Amenhotep held the attention of the two remaining ushtabi while Mika and Kjara chipped away their health, careful not to destroy them before we were ready to deal with their little passengers.
“Ready for another one,” Kjara yelled, gesturing with her swords at the more damaged of the two.
I pushed myself to my feet and readied another Sunstrike, this time not putting quite as much mana into it until it was time to release. “Ready!”
Kjara dashed in, a whirling dervish of blades that broke the corrupted statue in half and released the wisp into the air to meet the bolt of holy flame flying from my outstretched spear.
The results of the wisp’s death weren’t any better than the first time. Their scream sent me staggering to the side.
*** Corrupted Spirit uses Cry of the Damned! ***
*** You failed to resist its effects. You are stunned! ***
The remaining ushtabi had his hands full with Amenhotep, giving the living amongst us the time needed to recover from the stun effect.
The final Corrupted Ushtabi Vessel was on its last legs, and once we were all back in action, it was a matter of seconds before it too was crushed, and its puppet-wisp burninated with holy fire.
*** Corrupted Spirit uses Cry of the Damned! ***
*** You have resisted Corrupted Spirit’s Cry of the Damned! ***
Finally, I thought as I resisted the effects of the creature’s death knell. Mika and Kjara weren’t so fortunate, but it was a pretty short stun and the subsequent xp and loot messages did a lot to lessen the sting.
*** Your party has killed 5 Corrupted Ushtabi Vessels! Your party gains 1250xp ***
*** Your party has killed 3 Corrupted Spirits! Your party gains 90xp ***
*** You have cleansed the corruption from 3 Ushtabi Guardians. You have gained 3 Divine Favor.
I knelt next to the remains of one of the statues to regain my breath and saw Mika sorting through the various chunks of the destroyed creatures, picking out the intact gemstones.
“Aww, man,” he said.
“What?” Kjara replied from where she was gathering some gems of her own.
Mika gestured at the seven remaining statues between us and the door. “We could have farmed some good xp and loot if we let the last one keep statue hopping.”
I snorted. “That’s easy for you to say, you didn’t almost get cut in half by one of the things,” I said, looking down at my new armor which was in much better condition than expected.
“Good thing magic armor seems to be a bit harder to damage than the normal stuff,” I said, tracing the edges of the jagged cut that had almost killed me.
The dýrafólk shrugged and went back to sifting.
While Kjara and Mika handled that bit of dirty work, I used Soothing Touch to bring myself and Amenhotep back to full, gaining a rank in the process. Then it was time for a nice bit of rest and a cool drink of freshly conjured water.
*** Congratulations! You have gained a better understanding of the Soothing Touch spell! Rank 6 Achieved! ***
Once the looting was done, we took the time to make some field repairs to the most damaged parts of our armor and continued onwards. Mika checked the rest of the statues for signs of corruption, but there was nothing.
With nothing at our backs to concern us, we approached the pedestal standing before the stone door. Sitting on the surface was… well, a Rubik’s cube, but instead of colored faces it had Saa hieroglyphs, and on the pedestal itself was a small stone indentation perfectly sized to fit the cube.
I picked up the cube and looked at it as I turned to my companions. “So, which one of you is good with a Rubik’s cube?”
Mika shrugged. “It looks like I can use my Disable Device skill on it, but I’ve never bothered with that sort of puzzle in real life so no clue if the hints would be enough to solve it.”
Kjara chuckled and took the cube. “I’ve got this. Want to time me?”
I looked at her a bit puzzled. “What?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just give me a minute,” she replied. She turned the cube over in her hands, studying each side.
I wasn’t quite sure what she was up to, but if she said she had it, she had it.
When she was ready, she looked up and smiled. “Ready, set, and go!” she said and began twisting and turning the faces of the cube.
There was no logic that I could see to what she was doing, but it was working. With every twist and turn the sides became more and more uniform until with one last twist, it was done.
“Ta da!” she said with a giant smile on her face.
I grinned back, pretty impressed. “How did you do that so fast?”
“When I was a kid, I saw some videos of these kids that could solve these things blindfolded, and there were competitions for speed too. I got a bit obsessed with it in junior high.”
“Nerd,” I replied jokingly. “Did you win anything?”
“Oh no,” she replied. “I can solve them, and do it fast compared to other people, but once I found out the insane hours of practice those kids in the videos were putting in, well, I moved on to other hobbies.”
I chuckled as she gestured towards the pedestal and said, “What now? Just put in in the slot?”
Mika held out his hand for the cube. “Now that the tough part is out of the way, let’s see if my skill has any hints that might show us anything we are missing.”
Kjara handed over the cube and nodded. “Go for it.”
The dýrafólk examined the cube and pedestal closely, taking out a small brush and dusting away a coating of sand from the bottom of the indentation, revealing a set of hieroglyphs that matched one of the sides of the cube.
“Well look at that,” he said, gesturing to the engraving. “Looks like the cube’s gotta go in a certain way.”
He placed the cube into the indentation and there was a loud click, and the door ground open, revealing the path forward.
…
25
A hallway led from the ushtabi room into a cavernous hall. Standing in the center of the room was a massive sarcophagus that was sized for a giant. Around it were two concentric rows of smaller sarcophagi, arranged in a pattern like the rays of the sun.
The walls of the room were covered in inscriptions of both spell glyphs and hieroglyphics repeating the theme of Asah’s betrayal by Sett.
The place would have been beautiful, a wonder of the ancient world… if not for the network of pitch black veins spreading from the central sarcophagus to cover most of the floor and walls of the chamber.
Thin rootlike growths had cut furrows through the hieroglyphs and spell-forms, eating through whatever magic had been placed upon the tomb in ages past. Larger, thicker tendrils dug into the smaller sarcophagi, likely doing naughty things to the poor dead Saa who just wanted some eternal rest.
I stopped short as we crossed the threshold and looked to my companions. “I think this might be the main tomb, so be ready.” I said, scanning the area for any obvious threats. “And we should probably avoid the ick.”
Amenhotep turned towards me and mentally said, “I sense a foulness to this place, Adept. Aset was correct when she spoke of corruption here. Let us hope that the damage can be reversed.”
A flashing icon near my gauges told me that the buffs I’d applied on the beach that morning were about to run out, so we backed out of the room and took a short break. I passed out another round of tender vittles and recast Jackal’s Tooth on our weapons.
Once my mana was full, we made our way back into the room and towards the ring of sarcophagi, careful to avoid the tendrils of darkness snaking over the floor.
The veins grew thicker and covered more of the floor the closer we got to the sarcophagi, and before long it was a constant effort to avoid stepping on them.
When we reached the outer ring, the tendrils began to pulse with a dark light, and a feeling of unease washed over me.
A sudden flash of light from above the central sarcophagus drew my
eye. The light washed away the feeling of unease that had been trying to take hold and resolved into the image of a large Saa man wearing a weird looking hat with long feathers sticking out to either side.
*** Lore (Saa Religion) check… successful! ***
My lore skill kicked in, providing the correct name for the spirit’s hat, an atef, and the fact that it was the traditional crown of the one and only Asah. It surprised me to see his image here, even if this was supposedly his tomb.
The god’s spirit towered over the sarcophagus, his head brushing the roof overhead. His muscles flexed as he struggled to contain a nebulous cloud of darkness that was attempting to escape the stone coffin beneath him. He turned his gaze to us, and his voice boomed throughout the room, “I cannot hold the corruption back any longer… be ready, for they rise.”
The outer ring of sarcophagi exploded as those interred within burst through the stone lids. The creatures appeared similar the temple guards who’d been our first challenge but were much better armed. Their bandage-wrapped forms were covered from head to toe with black, pulsing veins, and their eyes seemed to open directly into the void.
Each of the corrupted guardians was equipped with a tall golden tower shield and khopesh, each engraved with the image of Asah.
There were eight sarcophagi in the outer ring, and all eight of their former inhabitant’s eyes were turned our way.
I cast Flamestrike and threw the javelin at two of the corrupted that were close together, triggering Analyze on the closest of the creatures as soon as it was in range.
*** Corrupted Bodyguard, Level 12 ***
*** HP: 100%, SP: 100% ***
*** Conditions: Corrupted (100%) *** ***
*** Active Spells/Abilities: Voidtouched
*** Weakness: Light, Fire ***
*** Highest Statistics: Strength, Constitution ***
The blast burned away the sword arm of one of the corrupted and sent the other flying through the air into one of the sarcophagi in the center ring where it struggled to regain its feet.
The fire ate through the aged, dried bandages that held the creatures together, draining its heath by the second. A Sunstrike finished off the bodyguard before it could regain its feet, leaving six and a half to contend with.
We fell into formation, Kjara and Amenhotep forming the front line as the corrupted approached, with me in the rear and Mika off somewhere doing his ninja thing.
Amenhotep used Shockwave, catching most of the bodyguards in the blast and drawing their attention. Kjara engaged the two not affected by the tank’s taunt skill, using her speed to slip past their raised shields and score several shallow wounds on their more exposed extremities.
I extended my spear into its longer form and started laying into the corrupted who were moving to surround the Temple Guardian.
Seeing he was about to be overwhelmed, I shrank my spear and rushed forward, slamming into two of the corrupted who had made their way around the tank’s left flank and halting their advance.
I channeled a Sunstrike through my shield and watched as it blasted into one of the corrupted at close range, burning away the tendrils of darkness that spidered throughout the creature’s body and searing a hole through its chest.
It fell back, the corrupting veins recoiling from the fire as its health bar dropped by a third. I raised my spear to press the advantage but was forced back a step as the khopesh of the second bodyguard slammed into my shoulder, biting into my flesh through my armor. I took a quick step backwards to keep from being driven to my knees.
My health dropped by half and my arm spasmed from the pain. I barely held on to my spear as I took another step back and blocked the bodyguard’s follow up attacks on my shield.
As its final blow struck my shield, I felt the rush of power that accompanied my combat caster boon rush through me. I shunted that power into a Cure Wounds spell targeting myself, healing some of the damage done by the enemy’s strike but more importantly restoring my spear arm enough to counterattack.
My first and second strike skidded off my opponent’s shield, but the third snaked past its guard and scored a deep wound in the creature’s corrupted remains.
As it stepped back off of my spear, I activated Precision Strike and immediately saw a glowing circular point right below its rib cage. I thrust my spear deep into that spot and felt it meet a hint of resistance before something shattered and my spear sank the rest of the way into the mummy’s chest.
The enemy’s health bar immediately dropped to zero and it crumbled into dust.
“They have a weak point!” I yelled. “Aim for the solar plexus.”
A flash of red in my peripheral vision drew my attention to the party interface and the fact that Amenhotep and Kjara had both been wounded.
Kjara was hitting the enemy in their flank, having taken care of her original opponents, but not without injury.
I sent a Cure Wounds her way as I blocked and parried another of the wounded bodyguards that had shaken off Amenhotep’s taunt.
Since Kjara wasn’t in danger any longer, I switched focus to our tank and slowly healed him as we fought through the remaining creatures.
At one point I wondered where Mika had gotten off to but then spotted piles of dust where the armless enemy and two others had met their end at the back of the pack.
When only one of the mummies remained, I backed off and focused on healing while my companions moved in for the kill.
The golden glow of my Cure Wounds spell hit Amenhotep and exploded. A critical! The pulse of healing spread to me, Kjara, and surprisingly, the Corrupted Bodyguard.
Although instead of healing the bodyguard, the spell burned away the black veins from its body, leaving only normal, well normal for a mummy anyway, flesh.
“Wait!” I shouted, but it was too late. Mika’s daggers were already slashing through the bodyguard’s neck as Kjara’s blade pierced its side, reducing it to dust.
Kjara looked over at me curiously. “Why’d you want us to wait?” she asked.
I started to respond but a call from the center of the room stopped me cold.
“My strength is almost gone. You must cleanse the darkness before it becomes too powerful,” the spirit said, falling to its knees as it pressed down on the darkness in the tomb.
With a loud crash, the second ring of sarcophagi exploded.
There were four this time, as wide and as tall as Amenhotep and looking just as dangerous. Their massive, mummified forms were riddled with black veins, and their eyes were the same black pits that we’d seen on the bodyguards.
Unlike their lesser siblings, these wielded large polearms that looked like someone had taken the blade of a khopesh and stuck it on the end of a seven foot staff.
I used Analyze to see what sort of trouble we were in.
*** Corrupted Soulguard, Level 15 (Elite) ***
*** HP: 100%, SP: 100% ***
*** Conditions: Corrupted (100%) ***
*** Active Spells/Abilities: Voidtouched ***
*** Weakness: Light, Fire ***
*** Highest Statistics: Strength, Constitution ***
“Ouch,” I said as the creatures lumbered towards us. “Level fifteen elites!”
Amenhotep raised his shield in defiance, and Kjara ignited her blades. Mika was… well, being Mika.
As the soulguards came near, their eyes seemed to drink in the light around them and the blades of their weapons grew dark. It there was an opposite of “glowing” then that would be it.
*** Corrupted Soulguard uses Voidblade ***
Something deep inside me recoiled from those blades, and I felt the air grow colder as they approached.
The first reached melee range with Amenhotep and swung its glaive in a powerful overhead blow that forced the tank back a step and damaged him even through his shield.
I cast Sunstrike and watched as the holy fire burned the creature but did much less damage than on the bodyguards.
Kjara rushed in and slashed her s
words across the creature’s torso, her divinely powered blows severing the black veins of corruption and causing it to shudder as it recovered from the disruption to its energy.
We had a few seconds until the second soulguard would be in range, so we poured on the damage to their vanguard, slowly whittling it down.
As the second enemy arrived, I blasted the first with another Sunstrike as Mika leapt onto its back and finished it off.
Using its disintegrating form as a springboard, the dýrafólk leapt to the side.
Unfortunately for him, his escape route just happened to put him directly in the line of fire for one of the new arrivals, who lashed out at the airborne dýrafólk with its massive glaive.
Somehow Mika was able to twist so he was hit by the shaft instead of the blade of the weapon, but still went flying across the room to lay crumpled on the ground behind us, his health at barely more than five percent and a chunky twenty second stun debuff keeping him down.
Amenhotep took a step back, blocking a blow from of his opponent. He turned slightly and slammed his shield down, angling his taunt to catch all three of the remaining enemies in its cone.
I directed the tank to move backwards and to the flank, kiting the soulguard so that only one could attack him at any time.
I hit Mika with a Cure Wounds, so he was no longer vulnerable to a stiff breeze but reserved most of my remaining mana to keep Amenhotep and Kjara alive.
Kjara’s gifts, combined with those inherent in the Temple Blades, did a number on the corrupted creatures, and after way too long a slog, the second went down. Once Mika’s stun wore off and he was able to rejoin the fight, the third dropped as well.
With three of the four elites handled, I figured we were in a good enough position to test a theory. I cast Cure Wounds on the soulguard and watched it go to work.
The healing energy splashed over the enemy’s chest, and the black veins began to recede from the point of impact. The soulguard’s eyes flickered, a golden glow appearing briefly before being swallowed again by the black void.
I used Analyze and grinned.
Heart of the Void: Sosaku Online - Book 2 Page 18
