Chapter 15: Disarmed

In a realm where darkness thrives, Nighttime's virtue brightly shines.

Silver, first day, gleams with grace, Softly illuminates dark space.

Gold, day two, bold and bright, Enhances shadows with its light.

Platinum, rare and precious ore, Day three's trade, moonlight it adores.

-excerpt from Shadows' Gems: A Nursery Rhyme of Night's Delight

(!) Final Judgment pt. 2 (Complete)

Objective: Solve the second trial room in the Ebonblade Catacombs. (Solo)

Reward: Receive the divine goddess Edall's blessing.

[COMPLETE]

“I... but... what?” the priestess sputtered, recovering. “No one can read the ancient sacred runes, the knowledge was lost!”

Scowling, Zed dismissed the quest window once again, not missing that he had received another quest, (!) Final Judgment pt. 3. Of course. He picked up the '7' coin from the plate and wiped the face with his thumb. The blood smeared across the engraving, partially obscuring it. He shrugged.

“I don't know what runes you're talking about; they're just numbered coins. See?” He held the coin out for her to examine. “Seven. And that one is a three... wait, how did you get past the room if you couldn't read the... runes?”

She scoffed. “I told you already. Blood offering.”

“And after the riddle appeared? The carving on the base of the statue?”

“The... riddle? Are you listening? No one can read the runes! I don't know how you can!” she exclaimed, clearly frustrated.

Sighing, he flipped the coin back into the plate, where it landed with a satisfying clink. He ran a hand down his face. “So, how did you get past the room if you somehow can't read... what looks like plain text to me? Okay, it's a bit angular, but still.”

“Exactly as I said. I performed a blood sacrifice. The more blood flowed into the plate, the brighter the runes glowed.” Her apparent annoyance faded as she remembered. “After some time I felt a wonderful lightness in my body and the way was opened for me. Edall acknowledged my sacrifice; I very nearly swooned in her presence.”

“You, ah, don't think that lightheadedness came from a little too much blood loss?” Zed deadpanned.

He maneuvered around the goddess statue, a little to close for his personal comfort as the very pink priestess brushed past him.

“This is... odd?” Emi said quizzically, carefully opening the previously hidden door set into the wall behind the goddess statue. “This wasn't how I got past this room before. I mean, this door wasn't even here.”

He blinked at that. “It's still the same room though, right?”

She nodded. “I think so. The only difference I see is that there are no stairs.” Zed raised an eyebrow, so she elaborated, “When I passed into the next room, I accessed it via the spiral staircase below the Edall's Scion.”

So there isn't just one answer, then. More than one way forward. Is that important? Fucked if I know.

The lock clicked behind them, and Zed turned back instinctively, sighing as the outline of the door disappeared into the wall. Resigning himself to his fate, he approached the railing before him. They had entered at the top level of the multi-story chamber. A dozen stone platforms were set into the wall below them at seemingly random heights, with at least as many freestanding wooden scaffolds scattered about. Each level was connected by either a narrow staircase or ladder.

A heavily armored knight statue stood atop a plinth in the center of the room, surrounded by the scaffolds. Abandoned just after completion? The two shared a look, then Zed began his descent. He'd investigate for another riddle first. He only hoped it wasn't an agility puzzle; his lean figure wasn't achieved through physical fitness, and his recent training probably didn't amount to much.

Zed eyed the towering knight statue warily. It did not move or show any signs of life. He took a few tentative steps, heel-toe, before easing into a more relaxed gait. This was just an entry level dungeon, a sacred testing grounds for the devout. And Emi too had progressed this far. Surely not everything in this place wanted him dead. There was something to be said for caution, but this was just a little ridiculous.

After all, he realized, if I've learned anything here, it's that the Catacombs are alive. Powered by this blue energy. Mana, maybe?

Then he saw them. They were subtle, but once he saw them, they were everywhere. Shallow channels set into the flagstones all converging on the mammoth statue. Where, he noticed with no small amount of annoyance, there was no clue to be had. The plinth was disappointingly blank. The channels, however...

Zed traced one of the channels with his eye, following as it zigged and zagged across the ancient floor in an oddly geometric path. Like others he observed, the channel did not end. No. They all flowed in a similar geometric pattern up the regular columns lining the chamber. Everything was interconnected. All of it.

The atmosphere in the room changed as the vibrant blue energy suddenly cascaded down the channels in the columns, mirroring the activation of the previous golems and columns they encountered. It saturated the channels in the floor, flooding toward the central point, the statue, at an alarming rate. Wincing, Zed squeezed his eyes shut.

A soft stream of stone dust sifted quietly to the stone floor. Releasing a shaking breath, he turned toward the source of the disturbance. Slowly he craned his head upward and locked eyes with a pair of blazing blue orbs ten meters above his own.

“Well, shit.”

The statue jolted and let out a guttural roar. The knight golem didn't glow, it surged with the blue energy. It promptly overcharged, sending sparks and plasma-like jets of the energy cascading to the floor. Zed didn't know if the blue life force was anything like electricity, but judging by the fresh scorch marks marring the flagstones, he didn't want to find out. He turned and ran.

“Stupidstupidstupidstupidstupidstupid,” he muttered through clenched teeth, sprinting up the nearest flight of stairs.

He reached the first platform and spun on his heel, ducking just in time as a truly massive armored fist slammed into the wall above his head. The ladder to the adjacent scaffold shattered, sending splinters and debris flying.

Zed turned to face the monstrous golem, threads at the ready, only to have the spell fizzle as he dove to the side, away from a well-placed kick. He came up in a roll and saw that half the construct had been smashed from the impact. He dropped and slid off the decimated platform; the rest was obliterated a moment later by a very large, very heavy stone sword.

The thing was just too big. Too fast. Its attacks were calculated and powerful, shaking the very foundations of the chamber. Taking advantage of the brief opening, Zed blindly lunged across the open space. He darted from the base of one scaffold to another. Doubled back. More than once he felt a disturbance in the air as he narrowly avoided a swing from behind. Lungs burning and three tiers high, he finally turned to face the behemoth.

I need to think! Let me thi–

Skill Acquired: Endurance LVL. 1*

A fresh gasp of air filled Zed's lungs. As he swiped the ill-timed notification away, a stone-booted foot swung out and impacted a staircase, sending shockwaves through the room. The remaining wooden scaffolds swayed precariously.

“Garrote Thread!” he bellowed from his perch. “Come on... more! More!”

He cast the spell over and over in a desperate act to slow the knight golem's approach. Razor threads borne of shadow sprang forth, each cast layering upon the previous until they became like so much thick rope. The shadowy ropes ensnared the golem, anchoring it to the depleted columns. He couldn't let it get close, he'd have to attack from a distance. That meant...

Zed felt the flow of mana within his body. He gathered and shaped it over and over in his palm, condensing it into a powerful reddish-orange sphere of energy before unleashing it.

“Fireball!”

The spell flared to life and struck the golem square in the chest. The construct rocked back on its feet as the force of the impact seemed to catch it off guard. He hurled a few more fireballs at the thing for good measure; the self-contained fiery vortexes cast deep shadows on the walls in the cavernous chamber and the golem disappeared behind a wall of flame. He heard an alarming series of cracks, surely from the strain on the surrounding columns.

This has to work. If I can just try to push it back...

Zed felt a small mental pinch as, for the first time, his Garrote Threads snapped. One boot fell, then another. The flames engulfing the golem were extinguished as the construct stepped through them, raising its sword triumphantly into the air.

If the spells had any effect on the golem, he couldn't tell. The chest hardly showed any signs of char from where his spells struck. It was close now, much too close.

Cornered, Zed took several hasty steps backward and felt the hard, cold granite of the wall press against his spine. He fumbled at his belt before raising his arm in an attempt to parry the stone sword that was soon to follow.

His eyes widened at his curiously empty fist.

No.

“The reptilian,” he croaked, realizing. “Fuuuuuu–”

The blade descended. Even from several stories above his head, Zed could hear a high pitched, feminine scream echo throughout the chamber.

The sheer force of the blow forced him to his knees. It slammed into the platform, cratering it; his body jerked violently to one side and he felt a sudden gush from his shoulder. His hand automatically flew to his injured arm only to discover he no longer possessed two arms. All that remained was a ragged stump. Arterial flow sprayed onto the platform, covering it in a slick crimson sheet.

Zed struggled to his feet, arm clenching his stump, but was instead sent sprawling face first as his foot slipped on the wet platform. He cried out in pain as he went down, clutching his ruined arm and rolling onto his back. Notifications and warnings pinged rapid-fire in his brain but he willed them away. It didn't take a genius to realize he was fucked.

The blade raised again.

“Fuh-Fireball!” he stammered.

In his haze of agony, the cast misfired, instead sending the angry red ball directly into the knight golem's visor. This time it exploded on contact, splitting the construct's shadow into four.

“SHADOW PUPPET!” he screamed into the hellfire.

This time he didn't target one shadow directly. No. He channeled a truly staggering amount of will into the golem's shadows. Every. Single. One. He felt the drain of the mana at a deeper, even more visceral level than the already heavy blood loss.

Oof. I... damn. If I didn't have an infinite mana pool, I don't know how I could have pulled that off otherwise. I need... to not do that again...

The four shadows coalesced into being and set upon the mad golem. Assailed from all sides, the aggressor was forced back. Thunderous cracks and blows bounced off the stone walls as the tides of battle started turning. The room began to spin away as the edges of his vision blurred and darkened.

Not like this. You don't get to die, remember? Do something!

Groaning, Zed rolled back onto his stomach. He set his teeth in a pained grimace and, clutching his shoulder, attempted to crawl away. His movements were slower now; his remaining limbs felt clumsy and cold. The platform quaked from an earth-shattering blow and he lost his footing, causing him to smash his face into the bloodstained stone.

Turning his head to the sounds of battle, he noticed with no small amount of horror that one of his Shadow Puppet knight golems had been struck down. That was probably the earthquake, he realized belatedly. The remaining shadow golems, however, were still putting up a good fight. Two of his summons were expertly thrusting and parrying the assailant's strikes while the third launched a surprise attack from behind. Zed refocused.

He jerked his head upward, coughing and wheezing, his blood-soaked hair plastered across his face. Involuntary tears ran down his cheeks; he suspected his nose was very much broken. The platform trembled again. He threw his arm out to save his face and his fingers connected with something warm, wet, and fleshy. Probing, he felt his way toward a familiar hand that was no longer attached to his body.

“Ah, fuck,” he rasped, his voice hollow. “That's my arm. Motherfucker.”