by G. Akella
Your Toughness skill has increased to 15%.
"Worm! Did you really think you could destroy the master's altar and get away with it?" the necromancer hissed into Max's face, squeezing his throat. "Or were you hoping that you couldn't be found? Then allow me to disappoint you—it was I who had destroyed this shrine!"
Shoving the warrior's head away, the necromancer scoffed with disdain, dusted off his gloves of black leather, and stepped away. Bastard! Max was choking on helpless fury—the state of induced paralysis wouldn't even let him spit into the asshole's slick, snooty mug.
"Or maybe you thought Kirana would help you?" G'Larnus snorted, stopping beside Alyona, who was likewise supine, and peering into her face. "Yet another disappointment! Your two-faced mistress is rather far from here, and there's nothing she can do for you now. Such a pity..." The necromancer brushed his hand against the elven maiden's cheek, who could only glare back at him with pure hatred. "I like this one, she's got spunk," he said, studying the young woman, then proclaimed loudly, "I'll take her for myself..."
"But, master, you promised her to me!" the commander of the bunched-up group of dark elves took a half-step forward.
From the man's demeanor, it was obvious his top priority was to not let his authority slip.
"And I will keep my promise," the necromancer nodded. "You shall have her... In a few days. The other three females should be enough for the lot of you in the meantime. As for the rest, chain them and throw them behind bars," he ordered, gesturing at the scattered male bodies. "I'll destroy the altar, and you will do the rest. Break the statues, then dump the debris in the swamp. Oh, and remember," he turned around, pointing at the Raven leader. "The girls had better be in marketable condition in three days' time. I know your tricks! Master doesn't like it when blabbering idiots are laid upon his altar. They're all two-lived and bound to this area, so we'll do the ritual right here."
"Guys! I'm still inside... I'm going to try and break that stick of his," the rogue's voice was barely audible, but gave Max a sense of hope just the same. "Masyanya! Ladies! Run over to the stone, remove your bind spots, and try to die. The lake! You can drown in the lake! Max, I... We need to distract that scumbag and try to Silence him—even for ten seconds."
"Ladies, I beg you not to try and be heroes!" even mental messaging was a struggle for Max. "Luffy, the dryad's gift... Use it against the Ravens... Bonbon, me and you got the necro..."
"Ready? Then I'm off! Remember me kindly, Masyanya!" Donut yelped in a strangely ecstatic tone, and dashed out from inside the shrine.
The shadow darting behind the necromancer's back caught the PKing party that had arrived with the boss unawares. Slipping out of stealth, Donut proceeded to land several blows at the staff sticking out of the ground, easing the pressure on Max's shoulders. The necromancer's reaction was near instant—spinning in place, he hurled a Clot of Darkness at the rogue, knocking him back nearly a dozen feet. With an absurd flailing of the arms, the assassin fell to the ground and was motionless. His avatar in the party had turned gray.
"Bastards!!!"
A large crimson ball exploded right in the Ravens' midst, turning instantly into a wall of flame.
A chorus of horrific cries rang out in the meadow before the shrine as the elves were being burned alive. G'Larnus turned around toward the mage, muttering something, but Max didn't let him finish his spell. After popping a health potion and spitting out blood, the warrior Charged at the dark mage right from his supine position, and struck right at his hateful mug, putting all the strength and fury he could muster into the blow. A moment later, Bonbon appeared at the necromancer's side. Max noted with satisfaction that his blade had left a dark-red mark on the asshole's pale skin. He realized full well that they had no chance of actually putting down the boss—indeed, the necromancer's life hadn't moved a hair—but they could keep him busy long enough for the girls to remove their bind points. From the corner of his eye Max watched as Luffy hurled spell after spell, their potency multiplied by ten, at the dark elf scum writhing on the ground. The mage looked terrible indeed—a true master of fire. Rexar was at his side, loosing arrow after arrow to accompany strings of choice obscenities. The Ravens were done—even with their far superior level advantage, the very first AoE fireball had taken half of their group out of order. And the rest were being finished off by the mage in truly spectacular fashion. He was taking licks as well—Max could clearly see a couple of arrows sticking out of his chest—but his feet were firm on the ground. Max glanced back and thanked all the gods that the girls had been smart enough to avoid any foolish heroics—all four were running behind the shrine. Interrupting G'Larnus' cast with a kick just as the boss had shaken off his stun, the warrior bashed the butt of his bastard sword into the target's mouth, twisted with hatred.
"Eat shit!" he growled, taking satisfaction in the sound of teeth being shattered by steel.
So what if the injuries inflicted were insignificant? Max was certain now that this haughty scumbag wouldn't soon forget this fight. And he didn't care one bit about the torture that awaited him, because Alyona was able to get away! He managed to land one last blow to the loathsome beast before G'Larnus knocked both him and Bonbon several yards back. Max passed out upon hitting the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that Luffy, Rexar and Bonbon were already dead. The sword had slipped out of his hand when he lost consciousness, but what good would a sword do him now? He wasn't even sure why he was still alive. The warrior struggled up to his feet as the necromancer made his slow approach. The boss looked truly terrifying, his sleek groomed face sporting cuts and bruises, his eyes burning red with fury, his mouth bloody...
"You thought I was just going to let you die, worm?" G'Larnus hissed. "Oh, no, no, no! You and your miserable buddies will die a hundred deaths, a thousand deaths!"
"I see you've still got teeth left? Come closer, I'll fix that," Max scoffed through the pain, beckoning the necromancer forward.
A double wave of healing fell upon his shoulders, giving him chills—not from relief, but fear. "What the hell?!!" he bellowed into the channel, seeing that the girls' avatars were still active. No... he thought. All these deaths... Will they have been in vain?!
"Leave him alone, you vampire!" came a shout. It was Alyona, appearing from behind the shrine.
Max had never seen the young woman like this—her red mane of hair wild and unkempt, her nostrils flaring, her green eyes burning with so much rage and loathing that even the warrior felt a bit ill a ease.
"Just you wait, bitch! I'll get to you in a second!" G'Larnus snarled at her.
"Pick up the corpses of those you came here with, vampire, and..." What followed was a colorful description of what the necromancer should do with the Ravens' blackened bodies.
"Alyona! God dammit! Run!" Max groaned, Charging into the necromancer to distract him.
Alas, he was weaponless, so the expected one-and-a-half-second stun didn't take. G'Larnus knocked the warrior back easily, then rushed toward the young woman and... came tumbling to the ground, struck in the chest by an arrow that came from the direction of the forest. Leaping back to his feet, the boss threw his staff overhead and roared some kind of spell, but then a second, third and fourth arrows caused him to stagger. The darkness that was starting to form over the head of the staff vanished. G'Larnus turned and began a hasty retreat just as a warrior in resplendent plate suit rode out from behind the shrine on an enormous boar, and knocked the necromancer to the ground with a mighty shield bash. Another fighter in the same getup rode up behind him, skewered the disavowed's body to the ground, then hopped easily out of the saddle, and waved in the direction of the forest.
Here comes the cavalry from behind the hill, Max thought, suddenly realizing that no more than five minutes had passed since the battle began. He gave a tortured smile to the girls as they walked toward him, lowering himself to the ground in exhaustion. He also realized that there wouldn't be any torture in his future, given that G'Larnus h
ad his hands full—his level 400 looked mighty low as compared to his current adversaries: the goddess at level 750, and her level 500 companions. It was a pity that the others had died, sure, but all they had lost were levels. They could always gain back the experience, even if they had to linger on the island a few extra weeks.
"Max! Max!" Alyona knelt down over him, turning his head this way and that as she examined his face. "Does it hurt?"
"Actually, it's quite pleasant," he smiled with bloodied lips, and noted with some surprise that the faces of the women around him were totally devoid of tears.
Just the opposite, their eyes shone with a strange kind of resolve. That and something else—something he couldn't quite comprehend.
"Silly!" Alyona flashed a tortured smile of her own, then turned toward the scene unfolding in front of the shrine. "I hope that bastard's death will be painful," she whispered with animosity.
"Alyona, that's not..." Max began to object, then suddenly realized that he was desiring the very same thing. In fact, the same vicious desire was on clear display on the faces of Masyanya, Ellanca and Helliona, as they bit their lips and looked on with unnerving bloodlust.
Damn! it finally dawned on him. Kirana is the goddess of vengeance for a reason—the air is practically scintillating with her power... The illusion faded suddenly, as the knight in shining black armor blurred for a moment and transformed into a raven-haired woman of medium stature. The goddess' companions—all twelve riders that had poured onto the meadow—remained as they were.
"This is the end of the line for you, rat," the goddess spoke in a sonorous voice, looking down on the necromancer pinned to the ground with spears. "Do you know what happens to rats in a dark basement when they get caught?"
"You bitch!" he rasped back at her. "So you managed to crawl out of your ditch, have you? But you're too late! Master has already collected all the power he needs, and it won't be long now till you're all squirming on his altar! In fact, this whole shitty forest will be nothing but a swamp in a few years' time."
"Scitti, rip out the bastard's tongue—I've grown weary of listening to his gutterspeak."
"Yes, mistress," said a stocky level 450 warrior. Pinning the necromancer down with a knee, he threw a mighty punch in the jaw with a fist encased in black metal.
Max looked away from what happened next. It was one thing to loathe somebody; it was quite another to observe them being viciously tortured.
"Time to restore old traditions, brothers. I hate that in our absence a part of our home has become breeding ground for random scum crawling out of the Gray Frontier," the goddess said contemplatively, then nodded at the tall fair-haired elven female just as the latter was removing her helm. "Laerness, give this rat the triffid's treatment. Infinite loop. Let him experience firsthand his master's mercy. As for the two-lived that came with him, find them and pass them through five loops, then throw them into the Gray Frontier. Once done with all that, bring the house in order and put up a guard! I'm going to be busy for a while."
The raven-haired beauty looked around herself, then threw up her hands. Four pillars of dazzling green light struck down from the skies, infusing with color the gray icons of their fallen companions. To Max's shock, their levels weren't reduced.
"Dooonuuut!" Masyanya yelped, dashing toward the flabbergasted rogue on the ground, and catching him in a hug.
"What the devil have y'all been up to..." Bonbon groused as he climbed up to his feet. His eyes darted around and fell on Kirana standing not ten yards away. "Hart on a pogo stick!..." he muttered, still as a pillar of salt.
A hint of a smile touched the goddess' lips. With a nod of satisfaction, she started in Max's direction.
"Pipe down!" he barked into the channel, cutting off idle chatter, and rose to greet the approaching goddess. It was difficult to put into words the sensation of seeing a divine being for the first time in his life. Then again, for all of his efforts, Max was struggling to accept that this frail black-haired girl in front of him was a goddess. Yes, the air around her seemed to pulsate from the power emanating from her. Yes, he realized that this non-player character was thousands of times stronger than he was. And yet, he didn't feel the kind of veneration he'd heard so much about. Or maybe this was how it was supposed to be... As if reading his mind, Kirana surveyed the motley crew of players with a playful twinkle in her eye, and smiled.
Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. Kirana, the Goddess of Vengeance, is friendly to you.
Kirana's Favor, a passive ability, has been changed to Kirana's Glory, granting you a permanent 5% increase to all your stats, and a 95% resistance to Nature magic.
"I am grateful for what you have done for me and for our common home, dark ones!" the goddess' voice resonated, yet was as soft as the murmur of a forest creek. "I see what it has cost you, and I am sorry for not being able to arrive earlier."
"It is an honor for us to serve the Mistress and the Great Forest," Max bowed his head respectfully.
No one had ever taught Max proper etiquette for communicating with gods, so he figured he'd err on the side of reverence. Having read a ton of adventure novels set in the Middle Ages as a young adult, he had a pretty good idea of how to act. Or at least he thought he did.
"Good answer, warrior!" Kirana studied him for a moment in silent contemplation. Then, seemingly reaching a decision, she added: "Much has changed in my absence. This whole world has been turned on its head. Agents of the Twice Cursed are gaining strength and violating its unwritten laws. Forgotten are the old traditions! Kin is waging war against kin! But I suppose you know that all too well, Gray One," her mouth parted in a bitter smile. "I see that neither you nor your companions have yet chosen a side in this war. And so I offer that you to serve me, and to finish the grand and noble endeavor you have begun."
"It would be an honor, Mistress," Max gave another bow of the head.
What else could he say? To ask the goddess some time to think? Nonsense! What if there wouldn't be a second chance? Being on the good side of such a powerful high-level NPC—and a divine one no less—had to count for something. And if he sounded like a pompous ass, well, that was hardly his fault, having been educated by the likes of Sir Lancelot and Don Quixote.
You've completed the quest: Restoring the Shrine II.
You have gained a level! Current level: 77.
You have earned a new title, Neophyte of the Order of the Two-Faced Goddess.
You have 1 talent point to allocate.
Class bonus: +1 to constitution, +1 to strength.
You have 3 stat points to allocate.
You have gained a level! Current level: 78.
The title, Neophyte of the Order of the Two-Faced Goddess, has been changed to Adept of the Order of the Two-Faced Goddess.
You have 2 talent points to allocate.
Class bonus: +1 to constitution, +1 to strength.
You have 6 stat points to allocate.
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You have gained a level!
You have gained a level!
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You have gained a level! Current level: 82.
You have 6 talent points to allocate.
Class bonus: +1 to constitution, +1 to strength.
You have 18 stat points to allocate.
Your reputation has increased. The dark elves relate to you with respect.
Neophyte of the Order of the Two-Faced Goddess. You and your allies are granted a 1% increase to your physical and magic damage, 1% increase to armor class and all resistances, and 1% increase to the effectiveness of healing spells. Experience gained by you and your allies is increased by 1%. If a party has several members ordained into the Order of the Two-Faced Goddess, their bonuses do stack, but no more than 40% per party.
You may now safely communicate
with the second hypostasis of the goddess of two faces.
Adept of the Order of the Two-Faced Goddess. You and your allies are granted a 3% increase to your physical and magic damage, 3% increase to armor class and all resistances, and 3% increase to the effectiveness of healing spells. Experience gained by you and your allies is increased by 3%. If a party has several members ordained into the Order of the Goddess of Two Faces, their bonuses do stack, but no more than 40% per party.
You may now safely communicate with the second hypostasis of the Two-Faced Goddess.
You've earned an achievement: Marked by the Two-Faced Goddess.
Your reputation has increased. Fighters of the Order of the Two-Faced Goddess and certain other NPCs relate to you with respect.
You've accessed the quest: Restoring the Shrine III.
Quest type: hidden, chain, personal (the quest has been granted to a total of 9 players).
Go to the lands of Darkaan, find the temple of Kirana the Goddess of Vengeance, and lay upon its altar the emerald tear received from the goddess.
Reward: experience, increased reputation with the dark elves, epic scalable item of your choosing.
Attention! To complete this quest you will need at least ??? allies.
"I am still too weak to pinpoint the location of my temple," Kirana continued with a sigh. "All I remember is that it is located along the eastern edge of the Great Forest. In the centuries of my absence, the Great Forest was forced to recede before Darkaan's onslaught, which means you should look for it there."
So that wasn't even the final link in the quest chain, Max thought to himself. But... had he read that right? An epic scalable item for each of them?! For that kind of a reward, they would turn over every pebble! Of course, they should worry less about pebbles and more about the spawn of the Netherworld that had the Great Forest surrounded—indeed, those fiends were unlikely to welcome the search party with open arms. And those might not even be the greatest danger they'd face... But screw all that! What mattered was that he and his friends had been given this extraordinary opportunity; as for the extraordinary journey that it would likely require, they would tackle it later, one step at a time. With a sidelong glance at his companions, all of them stupefied by such a turn of events, Max replied for all.
