*BOOM*
Two combatants, one wielding a spear and shield while the other a broad sword were instantly consumed in a ball of Infernal flame, the smaller spear wielders arms spiraling through the air with an orange trail of smoke behind them. The arid, teal dunes illuminated in the familiar reddish-orange hue of Death Echo signaling my kill for a few moments before disappearing per usual. A needling tickle pricked the back of my neck, indicating something had sprung one of my Infernal Glyphs.
"We saw another flash just east of here, leave that one for now." Galenthelos said as I planted my boot down on the back of a cloaked man crawling meekly away.
"Can I just have a minute to enjoy myself? I assure you-" I began to retort, hunching over and placing my hand on the back of the wounded man's neck and summoning my fireball. Immediately, the ball of flames engulfed his head and continued to billow, sizzling nearly as loud as his cries of agony.
"-they won't get far." I finished, as another Death Echo lit up around me indicating the assumed mage in my hand was dead. A decent surge of energy rushed into the pit of my stomach, a sensation I've officially labeled as rapid mana regeneration after much testing.
"We're in no place to be complacent, Korbin. Our success in the Labyrinth began and ended there, regardless of what the systems promised you." Galenthelos warned with an unusually low, grave sounding tone.
"Oh relax, G-money-"
"Not my name."
"-better than Gale."
"True."
"Look, this is a planetary free for all. All forms of tactics, stratagem, and influence itself is out the fucking window the moment shit hits the fan."
"Exactly, and the system will encourage that chaos here. Which also means it will do the opposite to weariness and complacency." Galenthelos quickly argued back as I began jogging over the eastern dune toward the flashing lights of mana-infused skills blasting below.
"And it's not like we've been pansies this whole time, G-money?! I mean, what we're already sitting at-" I pulled open the live feed for the event, scrolling through the essential stats.
[ KILL & BE KILLED ] - Final Event (LIVE)
Remaining Participants: 5,182,964
Titan's Path: Southwest (834.7m)
Eliminations: 97
Time Until Catastrophic Tectonic Shift: 1:14:57
"-oh damn?!" I said aloud, quickly closing the live feed. I knew we got dropped into a hot spot both in climate and population here in this strange desert. Yet I hadn't even considered being close to a hundred kills already.
"What? You've entered a universal battle to the death and haven't even reached triple digits in eliminations yet? At this rate, how's anyone to believe you Infernal by nature, let alone that we completed the Labyrinth?" Galenthelos pressed, almost sounding snide as he added that last jabbing comment about my nature at the end.
"First of all, I'm not infernal by nature, do you see any horns?" I asked, rolling my eyes as I slid into range to start my barrage of fireballs. They won't start now however, not until I set a few more Infernal Glyphs around my perimeter here atop this little dune valley.
"I can only see what you see. For all I know, they're actively protruding out the back of your head." Galenthelos replied, sounding VERY much like he wore a shit-eating grin as he answered.
"For all I know you were made up in my head with that logic." I shot back, tracing the final Glyph with my boots in the sand and shuffling back into position.
"Haha, fair poi- that one sees you, 12 degrees west." Galenthelos urgently warned.
"Copy." I replied, launching the charging fireball in the cloaked figures direction. Luckily, another fighter was in the middle of flanking him, gliding across the sand like they were ice skating. The fireball arched high in the air, an adjustment I made after dozens of prior misfires that typically would inadvertently ripped through another competitor or two. Not like accuracy of any type of discipline with these abilities mattered in the first place out here, but being able to hit what I'm aiming at from a distance can prove to be invaluable some day, and at the very least a neat trick.
*BOOM*
Both figures disappeared into the fiery cloud, activating two pings of my Death Echo after a few seconds filled with distant screams of agony. Pleased to see the blast remove 2 members of the 10-man mess of violence transpiring below, I began dashing diagonally along the dune to avoid getting picked off by someone who spotted my massive beacon. Seeing no stray bolts or mana constructs hurtling in my direction, I let loose another fireball at an armored mage, blasting people at close range with a cloud of strange blue flame. His target was another mage whose attention was elsewhere, hovering a large slab of stone over their open palm.
The fireball ripped into the armored mage directly, the blooming orange blast consuming the stone mage immediately on impact. I began charging another fireball for the heated duel rolling just north of the two mages' remains, when I noticed only one Death Echo pulse blip out around me. Looking back, the armored mage sat on one knee, blue flames fluttering atop their skull. Their arms trembled terribly trying to hold themselves up off the charred teal sands. Unwilling to waste time, I let loose another fireball at the downed mage. A wall of blue flame erected in front of the mage, then instantly crumbled on impact.
*ding*
The other combatants apparently took notice of the colorfully colliding fires, one going into a full retreat while the final last three fought cautiously slid their fight away from the blast radius. I slid down the loose sandy dune toward the one remaining survivor still present. After slaying their opponent and ripping their blade from their bodies, the lone man's eyes scanned the battlefield one time over. Seeing it mostly empty other than myself, a smile creased across the man's lithe, scruffy face.
"Looks like it's just us now, pal. Hope you're ready, I didn't come this far for nothin'." The man jeered, quick-drawing a handheld crossbow and loosing a bolt at me. Sighing, I tiled my shoulder to the side easily avoiding the slow traveling bolt, and immediately took off toward the skinny, lightly greying man. Without hesitation, the man pocketed the crossbow and sprinted forward to meet me halfway.
"He's being too reckless, this is a trick." Galenthelos advised as the man slung a glaive from around his back into hand.
"No shit." I said, sliding across the teal sands the moment we got close enough and activated Infernal Confines, the latest and greatest of my skill upgrades earned as I slayed through the first 90 poor souls in this event I came across. Well, more like a branching skill from what I've seen, more than likely stemming from my Chaotic Accord group skill. My axe raised overhead, pouring out a wriggling dome of orange flames around myself and my target. The man continued sprinting head first at me, though his facial expression was far from the smug confidence he wore just a few seconds prior. My foot slid across the sand beside me, drawing an Infernal Glyph on my right. As I slid to the left to place another however, the first one immediately went off.
"AAAAGHHH!!!" The sprinting man bellowed with a face twisted in agony as he dropped to the floor, though his cries sounded directly beside me. Unwilling to play with uncertainties, my axe swung down atop the man's skull just as his illusioned double disappeared and his real body manifested. His twitching eyes slowly rose up to meet mine in his final moments.
"Look at that, you did come here for nothin'... Ain't that something?" I joked, having a nice laugh before kicking my axe from his skull. Half a dozen charred hands extending out of a pit of flames where I'd placed the Glyph in the sand clutched the man's legs, slowly releasing as his twitching body went limp.
"Illusionary Rogues, a clandestine catagory of subclasses designed for thieves and smugglers. They have no place in a proper duel." Galenthelos scoffed as I turned my sights toward the bushy, purplish-lavender forest that kicks in a mere 30 meters ahead.
"Fine enough by me, I don't mind being rewarded for my minimal efforts." I said, reading the notification under the event live feed.
>Achievement unlocked: 100+ eliminations in Kill Or Be Killed. -5% all damage taken for the duration of the Objective. Objective Effects stack with one another.
It'd been like this for hours already, intermittent violence waging on dynamic scales in every direction. Took me some time to clear out my spawn point, only because of how close we all started together. Now, as I jogged through the greying purple vines messily draping off the towering, arching flowers, a pained scream rang out ahead followed by a green beacon that beamed high in the sky for a moment. Feeling a rush of excitement at the promise of more entertainment, I dashed forward concocting a number of ways I'd like to enter the fray myself.
What if they're more warriors? I could easily pick them off like classical, ranged casters from afar. Or maybe there's a number of mages again this time, giving me the chance to throw in a little hand-to-hand combat.
"The fact you don't elect to hone your martial skills amongst these much weaker mortals escapes my understanding. You must see the danger in letting that Tom fellow overtake yo-"
"Hey, the day he bests me in spar is the day I forgot how to fight, regardless of how strong that idiot gets." I shot back, as the battle I heard waging came into view through a mess of tangled, colorless foliage. Several whirring blips cut through the air, followed with flashes of bright white light.
"How can you be so certain? Especially given his current mental state?" Galenthelos continued, bringing my mind back to our conversation as I continued scouting the fight no more than 20 meters ahead.
"Because I never taught him everything, I don't know everything yet. Besides, I don't mind this slow, methodical approach much." I replied, placing an Infernal Rune in the gradient of purple and grey grass behind me and charging a fireball in my palm.
"Calling the ruthless slaughter the last few hours have been 'methodical' would be like calling that rat of yours cleanly." Galenthelos chuckled in response.
"You leave Randy out of this, he's a saint." I shot back defiantly, tracking the hooded figure backpedaling around the giant tree-sized flowers.
"He's a m-"
"Sshh! Wait." I interrupted, spotting a familiar flash of an eggshell cowl chasing the dark, cloaked figure. Another whirring hum through the air sounded as a flash of bright white light illuminated yet again, leaving only one lone figure. One who's smug, careless eyes I imprinted into the inner walls of my mind where my purest hatred dwells. That fucking nihilistic light rogue, glancing frantically from side to side trying to find locate target.
"Get him."
Gladly.
Without a second thought, my heels dug into the soil below and sprinted towards easily my least favorite thing to see breathing since that fucking Gibslandris. Luckily, I get to fix tha-
"DOWN!"
*WHOOSH*
An arrow whizzed right by my face, my eyes tracing its purple, wispy and semi transparent form spiral into the face of a three-eyed humanoid wearing the same dark cloak that filthy light rogue was chasing around. A dark, thick liquid sprayed from the creature's face as the arrow dispersed in a purple mist.
"Aahhh, it got in my mouth a little." I growled with a shiver down my spine.
"Bad time to pamper, mortal. I haven't the slightest clue where that came from." Galenthelos chided me sharply. I ducked down instinctively again before sprinting straight for the light rogue, whose eyes nearly bugged out his skull realizing he was spotted..
"Don't care, they missed." I quickly dismissed, charging a fireball in one palm and firing one uncharged from the end of my battle axe, aiming to cut off the light rogue's fleeing path. His boot flashed against the nearest massive flower's stem, reappearing from the blinding flash within an arms length from me and closing in. With hardly any time to react, my lead elbow smashed straight between his guard, causing me to drop the fireball at our feet.
"Oops!"
The explosion hardly jarred my center of balance, whereas the light rogue was launched back through the air bloody faced and twisting uncontrollably. Of course, the dexterous denier of purpose managed to tuck into a ball before kicking off another tree-sized flower, revealing another arrow spiraling toward me from under him.
Seeing its trajectory with still a moment's notice, I managed to twist away from the arrows path without having to slow my sprint after that slippery light rogue. Yet again he decided to kick off the local foliage to catch me off guard, though my readiness allowed me to land a front kick to the arrogant bastard's chest. Yet again, the flimsy shitstain went hurtling through the air, this time making much more distance and rolling into a clean sprint away.
"This rogue disgraces his very nature. Please, make his elimination a slow lesson." Galenthelos gruffly added with disgust.
*WHOOSH*
"Fuckin' working on it!" I yelled back, ducking under yet another arrow. The rogue suddenly released a bright flash in his wake before abruptly changing directions. Yet again I was forced to dodge a stray arrow, this time flying in from an entirely different angle than the last while constantly blinking in and out of view. This time however my foot snagged under a bundled tangle of colorless vines, knocking me off balance. The light warrior wore a devious smile from ear to ear as he leapt back, burying his boot into my jaw and knocking me off my feet.
The light rogue managed another quick kick to my shoulder before I managed to catch my footing, blasting my knee up and smashing it into the falling Light Rogues ribcage. He bounced over my knee, spinning horizontally back onto his hands and knees before taking off in another dead-sprint.
Unreal.
"He's faster."
"Unhelpful." I replied, shuffling to the side and slapping away another arrow that flew in almost on queue from directly behind me. Yet again, the shot flew in from an entirely new angle, yet there were no signs of any movement anywhere near us.
"Who in the hells is shooting at us?" Galenthelos asked curiously.
"If I had to guess a couple archers, who cares?" I quickly replied, mantling over a giant collapsed flower, still trailing behind the Light Mage. Low booms hummed throughout the forest, growing louder and louder with every pace. Finally, after the surrounding tangled foliage grew more and more cluttered and claustrophobic, the rogue and I broke out into a massive clearing with orange sunlight beaming across its short violet grasslands. I'd nearly gotten my paws wrapped around his little ankle when he used his light flash ability directly in front of my face, landed a cheap jab to the nose and dashed away. Luckily this guy's rhythm hadn't changed much since the last time I beat the living hell out of him, at least when it came to his footwork.
*tink* *tink*
*clank*
Charging a fireball, the Light Rogue dashed out of the way at the last moment. The flaming orb instead ripped through a pair of human competitors trading swords, both of them rolling on the floor desperately trying to put out the flames. I made sure to toss another fireball in their direction as I dashed past, slamming the pommel of my axe into a burly beast of a man's jaw. Another silver glint caught my eye at my side as I blasted an uncharged fireball at point-blank range, melting through the towering man's cheek and ripping into his would-be flanking assassin. Unwilling to lose my mark, I continued chasing after the light rogue as he weaved through a mess of mana explosions and bodies clashing with one another.
The clearing quickly funneled into a massive open field filled with the blood curdling screams of violence. Chasing after the Light Rogue wasn't too bad at first, occasionally slamming my elbow into a hostile as I flew by, the shifty rogue meanwhile leaping over and shrugging past battle after battle. The sheer quantity of combatants very quickly grew to incalculable rates while in the fray, and the rogue adapted in kind by landing a single strike on several fighters as he dashed past. Each turned in time only to see me, and in turn displaced their murderous intent on little old moi.
One warrior expertly swiped two lengthy katanas in my direction, forcing me to powerfully bash through their strike with my axe handle and smashed my skull into the warrior's nose. He staggered back, leaving himself exposed for a fireball to the chest as I continued past. By the time he was dealt with however, 4 more fighters were staring back at me with murderous intent. The rogue chuckled loudly from behind them as he continued sprinting into the heart of the massive mosh pit of death.
Fuck no you don't.
Incensed with rage, I leaned into a twisting spin with my axe in hand. Fireball summoned at the end of my axe as it spiraled through the air, creating a massive orange trail and slashing across two of my opponents' mutually exposed stomachs. The sharp tip of a spear thrusted toward my own mid-section, forcing me to snag the end of the spear with my free hand and pulling it past me. Its sharp metal end pierced through the throat of yet another warrior who was mid-swing with their short sword. Almost immediately the spears end ruptured, popping at the end of its shaft and fragmenting and protruding from the warrior's neck. Seeing no reason to stay engaged, I smashed an elbow into the ex-spear wielder's soft nose that popped on impact and continued chasing after the Light Rogue through a still very populated battle field.
"Wait up! Why do you run, little rogue?!" I beckoned the Light Rogue, snatching an unarmed combatants swinging foot just beside my ear and twisting it under my armpit, snapping the fighter's ankle and knee in one motion.
"To the right."
Got it.
A small dagger spiraled past my twisting hips as I smashed the edge of my battle axe into the flanking assassin's neck with enough force to pierce down halfway through before having to rip my weapon free. The assassin's short frame slammed face first onto another corpse as I kicked off her limp form.
"Two on the left." My twisting fireball ripped through a pair of dueling warriors.
"Right side Incoming." My knee relaxed, dipping my upper body down under the swinging mauls path leaving the burly attacker open for a close ranged and uncharged fireball to his T-slitted helm.
*ping*
"Water mage, 20 paces to-"
-the left.
Leaping and rolling away, a massive water jet ripped through the piled remains behind me. The Light Rogue suddenly leapt toward me as I turned to resume my chase, throwing several spinning headkicks.
"Cross-block, bury the elbow, check lead leg-kick, opening NOW!" My free hand illuminated with a fiery infernal orb, catching the eye of the Light Rogue. His eyes lit up with concern at the sight, immediately turning to sprint the opposite direction.
*SMACK*
My knee smashed into the Rogues jaw, creating a wondrous crunch almost as satisfying as the sound of his miserable skull caving in against a tree trunk the last time we fought. The rogue's head snapped to the side as he sputtered through the air like a runaway propeller. The Rogue managed to plant a boot onto the grass enough to leap forward in a bright white flash.
"Utilizing whatever bullshit movement skill his affinities afforded him, no doubt."
That damned water mage who nearly ripped a hole in my body with sheer water pressure glided along the field at my side bearing a long, shimmering water-lance in hand trained for my ribs. My eyes shot wide realizing it was extending as he approached, and that I wasn't going to get my fireball off in t-
*WHOOSH*
A wispy, purple shadow smashed into the mages chest, dissipating rapidly and revealing an arrow buried nearly to the fletching. The glistening watery lance fell to the grass just before sliding into my ribcage, allowing my fireball to land unabated. With no time to consider the nature of this save, I continued after the Light Rogue, feeling my mouth salivate at realizing he found himself in a group fight ahead. Another three unfortunate souls tried their hand along my route, only serving as a human pyre in my wake.
The rogue very clearly noticed my approach, the whites in his eyes nearly glowing as I kicked the knee out on one of the many fighters clashing around him. He smashed several rapid glowing punches to his opponents body and face before pushing off and sprinting away. Suddenly, 4 sets of wild eyes all trained on me from all sides. Turning around, another half a dozen fighters and rogues stood at arms length from each other, all pointing their weapons at me. The light rogue continued on ahead a few paces before noticing, slowly creeping up behind the small mob closing in on me. Then another group stopped clashing steel to join at my side. And another.
Ohhh shit, this might be too many at once.
Slowly, I began drawing out an Infernal Glyph in the soil. Unfortunately, there was only enough time to get one down.
"He can't kill us all!" The Light Rogue suddenly yelled, apparently inspiring the front man to charge ahead. Infernal Confines poured from the end of my axe, stretching an infernal dome as I smashed my free fist into the first attacker's face.
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
Arrow after arrow ripped through the fighters around me as I continued parrying, countering, and stealing the weapons from my fallen foes before it disappeared with them or leaving it in another competitor's corpse. Still, a dagger snuck under my armor between one engagement. The pommel of a heavily armored fighter pounded into my knee during another, each time forcing me to release another fireball from up close, an act that was quickly doing more damage to myself than I anticipated.
*BONK*
A bright flash accompanied a jarring impact under my jaw, the Light Rogue managing to slip between fighters to get his cheap shot in. Hastily slashing with my axe, the Rogue easily evaded the attack. Another blade jabbed into my side, luckily deflecting off the face of my armor. My elbow bashed into my attacker's face, then extended out and snatched his dagger. That smug Light Rogue was audibly laughing as he dodged around the back line, stopping his dash once he must have felt far away enough. Kicking one warrior's knees out, I stomped down on his shoulder and leapt up over the crowd. Hoping my temporary stint with throwing knives in the military didn't rust, I threw the dagger end over end at the Light Rogue.
*WHOOSH*
Seeing three more fighters occupying my landing space, I tucked my knees down to short my fall and smashed both fists down on their forearms. Both dropped their weapons in unison, my forearm smashing across one's face to sprint past them both. When I finally shoved by, however, I noticed the Light Rogue with his back turned, clutching his chest down on his knees. Before I could take advantage of his poor positioning, a purple blur ripped into his skull creating a sickening THUD. The impact knocked his lifeless body back violently onto the grass, revealing the first wispy arrow in his chest before dissipating. Galenthelos let out a long, disappointed sigh as I stared in disbelief at this blatant robbery.
"…do try to preserve your mana a little."
A burning rage ignited within that manifested subconsciously into the fires of the hells themselves activating my boosting skill; Infernal Enhancement. Immediately, I felt every fiber of muscle and bone rapidly expand, as well my hatred for whatever archer just ripped the Light Mages life from me. A few fighters tried to run away at the sight, their bodies immediately bundled in countless burning hands the moment they exited the dome and dragged them back inside. The others shakily stood their ground, indicating not one member of this mob had any experience with boosting skills. Or maybe with those chosen by one of the rulers of the hells, I'm not sure. Too bad I already leapt into the crowd with two fireballs charging out of each palm, kicking my boot engulfed in flames straight through a rogue's chest. Otherwise, I might've got an answer.