Sigil Online: Paragons

by Jeff Sproul

  “No one ever fought it head to head,” said Laura. “The few times it’s been seen, it used the monster to drive players off. I guess everyone thought it was weak, since they didn’t actually fight it.”

  “Looks like everyone was wrong,” said Seth. “but at least It’s not controlling Saros right now. Which means, Saros isn’t being empowered. If Paladin can hold out against the White Weevil, we can keep up our attacks and end this.”

  Some of the attacks had slowed since the arrival of the White Weevil, but now that Paladin was engaged with the terrible creature, many combatants were renewing their attacks on Saros.

  “What if it beats Paladin?” asked Riley. “If it gains any control on Saros, I don’t think we’re going to be able to withstand its attacks, even with Shell’s aura.”

  “Paladin is without a doubt, the highest level here,” said Laura. “He’s also our best one-versus-one fighter.”

  “Is there any way we can support him?” asked Riley.

  Laura looked over to him, then looked down to Riley’s hands. “You can. Most of our damage dealers in this fight, would just get in the way, if you ask me. You can buff him and boost his attacks.”

  “Could you grab the White Weevil’s powers, too?” asked Seth. “Maybe give Paladin a double-boost?”

  “I’ve never tried stealing two monsters’ essences, and then boosting the same person. I can try!” said Riley.

  “I’ll...uh. I’ll watch your back,” said Laura.

  Riley looked over to her. “That didn’t sound too convincing.”

  “Hey, that thing looks mean as hell. Just make sure you keep your distance when you steal its power,” said Laura.

  Riley looked around the area and thought about the other players in the opposite street. He couldn’t think of anyone else with support powers that would be able to help Paladin. Brenda could heal him, but what if White Weevil noticed, and attempted to intercept the heal? Erica could use vines, but they were all the way up on the roof. Todd could move the earth, but only in usually large-segments. He then thought about Red Shotgun. In close-quarter, she was pretty lethal. But was she on par with Paladin?

  “Do you think Red Shotgun would be able to help him?” asked Riley.

  “She has a lot of brute strength, but not a lot of dexterity,” said Seth. “I think the White Weevil could overpower her.”

  Riley sighed. “Damnit. Alright. Let’s do this,” he said and stood up.

  “Right behind you,” said Laura.

  “I need a portal to get to the roof behind Paladin!” Riley called to Parviz.

  Parviz looked over to Riley, then up to the roof. He was still working with Todd to jab concrete lances into the monster. “Alright!” Parviz said, as his hands moved around, casting a red and blue portal. The red one between him and Riley, while the blue one appeared overtop the roof of the building to Paladin’s back.

  “Thanks!” Riley said, as he stepped into the portal and then dropped right to the roof. He found his feet hitting the stone of the roof, and a weird sense of vertigo overwhelmed him for a moment. He shook his head and looked around to get his bearings. He took a few steps forward, managing not to fall over in the process. “That’s weird,” he said.

  Laura dropped down behind him. “You afraid of heights?” she asked, seemingly unaffected.

  Riley looked over to her and shook his head again. “No, no, I think I’m good.” He turned and saw Paladin fighting with the rare spawn. In the background, everyone was still throwing attacks at Saros. Since the White Weevil wasn’t controlling it, its jaw dropped and began pulling in energy for another rapid-fire attack on one of the streets. Its head turned and directed its attention to the street Seth was in. The energy in its mouth flashed and hundreds of purple beams fired into the street below, pelting it with micro-explosions.

  But Shell had been on guard and aware of the situation. His shield cast out and mitigated the damage of the blasts and healed anyone taking damage. The healing wasn’t rapid, but would slowly bring everyone to full health.

  From the adjacent rooftop, Riley watched Paladin solo the White Weevil. He waited and followed their movements. They kept changing positions as they clashed and swung at each other. Neither one of them seemed to be causing any significant damage. Most of the time, their attacks were being blocked or dodged entirely. To Riley, they were equally matched. Which meant, he needed to tip the balance in Paladin’s favor.

  Riley was still holding a helping of Saros’s essence. He was going to head over to the other street before the White Weevil appeared on the scene. Now, he had a score to settle. He was going to do whatever it took to ensure Paladin won this fight.

  Riley threw his left spike out. “Paladin, buff!” he called out, only after it had been sent on its way. He didn’t want to risk alerting the bug too soon, in case it was intelligent enough to intercept an incoming buff. Of course, since Paladin was entirely armored, it wasn’t going to be easy to land the hook.

  Paladin jumped back and brought his right arm up. The spear-tip caught on the back of his right hand, and went taut. The essence began to flow and the White Weevil struck at Paladin while he was receiving the buff. Paladin blocked and thrust with his shield, keeping the White Weevil at bay. Seconds later, Paladin’s eyes took on the dark purple glow, as he was empowered with the world boss’s essence.

  The spear-tip detached and flung back to Riley. Without hesitation, Paladin renewed his attacks on the White Weevil. Now that Paladin was empowered, his sword struck with a crackle of dark purple energy. The same for when he blocked with his shield.

  “It’s working!” Riley said.

  “You think you can steal the Weevil’s power?” asked Laura. “It’s moving around a lot. It seemed to notice that Paladin was distracted, too. I think it’s definitely more intelligent than most rare spawns.”

  “The tip of the cord won’t hook a hard surface,” said Riley. “It struck off of Paladin’s armor earlier. I don’t see any soft spots on the White Weevil. There’s been monsters we’ve fought where the hook won’t take, like the tentacles on that Plantra the other day.”

  “That’s true,” said Laura. “So what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to keep Paladin buffed-up until he can end the fight. He’s got the advantage now. Even if he can hold his own, the others can defeat Saros.”

  “If Saros attacks with his hand again, Paladin won’t be able to block it. We don’t even know if Saros has a second phase,” said Laura.

  Riley looked over to her. “It’s been using different attacks all throughout the fight. It might not have any more than a single phase, but it could change things up whenever.”

  “So we’re just going to sit here?” asked Laura.

  “Got a better idea?” he asked.

  Laura shook her head. “Not really, just seems like a waste. Guess I’ll take some shots at the big-bad up in the sky.” She brought her revolver up and spun the chamber. She didn’t have any more of Chase’s dice to increase the critical chance, but she fired a single shot anyway, straight up at Saros’s face.

  The world-boss’s right eye was still closed. The movements of its head kept its other eye mostly protected. Its arms, neck, and even its face, would drip dark blood from time to time, from the numerous attacks assailing it.

  When another five minutes passed, Paladin’s empowerment came to an end.

  Laura slapped Riley’s shoulder. “You’re up, vamp Saros again and boost Paly over there.”

  Riley looked to both sides, to see which hand was the easier target. He aimed for the one on his left and send the cord all the way over. Luckily, the distance he could throw the cords was relatively long, but he had a feeling that the width of the plaza was about the limit of his range. He stole a single dose of Saros’s power and directed his attention back to Paladin. He watched the two fight. So far, he hadn’t seen Paladin use a healing item. Players couldn’t see other player’s health, unless they formed a group. In a ‘battlezon
e’ situation like they were in, it wasn’t practical to form a raid party, as it would take too much time away from the battle.

  Riley tensed, sensing his moment to strike. He threw his cord out and as it traveled half the distance, he shouted again. “Buff!”

  Paladin jumped back and lifted his arm, just as he’d done before.

  The White Weevil lunged in for an attack, but feinted and dropped to the ground. The insect swung its leg and kicked at Paladin’s feet. Paladin hadn’t taken a strong standing posture, and promptly fell to the roof as Riley’s spear-tip flew past Paladin’s raised fist.

  A skeletal white hand snatched the end of the cord.

  Riley’s eyes widened and watched as the White Weevil drove the spear-tip into one of the tiny spaces between the segments of its arm.

  “No no no!” Riley gasped and pulled his arm back, willing the spear-tip to unhook. But his powers weren’t fully ‘will-based,’ and certain constants had to be met. The essence flowed through the left cable and rushed into the White Weevil’s body.

  Laura stood up and aimed at the white bug, firing off normal shots.

  The White Weevil shrugged off the bullets, as Paladin swung with his arm from the ground.

  The Weevil jumped up, avoiding Paladin’s blade, before landing back on the roof and shoving its food down to the energized hilt of Paladin’s sword, keeping it on the ground. By that point, it was too late. The dark black eyes of the Weevil gained a dark purplish aura, which then encompassed its entire body. It released the cable, which then flung back to Riley’s hand. The Weevil kicked at Paladin, but he managed to block with his shield. The Weevil’s hands came down and gripped both sides of his shield and hoisted him up into the air by it. Paladin released his grip on the energy-based armament so that he could free himself, but the moment he did, the Weevil kicked again, square into his already dented armor.

  Paladin flew back half a dozen feet, and toppled over the edge of the roof and fell to the street below.

  “Paladin!” Riley called out, his hands gripping the stone railing and looking down to the street. Paladin’s fall had created a small crack in the cement, but he was still moving. The fall hadn’t killed him, but it had temporarily taken him out of the fight with the Weevil.

  Riley looked over to the other roof.

  The White Weevil stood there, staring back at him. Then, its arms lifted into the air and Saros’s head stopped moving.

  Chapter 19: The Hunt

  Saros, The Interdimensional Terror, loomed above the skyline. Its portal a perpetual backdrop. The combatants in the streets below, were throwing everything they had at it, even as it stopped moving entirely. A dozen of Laura’s copies continued to stab into its arms as a multitude of attacks riddled its damaged body. The health bar above its head indicated it was at roughly twelve percent health.

  Several of the nearby players had watched Paladin square-off with the White Weevil, but since Saros was so low on health, they redoubled their efforts on bringing it down.

  When Saros suddenly ceased moving, many of the players assumed it had glitched—which would’ve been an extremely rare phenomena, or perhaps it was preparing another attack? But Riley, Laura, and a handful of others who had taken notice of the Weevil, realized what was truly happening.

  “Run!” Riley shouted as loud as he could.

  “Take cover!” Laura turned, yelling down to the nearby street to her right.

  The Weevil’s arms pulled back, causing Saros’s head to lift into the air. The interdimensional monster’s jaw lowered and a dark purple glow ebbed from its throat.

  Several players who had noticed the Weevil’s presence, turned and ran.

  Riley turned and rushed over to get to the other side of the rooftop. He heard shots ring out, which could’ve only been Laura’s pistol firing the remaining bullets she had, into the Weevil’s body.

  Riley grabbed the stone railing and looked down into the mid-street to see Shell, crouched on the ground below.

  “Shell! The White Weevil has control of Saros!”

  Shell looked up to the roof. His eyes were wide. “Damnit,” he muttered.

  “We need your shield!” Riley shouted down.

  Shell didn’t respond. He lifted a hand and tapped at the air several times. Something appeared in his hand, but Riley couldn’t get a good look at it before Shell threw it into his mouth. He swallowed, and a moment later, he lifted his hands into the air and stood up. His eyes went green as the shield emanated out from him, into the nearby streets. The green glow the the aura within the shield was more dense than it had been previously.

  The shield couldn’t have materialized soon enough, as a dark purple beam, the width of Saros’s gaping maw, fired down into the street where Red Shotgun and other players had been fighting it from.

  The beam tore into the street, creating a deep fissure straight through the middle.

  Riley watched from the roof of one of the center-structures. The purple beam caught several players entirely. He couldn’t tell from the brief-glance, who all it had reached. Players were caught in it for several seconds, but managed to pull away before being killed. Others, weren’t so lucky, as once their bodies disappeared into the purple light, they were never seen again.

  Once the beam had made its way up the street, it cut into one of the center-structures in the middle of the plaza. Riley watched as several-hundred feet away, the beam destroyed the building utterly. Where the monster’s blood had once dripped and tore into the concrete and nearby structures, this beam was vaporizing and eliminating almost everything in its path. It was just like the glow mine all over again.

  The beam reached the other street, and with a sweep of the Weevil’s arms, the beam traveled and broke the street in half.

  Riley saw Erica and the orb-creator run away from their makeshift catapult, seconds before the beam overtook it. Everyone in that street had been given precious seconds of warning, compared to the other side of the plaza.

  Despite the extra time, several players were still wounded or caught entirely in the beam as it zig-zagged through the street, tearing into buildings.

  When the beam reached the bottom of the street, the purple stream of energy dissipated.

  Shell’s protective barrier hadn’t saved everyone but it might’ve prevented further death. Moments after the beam had stopped, the protective field disappeared. Riley looked to the street that Seth and the others had been in. He couldn’t tell where anyone was. There was so much destruction and debris and buildings falling apart.

  Riley turned around, and saw Laura looking around the street as well. “Chase! Carla!” she yelled. There was no immediate response.

  Riley looked to the other rooftop where Paladin and the White Weevil had been fighting, but the white insect, was gone.

  “Where did it go?” Riley called out. “Did you see it?”

  Laura looked over to him, worry for her friends was all over her face. She glanced to the other rooftop and then back to him, shaking her head. “I didn’t see it, I was too focused on the beam.”

  Saros’s head moved freely, just as it had been doing before. It looked into the wrecked streets with its single eye.

  Then, a burst of red energy flew over Riley’s head, and right into the face of the interdimensional monster. The sound of a shotgun echoed from behind.

  Riley turned around and saw Red Shotgun walking towards him. Then, Paladin dropped down behind her, just as a blue portal closed from above. “Power me up! We gotta bring it down, now!”

  Riley turned and threw his cord out to one of the nearby arms. Red renewed her assault on the monster, with a better vantage on pelting its face with her attacks.

  Paladin strode by. “Where’s the bug?” he asked in a heavy tone.

  “It’s gone, it just vanished,” said Laura, while Riley busied himself with stealing Saros’s essence.

  “Damnit!” Paladin yelled. “No matter, let’s finish this!” He released his grip on his sword and shiel
d and enlarged them and held them out a distance from his body, so that he could strike directly at Saros.

  Riley empowered Red first, then Paladin. He used his high vantage point to empower the remaining fighters who were still on the streets below. Many of them were having difficulty finding a place to attack from, with the deep fissures cut into the streets. Minute by minute, more attacks from the streets below, slammed into Saros’s face and neck. If they couldn’t hit it there, they went for the two arms that continued to grip the nearby rooftops.

  As Riley empowered anyone he could see, he kept an eye out for the White Weevil. He half expected it to pop up and assail the fighters down in the streets, but he saw no sign of the pale insect.

  It wasn’t long before Saros mounted another of its regular attacks. It shot down rapid-blasts of purple energy, which were mostly mitigated due to Riley’s empowering of nearby players, and Shell’s protective aura.

  Despite the fall in damage output and viable fighters, the amassed players were able to cut into Saros’s remaining hit points over the next half-hour. With the last ten percent of its health, Saros’s attacks came more frequently, which required more effort from Shell and Riley, as well as Brenda who was healing with her bolts, and Carla who was sending out more healing lotuses than explosive ones.

  It was hard to tell who landed the last hit, but as it was made, Saros’s head reeled back as its hit points reached zero. Its fingers released simultaneously from the rooftops it had seized. Its serpentine head and gaping maw fell back into the portal. Its arms followed, and then its fingers dipped behind the surface of the dark portal, which slowly shrunk and then disappeared from sight. When it did, there was a bright flash as numerous streaks of white light shot out towards all the players below.

  One of those white lights went to Riley. It hit him in the chest, but there was no damage or detrimental effect or anything. He blinked and quickly brought his hand up to check his status window. Did he get a buff, or something? Was there no loot?

  He opened up his character screen and noticed right away why there wasn’t any loot. When he’d started the day, he’d been level 30. But now…