Chapter 156 - Warlock

“Zeke!” Abby yelled from behind him.

Zeke couldn’t spare a moment to turn, so without deviating from his task, he shouted, “What? Kind of busy here!”

As if to punctuate his statement, he caved in a demon’s torso with a backhanded strike before following it up with a shield bash. He finished the creature off with a risky maneuver where he dismissed his shield into his spatial storage, gripped his mace with both hands, and brought it down in a thunderous overhand that destroyed the reeling demon from the shoulders up. In only an instant, his shield was back in his left hand, and he shifted his attention to his next target.

The demons were incredibly durable to the point where they often took multiple strikes to fell. However, because of the unique properties of Zeke’s mace, using it two-handed nearly doubled the force he could bring to bear. It was enough to take a demon down with only a couple of attacks, but it was also a dangerous maneuver that left him almost completely exposed, so if he didn’t want to end up shredded by demon claws or their obsidian weapons, he had to use it sparingly.

But judging by the state of his shield, which had finally begun to follow in his armor’s footsteps, he soon would have little choice in the matter. His armor, which had already been nearly destroyed during his three weeks of battle against the fire ants, had never really recovered its shape. And now, after suffering one attack after another, it had fallen to pieces. It offered almost no protection other than the enchantments that boosted his arcane resistance. His shield had held up better, but the constant barrage of demon attacks had left it dented, pitted, and on the verge of complete collapse. Soon, he would lose its enchantment, which subtly increased his perception, but that was much less impactful than it once would have been. Instead, he was more worried about losing the bulwark itself, which, after months of training and countless battles, had become an integral part of his fighting style.

“We need to help Talia!” was Abby’s shouted answer. “She went to the ritual site.”

Zeke nearly groaned. He had no idea what would’ve driven Talia to deviate from the plan, but he couldn’t help being angry. Her job had been to thin the ranks of any demons who tried to flank them, not engage in an ill-advised assault on the figure at the center of the ritual. But then again, she had already demonstrated that she was a bit of a loose cannon, and it wouldn’t be the first time that she bit off more than she could chew.

“I guess we’ve got to save her, then,” he muttered to himself as he attacked another demon.  This one didn’t go quite as well, and it took his mace strike on the ribs. Zeke barely got his shield up in time to block its counterattack, and he grimaced as yet another chunk of the sturdy, chitinous bulwark was torn away.

Maybe Talia had done them a favor. The horde had been thinned, but it was a long way from being stopped. And even if Zeke was still relatively fresh, his companions were already waning. Soon, they would run out of mana, and without their contributions, he would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The only one among them that was even close to Zeke, in terms of energy, was Pudge, who seemed entirely inexhaustible.

Something needed to change, and drastically, if they were going to get out of this situation alive. Not for the first time, he questioned the wisdom of descending into the obsidian caves in the first place. It would have been better if they’d just set charges and collapsed the keep and the tunnels below. Some of the demons might have survived, but it would give them time to gather a larger force better suited to such a fight. Surely, Jariq had its share of elites, and Zeke suspected that they’d all jump at the chance to combat a demon horde.

But the entire group had been riding high off of their own successes, and their hubris had led them into a desperate situation.

“Pudge!” Zeke yelled, and he was rewarded with the dire bear’s mental attention. “We’re going to make a hole. Tucker, do something to clump them together.”

“They’re already pretty damned clumped,” the alchemist retorted, and Zeke had to agree. The demon horde seemed even more numerous than ever before, which shouldn’t have been possible, given how many had already perished. Zeke smashed a smaller demon aside with his shield before aiming a powerful front kick at another. The move cleared a small space, but the respite only lasted a second before another pair of demons surged into the gap.

Zeke ignored Tucker’s statement, trusting that he had a grenade that would do the trick. The alchemist was nothing if not versatile, and he’d already shown the propensity to effectively limit the movements of large groups of enemies. Besides, if he couldn’t do it, Tucker would’ve said so rather than complain.

“Abby, hit them with lightning as soon as Tucker does his thing,” Zeke shouted. “And Carlos, do your shadow explosion in the back of the horde to soften them up. We’re going to make a hole and hit the island, so everyone be ready to follow.”

After a few more seconds, Zeke confirmed that everyone was as prepared as they could get, then counted down from three. Once he reached one, a glass globe, bigger than any of the other’s Tucker had thrown, sailed through the air, colliding with a demon three or four rows deep into the horde. It shattered, and a second later, Zeke felt an undeniable pull. He’d been ready for it, so he managed to brace himself, but the demons weren’t so prepared. Every demon within twenty feet of the grenade’s shattering was yanked together, and Zeke heard Tucker muttering something about using his only “gravity ball”. He ignored it, shattering the wrist of a demon that had latched onto him. Its grip loosened, and it flew into the cluster of red-skinned demons.

As soon as the demons were grouped together, Abby shot a pair of arrows, one after another, and when they hit, corresponding lightning bolts crashed down from the ceiling, electrocuting the creatures. Any that were at the epicenter were stunned into incoherence, but most of them were only afflicted by spasms. But that widespread effect was enough.

Zeke dismissed his shield, sprinting forward. As he gained momentum, he swung his mace in a horizontal arc, activating [Life Scythe] as he did. A red blade of energy swept through the gathered demons, weakening them even as it healed Zeke’s wounds. The aches and pains of a dozen injuries faded in an instant, and he was energized by the influx of vital energy. But he wasn’t finished. Activating [Heart of the Berserker], Zeke felt a surge of strength flood into his muscles. With all that power coursing through his veins, he felt like a veritable god of war, and he wanted nothing more than to go on a rampage. It took all of his mental fortitude to keep himself on task, and even that was only barely adequate for the job.

His feet thudded against black stone as he charged forward, growling in rage as he raised his mace in a two-handed grip. The weapon felt the same as it always did, but he knew that its weight had adjusted to his increased strength as well as the two-handed grip, increasing by a wide margin. He had no choice but to go all out; the demons were too sturdy. Getting through them and to Talia required nothing less than his best.

So, harnessing the accumulated force of the entire battle, Zeke embraced [Unleash Momentum]. When he reached the demons, who hadn’t taken their brief imprisonment well, reacting with slavering insults, incomprehensible growls, and straining muscles, Zeke swung. Attached to that swing was his not inconsiderable strength, the thunderous weight of his mace, the energy of his charge, and, finally, the momentum of a thousand swings, gathered by his skill. The result was surprising, even if it should have been predictable.

The demon at the head of the pack took the swing with ignorant defiance, and he never even had the chance to see the error of his ways. The energy tore through him, and he burst like an overfilled balloon under its undeniable force. Bits and pieces of flesh, red and wet with black blood, exploded. The other clumped demons fared little better under the blast. Zeke wrestled with the skill, guiding it with his focused thoughts. It wanted to explode in an amorphous blob, but Zeke needed something else. So, he steered it into a straight line, cutting a wide swathe through the horde. The full force of the attack went on for nearly fifty feet, clearing a large swathe of gathered demons. Some burst, just like the first, but the hardier individuals bore it a little better. They still died, but instead of exploding into a fountain of black gore and red flesh, they were merely pummeled into misshapen heaps of distorted limbs. The demons further back may have dodged the full force of the strike, but they didn’t escape unscathed. Instead, they were thrown back and away, many ending up in the lava lake over a hundred yards distant.

Zeke barely saw any of it. In the course of guiding the skill, he’d felt something tingling in the back of his mind. He’d embraced it, and it had nearly overwhelmed him. He had felt something similar, each time he’d broken through to a new level of his martial paths, but there was something altogether different this time around. Something more, though Zeke had difficulty figuring out just what it meant. He didn’t slip into a trance-like state, as he had before, but he couldn’t help but think he’d been granted a glimpse of a larger picture, as if his eventual mastery of blunt weapons was only the tip of an enormous iceberg. It almost overwhelmed him, then and there, but Zeke’s will had been forged through constant battle. He wrenched his consciousness away, focusing on the path before him.

The horde was still there, but a wide path had been cut through the army of demons. In the very back, far enough away that they’d only been knocked a few feet back, Zeke saw a group of demons being impaled by shadow spears that, after a few seconds, exploded into blades. The demons were ripped apart, many losing limbs in the process. Few died, but that wasn’t the point. None of them, save for Zeke going all out, was capable of killing multiple demons at once. They could only soften them up so that, when the time came, they were a little easier to finish off.

That’s where Pudge came in.

In the years since Zeke had found Pudge, the dire bear had grown into a real monster, both in the literal and figurative senses. Zeke didn’t think Pudge was quite as strong as him, but bolstered by [Avatar of the Beast], it was an extremely close match. Couple that with him having access to Zeke’s skills, and Pudge could do some real damage when he put his mind to it.

And at the moment, he certainly had his mind in the right place.

After activating his own version of [Heart of the Berserker], Pudge charged forward with Zeke on his heels, and with an intimidating roar, the dire bear clashed with the still-recovering demons. One unlucky creature had its head demolished by Pudge’s huge paw, and that was only the beginning of Pudge’s path of carnage. Powered by incredible strength that rivaled Zeke’s, Pudge used his huge frame with the efficiency of a wild animal. He reared up on his hind legs, batting the demons aside with relative ease. He didn’t get through it without taking a few hits of his own, but the combination of his high endurance, his utilization of [Leech Strike], and his naturally tough hide kept him going. Zeke dispatched the demons who’d managed to avoid Pudge’s deadly attacks.

The rest of the group wasted no time in following, and soon, they found themselves on the lava lake’s shore. What they saw on the island was not encouraging. Zeke and his companions hadn’t wasted any time, but in the short span since Abby had seen Talia collapse, things had gotten worse. The undead girl lay in the center of the ritual’s blood mithril rune, unmoving and likely dead. The robed figure paid her no attention, as his hands swirled and danced in a complicated pattern.

However, unlike the others, who didn’t have the benefit of his artisan path, Zeke saw the slim man’s dancing hands for what they were. He was tracing runes in the air, and not simple ones, either. As Zeke watched, whether Talia was dead or still clinging to undeath became increasingly irrelevant, because his instincts screamed at him that preventing that man from completing his rune was more important than anything else. He had no idea what was going to happen, but given the context, he could infer that it wouldn’t be good.

“Tucker, get on Pudge’s back,” Zeke said, glancing back at his friends. “He’ll get you over the lava. Abby, you can jump, right?”

Abby nodded, saying, “I should be fine.”

“Okay, then,” Zeke said. “Priority is to stop the guy in the robe. Second priority is to help Talia.”

Abby began, “But –”

Zeke cut her off. “We don’t want him to finish what he’s doing,” Zeke said. “Trust me.”

For a moment, Abby looked like she was going to argue, and in truth, Zeke understood it. She couldn’t know how dangerous that man’s actions were. In any case, Abby’s first instinct was always to save her friends. But after only a second, Abby nodded, saying, “I trust you.”

Without further preamble, Zeke backed up to get a running start, then, after a little leadup, leapt across the lava lake. It was a long distance – further than he’d ever jumped before – but it wasn’t even close to pushing his limits. He landed easily, the volcanic black rock cracking beneath his feet. A moment later, Pudge thudded down next to him, Tucker clinging to the bear’s fur like his life depended on it. Soon, they were joined by Abby, who landed lightly, and Carlos, who emerged from a nearby shadow.

Zeke’s eyes found Talia’s prone form, and he was relieved to see that she was still moving, albeit only with subtle twitches as she stared at the ceiling. She was alive, but something was clearly wrong. A barely visible bird, comprised of black-and-purple smoke, hovered over her.

“Such a formidable force,” came a smooth voice. Zeke’s focus shifted to the slim, robed figure. He was human, with pale skin and facial hair fashioned into a black goatee. Narrow-shouldered, and shorter than Abby, he was not an intimidating figure. Or he wouldn’t have been, if Zeke hadn’t been able to see his eyes, which glowed with the same golden light that had infused the demons’ gazes. “I am flattered.”

“What did you do to her?” Abby demanded, an arrow already summoned and nocked, as she aimed at the man.

“I’m helping her to become the best version of herself,” he said, cocking his head a little to the side. “Would you like help, little girl?”

Abby didn’t answer – not with words, at least. Instead, she loosed her arrow, and it flew with the accuracy Zeke had come to expect, hitting the man in the neck. He hadn’t tried to dodge or block. In fact, he didn’t move a muscle. Even his eyes remained fixed on Abby with an intensity that made Zeke incredibly uncomfortable. The arrow thudded into his flesh, but it didn’t penetrate. Instead, it fell to the ground with a metallic clatter.

Whether or not the arrow penetrated didn’t seem to matter, though, because a bolt of lightning manifested above the man, flashing as it struck him. Zeke blinked, and thunder rolled, but when he opened his eyes, the man was entirely unscathed. That’s when Zeke remembered to use his inspection skill:

Warlock – Level ??

“Is that it?” the man asked. “I admit, I expected more. But –”

He was interrupted by a half-dozen spikes of pure darkness that had erupted from the shadows, and a few of them broke through his dark robe. Zeke wasn’t going to let the opening go, and he charged forward, swinging his mace with all the strength he could muster.