PATRIARCH FOWL
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Casual Heroing, Chapter 177
🕑 Added 2023-08-30 19:51:44 +0000 UTCNext chapter comes out Saturday, September 2nd!
HE'S GOT WHAT???!!! 🔣🔣🔣
2/3 chapters this week!
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*golden means it's gold-colored in editors that allow colors (not patreon)
Chapter 177 – Godslayer
The statue wields his sword of pure darkness and swings it. I can feel the weapon’s enormous momentum travel through the air—but it’s not an attack; the monster is simply testing its weapon as if this was the first time in a long time it has wielded it.
I hear the monster take a deep breath and nod at the sword before refocusing on me.
“A little Godslayer. A pup. Your kind hasn’t died out yet, it seems.”
“A what?” I say, swallowing and feeling the reassuring weight of my sword on my shoulder. “Never heard of a Godslayer.”
“A coward, like the rest of your kind,” the statue snickers at me.
“Excuse me?”
A dark miasma starts flowing out of the statue’s entire body, the same type that had been on the body of the hounds before they died. Concerningly, a thicker, purplish fume comes out of its mouth and eyes, too.
“Has your kind finally left the little island, Godslayer? You come to challenge us in our home now?”
Ok, this is giving me terrible vibes, I think to myself, looking at the corridor that I came from. Can I flee? That sword looks even bigger than mine, and that bastard is wielding it off in the air as if it was nothing.
I look at the scary monster, trying to gauge my options.
He’s most definitely catching up with me in case I run. He’s too big not to be fast enough, and if I meet more hounds while fighting this thing, I’m done for.
Magister Mulligan, for Christ’s sake, are you there? This thing looks a tad too strong. Can I get some help here?
Nothing.
Fuck, is he actually offline or something? Could it be that our connection doesn’t work in this damn Dungeon? But he’s a goddamn [Archmage]!
“I can smell your fear, Godslayer,” the statue says, advancing a few steps and grinning maliciously with his empty mouth. “You reek of that vile magic your kind is so fond of. Tell me, how would you like to die?”
I take a deep breath, feeling the blood pump to my brain in overdrive.
“I would like to die in the soft embrace of a beautiful woman, rock man. How would you like to die? Hugging a piece of granite?”
“You awaken one of the greater guardians of this abode, and you mock it, Godslayer. Your kind is overdue for extinction. I’ll be happy to wake my brothers and sisters to chase you down once again.”
The massive statue made of darkness widens its stance and takes a massive inhale before…
Disappearing?
I feel a ping of pure danger at the back of my head, and my eyes go wide.
Shit!
I can’t roll forward with the weight of the sword on my shoulder, so I snap my head back, seeing a terrifying swing of the statue directed at my spine. I twist my body, letting the sword fall off and placing it vertically between me and the monster.
The consequent impact rings through my entire body and moves me several feet away.
“Good reflexes, tiny one,” the statue laughs before sinking into the shadows again.
“Patronizing piece of shit,” I swear and feel the second swing come from behind again. “You think you can do the same trick twice?”
I immediately pull the sword back on my shoulder and extend my arm behind me, eying the dark sword’s massive swing.
“You’re slow, rock man,” I shout, tapping his sword.
[Momentum Absorption]
“Taste your own fucking medicine!”
[Momentum Release]
I trust my sword, spinning around myself and slammingthe huge tip right in the statue’s chest, making the monster stumble back a few steps.
I frown.
Shit, he took it just like that.
“Oh, what an interesting little class. But you are nothing, Godslayer. Barely a fraction of your ancestors. You can’t even wield your sword properly.”
“Stop-fucking-talking!” I shout, starting to rapidly spin in place and getting closer to the monster with all my muscles engaged and ready to strike.
This time, the monster doesn’t disappear but steps forward with an overhead swing. The darkness coalesces at the top of the sword, amplifying its already massive reach.
[Tenfold Friction]
My feet stop dead on the ground, and I release a devastating swing that smacks away the sword from the monster’s hand and leaves him wide open.
“Eat shit!”
I raise my hand and point it at his chest.
[Lightbolt].
I cram as much Mana as I possibly can inside the spell. When it hits the bastard, however, there’s barely a scorch mark on his body. My eyes go wide as the monster re-adjusts and swings at me again, forcing me to parry and jump back in the air to neutralize a part of his strike’s momentum.
The only thing that gives away that my attack actually did something to him is that the stone, or whatever he’s made of, is still sizzling silently.
“Your wretched ways disgust me!” The statue roars at me. “Die, Godslayer!”
The thing lunges at me faster than before and much angrier.
My sword is still in front of me, and I’ve just landed on the ground when he’s already onto me. I have no space to accelerate and swing my sword without any skills.
He slashes horizontally.
[Deep Focus]
The world slows down, and I can see my enemy’s sword path reaching for both me and my weapon. If I let the weapon go or dodge by jumping, he might disarm me. If I don’t, I’ll have to take the hit.
“Fuck you,” I say, putting my body against the sword and using it as a shield while the massive blade reaches for it. I plant my feet firmly on the ground and put my entire weight into the defense.
Aionios muscle, do your damn thing!
But the hit is too much for me. It rings me up badly, and I can feel my bones creaking. My muscles are already sore from these few exchanges, but the monster doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest by the massive weapon he’s carrying.
I was stronger than the puppet when I had to confront it in the last twenty-three hours. But even then, its sheer stamina and technique were almost enough to kill me. This guy? This guy is faster, stronger… he’s… too much.
I let the sword go for a second and raise both my hands before he can swing again.
[Lightbolt].
[Lightbolt].
[Lightbolt].
[Lightbolt].
I shoot twice from each hand, hitting his shoulder, his chest, and twice his face.
The monster groans, but he’s still raising the sword for another swing. I pick up my sword again and start spinning in place. So far, I had thought my class was strong, that it had many options that were great to navigate even the toughest encounters. And with a sword like mine, I had thought, how hard would it be to whack just about anyone to smithereens?
[Whirlwind Dervish Blade, Master of Momentum – Level 22]
Six damn words in a row—Magister Mulligan had explained stronger classes might have either very short or very long titles. Mine had veered on the latter. In fact, I have several extremely strong skills that can save me in a pinch, plus some insane passives.
I swing diagonally, rooted by [Centrifugal Master] and [Nausea Immunity]. The statue bounces back, but that’s just how I start.
[Light]
I coat my sword in [Light], looking like goddamn Archangel Michael, and put even more strength into the attack as the sword angles for the floor—a smile appears on the statue’s stupid face.
“You think it’s funny?”
As my sword hits the ground, I suddenly twist on my feet.
[Tenfold Friction]
[Blade Ricochet]
[Momentum Shift]
I’ve already twisted and re-adjusted the direction of the sword for an even bigger swing in the other direction as I step forward. The statue is caught on its back foot, and I land my most devastating hit yet, having the sword penetrate through the statue and leaving a hissing gash across his torso.
“I’m not done!” I shout at him, immediately twisting entirely the other way.
[Kinetic Chain]
[Inexorable Momentum Redirection, Double-Up]
Enhanced by the two skills, I land an even stronger hit using the remaining energy from the first and doubling it, empowering my swing further with [Kinetic Chain], a skill I got at the start of my confrontation with the puppet. It allows me to strike multiple times with more and more momentum behind my swings.
“Eat this, piece of shit,” I strain my whole body to activate my favorite skill again.
[Inexorable Momentum Redirection, Double-Up]
I can taste blood as the momentum bounces backward, letting me set up the third and last swing my body can take before breaking down from piling up so many skills on top of each other.
With the two white gashes over it, the statue tries to faze away in the dark, but my Light Magic is clearly interfering with it.
“Fucking die!” I shout, landing a hit so strong I almost cut the motherfucker entirely in half from shoulder to hip.
He backs away as my sword falls on the ground, all my muscles screaming bloody murder.
“Fuck,” I hiss, falling to my knees.
The statue, breathless so far, releases a soul-splitting shriek of pain, making the entire chamber tremble and several pieces of debris fall from the roof.
I raise my eyes to watch it die, but what I find is terrifying.
The statue reaches for the white, light-filled gashes and rips them away. The monster grabs the fucking magic and tosses it away, its body regenerating immediately.
“Puny Godslayer, you thought that was enough?” The statue looks at me with a crazed look. “YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS ALL IT TOOK TO TAKE DOWN A DIVINE GUARDIAN!”
It screams so loud that my whole body, already out of balance, falls backward. I spit some blood on the ground and use my shaky arms to stand up again.
“What a disgrace your people have become. What a disgrace youare.”
Something about his words, about the way he looks at me, makes something inside me snap.
Anger, as I’ve never felt it before, rises in my entire being – the kind of anger one feels when they realize they have thrown all their fucking life in the trash and found out about their true calling only on the deathbed.
Not despair.
That’s too easy.
Anger.
Pure, unadulterated, fiery-hot anger.
“A disgrace?” I hiss, letting my aura out, and my still perfectly braided hair starts to sway even in the complete absence of wind.
“Do you know who the fuck you are talking to?” I say, moving a step forward, leaving my sword behind. “Do you have any fucking idea how many times my parents have sacrificed all they believed in to give me a better life? Do you even understand what I have put through the people I loved the most in all these miserable twenty-five years of my life?”
“Oh, Godslayer, getting sentimental?”
“My parents didn’t die for me to die in a nameless fucking Dungeon with a miserable statue,” I inhale deeply, preparing my body for what comes next. “I’ve disappointed them so many times already, you idiotic piece of rock.”
I place my hands on the opposite forearm of mine, digging my nails in the flesh and taking one last deep breath.
“If you think I’m about to disappoint them one more time before I meet them again, as they watch me from above, you are out of your goddamn mind.”
I slash my forearms open, reaching for my strongest skill.
[Scarlet Runes, Aegis of the First Hero]*golden
Comments
Excal04
Random jump from start of training to him doing the dungeon. When he uses a skill a flashback on how he gained it with a few glimpses of the dummy fight. How hollow it felt killing in the duel and taking that out on the dungeon guardian? That pattern would maybe help with the progression?
Nyroe
I may need to re-read the last few chapters but the recent pacing and delivery feels a bit off. May just need to RAFO but it feels a bit clunky to skip Joey fighting the dummy in his training space and his subsequent class, level, and skill gains. Then we move to the duel and it ends in an anti-climax, which would be fine if we were present for Joey breaking through personally during the last days of his training but because we kind of just skipped that moment of catharsis the rest falls a bit flat. Then, once the duel is over, Joey walsk out of the city and suddenly a hole opens up and he decides 'Yeah, sure whatever lets jump into a dungeon'. That last bit would be fine with a bit of space or if we knew just what Joey gained from his training, but because we are only just now learning what he can do against what feels like a random dungeon boss in a dungeon that literally opened beneath his feet (again, randomly), the recent conflict feels a bit hollow. Joey stepped up and decided to improve himself when he signed the contract. He decided to push forward through adversity and to figure things out his own way during training. Finally, he decides that he is done being childish and makes steps to mature in order to grow as an individual. Thay should have all come to a head in the training world, followed up by a beatdowm im the duel. This dungeon, imo, would work better if it were set up more because I also understand that the Anticlimax of it all is a part of why he takes a leap into the dungeon in the first place. Idk, maybe I just need to re read but these are my thoughts rn. Still enjoy the story - your characters and drama are fun, just some things that have bothered me a bit
