Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “The ice is melting,” Alburet said, Fire Bursting it away from the others. “The song is melting it. I’ll help speed it along.”

  With the two Angels holding her in place, Ophelia wasn’t able to get free no matter how hard she struggled. The people who could all jumped on her first, knowing she was a bigger threat than Voltis.

  As more people came free of the ice, they joined in on one or the other. Alburet took to the air, joining the Imps and Cherubim in doing damage from above. The fight was finally going smoothly, even with the losses the Guild had sustained to this point. Just when everyone thought things were finally going their way, Ophelia’s life reached half and she transitioned to her next phase.

  Everyone fighting Ophelia was thrown back, and in some cases, clear off the ziggurat. Those fighting Voltis were far enough away that they only felt the wind from the knockback. “No, damn you all! He won’t want me now! Not looking like this!”

  Alburet snapped his wings out when he went off the edge of the ziggurat. As he fell below the lip, he was able to see others falling past him. Hand darting out, he caught Karen when she went over the edge. “Glad I could—”

  “Thank you,” Fluff said, cutting him off as her foot impacted Alburet’s head. Using Leap with Alburet as the springboard, Fluff was the first back on her feet.

  Flying up to the top with Karen, Alburet was shocked to see Ophelia, now ten feet tall, with four sable-feathered wings where her old ones had been. Andrea and Parsnew had been blown back as well, and were hovering in place with looks of horror and outrage etched on their faces.

  “I’ll kill you all,” Ophelia spat. Her hooves had been replaced by unblemished feet and she stomped, making the ziggurat tremble. A pulsing barrier covered her as she took to the air, its color shifting every few seconds.

  Fluff used Wild Charge to get into range of Ophelia before she could flee, only to scream when her claws hit the barrier. The barrier pulsed a bright blue, and her hands came away coated in ice.

  “Fool, your weapons won’t harm me now,” Ophelia sneered. “Now to deal with them.” Shifting her gaze to the Angels, Ophelia’s lips pulled up into an evil smile. “Say your goodbyes. Peace will never see you again.”

  “Run,” Alburet shouted. “The barrier around her will hurt you.”

  “How do we damage her, then?” Gerald asked as he got to his feet. He had just managed to avoid going over the edge while holding Marysue.

  “Range,” Alburet said. “Get the melee onto Voltis.”

  “Um, my spell just healed her,” one of the nearby Elementalists said with a frown.

  “Mine didn’t,” another said. “You used fire when the barrier was red. My spell was ice.”

  “Color coded damage,” Alburet said. “Use spells that don’t match the barrier.”

  “We’re down a couple of healers,” Marysue said tightly. “They died when they hit the ground. The others are on their way back up.”

  “Be careful of damage, and do not melee Ophelia,” Gerald shouted. “Use your potions if you need to. We’re down healers.”

  Ophelia chased after Andrea first, cursing her the whole time. Both Angels were singing, the melody making everyone feel quicker, but it affected only their movement and not their casting speed. The song was what kept Andrea just barely ahead of Ophelia. Ophelia wasn’t neglecting the raid, though. Every time she passed over them, she would launch an area spell that corresponded with the barrier that she had at the time. The fight fell into a rhythm, but members of the raid were dropping one-by-one from accumulated damage as people ran out of potions.

  Voltis fell before Ophelia. He had transitioned at fifty percent as well, but his only addition was an area attack that hit everyone within three yards of him with each five percent of life that he lost. Those in melee range would shift out after each Scything Death, so they could heal up and be ready to switch back after the next one.

  There was a moment of panic when Ophelia hit Voltis’ group with a fire spell, killing a dozen people. The anger only fueled the Guild to press harder, damaging Voltis faster. When Voltis finally died, he knocked everyone back from him, killing Hilda and a couple of others. His body crashed to the ground, a faint smile now on his previously emotionless face. “Please… kill him…”

  Ophelia only had one percent of her life left when Voltis fell, but the moment he did, a wave of darkness exploded from her. “No! You filthy insects, you don’t deserve his attention.” While people were getting back to their feet, Ophelia caught Andrea, moving so fast she almost appeared to teleport to the fleeing Angel. “If you won’t join us, then you’ll die now!” With a sickening crunch, Andrea’s life vanished and her limp body fell as it was released from Ophelia’s grip.

  “Enraged... kill her now! She’ll one-shot anyone she hits,” Gerald bellowed.

  Parsnew froze in place when Andrea fell from Ophelia’s grasp, tears falling from her eyes. “Sister…”

  Ophelia was suddenly behind her, “You’ll join her.” Spells filled the air, hitting Ophelia. She ignored them and snapped Parsnew’s neck. Tossing the dead Angel away, she turned to Alburet. “It’s your turn.”

  Alburet shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

  A black blur came rushing at Alburet, but just as Ophelia would have grabbed him, Alburet was gone, replaced with Darkknight. “Hiya.”

  Ophelia opened her mouth to say something after she hit Darkknight and killed him, but only blood spilled from her mouth. Everyone nearby attacked, finally killing her. She dropped to the ground, and most people pulled back, but Karen and Fluff struck again and again, not giving her time to say or do anything. On the fifth strike, Ophelia’s body vanished.

  “That leaves Dimitry,” Gerald said as he looked at the ragged and worn raid group, turning to the bubble in the center of the ziggurat. “Once more, folks. Let’s do it.”

  Chapter Fifty

  The bubble popped as everyone headed toward it. Vladimir was a broken wreck laying at Dimitry’s feet. Dimitry was beating Vladimir with his own arm, the ragged wound at Vladimir’s elbow still pumping blood. Both of Vladimir’s wings lay a few feet away.

  Marysue hit Vladimir with Divine Heal, her biggest single target heal. That stopped Vladimir from bleeding out the last few hit points he had left, but it also got Dimitry’s attention.

  “Saving him? Him!? This useless excuse for a Dracon!?” Turning to face the raid, Dimitry smiled, his bloody teeth gleaming red. “And you’ve killed my minions… and my sister. I guess I should deal with you myself, then.”

  Gerald took in Dimitry’s status as he stepped to the front. “We’ll finish our task and then go see Stein.”

  Dimitry Dracon aka Dragon Eater (Level ???)

  45,000,136/90,000,000 Health

  119,346/200,000 Mana

  Twisted Class, Favored by Stein, Broken Mind

  “Stein will just kill you all,” Dimitry laughed wildly. “I can’t let such useful material be wasted in such fashion.”

  “You don’t get that choice,” Marysue said firmly as she pointed her staff at Dimitry. “Light Bolt.” The surge of Light magic hit Dimitry in the chest, the sole damage spell Marysue had doing enough to push Dimitry under half health.

  With a yell of anger and confusion, Dimitry staggered back. The yell stunned the raid as Dimitry’s body shifted. “Now you will see why I earned the name Dragon Eater,” Dimitry shouted. His skin began peeling back and his clothing shredded as giant red-scaled wings burst out of his back.

  Everyone in the raid watched Dimitry shift into a Human-Dragon hybrid. Eight-inch claws extended from scaled hands as the transformation continued. Face stretching, Dimitry’s mouth became a snout that unhinged wide enough to completely engulf a human head.

  “Stein showed me the way to take this form,” Dimitry said, his words slightly garbled coming from his new mouth. “It was one of his first boons to me. It has many advantages. For instance… my breath.”

  Dimitry inhaled deeply and exhaled at
the same moment the raid was released from the stun. The healers remaining dropped their area heals, covering as many people as they could, while those with damage mitigation used them to reduce the incoming damage. Those who still had healing potions chugged them, but everyone in the raid took heavy damage. The Infernals even felt the flames, but not nearly as badly as the others.

  Gerald was the first tank to respond, using Charge to slam into Dimitry. He wasn’t stunned, and kept breathing fire. Manuel was the next tank out, also unable to stun him with his Charge.

  Dimitry stopped breathing when he ran out of air, his claws flashing forward at Manuel and Gerald. Both tanks grunted in pain and staggered back from the sheer force of the attack. “None of you can truly face me,” Dimitry laughed, “nor does it matter. Without your helpers, you are useless.” Leaping over the two tanks, Dimitry landed amid the slowly healing raid and began to spin in place, his claws almost instantly coated in blood as he used Whirlwind.

  Grabbing Marysue, Alburet went into the air, getting them both out of the area of effect. “He was a caster before… now he’s a Berserker?”

  Jaxton hit Dimitry, taunting the raid boss to help mitigate the damage the rest of the raid took. Even with that quick thinking, a handful of their members still died, the bleed on top of the Dragon’s Breath enough to take away the last bits of their life.

  “Twisted Class,” Marysue reminded him as she dropped Halo.

  “What about the Broken Mind part?” Alburet asked as he put her down, flying back up to join Bob and the other Imps.

  Marysue frowned but focused, trying to save as many of the raid as she could. The other healers scrambled, trying to triage while they waited for their area heals to come off cooldown.

  “Brother,” Vladimir whispered as he pushed himself to his feet. “We’re not done yet.”

  Dimitry suddenly stopped using Whirlwind, his eyes focusing on Vladimir. “You’re still alive? Good, then I can try to help you see the true path.”

  “Truth?” Vladimir coughed, spitting blood to the side. “You mean the lies that Stein has corrupted you with? You enslaved our sister, promised to marry her to him, killed our own family, and turned on the Empire. How is any of that a true path?”

  Dimitry froze in place for a moment. The melee took advantage of his distraction to pile in around him, their weapons gashing into him while spells rained down on him. “Our world is broken, brother… no, no, I don’t need to explain right now. First, I’ll deal with this rabble, then I’ll help you see.”

  That pause had let the raid carve over a hundred thousand health off Dimitry. Jaxton felt a wave of energy wash over him, but it passed by him, leaving him unaffected.

  Dimitry frowned and looked at the people surrounding him, “Why aren’t you fighting each other for me?”

  “Because Mother said no,” Fluff snarled as her claws dug into his scaled flesh.

  “Mother…? She became a god…”

  Dimitry got lost in that thought for another few seconds, letting the raid get even more damage in for free.

  “We got this,” Ironhand said as he prepared his next trap.

  Shaking his head, Dimitry came back to himself. “Hmm, I’ll have to find a way to get her later. For now...” With a grin, Dimitry slapped Jaxton’s shield, batting it aside and plunging the claws of his other hand deep into Jaxton’s chest. “For now, I’ll kill you first.”

  Jaxton had been at almost full health, but that single attack took over a quarter of his life. His life continued to drop as he stayed impaled on Dimitry’s claw. “Little help, please,” Jaxton gasped, trying to pull back.

  Gerald slammed into Jaxton, shoving the Paladin off the claws, and pivoted back to face Dimitry. “You’re not killing my subordinates.”

  “If you’re the leader, then I’ll kill you first,” Dimitry laughed, claws flashing forward to carve into Gerald. He was barely able to keep his shield between them.

  Diving down, Alburet slapped Dimitry with Sap Strength, pulling ninety strength from him. He kept going on past, stopping next to Vladimir, who was wobbly, but on his feet. “Here’s the little I can help with,” Alburet said, using Demonic Vitality to regen some of Vladimir’s life and pressing a top end healing potion into Vladimir’s hand. “We could use you back in the fight.”

  Downing the potion brought Vladimir’s life back up to over half and Alburet’s spell kept slowly pushing his life higher. Legs firming up, Vladimir pulled a new knife from his bag and looked at his missing arm. “One blade it is. Thank you, Al.”

  “Ready to face him? This time, beside your friends.”

  “Yes. In my haste to kill him, I forgot that I have friends that wish to help me.” Hand tightening on the hilt of the single blade, Vladimir vanished. “Now to put him to rest.”

  Taking to the air again, Alburet cast Fire Blast, throwing it at Dimitry while he looked over the battlefield. Those who had gotten hit with the Whirlwind had backed out, letting others in on Dimitry while they waited for the debuff to fall off. The melee were having trouble getting in with Dimitry, who was using his wings to push them back. His spiked tail was a hazard to anyone who came up behind him.

  “Who is keeping you alive?” Dimitry snarled, his eyes darting around the raid looking for whoever was healing Gerald. “There you are,” Dimitry said, his eyes focusing on Marysue. With no other warning, he was suddenly in front of her. His claws darted forward only to be turned away by Gerald’s shield, Intervene having come off cooldown. “Stubborn, aren’t you?”

  “She is mine. You’re not allowed to touch her,” Gerald snarled.

  Dimitry’s eyes opened wide, “Love… you love her… hahahahaha. Foolishness! Love is a chain that will drag you down.”

  “No, love is a key that unlocks the chains that bind us,” Gerald snapped as he deflected one claw and blocked the other. “You probably never knew what love was. I bet Vlad was the favorite child.”

  Dimitry froze in place, his eyes starting to glow. “Yes, that ungrateful brat. He always got away with everything, and no matter what I did, it was never enough for father.”

  “Untrue, brother,” Vladimir said, appearing behind Dimitry with ten clones. “You have forgotten the truth: you and sister were the favorites. I was forgotten. I always chased after you to play and learn, but you only hurt me and laughed.”

  “Ah yes, I recall your tears now… so sweet…” Dimitry smiled, lost in the memory while the raid took full advantage of his distraction to do more damage.

  A few heartbeats passed, and Dimitry lost a few hundred thousand life. Alburet watched the fight intently, looking for anything that would help make things easier.

  “I should make you cry again,” Dimitry said suddenly and began to Whirlwind.

  Everyone nearby backed away except Gerald, who stayed there to tank.

  “I got this one,” Ioaniss said, tossing a trap at Dimitry’s feet. Dense white goo erupted from the trap, coating Dimitry’s legs from the knee down and stopping the Vampire’s movement. “There you go.”

  “Switch out,” Marysue ordered. “Anyone bleeding, back out. Unafflicted melee, pile on.”

  “That was annoying. Jones… Jones…? Oh, the old line,” Dimitry said, sneering at Ioaniss. “Your line could have amounted to so much more if not for your slavish devotion to the weak, god-loving Justiceson family. I’ll deal with you soon. In fact, I’ll let you go back to them… better than before, but... yes, turning you against them would be quite humorous.”

  “You’d never be able to make that happen,” Ioaniss said as he pulled his crossbow back out. “I do have some gifts for you. Let’s see if you are susceptible to any type of damage.”

  “Oh, I will accept that challenge,” Dimitry laughed. “Breaking you will be so much fun. Ophelia, fetch Jones for me.”

  “Sister is dead, brother, and soon, you shall follow her,” Vladimir said, wading back into melee, even with the bleed debuff on him.

  “Dead…? She can’t die, she’s a mi
nion. She has merely been sent back to her origin point.”

  “If you die, what happens to her, then?” Vladimir pressed.

  “She’d have to wait for a new Summoner… on the Dark Lord’s plane…”

  “And when she shows up there, what do you think will befall her? Let me tell you: she will be captured by the Dark Lord and killed. She did something she shouldn’t have. She considered herself Mother’s equal.”

  “Mother…” Dimitry said, again coming to a stop. “I need to find a way to bring her back; I must have some of her blood. I can think of many ways to empower my Faceless with her blood now that she is a god.”

  “Gerald,” Alburet sent over the Raidstone, “every time someone mentions something about his experiments, he stops attacking for a moment. I think that’s his Broken Mind, he can’t focus. That’s our key to keeping the damage down.”