Chapter 127

Servant of the Council (II)

Everyone’s expressions hardened as soon as they read through the string of the notifications, their minds reeling from the influx of bad news. They immediately realized that the following fight would be unlike anything they’ve ever faced before; even if other bosses sported a variety of abilities, they were never this diverse and spread-out. Furthermore, no other boss they faced had quite the AoE capabilities that were like a constant barrage, and most could be blocked by just one tank upfront taking the brunt of it all.

Inadvertently, everyone’s eyes veered over to Cain who sported a relaxed expression -- however, it was a forced one. They were facing, perhaps, by far the worst boss for this stage of the climb -- one that not only had potent AoE, but sapped health from the party and healed himself in return. Pretty much the entire fight rests on Diya’s shoulders, he sighed inwardly, still maintaining his nonchalant expression.

"Diya, what do you think?" he turned to her and asked. When it came to bosses he knew of, he didn't mind taking the lead -- but, he'd never fought or even heard of King Albadesh before. Even if he could conjure up a somewhat okay-ish strategy for the fight, that was hardly his strong suit. Diya had ventured often into the Tower, not really to level up or such, but to obtain as much knowledge as possible on the various types of magic, attacks, and so on. He trusted her intellect far more than his.

“... we can do it,” Diya said confidently, surprising everyone. “Not... not because of me. But... but because I know our damage will outpace whatever he heals.”

“...”

“By now, I know that even a combination of twenty other people,” she added further. “Wouldn’t be able to match what Cain, Senna, Jamal, and Daniel can do. I will do my best to keep everyone alive -- no, I will keep everyone alive.” Oh, this is nice. Cain mused, stroking his chin, happy to see that Diya was slowly coming out of her shell.

"And hey, you're not alone," Cain added. "Taima will be there to assist you. Since Bards are better as single-target healers, he'll be responsible for the main tank, while you keep the rest of us topped-off. Let's break down the plan through phases, though."

“O-okay,” Diya nodded excitedly, her cheeks getting faintly flushed over being praised. “I can easily outpace 1% Vitality sap, and from the description, I infer that the ‘Frayed’ ability can be dodged. So, when you see him winding up his weapon, spread out. When he links two people, just walk up right next to each other so you can quickly orient yourself back into the battle. As for the Wights--”

"Leave killing them to me," Cain quickly said. "Good," Cain nodded, having nothing else to add. "Save all your mega-bursts cooldowns, though. The first phase is just a warm-up, really, for both of us."

“Hm,” Diya nodded, agreeing. “When he uses ‘Empower’, I think we should all go out for at least 3-4 seconds, burning at least through one, major cooldown.”

“Agreed,” Cain said.

"As for when Phase 2 starts, we'll maintain the same formation -- Jamal and Senna at the flanks, Daniel at the rear, Emma and Lukas at the front, and Larua, Taima, Cain, and I behind them. I should still easily be able to heal through 2% sap, but when the Ghouls come..."

“I’ll take care of them as well,” Cain said confidently. “Everyone else should just focus on the boss. As for when he transports us into the whatever-realm... let’s just wait and see. It’s probably just a ‘rest’ phase for him to charge up the blood-battlefield or whatever thingy.”

"... it will be troublesome," Diya mumbled. "But we can outpace the healing. I know we can.”

“Save all your shields for this part,” Cain said. “I will assist you as much as I can. What worries me more is the 4% sap. Everyone have pearies at a ready and consume them if your Vitality drops below 50%.”

“With the Undying and the last phase,” Diya continued. “It’s just about pouring out as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. I have the most silencing skills, so I can deal with the Herald.”

“If you need help, just give me a holler,” Cain added. “Make sure to dodge the bolts of lightning from the sky; as for the cages, I will be responsible for destroying whoever gets caged. In case it is me, Senna, you’ll have my back, right?”

“... sure.” she shrugged, though a faint trace of happiness appeared in her gaze.

“Alright, that’s pretty much it, I think,” Cain added, taking a deep breath. “We’ll adjust to the rest on the fly. Sit and rest now and prepare yourselves mentally.”

Cain reached into his inventory and took out a can of beer and a cigarette, quickly indulging in both. Though the nerves didn’t necessarily get better of him, he was worried -- worried that someone might die. The party was not ready for a full-on raid, no matter how much confidence they built up. He suspected it would go similarly to when they fought Nightmare, but this time around, he wouldn’t be able to go ballistic and end the battle before more than enough tragedy occurred.

The reason was simple -- the boss had way too much Vitality, topping over 100,000 HP. In comparison, Emma -- who had by far the most HP in the group -- didn’t even break past 6,000, stagnating at just over 5,000. If there was one comfort in the whole thing, it was that the party worried a bit too much about the boss’ healing. After all, even when sapping Emma at 4% of her Vitality, it was still measly 200 health. On average, as far as he could tell, their party had the capacity to deal around and over 2,500 damage per second in optimal conditions, though he was willing to considerably curb that at 1,500 when the raid began. Even then, the healing was almost negligible.

If their party was better geared and higher-leveled, the healing would be problematic, but it was almost the last of his worries at the moment. It would be better to adjust to the Herald and send Lukas to interrupt, Cain reconsidered. Diya will be too stretched out during the 3rd phase, she might miss a cue which would be beyond debilitating. Though Unslayed doesn't have as many interrupts, even with iffy timing, Lukas should be able to hit 3/4 interrupts, and I can cover for the last one. Oh well, let's see how it goes...

The countdown ticked down in eerie silence, from 20 minutes to 15, to 10, to 5, until there were only 30 seconds left. Everyone stood up and lined up front, each with their own little way to try and cover up the nervousness they felt. Cain noticed, however, that Emma appeared wholly calm, an almost tranquil look on her face. He walked up to her to see if she perhaps passed out standing, but she was well-awake.

“What?” she asked.

“You don’t seem worried.” he replied.

“I’m not.”

“Why? This will be our first raid.”

“You’re here.”

“Huh?”

“You’re here,” she repeated, grabbing his hand gently. “Even if we fought ten raid bosses, I still wouldn’t be worried.”

“You really fucking should!!”

“... there’s something about you that I don’t think you ever realized,” she said suddenly as the countdown ticked down to 15. “I’ve met many people in my life Cain. And I’ve seen them in all sorts of situations. But... when the pressure is at its highest, and when all the chips are down... nobody, nobody, rises to the occasion quite like you. However much you dread these moments on the outside-looking-in,” she added, drawing out her warhammer. “You thrive in them. You always find the way. Us? We... we just need to follow...”

The world abruptly warped around them, tendrils of green and red smoke shuffling out of Albadesh and swallowing the sky. A blinding light exploded in front of them, and, but a moment later, after they opened their eyes, they realized they were elsewhere -- standing on the air itself.

The world around them was misty and abysmal, bolts of ashen lightning breaking around the formless and edgeless walls of what appeared to be an arena. They felt faint for a moment, not seeing the floor beneath their feet, yet feeling it. They were standing in the sky, banners of ashen death unfurling around them in the shape of misty clouds.

King Albadesh stood opposite of them, suddenly having grown to twice his original size, nearly breaking past twelve feet, holding a behemoth-like trident laden in smoky crimson. A crown of skulls appeared on his head, made of shimmering bones, a brilliant emerald shining at the front, his hair rippling in the gushing streams of cold and ghastly wind.

The world had turned upside down in a matter of seconds, making it very difficult to adjust.

“You have come, Mortals,” the King said in a deep and hollow tone. “To my Plane of Nightmares, where holy come to die and damned come to feast. Cast the pride and your will to live aside; for where the Synod of Forgotten reigns, there shall be no other Supreme.”

“... you really did sell your soul to the Outsiders,” Larua suddenly spoke in a frigid and beyond dark tone, stepping forward as the chilly winds grew roused around her. “You madman!!” her voice hollowed out similarly to the King’s, her hair blowing back like tendrils. “You have condemned our Realms to Bitter Touch!! Countless will die because of your actions!!”

“Humph, a fallen fledgling dares raise her voice at me?!” the King shouted back, Mana around him growing so thick it turned into droplets. “Your Forsaken Bloodline had already fallen to the Might of the Hand!! Dragons reign no more, Hallowed Ghost! Their helm has ended, and Our Watch has begun! Submit, and yet you shall live!”

“--Dragons will never succumb to the cowardly whispers, o' the Damned One,” Larua’s back suddenly wobbled for a moment and exploded into a shower of blood and gore, startling everyone for a moment. Yet, at the same time, they were at a complete loss for words when they saw two transparent, massive wings sprout out of her back, fluttering heavily. “War of the Realms is forever, and we shall rise again.”

“The War is over, fledgling,” the King said. “And you have lost. The Synod reigns and its reign is brilliant. And now... and now I shall offer the last of the Phantom Tarragons to them. And they... they shall Crown me a King!!"

“... at arms, Thief,” Larua suddenly turned toward Cain and spoke, startling him. The look in her eyes was completely different, as though they had gained clarity beyond the webs and shuffles of the reality. “Assist me in erasing the traces of the Outsiders from our Realms.”

“You know?” Cain quizzed.

“Time matters little to us, Thief,” she replied. “But now is not the time. Heed my Blessings, and storm the Servants.”

“... sur--wait, did you just said Servants? As in... more than one?!” Cain quizzed, slightly panicked.

“We heed the Calling of the Synod!" a choir of voices besieged everyone's ears at that moment as a whole group of ten crowned and ghostly-seeming men and women appeared right beside the King.

“Hear this Phantom’s Wails... for one last time...” Larua mumbled in a low tone before suddenly roaring out; it was hardly a wail, but a genuine roar of a Dragon. Cain had heard it once before -- just once. And it was a roar of a just recently-born babe Dragon. It was incomparable to this -- the roar that shook the entire dimension and scarred it for all eternity, just as a string of notifications assailed his vision.

//The Last Phantasmal Tarragon Cries Out! Her Roar burrows inside your soul and Awakens you temporarily!

Blessing of the Tarragon: Increased Strength, Stamina, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence, and Wisdom by twenty-fold for the duration of the Battle.

Blessing of the Phantom: You will passively regenerate 10% of your Health and Mana each second. Costs of your Skills are reduced by 80% for the duration of the Battle.

Blessing of the Ghost: You have a 40% chance to evade a strike, increased to 100% if the strike would kill you. Can only occur three times.

Blessing of the Forgotten: All movement-related Skills either gain infinite charges or have their cooldowns reduced to 0 seconds for the duration of the battle

Blessing of the Awakened: You will temporarily ascend beyond your fleshly means and become Awakened. All your Skills gain a mastery rank of S; as an Elementalist, you gain access to the Awakened Aspects -- Space, Phantasmal, Chaos, Death, Life.

Blessing of the Ab'el: the Spirit of the First Elementalist answers the Heed of the God, and blesses you -- charging of the Elements is instant; temporarily gain the ability to charge quadra-cast, octa-attunement skills (can only be used twice). Gain one Charge of 'Maker of the Elements' -- combine ALL Elements you have access to for a single skill. All Blessings, in this case, will immediately end and you will be incapacitated for the duration of the Battle and have ALL your stats reduced by 99% for 6 months.

Blessing of the Last Dragon: La--reeh's Crowning Breath channels Pure Life-element into you. Every time your Health drops down to 1, you will immediately be healed for the full amount and gain a shield equal to 10 times your total HP. The Blessing persists so long as La-reeh's Vitality remains above 25%. //

Cain stared dumbly, as did everyone else, at the string of notifications that broke what he believed he knew about everything and anything. As far as everything went... for the following battle... he will become the most powerful Elementalist there ever was, as far as people from Earth were concerned, anyway. The blessings... were beyond insane. Yet, it worried him -- worried him greatly. It only meant that the battle itself... would be that much more difficult, even if the ‘guide’ they got was still right over how the abilities were used. Now, however, the healing aspect of sapping health... was concerning. No... everything was. Well, by God... at least if we die, we'll die at the peaks we would likely never reach on our own. Shit, what do you mean combine ALL Elements into one skill?!! With the Awakened ones, that's 17 Elements!! SEVENTEEN FUCKING ELEMENTS!! Sweet Christ Almighty... what in God's name is this?!!