‘Final floor of The Cinder Keep has been completed. Access to the Queen’s chambers now allowed, you have twenty four hours to initiate the final raid.’
The last praetorian falls, our ascent is completed. All that lies next is the final boss, the dragon queen. I wonder what kind of demon the game masters have cooked up this time. It must be a being that truly embodies the idea of evil and mischief.
Ray releases me from her embrace and we quickly take account of our situation. Of the 2500 soldiers we brought in we lost around 7%, though almost all were high-levels it seems. Considering all the fighting that occurred and how unaccustomed some of our great-levels were, such results are far better than we could have hoped for.
We – by which I mean the soldiers – clear some space and set up a temporary camp. Everyone could use a break, we did take those floors quite quickly and people don't have infinite stamina, unfortunately.
Fires spring up, warming up various rations that we brought along. Nothing fancy, just some tasty pastries and such, perfect for energy and morale boosts.
Ray grabs some food and then sits down next to me. “Ko, open up.” she says, without hesitation I open my mouth. I am ready to receive whatever she wants to give me, even if it is a deadly poison.
She gently places some sort of cookie in my mouth, and then gives me a few pats on the head for good measure. It is absolutely delicious, made even better by the fact that It was Ray that fed it to me. To thank her, I lean against her shoulder and wrap my arm around her.
After about three hours of relaxation and thought, our forces group up again and prepare.
Ray and I approach a set of red doors that lead into the final chambers. When we place our hands upon it, a message appears in typical fashion.
‘Do you wish to begin the challenge: Legend Raid for Shadow, The Dragon Queen?
Party size is limited to a maximum of 2500. Recommended composition: At least 100 great-level and 2400 high-level combatants.
Current Party (2320): Contains 104% of recommended combat strength. Estimated Difficulty: Hard.
Estimated reward for Legend Raid: 20,000 Ti, 5,000 Ri, Dragon Lord commendation & Dragon Subject commendation, 500 equipment drops (Insane-level) + 5 per participant (1160). Conditional Mystery Reward.
Upon completion, Arena Stage: Final, shall be initiated.
Yes / No’
“Holy klacking klack, those are some good rewards.” Ray exclaims.
“That they are. So darling, let's go get us a nice payday, shall we?”
“Yep, all that yummy loot belongs to us!”
We press the confirmation and the large doors simply disappear. Guess they couldn't spare the budget to have them open like the ones on the bottom of the tower.
We enter the chamber. Well, chamber is a bad word, it is quite expansive, easily a kilometer in diameter. Above us, stretches a vast dome, beyond which we can see the stars, along with various starships as well. But it is clearly a screen, they didn't bother actually exposing us to a true starry sky, unfortunately.
Ray practically drags me into the room and we walk inside, taking a look around.
“There is nothing here!” Ray says.
“You’re right, where is this dragon queen?” I ask.
“Milords, watch out!” Emil shouts from behind us.
I detect it not a millisecond too soon, I grab Ray and quickly throw us to the side as fast as I can. A large blast of energy covering everything at the location where we just were.
I expand my perception field and finally detect something. Shrouded in some sort of darkness at the center of the arena is a very powerful energy source. Strangely enough, it's quite small.
After Ray lets go of me, a voice speaks, seemingly from everywhere.
“Die”
Emil immediately calls for evasive maneuvers and everyone scatters, just before dozens of energy blasts impact where we used to be. I run, trying to dodge them as best I can, but a few manage to singe me at the very edges.
The pain is excruciating, it's almost as though it is specifically attacking my pain receptors only, and only enough to cause maximum pain. A full blast might just drive me to end my own life to be freed from the pain. A truly devious and evil attack.
The voice laughs at us.
I launch myself towards the center of the arena, to where the presence I sensed was. Preparing my spear, I stab straight at the bundle of shadows located there.
Immediately, it bursts into a cloud of darkness, completely blinding my sight and hearing. I dodge an attack as it comes for me, barely able to sense it.
Then I am subjected to an absurd volume of attacks, from an enemy I can barely perceive. It is almost as though they are everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I throw a few plasma grenades around, and they detonate with seemingly some effect.
The shadows immediately retreat, giving me my sight and hearing back. I quickly dash away. Thankfully, it seems that the energy blasts have stopped for the moment and everyone simply turns to watch the ball of shadows as it condenses in the center of the arena.
When it finishes, it turns into something truly absurd. The most evil and devious creature that has ever been known to humanity. We are talking true evil here, a creature that causes chaos solely for its own amusement and takes whatever it desires, no matter the cost.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
The only creature that could even conceive to control powerful beings like dragons, and bend them to its nefarious will.
A cat.
A pang of fear runs through me. A cat? This cannot be possible, they wouldn't use such an evil being in this trial, I can't imagine the reaction that the rest of humanity will have to this. Unfortunately, it seems this is no longer a war game, but a battle against the incarnation of evil itself.
As soon as the cat appears, a health bar and skill icons appear in our vision. There is a nine segmented bar, but strangely enough it is a blue color rather than the typical green health bar. One of the segments is already depleted.
Shadow has nine skills. One of the skills is greyed out, seemingly something to do with the shadows. {Life of Shadows} I think is the name.
Shadow speaks again, “Foolish beings, kneel before your rightful ruler.”
Several projectiles fly towards the cat, only for all of them to be dodged effortlessly. This cat has some freakish agility and battle sense, as one would expect from such a being.
Shadow charges towards a large group of high levels and activates some skill resulting in what appears to be a claw whirlwind. Shadow effortlessly cuts through the group, killing them all while causing them to scream in intense agony.
The {Life of Claws} skill seems dangerous indeed.
What is more terrifying is what happens to the slain soldiers. They disappear into the ground, and seemingly transform into cats. They look feral and without hesitation run towards the nearest group. Like little mini evil vessels, they must be expunged.
Luckily, the group of melee fighters quickly dispatches them with only a few scratches sustained.
Shadow doesn't stand still and instead moves towards three more groups and effortlessly slaughtering them, spawning even more evil cats.
I run, trying to catch up to the beast, but I am somehow not fast enough, even with inae. It's almost as though Shadow is a teleporting storm of pain and death.
Shadow runs into Emil, who is looking not very happy to see the soldiers slaughtered.
They collide in a fierce battle of blade and claws, somehow Emil manages to maintain his ground and parry all of the claws.
I manage to catch up at the same time as Ray, she gives me a wink that makes me want to tackle her and give her headrubs. But I keep focus and we attack Shadow together when Emil creates us an opening.
My spear and Ray’s blades manage to make it through the storm and practically skewer Shadow.
Shadow instantly teleports away and one of the segments on the healthbar disappears, and the {Life of Claws} skill becomes grayed out.
Shadow speaks, “Die, Die, Die. Feed me your wonderful screams of pain.”
As I said, truly the incarnation of pure evil itself.
It seems that the bar and skills are somehow tied to Shadow’s life. I suppose that Shadow can only use one skill at a time and we must defeat Shadow while using each. This removes Shadow's ability to use the skill as well as brings us closer to finally slaying the beast.
I guess the game masters heard of the idea of a cat having nine lives. How clever and what a genius idea. Unfortunately for us, we must fight the terrifying beast that embodies pure evil.
Shadow moves again. This time, it seems to glow with some sort of white light. It must be {Life of Crushing}.
Shadow impacts a group of great-levels, pulverizing them like they are pieces of paper and Shadow is a railgun projectile. Thankfully, they don't spawn any more of those horrifying cats. It seems that it must scratch them for it to create the smaller cats.
Unfortunately for the cat, it charges towards Rigar’s group, all wielding some absolutely terrifying warhammers.
Rigar swings his warhammer like a baseball bat, creating a shockwave with the sheer force of the swing.
In the battle ball vs bat, the bat always wins out.
Shadow gets sent flying with a massive explosive impact that throws Rigar backwards several dozen meters.
Shadow flies off into the wall of the arena, bouncing off the barrier in a very painful looking manner.
Another segment of the bar disappears and the skill goes grey.
Three lives down, six more to go.
Shadow teleports back into the center of the arena and uses the same skill it did when we entered, {Life of Bombardment}.
Everyone scatters as the bombardment begins again. All those hit with the projectile fall to the ground, screaming in agony before being declared dead. A truly horrifying skill, befitting the truly horrifying creature that Shadow is.
Dozens of groups are decimated by the blasts.
Shadow just sits there in the center of the arena, menacingly. What an absolutely terrifying creature she is.
“Ha, die, let me feel your pain, scream your beautiful songs my pretty hoomans..” Shadow mumbles.
A crack can be heard from the edge of the arena as Linda’s rifle fires. It takes her a second to mount it properly, but once it's up, it's a highly deadly and precise weapon. Too bad it leaves her so vulnerable.
The bullet screams across the arena and impacts Shadow, who merely stood still out of some sort of arrogance.
The bombardment stops and the bar decreases.
Unfortunately, one of the projectiles hits Linda at the last moment, unable to dodge while mounted in her rifle, she gets taken out and sent to respawn.
The arena goes silent as everyone gathers themselves. Shadow seems to be in a bit of pain as she stands up and gazes upon us all, a look of pure violence in her eyes.
Despite Shadow’s efforts, Ray and I shall defy her and all of her nasty tricks. After all, we are the Moonlight Duo, and we've gotta win this fight and then go crush that pink haired maniac that is lurking in the snow. So, bring it on.
End of Chapter 124
Next: Chapter 125 | Unending Pain
Skills for Shadow, The Dragon Queen
Passive Skills
{Evil Incarnate}: The beast is the incarnation of evil, seemingly only to destroy anything in its domain. It seeks to inflict maximum pain and terror onto its foes, only resting once all are completely eliminated. The more pain it is simultaneously inflicting, the stronger it becomes.
{Cat Claws}: The claws of the beast are extremely sharp and painful. A mere scratch would leave a typical civilian screaming in absolute agony, unable to move. Stronger warriors may be able to resist, but will likely be hindered.
{Cat Fever}: If a combatant dies having been scratched in any way by the claws, they will spawn a feral cat (high-level) that is weaker than the shadow. The feral cats will attack anyone nearby. Their scratches are extremely painful and also propagate the fever.
{Nine Lives}: Function. The beast possesses nine lives, each tied to a skill. Once the beast has been defeated while using a skill, they lose access to the skill and a ‘life.’ Only once all nine lives are gone may they be physically harmed and slain.
Active Skills
{Life of Shadows}: The best becomes a cloud of darkness, blinding and deafening all those trapped inside. The beast may relentlessly assault any inside with its extremely painful cat’s claws.
{Life of Claws}: The beast becomes a whirlwind of claws. The claws cut and tear anything in its path, causing immense pain and horror.
{Life of Crushing}: the beast is shrouded in a white light that increases its relative mass as well as physical strength. This allows it to hit with the force of several hundred humans, while still moving quickly. It also just looks awesome.
{Life of Bombardment}: the beast channels its inner rage and hatred at living beings and turns it into projectiles of pure pain and agony. They are thrown all about the arena and cause immense agony to any they touch, often resulting in death.
- 5 More unknown skills.
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