Chapter 34: The Fall of Boston

Asharra, First of the Homonculus (Unique BOSS) Lvl. ???

I used [Observe] on her and it seemed that the little cat girl wasn’t a player. Even though her form looked pathetic and small, she was a boss and a unique one. I didn’t know how strong she was because I couldn’t see her level. However, it was clear that her level must be way beyond our imagination and she wasn’t someone to be underestimated. One thing that confused me was that she could speak to us like a person. I mean, she was clearly a monster and not a person. A person would always show a different blue screen than a monster.

[What do we do? I can’t move!] – Eric

[I think she’s a demi-monster. There’s no mistake.] – Mark

[Didn’t you say that your skills are effective against the undead and demi-monsters?] – Beth

[I did. But I can’t move and I can’t even speak.] - Mark

Asharra cleared her throat. “I guess I should also introduce you to the soon-to-be the greatest of the Dark Lord’s servant; Miguel Arevalo, the Great Lich.”

I tried to get my legs moving, but it won’t obey me. I looked at her in the eyes and used my skill [Charm] on her.

“I’m sorry dear, but your magic won’t work on me.” Asharra stared at me and giggled. “You are far too weak.”

[Fuck! My magic doesn’t work on her.] – Claire

[Don’t provoke her. I think she might let us live if we listen.] – Melissa

[No, dumbass. She’s obviously toying with us. Just like a kid playing with little insects.] – Richard

The girl walked towards Miguel and gave him a half-smile as she gently stroked Miguel’s cheeks. “Papa. It’ll be over soon. Just a little more.”

[On my signal, attack with all you’ve got.] – Dianne

[What are you planning?] – Mark

[I remembered that I have a skill against magic. Just trust me.] - Dianne

“You just missed my master. If you were here just a little early, you would have met him. It would’ve been an interesting meeting. Unfortunately, my master has other business that requires his utmost attention.”

She turned around and faced us. “And unfortunately for you, you’re already too late to save him. I must say that I am impressed that you made it this far. Not unexpected, but still, it’s impressive. I’ve never seen an explosion magic before. Who among you did such a marvelous feat?”

“Was it you?” She put her face close to Richard and whispered. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Oh my! What did I do to have such luck?” Asharra laughed loudly. “Do not worry, little mage. I will not have you killed. After I am done with Miguel, I will perform the same ritual to you and turn you into a lich. Together, we will serve the Great Lich and be his first disciples. There is no greater honor. I assure you that.”

Once Asharra turned her back to us, Dianne gave us her signal.

[Now!] - Dianne

Suddenly, I felt that I could move my body. As soon as Dianne gave us her signal, we used all of our skills and attacked Asharra in unison.

“One of you have a [Disruption] skill, huh?” Her mouth curved into a grin. “Interesting.”

“HAAAAHHH!” I filled my lungs with air and shouted at the top of my lungs as I used my skill [Berserker’s Howl] to raise the group’s damage. I dashed towards Asharra and seeing that she doesn’t intend to dodge my attack, I performed Six Strikes technique that I learned from Miguel as I used [Lacerating Strike] for each strike.

-82 HP!

-79 HP!

-86 HP!

-84 HP!

-177 HP! Critical Hit!

-206 HP! Critical Hit!

Dianne’s bow glowed as she fired off an arrow and used [Aimed Shot]. The arrow landed on her forehead and pierced her skull. Asharra pulled out the arrow and threw it to the floor. Although I was sure that my sword cut her deep and Dianne successfully pierced her skull, her wounds healed almost instantly.

-252 HP! Critical Hit!

After Dianne’s attack, Melissa used [Phantom Arrow] as an ethereal arrow appeared on her bow. She also used her skill [Aimed Shot] and proceeded to upwards and cast [Arrow Shower] simultaneously. A barrage of ethereal arrows rained down on Asharra.

-409 HP!

Eric dashed towards Asharra with his spear as he used [Charge Attack]. After that, Beth, having not enough space to use [Whirling Death], used [Cleave] instead and swung her battle axe while Mark used his skill [Sinestra’s Blessing].

-107 HP!

-204 HP!

-501 HP! Critical Hit!

Meanwhile, Richard used his magic and lifted a bunch of rocks above us. He set the said rocks into flames and crash them down to Asharra like a meteor shower. His magic attack was intense that we didn’t even see the damage numbers appear because of the dust and we had to move back to avoid friendly fire. Richard drained all of his mana as he continuously rained fire on the enemy.

[Did we kill her?] – Eric

[I’m not sure.] - Claire

We stopped our attack when we exhausted our SP and MP. Richard panted like a horse and he immediately drank two bottles of mana potion. Once the dust has settled, we saw that Asharra didn’t even have so much of a scratch on her.

“Well done! Well done!” Asharra clapped in excitement. “If you think your attacks will have any effect on me, then you are mistaken. Not even a cleric can defeat me.”

“I won’t be so sure about that.” Mark retorted as he opened his tome.

“Blessed be the one who walks the path of righteousness. For they will reap the Sinestra’s mercy and granted eternal life. They will bask in her holy light in the Palace of the Forgiven for all eternity. Cursed be the wicked and the unjust. For they will reap Eriton’s wrath and granted eternal agony. Their punishment awaits in the Oblivion! The eternal fire of judgement shall not be quenched….”

A white magic circle appeared on the top of her and a red magic circle on her feet. They were spinning slowly and surrounded Asharra in a pillar of light.

“No!” Asharra’s voice suddenly became two toned, a voice of a child and one with a deep voice of a woman. Her voice sounded like someone being possessed; a demonic voice. A black mist-like aura came out of her body trying to penetrate the light. She tried to charge on Mark and pounded the pillar with an immense strength, but the pillar of light effectively trapping her inside. “Don’t you dare! You filthy human!”

“Quench thy servant’s thirst for righteous vengeance. Let the hammer fall for the wicked! Smite: Holy Pillars of Vengeance!”

When Mark finished the prayer, he held his heavy mace upside down and dropped it to the ground as its sound echoed throughout the room. More red and white magic circle appeared and filled the pillar with its swirling light. The light became so intense that it was blinding, but I felt a warm and gentle feeling like the morning sun. We couldn’t see clearly what was happening to Asharra, but when I looked at Mark, he was staring at the light with unblinking eyes.

“AHHHHH!!!” Asharra made a harsh, shrill cry as Mark’s magic decimated her.

The light slowly became weaker and weaker until all of the light was extinguished. We stood up and recovered. There were smoke around where Asharra stood and we weren’t sure if she was dead. Mark, on the other hand, fell to his knees with rapid breaths. Eric extended a hand and helped him get up.

“I’m okay.” Mark said to Eric. “Thanks.”

“What’s that skill?” I asked.

“That one’s called [Smite].” He replied.

“So you have that overpowered skill all along?” Eric clenched his fist. “Why didn’t you use that to save Gerry?”

“It only works against undead and demi-monsters.” Mark said. “And I can only use it once a week.”

“Oh.” Eric lowered his head. “I see...”

“Anyway, is she dead?” Dianne asked.

“I think so.” Beth lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. “There’s no way she could survive that.”

“Look!” Melissa pointed her finger.

We were hoping that Mark’s attack finished her off. When the smoke was dispersed, we despaired as we saw Asharra full of burns around her body. She was still alive and her charred skin fell off like a snake shedding its skin. She looked at us with a piercing glare.

“That hurts.” Her demonic voice was filled with burning anger. “Now, it’s my turn.”

Asharra screamed as her body twisted as we heard a sickening crunch of her bones. She spat out black goo substance from her mouth and covered her entire body. The black slime turned into a ball as sharp horns started to appear one by one. She began to transform into something much larger and deadlier form. Her body reabsorbed the substance as it slowly revealed its true form.

The monstrous form stood for at least eight feet in height and it had a tail with spikes at the end. Its legs looked like a hind limb of a scaly reptile and it had sharp claws on both its feet and hands. On its head were two twisted horns, drooping ears instead of cat’s ears and sharp fangs for its teeth. Even though the demon would make anyone who saw it piss in their pants, it had a womanly shape as its torso and smooth skin on its face. It was both terrifying and beautiful.

“I must admit that I had fun having you around.” Asharra said as she sharpened her claws on the floor. “You made a huge mistake by pissing me off. I am not known to hold back in this form.”

“Prepare to die, mortal filths!” She yelled fiercely and charged at Mark.

-312 HP!

“Ahhhh!!!” Mark screamed in pain as Asharra pierced his torso with her sharp claw; His armor was shattered in just one attack.

She lifted him up with one arm and brought him close to her face. “Die!”

The rest of us attacked him as we attempted to rescue Mark. Piper was the first one to close the distance and pounced on her. The dire wolf then bit Asharra’s neck trying to asphyxiate her, but we realized that the homonculus could grow scales anywhere on her body at will. Piper’s sharp fangs could not penetrate her scales. Asharra retaliated and sliced the dire wolf with her claws.

“PIPER!” Melissa screamed as Piper’s body was cut in half. “NO!”

Dianne and Melissa fired off their arrows and Richard summoned three sharp spikes of rocks on the ground and impaled Asharra. She threw Mark away and landed on Melissa and Dianne. Mark’s weight and the force of the throw knocked them out unconscious.

Beth charged at Asharra from the distance and used her skill [Whirling Death]. Beth span in a vicious hurricane, but Asharra simply stopped her axe with her hard scales. She let out a cackle as she swept her arms and sent her flying. Beth landed at the wall with a sickening crunch. The wall was stained with her blood as she laid down on the floor seemingly lifeless.

Eric, Richard and I stood together as we prepared for our last stand. Richard summoned rocks on top of her and repeated his meteor shower spell. Unfortunately, Asharra knew his plan and charged at him. Eric tried to block her and protected his brother, but the two of them were also knocked back.

All of them were lying on the ground unconscious, I didn’t know if they were dead, but I knew that I was the only one left standing.

“This is the end.” She exclaimed. “I will collect all of your skin as my trophy.”

Asharra charged towards me with a grin on her face. She attacked me with her claws, but I barely managed to dodge her attack as I dashed to my right and tried to stab her torso with my sword. However, she easily blocked my attack with her hard scaled arm and grabbed me by my neck. I desperately swung my sword at her, but her scales were too hard to penetrate. She lifted me up and slowly cut my breastplate with her sharp claw like a hot knife on butter.

“You are beautiful. I will wear your skin.” She said as my shattered armor fell to the ground. “Any last words?”

I inhaled deeply filling my lungs with air and shouted as loud as I can as I used my skill [Wail of Agony]. “FUCK YOU!”

Asharra screeched in pain and covered both of her ears. She immediately loosened her grip on my neck and dropped me on the floor. Using this opportunity, I attacked her with my skill [Lacerating Strike] as I aimed at her smooth skinned torso. My sword was finally able to do some damage as I pierced her skin. As she recovered, I quickly moved backwards to gain some distance away from her. Her blood flowed from her wound and bled. However, she used a skill and her stab wound closed.

Six days after the Merge

“You’re too aggressive with your swings, Claire.” Miguel said, sitting comfortably in his chair. “And don’t use too much force. It’ll tire you quickly.”

“Why not?” I asked. “It’s not like I would run out of stamina that quick.”

“Sure, but you’ll run out of juice eventually.” He let out a deep sigh and rubbed his forehead. “The point of the technique is not how much force you use, but where to strike.”

“But I used this amount of force to beat you.”

Miguel rolled his eyes. “This is just day one of your training and you’re already that arrogant. What the hell was that apology for?”

“Well, I beat you, didn’t I?” I gave him the same smirk he gave me back in college. “It’s not arrogance. It’s the truth.”

“Sure, you beat me. Good job.” He clapped his hands slowly. “But you forgot the fact that you beat me because you have higher physical stats than me. It’s not like I’m the best fighter who ever lived. I’m a mage, remember?”

“But still. I beat you.” I folded my arms. “That still counts as something.”

“Yes. It does count.” He nodded. “Do you know how many times I lost a fight?”

“None?” I shrugged. “Eric said you never lost a tournament.”

“Not true.” Miguel shook his head. “You know what. Let me tell you a secret.”

“What?”

“One thing I learned from experience, is never to be too confident about your abilities because there’s always someone better than you. I’ve always won because I wasn’t aggressive. I fight defensively and wait for the right chance to strike. That’s why I like to use Back Stance.”

“Fair enough.” I shrugged.

Miguel stood up from his seat and approached me. He suddenly touched my legs and spread them apart. “Your stance is wrong. Your legs are too close together.”

I felt him wrap his arms around me from my back as he adjusted the position of my arms. His warm breath touched my nape. I blushed. “Your sword arm should be at this angle. You’ll find it easier to execute your attacks.”

I remembered everything that Miguel taught me. Even though it was only a week since I learned Arnis, I’ve been diligently practicing every morning, every evening and every chance I get. I checked my stance and realized that I was doing it all wrong. My legs were too close to each other. My sword arm should be correctly angled to make sure a perfect execution of attacks and blocks. I also remembered him telling me that his favorite stance was Back Stance; A defensive stance.

That time I wasn’t wearing my breastplate as Asharra already took it off. It didn’t matter though It was heavy and hindered with my movements. My helm was heavy and restricted my line of sight. I took it off and dropped it and my vision improved. My shield was useless as I couldn’t even track her movements to block it. I also dropped my shield. I preferred to keep my other hand free. I needed to be as fast as I could.

Asharra laughed at my pathetic attempt to fight back, but I didn’t care and waited her to attack me. She dashed forward and attacked me again with her claws.

-0 HP! Attack Missed!

-0 HP! Attack Missed!

-0 HP! Attack Missed!

I evaded her first attack and the second as I stepped back. I countered her attack with 5th strike, forward thrust, but I missed. She also countered by swiping her tail, but I saw it coming and ducked.

I could almost keep up with her fast movement and reflex. I dodged and blocked her attacks while doing counter attacks whenever I there was an opportunity. Sadly, there were momentary slips and mistakes on my part. She was too fast and her claws eventually wounded me. My wounds were deep and I was bleeding heavily. Mark was lying on his pool of blood and could not heal me. I couldn’t even find the right timing to drink a potion. Thankfully, it only felt like a scratch of a cat because of my skill [Troll’s Skin].

Debuff: Bleeding

-5 HP!

Even though I didn’t do much damage on her, I refused to give up. Fighting was futile, but giving up means the death of, not just me, but all of us. I was beginning to run out of stamina points and my movements became sluggish as I felt the need to catch my breath. I looked at HP and I realized that I only have 91/550 of HP left. Not to mention that I was also constantly losing 5 HP from bleeding.

Miguel Arevalo, 11 years old

“I can’t believe I wasted my entire day for this. I even had to cancel my meetings!” The man in the driver’s seat said.

“This is your son!” The woman said in a loud voice. “You were never home and we only ask for what? Just a day! Is your career that important to you that you can’t even cancel your ‘important’ meetings for your own son?”

“Well, I already cancelled my meetings, didn’t I?” The man huffed as he rolled his eyes in annoyance. “I even had to lie to my officers and…”

“Stop the car.” The woman interrupted.

“What?”

“I said stop the car!”

The man drove the car to the side of the road and stepped on the brakes. The woman opened the door and exited the vehicle. The boy on the back seat was crying as he sniffed. The woman opened the door to the back seat and took the boy with her.

“What are you doing, Monica?” The man asked.

“I’m taking them home by myself!”

“But I am taking you home!”

“We’ll take the bus! Go to your stupid meetings!” The woman yelled and she forced the boy to exit the car. “Come on, Miguel. I’m so sorry that you’re not important to your father.”

“For Christ sake!” The man stepped out of the car as he tried to follow the two. “Come on, don’t be like that! I’ll take you home!”

The woman ignored the man as she continued to walk with the boy on the side of the streets. The man caught up with them and grabbed the woman by the wrist.

“I’m sorry, Monica.” He sighed. “I was just… I was just stressed out, you know. I’m really sorry. So please, get back in the car. I’ll take both of you home.”

The woman didn’t even flinch at his attempt to convince her to go back. He looked at the boy and realized his wrongdoing. How can he say those words to his own son? He wanted to apologize to the boy, but before he could try, the pair walked away from him without saying another word. It’s alright. He thought. They’ll forgive me. I’ll just give them a day to let their heads cool off.

The boy wiped his tears with his shirt. He didn’t want the others to think that he was weak. A real man shouldn’t cry, his father said. Crying is only for girls.

“Want to go for an ice cream?” The woman asked as she smiled at him.

The boy shook his head. “No.”

“Don’t mind him.” She said. “We should celebrate and have fun.”

The boy raised his head and looked at his mother in confusion. Why would she want to celebrate after he lost his first tournament? He thought. For him, it didn’t make any sense. The woman didn’t seem to listen to him and she still took him to his favorite ice cream place where they served their ice creams upside down.

The woman asked him what flavor he wanted. The boy didn’t reply, but being his mother, she already knew his answer and ordered his favorite. She ordered the biggest cup of ice cream they have. She can’t expect me to eat all of it! He thought.

The woman ate her ice cream happily while the boy stared blankly at his cup. He was still puzzled at his mother’s behavior and unlike his father and his coach, she wasn’t angry at him. Instead, she looked happy at his misery. Finally, the boy asked the woman.

“Why are we doing this?” He asked.

“Why are we doing what?” The woman asked back.

“Why are we eating ice cream?” He said. “Why are we even celebrating?”

The woman chuckled as she licked her spoon. “Why not?”

“I just lost the tournament.” The boy shrugged. “I didn’t even get pass elimination round.”

“And so?”

“You saw dad, right? He’s disappointed in me. If Lolo was still alive, he’ll probably be the same.” The boy lowered his head and frowned.

“You only lost just one tournament.” The woman said as she tried to console him.

“And you’ve won many. Lolo said you defeated your opponents in your first try.”

“But did he also tell you that I also lost as much as I win?”

“You did?”

“Well, I lost once in a tournament. But I lost to your lolo hundreds of times when we sparred.”

“And I also lost to him all the time! I never win anything. I mean, can’t you see? I’m a loser! No matter how hard I try, I’m still a loser! I can’t even get good grades at school. I’m stupid! I always lose! I’m weak! I’m a coward! Everyone says that and the worst thing is: I accepted it. But then accepting it wasn’t enough…”

The boy broke down into tears after he voiced out his frustration. “I disappointed Dad. Did you even see the look on his face?”

The woman was shocked to say the least. She didn’t know that his son was suffering from having high expectations from everyone around him. She didn’t know what to say to console him as her husband had no excuse for his attitude towards their son.

“Look at me.” The woman said as she lifted her son’s face. “You are my son and I am proud of you.”

“Right… And you’re making me celebrate my own defeat.” The boy added. “You’re making fun of me, aren’t you? Go on. Laugh. I don’t care anymore.”

“It’s true. I’m proud of you.” The woman continued. “You said you’re a coward, but you stepped up and you still joined the tournament even if you knew that you can’t win. Not everyone has that kind of courage. You said you’re weak, but you didn’t give up and you still fight to the end. Not everyone has that kind of strength.”

“But I’m still a loser.”

“So what?”

“So…” The boy scratched his head as he tried to think of a comeback. “I get nothing. The winner takes it all.”

“Did you really get nothing?” The woman asked. “You know, when I taste my first defeat, it was the worst thing ever. I wasn’t used to be a loser. I was arrogant because no one could beat me. But I learned an important lesson. I felt the same thing as you do and I want you to hold on to that feeling.”

“Why?”

“How can you even appreciate victory if you don’t know how it feels like to lose? You won’t even notice the stars when you’re always top, but you’ll see how beautiful the sky is if you’re on the bottom. Sometimes, you have to fall, before you can rise.” The woman smiled as she rubbed the boy’s hair. “I’m proud of you. Now eat that ice cream.”

With her mother’s warm words, the boy felt much better. A new fire stirred inside his heart. You have to fall, before you can rise. The boy repeated the words in his mind.

“Just give up, mortal.” Asharra said as she slowly walked towards me. “I commend your valor. You have a strong will to fight and you refuse to stand down even against all odds. But it is not enough to defeat me, I am beyond a mortal’s strength. Give up and I promise, I will give you and your friends the mercy of a swift death.”

“No.” I panted and shook my head.

“For three thousand years of my existence, I never offered the littlest of mercy and still you refuse my offer?” Asharra laughed. “Do you even realize that I was not taking you seriously?”

“Then attack me with everything you got.” I retorted. “I will die where I stand.”

“So be it.”

With that said, Asharra charged at me as I tried to block her claws with my sword. My eyes widened in disbelief as my sword finally gave out and shattered into pieces. With only a hilt of a broken sword in my hand, I fell to the ground finally succumbing to my wounds.

“What is your name, mortal?” Asharra looked down at me without a hint of ridicule on her face.

“Claire…” I responded. “Claire Roque.”

“I shall remember that name.” Asharra lowered her head and bowed slightly. “Good bye.”

Everything seemed to slow down as my opponent was about to deal the killing blow. I had a flashback of Miguel’s memories: You have to fall, before you can rise. At that time, I lost completely. I lost and I would never rise again. I turned my eyes to Miguel and I could see him in the distance. I failed to save him and I couldn’t even save myself. I felt the same feeling of helplessness that he felt when he thought I was going to die and when he lost in his first Arnis tournament.

I didn’t want to accept my death. I refused to surrender at the very last moment. Like when Miguel saved me from the Necrotic Curse, he refused to let me die and he eventually found a cure. When we got stuck in the slime dungeon, we refused to give up and we got out even though Gerry didn’t make it alive. We didn’t surrender. Gerry’s death will be for nothing if we die here and fail. It was time to set aside pride and ask for help.

“God… help us...” I muttered as I closed my eyes, praying to the heavens.

All of a sudden, the entire room shook violently as if the earthquake on the first day of the apocalypse was happening all over again. I was lying on the floor at that time and dying from blood loss. A meteor crashed down from above and into the middle of the room. The meteor gave off the same blinding light like Mark’s magic. It was warm and it felt like I was being caressed by a soft touch and all of the pain in my body faded away.

I realized that my HP, SP and MP were fully restored. The others also gained their consciousness and stood up to witness the strange light. All of them, except for Piper.

[All of you! Close formation!] – Claire

I commanded all of them to regroup and form a close formation. Even though Eric lost his iron shield, he retrieved his old wooden shield that he made back in the hardware store and he also took out his extra spontoon spear. I learned that he had an extra longsword as a backup weapon so I borrowed it for a while.

Asharra, on the other hand, stepped back and retreated. The strange bright light slowly faded away as it revealed a kneeling man’s figure. He was wearing a black business suit and had a clean haircut. He looked like a real professional, like a butler or a spy. The man stood up in a graceful posture and turned his eye on us. Well, I didn’t really see his eyes because he was wearing angled sunglasses. I was wondering who it was and asked myself as I used [Observe]. Is it God?

Special NPC: ???

Race: Administrator

Level: ???

Faction: SYSTEM Admin Team

Party: Ban Hammer

“Stand back.” The man said in a deep voice. “This will be over soon.”