Bab 48: Unleash Everything

Clang! Exile grimaced as a spear bounced off of his shield. A system notification had distracted him, and the attack almost slipped past his defence.

[Milestone: Followers 25/25 reached]

[You have received +1 stat point]

[New Milestone: Followers 32/50]

'What the hell is going on in Eraldsfen?' Of course it elated Exile to gain an extra stat point. However, his followers had not increased since his ascension. 'Something must have happened.'

Exile threw the strange occurrence to the back of his mind for now. He retaliated against the offending Lost Soul with a shield bash, followed by a swift hack of his axe.

[You have dealt -4 damage]

[You have dealt -1 damage]

Exile frowned as the damage report came in. 'Lost Warrior (Weakened), eh?' Exile's mind raced to make sense of the information. 'So they're a subtype of the Lost Souls.'

It took several more exchanges with the mob before Exile could finally dispatch it. He heaved a sigh of relief before blocking a sword that came swinging towards his head! Exile groaned, but not from the blow he had just deflected. The cause was a spear that was aimed at his ribs as he raised his shield.

[-3 HP]

The spear that had struck had run a speed check against him. The mob's speed was higher than his own, which resulted in him taking damage. 'Damn, they're totally different. Their weapons target different stats. I can only rely on my Endurance if I block with the shield.'

When Exile glanced at the rest of the party, he saw expressions of dismay as they struggled to deal with the mounting pressure. 'This isn't going well.' Some of the Lost Warriors bore shields which they used to prevent the party from brute forcing their way through.

Exile grit his teeth before using Hearthfire and Raging Hearth together. Clay turned to stare at him with wide eyes as the auras washed over the party.

"Kill them! We have little time!" Exile raised his voice so that everyone could hear him.

Everyone's expressions became solemn when they realised Exile was giving them a warning. In the four seconds that Raging Hearth lasted for, everyone recovered to full health and cut down at least two mobs each. This achievement would have been impossible without the zone debuff. Since it indirectly increased the damage that they could deal out.

Luckily, Hearthfire was still providing everyone with +2 points to their endurance. The slight boost to their maximum health and being able to shrug off some blows that they could not before made them appreciate Exile's presence.

Clay activated one of his spells, which increased everyone's speed by +2. This seemed to be some kind of signal, as everyone else unleashed one spell after another. Although Exile did not know about their effects, he could see the damage that they wrought for himself.

'Screw it. If this place is like the other tomb, then we'll recover once we clear this area.' Exile grit his teeth as he pointed his axe at the crowd before him.

A blast of heat washed over the party as golden flames erupted from Exile's axe in a never-ending stream. He had activated Cleansing Flame, turning himself into a mobile flamethrower. Clay stared at him with wide eyes as he gulped. 'How?'

Colt forced his way through the crowd. Every mob that came into contact with the flames turned into motes of light within five seconds, only if their Authority was less than Exile's.

[Lost Soul (Weakened): 134/200]

These Lost Warriors counted towards the same Milestone as the Lost Souls. In that one attack that drained his DP to zero, Exile annihilated thirty enemies. 'Damn. this might have been better to use from the start.'

Exile grinned like a madman as he heard the others moving to fill the gap that he had created. The mobs that had become isolated due to surviving the flames got cut down in short order. The others launched a few more divine spells and specialty ones until they also ran their DP dry.

It was then that the damage they received piled up. Exile frowned as his HP hit 32/60. Out of everyone in the group, he was certain that he possessed the highest max HP. He focused on sensing the others and inhaled sharply.

Clay was hovering around 30%, while Burri only had roughly 5% of his HP left. The others were at various points between the pair. Even Un and Desa in the centre had fallen prey to enemy arrows that soared over the heads of those defending them.

The mobs soon created a wall of bodies around their formation again. Slowing their pace to a crawl. Within moments of the fresh surge of pressure, the first casualty appeared. Burri disappeared between motes of light as his health bottomed out.

"No! Burri!" Leggy's face turned red as he hacked wildly at the mobs who had killed his friend.

Leggy even resorted to kicking them, to force their bodies back a few steps. Then he saw it. Burri's Divine Orb sat still at his feet. Leggy scooped it up before retreating to his place in the formation. Desa filled the empty spot. Leaving Un alone in the centre.

Exile frowned as he glanced at Leggy. Burri's orb vanished from his hand. But not in the usual motes of light after being absorbed. 'So, I can store Divine Orbs for later use? That's good to know. I guess this means you have a chance of recovering your lost stats if a friend picks your orb up.'

This meant that guild wars in the game would be great opportunities for rapid development. However, even one guild war held the potential to ruin the loser forever. Exile wondered how such an event would look like in Pantheon. He could already picture it being chaotic beyond belief.

Clang! A sword bounced off of Exile's shield as he cut the mob down with his axe. 'What the? When did we reach the door?'