Awaken Online: Armageddon, page 60
“Now this is more like it!” he roared. “Come on! Come at me!”
Jason obliged. He whipped forward in a blaze of darkness, his scythes cutting at the air as the metal spheres broke apart, forming a flurry of blades – a hail of darkness and molten steel that cut and sliced and stabbed and tore. Smiles kept moving: dodging, twisting, spinning. The occasional blade was deflected by a panel of reinforced air that formed beside him – the same passive ability Jason had observed earlier and which now protected him as Smiles flicked a few more of those golden coins at him… only for the metal to fall harmlessly to the ground.
The deaths of Jason’s allies had also served another purpose.
It had allowed him to study Smiles.
Haste suffused Jason’s form, the orange rippling up his skeleton and mixing with the shadowy darkness that enveloped his limbs. Three rapid blows in quick succession and Smiles’ Missile Shield was down. Metal swept forward, spearing into Smiles’ legs before slamming into the sand, anchoring him in place. Then Jason pulled back with his four arms, the mold shifting into place along each limb until they were massive columns of carnage. Then they all struck at once.
Smiles was blown off his feet, the anchors ripped from his legs with a spray of blood. He slammed into the wall again with a crunch of bone. Jason suspected he’d broken at least a few ribs. Smiles dropped to the ground, coughing up more blood. His luck couldn’t help him here – not against the unstoppable. Not forever. It could only keep him alive. Barely.
“Amazing,” Smiles growled. He raised his eyes, his mask fractured and revealing part of his face.
However, Jason didn’t detect any hint of fear there. Only a strange madness. An excitement that seemed to consume Smiles. He managed to pull himself upright, his injuries healing at an incredible pace.
“I haven’t gotten to use this in ages,” Smiles offered, chuckling despite his broken ribs, ignoring his own pain. “But this feels like a special occasion.”
As he trailed off, Smiles’ body suddenly contorted, each of his muscles convulsing with incredible strength. Veins popped up along his arms as his entire body spasmed, his muscles increasing in size with each passing second, shredding the rest of his suit which dropped to the ground in a ragged heap. Even the blood vessels in his eyes exploded, the irises suddenly stained a dark red. When, Smiles looked back up, there was barely any trace of sanity remaining, a mad smile painted across his real lips.
In a blink, Smiles was gone. He reappeared beside Jason, a single punch rocketing forward. His zombie lieutenants responding automatically, shifting the mold into place to reinforce his torso. Even so, the blow sent him sliding back across the sand and destabilized the reinforced skin, the surface blowing apart into a cloud of mold that slowly began to stitch itself back together.
If anything, it seemed Smiles had grown even stronger. Some sort of Enrage ability? Jason wondered. Had he learned to control his body’s release of adrenaline? Jason certainly didn’t detect any mana with Finn’s eyes and Smiles’ luck aura had dimmed.
Yet there wasn’t time to ponder on that.
Because Smiles went on the offensive. He was a blur of motion, Jason only keeping up with the help of Finn’s Haste. They traded massive blows, each punch crumpling flesh and fracturing bone. Jason cut into Smiles with his Soul Blades, only to watch him regrow his own hand in a flash of regeneration. The more battered and bloodied Smiles became, the harder it seemed to be to kill him and the faster his regeneration became.
Smiles opened his mouth on his next charge, releasing a staggering shout that blasted a wave of kinetic energy at Jason. Jason was quick to respond, and a wall of metal slammed down in front of him and burrowed into the sand – swiftly turning the surface to molten glass. That barrier blunted the sonic attack, the wave of force rippling up into the air. He expected Smiles to go over or around the wall. But that metal shield was soon ripped from the ground and was sent hurtling toward Jason as Smiles decided to go through it. The shield crashed into Jason, the flames searing the mold that covered his body and his back slamming into the ground.
They slid along the sand, leaving a furrow in their wake. Jason shifted his position, moving his legs into place and reinforcing them with more of the mold. Then he kicked off, sending Smiles hurtling into the air high above the arena. In a flash, Jason’s wings whipped forward, and he raced after his opponent, rising above him. He reached the apex of his ascent and pivoted...
Then Jason’s wings snapped back to his sides and he dove.
He crashed into Smiles with tremendous force, Jason’s first set of arms locking him in place and bands of molten steel puncturing each of his limbs… holding him down even as the pair picked up more and more speed, the ground hurtling up to meet them. They struck like a meteor, Smiles’ back slamming into the sandy turf of the arena. A wave of debris rocketed up into the sky, briefly obscuring them from sight.
And as the sand was quickly blown away by the stiff winds that scoured the Mile-High Club, it revealed Jason standing there, a demon made of stolen parts. And in the center of the arena? Smiles lay on the ground, his legs broken, his ribs a mess – ivory peeking out from thick green skin as blood bubbled around the wounds.
Yet, despite the damage, another ragged laugh pealed from his lips.
Smiles dragged himself from the crater that now lingered in the center of the arena, forcing himself upright even as his wounds began to close once more. Only moments later, he was on his feet again, not weaving or staggering. Instead, he raised his fists, his eyes watching Jason behind his fractured mask.
“What are you waiting for? Fight me!” Smiles roared.
Then he charged again.
Chapter 55 - Presentation
Finn respawned in a flash of multi-colored light. He’d been expecting to see the sands of the arena, Eliza’s vines coiling overhead. Perhaps even Alexion or Eliza fighting Smiles – their respawn timers popping long before his own. And yet he found himself in an unfamiliar courtyard, the occasional explosion of sound echoing from somewhere nearby.
“Where are we?” Finn grunted.
“We appear to have respawned near the arena,” Daniel chirped helpfully, opening his map and the display hovering beside him. They didn’t seem to be far away.
However, he knew what that meant. Eliza’s vines had brought down the mana field. And judging from his UI, the rest of his team had already respawned. It appeared Eliza and Alexion still had full health. As did Jason… although that meant little with his new form. A series of thunderous booms echoed in the distance.
Did that mean Jason was still fighting?
And where was the rest of
Erring on the side of caution, Finn pulled a few metal orbs from his bag – his bracelets having all been repurposed during his fight with Smiles. A twitch of his fingers and flames wrapped the metal, the orbs soon spiraling around him protectively. Then he moved forward, searching for the source of those explosions, moving closer to the green icons on his map, Daniel pulsing softly at his shoulder.
As he neared the arena again, Finn slowed… and then stopped short.
The stone walls of the coliseum were gone. Little more than rubble now, the rock fractured and broken, providing an unimpeded view of the arena floor. A massive crater had been blasted into the sand and there was blood everywhere. In the center of it all were two figures, their bodies moving at an incredible speed, trading blows that created peals of thunder as they landed. One, Finn recognized as Smiles, the man’s suit long gone, his scars on full display. Yet he looked larger and his muscles pulsed with massive veins. Some new ability perhaps?
Yet it was his opponent that captured Finn’s attention.
“The kid did it,” he murmured.
“Yeah, that’s one hell of an upgrade,” a familiar voice spoke up from beside Finn. He started and whirled, having been distracted by the sight before him.
Alexion and Eliza stood there, watching the same incredible scene.
“Why aren’t we helping?” Finn asked.
The pair looked at him skeptically. Then Alexion waved at the arena. “Just watch.”
As Finn turned back to the fight, he saw Jason raise a crystalline arm, sucking in the heat in the vicinity, the temperature dropping at an incredible rate. Without fanfare, he turned and leveled that arm at Smiles, fire pooling along the palm. Jason released the pent-up energy, and a ray of destruction carved through the air toward Smiles. The guild leader moved swiftly, taking off at an incredible speed, and barely managed to dodge the blast. It was so powerful that it ate through the warded rock like butter, the molten energy slicing clean through the remainder of the stone wall that had once ringed the coliseum.
As the energy flared out, it left molten pools of rock and glass, heat rippling away from those new lakes of magma. Finn could only stare. Jason wasn’t holding back at all. And yet Smiles was still standing. The power they were throwing around was enough to level cities. It reminded Finn of their battle in Sandscrit, except no one was using their mana well in this fight. And the entire thing was still being recorded, those sapphire orbs floating over the battlefield.
Smoke coiled out across the sands as Jason and Smiles parted for a moment, squaring off once again. Lightning arced from the clouds overhead, striking the sand, and sending up a spray of particles – casting the pair in silhouette. A ring of fire erupted from the ground around them, replacing the former stone wall and denoting a rough circular boundary. In the background, Finn could have sworn he heard rock music playing, just softly enough to avoid overpowering the scene unfolding before them.
“Where the hell is the fire and lightning coming from—”
Finn cut himself off as he turned to find Smokes lounging on a cushion of mist, streamers of vapor leaking out from the cloud and drifting off into the arena where it pooled around Jason and Smiles’ ankles. The source of the lightning was also apparent now – Pewpew sat atop the nearby wall, occasionally firing off a shot into the air, her metal stakes landing in the arena with a blast of lightning. Fire bloomed around Blaze as she let out a yawn, covering her mouth in embarrassment as she noticed Finn watching. And nearby, Bard was playing softly, his guitar humming with an amber glow.
“What the hell is going on here?” Finn muttered.
Smokes eyed him, taking a lazy drag on his cigarette. “I know, it’s silly. But Bard insisted. Something about setting the scene or some shit.”
“More like he offered to not talk for three days if we went along with it,” Pewpew offered.
“Sounds like a hell of a deal,” Alexion grunted from nearby.
“You have no idea,” Blaze grumbled.
“I think we have some idea…” Eliza muttered.
Tombs snorted from nearby. “Try spending every waking moment with him.” He looked at Eliza. “At least you got to kill him. Been a long time since I’ve put him down.”
“No, I mean why are you all just standing here with us,” Finn interjected, his orbs still hovering beside him protectively. “Shouldn’t you be trying to take us out?”
“What’s the point?” Tombs shot back with a shrug. “We got what we wanted. You three already died to Smiles – with those deaths streamed to the whole game world. So those contracts have already been completed.”
“Was that the only thing motivating you?” Finn demanded.
“Not exactly,” Queen offered, approaching from behind them, a drink in hand. She tapped it with her finger, ice cubs forming in the glass. She took a sip. “I’ll admit some of that stuff before was a little personal.”
Finn’s hands clenched. “A little?” Finn demanded. He still hadn’t forgotten how she’d used Rachael’s image against him.
Queen cocked her head. “You had it coming. You did leave me chained up at the bottom of the Abyss.” Finn’s hands clenched and the fires around his orbs flared brightly.
Tombs coughed into his hand meaningfully, the others staring at Queen. She let out a sigh. “Fine. Using your dead wife’s appearance might have been going too far…”
Another cough from Tombs.
“I’m… sorry, okay?” Queen ground out grudgingly. “Even if you’re still a huge dickhead,” she muttered under her breath, just a touch too loudly.
Finn bristled at the comment but decided to let it go. His gaze shot to Pewpew. “Am I supposed to believe you’ve also gotten over your vendetta against Jason?”
The girl just offered a shrug. “Got what I wanted. I got to shoot him a bunch of times. Plus, I have footage of him frantically trying to flee a giant smiling boulder, and it’s been posted everywhere online already. That was all I ever really wanted,” she answered glibly.
Finn just shook his head. These people were—
His thoughts were interrupted by a massive boom from the arena. All eyes turned to the fight that was still being waged there – now with special effects and a suitably epic soundtrack. Smiles had just released another Thunderclap, pushing Jason back. However, he recovered quickly and raced forward with a snap of his wings, Soul Blades cutting at Smiles and molten blades slicing at his legs and arms from behind… only for the man to simply wade through the attack, landing a punch on Jason that had him hurtling backward through the air, his wings soon stabilizing him.
“Uh, I know Smiles told us not to interfere, but does anyone else think this might go on forever?” Tombs offered, glancing at the others.
“Shouldn’t Smiles run out of stamina eventually?” Eliza asked curiously.
The rest of
“Smiles has trained… a lot. His Endurance is insane and so is his regeneration. He doesn’t use Enrage often, but even with it active, he could still go for a while,” Queen offered. “It’s far more likely that Jason will run out of juice.”
“Doubtful,” Alexion muttered. At Queen’s questioning glance, he elaborated. “I can tell from the group UI that he’s mostly using the zombies’ mana to cast those spells. Plus, I’ve seen his Character Status. Even before his latest race change, it was clear he’d put almost every single point into Willpower. Smiles’ best option would be to destroy one of the zombies.”
“Which is hard with my mold,” Eliza offered. “It repairs itself. Even a destabilizing attack isn’t enough to destroy it. That just acts like a stun and the mold recovers quickly. Freezing or burning damage are the best options to stop its regeneration.”
“And Smiles can’t cast,” Tombs replied with a frown. “Perfect.”
“So, this really is going to last forever,” Blaze muttered.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Finn replied.
“Oh, really? Why not?” Blaze asked.
Finn let out a sigh. “That kid is clever. I suspect he’s already realized all these points. Which means he has a plan…
“You’re putting a lot of faith in the Edgelord,” Pewpew quipped.
“It’s not faith. It’s experience. We’ve all seen it. Jason wins,” Alexion murmured in response, crossing his arms. “That’s just what he does.”
Pewpew glanced at Alexion in surprise. He wasn’t one to normally sing Jason’s praises.
“We’ll see,” she muttered finally.
Finn turned his attention back to the fight. Jason had retreated momentarily, whipping up into the night sky with Smiles standing below him. He watched his opponent warily, mental wheels turning. Finn could almost visualize his thought process. This fight could last forever – which was time they didn’t have. Even now, the timer on Armageddon was still ticking down. This was only one battle in a much larger war.
Which meant Jason needed to end the fight. Now.
Jason must have reached the same conclusion because he began casting again, this time, a golden glow suffusing his body. That energy quickly merged with his dark mana and turned into a bright purple that rippled across his arms, legs, torso, and wings before coiling up across his head. That energy would erode his zombies quickly, easily outpacing their own regeneration.
But until then, it would give him an edge.
Smiles seemed to anticipate that this was the endgame, planting his feet firmly and raising his arms, his regeneration swiftly repairing his injuries. Finn could see Jason’s move here. He was intentionally giving Smiles time to heal to reduce his luck aura and remove the risk of Smiles avoiding his attacks. The only options were to either kill him in one blow – a tall feat – or to whittle him down in a flurry of strikes like Alexion had done earlier.
That quiet moment seemed to stretch on for an eternity.
Then Jason moved, his wings pulling tight as he dived at Smiles, his scythes raised and his crystalline arms summoning massive blocks of metal which he tossed at Smiles as he fell back to earth. The guild leader batted the boulders aside almost casually, the metal denting with each punch. And in that scant few seconds, Jason was upon him, Soul Blades slicing…
Yet they whiffed, Smiles dodging expertly, putting him inside Jason’s guard. He leveled a punch at his chest, the mold moving too slowly – far too slowly to blunt this attack. Jason had made a mistake. A small slip-up that might cost him everything. Finn’s hands were tense, trying to resist the urge to intervene. The others around him were in a similar state, watching with bated breath, fingers never straying far from their weapons.
That punch landed solidly, slamming into Jason’s stomach, ripping two of his crystalline arms free in an instant as he rotated to avoid most of the damage. Smiles followed up, grabbing a firm hold of Jason and grappling him. This wasn’t good. From that position, he could rip Jason’s body apart – removing his advantage by destroying each zombie.
“This is it,” Queen muttered.
“I’m not so sure,” Finn replied.
In the heartbeat it took Finn to grapple him, flames rippled along Jason’s body – clearly Haste, Finn would recognize the spell anywhere. Yet moving more swiftly wouldn’t help him, nor would the metal sawblades that rose around Jason, burrowing into Smiles’ arms but failing to cut cleanly through his dense limbs. Then Finn caught a strange flash of dark mana. In the flurry of movement, Jason had slipped an arm forward, his fingertips touching lightly against Smiles’ temple. Tendrils of darkness coiled across Smiles’ head before sinking into his eyes, ears, and mouth, the energy so subtle that even Smiles missed it amid the frenzy.
