Blessed Time: The Complete Series: (A LitRPG Adventure Box Set), page 102
“As for the blessed,” Anne continued, “that’s how the Pontiff makes new bishops. He can graft portions of a blessing onto a convert, and use the ichor he taps from the blessed to power it. I… don’t remember all that much of my investiture. It’s hard to describe how much it hurt and how sick it made me feel, but when I woke up, I suddenly knew and could do so much more.”
“Wait,” Micah said, stopping her with an upraised hand. “What is this about tapping ichor from the blessed? I’m not entirely sure what we’re talking about, but that sounds incredibly unpleasant.”
The woman paused, a grimace flashing over her face before she replied. “It is. Only the Pontiff can do it, but they cut a hole in the chest of the blessed and perform some sort of magic. The result is a treacle-thick gray liquid that a convert can drink in order to fuel their new powers. Sometimes a blessed can survive more than one extraction of ichor, but I don’t think the Pontiff has ever let one live. He milks them until they’re little more than a skeleton and then feeds them to the daemons.”
“Then it sounds like we need to kill this Pontiff,” Micah responded thoughtfully. “From what I’m hearing, it sounds like his orders and abilities are the keys to the unrest in Jakint. If we can stop him, everything seems like it will fall apart on its own.”
“Yes,” Drekt agreed, “it certainly appears that our next step is to find and raid this dungeon of his.”
“I can bring you there,” Anne said eagerly. “The bishops would take turns traveling out to the dungeon to get more ichor. I was probably there a half-dozen times.”
“Then it’s settled,” Micah replied with a firm nod. “Drekt will get the others and I’ll break your wards. I’m sure the Third Prince knows that we’ve removed its influence over you, and the sooner we get a move on, the better our chances of success are.”
Drekt stood up and left the cave at a brisk walk as Micah dropped to his knee, tracing a finger over the runes of the ritual circles. Six times, twice for each circle, he jammed his index finger into one of the sigils, wincing slightly as the magical energy hissed and burned against his skin. One after another, the rings of colored light dimmed until the only illumination in the cave was the weak glow of the quartz crystals.
Anne stepped forward hesitantly, pushing her hand through the air where the wards had been. When it didn’t encounter any resistance, she smiled weakly at Micah.
Micah motioned for her to join him. Her steps behind him were a mass of fumbling shuffles and stumbles as she struggled with her weakened body after a week of forced unconsciousness from coma.
They stepped out of the cave into the early afternoon light. Eris and Esther were running around uncontrollably, ostensibly gathering up the things they would need to travel, but Micah suspected that Drekt was actually doing most of the work. Nearby, Trevor was chatting quietly with Leeka while the tall orange woman stroked Ravi’s fur.
Micah nodded at the three of them, drawing a wave of Trevor’s hand in response as he led Anne toward the main camp. Over the next ten or so minutes, they packed up everything they would need, knocking over the shelters they’d made from the local trees and kicking dirt over the ashes of their cooking fires. Then, without any real fanfare, they set out, following Anne’s directions as the former bishop led them through the forest to another hidden trail.
From there, they hiked through the woods for most of the day, and just as night was about to fall, Micah felt a tingling through his Arcana skill. He raised a hand, stopping their party, and squinted at their surroundings.
The trees, which had been thinning for the last hour or so as the soil became rockier near the mountains, all slumped slightly, their trunks curved unnaturally toward the west. He approached one and touched its bark only for a chunk of the wood to break off, damp yet brittle under the slightest pressure.
“The leaves,” Leeka called out softly. “Micah, look at their leaves.”
He shifted his attention and frowned. Despite the general… wrongness of the trees, they still had all of their leaves. Well, what were probably their leaves?
Micah wasn’t familiar with specific tree species he was inspecting, but he suspected that its leaves weren’t supposed to be waxy circles the size of his forearm and as thick as his thumb. They swung pendulously in the wind, giving off a heavy stench of sulfur that assaulted Micah’s nose.
“That can’t be normal,” the huntress continued. “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but whatever it is, everything inside of me is telling me to turn tail and run. It’s like I’m being stalked by a jungle cat, but it’s coming from every direction at once.”
“I agree,” Drekt rumbled thoughtfully. “I feel like I am being observed by something malevolent, but I can’t quite pinpoint where or what it is.”
“Whatever you’re feeling, we’re basically at the dungeon,” Anne replied, pointing at an outcropping of rocks. “The Pontiff enchanted the eastern face to look like ordinary stone, but if you feel your way around, we should be able to enter.”
Micah pursed his lips, glancing away from the rocks to look one last time at the malformed trees before he spoke up. “They’re all pointing toward the dungeon. Now that I know where it is, it’s so obvious. They’ve all twisted to face their leaves toward the dungeon like it’s the sun.”
“Welp,” Trevor said, slapping Micah on the shoulder as he walked past him toward the entrance, “that’s not at all ominous. Time to see what the big baddy is up to. Maybe let him know that he overdid the foreboding a little bit.”
TWENTY-SIX
SURGERY
Micah dodged backward, avoiding a line of rainbow light a half-second before a Luoca’s tail slashed through the air, shattering rocks of the dungeon floor. He darted in, spear leading the way and claiming one of the monster’s human eyes.
It screamed insensibly, razor-sharp wings cutting through the air a half-inch above Micah’s head as he ducked just enough. The wind of the attack’s passage ruffled his hair as he finished casting explosive thicket. The spell savaged the daemon’s chitinous underside.
The Luoca stumbled, insect-like legs trembling as ichor dripped from its belly, hissing and eroding the stone floor of the dungeon. Micah didn’t give it a moment to catch its breath, sliding toward its left flank as he lashed out with a flurry of jabs.
His spearhead, following the multicolored guidance of foresight, found the joints of the Luoca’s wings, chipping and shattering bone. The creature’s wing slumped to its side and gushed thick blood, unusable.
It reared back, stabbing at Micah with its razor-sharp front legs. The attacks were a blur, moving so quickly that even the pre-images from foresight weren’t enough to help dodge all of them. One barbed spike leg went straight through his left bicep, a rod of red-hot pain even as Micah closed the distance and stabbed his spear through one of the cracks left in the daemon’s armor by his previous spell.
The weapon sank deep into the monster, punching through soft pseudo-organs and bone-like cartilage until the spearhead thumped into its back chitin. Ignoring the pain, Micah released his spear, reaching up with his right hand and grasping the Luoca leg impaling him.
With a grunt and a twist of his body, he snapped the brittle leg, leaving little more than a stump that sprayed reality-eroding blood. The daemon teetered for a half-second before Micah slammed into it, knocking the monster onto its side and sending it skidding across the chamber with the force of a blow from his shoulder.
Across the room, Trevor gracefully jumped over the sliding daemon and let it take out an Onkert at the knees. The ape-like creature fell to the ground only for Trevor to land on its chest, gouging out its now unprotected throat with a single stab from his spear.
Micah rushed past him and gritted his teeth as he ripped the Luoca’s spike-leg from his arm. Blood gushed from the wound, but almost immediately, regeneration went to work, stitching together damaged muscles and beginning the process of healing over the torn skin that flapped freely around the gaping wound.
He ducked to the side, parrying the Luoca’s tail as he muttered the words to a spell. It tried to stand up on its five remaining legs, blood leaking out from around the spear still lodged in its stomach. The attempt earned it a kick from Micah. The toes of his shoe slammed into the human head’s chin and sent it snapping backward.
It fell to the ground, stunned by the attack, giving Micah enough time to finish casting binding vines. Roots, each as thick around as his thigh, burst from the walls and floor of the dungeon. They wrapped themselves around the daemon and tightened, trying to squeeze the breath from the unnatural creature like an anaconda or a python.
Micah ignored the ineffectual attack, gripping the spike tight in his right hand as he stepped past a frantic swing of the daemon’s tail. Against a living being, binding vines might be enough to slay it on its own, but daemons had no need to eat or breathe. They might do those things to create a crude mockery of life, but the Luoca needed neither to survive. All it truly required was enough sacrificial energy to keep it rooted to Karell.
With his weak left hand, he fired a volley of air knives, each spell barely drawing a trickle of the Luoca’s thick blood as they battered and cracked its chitin. Still, they kept it distracted, off balance, and unable to break free of the vines clinging to it.
His knee slammed into the side of its human head, pinning the daemon’s face to the ground for a fraction of a second. Then Micah slammed its pointed leg through the bottom of its chin, piercing what passed for the daemon’s brain before its gore-soaked tip sprang through the top of the creature’s head. It shuddered once, its remaining eye going blank, then slumped, dead and limp on the dungeon floor.
Micah stood up and planted his right foot on the creature’s underside. He gripped his spear with his good hand, ripping it free from the daemon’s body as the summoned creature began to disappear and fade back into Elsewhere. The stones where it had been lying were blurred, the reality-distorting aura of the daemon having melted them slightly and smoothed the rough surface of the rock.
Cautiously, he tested his left arm. It was still a little tender, but regeneration had restored enough of its structural integrity that he could use it without risking further injury. Satisfied, he turned to the rest of the battle.
Eris and Esther were fighting an Onkert together. Micah nodded in approval as he watched their seamless teamwork. One moment Esther would be holding the Onkert at bay with a flurry of spear thrusts while Eris hacked away at the daemon’s thigh and side. When it took a swipe at Eris, the young woman moved back smoothly, the water aspect of her martial art letting her almost flow around the gorilla’s fist.
Almost at the same time, Esther thrust upward, burying her spear in the daemon’s armpit while an arrow sprouted from its upper chest. It snarled and spun away from Eris to deal with Esther—only to once more earn itself a pair of sword slashes across its hamstring. The Onkert stumbled, giving Esther enough time to shuffle backward, well out of the monster’s reach.
Leeka shot him a quick nod and a thumbs-up as she drew back another arrow, waiting for the right moment in the two fighters’ dance to shoot the Onkert once again. Some ten paces away from her, next to a fading Onkert corpse covered in slashes and at least a half-dozen arrows, Telivern held another daemon at bay, lunging at it with its razor-sharp horns every time the creature tried to turn its attention from the stag.
Meanwhile, Ravi circled around the side, wings folded at her side as she darted in and ripped out chunks of fur-covered flesh before scampering away. They hadn’t killed their Onkert yet, but both of the animals looked fresh, their fighting style keeping either of them from taking serious attacks.
With a wave of his hand and a muttered word, Micah launched a pressure spear into the daemon’s side. The spell drilled deep into the monster, snapping ribs and pulping the pulsing eldritch abominations that passed for its organs. It stumbled, only for Ravi to leap onto its back, sinking her fangs into its neck while her claws ripped great strips of fur and skin from its body.
A wordless scream from Trevor drew Micah’s attention to the other end of the chamber, where Drekt was standing tall and swinging his cleaver downward in a double-handed grip toward an Onkert. Before the blow could land, a second Onkert punched him in the side, scuffing Drekt’s armor and staggering the huge man.
Before the daemon could take advantage of the moment, Trevor appeared in front of it in a blur of green mana and martial arts. He set his spear butt into the uneven floor of the dungeon, angling it upward toward the gorilla’s chest and letting the creature impale itself.
The daemon coughed up blood, staring down at the hole in its chest in confusion. Trevor quickly shouted the words for air knife and drove the spell into the confused monster’s eye. It staggered backward, sliding off of the spear and freeing Trevor up to stab it again—this time in the daemon’s throat.
To Trevor’s side, Drekt grunted, swinging his cleaver downward with enough force to cave in one of the remaining Onkert’s chests. The blade ravaged fur and flesh, crushing bones and laying the daemon’s pulsing insides bare. The Onkert collapsed to the floor, dissipating as the power that kept it tied to Karell began to fade.
Almost at the same time, Leeka buried an arrow in the final Onkert’s eye. A half-second later, Eris hamstrung it, dropping the bleeding and crippled creature. Micah nodded in satisfaction, scanning the room one more time to ensure that there were no hidden threats lying in wait.
Anne popped out from the entrance to the room and glanced around at the fading daemon corpses before hesitantly walking in. She smiled weakly at Micah. “This should be the final room, unless the Pontiff increased his security. I remember the giant bug monster being the final guard before the room where he set up his command center.”
“What can we expect in the next room?” Micah asked, nodding toward the heavy stone door built into the far wall. After years of delving, he recognized its solid build and the designs carved into it. What should be on the other side of the door was a boss chamber.
“The Pontiff,” Anne replied with a shrug. “I’m sure he has enchantments or traps, but I don’t have any idea what they would look like. No one was foolish enough to pick a fight with him, and he always sent a bishop or an enforcer squad to do his dirty work. Everyone heard rumors about how powerful he was, but no one actually knew for sure.”
“So we’re going in blind,” Trevor said cheerfully as he walked over to the two of them. “That sounds swell.”
Micah sighed, reaching up with his thumb and index fingers to massage his temples. “Just be careful, Trevor. I haven’t had a chance to make any enchanted equipment for the rest of the party. If you struggled to deal with soul attacks from a bishop, I’m sure the Pontiff has some spells up his sleeves that could wipe you out entirely. I’d appreciate support from you and Drekt, but at the same time, you’re going to need to let me take the lead.”
“I know the drill,” Trevor said with a chuckle. “You load yourself down with spells until the rest of us can barely see you when you move, and we run interference.”
“Take this seriously, honey,” Drekt cut in, gently putting a massive mitt on Trevor’s shoulder. “I realize that the entire world is a game to you, but that attitude only works when we are fighting opponents we know to be weaker than us. Right now, we both do not understand our opponent’s capabilities, and that opponent is significantly more powerful than our entire team combined. I would be grateful if you emphasized caution over flippancy.”
Trevor patted his husband’s hand gently. He didn’t say anything, but Micah saw the cloud flash through his eyes. After years of working with Trevor, he knew that his brother used humor to distract from stressful situations and deflate tension.
Micah bit his tongue. He’d been about to admonish Trevor as well, but it wouldn’t be helpful. His brother had heard Drekt, and from the looks of things, the warning hadn’t even been necessary. For all of his jokes and bluster, Trevor knew exactly what was at stake.
Instead of saying anything, Micah walked past the two men, placing the palm of his now healed left hand on the door. Arcana tingled into his fingers through the thick stone. He took a moment to make eye contact with the rest of his party, one at a time, to ensure that they were all ready.
Finally, Micah tensed his body and pushed the door open with all of his strength, practically tearing it from its hinges as it swung open and slammed against the dungeon wall. Inside, the boss chamber was filled with furnishings crafted from a combination of human and monster bones.
A massive fire of dancing green flames occupied the center of the room, easily twice Micah’s height and casting bright, flickering light over the rest of the chamber. Chairs made from monster ribs and femurs sat in front of a drafting and ritual table, which had been crafted from more dubious ivory. On the other side of the flame was a massive bed, heavy with monster pelts, accompanied by a couch of similar construction.
Leeka and Ravi bolted past Micah, an arrow half-drawn on the woman’s bow as they searched the room for any threats. A second or so later, she looked at Micah helplessly and shrugged.
He stepped further into the room, spear at the ready as he waited for something to happen. Anything to happen.
After five long seconds where the only movement and sound came from the eerie pillar of flames in the center of the room, Micah spoke up, not taking his attention from the seemingly empty room. “Anne, come on in here. Unless your Pontiff started himself on fire, there’s no one here and we’re back to square one.”
“Fire?” she asked, squirming past Drekt to get through the doorway. “There shouldn’t be—” She stopped, eyes widening as she took in the pillar of green flame in the center of the room. Her mouth widened into an ‘O’ of surprise as she stared at it. “Well… that’s new.”
“Do you like it?” a deep voice questioned, the fire writhing unnaturally. “I really think it ties the entire room together. A bit of a conversation starter.”
