by Sarah Lin
His allies were approaching carefully, still reading the situation. Gharavi seemed to have vanished, which was more than a little suspicious. The chambers for the nobility had cleared out... except for the lone unusual man, who sat forward in his chair with an ironic smile on his face, as if immensely amused by everything he had seen.
All of that bore thinking about, but Bloodwraith had much bigger issues to deal with. He caught up with Raigar in a small chamber, convinced the guards to leave... and then he was finally face to face with the nemesis he didn't know he had.
"Listen here, fucko." Raigar glared at him with no sense for the fact that he was bound and missing an arm. "Just give me back my character and maybe I'll forgive you. But if you keep fucking with me, you're really going to regret it."
Was there some reason for his arrogance? Bloodwraith decided not to push that. Though Raigar might be an insane abomination from an incomprehensible world, it might be possible to negotiate with him on some level. "I should say the same to you. How did you steal my body?"
Raigar's eyes widened. "Whoa, did we get swapped? That's crazy shit. Do you have a bunch of menus and things?"
"What are you talking about?" Bloodwraith did his best to stare uncomprehendingly, which was aided by his mind churning on this new information. "After we fought, I woke up in this body in a strange forest and everyone started calling me by your name."
"This is crazy. Totally fractured."
That didn't make any sense, so Bloodwraith just pushed forward. "Then aren't we allies? We both want our original bodies back."
After staring at him for a bit, Raigar shrugged. "If you agree to be my flunky, maybe. See, I've warmed up to the idea of having a big undead army, but I also really want my junk back. I'm getting tired of Secretary Skeleton, so there might be a job opening soon."
Though Bloodwraith kept a neutral expression on his face, inwardly he was coming to his own conclusions. For a brief moment, he had actually considered an alliance in truth, to see what he could get from the amoral Outsider. But it seemed to him that this Raigar was not some incomprehensible being, but a fool. He would consider the ramifications of that later, but for now it meant his only path was manipulation.
Bloodwraith forced himself to smile obsequiously. "Of course. That might be fun. But please, can you explain just what is going on? Where did you come from?"
"Aw, I'm not supposed to talk about that. Ruins the game, you know?"
"You use our world as a game?"
"Nah, from what I understand, your entire world is a game." Raigar shrugged. "I didn't pay attention to the details, I just bought the best package I could. And let me tell you, it was pretty good until this shit started. Seriously, it's not like AdventureCorp to fuck things up this bad."
Troubling as the words were, Bloodwraith could only tuck them away for later consideration. The guards would surely be coming in soon, so his time to ask real questions was limited. "What world are you from? Why did you come here?"
"Look, here's how it goes. You can help me break out, or you can regret it. If you're good, maybe I'll let you hang around and make zombies. Sound good?"
Bloodwraith hissed and moved forward, grabbing Raigar by the front of his robes. "Answer my qu-" He was forced to leap backward as mana exploded around Raigar. As he stepped back, Bloodwraith felt a nervous shiver to see his old face twist into such a strange smile.
"You get it now? Thanks to a little Ultra Rare item I picked up last time, I don't have to put up with your shit. I was willing to play along to see what was going on, but I'm done with it."
The mana pulsed around him and Bloodwraith's weak magical senses belatedly realized it as a combination summon and teleportation spell. A moment later the light exploded and Raigar was surrounded by undead.
"Boom!" Raigar let out a laugh as the undead moved to break his bonds. "Kumquats go blammo!" He then laughed madly as if what he said was funny, or made any sense.
Setting aside such madness, Bloodwraith evaluated the new threat. He barely looked at most of the undead, because they were nothing special. The most obvious threat was the enormous ogre looming behind the others. Its creation had been slightly shoddy, but such a body in undead form would be immensely powerful.
No, that meant nothing compared to the small undead beside him: Herskeh. Bloodwraith stared, shocked at the sight of the Master Lich's aide. If he was still around as well, how many had survived the final battle? A moment later he realized that was irrelevant - this was his chance to turn the entire situation.
"Finally," Raigar was saying. "Now cut these things off me and stick my arm back on, will you?"
"Wait!" Bloodwraith stepped forward, ignoring everyone but his target. "Herskeh, it's me. Despite appearances, I'm the real Bl-"
A fireball hit him in the chest the next second and he crashed back into the wall. Bloodwraith coughed painfully and struggled to remain on his feet, but he saw that the undead had cut Raigar free. He raised a hand to command an attack.
"Take him down! But don't kill him - I want that body!"
Though Bloodwraith wanted to try another attempt and he saw Herskeh looking at him with a strange expression, it was too late. The undead ogre was already stomping forward, and though its club scraped the walls of the room, it still had enough room to swing. One of those blows or another direct hit from a spell would finish him.
Staggering backward, Bloodwraith fled. He'd barely gotten several steps before he ran straight into Meara and Danniah. They saw the look in his eyes and immediately moved with him instead of slowing him down, though Danniah looked at him in concern.
"Raigar, is everything alright? What's going on?"
"There's no time to explain! Get your new helm on and fight for your life!" He quickly drank a pair of potions to restore himself. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw the door to the chamber explode. Undead began to rush out of the door and move in all directions.
Several guards moved to intercept Bloodwraith's group, demanding answers... but then they saw the undead ogre emerge from the doorway. Abruptly he was entirely forgotten as they shouted panicked orders and prepared to contain the situation, but Bloodwraith wasn't sure that they had a chance.
How could he make it through this situation, much less turn it to his advantage? The only obvious tactic would be to appeal to Herskeh, but it was clear that Raigar was smart enough to stand in the way of that. But as a straight fight, he didn't like their odds. Most of the undead might be fairly weak, but the ogre was a serious threat and Raigar himself was even more of a problem.
On top of that, he didn't want to kill Raigar, just neutralize him. The goal was still to regain access to his original body, whatever that took. But could he afford to do so in a battle with so many threats and complications?
"Bloodwraith..." Meara said his name softly, but her eyes were hard. "I don't like that look. We're your allies - tell us what's going on."
"Okay." They stopped at a reasonable distance and he turned to them. "I don't know how he survived, but that's Raigar, in my body. He used some sort of artifact to bring undead allies into the Arena. One of them is someone I know, but he didn't recognize me for obvious reasons."
Danniah's eyes grew wide. "Wow, we're fighting your original body? What do we even do?"
"Capturing it is our highest priority. Even beyond my body, we need to interrogate Raigar. He told me a few things, but I'm not sure what he said can be trusted."
It looked like Meara was about to respond, but at that moment the screech of undead drowned them out.
Bloodwraith looked back to see the undead forcing their way through the defending guards and rushing into the arena. It was even worse than that: there were more undead rising from the bodies of fallen guards and a few spectators. That must be Herskeh - if Raigar had control of his body's power, there would be undead rising everywhere.
Still, it meant that the situation would rapidly spiral out of control. Normally he would have fled before the best-tra
ined guards and adventurers could arrive, but with his real body on the line, that was no longer an option. That meant he couldn't afford to hold anything back, even if it had consequences.
He pulled Izilthor's skull out of his bag, hoping that they weren't currently in combat to restrict the usage of points. Its eyes lit up and it said "Da!" but then it noticed how serious everyone was and began looking around curiously.
"Izilthor, we're in a serious fight. Stay close to Danniah and protect her back." As he spoke, he examined the boxes, reaching for the traits he'd long been ignoring. There was no time for complexity, he simply chose the best skeleton body and weapon traits he could afford with current NP.
"Ya!" Izilthor let out a happy screech as it suddenly began to sprout a full skeleton, then even weapons. Oddly, the new skeleton body was unusually small, a bit shorter than Danniah. Bloodwraith glanced over its stat box and saw that the numbers were nothing special, but it was better than nothing. He turned back to the others.
"This is going to get ugly, but we need to get Raigar and my body. Sacrifice anything expendable, even if it means we have to leave Manascas."
Meara's eyes shifted past him. "Just what is she doing?"
Bloodwraith turned and saw that Gharavi stood in the leftmost raised chamber. It looked as though she had been examining something, but now she stared into the arena, surprised at the spreading violence. Making his decision on pure instinct, Bloodwraith stepped in her direction and shouted upward.
"Are you ready to take this seriously?"
She heard his words and turned toward him with a strange look in her eyes, but he had no more time to say anything else. At that moment there was an ear-splitting roar and the undead ogre rushed out into the arena on all fours, swinging in all directions.
It sent the nearest guards flying and charged directly toward him. Bloodwraith had a split second to notice Raigar emerging as well, commanding his forces to attack. Was he suicidal? Or did he have another artifact that could take him out of Manascas safely? Bloodwraith felt that he needed to assume the latter, but in any case he had no more time to plan.
The ogre lunged at him, trying to catch him in its enormous paws. Bloodwraith easily ducked underneath and swung his sword up against it... but his blow only chipped the mana-reinforced bone. This sword wasn't enough, not against opponents like this.
Again the ogre reached for him and he dodged aside, only to realize that there were more undead flanking him. Simple skeletons stabbing with rusty knives, but still a threat. Bloodwraith swept his sword through them in a single cleaving motion and turned back, but he was too late.
One of the ogre's paws clamped down over his shoulder and the side of his head. It lifted him into the air and he realized that it could easily smash him into the ground. Before it could do so, Bloodwraith channeled all of the mana stored in his sword into a single empowered thrust and slammed it into the ogre's head.
The force dug deep into the skull before glancing off, instead driving into the undead's shoulder. It couldn't shrug off his strongest attack, and his sword tore through a large part of its shoulder, forcing the creature to drop him. Yet Bloodwraith had barely landed when one of its legs struck out, kicking him in the chest and sending him tumbling painfully across the arena.
When he pulled himself upright, he saw the ogre lumbering toward him. Guards and adventurers were coming out in force now, but they were met by newly raised undead. Danniah was fighting defensively with Izilthor at her back, while Meara had melted into the crowds.
Looking beyond them, Bloodwraith saw that Herskeh was still raising more. Past him, Raigar had been backed against a wall by several guards. Yet he had a smirk on his face, which grew as he drew a length of blue-white steel from his robe. No, not just steel - it was a magical wand of great power. Bloodwraith couldn't help but examine it and summon a box.
[Scepter of Annihilation
Releases a beam of devastating force.
Durability: 25/25
Charges: 32/50
Rarity: Legendary]
He stared for a moment, unsure how to even evaluate such an item. But it seemed that he would get a demonstration, because Raigar raised the pole... to his hips... and then began making a thrusting motion. Bloodwraith stared in disgust... which abruptly turned to shock.
A beam of raw power seared across his vision. One guard was entirely consumed by the blast and another fell to the ground with a strangled cry as half his body was destroyed. When he followed the path of the beam, he saw that it had also blown a hole straight through the wall of the arena.
Though his instincts made him stumble to his feet, and he was aware that the ogre was getting closer, his mind struggled to address what he'd seen. Sufficiently powerful magical shields might be able to stop such a blast, but anything less had no chance. With such power, Raigar could have easily defeated the Master Lich. Had he not possessed the scepter before, or was this a weapon granted him by the Outsiders to get revenge?
There was no way of knowing, but he struggled to consider how to deal with such a weapon. He found himself calling back to an old type of box that he been suppressing since his very first battle:
[Scepter of Annihilation fires! Guard HP - 994! (0/143 HP)]
[Scepter of Annihilation dealt splash damage! Guard HP - 329! (0/137 HP)]
He stared for a moment, but then a sight roused him from his shock: Raigar was turning the scepter toward Danniah. She saw him and braced with her shield in front of her, but Bloodwraith had seen the numbers: it wouldn't be enough.
If Raigar had fired immediately, she would have died, but the mana around the scepter hissed slowly as it prepared to fire again. Bloodwraith dodged the ogre's swipes, hoping he could get to her in time, but realized that he would be too late. The Scepter of Annihilation was well-crafted and he could feel its power rising again, preparing for another blast.
So he threw out a hand, sending a burst of force against his own allies. The burst sent both Danniah and Izilthor sprawling into the sands a moment before the scepter fired another blast.
It blew through several of the skeletons in the arena and temporarily blinded him, but he saw that his allies had survived. Danniah scrambled up with a look of horror on her face. She understood and wouldn't try to defend against the weapon again. But that was small comfort, because Raigar could still use the thing 30 more times.
Fortunately, at that moment a lithe woman wielding an ornate scimitar leapt to attack Raigar. It seemed like she was charging him directly, but when he used the Scepter of Annihilation again, she anticipated it and rolled aside. Good, then she'd noticed the same weaknesses that he had. She threw a knife that embedded itself in Raigar's arm, then lunged in to grab the scepter.
Raigar let out a roar and began throwing fireballs all around him, ignoring the damage to himself and forcing her back. But she stayed cautious and focused, so Raigar was pinned down for now. Bloodwraith finished running to his allies and helped pull Izilthor to its feet.
"Bloodwraith..." Danniah stared at him in horror. "What is that thing?"
"It's a legendary weapon, but he can't use it constantly." Bloodwraith glanced between the two of them with a grim look on his face. "I need to concentrate if I'm going to get it away from him. Can the two of you take out that ogre?"
"I'll try."
"Yah!" Izilthor screeched and nodded energetically.
"Good." He put a hand on Danniah's shoulder. "After you defeat the the ogre, try to organize the guards to fight back. Hopefully I'll have stopped Raigar by then."
With that, he sprinted back toward Raigar. Despite the danger, he found himself imagining what he might be able to do if he captured the Scepter of Annihilation. With that much power combined with his real body... he wouldn't even need to return to the Master Lich's lair. If he could convince Herskeh of his identity as well, he would have everything he needed.
Unfortunately, the agile woman with the scimitar was struggling. She was fast and smart enough to make Rai
gar keep wasting charges of the scepter, but in Bloodwraith's real body, Raigar was simply too powerful. One arm and leg looked burned and she was slowing down, so it was only a matter of time.
A necromantic ray caught her leg and she fell with a cry, just in time for Raigar to raise the scepter in her face. Before it could fire, Bloodwraith released a burst of force against it.
Though Raigar managed to maintain his grip on the scepter, it was still pushed aside, releasing the beam of destruction through the wall of the arena instead of the adventurer. When swiveling, its destructive power was greatly reduced, but it still tore apart huge chunks of stone, creating enough of a shockwave that they all flinched.
During the distraction the adventurer grabbed her scimitar and swiftly retreated, shooting him a brief look of gratitude. With her injuries, though, he wasn't sure how much help she would be in the fight.
"Finally!" Raigar grinned at him when he spotted Bloodwraith, then gestured down to the scepter. "That's a big sword you're carrying, but mine is bigger than yours, eh?"
Ignoring the juvenile comment, Bloodwraith instead focused on the woman. "Go and bring priests. Anyone who can cast Ansel's Charm or a strong Circle of Binding. He should be weak to both."
Though she gave him a strange look, the adventurer moved to obey. Raigar scowled and sent another beam of destruction at her back, but she anticipated it and rolled out of the way.
Once she was gone, Raigar turned back to Bloodwraith. He raised the scepter, taunting, then slipped it back into his robe. "Nah, that would be too easy. I still want my character back. And it'd be too easy for you to just die painlessly. After you ruined my game, you need to suffer."
Excellent - exactly the mistake he had hoped his opponent would make. Without the Scepter of Annihilation in play, he could find a way to neutralize Raigar and get his body back.
