Chapter 76

Vespae Hive, Etson National Forest, Etson - 9:55 AM

The Vespae queen was based off of a Jewel Wasp. She was supposed to be five feet tall with a green exoskeleton that shimmered blue in the light and wield a poisonous spear that would cloud the minds of those struck by it. The fight would be dynamic due to her great speed that was rivaled only by Betin, the smallest of their race.

She was supposed to be.

Standing in the center of the wrecked cocoon was a creature roughly the same size as I expected, but with a decidedly demonic twist. Pieces of her emerald carapace were twisted and broken, and was replaced instead with a crimson red plating. Her gaster, where her stinger was, no longer came from her lower back but had been shifted to one of her four arms. The bulbous gaster and stinger grew like a cancerous tumor from below one of her elbows on the right side, and I could see yellow poison dripping from the tip.

As if that were all, her head had been deformed by the demonic transformation. The right side of it was normal with a large bug-like eye, sharp mandible, and long antennae, but the left side was covered in that crimson plating. Her eye glowed a malevolent purple with a yellow iris, though it didn’t seem like it could focus on anything. The queen’s mouth was stuck open by large, sharp teeth causing her to have a crazy lopsided grin. More fluids dripped out of her mouth, as though she couldn’t help but salivate, though this unknown liquid was radioactive green.

“Uh, Anthony?” Thomas said nervously from behind me. I tilted my head, but didn’t look away. A soft white aura had lit up the area directly in front of me and I knew he had activated Judgment of the People. The buff would give him a boost equal to a large percentage of the target’s, and he had saved it for exactly this moment. “My stats just increased by thirty across the board."

“Antho… ny… Franklin!” the Vespae queen yelled.

Dread mixed in with the rage I felt, and I did my best to push the feelings as deeply down as I could. They had no place here, not now. Thirty across the board, I thought to myself. That put things into perspective. She wasn’t supposed to rival the Writhing Juggernaut, but here we were. I Pulled the Vague Stick back in my direction, and her head snapped to look at it. She watched, but didn’t move.

“Dear Queen Amlex,” Pustibule cooed. The queen turned her head to regard him. “The one with the stick is your hated enemy, Anthony Franklin.”

“Anthony Franklin!” Amlex roared, raising her arms. Her wings spread out, revealing a pair of mismatched crimson bat wings instead of the normal insectoid ones.

I heard Corwin begin growling as the Mills made it up behind me, but I was still formulating a plan. Five players and an Evolution Hound vs a raid boss masquerading as a final scenario boss? I was almost out of tricks.

“If you really want him to suffer, then kill his friends first,” Pustibule giggled. “Yes, his friends. Make him feel despair.”

“Yes,” was all the queen said before she lunged forward, heading directly for us.

Thomas shoved passed me with Ylstin’s Tower Shield raised in front of him. His body glowed with a roiling white aura and he was moving a fair bit faster than I ever had seen him move before. The shield collided with the Vespae queen, but he didn’t get shoved back like he was expecting. I lunged forward with the Vague Stick as I saw the enemy clinging to the tower shield.

I thrust at her in an attempt to either skewer her through the crimson red plating or simply dislodge her from the shield, but she skittered onto Thomas while I was still in mid thrust. The Justicar lifted the shield and swung the Sword of the Eternal Spring at her. Amlex jumped off of him, though not without causing damage. Thomas cried out as her claws tore through his bomber jacket and shirt, and he began bleeding from the wounds.

Pulling out Boss Steener’s Golden Bowling Ball, I spun the Vague Stick in my hand before willing it to turn into a club. I bashed at the Vespae queen as she crawled along the ground faster than I could reach her. Each strike made a crater in the floor, but the enemy was getting quicker. A shift happened in her legs, and I suddenly stopped as warning bells rang in my head.

This turned out to be a good move. Amlex spun and lunged at me with her stinger. I swung the bowling ball in front of me, and the stinger went over my shoulder instead of into my chest. If I had been any closer to her, I wouldn’t have been able to shield against the blow, but I managed to redirect it. Instead of pulling back, the queen ran into me with enough force to bowl me over.

The claws on her hands and feet dug into me, and I gritted my teeth in pain. Her mouth opened, dripping that green saliva onto my face, and was about to bite into me when a pillar of flames washed over her. Corwin was at my side, breathing fire into her face. At first it didn’t look like it was going to do anything, but after an agonizing second she jumped off of me.

Jeff had moved to the opposite side as Corwin, attempting to attack her while she was distracted. When Amlex jumped, she landed right beside him, and the Queen’s Knight leaned down with Betin’s Fairy Dagger to begin stabbing. His Goggles of the Trojan Prince were glowing, and I knew he had activated the Spot Weakness skill. The boss hissed as Jeff managed to slide the dagger between the crimson red plating and her original green exoskeleton. A blue J began glowing on her chest as the Knight used his dueling skill on her.

“Weak spot between red and green!” I yelled out as I scrambled to my feet. Believing I needed more range, I switched the Vague Stick’s form from a club and back into a spear.

Jeff attempted to pin her down with his free hand, but the queen twisted and turned and clamped down on his fist with the toothy side of her demonic maw. The man screamed in pain and tried to stab her in the head, but she let go and spun away onto her back. Using her wings, she kipped up to tackle Thomas’s shield.

The Justicar had moved in to help Jeff, but found himself getting pushed back by the queen’s monstrous strength instead. He grit his teeth and planted his feet, and he was nearly able to stop her. I came at her from the other side, but she leapt out of the way as I jabbed with the Vague Stick. Thomas lost his balance, and I Lifted my spear in time to miss him.

Amlex wasn’t done with him yet. She twirled around the shield and ducked low before bringing her stinger upwards into Thomas’ side. He yelled out in pain as his ribs were pierced, and I Pushed and Dropped the Vague Stick on her. It wasn’t done with any precision in mind, but was meant to get her off of Thomas. It slid against the back of her neck before piercing into the ground, and she backed away.

The Vespae queen lashed out at the nearest person, but stopped. Kayla stood there under the guise of Fertro, standing stock still as she held her dagger in hand. Amlex stared, and I could feel Kayla’s nerves failing her. After an agonizing moment, the queen looked away, searching for the next target. I was elated by this revelation. With her mind melded somewhere between wasp and demon, she must not have been able to determine that Kayla was a fake.

As soon as the queen’s back was turned, the Double Agent thrust her Vanishing Dagger into the slim area between the armor. With Amlex fully believing that Kayla was one of hers, the Credibility damage on a critical hit should have been debilitating. Instead, the queen roared in rage and turned around, smacking Kayla to the ground with her engorged arm. She was about to skewer the prone human with her stinger when Corwin jumped at her.

I began pulling spears, arrows, and the like I had taken from Talspra’s traps out of my inventory and putting them on the floor as I watched Corwin attempt to tear off one of the queen’s arms with his teeth. While I had been wary of spending Mental Points due to the feelings the angelic splinter forced upon me in the presence of demons, it was clear that I needed to change my game plan. It seemed that she was too cautious of me as the object of her hatred.

Watching as the healing glow disappeared from Thomas, I kept an eye out on everyone. Kayla had been uninjured thanks to the efforts of Corwin, but he had quickly been thrown aside. He was getting up, but it was slow going. Jeff was trying to flank with Thomas, who was coming at Amlex from behind, and managed to get a solid Tricky Strike in on the large stinger arm. As soon as the Vespae queen was flanked, she fell to the ground and skittered away to safety.

I threw an arrow into the air, Pushing it up before Dropping it down. It struck one of Amlex’s wings and she twisted her head to look upwards only to see nothing. I pulled one of the fire bombs free from my bandolier before tossing it at her when her head was turned. It hit the ground and erupted in flames, briefly obscuring her inside the explosion. Corwin jumped into the flames, landing on the Vespae queen before going in for a bite.

The Black Dog was lifted upwards, Amlex’s stinger piercing through his stomach and coming out the other side. Corwin whimpered in pain before getting tossed away. The golden glow of healing magic was immediate and I could see that he still breathed, but the Evolution Hound didn’t get up after that. The poison had gotten to him in one hit. My eyes widened as I realized I didn’t know how much more powerful this poison was compared to the original.

Not only that, but despite the glowing J from Jeff’s dueling power growing ever brighter, it didn’t seem like she was slowing down much at all. Her stats should have been decreasing, but she was fighting like she was still fresh. Did she have some kind of debuff protection now? Was it immunity or just resistance? I hoped it was the latter; we needed all the help we could get.

There was no time to be tactical, I decided. I flung spears, arrows, and more into the air just to Push and Drop them on top of the Vespae queen. A few of the arrows managed to pierce through her thick armor before she stood up in the flames. Her body was scorched, but it didn’t seem to slow her down in any way. When she looked up, she began dodging the incoming projectiles.

Jeff lunged forward and began stabbing. This drew the queen’s attention back down to him as he attempted to pierce her armor, though he wasn’t able to. She thrust her stinger at him, but he knocked it away and strafed so that Thomas was behind her. The Justicar's aura had transferred from his body to his sword, and I recognized the attack buff he had used on me. I continued to rain spiked objects from above, though nothing pierced her quite as well as the volley from the fire.

The Justicar leapt into action, landing beside the Vespae queen and swinging his sword as hard as he could. Amlex turned to face him, but was too slow to react. When the weapon connected with the exoskeleton, it went in cleanly like a hot knife through butter. Hope returned to me as the sword kept going, cleaving the wasp in half. From the looks on Jeff and Kayla’s face, they felt the same thing I did.

My hope shattered as I overheard Pustibule cackling with mad laughter. “You fools!” he announced. “Like it would be that easy!”

The Vespae queen’s top half fell, but the bottom didn’t collapse. A tough purple intestine was hanging off of Thomas’ sword, uncut. As the man stared at it, Amlex grabbed onto his leg with her claws and stabbed him three times in the stomach with her stinger in quick succession. He fell to the ground as the Vespae’s lower half ran off, pulling the top half of the body behind like a deflated balloon. The purple cord connecting the two wriggled before contracting, and the top half leapt back into its spot upon the latter. A purple goo oozed from the hole, gluing them together.

Gabrielle’s healing magic surrounded Thomas, and his wounds did start stitching themselves back together. Unfortunately, he didn’t get up afterwards; he was as comatose as Corwin.

Swearing under my breath, I stood up. “Oh dear, oh dear, mayhaps you should use my scalpel?” Pustibule asked giddily. “Mayhaps, mayhaps. My scalpel could cut that, no problem, no problem.”

I grit my teeth but didn’t respond to him. Picking up my Vague Stick, I left the rest of the traps behind. This was what I got for leaving combat. I should have stayed with them, distracting her instead of trying to fall back on ranged attacks. My heart raced as doubt clouded my mind. I clutched at my head as the demonic influence coming from Pustibule and Amlex scratched at my soul.

Regardless, I ran forward. Jeff had grabbed Ylstin’s Tower Shield and was keeping her busy as best as he could. He was getting pushed back and had to brace the shield with his other hand instead of attacking. I threw the Vague Stick at Amlex, Pushing it. Her head was tilted upwards looking for the next ranged threat, and she didn’t see it coming. The weapon smacked into her, piercing her armor just underneath one of her shoulder joints.

Amlex spun around the shield and ripped the spear out of her joint. It was then I realized she had not screamed in pain once this entire fight. There was a very real chance that Pustibule had made it so that she couldn’t feel it at all. Given the fact that she had just been nearly cut in half and she was only meant to be alive for a day or so, the thought of her also being immune to pain sent a shiver down my spine.

As I Pulled the Vague Stick back into my hands, Amlex jumped and kicked Jeff out of the way. She used him as a springboard to head directly towards our healer. “Gabrielle!” I shouted as I Pushed the Vague Stick out of my hands without winding up to throw it. It flew through the air and struck the queen dead center, lodging itself between red plate and emerald carapace, but the Vespae continued her mad dash.

I watched as Gabrielle’s face contorted from one of determination to one of pure terror. I Pushed and Spun the Vague Stick, hoping that my theory about Amlex not being able to feel pain was wrong. My feet carried me towards them as fast as they could, but it was too late.

Gabrielle raised her shield as the Vespae queen brought her stinger back for a haymaker. I Pulled at that shield as Amlex made contact, trying to angle the poisoned weapon away from Gabrielle’s body or at least help her block it. The shield splintered. The stinger pierced through, stopping inches from the healer’s screaming throat.

I felt my mind strain as I was Pulling against the queen’s Strength, which finally seemed like it was starting to drop thanks to Jeff’s dueling skill.  Even so, it was a losing battle despite the assistance from Gabrielle. Jeff and Kayla were running, but they wouldn’t be fast enough.

There was only one thing left I could do.

I hadn’t wanted to use it this early in my run. It was meant for a special occasion. I wanted to save it for after I had left the Land of the Scum Sucker behind and make a huge spectacle of it in Merder Stadium. A part of me knew that I had to use it now; to not use it would be irresponsible. The time was right. The time was now. What the fuck was I afraid for?

Pain shot through my brain as I mentally activated the Splinter of Absolute Good in my soul. Somehow, I managed to continue Pulling even as I put my hands together in prayer. It wasn’t easy, but I kept my focus on both.

“What are you doing?” Pustibule shouted. My vision was beginning to blur, but I thought I could make out Amlex looking in my direction, too. “Fool! Fool! Cease! Stop!”

I disregarded those orders. Safe in his glass box, there was no way he could stop me. “Esaraphelscion!” I shouted to the sky. “Descend upon this unworthy mortal world and hear me! I summon you to fulfill my request!”

Pain lanced through my chest, and I looked down to see a red and green haze directly in front of me. Its arm, bulbous and rotund, was pushed against me. No, not just against me, into my stomach. This wasp bitch had stung me.

“Kill him faster!” Pustibule demanded. “Kill him now!”

I chuckled even as I coughed up blood. The building began to rumble and shake as the temperature skyrocketed. Amlex looked upwards just as a cylinder of fire rained down from the ceiling right next to us. The Vespae queen pulled her stinger out of my chest, and I barely managed to stay standing. Poison coursed through my veins, but not enough to stop me. My vision started returning as the angelic splinter disappeared from my soul, though my body immediately wanted to collapse as a wave of exhaustion tried to overtake

The pillar of fire disappeared just as quickly as it came. And then, there she was.

Hovering before me was my beloved angel, Sara. Her shining white armor contrasted perfectly with her bronze skin tone. Those orange eyes were looking down at me sternly, though I knew them enough to see the confusion she tried to hide. My weariness disappeared as I gazed upon her brilliant wings and golden halo that glowed so brightly that the others in the room had to avert their gaze. Not me, though, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. At least, not until the notification popped up. One that I expected, and one that I found very curious.

[[Notice]]

You are one of the first players to find the Hidden World Boss [Esaraphelscion, Angel of the End]. +1,000 points.

This reward has been reduced due to scenario limits. Points will be given to you at the beginning of each scenario until you have received them all.

[[Warning!]]

An unknown entity is blocking administrator access.

Esaraphelscion looked around the room before looking down at me. “Tell me, Player who surrounds himself with demons. By what foul methods have you brought me here?” she asked, her voice grim.

I couldn’t help it, I grinned. “Oh, my Sara,” I told her. “It’s only been days but, damn, how I’ve missed you.”