Chapitre 62: 059 Last Stand
The Devil's Ivy increased its suction force more and more. As time went on, the miasma started flowing towards the giant purple ball floating above the plant faster and faster.
The miasma flowed like water in visible tendrils towards the deathly scene in front of them. Visual changes were apparent for miles around the battlefield. It was as if there was a black hole that didn't let anything escape its clutches.
Facing such a force, everyone was having a difficult time keeping on their feet.
Mercury had to slam her polearm into the ground so that she would not fly into the ball of death. The others didn't have the same luxury. Totem had no choice but to summon thick Walls of Earth in front of everyone else to keep them from falling prey to the Ivy.
"Blaise!" Mercury called out to James.
"I know!" Jame's mind was working as fast as it could. They came so far to lose this way. As it is now, only Dregg, Totem, Talon, and himself could attack. They wouldn't make it without the help of the others.
They didn't have much choice, "Attack from afar!" James commanded. Sweat was forming on James's forehead. He needed to find a solution and find it soon.
The damage from the miasma was quickly piling up.
While he was attacking, James watched the tendrils of miasma whip past them and had some inspiration.
He called out to Mercury and Totem. "Reaper, allow it to bring you to it!"
"What!?" exclaimed everyone.
She didn't miss a beat; she had complete trust in James.
"Totem, catch her with your Trapping Vines!" he called out.
Totem had a flash of understanding. He let Mercury get as close to possible to the Ivy and had his Trapping Vines wrapped around her feet. They pulled her back down to the ground directly in front of the giant plant.
Mercury had a devilish smile on her face. "Maddening Strength!" She struggled to keep ahold of her axe while it hung above her in the air. She managed to bring it down and crashed it onto the base of the plant.
When her Crushing Assault landed, it lifted the morale of the group. The feel didn't last too long for the twins. They felt helpless to help, they were the smallest of the group, and there was no way they could aid in the attack.
James attempted to use his Engulfing Vines, but they started burning Karma, so they dropped the idea.
Mercury used a frenzy of attacks while the others used everything in their ability. James's Aura was in full swing. Columns of water and fire crashed into either side of the Ivy. Arrows and large earth spikes penetrated themselves into the trunk of the plant as well.
A figure had long since notified the battle between a strange group of people and a corrupted Devil's Ivy. It stood at the top of the Temple and watched the fight. Vibrant purple, blue, and red colors were prominent and could easily be seen despite the distance.
A face full of displeasure was prevalent. A thick purple mist hung around the figure; while all the other purple haze was affected by the Ivy, this mist was not. It was defiant, as if it was looking down on everything.
The figure knew there wasn't much time left in the fight and vanished from its spot. The only thing that was left was a puff of purple smoke.
James hated that he was missing a glove and had not found any gems to add to his current one. If he had even one, this fight would have been long since over. He knew he would need to get Charlotte and Ryan to hunt one down for him.
Everyone's health bars were on red and still dropping. Despite everyone knowing the fight was a losing one, they continued to push on. The twins did what they could and threw their knives but had since run out.
Starting with his sister, Karma looked around at the group members. Everyone had a determined face that hid a trace of fear. His eyes landed on James last. He didn't see any fear on his face; instead, he saw guilt.
Karma's heart was pained. He knew that James would hold himself responsible for the deaths of everyone.
Ever since he met James, he could tell something was different between James and everyone else. While everyone else played the game to their fullest, they stilled took breaks. Overall treated their experience in the game at face value; it was just a game.
He could tell that James treated the game far more seriously than the others. It was almost like he saw the game as a second chance at life. It has been bothering him since the beginning. Just what is James's story?
Even Mercury and others in the top guilds have logged out at least once. He took a quest about the history of the game. The reward was the ability to ask hidden historian questions about the various accomplishments that other players achieved. He also found that you can also check how long someone has been in the game... James hadn't logged out for even a second.
Karma couldn't let James worry about the current outcome. He took a deep breath and jumped out from behind the Wall of Earth that protected him from the suction force of the Ivy. Only James and his sister noticed it at first.
"Karma!" James cried out.
Everyone followed the cry and saw that Karma was sliding across the ground; he used a dagger to keep himself relatively at ground level.
Mercury nodded at Totem and plunged her axe into the trunk of the Ivy, and held on tight. The vines holding her to the ground disappeared and appeared around Karma.
See that Totem was stopping his approach, he cut the vines with a spare dagger, "Keep Reaper in attack range!"
Totem tried two more times, but Karam cut the vines every time. He finally had to listen and secured Mercury to the ground once again.
Karma arrived near the base of the Ivy and could barely hold onto his dagger anymore. His feet and body hung g in the air as he fought the Ivy's suction.
Everyone increased their attack speed in hopes of saving Karma.
Karma managed to flip over to look at the Ivy and purple ball above. He took a final deep breath and let go of his dagger.
Destiny saw that her brother was about to let go and tried to charge out from behind her Earth Wall, but Blaise had Totem trap her inside several Earth Walls.
Karma had pushed off his dagger and flew into the base of the Devil's Ivy, and started flying up into the air. That was not before he lodged a blade into the Ivy! As it pulled him higher and higher into the air, he was leaving a large gash on his accent into the air!
Everyone was surprised at what Karma had managed to accomplish.
James called out, "Reaper!"
She used Crushing Assault once more, and she threw his axe into the Ivy above Karma's path.
He had given them a chance to survive! They would need to act fast if they wanted to live. Karma was hanging onto her axe and watching the HP of the plant and his friends.
He saw a problem. Without Mercury attacking, they would still wipe. He continued with his resolve. Karma positioned himself so that it was possible to brace himself against the Ivy and pull on Mercury's axe. He all of his strength to dislodge and throw the massive axe down to Mercury. She caught it in surprise.
With that, he was sucked into the air and continued flying towards the ball of miasma.
Mercury knew what he meant when he returned the axe to her. It was either him or everyone. She peaked at James and saw the frustration on his face.
She started attacking the Ivy once again. Just as Karma was about to disappear into the purple mist, he threw out his last dagger and punctured the Ivy.
The Ivy had died, but so did he. They were too late.
Everyone stared at the dead body of the Ivy and the lone dagger that slew the monster. Everything felt solemn; the air felt as thick as the tension.
The party members felt a slight breeze, and everyone turned to look at James.
Just like how the Ivy had miasma drawn towards it, James had mana gushing towards him. From the dead body of the Devil's Ivy, a large mana crystal floated upwards and quickly disappeared.
His eyes were glowing a monstrous ocean teal. He turned to look at a specific area of the forest. As his head turned, a trail of mana followed James's eyes.
James roared out in a cry of sadness and frustration. The tiny embers of fire from his Aura of Pure Fire spontaneously erupted, and a sea of fire appeared around the group. While they didn't get burnt, the heat was unbearable.
Even with all the heat that surrounded them, everyone had goosebumps. This was the first time anyone saw James mad.
A magic circle appeared in front of James. It was as if he was on autopilot; he lifted a finger into the air and wrote undecipherable symbols in the magic circle.
A pulse of mana escaped James's body, and the magic circle glowed and quickly vanished.
His feet suddenly were wrapped in fire. Mercury and himself started glowing, and James disappeared.
All they saw was a trail of fire in the direction that he left. James was traveling faster than Mercury's top speed.
The forest was utterly void of any miasma. The trees returned to their once lush appearances. Animals and other monsters returned to normal.
None of that stood in James's way. He was in a straight b-line to a shrine where Karma has respawned.
Karma opened his eyes and saw a clear sky above him. After a few seconds, he sat up. He was lying down on an altar.
He looked at his level and stats. He lost a few levels and a bulk of his items. He was not upset or sad but instead happy. He was able to respawn since the group had killed off the Devil's Ivy. He was able to save everyone in the final second.
The others didn't know where James was going but did their best to follow him. As they ran through the forest, they noticed that everything was burning in the path James had taken. The first was spreading, so Dregg used his water magic to extinguish the fire as they went.
They finally caught up to James and heard a conversation ending between him and another person. They were too late to make out anything that the two talked about.
It was evident that James had not spared any expense in his rampage.
They could see that his Engulfing Vines were active and still looked like immaculate wings of fire on his back. The air around the two people in front of them was still ablaze due to the Aura of Pure Fire. His feet were still burning in an inferno, and his gloved hand had a dense flame around it.
Mercury had been the first to arrive and noticed that James showed sadness and pain while Karmas was one of guilt and shock. She was about to comfort them when James turned around.
All the fire disappeared in an instant, and James showed a gentle smile. "Sorry about my outburst. I saw mana flowing in this direction and found that it was Karma respawning. I went out of control and rushed over. I hope you forgive me."
The others were glad to see everything was okay. It was sad that Karma lost some levels and gear, but those things could always be replaced.
"Let's head back and collect our loot." James wanted to continue with the dungeon.
The mood went back to normal as they followed the path that James created. As they went, they noticed the forest regrowing behind them. They figured it was for continuity, considering they are in a public dungeon.
Both Destiny and Mercury noticed something different with James and Karma.
Mercury jumped on James's back and made him give her a piggyback like they usually do. She didn't tease him this time but had other things in mind.
She began whispering with James to keep the conversation to themselves.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.
Their faces were touching, so James couldn't turn and look at her but replied anyway. "It was unfortunate that he had to sacrifice himself for my lack of leadership. I'll improve myself for the future."
"You know that isn't what I'm talking about," she replied.
James sighed, "I don't know what came over me or how I created the new spell. It doesn't show up in my usable spell list at all. Instead, a different skill showed up."
He then linked the skill to Mercury in a private chat.
[Frenzied Spell Weaving- Creates a one-time use spell. The spell created can not be personality picked but is based on the desires of the caster. Cooldown: 7 days.]
She was stunned. If this wasn't a final gambit, she didn't know what would be one. "What did you want during that moment?"
"I wanted to get to Karma as quickly as possible," he replied.
Mercury knew James was keeping something from her, "What did you talk about with Karma?"
James's stride faltered for a second, and he felt guilty. He didn't want to tell her because she might look at him differently. He wasn't worried about Karma, doing so but her? She was the last person to see him differently.
She saw his hesitation and guilt. "You don't have to tell me right now. I'll patiently wait until you are ready to talk about it. Okay?"
She felt a teardrop on her face, "I promise I will tell you someday." James made a promise he took a while to fulfill.
Destiny was walking behind Karma. She also wanted to know what her brother and James talked about.
** Private Chat: Karma - Destiny **
Destiny: Brother? What did you two talk about?
Karma turned to look at his sister, and he shook his head.
Karma: He told me a secret that is not mine to tell. I confronted him about something I noticed, and he was painfully honest to me. I will only say that everything makes more sense to me and that we made the right decision to follow him.
Destiny saw that her brother turned around and knew he wouldn't speak of it anymore. She looked towards James in wonder. She really wanted to know but swore to herself not to ask.
They finally arrived at the dead Devil's Ivy. James pulled the dagger out and handed it back to Karma. "Keep it well." Then turned back to the body.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone