223. The Hunter’s Stand (Part 2)

  [TRAVERTINE aft’NANKERVIS Status Effect: AVOWED]

  [265!]

  [Your Name] showed its damage potential right away, tacking an additional Primal-imbued component to the bullet’s base damage. Yet, simultaneously as Serac committed to her ‘duel’, she consigned half her resources to Pathsight. The price for effectively doubling her smiting power was to halve her ability to keep it up.

  [Health (reserved): 588/588]

  [Mana (reserved): 62/62]

  [Cartridge (reserved): 3|28]

  In for a ?, in for a hundred ?. If Serac were to become as squishy as her Damnatorium days, she might as well make the most of it.

  To that end, she popped [Braggart’s Apple] into her mouth and washed it down with Renna’s [Pearl of Endurance]. The ‘sinful’ consumable had been ground into pill form for instant use (and to let Serac ignore the fact she was eating someone’s vocal cords). As for seeing the payoff for such an outlandish act, she first needed to cycle through her chambers.

  Forget triple bursts. With [Endurance] granting infinite Stamina for the next 30 seconds, Serac could string attacks together with impunity. Empty the cylinder, speedload, then two more bullets in rapid succession. All in the space of a held breath.

  By then, Travertine had repositioned, giving his deer apparitions the space to work their techniques. ORD’s massive antlers shielded the deerherd from Serac’s double-damage bullets, all while DLEE pressured the gunslinger right back with homing tackles. One such [Unerring Dart] managed to clip Serac during her reload, chunking [166!] off an already precariously low HP pool.

  Protected by his Big Stag bodyguard, Travertine looked to press the advantage. Even while Serac held her breath and cycled through her chambers, the Cardinal raised his CROZIER to reflect the Gloam. The golden mirror of [Hunter’s Sight], sure to turn its nearest target and negate her preparations for an all-out offensive.

  But a certain KL-17 novice refused to sit on his paws while souls two Benchmarks stronger bared all against one another. Oriole split the difference between galloping deer and flying bullets, once more sneaking through the boss’s defenses for an attempted [Shadow Strike]. Said boss was now wise to it, however, interrupting his cast of [Sight] to deal with the cat intruder. No hit, no damage, but it did give Serac a much-needed window to cast:

  [Chamber Three: HAIR TO HAIR]

  [Wayfarer Status Effect: UNTOUCHABLE]

  VOIDLING materialized atop fading antlers, right where REVOLVER’s bullet had been blocked. Its activation brought the full effects of [Braggart’s Apple] to bear, giving squishy Serac a period of invulnerability—as long as her Oathborn and its lurching shadows remained intact. No small task, given…

  [VOIDLING Health: 1176 -> 1175 -> 1174, …]

  Yes. The penalties associated with [Your Name] had also worked their way into VOIDLING’s parameters. All the more reason for Serac to give everything she had. She could ill afford to hold back on her Mriga friend, no more than she could dwell on the history of this city and the role her own Oathborn might have played in its downfall. Smite first, repent later.

  Certainly, it was no time for Serac to lose her head. With the seconds ticking away on her [Endurance] effect, she nonetheless kept calm and attuned to her Oathborn’s every move. She timed and aimed her now fully Primal bullets with the rhythm and choreography of VOIDLING’s combo.

  A straight shot to the gut disguised by [Grasp]. Duck under [Water] and aim high from a kneeling position. Finally, round her target altogether to fire into his back, as Travertine stepped back from [Stone].

  [307!], [307!], [307!] -> [921!]

  Just like that, the boss had lost over a third of his HP. And with every painstakingly delivered bullet, Serac’s misgivings faded, ceding instead to the exhilaration of a good fight. Maybe it was VOIDLING’s direct influence. Or maybe, this was just who she was—in contradiction with the part of her that would rather do anything but fight her friend.

  In truth, she’d never felt more like a gunslinger than in this very moment. Where every bullet carried the weight of her [Avowment] and showed their worth with every hit. Here upon Ascension Promontory, fighting alongside her shadowy, cackling familiar, was Serac Edin’s most complete form yet.

  Yet even the Tidereigner version of Serac still held close her memories of the lower Realms. Back to a full cylinder now, which meant…

  [Chamber One: CATHARSIS]

  [Untouchable] negated even [Catharsis]’s blowback. Good to know (not that the knowledge would be of much use after this fight!). The black flames in question failed to make contact with the deerherd, intercepted as they were by ORD’s antlers. But they spread into their second and third stages all the same, setting off black-and-gold fireworks upon a lotus-white field.

  Seeing this, just how could a pyromaniac resist?

  [Oathborn Technique: ASH TO ASH]

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  In her very first fight in Tidereign, Serac had watched in awe as VOIDLING’s flaming shadows had enthralled a pair of deer familiars. She now watched in anticipation as a souped-up version of the same technique sent the golden apparitions of said deer into absolute frenzy. Too many ‘attacks’ for ORD to parry, too many ‘attackers’ for DLEE to chase. The automated system of [Brace]-into-[Dart] now proved to be its own downfall, exhausted and forced into cooldown.

  For a precious few seconds, Travertine was left exposed and isolated. This was it. The window to finish the job. Serac had to throw everything she had, resource management be damned.

  [Chamber Two: METABOLIC SHIFT]

  [PULVERIZER Alternate Form: LOUDSPEAKER]

  Serac’s beleaguered left arm now underwent its sixth transformation in as many consumables. The craggy rocks first melted, then reforged themselves into a strange object. Sleek metal and smooth curves that flared out into a circular horn.

  If Zacko had been in any state to do so, he might’ve informed Serac she now held (read: had been fused to) a megaphone. Even in the absence of Manesferan knowledge, however, the thing’s design was intuitive enough for a first-(and only)-time user. Serac spent one precious second of [Endurance] to suck in a large breath and shout, as loud as Rakshasa-ly possible:

  “Put your back into it! It’s now or never!”

  [LOUDSPEAKER Technique: MARCHING ORDERS]

  [Wayfarer Status Effect: HASTE]

  [VOIDLING Status Effect: HASTE]

  Two things happened in conjunction. First, Serac’s amplified rallying cry translated into a Pathsighted buff, momentarily doubling both her and VOIDLING’s attack speed. Which in turn enabled the shadowy maceman’s most hectic and therefore most potent move:

  [Oathborn Technique: SEIZE THE DAY]

  Each technique in VOIDLING’s basic combo conveyed a heavy-handed message about how a soul ought to live their afterlife. They now combined into a seventh inky addition to VOIDLING’s library: two broad strokes to represent a standing soul, crossed with horizontal lines to depict their skyward gaze. Heaven to shake one’s fists at. Day to be seized—especially pertinent to a Realm where the circadian cycle was a precious commodity.

  [Grasp]-[Water], [Grasp]-[Water] again, and finally into a proper [Grasp]-[Water]-[Stone] finisher. All in the space of one combo, all against a deerherd bereft of his deer protectors.

  Travertine managed to dodge some of it, but not all. The whole sequence was simply too fast for anyone to keep up with. And what did get through hit for massive damage, thanks both to Serac’s [Integrity] scaling and the active [Avowed] effect.

  [562!], [632!], [767!] -> [1961!]

  Three hits. Three clean hits were all it took to bring the boss down to his last piece of Health. And while her Oathborn took a much-needed breather, it came down to Serac to finish the job. One more bullet. One more should do it. Aim, lock, and—

  [CROZIER Spell: HUNTER’S STAND]

  The gunslinger never got to fire. She reeled under the sudden heat that now radiated from Travertine and filled the entire dome of Ascension Promontory. Distorted waves of golden flames. A Primal furnace fueled by a roiling core of dreams and nightmares.

  Even in his Paradox form, Travertine retained a secret spell, locked behind the condition of first having to lose his deer companions. Pushed to the absolute brink, the lone (and lonely) deerherd now made his final stand. He held CROZIER sideways in one hand. With the other, he pulled back on the circular crook to ‘arm’ the slingshot. In lieu of a plain rock, a vortex of golden flames waited to be unleashed upon all in the hunter’s Path.

  [Oathborn Technique: THE AXE FORGETS]

  In the face of overwhelming power, even arrogant VOIDLING adopted a defense-first approach. Its battle-tested instincts said this was no time to get greedy. Ride it out, live to seize another day. What it didn’t count on, however, was the boss’s guile with which to deliver his trump card.

  Travertine shifted his aim in the last possible Ksana. Away from VOIDLING’s defensive flurry to instead send the shot at the maceman’s feet. The same trick he’d used against an erstwhile Sloth—and just as effective against a shadow of a different sort. The golden vortex exploded upon the lotus-white floor, to then pelt VOIDLING with burning ‘shrapnel’.

  [281!], [308!], [342!], [311!] -> [1,242!]

  Four hits. Four underhanded hits were all it took to erase VOIDLING’s diminished HP. A painful end to its brief morning—and unmitigated disaster for its Oathkeeper.

  Poise-break! Yes. The price of invulnerability was to be super-vulnerable once the effect ran out. Serac dropped to her knees, REVOLVER nearly slipping out of her trembling hand. She’d been just one bullet away from finishing the fight. But now, that one bullet felt like a chasm between victory and despair.

  Travertine aft’Nankervis stood over that chasm now. He drew his CROZIER and loaded a new ball of flames, eyes set on the kneeling Rakshasa. Eyes absent hesitation. Friend or foe, it mattered not to the shepherd-hunter. The only thing that mattered—the only thing he served—was himself.

  [Oathborn Technique: SHADOW TAG]

  Suddenly, the silhouette of a tabbycat bounded into the fray, only for the figure to materialize as its Oathkeeper. Oriole ere’Quinlan slouched before the boss, ready to do his part to help the good guys win. His retractable dagger glinted against the golden light. He was ready to pounce, just as soon as Travertine loosed his slingshot and left himself exposed. But then—

  [CROZIER Spell: HUNTER’S SIGHT]

  Travertine interrupted his own killshot, to instead rotate CROZIER back to an upright position. The golden flames within its crook morphed again, solidifying into a circular pane. In an instant, the mirror gathered all the ambient Daylight and refocused its pitiless gaze unto a creature of Night.

  “This is what I was waiting for!”

  Travertine let out a guttural yet triumphant shout. And Serac could only watch as…

  [Designation: ORIOLE ere’QUINLAN—the Star-crossed Fool]

  [Aberrant Race: Paradox Incarnate]

  The tabbycat retreated once more into the shadows. Darkness erupted and covered over Oriole’s slouching figure—his own private Night atop the twice-lit city. In an instant, he’d lost his place, lost his purpose, lost the scent. And a champion of Day stood over him, consumed by rage darker than the darkest Night.

  Until all that would threaten his herd has been exterminated, one cat burglar at a time.

  Travertine raised his weapon. Serac watched on in Poise-broken horror. Yet, unbeknownst to both and indeed all gathered at Ascension Promontory, an interloper stirred from within the Gloam.

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