I started the next day in the game with a quick breakfast ration and checked my potion supply. I crafted a pyrophoria potion in the hopes of using it to weaken the tree, as well as a spectral blaze potion. One acid potion went into the special bolts with a canister on the end, I just hoped that the latch wasn’t on the underside of the tiger’s throat. I also had one armor piercing bolt left, and loaded that up. Preparations complete, I headed out.

Once again I stalked through the mists, following the footprints. As I got to the clearing, not much had changed. Acongua was sitting with all four feet together, tail wrapped around them. Deviniella had moved so that she was sitting with her back against the corrupted tree. I crept as close as I dared, and moved around so that Acongua was between myself and the caller. Straining my eyes, I could barely make out the collar around his neck. Crawling closer, I could see his ears twitching on occasion, and he kept one trained on me the whole time.

I had hope that he wasn’t going to attack, as he had to have noticed me. Once I had covered half the distance, I could see the latch on the collar. It wasn’t directly under his jaw, more to the side I was sitting on. I pulled out my crossbow and loaded an acid bolt, taking careful aim. I fired, and the bolt shattered against the latch exactly like it was designed to. The hissing of the acid trying to eat through the collar was far too loud for my liking, and I guess Deviniella heard it.

“What’s that noise?” She asked, and I managed to completely reload my crossbow before she realized that she wasn’t specific enough. “Acongua, what is that noise?”

“I am unsure mistress. What noise are you referring to?”

“That hissing noise. What is it?”

“I am not positive, mistress. Perhaps there is a snake nearby.” As they kept going in conversation, I took the time to slowly back away. Once I was far enough away in the mists, I listened in again.

“Damn smartass cat. Useless. Go find out what was making that noise and report back. Wait! How much longer until our other guards return?”

“I am unsure mistress. It could be there is something else in the dungeon that is preventing their return.”

“Whatever. Go find the snake or whatever it was.”

“As you command, mistress.” I crept farther back, knowing that the tiger would have no trouble tracking me. Sure enough, it padded out of the mists.

“We far enough away to have a chat?” I asked in as low a voice as I could muster. He simply shook his head and kept walking, so I followed him. Eventually we got to where he felt safe, and he turned to sit and stare at me.

“Are you a snake?”

“No, sorry to disappoint. Your mistress was rather foolish, sending you away on such open ended orders.”

“She has become much more complacent with none to challenge her power lately. Why have you come here, traveler?”

“Oh there’s plenty of reasons. Travelers enjoy challenging dungeons, and the only bigger challenge than a heroic dungeon is a raid dungeon.”

“Indeed. I am glad that your reason isn’t to challenge my mistress, as I would be forced by her previous orders to defend her until my death.”

“Understandable. Say, your neck there looks like it is getting a bit itchy. Would it be too much to offer to scratch it for you?”

I swear to god the cat almost gave a smile. “That sounds absolutely delightful.” He replied with a purr. “My left side here, right along the neck.”

Walking up close, I reached up with my left hand and started scratching, angling my body so that he couldn’t see the weapon in my right hand. As carefully as I could, I slid the edge of the scythe between the collar and his skin, then activated [Keen edge] while giving as hard of a pull as I could. The previously weakened latch couldn’t withstand the pressure, and snapped like a twig. I quickly removed the last of the collar, and let the slimy feeling thing fall to the ground.

“Ohhhhh, that’s mucccchhhhhh betterrrrrrrr.” He intensified his purring, and I actually felt my bones rattling in my chest.

“Any chance Deviniella will know what just happened?”

“I don’t know, but I would ask your help in dispatching her, mortal.”

“That’s my mission here. I do have a plan, but before we do it I need to request that the last blow be mine.”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” He snarled. “That insufferable bitch enslaved me for thousands of years, and I will savor crushing her skull in my jaws after I rend her with my claws!”

“Peace, friend. There is a reason. I have been tasked with slaying her using this dagger by Thanatos. Her soul will be trapped within one of the gems if I do, and she will be delivered to him for judgement.”

“Hmmm, truly?” He asked, squinting at the dagger I held in my hand. “I suppose that could work. Very well mortal. I shall accept your offer. What is your plan?”

“Well, let’s hang this collar back on your neck, and have you walk back to your former mistress. That should let you get close enough to launch a surprise attack. Will she be able to force you to accept another contract?”

“No, she no longer has the ability to form a contract. She will try and force me into submission, and with the tree providing her power I don’t know how long I can withstand her strength.”

“Don’t worry about the tree, I will be burning and slashing that down as swiftly as possible. Does it have any offensive abilities, or is it limited to healing and boosting her power?”

“It is a pure healer class, so there is nothing to fear on that part.”

“Very well then. I’ll sneak around back and throw one of my pyrophoria potions onto the tree. When she is distracted by that, launch your attack. I’ll take down that tree as swiftly as possible and join you.”

“Agreed then. Let’s go.”

Acongua led me back, then gave a flick of his tail as he sat down to wait for me to get into position. I took a looping path around, and crept close enough to see the back of the tree and hear the muttering of Deviniella. “Where is that blasted cat? I swear he hasn’t been able to do anything right for the last century. It’s like I’m trying to order around a little kid.”

I pulled out the pyrophoria potion, but also loaded my crossbow with my last armor piercing bolt. “Took you long enough cat, some hunter you are.” She sneered. “So, what was it that was making that noise?”

Before Acongua could reply, I threw the potion as hard as I could at the base of the tree. Once the potion caught fire, the tree let out a shriek that would have made a banshee proud. “What’s going on?” Deviniella turned around the side of the tree to see me right as Acongua launched a ferocious attack. Eyes wide in disbelief, Deviniella turned to block the tiger with her magic. As she was distracted, I launched a bolt into the back of her knee. “TREACHEROUS BASTARDS! YOUR SOULS WILL BE MINE! I WILL TORMENT THEM FOR ETERNITY!!!!”

As she was rambling about her revenge, I charged in and unleashed a [Keen edge] against the faces of the tree, slashing through several of them. If possible the shrieking got louder, and I felt something wet dripping down out of my ears. I couldn’t hear the battle anymore, though still caught flashes of light out of the corner of my eyes. Knowing Acongua was battling with everything he had, I would use [Mana shockwave] on each face I could reach as often as I could. After my fifth attack with it, the bark started splitting, and several of the faces fell off after they lost the light within their eyes.

By this point my ears must have repaired themselves, as I could hear roars of pain and screams of terror coming from behind me. Two more shockwaves, and the tree finally lost enough support that it toppled with a splintering groan.

“NOOOOOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” I turned to see Deviniella launch a magic bolt that took me in my chest and knocked me on my ass. Acongua, with slightly singed hair and several bleeding wounds, took advantage of her distraction to clamp down on her right arm, shearing it off at the elbow.

“INSOLENT CAT! I WILL TURN YOU INTO A PAIR OF MITTENS!” Flinging blood from her severed arm into his eyes, she slammed a fist glowing blue with magic right into his chest jewel, cracking it. I pulled out the dagger, and charged in, thankful that Acongua’s last attack had taken enough of her life to send her into critical levels. “[Death’s gaze][Reaper’s edge]!” I yelled, staring at the small red circle just left of center on her back. She turned however, fear in her eyes and I saw another red circle on her temple. I altered my blow, slamming the dagger home into the side of her head. As I did so, all four jewels lit up.

Body held up by some invisible force, she floated a few inches off the ground with her arms limp by her sides. “nononononononono.” She kept muttering, as the glow from the jewels expanded through the dagger and until it covered her body. “NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” With a final scream, the glowing white aura was sucked into the first crystal, turning it black. Her body disintegrated, dagger clattering to the ground.

The big cat drew closer, sniffing the dagger as it laid there. “Well, a most interesting artifact.”

“Are you going to be ok? That last attack seems to have cracked your crystal.”

“Oh, this? I would be fine in a few hundred years or so on this plane, but thanks to you, traveler, I can now return to the spirit realm. I should have this fixed in about a month or so there, so it is really nothing to worry about. Now, hold out your left hand, palm down.”

“Okay?” I asked, though my arm raised almost of its own volition. Acongua put his paw gently on it, then a flash of magic and when he removed it, there was a pawprint mark.

“You have saved me from eternal slavery. When you need it, you may call upon me to return the favor.”

Summoning acquired!

As payment for his freedom, the mighty Acongua has vowed to come to your aid. Use the mark on your hand to summon him to your side. Once time use only.

As I was reading the popup, a massive pulse fired off from the tree, and the return pulse brought all the fog back from the dungeon floor. It coalesced in front of a pillar of light that had erupted from the remains of the tree, and turned into a golden treasure chest, decorated with winged figures.

“Until we meet again, traveler.” I turned to see Acongua fade out, waving at him before he was finally gone. With the mists and Acongua gone, the bottom chamber of the dungeon was exposed as a simple flat room. I turned to the pillar of light and went to gain my loot.

The treasure chest more than made up for the lack of loot earlier in the dungeon. I gained ten platinum coins, a heart of the seas crystal, and a necklace that I was definitely going to be using.

Necklace of banishing spirit

This necklace was made to assist in combat against spirits held to this plane against their will.

Doubles damage against spectral and undead type enemies.

Of course, it would have been a wonderful item to use during this dungeon. I also received twenty shards of warped spectral bark from the remains of the tree, as well as a pristine spectral warped branch and twenty vials of corrupted sap. Hopefully the alchemist guild would be able to help me figure out what to brew with them, and maybe have a solution that I could brew myself. Lost in thought, I walked into the light and received another popup.

Congratulations on conquering Catacumba Daemonica

You have finished a heroic dungeon, and have earned your rewards. Be aware, that this dungeon will no longer be heroic for you or any group you are a part of. Instead you will find a champion level dungeon. You have earned the following rewards:

Level up x5

A hero stands alone achievement

Ten platinum

Achievement

Effects

Next level

A hero stands alone

+10% damage when alone in dungeons

N/A

Once I stepped out of the light, I found myself in front of the dungeon door. I decided to first look through my combat log, as I was wondering about that fear reaction in a boss.

Angus MacG used Death’s gaze. Critical hit locations marked.

Angus MacG used Reaper’s edge. Attack boosted.

Death’s gaze and Reaper’s edge synergistic effect activated. Aura of death. Target has 30% chance to be affected by fear. Target will see a billowing reaper’s cloak surrounding the user. If seen, target has 75% chance to be affected by fear.

Deviniella is affected by fear.

So, activating multiple death’s raiments at once can cause new effects? That is definitely something to play around with in the future. I headed back to the city, hoping to turn in a few quests and getting a lead on the next location for the divine quest line.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The first thing that happened when I returned to the city was getting a ping for an email from Emily.

Marty,

I received your email about the heroic dungeon. As you are the first of our beta testers to have encountered one, my boss and some others would like to have a meeting for some discussion. Would you have time later today to talk with us?

Thanks,

Emily

I sent her an email in response, agreeing to the meeting and that she could ping me whenever they were ready. While I waited, I headed out to do some errands. First stop was with Djarleen to set up a trip to see the alchemists guild, then I headed out to Dharkiss to get all my equipment repaired.

“Good afternoon brother, how are things today?”

“Very well brother, very well indeed. And how are things with yourself?”

“I have some important news.” I said, walking up to the altar and giving it a bow. “Lord Thanatos, I have completed the first part of your quest. The spirit caller Deviniella has been slain, and her soul now resides in the dagger you gave me.” I placed the dagger on the altar, and watched as the flames changed colors.

“You have done well, Angus.” We both heard the disembodied voice of Thanatos. “As a reward, I have given you the location of the next enemy. Good luck.”

Divine quest completed

Death comes for all I

You have slain the spirit caller, Deviniella, using the dagger of Thanatos to do so.

Quest

Reward

Bonus

Slay the spirit caller Deviniella

+100 favor, level up x2, Cloak of Wandering Eyes, Death comes for all II

Double favor gains

Cloak of Wandering Eyes

This cloak has been designed to break up the outline of the wearer, greatly enhancing their ability to hide.

+30% to stealth skills effectiveness

-15% chance to receive critical hits

Divine Quest

Death comes for all II

Deep within his Citadel of Bone, a necromancer has broken the rules and has corrupted the bodies of fallen heroes. Go forth and slay him.

Quest

Success

Failure

Slay the necromancer. Bonus if you complete the following:

Slay the necromancer with the Dagger of Thanatos.

Learn how the bodies have been corrupted

Experience, favor in the church of Thanatos, Next quest in the chain.

Loss of quest chain, decreased standing in the church of Thanatos.

“Thank you, Lord. I will make sure to end the necromancer and his experiments.” Bowing to the altar, I left the church to plan some things. Before I got too far into anything, I got a ping from Emily about the meeting. Changing direction to the inn, I headed to my room and logged out.