird and woman behind. She frowned but didn’t resist as she knew she truly couldn’t do much. Carmen kept clashing with the vampire during this time while Sylphie hung back.
“What are we going to do?” Miranda asked once outside. She could still see inside the room due to a mark she had left on her magic circle, and all she saw was Carmen still fighting the Count on her own. Sven was working on closing the gate and securing it using his sword as he turned and looked oddly at her.
“I don’t follow?”
“Shouldn’t we do something? The Count proved stronger than expected, and-“
“Ah, Ms. Wells, you worry needlessly,” Sven chuckled, the rest of his party also shaking their heads. “I am most certain Carmen is more than happy about the state of that room. The only one I am worried about would be the bird, but it seems to be able to handle itself.”
--
Inside the room, Carmen stared at the Count of Blood. Sylphie looked at her, and she threw the hawk a glance. She seemed to understand and made a small “ree” as Carmen smiled and got to work. The Count was weakened and about to be out of resources, so it was time to finish the fight. As Carmen prepared, Sylphie flew towards the Count and began flying around it as a whirlwind was kicked up, keeping the Count locked in place.
Carmen knelt down and placed both her fists on the ground as she spoke.
“Sacred Battlefield.”
A pulse went through the ground as an odd aura overtook the entire chamber.
“Regalia of the Fallen.”
A golden set of phantasmal, almost ghostly, armor covered her body in a veil of energy.
“Runes of the Valkyrie.”
Runes appeared all over her arms as she felt an influx of power in them, and their resilience significantly increased.
“Exaltation of Valhal.”
Behind her, an illusory hall full of feasting warriors appeared as they all seemed to lift a mug in her glory. Carmen felt like she suddenly got a huge boost to her stamina as the energy moving through her body sped up.
“Blessed Echo.”
A see-through woman wielding a large axe floated above for a fraction of a second before it slowly descended into her body, buffing up all her physical attributes.
“Ruinous Drive.”
All the energy in her body began burning as her body became significantly more powerful. Her skin started flaking, and blood dripping out of cracks on her skin. For but a moment, she was at her strongest. All of the skills came together and boosted her at once, pushing her incredibly durable body and healing ability to its absolute limits.
With all those skills active at once, she couldn’t fight for long… which is why she would finish it quickly.
She drew back her fist as energy began revolving around it. The Count looked out of the green whirlwind caused by Sylphie as it crossed its arms in front of its chest just in time.
“Fist of Ragnorok.”
In a flash, Carmen appeared before the Count of Blood as she punched.
Her fist literally exploded as she struck the vampire. Two bone-covered arms flew into the air as her fist penetrated through the chest of the vampire, blasting it back towards the back wall of the chamber.
Carmen kneeled down on the ground with only a stump left where her arm had been. Yet, she was only grinning. Sure, the vampire was still alive, but…
A green flash appeared as the vampire that was already embedded in the wall had its head separated from its neck as a green figure flew by. A notification confirmed the kill, and Carmen just laughed as Sylphie claimed the items dropped.
That is when Carmen remembered something else she had forgotten… she had promised that Sylphie would get the loot from the next boss besides the Mark of Blood… considering this one didn’t even drop a Mark of Blood…
Carmen began laughing even more as she was already imagining Sven’s reaction.
--
Jacob had made many decisions he now doubted were wise, and the one he had made that day was one of them. With Jake having obtained three keys for Haven and the City Lord working with Valhal to get another… they needed to ensure the last one. And right now, or at least very soon, Jake would be headed their way.
They needed to delay him. The issue was… who or what could delay the Progenitor of Earth? The likely most powerful person on the planet? Jacob had thought about this for a long time in case things went south… so he had made contact with someone else who was a wild card of their newly initiated universe. His only purpose was to delay Jake, and as far as Jacob was aware, it wasn’t like his friend would come to harm since he seriously doubted anything would come out of their fight.
At least Jacob didn’t believe so… but had to admit that out of the many people on Earth he had difficulty comprehending, Eron was perhaps the biggest mystery to him.
There were many unknowns in this choice, but he had to take some risks. While he did consider Jake a close friend, he still valued his responsibility to the Church over personal relations. He simply had too much responsibility on his shoulders to make decisions based on emotions alone.
This was also why he had made an alliance not with Haven but the Noboru clan. Perhaps the clan had realized that with the Court of Shadows firmly on the side of Haven and Valhal working with their City Lord, they also needed allies.
The Holy Church reciprocated. Jacob saw a lot of value in nurturing the relationship between the Church and the clan. It was work, not personal business. With the Church already having one and now getting another, and the Noboru clan close to claiming their third… it would mean the clan and the Church having five.
OF course, all of that depended on Eron’s ability to delay Jake long enough for Bertram and the others to finish off the Count of Blood.
There was one other thing that irked him, though. It had been two full days of the Treasure Hunt by now, and outside of the first hour or so of the Treasure Hunt, he had heard nothing of the undead faction at all. Considering the antagonistic relationship between the Holy Church and the undead, this was a major cause for concern…
Jacob sighed as he once more entered meditation to try and discover what would happen the moment all nine keys came together. One thing was for certain, though.
He had talked to many individuals from the Holy Church and done a lot of research before entering the Treasure Hunt. General investigation into system events and the general tendencies and stages they went through and based on all that research, Jacob was confident of one thing:
This entire Treasure Hunt was being completed far faster than was usual.
--
Jake used One Step Mile through the plains as he approached the tower in the distance. There were three unkilled Counts, and Jake was going for the closest tower to the one he had just done. He had been told that the Holy Church had already claimed one, and considering how a fourth key had appeared in his inventory halfway to this next tower, he wasn’t going to play nice. He just needed one more, and he would do all he could to get it.
He made it inside and sprinted through the halls, frowning a bit as he encountered no one on any of the lower floors. His frown only grew the further up he got until he finally detected a presence.
A single man stood within a large hallway with a metal gate at the end. Jake instantly saw that the gate wasn’t there naturally but placed. It had been almost welded to the walls, and with his sphere, he saw enough to realize it would require a bit of burning with Alchemical Flame to get it free. Or a lot of Arcane Powershots.
But… that wasn’t the most important right now. It was the man who stood in front of the gate. The man smiled as he saw Jake.
“We meet again, Mr. Thayne. I must admit, It is good that we met again so soon. It always gladdens me to see sparks grow and rekindle.”
It was that madman Eron.
Comments
Blake Richardson
Thanks for the chapter
Exactly
Jared J. Sinclair
Well would Jake be a good friend and not steal the boss like he did before? Chances are he'd just tell them to get lost and fight the count himself. Jacob and Jake both have their own reasons that are more important than their friendship (not that this would even affect their friendship).
Hickity
So many salty comments lmao.
Hunter Vook
One shot his ass
BlameJohn
Jake should box him in with the doors he has stolen and just leave :D
Igloo15
To all those saying Jacob isn’t betraying Jake… he straight up says they may be friends but he’s picking the Church over Jake. That tells you that Jacob doesn’t really see him as a friend. Jacob gets everything that is coming to him. Also there’s a difference in a fair competition, and trying to sabotage a competitor. I think Jake would be fine with it if the “other team” beat him to the last key. But sending someone to specifically delay him isn’t “good sportsmanship” especially coming from a so called friend. It’s 100% fine to F someone in a competition if you don’t know them or dislike them. But it is not OK to try and F a friend. Friends SHOULD play it out and see the best man win in a fair situation. If you gotta resort to these tactics then you know you’d lose in a fair situation and you aren’t true friends to begin with.
yo dude
Tbh I feel like Jake would rather eat the curse and fly up to a balcony or tunnel through the wall via explosions than fight Eron. He said during the Congress there's no point in it for him. He hasn't fought anyone he's deemed pointless yet.
I was anticipating this meeting between Jake and Eron!
Zogarth
Because there's an intermission about him.
Gunnar Crider
How do so many people know erons bloodline?
Vega
I don’t get why people think Jake will be so mad at Jacob…. It’s a competition Jacob is competing it’s how it works…
Brad
Jacob might have screwed up with sending Eron after Jake. It is also a messed up thing to do to a friend that never did anything to you. As much as he hated what his girl did in the tutorial he is starting down the same slope she did.
James Nagy
I just think its funny that jacob wants to delay him so he doesn't kill steal when he acts like Jake won't just take the key from him lol.
BenjiVoid
His brother doesn't want to delay him the same way Jacob does? Jacob says he's doing it because Jake, his brother, and Carmen's party have "teamed up" so he decided to join the patriarch. And even then, he isn't doing that much bad, I don't think he's really as bad as everyone makes him out to be. Jacob says they're already in the chamber and just need to delay Jake enough that he doesn't kill steal. He's also not betraying Jake, just competing with him lightly, and I actually think Jake prefers competition to just giving him the entire treasure hunt.
Fuck Jacob. Fuck the Chruch. I hope finds out that his Brother wants to Delay him and i hope Jacob and the whole Church gets kicked out so that they cant get shit from the last Loot although i hope Jake gets it for himself. Also i hope he CRUSHES Eron with Touch and Pride of the Malefic Viper + his Aura and his Poison.
Landsraad
I thought the Church was at the last Count and expected Jake to show up during the fight and start charging an arrow while someone screams "kill stealer!!"
Landsraad
I think "sparks" are souls
Azareck
So Eron is Yip of Yore's champion?
Yes please!!!
Gavriel
Touch of the Malefic viper is capable of harming yip of yore, not to mention his champion; although it's unknown if the level Jake has is sufficient.
Should_be_working
Honestly I'm expecting for jake to be really pissed once he figures out what is going on and that its Jacob & the churches doing. He literally said it before, don't get in between a hunter and his prey. To try and steal something jake considers his prey is obviously going to make him REALLY pissed, I wont be surprised if he not only kills the count but also goes on a rampage at the church, kicking them out of the treasure hunt or at least demanding compensation.
Azareck
Don't these towers have a skylight? With the root protecting him from the fog, Jake could just fly up and go in through there couldn't he?
Zogarth
Fixed, thanks as always! Also, it's not often you can use literally :p
Jonathan
or sometimes and most ineffective blows with its large paws. sometimes land mostly-ineffective par for the cause. course and the accumulating wounds on primarily the bear, Sven, and the woman with a sword and shield. were healed? Carmen crashed with the vampire again, clashed with or crashed into The bear-man didn’t have to be told that twice as he began running out the chamber, out of In a flash appeared before the Count of Blood as she punched. In a flash, Carmen appeared Her fist literally exploded as she struck the vampire. Well, damn, someone actually used literally to mean literally. Color me shocked. A green flesh appeared flash Jacob had made many decisions he now doubted if were wise, no 'if'
BrokenMortal
I like the way the fight went! I was concerned that Sven would do something, but I glad I was wrong. Thx for the chapter
Lexae
A lot of people seem to want Jake to instakill Eron and get that last key, me included, but there is another thing that may prove quite fun. Jake either can't kill Eron because of his bloodline or, he can kill him but it takes so much time that he loses the key, and that will lead to Jake losing something that would prove very useful, idk what, and then Jake goes on a bit of a payback time and starts taking out church members but this will also create both an external conflict between himself and Jacob and an internal conflict between his friendship with Jacob and his desire to do what he wants.
Tomer Yud
Thanks!
Rick White
Fun chapter!
Rick White
“How the hell the bird had to potent attack power Miranda truly didn’t understand.” -> “How the hell the bird had that potent attack power Miranda truly didn’t understand.” Or something like that.
Simon
I've been thinking about how jake could take on eron, and maybe by using his mark, charging it up and detonating it, then finishing with an arrow of the ambitious hunter (if i recalled its name correctly)? After all, if the body can't die, the best places to attack are the mind and the soul
Alnatura
I hope Jake kills him in 2 minutes
BenjiVoid
Check my comment below to see if it jogs any memories.
BenjiVoid
Check my comment below to see if it jogs any memories.
BenjiVoid
For the two above and anyone else wondering: Eron is the other guy with a notable bloodline on earth. He introduced himself to Jake at the world congress. He sees "sparks of life" in people or something and is absolutely crazy. He's like a necromancer but without the death, in the sense of a corrupted healer. He was the one who beat a boss by just continuously "dying" to it until it couldn't kill him anymore.
Stephen Pearson
Healer turned necromancer, the other bloodline in the world congress.
Dont_like_to_Talk
Thanks for the chapter
Detrox
I would actually love for Jake to do the smart thing and ignore the man and charge for the count instead. He said it before, fighting him is pointless
Zogarth
Fixed :p. Funny typo, and amazing how two small letters can change meaning so much!
Ikawaii
Would she have to kill Jake? -> Miranda planning on killing Jake?
Sesharan
Ooooh, interesting. Okay, so... Jake has three keys, and Silphie is about to get a fourth one which will go to him. Clan Noboru has three keys, plus one from the Church, which means this one is the last key in play. Eron seems to be a specialist in outlasting people, but can he actually stop Jake for any notable length of time?
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Markus Iversen
Tftc
