MM - Chapter 194 - OH NO YOU DON’T

It was a good thing the demonic flames from Raine’s armor only burned living tissue, or the tree wouldn’t have lasted beyond the hill’s halfway point. The Fetches came often, and in large groups, gliding down from the clouds above. They waited for the best moments to unleash their Ice Lances, firing with deadly accuracy before allowing the wind to whisk them away, and Raine let them go.

It was all too obvious that stopping to fight each one was a death sentence. Raine took to avoiding all but the largest groups while focusing his efforts on increasing their speed. The tree was too heavy to use the Fraction of Grace, leaving him with no option but to dig deep into his other resource pools with Flawed Conversion. Burning Discipline only went so far, and for the first time since she’d been denied her mount, Selena managed to keep up with Raine’s pace.

“T-this is crazy!” Selena hissed. “We need to go back and think of a better plan!”

“You want to go faster? Maybe try helping.”

“I’m barely keeping up as it is! At this speed, I could carry two branches at most, hardly enough to make a difference. Any more would slow us down and defeat the purpose.”

Raine nodded. It was this exact logic that kept him from wasting time trying to convince her to do precisely that. Still, bickering with the princess had become second nature. “Something tells me you’re going to wish you brought those two branches.”

Selena rolled her eyes. “Says the one who ran off without giving me a chance to grab them, or explaining anything.”

Raine opened his mouth to argue that she did have the time, but spent it with her jaw on the ground. His snarky comment was interrupted by nearly thirty Fetches breaching the clouds at once. This was the largest group by far, and with how many traps the beasts had set so far in the trial, Raine’s suspicious nerves were on high alert.

He squinted, absorbing as many details of the beasts as he could. Usually, the wind blew them in somewhat random directions that they didn’t seem to fight. For some reason, this group was on a slightly more linear path, but not directly toward Raine. They were angled just behind him, and their usually hungry gazes didn’t feel as piercing. It didn’t take a genius to realize they weren’t aiming for him, but the bonfire trailing behind.

A glance back the way they had come made it obvious how dead Raine and Selena would be if they were suddenly deprived of their heat source. Raine immediately dropped the tree and reached for the bundle of branches he used to hunt down the previous groups. (A single branch was insufficient for holding back the freezing chill at their current elevation.) A blaze of soul flames relit the half-blackened mass.

He paused long enough to pin Selena with a hard look. “Protect the tree!” Then, he Leaped into the sky.

The Fetches rode the wind away from Raine, attempting to circle around and get at the tree. While dangerous, the sharp lances glistening in their hands didn’t look like the right tools for the job. They would slice right through the trunk and into the ground, barely damaging the heat source. But that was an illusion. It would only take one well-placed throw at a fraction of its normal power to lodge a lance inside the tree. Within seconds, it would be frozen from the inside out, unable to burn.

Despite the beasts holding their throws to close range, Raine Lunged repeatedly in an evasive, zig-zag pattern. The Fetches pretended to watch his slow approach. With their eyes darting between him and the tree, it was more clear than ever what their real target was. It wasn’t until he was halfway to them that the first ten unleashed their salvos.

The attacks came in groups of two. They were perfectly timed and positioned; weaving between them would be impossible. Raine kicked into overdrive, churning through 40 Discipline per second to boost his Potency, Acuity, and Physique.

True speed was not the result of dexterity or Finesse, but raw, physical power. Raine kicked off the air and, like a jet engine was strapped to his back, tore through the air at near supersonic speed. The branches held in his off-hand were almost extinguished, plunging him into a frigid winter. [-950] As he outran the lances, fresh waves of heat were released from his hands to reignite the life-saving branches.

Ten seconds without heat and I’m—

Raine’s thought was cut off as the next ten Fetches prepared to throw. This time, he wasn’t their target. Five aimed for Selena, the other half, the tree. Raine Lunged for all he was worth as bloodlust exploded outward, streaming toward the Fetches. His mental ability cut their attributes just before release. Being on a direct intercept course, Raine was now directly between the beasts and the tree.

Despite being weakened, their accuracy was still impeccable, leaving Raine with few choices for how to deal with the five lances racing right toward him. As the first spear closed in, a flash of light in his palm heralded the appearance of a random weapon. Without waiting to see which it was, Raine Parried. Spear tip and lance intercepted, releasing a harsh clang. At the same instant, a flame-wrought gauntlet smacked away the next lance. The third was batted aside by Raine’s spear that reversed directions instantaneously thanks to Uncanny Acceleration. The last two sliced right through Raine’s armor and chest. [-2,193] [-2,201]

He twisted as they tore through him and exited his back, altering their trajectories enough to miss their targets. Instead of blood, a spray of diamond dust was released behind Raine; the tissue the lances contacted had been instantly frozen and then shattered.

Healing Burst sealed one of the holes. [+2,535] Snarling, Raine Lunged at the nearest Fetch and elbowed its ugly face. The brief contact not only whipped its head back but unleashed a Life Drain that sucked away its health, nearly restoring Raine to full. [-2,511] [+2,511] Guardians Bane took it in the exposed throat, plundering its health in one go. [Critical hit! -345,347]

There was no time to see if Selena managed to evade the five lances sent her way. The last ten Fetches had split up. Five aimed right for Raine, while the other five had sucked in their extended vines and returned to their regular shape. They raced toward the tree at maximum speed in suicidal, headfirst dives.

“No!” Raine roared, spinning to follow far too slowly. Seizing his moment of distracted weakness, the five Fetches aiming at him released their lances.

Raine flashed an evil grin, delighted that his ploy worked. He couldn’t have been more thankful. Had the Fetches waited to throw, he really would have been in a tight spot. The lances ripped through the intervening space before plunging straight through his body. 

Except that Raine was no longer there, having vanished at the last instant. Thanks to the zig-zag pattern he took before, Raine had physically been through much of the airspace between the Fetches and tree. Returner's Privilege brought him to where he was only seconds before—directly above the diving group. Uncanny Acceleration and Rupture combined, releasing an instant shockwave of force that sent them off course.

Churning through resources with Flawed Conversion continued to reset Raine’s cooldowns, allowing Guardians Bane to claim the nearest Fetch. He tore after the others, finishing off all five before they managed to throw even one more lance. Raine’s flickering gauntlets dissolved as the Wisdom of Amanesh slithered up his spear, igniting its length in crackling flames. He pinned the remaining Fetches with a glare that promised death before Lunging away to deliver on that promise.

Less than a minute later, he dropped back to the ground. The tree’s burning length sent waves of comfortable heat through him, banishing the last of the unnatural chill. Selena was there, bent over and panting for breath. A trail of blood running down her leg was in the process of melting. She briefly glanced up before shaking her head. “Can’t believe. You protected. A tree. Over me.”

Raine responded by picking up Selena and throwing her over an unburning portion of the trunk. She squawked before landing, then again when he hefted the tree, and her, and took off up the hill. Raine sprinted as fast as he could, concern urging him on. A little less than half the tree remained after the prolonged battle.

If there aren’t more trees at the top, we might be fucked.

With each passing minute, Raine ran faster as his burden lightened. Selena didn’t ride for long. She hopped off and ran behind, occasionally hacking at the flames with a well-placed Gale Thrust to slow their advance. All the while, she continued to berate Raine.

“I almost died. Again. I had to burn a one-time accessory that cost more gold than you’ve ever seen. Once this is all over, you can expect a bill for the expense!” There was no heat in her words, and Raine heard the underlying message: Selena was done with the crying and running away; she would fight, claw, and scrape her way forward, surviving to see her home once more.

“That’s fine.” Raine nodded, unable to shrug with his load. He hid a grin, eyes dancing across the sky. “After I contest it, we can settle the dispute in the arena. Should be fun.”

Selena missed a step, stumbling before catching herself, then racing to catch up. “How do you-nevermind…” Just as Raine heard her underlying message, his was loud and clear as well: whatever disagreements they might have could be dealt with when they were out, and alive.

The next wave of Fetches interrupted their bickering. There were only six, and Raine dispatched them without issue. The three after that only numbered in the dozen. The tree was down to a quarter of its mass when the summit came into view.

“Thrice-cursed celestials!” Selena spat, beating Raine to the punch upon finding there was nothing flammable in sight. They sprinted to the shrine’s crystalized grass, where Selena slid across the ground, already praying before she reached the stone hand extending from the soil.

From their vantage, Raine scouted the Mystic Realm for the next shrine. There were only two other hills. A quick look at the vod he’d taken of the encounter with the administrators revealed which was next. Selena finished her prayer, and a bubble of force expanded from the rising statue, pushing away the cold.

Their eyes met, both surprised by the unexpected reprieve. Their gazes tracked to the burning wood, which was no longer a necessity. Raine shook his head, not liking the idea of dousing it to rest. Selena’s jaw clenched, and Raine found a glint of steel in her green eyes that hadn’t been there before. She nodded sharply. “I trust you.”

Without another word, they were off. “Get on!” Raine shouted, finally confident in swapping to the Fraction of Grace. Selena latched onto his back before the words finished leaving his mouth. 

Flipping the tree around so the burning portion was in front of them, Raine activated Grace of Nirvana. The terrain blazed beneath them. In the short 15 seconds he sprinted, they cleared half the hill. A single Lunge corrected their mad descent before crashing. 

Selena hopped off without needing to be told and ran on for all she was worth. Unfortunately, she was still too slow. At the rate they were going, they wouldn’t make it to a lower elevation before their heat source shriveled into nothing. Raine was about to tell her to get back on when he saw a tremor of movement that triggered every instinct he’d accumulated after years of struggling for survival.

It was a subtle shift in the soil, soil that should have been frozen solid. Whatever caused it was more powerful than a Fetch, and that could only mean one thing. Raine snatched Selena’s collar and Lunged backward. The princess released a strangled cry as her moment was cut short. Despite her retreating torso, her arms and legs shot forward.

At the same instant, the ground ahead exploded into movement. Thick roots blasted upwards, sending dirt high into the air. Selena tried and failed to scream as the massive Patriarch of the Fetches tore itself free from its hiding place. Behind the world boss, hundreds upon hundreds of Fetches rose from the ground as well. Their bodies clogged the bottom third of the hill, sealing any chance of escape.

Zagan the Imperishable roared with laughter, each guffaw sending another tremble through Selena’s bones. The monster was unlike any she’d ever seen; a gargantuan amalgamation of tree, root, and vine combined with pure malevolence. Thick Primal Energy pulsed within its chest, hinting at something trapped within. Most terrifying of all were its eyes: large golden orbs that spoke of an impossibly vast desire for violence.

The Patriarch’s voice was like hammers in her skull and loud enough to make her vision dance, “So predictable, and so very, very dead. There will be no escape this time, blasphemer! My roots yearn to fill your body and sup upon your blood. I will not be further denied! Come! Face your end!”

By the time Zagan finished speaking, Selena was shaking like a leaf in a storm. Alaric’s hand clasped her shoulder from behind. His whisper was firm, a sheltering island amidst a turbulent sea. Each word was loud in her ringing ears. The simple question he posed held a hope that didn’t seem real, but it was all Selena had.

“Do you still trust me?”

[Innate passive 2 - Wisdom of Amanesh: Concentrate your inner flame in various areas of the body for a wide variety of effects (Currently available: Hands / Arms) (Further mastery will unlock additional areas) (no cooldown) (no cost)]

[Locket of Rendition: (Lustrous Blue) This beautiful necklace contains a glimpse of what could have been, and what could be again (Durability 75/75) (Innate skill - Returners Privilege: Teleports the wearer to any location visited in the last 5 minutes) (Cooldown: 1 hour)]

[Guardians Bane: (Adept) Stab with any melee piercing weapon to ignore 92% armor and physical resistances. Additionally deals 600% physical damage (Cost: 15 Discipline) (Cooldown: 15 seconds)]