Chapter 24

Chapter day cometh again!

And this one is kind of fun. More Jason hi-jinks.

Also, this is the last week before I get to start strength training on my hand. Woo!

Enjoy and I hope you all have a lovely week!


Chapter 24 - Subterfuge

Border of the Twilight Throne

Jason

Twilight had descended upon the world of Awaken Online, and with it came relief from the debuff that had plagued Jason’s undead body.  That constant, chip, chip, chipping away at his mana and that left him feeling weaker. Which was fortunate, because he was going to need every ounce of strength, speed, and endurance to make it his destination – to safety.

Jason sprinted through the dense forest along the eastern border of the Crystal Reach. His legs were a blur as he used the air gems embedded in the limbs again and again, the bone already creaking under the strain and hairline fractures appearing along the ivory surface. If he still had lungs, he had no doubt he’d be panting and gasping for breath. Straining against the pain in his thighs and calves. Yet this cold, dead body felt nothing. Just numb.

The same feeling he’d experienced when he’d carved out that child’s eyes.

Just a game. Not real. And even if it was… they were enemies.

For some reason, it kept getting easier and easier to rationalize—

A beam of sparkling light suddenly snapped down through the thick canopy overhead. Jason’s Dodge skill activated in that split second and time slowed just enough for him to twist to the side – narrowly avoiding the beam. Off balance, he crashed to the ground, leaning into the momentum and tumbling into a roll just in time to avoid another barrage of searing light. Then he leapt back to his feet and continued his mad dash through the forest.

Fuck.  They’d caught up to him already.

While his body might be unfeeling, that didn’t mean that it was immortal. The fall had only worsened the structural damage to his legs with a crack of splintering bone. He wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. Already, the foliage was beginning to thin, lush green vegetation gradually withering and fading into dry and dusty branches as he made a beeline directly east.

As he crossed under those husks, a familiar notice appeared.

System Message: Dark Mana Saturation Detected

You have entered the domain of the Twilight Throne, a land bathed in perpetual darkness. Since its fall, the city’s influence has spread, deepening its connection to the void and further empowering this effect.

- Light Mana Saturation

+ Dark Mana Saturation (Weakened due to distance)

Thank the gods.  Jason could already feel a surge of renewed strength as the light-infused aura around the Crystal Reach faded and dark energy seeped into his body.

At this distance, it wasn’t enough to turn the tide – maybe just enough to survive.

Time slowed again and Jason he to the side, a dark band seared across the trunk of the tree behind him before trailing along the ground. The stray beam ignited the dry and desiccated underbrush, flames igniting at his back. The blaze grew swiftly with no moisture to contain it, sending thick plumes of smoke skyward.

Maybe that would provide cover from the Nephilim soldiers chasing him—

That thought was short-lived as a hail of a dozen beams burst through the dry canopy. Yet those rays weren’t targeting him this time, instead clustered tight. Enough to punch a human-sized hole through the claw-like branches that hung overhead.

The Nephilim swept down through that opening in a single file line, their wings snapping open at the last moment to halt their fall and their feet touching down lightly upon the ground – already running. Their glowing armor stood out like a beacon amid the hazy smoke that had begun to fill the forest – this hazy darkness unnatural even with nightfall approaching.

They raised their arms and mana sparkled in their palms as they fired again and again.

Good gods they were persistent!

Jason ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged – winding through the trees and triggering the air gems in his feet in erratic bursts. Those beams arced harmlessly through the air around him, but each lateral movement lost a bit of forward momentum, allowing the Nephilim time to catch up. The rays of light were getting closer. Punching holes in his cloak, singeing the bones of his arms and his rib cage, and creating more fires – flames beginning to encircle him, almost like—

He burst out of the tree cover into a small glade, only to discover walls of flame in every direction, including to the east. Maybe those beams hadn’t been quite so random.

Yet he had no choice but to continue forward as those glowing assholes at his back gained on him – more still circling overhead, their armor gleaming through the haze of smoke. That was probably the only reason he wasn’t already riddled with holes.

Jason ground his teeth together and charged across the glade. A beam caught his arm at the elbow, slicing off his forearm and hand cleanly. Normally, he would’ve tried to repurpose the skeletal appendage, but there was no time – not right now. Another ray stabbed through his rib cage as he neared the far end of the grove and approached that blazing wall of flame.

Notifications flashed in the corner of his vision, indicating that he was quite literally on his last legs, their durability unable to keep up with the heat, attacks, and the force created by the air mana gems embedded in his limbs. Yet he had no choice but to use them again.

Just before he struck the wall, Jason’s heels ground hard into the dry dirt and those gems activated one final time as he leapt forward – enough to give him a sudden burst of speed and narrowly avoid the beams streaking along behind him. That momentum carried him swiftly through the flames, but the heat still ate away the remainder of his cloak and the fragments of armor clinging to his bony frame… leaving only bare, smoldering bone.

Jason’s feet struck hard and unforgiving ground, but this time he wasn’t able to recover. His right ankle snapped with a crack of bone. He tumbled forward, landing on his knees and reaching forward to braced himself—

—only to forget his right arm was still missing at the elbow. He struck the ground hard and slid the last few yards, grinding to a stop.

With a groan, he managed to lever himself with his left arm, rolling over.

His right arm was a ruined mess of bone fragments.

His right ankle cracked and his foot gone.

The hole in his abdomen had destabilized his pelvis.

Which was why he could only look on with a bleak expression as glowing angelic warriors descended down through the smoke – having flown over the blaze. Smart move on their part. They approached Jason more casually now, their palms glowing and eyes blazing triumphantly as they realized they’d finally cornered their quarry. 

“Hey there,” Jason called out raising his one good hand and his arm stump. “Good job, it looks like you caught me. As you can see, I’m unarmed. You wouldn’t kill a helpless undead, would you?”

“You can’t kill what is already dead,” their leader answered imperiously. His eyes flared with holy light as he took in the damage to Jason’s limbs and he held his spear at the ready – as though weighing whether to finish the undead creature before him.

Fair enough. Jason couldn’t really refute that logic.

Yet as the seconds ticked past, the Nephilim waved the others off.

“While I would like nothing more than to end your miserable existence for what you’ve done to our town – to our acolytes,” the Nephilim began reluctantly, as though choking back his own rage. “The Empress will wish to know the undead used the travelers invasion as cover to invade her territory. No doubt, she will wish to question you herself.”

“Uh, what are you talking about?  I was just out for an evening stroll,” Jason retorted. “Then you all just started attacking me.”

One of the Nephilim soldiers let out a low growl, her mana pulsing along her hands. “An evening stroll that resulted at the death of our disciples. You are a monster,” she snapped as she approached Jason, that light in her hands condensing into a blade.

“Right, you keep saying that, but how do you know it was me?” Jason asked.

The woman let out a low growl, her mana growing brighter.

“You are the only undead for miles in any direction.”

Ahh, well… okay.  Fair enough.

“Leave him,” their leader commanded. “Trust me when I say that he will face a fate far worse than death. His body will be ripped apart, his canopic jars preserved and studied for eternity. Until his mind and soul breaks under unrelenting torture.”

Wow. And there it was. He didn’t feel guilty anymore.

“Way to threaten me with a good time,” Jason replied with a grim chuckle.

The rest of the Nephilim tensed, but their leader was unperturbed.

Which was a shame, despite his cavalier attitude Jason would much prefer to die here…

“Do not harm him,” their leader instructed. Those glowing eyes turned back to Jason and he cocked his head. “Yet he doesn’t need to be able to talk, does he?”

“What? But then how will we bond on the way back? I have so many questions! Like why don’t you have any weapons?  Did the Empress ask you to store them up your own—” Jason began.

The Nephilim woman’s blade flashed and Jason’s jaw fell to the ground with a clatter of bone. Rude. He didn’t even get to finish his super funny joke. A few more strokes removed his remaining arm and his other leg, which just seemed excessive. Also, a little flattering?

Were they really that worried about him?

“Collect him,” their leader instructed. “We need to move. We are far too close to the Twilight Throne and their scouts may have already seen the fires—”

The woman never got to finish what she was about to say. It was odd, her mouth was moving, but no sound came out. Almost like Jason had cast Curse of Silence.

Except that wasn’t possible since he had no hands or jaw…

Which could only mean that reinforcements had arrived.

Undead emerged from the shadows of the nearby trees. Yet, these weren’t like any creatures Jason had encountered before – the more mundane skeletons and zombies. Instead, they were creatures of pure darkness. Vaguely humanoid but lacking pesky things like flesh and blood and bone. Their eyes crimson saucers that stared through the thick smoke as they whispered with haunting, disembodied voices – as though speaking in unison.

“Nephilim in our lands.”

“Keeper – one of ours.”

“Act of war.”

“Kill. Kill, kill, kill.”

Apparently, the new Avatar of Darkness could raise some sort of wraith-like creatures? They didn’t seem too bright, but Jason could see a few advantages over their shambling and skeletal counterparts. After all, the Nephilim couldn’t cut off their arms if they didn’t have any.

The creatures raced forward in a blur of darkness, their ephemeral bodies forming clawlike appendages that latched onto the Nephilim woman in front of Jason. She tried to fight back, swiping at the monster with that glowing blade in her hand… only for its body to break apart and dissolve – the blade passing through harmlessly. Even more interesting, the woman’s mana began to fade and flicker swiftly as the creature latched onto her neck.

The wraith let out a howl of pleasure, that ivory energy riddling its body like some sort of divine poison. Its eyes took on an ivory glow. Almost like it was feasting on the mana…

Which meant Jason was wrong. These weren’t wraiths; weren’t mere ghosts.

He suddenly remembered what Angie had told him long ago. The darkness offered many paths to its disciples. Broadly speaking, dark mages could master curses, dark magic, and summoning. Yet even that last category left room for nuance. Jason had seen that himself. While he’d chosen to focus on crafting creatures made of bone, Angie had chosen flesh and blood – zombies. Yet there had been a third option:

Demonology.

And he’d encountered demons before. Creatures that could consume mana.

Maybe these were disembodied versions that lacked a host body or something?

If so, then fighting the old-school avatar of darkness was going to be a real pain in the ass…

Not that there was time to ponder on that. One of the soldiers summoned his light mana, collecting along his skin before it exploded in a blast of illumination. Where that light touched the wraiths, their dark forms sizzled and disintegrated. It looked like they were weak to light mana – at least, if you could hit them with it. Which turned out to be a bit of a problem.

You know, what with all the incredibly thick smoke cast by the fires? The haze acted as a shield – the light only able to penetrate a few short feet. And the demons used this to their advantage, nearly invisible amid the haze except for those glowing red eyes.

A demon latched onto another soldier from behind, and his spell abruptly flickered out. His companion was smarter. She tried to run, her wings snapping out as she lifted from the ground. She didn’t make it far.  The angels had been arrogant giving up the high ground, especially while inside the Twilight Throne’s domain. The debuff weakened them and the dead canopy prevented their escape – offering many more shadows where the demons could hide.

Her drained and desiccated corpse soon struck the ground nearby with a thud.

The others weren’t faring much better – most already dead or dying.

Frankly, it looked pretty hopeless.

Jason could see that the Nephilim’s leader had reached the same conclusion. It was the unmistakable look of despair in her eyes – one Jason had seen many times. She looked to Jason, then back at the demons who were feasting on her companions, the monsters in some sort of trancelike state as they fed on that glorious, luminous mana, corrupting it.

Nephilim woman’s resolve hardened.

Jason could anticipate her thinking. She couldn’t die here. Not without informing the Empress. Fortunately for her, their goals aligned – he needed her to escape.

Which is why Jason had managed to grab his lower jaw with what was left of his left arm, wedging it back into place as bands of dark mana slowly reconnected.

Meanwhile, the Nephilim leader made a run for it, speeding away from the demons. Only one looked up – its previous prey drained dry. It gave chase, speeding through the gloom after the woman. It wasn’t much Jason could do; he wasn’t sure it would work. However, he cast Curse of Weakness anyway, that dark needle speeding after the phantom.

His curse struck just before the demon closed on its prey, slowing the monster just enough for the Nephilim to cross the canopy. Then her glowing form swiftly disappeared into the night sky. No doubt, eating a hasty retreat toward The Crystal Reach.

The demon let out a frustrated, tortured howl that echoed through the night.

“Thank the gods,” Jason muttered. “It would’ve really sucked to waste all that time…”

His words caught the attention of the demons. Their prey was finished. Radiant skin now shriveled and dry. Once glowing eyes now milky and unseeing. Those sneering lips forever frozen in silent screams of agony. Just more dust to line the forest floor. A dozen bodies surrounded Jason now, and above him, those dark shadows circled, their blood red saucers eyeing him with a bottomless hunger – one that didn’t look quite so friendly.

He let out a sigh. He supposed there was just one last loose end…

He couldn’t have these phantoms tattling on him, now could he?

And besides, he was curious if his Corpse Explosion would work on them.

The blast from the Nephilim corpses unleashed a maelstrom of corrosive darkness. One that consumed everything. The dry trunks of the trees around him, those claw-like branches hanging overhead, the dry and wispy underbrush… and, apparently, even disembodied demons. As his Dodge skill activated one final time, he watched them dissolve in slow motion.

Then Jason closed his eyes and that darkness claimed him too.

System Message

You have died.

Thanks for playing Awaken Online!