Demon Lords (World-Tree Trilogy Book 2)

by EA Hooper

“No, I picked up both of those on the Kai Run,” he explained.

  Quinn reached another crystal, this one a singular massive shape jutting from the ground. It took her a few punches to break it, and Vincent fed all the pieces into his book.

  Builder Points: 9,225

  Vincent thought he saw the gleam of a missed crystal, and when he turned, a crystalline monster punched him in the face, knocking him across the ground. He rolled to his feet and quickly Scanned the enemy.

  Crystal Golem – Monster Class: B | Age: 0 | Sex: None | Number of Offspring: None | Personality: Mindless

  Quinn leapt at the three-meter-tall enemy, striking it with multiple Breaker strikes that sent broken shards in every direction. It swung its arm in response, but she sidestepped before driving a Gravity Fist into its side. The gravitational wave blew a massive hole through the monster, but it still brought an elbow down on her head.

  That thing must be on the higher end of B-Class to survive a Gravity Fist from Quinn, Vincent noted. So, how do we kill these things? He True Scanned the golem, filtering out everything but the death triggers, and its defenses.

  Crystal Golem – Death Triggers: Full Body Total (if 30% Damaged), Lifeforce (if 100% lost) | Crystal Rating: 300 | Weakness: Breaker (100% more effective) | Resistance: Mana (50% less effective), All elements (50% less effective).

  By the time Vincent had read over the information, Quinn had recovered and smashed both of the golem’s arms before knocking off its head with a leaping kick that finally killed the monster.

  “I can’t figure these things out,” Quinn said. “Sometimes the headshot kills them, but I’ve also seen them survive without a head.”

  “You have to cause damage to thirty percent of their body,” Vincent explained. “That and losing their entire lifeforce are their only death triggers. It had some resistance to elemental and regular mana attacks too. Breaker is extra effective. Other than that, we’re better off using physical attacks.”

  Quinn nodded, then led them in the direction of Clay Mountain. They traveled for two hours, only stopping to collect crystals and fight the golems that attacked at random intervals. The monsters always appeared just outside the corner of their vision, sometimes right behind them when the players stopped to stare at square-shaped plateaus or odd-looking boulders.

  At first, only one or two golems attacked at a time, but the trio started fighting groups of three and four after spotting Clay Mountain. From a distance, the mountain almost looked like a wide, red pyramid. However, as they got closer, he noted the hilltops and valleys on its surface.

  “No one’s ever searched that mountain?” Vincent asked Quinn.

  “Loads of people,” the Pit Boss answered. “There’s a short but pretty tough dungeon that starts at a cave halfway up it. Ran it a couple times myself. As far as I know, there’re no tunnels leading below the mountain.”

  “We’ll just have to make one,” Vincent said, stopping as Quinn smashed a towering crystal. He collected the shards and fed them into his tome.

  Builder Points: 14,766

  As they neared the mountain, four more golems appeared. However, these looked to be made of a red, claylike material. Vincent True Scanned them, expecting a difference with their defenses.

  Clay Golem – Death Triggers: Full Body Total (if 40% Damaged), Lifeforce (if 100% lost) | Clay Rating: 200 | Weakness: Water (Clay Rating reduced to 100 when wet) | Resistance: Breaker (70% less effective), Physical attacks (80% less effective).

  Quinn made three Breaker Doppelgangers and charged the enemies before Vincent finished reading.

  “Wait!” he shouted too late.

  The woman and her doppelgangers struck the monsters with rapid Breaker strikes that barely dented their clay bodies. Two managed to grab doppelgangers, crushing them until they disappeared. Quinn and her last copy dodged similar attacks as they retreated back to their allies.

  “Physical attacks are less effective against them,” Vincent said. “We need to use magic.”

  The clay golems stomped in their direction, and the team blasted the enemies with Mana Cannons. Bits of red clay flew in every direction, but the monsters continued onward even as they lost arms and heads. One lost a leg, and it stretched its arms to shamble toward them.

  “Xan, use World Fountain,” Vincent told his teammate.

  The young Cleric sent a beam of light into the ground, and seconds later a fountain shot into the air, sending rainbow rain all around them. By that time, the clay monsters had reached the team, but at their level they found it easy to dance around the slow enemies.

  Vincent focused on blasting the golem that looked the most injured, but then it stretched out its arm to three times its normal length. It grabbed him, swallowing him in the clay. The monster lifted Vincent into the air and slammed him against the ground once, but he released blasts of mana that tore apart its hand, causing the monster to drop him. He fired one last Mana Cannon through an undamaged part of its body, and it finally turned to dust.

  Xan slew one golem with her Light-Drain Longsword, and Vincent barely had time to refill his mana before she killed a second. In that time, Quinn finally managed to blast the fourth golem repeatedly until its body fell apart.

  Vincent looked around, noticing the golems hadn’t dropped any items. “Still no loot? That’s a shame.”

  “We should try to find this boss quickly,” Quinn said. “The reason this world is so difficult is that the number of golems that appear increases the longer you’re on the planet. By the time we reach the hemisphere with the Jump Gate, we’ll be fighting off dozens at once.”

  Vincent pulled out his Builder’s Tome, willing it to show him pages with tunnels. The cost to cut a short tunnel through the ground didn’t seem expensive, but he knew it’d add up quickly if they took too long to find the boss.

  So, under the mountain? I’d assume closer to the middle.

  He imagined a downward-sloping tunnel cutting a hundred meters through the mountain, and the book displayed a cost of 3150 BP. The moment he accepted, an indenture appeared at the base of the mountain. An invisible force dug through the ground, taking less than a minute to carve the tunnel he’d imagined in his head.

  “This might be my favorite item ever,” Vincent said, smiling.

  Xan cast Clarity and led the way into the freshly made passage. They continued all the way to the end and came to a stop.

  “I had hoped my tunnel would hit the boss’s lair,” Vincent said in disappointment. “Guess I should branch out a bit.”

  He imagined a series of smaller paths splitting from that location, all of them curving deeper underground. After paying another three thousand Builder Points, the passages appeared just like they had looked on the pages of his tome.

  Xan sent Light Butterflies down each way, and one showed an open cavern on their map.

  “That’s got to be it,” Quinn said, racing down the tunnel.

  Vincent and Xan followed the woman, only to find she’d jumped from the opening at the bottom of the tunnel and into the cavern. Vincent noticed floating candles with different-colored flames lighting the chamber below, but he didn’t think about them long before jumping in with Xan.

  He dropped about thirty meters, and his Gravity Shield absorbed the impact as he landed. The team stared at the monster near the back wall that looked like it barely fit in the cavern.

  The human-shaped stone creature sat with its legs crossed. Six long arms worked diligently, summoning stone, clay, and crystal. It dipped the matter into one of two nearby pools of world magic, shaped them into golems, and then teleported them away. Its stone head had no face, and Vincent couldn’t tell if it could see them or not.

  With the boss distracted by its work, the Ranger took a moment to use True Scan while sorting out the less useful information.

  Eosin the Serene (World Boss) – Monster Class: A | Ageless | Sex: None | Respawn Time: One In-Game Day | Personality: Tranquil (Additional Traits: Displeased if provoked, Irritated
by intruders on its world, Angered if intruders reach Greenfield). | Challenge Rating: +6,800% | Triggers Disabled (will only attack if provoked) | Unique Players Slain: 0 | Times Defeated: 0 (Unique Token still available) | Death Triggers: Full Body Total (if 30% damaged), Lifeforce (if 100% lost). | Material Rating: 300.

  “Can it see us?” Quinn asked.

  “It won’t attack unless we do,” Vincent said. “Looks pretty strong too. Eosin’s only death triggers are thirty percent body damage or losing its lifeforce. Its body is just as tough as hardened-verasteel. This’ll be a hard fight for sure.”

  “No, it won’t,” Xan said, stepping forward. “Let me handle this.”

  The young Cleric stepped into the pool of world magic beside the boss and made dozens of Light-Drain Butterflies. The phantasmal creations scattered across the room, but they didn’t touch Eosin just yet. Xan drank the world magic and continued to make more butterflies until they filled the chamber. Lastly, she made two Light-Drain Longswords.

  Quinn sighed. “So I don’t even get to help?”

  “Damage dealt to monsters affects their lifeforce too,” Vincent noted. “I’ve noticed Xan’s light-drain spells are great at finishing off enemies I’ve weakened. We’ll just hit it hard and let Xan finish it.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Quinn said, getting ready. “Guess I’ll show you a new spell I made for the arena.”

  Xan took a fighting stance by the legs of the boss. “Ready?”

  “Yeah,” Quinn said, raising her fists.

  Vincent pointed at the World Boss while equipping a mega-ether to his other hand. He waited until Xan swiped her blades before rapidly unleashing his Void Guns. Beside him, Quinn punched at the air lightning-fast, bombarding Eosin with projectile Breaker magic that Vincent Scanned.

  Gatling Breaker (Fighter Only) – Mana Usage: Low+ | Sends a projectile Breaker attack through the air at the speed the user punches. This attack includes all upgrades the user has added to their original Breaker.

  Quinn’s repeated attacks left small craters across the World Boss’s body before it could even begin to respond. Two of Eosin’s six hands raised to the ceiling, and all the candles burned brighter before sending multi-colored fireballs at Vincent and Quinn. They ducked and sidestepped fireballs from every direction as they drank ether.

  With the candles distracting two of the players, Eosin focused on Xan. Two of its hands waved, creating a forcefield that stopped the Cleric from continuing her attacks. The lower hands swung from both sides and tried to crush the girl between them, but Xan leapt away in time. The arms didn’t delay in swinging outward, knocking her across the room. Eosin’s attack broke Xan’s Light Shield, but her Paladin Armor appeared to protect her from the candles’ bombardment.

  “Vince, the shield!” Xan shouted.

  The Ranger ruptured Eosin’s forcefield with Void Gun before turning his attention back to the candles. He equipped Guardian’s Blade and used small waves of ghostfire to destroy the candles one by one. Quinn knocked them out even faster with her Gatling Breaker, and soon only the glow of the world magic pools kept the room lit.

  With Eosin’s forcefield down, Xan’s butterflies swarmed the World Boss. Chunks of stone crumbled from its body as Xan’s creations ripped light from its body. In a last-ditch effort, Eosin brought all six hands together, creating a ring of intense light. Vincent quickly Scanned the ring as the underground room started to tremble violently.

  Ring of Regret – Mana Usage: Very High | This spell draws world magic for twenty seconds before releasing that power in every direction. If the user is stunned or killed, the magic fades back into the world.

  “Kill it! Kill it now!” Vincent shouted in a panic. He chugged a mega-ether while firing Void Guns at the World Boss.

  Quinn continued to nail Eosin with Gatling Breakers, and Xan dove at its legs, swiping it repeatedly with her Light-Drain Longswords. Her butterflies had already doubled in number by that time, and the boss’s body crumbled even faster.

  Just as a flickering light appeared at the center of the glowing ring, the boss’s six hands fell to its sides, and the ring vanished. A sad hum sounded from the World Boss, and then Eosin crumbled into nothing.

  Quinn sighed, glancing at Vincent. “What was that ring of light?”

  “A suicidal attack,” Vincent told her.

  “Thought so,” she replied.

  Xan grabbed the boss’s items, then hurried back to her teammates. “So, if the boss is dead, we won’t have to fight as many golems, right?”

  “Guess not,” Quinn said. “Other than the teleporting golems, the only other monsters I know of are in the dungeons. It should be easy to reach the Jump Gate.”

  “You know what that means?” Vincent asked.

  Quinn looked at his smiling face and sighed. “Let me guess, you want to waste time gathering crystals?”

  Vincent chuckled in reply. “It’s great to have you back on the team, Quinn.”

  The Fighter rolled her eyes, but it looked like she was holding back a grin.

  Chapter 11 | Year 93

  Player: Vincent the Wanderer

  Location: Kardak (World) | Greenfield (Region)

  Class: Ranger

  Subclass: Mage

  Vitality: Lv 186

  Spirit*: Lv 195

  Resolve: Lv 178

  Perception*: Lv 201

  Agility: Lv 186

  Strength: Lv 185

  The trio walked across ground made of green clay on their way to the Jump Gate. They had only come across a few golems since killing Eosin, and the ones they found were wandering about aimlessly. With few threats to slow the team down, they traveled in a zigzag pattern so Vincent could harvest crystals.

  They stopped at one more crystal structure within sight of the Jump Gate, and Quinn shattered it with an unenthusiastic Breaker-strike. Vincent gleefully picked up the pieces, feeding them into his tome.

  Builder Points: 38,910

  “Alright, on to Ophire,” Quinn said, stepping onto the rune-covered daistone. “I actually haven’t seen it yet. The only times I made it to this gate, I jumped to Lonnor instead to farm their cathedral dungeons. I’ve heard Ophire is the most difficult part of this route, though. A few of the best pit fighters I know gave up trying to reach Styxis because of that world.”

  “They couldn’t take a branching path and circle around it?” Xan asked.

  “The Jump Gates get kind of weird around these parts,” Quinn explained. “A lot of them, like Lonnor, take you to worlds that only have a Jump Gate leading back. The next-fastest route would take a couple months longer and requires crossing nine worlds.”

  Vincent joined them on the Jump Gate, and the team activated their crystals at the same time. As they flew through space, he eyed the barren-looking City-World just a couple of jumps away where Jim was waiting. He even noted the three Dead-Worlds hanging on branches above Styxis that he’d heard about.

  One of those is Lavrin, the only world with a Jump Gate that takes players to the high-tier. I can’t believe how far we’ve come. I bet we’ll be fighting angels within a decade.

  Too late, Vincent realized he hadn’t Scanned Ophire, a mist-covered world, as they neared it. The haze surrounded him, and he barely saw the blue glow of the Jump Gate until he landed on it. Xan cast Clarity, but the team only saw trees and dirt in the short distance beyond the platform.

  “Am I going to have to use Clarity the entire time we’re on this world?” Xan questioned.

  “Don’t you regain mana slightly faster than it costs to maintain it?” Quinn asked. “The real problem is trying to navigate an entire world covered in mist. Even with Clarity, this looks annoying.”

  “I’ll ask Jim about this one,” Vincent said, sending his oldest friend a private chat request.

  >Jim: Yo, I can’t chat for long. I’m at the bar with my ex-wife, trying to work out something.

  >Vincent: Oh my god, Jim. You’re not trying to seduce her, are you? That’ll only
cause you more problems.

  >Jim: If all you’re going to do is criticize me, I’m ending this call.

  >Vincent: Hang on, I just had a quick question.

  >Jim: I figured so. You’re always calling for advice like I’m your game guide or something. Hell, you know more about the World-Tree than me. I should start spamming you with questions and see how you like it.

  >Vincent: I’d love to help you out. What do you want to know about? Runes? I could walk you through a step-by-step guide on basic inscriptions and the frequencies for them.

  >Jim: No, no, stop. You’re already killing my buzz. Just ask your question, the ex can tell I’m distracted.

  >Vincent: We made it to Ophire, but I forgot to Scan it. Are there any dangers we should know about? Oh, and is there an easy way to navigate it and find the Jump Gate?

  >Jim: Ugh—dang, man. I don’t remember. I was super drunk when Farah and Finn took me across Ophire. We three were the only ones in the caravan that survived. I remember monsters kept snatching up people. Something started dragging me away, but Farah saved my drunk ass.

  >Vincent: Can you ask her for me?

  >Jim: Not a good time. Farah just asked me if I was private chatting another woman.

  Crow-Foot Jim has ended your private chat.

  Vincent sighed, shaking his head.

  “Jim wasn’t any help, was he?” Quinn asked.

  “Nope,” Vincent replied. “He was drunk during this leg of the journey. All he remembers are monsters dragging people away into the mist.”

  “Well, that sounds horrifying,” Xan said.

  “Nah, we should be fine,” Quinn told the girl. “With your Clarity spell, Vincent’s Perception, and my Agility, I don’t think any of us has to worry about getting dragged off.”

  “Yeah, but which way do we go?” Xan wondered aloud. “Finding Jump Gates is difficult enough when they’re visible. We only know it has to be facing Styxis. That leaves us with an entire mist-covered hemisphere to search.”

  Vincent checked his compass. “I say we head that northeast, since that quarter of the world is facing Styxis. I’ll use my Builder’s Tome to elevate myself above the mist every now and then to check for anything of interest.”