It was a long, slippery trudge towards the mountain. The closer he got, the more distinct the faces became. Heads of titans piled sky-high, frozen in expressions of deep emotional climax. Everything from twisted agony to joyous madness. Oh, yeah.. ‘Blood Shield.’
[HP: 19/20], [SP: 15/15], [Shield: 5/5]
This skill worked like a charm. It hurt popping it every two minutes, but frostchump bit harder. Besides, with a shield constantly active his regen could keep up, stats ready for Boss 3's inevitable arrival.
As mist thinned he spotted a massive cave entrance at the mountain’s base: A yawning darkness framed in grotesque display of stalactites and stalagmites. Right on cue, a wolly monstrosity emerged from within. It lumbered forth, body covered in matted fur, reeking of rotting wildebeest left in the Serengeti sun. Hygiejne much? Smaller versions of the bloat-flies, pig-sized maybe, clung to its flesh, buzzing slightly at jaunts of movement. Three elongated, serpentine necks swayed hypnotically, each bearing the face of an innocent, hairless, humanoid child. Lips were closed but the eyes peeled to an extreme, begging for adoration. One crackled with lightning in its oversize irises, another dripped molten saliva and the last breathed icy mist from its nostrils. Elemental triad, check.
[System] Something stirs in the dark. Friend or foe?
Hah! You got bored of waiting, huh? Bob had frozen up on purpose. 9.. 10, invisibility online! Utility of this cloak, man.
The Boss, he guessed, had moved straight towards him. Now, it stopped, faces snarling at each-other in obscure beastly language, revealing nasty hooked teeth within their maws. It did not seem to track by scent. Maybe it's own stench masked everything else? It moved again, a few degrees off course, but in his general direction.
Keep it together, wait for your opening. True enough, it soon circled about in confusion, eventually within reach. Bad move! Bob launched. He had learned already, that joints equaled weak-points here. And smashed knees meant crippled movement.
‘SPLAT!’ Greyish green bile exploded outwards covering him in a sticky substance, forced into every crevice of his frontside. He barely managed to close his eyes and mouth in time, getting a taste of the spray as a few droplets settled on his tongue. Sweet. Close to.. honey?
He wiped the thick layer of goo off his face and the Boss had already turned to face him. Invis' off, let's tango. The three faces expressed surprise, but the boss's leg was clearly unharmed. One of the bloat-flies had skidded across the fur to intercept his strike, absorbing the full force of the blow. This guy, he’s got a shield of sorts as well. Didn't see that coming.. Clever.
Then the Boss lunged halfheartedly, heads snapping out in coordinated rhythm. The way a cat toyingly paws at its prey before eventual boredom turns into kill-mode. You underestimate me. If I can’t bash your body, let’s try those faces. Bob baited until one came near, then swung his crowbar in response. ‘BAM!’
The impact smashed through flesh and bone of the fire-drooling iteration, and for a second, triumph surged through his chest.
But reality, even if virtual, has a way of suddenly gut-punching, doesn’t it?
What was left of the fire-faces’ neck split in half, two new heads rapidly reforming. Then came a harrowing mix of laughter, cries and screaming. Bob grit his teeth. Right, so we are both taking it seriously now. Good.
Onslaught was up next. The boss started to stomp around aggressively, sharding the top layer of ice with its heavy feet. Erratic blasts of lightning, burning spit and breaths of icy mist soon flooded the battlefield in a tornado of elemental attacks. That is way too serious! This is bad.
Bob pro dodge-rolled about, blood shield soaking a few hits as well. Even so, his stamina and health would plummet hard if he kept this pace up, trying to survive the brute-force display of power head on. This thing wasn't giving him an out. It kept forcing him to move, and Bob changed tactics: Let’s dodge-herd this thing onto thinner ice.. Maybe, just maybe, it would simply fall through.
Bob used his x2 jump-power to long-roll a few times, until out of reach. The beast trashed about, it's attack not build for long-range. Now, stay at a distance, goat it, keep your cool.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
It was working. It followed. For a while everything looked good. Right up until..
.. ‘Slip’. Bob face-planted into ice and the beast's frosty-face stretched out towards him in some instinctually triggered reaction. It spewed a torrent of frigid air straight at his feet. In an instant, his legs were encased in thick blocks of ice, frozen solid, stuck to the unmoving sea on which the combatants had danced.
[HP: 15/20] Frozen Debuff acquired: Immobilized
He thought of swinging down with his crowbar, desperate to break the debuffs' hold, but before he could do anything, the Boss had stalled it's frenzy, looming above him, necks twisting and arching together - eerie performers taking a bow. The faces then leaned in with murderous intent, mouths snapping open, screeching in unholy harmony.
No! He had one last play, one last gamble. Please let this work.. 'Blood Shield' He drained all but one of his remaining HP to fuel the biggest barrier possible.
[HP: 1/20], [Shield: 70/70]
Then hammered his crowbar against the solid sea beside him. The tool was build for the inanimate, and its damaging blow sent loud cracks through the surrounding ice, soundwaves reverberating in the vast terrain. However, the force was not nearly enough to break through. Bell rung loudly, now pray there is still room for dessert.
Boss' turn now: The necks snapped back then lunged in a sharp hiss. Teeth of the four faces lashing onto his left arm, blasting through ice to grab his right leg as well. It raised him into the air, pulling intensely at his joint. His blood shield struggled to keep up and Bob felt the pain seeping through his defenses.
[System] Latch on and Devour, (T5 special). Effect: Latching on to a prone prey, causes limb-loss.
‘Snap. Tear. Gulp' x2. An arm and a leg were torn free with brutal efficiency, allowing the rest of Bob to drop against the frozen floor. "ARRRRGHHHF!" His HP was still at one point, blood shield down to six-teen points. Yet pain explode throughout his entire being. Savage and overwhelming.
It would be second before a bleed ticked and he could be gone for good. He was unsure whether to trust the shield stopped bleeding. Through the blinding pain, he willed his inventory open and quick-equipped the insectile jade amulet. The artifact clamped onto him, burning into his soul. Bleeds halted, wounds cauterized shut by invisible force, agonizingly stitching flesh together.
[Echuu] Okay, officially concerned here, Bob! Are you dying theatrically to honor the vibe of this place, or are you just being overly dramatic?
Bob, despite the agony, just laughed weakly, while laying flat on the ground, body unmoving. He could already feel the ice sheets shift ever so slightly, waters rippling beneath the surface. Yup, here it comes. Everyone, even god-kings, loved a proper dessert. Moments later, nearby terrain shuddered and cracked violently as massive fragments tilted and split apart. “Bon appetite.. "
The four-faced beast turned as a gargantuan tentacle stuck onto its back, yanking it backwards towards a portal to the pitch-black world below. Boss 3’s faces screeched in futile protest at being man-handled into meeting an inevitable end, so close to triumph. Then, near silence swept across the arena, with a white-noise backdrop of cracking ice.
[System] Boss defeated. Updating progress: 3/7. Victory achieved. Rewards pending..
..
[System] Tier 5 Vault Accessible. Claim your rewards, and may you bear them well.
Rewards, hah.. Bob wasn’t gone. Not yet. But damn, if he wasn’t staring at death’s door: raw, searing agony pulsing within, a torn-off arm and leg. The world was a fractured blur and his breath came in staggered gasps, each inhalation pulling the stench of blood and bloated filth deeper into his lungs. The mountain of faces still loomed, indifferent of what had just transpired, its grotesque carvings locked in a silent wail of witness.
[System] Status Effect: Critical Injury, Limb-loss: right leg, left arm.
He choked out a laugh. “Well.. That went.. fucking great.. Plan.. Executed.. to perfection.”
[Echuu] Technically you won. But also, technically you lost a bunch of vital real estate in the process. Is this your idea of downsizing?
He couldn't spare energy thought-flipping the little bastard off. He had somewhere to go, before this horror would end: The vault. His blood had already begun to clot unnaturally, his amulet’s sinister influence keeping him from keeling over. The Green-Warden’s Mandi-bling, now his new best friend and, maybe, worst mistake, pulsed. It wanted to keep him alive. Needed to.
He had heard something tectonic shift beneath the mountain after the victory-announcement. That cave definately held his treasure. His remaining fingers dug into blood-smeared ice, and he started to drag himself forward - a corpse refusing to rest. This next part sucked balls: Regen 1 HP, pop blood shield. Drag on a bit. Suffer a lot. Repeat.
[Echuu] Sooo, no pressure, but you really need a healer. Like, yesterday. Otherwise, we’re looking at a literally limited Bob-edition for our viewers.
“No shit, Blob-lock.” he half-frowned, half acknowledged.
Despite everything, Bob couldn't help getting ahead of himself: If this is how the devs escalate shit, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE BOSS 4!
