The tide of Imps was dwindling. Soon there’d be none left and it looked like they enemy knew. The Royal Guard was saving their stronger skills for something—for a counter-push. The Warrior possessed an invulnerability skill and the Mages had their typical high-damage, wide-area attacks.
Time was running out. The encroaching chill of failure lapped at Gabrielle’s cheeks, the distant wetness of weak tears sliding onto stinging wounds from the past.
Her chatbox trilled.
Rowan Black: Divine Blessing?
Gabby LeMort: Not that. ^_^
Nope, nope, nope. This wasn’t the end. Rowan was wrong! She had to have something left to pull out of her cute little hat.
Which she did—it just had to be timed right though she just couldn’t quite recall that skill’s name. It was so… generic and bland.
And of course, she couldn’t just admit to her Rowan that she’d forgotten its name like she’d forgotten to mention the king was T8. She’d look like a hypocrite animal. Plus, how was she supposed to know the boy hadn’t read through the forums carefully? Everyone knew the faction leaders were T8 bosses. It was in big, bold text in one of the stickied beginner threads.
Such a pain Rowan was at times. It was a miracle that he’d slipped past her walls and brushed against her heart. Her forehead, hand, and cute behind was still warm from his embrace. He truly was the quite-a-clever-boy who didn’t run away. A one in however many.
Multitasking, Gabrielle combed through her library of skills she’d amassed over the last decade, glancing over countless useless basic and Witch-Doctor skills and recipes which she’d almost never used. Baked Spicy Frog, Stringify, Happy Dance Totem—the list went on for over fifty pages. Rowan and the other dark class players had been so lucky that they hadn’t been swamped by useless skills. Ione definitely liked messing with her, that meanie. This shoddy interface wasn’t helping either.
She remembered its name at last while the last few hundred Imps swelled into the courtyard. She keyed it into the search box.
Soul Tether
Tethers the target soul to a non-character object, stretching into the afterlife if the target dies.
Skill Level: 0, 0%
Skill Tier: 0
Channel duration: 5 seconds per tether
Mana Cost: 5000 per anchor
Effect: 0% reduced mana cost
Tier Effect: 1 maximum soul anchor. No sacrifices required. Results in an SSS difficulty resurrection recipe. Soul anchors are near-indestructible. Not usable on players.
Phew.
The skill scroll had been sitting in a huge pile of Water-Dark class scrolls in one of Zaine’s cabinets. Gabrielle’s patience paid off, finding this little gem when she’d been searching for clues on what Sazar’s jewelry set really was. They could be one of a few things but judging from the boy’s attachment to the girl, this was more than likely. Sixty or seventy percent likely.
She flicked its description over to Zaine along with a private message.
Gabby LeMort (To Zaine Everlight): Heeeeey… Look what I has! It's what Zar's ring is, isn't it? Do ya have any yourself?
He glanced down at her from within the pretty fire chamber, his expression unreadable behind that darn mask. Rowan just had to give it to him. It offered so little bonus too.
Zaine EverLight: So you know. What about it?
Zaine Everlight: And no. Scroll is extremely rare. Last Witch-Doctor with it died before I had the chance. Don’t know what her anchors are.
And he didn’t know there was one stashed in his base? No wonder he had been sealed.
Gabby LeMort: Ah… Can ya do your big dark mana boom thing? Like when your hitpoints dip to zero… I'll tether your soul when it leaves your body!
Zaine EverLight: Can you not read?
Gabby LeMort: Huh?
She blinked and momentarily broke her curse chain.
Zaine EverLight: 1 anchor! SSS difficulty! Over a hundred times more difficult than S!
Gabby LeMort: Don’t worry. You’ll be back before my glorious dark continent is built!
It was too bad that her Dark Oculus recipe was the same difficulty. Those Divine Blessings would be rather useful right now, quite.
The chatbox remained silent while the remaining five hundred Imps piled into the courtyard. One of Rowan’s Colossus Enforcers neared death and she weaved Dark Essence Bolts into her chain. The whole army was collapsing before her beautiful eyes. Their line began to advance at a crawl, pushing into the frontlines of Undead and Stalkers.
Gabrielle swallowed a spike in her neck and pushed Zaine again.
Gabby LeMort: Come on… This is our only chance to raid this vault… They’ll beef up security here after this… or move the items…
Come on, come on. Just kill yourself, stupid boy. For the dark continent.
The chatbox sounded but the message wasn’t from the right person.
Ambiguous Pain (Raid Chat): Don’t retreat! Summoning pentagrams can be destroyed with enough light blasts.
Why state the obvious? Pure light mana was the antithesis of dark. It’s why light mana burned those with dark.
Her grouchy Rowan returned, booming like a lion.
Hehe. “Ya didn’t know?”
He tutted and resumed spraying ice.
The last Imps disintegrated and the light players paused as the flood stopped. A ridiculous cheer erupted. Dorian looked like he prematurely ejaculated into his robes while they charged. Rowan better last longer than that…
Gabrielle pinged Zaine.
Gabby LeMort: Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it for Zar! We’ll take goood care of her! She’ll make a fine subject in my dark civilization!
Maybe that last part could’ve been better but Gabrielle couldn’t think straight when the leading Royal Guard and beasts were about fifty meters away from the summoning circle. Everything was on the line this moment.
Forty meters. No Stalkers left.
Then the chatbox trilled its exquisite tune.
Zaine Everlight: In five seconds.
Yes! Victory! Gabrielle jerked her hips forward as mini-mental orgasm blossomed in her skull. She reached into her pouch and fetched an adorable red teddy. Her last one. Perhaps crafting more would actually be wise.
Zaine Everlight asks for your attention.
Zaine Everlight (Raid Chat): The rings and amulet and tiara are soul anchors that can resurrect Zar if you collect them. She’ll greatly reward you, Rowan.
Oh, what a good boy. Now Gabrielle didn’t need to spend breath to explain it.
Zaine blinked in front of her, crying and slashing his jugular.
Oh no. Not the waterworks. He wasn’t even going to be gone for long.
She fired a curse for that killing hit, sharing it with Rowan. If killing an S-rank boss didn’t level-up their World Boss tiers then she didn’t know what could. Rowan could use some more durability too. He might die just from having sex with her in-game at his current power level.
Zaine’s health points hit zero and a pulse of dark mana shuddered through the air.
After activating Quick-Cast, Gabrielle shot a misty blue tether into Zaine’s escaping fuzzy-white soul, tying it to the teddy. Her Funny Sight Witch-Doctor passive allowed her to see them as they passed on.
His corpse detonated in a way-too-large explosion of pure, dark mana.
That spire better not be damaged…
A large power-up swamped her body as popups stacked on the right. One stood out like an unwanted arranged marriage. Because it kind of was.
World Event, The Dark Couple Rises, has commenced!
Rowan Black and Gabby LeMort have ascended to tier 6 World Bosses!
Triggering Adventurer: Rowan Black, Gabby LeMort
Difficulty: ?
Recommended level: ?
Location: Water Mage Spire, Draconian Kingdom East Coast
Ione… That bitch. Rowan better not go shopping for rings because of this.
It was world-wide too. At least Uncl
e Vincent and the order would be pleased that the plan is coming along nicely.
* * *
Rowan panted and laid a palm on his beating chest as the dark mana cleared. The sheer power flowing through his blood was unreal, impossible for what a single player should be allowed to wield in an MMO. And he could still become stronger than this.
An eagle cried at Rowan. Its partially disintegrated body struggled on the ground littered with corpses leaking dark mana. Electricity sparked at its beak.
He raised his wand and fired his most narrow and concentrated blast, ordering the few remaining minions to stand down. A few Stalkers and Undead loitered in front of him.
An injured woman dressed in feathery leather who had somehow escaped death blinked into the way within a swirl of green leaves. The blackish ice shredded her shield and body and encased the remains in a gust of mist. The eagle squawked once more before the fallout claimed it. “Unreal,” he breathed.
“Woo yeah! It worked” Gabrielle jumped at his side, a—
Red teddy-bear in her hands.
She turned to Rowan, absolute glee beaming at him. “Say hello to Zaine-teddy! Or at least his soul anchor.”
After a bout of momentary shock, he chuckled and Examined the little guy.
Red Teddy-bear
There is something ominous about this particular teddy.
His brow rose. “It just says it’s an ominous teddy.”
“Huh?” She looked down at her hands. “Mmm… I think only I can see it. Here, look.”
Zaine Everlight’s Only Soul Anchor (Red Teddy-bear)
An ethereal chain connects this teddy to Zaine’s soul in the afterlife. Good luck reviving him with only one.
So she did have a plan and pulled it off at the last second while also making off with a killing blow on Zaine. Hell, that was impressive, convincing the boy to sacrifice himself and trusting Gabrielle with his resurrection. Needing to resurrect the boy from the afterlife hadn’t been covered in the contract from what Rowan recalled. Gabrielle was a genius through and through.
Rowan huffed and shook his head. A slight smile tugged at his lips. “You’re truly amaz—”
Then remembered. “The king!” The powerup had been far too overwhelming.
Reeling in a flood of adrenaline, he bolstered his Mana Shield—which had almost quintupled—and swept his wand across the blackened rooftops.
“They’re over there, ya silly. The king tried to attack our pretties.”
He twisted to where Gabrielle pointed and found three humanoid, bat-like creatures standing around the king’s corpse on a distant flat rooftop, much more human than animal. They were small—far smaller than Rowan had assumed. They weren’t the fearsome, gargantuan demons which Rowan had pictured. He’d imagined something closer to Draesear’s size and visage, not scrawny, human-sized human-bat hybrids. He Examined the taller one holding an unimpressive, bloodied sword.
Oron Garthos, Tortured Nihil, (Fallen Angel): Level 239
Health: 3,250,530
Mana: 2,600,400
Stamina: 2,500,100
A Fallen Angel. A name. Not even the raised players retained names. These had to be super-elite minions especially with health points like that—similar to the Royal Guard. With three of these, he might not even need Zaine or his sister. Rowan smirked.
Ambiguous flashed onto the roof at the far-end. She cut a look at Rowan and beckoned.
Gabrielle tugged at his sleeve. “Let’s go. They won’t bite… At least I don’t think they will, hehehe.”
“What do you mean?” he said as he puffed away.
Rowan grumbled and followed, arriving with four blinks, dark ice fractals flashing before his eyes.
Along the way, he noticed the king wasn’t dead but unconscious and bloodied under thin black mana bands. His obviously unique-rarity rune-etched longsword laid a few meters to his side in a black and white cage. He was at a sliver of health and inflicted with a myriad of debuffs.
Well, that explained why the king hadn’t died in an explosion of light mana. The Nihils were smart, as expected from elite minions.
The three looked at him when he landed a few meters away from Gabrielle. Two males with black and brown hair and a female with maroon, deathly pale skin and glowing yellow-orange eyes exactly like those of the Dark Humans. They wore black, fur-decorated outfits rather posh like a business suit. Rowan had assumed that was their natural skin. They were clearly Dark Humans with bat-like wings. Were they even demons?
Oron spoke. His voice was wispy and meek, but coated with a hint of confidence. “Did you summon us, Necromancer?” His figure seeped white and black mana, the combination somehow not eviscerating each other on contact.
A weight of unease settled on Rowan’s shoulders. He realized, the mental link connecting these three to his mind was very weak despite the contract magic giving him and Gabrielle full command in Zaine's absence. It was still binding in death—Zaine had added in that clause. “No, Zaine was defeated by him just seconds before,” he said, voice strong, and sent the party a message. Zaine’s party entry was gone. No grayed-out icon.
Rowan Black (Raid Chat): Do any of you feel a connection to the three? Did you know of this Gabby?
Gabby LeMort: A tiny thread and nope. Zaine’s skill description said each summoning is unpredictable but always super duper powerful.
Ambiguous Pain: They’re exactly like the Dark Humans. Careful.
Dare he to tug on the mental leashes?
The female stepped forward, her movement graceful. “Don’t mind him. You have our thanks for getting us out of there. Too bad you couldn’t hold on for a bit longer.” A little smile spread on her lips, snarky.
“Where’s there?” Gabrielle said cheerily.
Oron answered. “The summoning forbids us to speak. This is like a… Rebirthing in a way. A second chance. That is all we can say.”
“A second chance?” Gabrielle again.
The female, Cecilia, said, “Hello? Fallen Angel? Is that not clear?”
Gabrielle’s arms spread wide. “So you’re from heaven and hell!”
The third Nihil with black hair, Seth, said, “You can view it that way.” His voice was monotone.
Rowan mentally exhaled and evaluated the situation in a flurry. They were far too individualistic and powerful. If he could sway them to his command they’d make fine minions but at the moment, their free will and dark-leanings could be troublesome, especially when they were still at a massive disadvantage. Further reinforcements and the other two factions could arrive any hour by sea or land or air.
The only plus side was their strange light affinity offset their dark and evil leaning and them easier to reason with and manipulate. They appeared neither absolutely evil or good but somewhere closer to a harmonious balance. Kind of like himself since his brain implants had been tuned, really.
The Nihil trio suddenly tensed and looked at Gabrielle. “Do not do that again,” Seth said. The other two nodded, glaring.
Dammit. They didn’t like to be tugged.
“Ah…” Gabrielle awkwardly laughed. “Tripped on the string in my head. My bad!”
Oron grunted and looked away and Cecilia’s features drifted to neutral. “Only do that if it’s an emergency.”
Light and dark indeed. An uncanny balance. And it looked like they already considered Rowan as an ally.
The chatbox shook.
Gabby LeMort: Do you two think they’re worth the trouble? Gotta corrupt this place and build up shields real quick.
Ambiguous Pain: Definitely. They’re stronger than the Royal Guard.
Rowan sighed. Looks like it was time for a speech. He donned a mask appropriate for this audience and straightened his back.
Rowan Black: I’ll try to convince them to join us. Join in any time but don’t make it too choppy.
Ambiguous Pain: Alright, Mr. Great Orator.
Gabby LeMort: hehehehehehe
Rowan brushed off their comments and t
ook a breath. “These are dangerous times for those with dark mana like ourselves—”
Oron waved his pale hand. “Save it. We know the general state of the world. It’s fallen to the light. We certainly won’t last long by ourselves. It’s either making allies or dying alone. I’d rather not have you constantly harass us through those one-way links so we’re stuck with you.”
Well, that was easy—saved him many breaths and a potentially cringe-worthy speech. Now what?
Aeon Chronicles Online_Book 1_Devil's Deal Page 46
