Amazon Apocalypse 4: Chapter 23

The Lich King’s forces arrived first, which was within my expectations. We were deep in his territory, and it was easy for him to assemble an army to ambush me.

It would take Margaret, Marcus, Kyle, Frank, and all my other elite a few minutes to get from where they were waiting over on our side of the corridor to here. Perhaps it would have been faster if we’d been able to get Dan’s teleportation array set up, but we just didn’t have people with teleporter technician jobs yet to run them.

Thankfully, there was another option. While it would be extremely difficult to sneak an army through behind us, a few C-Grades were roughly as strong as an entire army. And three of them had come, along with one very hungry shark.

“Nom nom,” Sharky said as he opened his maw wide and swallowed an entire column of shambling undead. The stiff-legged zombies didn’t have the speed to flee or the agility to dash aside, so this was a rare opportunity for Sharky to get an entire mouthful in one swoop.

The countless rows of teeth worked like an industrial shredder, especially when I used Mania to bring out his full tentacle-mouthed eldrich monstrosity form. The living necromancers controlling the undead found themselves wrapped up in tendrils and dragged into a mouth that could crush concrete sidewalk to a heap of gravel in half a second. They barely even had time to scream before their flesh became indistinguishable from the mass of devoured undead. Soon all that would be left of them were the voidlings Sharky created from the resentment flayed from their soul after death.

While none of these necromancers were particularly impressive, they were the equivalent of the rank and file of my people back in Crownhill. The people whose names I didn’t know, but who spent each day fighting monsters under the leadership of notable figures like Kerrie, Margaret, or Frank. Without them, the Lich King’s ability to control his territory would greatly diminish.

Sakura, Bridget, and Myrina jumped from Sharky’s back, and soon each of them were unleashing ruin in just as great a quantity. Every swing of Sakura’s club sent zombies flying so hard that their broken body parts smashed all those behind them. Bridget ignored the undead entirely and wove past them to stick a dagger into the necks of the necromancers controlling the undead horde, turning the zombies loose on friend and foe alike.

Meanwhile, Myrina spread her arms wide before the bulk of the Lich King’s army, sword in one hand and guard completely open.

“Come at me, cowards!” she dared them, and a dozen of the Lich King’s elite warriors accepted her offer. Moments later, a dozen bodies fell to the ground, each sliced to ribbons. None of them stood a chance.

Behind me, Kerrie and Artemis each held their own. The two were capable archers, and the two lower-leveled guys knew enough to position themselves between the ranged combatants and the enemy. Both had shields and a defensive stance to make sure nobody could rush down the archers they guarded. A necromancer or powerful skeleton went down to an arrow through the eye socket every few seconds.

The only two fighters able to shift the way the fight was going were the Lich King and his the Queen of Death. The former of whom was locked in battle with me, and the latter fighting Reluna. I had hoped I wouldn’t need to rely on her to do any actual fighting, but now that I had, I was pleased to see how firmly she held her ground. As long as I kept the Lich King occupied, we would win this. If a skull could look frustrated, I was certain the Lich King would be snarling at me.

But I was not content to merely occupy the Lich King. He’d sprung his trap, and I’d sprung my own to counter it. Now it was just me and him. He was the first real spellcaster from Earth I’d encountered since the integration, and I was determined to prove I was the better of us.

During the fight, I noticed many of the Lich King’s spells were flashy and large. They painted large circles of glowing red light on the ground and in the air before him. I copied those patterns with Lightsculptor’s Brush, except for making them bigger, brighter, and larger for my spells.

The Lich King sensed a mighty attack coming and started casting a hasty barrier. I let the fake spell crumble before it appeared even halfway done, revealing a Void Cannon spell I’d hidden among all the glowing lights. My enemy scrambled to drop his energy barrier. He must have realized this was a shield-breaker spell from the way I’d used it earlier but I gave him just a moment to react before the spell landed. He was too slow, and the resulting explosion cracked the pavement beneath him and sent him flying through the window of a nearby building, away from my companions battling an entire army on their own.

Timestutter gave me just enough time to aim most of them. I used the moment free of the fight to unleash a hail of Mana Bolts. They struck out in all directions, focusing on the enemy spellcasters. Our enemies were only winning this fight if these necromancers hit my companions with a barrage of debuffing spells that slowed them down enough that D-Grades could take them. I would not give them that chance. My barrage killed several of them outright. The rest dropped their spells to cast defensive barriers, leaving the rest of their allies unprotected as my C-Grade companions hacked their way through minions and underlings.

I’d cast Awakening the Inner Beast before the fight began, but I renewed it now, strengthening my allies and weakening my enemies. I opened my mouth and breathed fire on them while I cast Eldrich Blight and layered down hundreds of Corrupting Marks at once. Between that and Soulchain Nexus, the marks would spread through the enemy army, and the next time things started looking close, I could detonate the marks.

That was all the carnage I had time for before the Lich King pulled himself free of the debris and came at me again in a bolt of black lightning. He reappeared, holding sinister flames in either hand, which he threw in my direction. I dodged both attacks, but the flames struck the ground and started spreading across the bodies of the shattered undead, growing fiercer and stronger all the while.

“Death and despair only make me stronger. I serve death incarnate! You can't escape from me.” His empty eye sockets flashed crimson.

“You’re not the only one who’s cheated death! The difference between you and me is that I didn’t bend the knee to it.”

Light flashed. Flames roared. Spells flew.

He was a far better fighter than I'd expected. Dramonar would have been no match for the Lich King, had the two ever met. Hell, he probably would have crushed Borelius too, despite the young master of the Limstave family’s fancy staff. Our time since the integration had been short, but both of us fought long and hard for every scrap of power we had.

As the fight wore on, cracks ran through his bones. The fancy cloak Sakura gave me caught fire and smoldered, but didn't burn thanks to its fire resistance. My overcoat beneath it was another story though, and I tossed it aside. The entire top of my suit was gone from one shoulder to my navel, revealing bare skin and defined muscles. Morgathor’s talismans and Sakura's cloak had done their job though, and beneath my tattered clothes, I was unharmed.

The fighting had lasted several minutes now. Nearby, the Queen of Death stood frozen solid. Reluna pushed her until she toppled, and the beautiful C-Grade woman shattered like glass, breaking into a thousand pieces. In the distance, I could hear trucks and cargo vans rushing our way. Soon, Margaret and the rest of our forces would join the battle soon, and the Lich King’s forces would be truly doomed.

I saw the Lich King take it in and come to a decision. He would need a decisive blow to turn the tides. This was the moment he’d risk everything for victory. He raised his arms to the sky, and the flames gathering across the battlefield.

“Behold, the might of death born of chaos!” the Lich King shouted as the dark flames gathered into a cowled skull. At first glance, the cowled skull reminded me of the Lich King’s own face, but peering into the hood I realized the white bone beneath it was the skull of a bird, not a human. The Lich King was calling on power far greater than himself.

A pillar of black fire soared toward the heavens, spreading to cover the sky. Reluna’s blue moon flickered for a moment, then was consumed by the growing darkness. The swirling cold mist Reluna had already blown over, a group of gathered undead melted away, and they all rushed her while she defended against the churning black flames nearby. Kerrie, Artemis, and the two young men guarding them were nearby, and they rushed into the bubble of protection Reluna was building.

Bridget jumped clear, retreating to the edge of the battlefield. Sakura fought in Sharky’s wake because he was eating the sinister black flames just as quickly as the living and the dead.

The flames swept over Myrina, but she merely laughed as it scorched her skin. Her eyes blazed with battle lust, and her red hair streamed behind her. Between the blood and her fearless battle cry, the Elder Lich she was chopping to bits let out a scream of terror like he was fighting a demon in human form. Each swing of her sword came faster and hit harder than the one before, and despite being outnumbered fifty to one and completely surrounded, it was her enemies who broke ranks and fled under her relentless onslaught.

Tightness warped my stomach as the Lich King channeled all the gathering flames in my direction. Normally, I would have dodged the attack, but these gathering fires were locked onto me. I had just used Shadow Realm stride, and only now did I realize his last set of attacks had been a ploy to get me to use it, so I couldn’t evade this one. There were only two ways to break this spell. I either had to kill the caster or power through its effects.

I threw a dozen Mana Bolts in the Lich King’s direction. He didn’t bother blocking them as each spell cracked bones and broke off chunks of his body. Standing still as he was, I landed critical hit after critical hit, stacking up ten Corrupting Marks at a time. If he didn’t kill me here and now, he was as good as dead. Any biological being would have been crippled by the pain, but as an undead he likely didn’t feel anything of the sort.

If I was a traditional offensive mage throwing fireballs and lightning bolts, I might have killed him. But the bulk of my damage came from Corrupting Mark and the affliction damage it dealt. I simply wouldn’t be able to put the Lich King down in the few seconds I had before his attack landed.

So instead I channeled my defensive spells, mainly Hand of Fate and Dragonscaled Mage. I had one more trick to play.

The flames swept over me, concentrated a thousandfold. My body burned like it was dipped in lava, but like the Lich King, I could ignore the pain.

I watched my health with a careful eye. Then, when it dipped low enough, I detonated my Corrupting Marks. Lifesteal brought a huge influx of vitality rushing my way, and instantly my life was replenished to full. The flow of vitality battled the onrushing flames. Lengthy seconds ticked by before Shadowrealm Stride came up again, and I vanished from inside the pillar of black fire.

He sensed me vanish and let out half a shout.

"Impossibl--" he began, but I didn't let him finish.

When I emerged, I was behind the Lich King once more. I cut the Lich King’s head off with a single swing of an Arcane Blade, and the black flames died. I took his skull in hand as magic flickered within it.

In those short few seconds, I was in that pillar, the character of the battlefield had completely changed. Half the enemy army died as I detonated my Corrupting Marks, and now I saw our allies circling the intersection.

“Cut them down! Take no prisoners. Slaughter the undead abominations!” Myrina shouted as Margaret, Kyle, Marcus, Frank, and the others charged into battle.

It would have been a bloodbath if more of the enemy army had blood to shed. Something squirmed within the head. A soul, perhaps? I fought to contain it while the battle raged on, throwing spells with what concentration I could spare.

On his own, Sharky swept up most of the fleeing enemies. There were enough of his Voidlings now that they were competing with him for food as they tore their way through the remaining undead.

I landed next to my captains, most of whom were gathering as they let the lower-leveled among our allies do the bulk clean up the last of our enemies.

“Are we really taking no prisoners?” Kyle asked.

I shrugged. “Part of the terms of meeting here was safe passage. Our enemies already broke their word once.”

Kyle nodded grimly. “Understood.”

Just when I thought I had the soul within the skull contained, the whole thing crumbled to dust. Behind me, the rest of his body followed suit.

“Is he dead?” Reluna asked.

I scowled. “Doubtful. There was a sudden surge of power at the end.”

“Then he was likely saved by his patron. That spell at the end confirmed he’s a follower of a Chaos God. If I were to guess, it’s probably the Chaos Raven. He is often associated with aspects of death.”

“How unfortunate. But I have his measure now. If we were to fight again, I could deal with him much faster next time. He showed me everything he had, but I still have a trick or two left up my sleeve. And I plan to have more the next time we fight."

The largest among those new tricks would be new weapons. I’d outgrown most of my equipment, and I was full to the brim with ideas for new gear. But fighting with old equipment had been worth it just this once. Thanks to the ongoing fighting, I finally completed a quest I had long been waiting for.

10,000 lives saved!

Forging the Future Quest Completed!

Your Master Artificer (Mythic) job has been upgraded to Aethersmith (Legendary)

New blueprints are available.

Your telekinetic abilities have been enhanced.

You have gained several levels in your race and class.


<Note>
I went back and forth about what his new job title should be. I roughly knew what it needs to do, but needed something cooler than Master Artificer. I feel like Aether is often used in sci-fantasy settings, so it feels the most fitting for what Carter is growing into.