40

The Blademaster III

Rian tried to bump the flat of the blade with his hand. In response, Altrexis rotated his wrist to turn the edge, cutting into and through Rian’s gauntlet.

You have taken 502 damage! (HP: 135/637)

Charge Punch meter +75% (5%→80%)

Your Temporal Runeknight Gauntlet has been destroyed!

Time slowed as the level 3 Parry successfully went off, but the force of the blow had deflected Rian’s arm in return and completely shattered the gauntlet on his hand.

In slow motion, the item cracked into pieces and flew into a spray of metal and circuitry. His hand underneath was fine, but it had cost him almost half his stamina to block. Since the parry had activated, he’d reduced the damage somewhat—enough to keep himself from getting one-shot. But the fact that he’d blocked with the parry meant the action had cut into his stamina reserves.

The green bar on his HUD was almost out. He felt the urge to gasp for air. It was as if that single hit, resonating throughout his body like a silently ringing bell, had required almost all the strength in his body to withstand.

Recovering and preparing for the follow-up, Altrexis brought the sword to a halt as he gripped the hilt with both hands, the tip of the blade aiming for Rian’s heart.

As if taking the cue, Kat appeared behind Altrexis and lunged for a backstab. He seemed to hear her approach and turned, but Kat disengaged, dashing away wide-eyed as the blade sliced the air where she’d just been. As she retreated, Altrexis followed after her, his footsteps soft and light upon the stairs.

Rian nearly collapsed with relief, his legs like jelly. Kat had drawn Altrexis away. It seemed he was only attacking whoever was attacking him. And yet Rian swore to himself. That was an opening I just missed when he turned away. He glanced at his stamina bar, only a sliver remaining.

“Alternate, Cob!” Kat shouted. “That’s what we have to do!”

At first he was confused: alternating seemed like a worse idea than teaming up on him. But if their plan was to provide Decha enough time to equalize everyone, then it was the right play. Kat just couldn’t announce it to him aloud, giving away the plan. She was likewise giving Rian a moment to recover his stamina and heal up, he realized. Then, when she needed to back out, he could step in.

Okay, Rian thought, finding a renewed calm. Yeah, I probably shouldn’t be questioning her tactics. He downed a potion and cast Heal at the same time, surrounding himself in a glowing green aura as his HP bar ticked back up. The sound of war drums continued to echo around them.

Kat was at least having an easier time dodging by the look of it. Altrexis continued his onslaught, his placement of steps perfect, his arms and body moving in well-trained synchrony. There wasn’t the slightest bit of fatigue apparent in him.

Just how much stamina does this guy have?

He didn’t appear to have any class skills, either. At first Rian had thought he had a dash skill, but it seemed Altrexis just had an absurdly high DEX stat that made it seem like he was using Dash.

He was really just some guy with a sword. An absolutely relentless guy, edgelord or not, with a katana that could destroy armor at a touch.

With rising dread, Rian watched his stamina recharge. It was taking too long. He had a huge amount more of it than at earlier levels, but the regeneration rate had remained the same. He could fight for longer, but it also took longer for his stamina to come back.

Kat was in the same situation. If they kept alternating whenever one of them ran out, they couldn’t keep going indefinitely. Altrexis was going to bring both of them to exhaustion at this rate.

At the bottom of the stairs, Decha was still concentrating, his eyes closed as he held his staff aloft.

Come on, Decha. It’s all you.

Kat was practically dancing with Altrexis in the meantime. Flipping, spinning over his blade, she tossed a smoke bomb at him that lasted only for a second before he cut through the haze so fast that it dispersed the entire cloud with trailing wind.

Rian had only managed to find one opening, but Kat was finding them left and right, the laser dagger she’d picked up from the Runeknight doing work as she weaved into range and cut at the Loyalist, leaving a glowing blue mark where it struck his limbs. She was barely doing any more damage than Rian had done, but it was starting to add up.

And, incredibly, she had yet to take a single hit.

How is she moving so fast?

Kat threw her dirk at Altrexis only for it to crack the stone as it planted itself into the steps behind him, and then when Rian glanced back at her, she was already behind Altrexis as if she’d somehow teleported when he wasn’t looking. It wasn’t Shadow Walk. Something else had to be happening.

It didn’t even seem possible. Her DEX was only around his, and even he was sure that he couldn’t move that quickly.

Less than a minute later, she was running out of stamina. She was breathing so hard that she could barely shout for Rian as she lured Altrexis back around to him.

Their strategy was working—for now. At the very least, Altrexis didn’t seem all that intelligent. If he were to focus on killing one of them and ignore the other, their strategy of switching to recover stamina wouldn’t hold up.

Or maybe he was fighting that way intentionally, to extend the fight as long as he could.

More time? He just wants more time—to fight us. To slow us down. Remembering pieces of his monologue, Rian thought, Because he knows the fight is hopeless? Then why fight at all?

Why not kill us? Because we’ll just come back?

Altrexis and Kat were coming this way now. The look Kat was giving him told him it was time.

Damn. My stamina’s barely up to halfway.

In hindsight, they really could’ve used a stamina potion or two. But then again, it wasn’t like either of them had expected a world boss to show up out of nowhere.

Rian dashed in, feinted to bring Altrexis’s attention to him. Rian ducked the blade and went in, landing a solid hit to the ribcage.

You have dealt 24 damage! (Altrexis’s HP: 1788/2128)

Charge Punch meter: +5% (80%→85%)

With the Runeknight gauntlet broken and his Silk Hand-Wrap reequipped on his left hand, the damage was almost nonexistent.

Altrexis repositioned his hands such that Rian couldn’t attempt to grapple with him and prevent him from swinging the sword. Rian had no choice but to retreat against the incoming keep-away slash. He didn’t have time to land enough hits to fill Charge Punch’s meter, and even if he did, it wasn’t going to do enough damage anyway.

Second by second, Rian’s stamina dropped lower as he evaded.

“Cob!” Kat shouted. He could hear the exhaustion in her voice. “Don’t give up!”

No, my stamina is already—

Barely a third left. His entire body was starting to slow with fatigue.

“You don’t understand what it is that you do, Desecrator,” Altrexis said. “But it seems our time is running short. Allow me to set your soul free again”—he raised the katana—“and, if but for a moment, give Miriad the peace it deserves.”

Where’s the equalization spell? Rian turned his head. “Decha!”

“Cob, it’s not working!” Decha shouted. “You have to go for it!”

Go for it?

He glanced up at the glowing Charge Punch meter on his HUD.

85%. Three good hits away.

Altrexis approached, swung.

That’s right, Rian thought, catching himself from evading on reflex. He stood in place, braced himself. Even if it seems hopeless.

He could see the katana cutting the air itself, condensation gathering upon the blade as it neared.

I have to try.

Positioning himself for the parry, Rian waited and prayed.

Again, Altrexis turned the blade mid-swing to cut through his hand.

And then it struck a barrier instead—one that Decha had cast around Rian.

The blade cut into it, sending cracks across the barrier before it shattered into hundreds of translucent shards passing harmlessly through everything. It hadn’t blocked the sword, but it had delayed the swing for an instant long enough to let Rian reposition his hand and knock away the flat side of the sword.

As Rian stepped close with time slowing to a crawl, the first hint of surprise showed in Altrexis’s cold, emotionless gaze.

Rian threw all his weight into a punch to the arm, but it was like striking a boulder.

You have dealt 47 damage! (Altrexis’s HP: 1741/2128)

Charge Punch meter +5% (→90%)

Altrexis hardly moved. Rian had hoped to stagger him, maybe throw off his grip by hitting his arm, but Altrexis seemed entirely unfazed. With the katana scraping the stairs, he brought it up in a diagonal arc.

It struck another barrier.

Rian was already in position as the blade’s movement paused for a fraction of a second, a flash of lightning cracking through the glass. It was too fast, too close to dodge at this range—or it would’ve been if the barrier hadn’t slowed it down.

Rian leaned back as the sword swept passed him. He went in, hooked Altrexis’s jaw. Another solid hit—enough to make Altrexis’s feet slide back an inch. Charge Punch crept up to 95%.

Almost there.

Each barrier was thinner than the one before it, lasting a moment less before the katana shattered it into glowing pieces. Just as Rian feared that Decha was running out of energy, Altrexis stepped back for once.

“Heh,” he said. “Yindra, forgive me, but I think I’m starting to enjoy fighting y—”

Rian dashed in and socked him in the face. He could almost feel his fist chipping a tooth.

You have dealt 99 damage! (Altrexis’s HP: 1558/2128)

Charge Punch meter +5% (MAX)

Off-guard, Altrexis tried to bring up his katana from a resting position. Rian hook-kicked to flip it onto its flat side and stomped it into the ground. The blade sparked as it struck stone. Altrexis staggered, nearly losing his balance as he held on.

Don’t you dare monologue at me ever again.

Rian wound up, pivoted his entire body into it, and threw his fist forward to release his Charge Punch.

And then something changed—a presence, moving through the air. Rian could see it, feel it as it arrived like a gaze upon the back of his head. Weight, energy, channeling into a distant body, and then transferring to him.

Someone had cast a buff of such power that he could physically feel it happening, as if all the energy in the air and the sunlight and matter at his feet had condensed itself and funneled into him.

Another barrier appeared around Rian as his arm extended. A wall of glass, shining as it encompassed him.

Your “Charge Punch” skill has obtained a temporary buff: Entropic Redistribution (Hits remaining: 1)

Rian barely managed to see the words appear before they disappeared behind a white flash, reducing everything around him to heat and noise. There was nothing but light outside the barrier before a pressure wave cracked it like a rock hitting a windshield at Mach 2. Despite the impact, the barrier held in time for an inferno to sweep past him, the explosion shrouding him in a mountain of fire that was rapidly spreading and fading to smoke.

As the barrier dissipated along with the flames, Rian heard the sound of crunching rocks. It was the stairs—the remains of it, he realized—raining around them. Through the smoke, giant chunks of stone were crashing down.

Aside from the pattering of debris, it was completely silent. Through the haze, Rian saw no sign of Altrexis.

The smoke cleared, and Rian spotted the body lying motionless to his right. The sword was still in Altrexis’s hand.

Rian glanced at the combat log on his HUD.

Entropic Redistribution has been expended. (Hits remaining: 0)

You have dealt 3062 damage to Altrexis! (HP: 0/2128)

Achievement unlocked: “That’s a Lot of Damage!” (Deal more than 3000 damage in one hit)

The Loyalist invasion has been repelled! EXP reward multiplier: x2.

Temporal Rift 1-3 (Branch A) Complete!

Time grade: B (+200g)

Combat grade: B+ (+1000 EXP)

The Rift has begun to close. Returning to the Overworld in 60 seconds…

Up ahead, as the sunlight started to come through, Kat was merely watching him between the curtains of smoke enveloping the area. Another of Decha’s barriers faded to nothing around her.

Understandably, her jaw had dropped. “Duuuude!” she yelled, coming up to Rian through the scattered debris. “We just beat a Loyalist? We’re gonna jump like five levels once we get back! This has been so worth it.”

When she came up, she high-fived him, and Rian nearly fell to the ground in relief.

It was over. He wasn’t quite sure what had just happened—it looked like Decha had cast Summon again, through him, somehow. But they’d done it. They’d won.

Something rattled at the bottom of the stairs. They turned, and through the smoke, Decha had collapsed, his staff rolling away.

What?

Rian shuddered. What happened? Altrexis hadn’t gotten near Decha at all.

They made their way down the remains of the stairs to Decha. He was still alive, thankfully—but his HP bar was at sitting at 10%.

And it was slowly dropping.

When they came up to Decha, Rian said, “I uh…don’t think turning my fist into a nuke was what I had in mind when you said ‘level-equalizing.’”

Chuckling weakly, lying on the floor, Decha answered, “I tried to. I used the tesseract to de-level him, but something absorbed it. Nullified it.” His breathing, turning shallow. “That sword, I think. There was a strange kind of field around it…that I’ve never seen before.”

“Then what the hell happened to you?”

“I—”

Decha coughed up blood.

“I used the bonds,” he said. “The energy within the bonds between the atoms of my body. To fuel that Summon. An entropic redistribution. I could’ve used the air or even the matter around us, but…there wasn’t enough time. Like I said, it’s easier to draw from higher entropy systems. Living things.”

Corvis, standing nearby, was watching with an unusual reverence in his eyes. “He was using…the very essence of himself, to block the blade for you. Spirit. The only thing that can defend against a nullshard weapon.”

Rian almost couldn’t believe it. Decha had willingly thrown away his life for him like that.

This was before the Undoing, Rian understood: before Miracians had gained the ability to come back to life, like players. Even if this place was instanced from the Overworld, meaning that Decha would always be reborn in the Rift, he had no way of knowing that he’d live again. If he died, he would have no memory of this.

Decha smiled, his health bar still dropping. His body was shimmering, flickering. “The truth is, it was either me or all of you. And you’ve already done so much—for all of Onsolia. You can truly make a difference, Cob. I’m glad I could call you…a friend.”

“No, you’re not dying here,” Rian said, shaking. He opened his inventory and pulled out a potion. “You’re gonna be okay.”

Holding the vial in one hand, Rian knelt and went to lift Decha’s back off the ground so he could drink the potion.

“It’s all right,” Decha said. “The temporal energy you brought with you—I’ve absorbed some of it. I think it’s enough that…another version of me will live on. I’ll remember this. I’ll remember—”

As Rian lifted Decha up, something in the mage’s expression changed. Relief, turning to fear.

“No,” Decha said, voice breaking as he grabbed hold of Rian’s arm. “You’re—”

Rian blinked. What is he—

Slowly looking over at his left arm, Rian glanced down.

The Mark.

At the top of his arm, it was engraved on the outside of his shoulder. The sleeve of his linen jacket had been severed by the katana earlier, leaving it almost but not quite exposed.

It wasn’t visible from where Rian was looking, but because Decha was on the ground, he was looking up the remains of Rian’s sleeve, all the way to the shoulder.

In the sudden quiet, Kat said, “Huh?”

Well, Rian thought, his entire body breaking into a cold sweat. Can’t say I was expecting that.

Returning to the Overworld in 30 seconds…

Grasping Rian’s arm tighter, Decha struggled to speak, but nothing left him. Rian slowly looked up at Corvis standing in front of them.

Barely withheld rage contorted his face. In his gloved hands was his obsidian staff.

Rian almost wanted to laugh at himself as his heart thudded against his chest. He’d come all this way, just to die like this. He felt so numb. Was this really happening? Maybe it was just a dream, or—

An aura surrounded Corvis’s staff. The surface material was dissolving away, a million shining particles dispersing into the air as the obsidian coating transformed into brilliant ivory. The space around it glowed so strongly that everything else dimmed in comparison.

The giant eye at the top of the staff opened, a bloodshot eye of agony and fury. A distant scream resounded from everywhere.

A stuttering breath left Rian, a hundred last thoughts churning through him at once.

So this is what I get for lending someone a hand.

All those years of his life, reducing themselves to nothing in the next instant. All those years spent gaming.

Well, I lived the best I could.

“Don’t—” Decha managed to say. “Don’t let them—”

Corvis thrust the point of the staff down into Decha’s heart.