Johnstovall
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Demon Card Enforcer 3, Chapter Twenty-One
🕑 Added 2024-08-25 21:48:47 +0000 UTCChapter Twenty-One: Return to Loowitlatkla’s Fall
“Son of an Infernal,” Wolfe cussed as he stared at the notification.
The Dungeon of Loowitlatkla’s Fall allows a maximum of four people inside at a time.
Wolfe waited for a moment, and everyone stepped back out of the dungeon entrance, into the tunnel that had been dug.
Wolfe, Shel, Miriam, Rhett, and Fern was ‘everyone.’ Derek was here, but he was already sitting on the ground against the tunnel wall. Given his injury, he had begged off being a part of the dungeon.
“We have one too many,” Wolfe stated.
“Obviously,” Miriam said. Then she went over and sat down against the wall next to Derek, and leaned her head on his shoulder. Her dress was completely ragged—it was the same one she had met them in nearly twelve hours ago, and it had tears from the adventure, and a few bullet holes. Wolfe was honestly surprised she hadn’t become an involuntary nudist at this point.
Although in Miriam’s case, would it really be involuntary? I mean, she has been running the dungeon is a diaphanous cocktail dress…
“You guys go,” Miriam said, waving at them. “Wolfe has already done insanely right by me and Derek, and I’ll be honest—after a dungeon run and then getting shot neat to death more than once and only saved by Shel, I’m a bit… Shell shocked.”
Miriam chuckled tiredly at her own joke, the frowned when no one else joined in. “Okay, so that wasn’t my best joke. A bit weak, even. The point is, I’m exhausted by the events of this day. I’m tired in my bones. The Level Twenty-Five perk would have been nice, but I’ll sit this one out.”
Wolfe nodded. He was deeply tired as well.
But tired was for chumps.
He couldn’t stop. Nathan had taught Wolfe that he wasn’t strong enough, and someday, Wolfe would have to face him again. He had to work to make himself ready for that day.
Plus, from other things Fern had said, Wolfe new that Nathan had nothing on Adam himself. So even Nathan wasn’t the goal. He was just a stop along the way.
“You’re sure you want to do this, Fern?” Wolfe asked. “I mean, you are Level One, right? You know this’ll probably start around Twenty-Three and go to around Thirty-Five.”
She nodded firmly without answering, her breathing still ragged.
Wolfe was half convinced he was going to regret it, but he wasn’t one who would stop someone from pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, no matter how likely they were to kill themselves.
Wolfe had been helpless more than once, when he was much younger. Even being a mob enforcer, risking arrest or getting shot, had been far preferable to that feeling of utter weakness. He wouldn’t wish that helplessness on anyone, not even his worst enemy.
If someone deserved to live at the mercy of someone else, Wolfe would as soon shoot them and be done with it.
“My love?” Shel asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.
Wolfe shook the brief black mood from himself. “Sorry, stray thought. Let’s just do this.” Maybe I really am a bit tired.
Wolfe stepped forward, into the gate for the third time. The heat was the same, and he reemerged in the same cavern from before—near a pool of lava, and also sweltering.
At least this time no fire bat attacked him.
“They’re gonna make us walk all the way back, huh?” Wolfe asked as Shel appeared next to him. “The dungeons don’t have some kind of transport system?”
“None that I’ve ever read about, my love. Sorry.”
Shel stepped forward from the gate and first Rhett, then Fern appeared through it after a moment.
“So… where are the monsters?” Rhett asked as he glanced around at the cavern, which was lit by the glow of the lava. “I’ve never been in a dungeon, but this seems empty.”
“We have a bit of a walk,” Wolfe responded. “Through a long, hot tunnel and then down a long slope.”
“Do you try and make everything sound sexual around me on purpose?” Rhett asked, rolling his eyes.
“Eh, just comes natural, I guess.”
Rhett motioned with his hands. “Well, lead the way, then.”
Wolfe pulled his deck. “Just in case, before we go, let’s everyone play all of our companions.”
Wolfe played Malviere and Cereboo and his mindless Obsessive Cultist. Shel brought out Sorenia and Liurenia.
Fern played Brain Bot to the rocky ground. It rolled in a half-circle, then, on its front in eight-bit drew a little heart and printed out “Brain Bot is in august company.”
Rhett touched a card, and a near seven-foot-tall human in battle armor with vague police accents appeared, a badge on his chest. He looked like a body-builder that had cybernetics strapped to him, along with a police stache.
Butch Cyber
Uncommon Equivalent, Tier-5 equivalent Mortal/Golem [Civic, Cyber, Veteran] Companion
0 Power
Health: 25
Attack: 5
Defense: 10
Magical Attack: 0
Magical Defense: 5
Special: Civic Leader [1]: Grants +1 to all non-Health stats of all other allied civic cards on the field
Special: Bulwark: This card must be attacked before any other cards of the deckbearer, or the deckbearer, may be attacked.
“I’m a test program for the efficacy of enhanced protectors of the citizen body”
“You got a new companion card?” Wolfe asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, a much weaker one—”
“I’m not weak,” Butch said, his voice a deep, pseudo-electronic baritone.
Rhett rolled his eyes. “Sorry. I meant to say a lower rarity, lower tier one. It took selling almost every card we got in our little scuffle in the warehouse, but he’s worth it. My deck tends to set up slow and he buys time.”
Wolfe laughed. “Fair.”
Wolfe took in everyone. “We all ready?”
A chorus of yeses, three woofs, one blank stare, and an eight-bit “Brain Bot is ready!” answered him.
Wolfe nodded to everyone assembled, then turned and set out at a brisk pace, following the path back. He was feeling good about their chances. This dungeon had been made five hundred years ago if Shel’s earlier information had been accurate—and Wolfe expected it was. Wolfe knew that there had been a bit of power creep since then, most of it with the introduction this set of Companion cards and the free companion slot. Wolfe was fairly sure that they were all stronger for their level than the dungeon would have been prepared for.
Although the dungeon was going to reach Level Thirty-Five, which would be… interesting… with a Level One in the party.
It wasn’t that long before he reached the campfire and the stone slab. From there it was easy to find the route—whenever one of them wandered off the path, the tress and undergrowth became rapidly impassable, but everything was an easy forest path in the correct direction.
As they were walking the forest path, a series of arrows suddenly shot from the forest, high into the sky, and then rained down. Wolfe briefly saw a notification that it was a 4 strength aoe attack.
“Everyone down!” Wolfe yelled, hitting the ground.
Everyone else tried to dodge, but arrows managed—magically, Wolfe suspected—to hit everyone except Rhett. Yells, shouts, and growls met the attack.
“We need to move forward!” Wolfe cried out, yanking an arrow from the meat of his upper arm.
Fern was huddled on the ground, an arrow sticking out of her shoulder. Wolfe grabbed her, yanking her along.
Shel started to reach for one of her cards and Wolfe yelled “Get Fern” as they ran.
The Rookie EMT that appeared healed Fern, the arrow popping from her shoulder as it healed.
Wolfe ran into the forest, looking for enemies. He quickly found them when he broke through the treeline into a burning village. This was a full village, not the tiny thing they had defended before. Hundreds of huts, and raging through them were almost a hundred enemies—but they were also fighting each other, two groups of fifty or so, with civilians running around, screaming and occasionally dying.
Wolfe glanced at the figures. There were cards named “Pahto something” and “Wy’east something” that were functionally the same, plus civilian cards.
Pahto Elite Brave
Dungeon NPC
Mortal [Soldier] Creature
Health: 30
Attack: 9
Defense: 9
Magical Attack: N/A
Magical Defense: 9
Special: Feeder: Whenever this creature kills a Beast, Plant, or Nature creature it heals fully.
“A brave that served as the personal guard of the first son of the legendary first chief of the Cowlitz.”
Pahto Elite Hunter
Dungeon NPC
Mortal [Soldier, Archer] Creature
Health: 20
Attack: 9
Defense: 6
Magical Attack: N/A
Magical Defense: 6
Special: Incoming Ambush [4]: So long as at least one card matching this creature is on the field, every incoming enemy, including deckbearers, takes a 4-strength physical attack. Does not replicate additional similar abilities if one has already triggered in the 30 seconds.
“One of the greatest hunters in the legendary first tribe of the Cowlitz, now allied with the chief’s eldest son.”
Cowlitz Tribesman
Dungeon NPC
Mortal [Civilian, Civic] Creature
Health: 20
Attack: 3
Defense: 5
Magical Attack: N/A
Magical Defense: 5
“A citizen of the Cowlitz Nation.”
In the center, near a fire, Wolfe could see the young, beautiful version of Loowitlatkla, sitting on the ground and weeping.
A civilian woman ran up even as Wolfe was taking in the fighting. She was a young Amerind with paler skin and black hair, covered almost head to toe in goatskin clothing.
“Help us! Each of the sons of Chief Tyee has a camp on the outskirts of the city! If you can defeat them, you’ll save us! The more of us you save, and the more of our buildings you prevent from burning to the ground, the greater your prize will be!”
Wolfe hadn’t even considered the buildings, and glanced at one.
Burning Cowlitz Long House
Dungeon Structure
This building will burn to the ground in seven minutes. Any Elemental [Water] card played in the village will add two minutes to the timer. Any Ice or Elemental [Water] attack against the building will add 5 minutes to the time. A civic creature solely dedicated to keeping the building from collapsing will delay the rate of time loss by 50%.
“War, what is it good for?”
Wolfe counted ten burning buildings. Son of a…
“Shel, Rhett, Fern—handle everything here! Set up near Loowit in case she’s still healing. Keep the civilians alive with healing and cut down the soldier cards as fast as possible. Your decks synergize—” well, two of them “—and I think you can save most of this. Watch for the buildings when you have the chance!”
Neither one nay-said Wolfe as they started moving, but Shel called out, “What are you going to do?”
“Hunt,” Wolfe said, and Cereboo let out a braying yell. Wolfe brought forth his second Obsessive Cultist.
I have a few moments to set up, I bet.
Part of Wolfe was tempted to try and empower himself significantly, but he had his mantle in this pull, and no Demonic Portals. That meant that he could add the mantle, which would empower his cards, and then likely put six creatures on the field with his remaining power and cards on field, so long as he sacrificed an Obsessive Cultist on the last play.
Puppy Pack time, Wolfe thought sardonically, using the name that Malviere had given his deck.
He raced down an obvious path on the left-hand side of the village. He immediately played his mantle. He had already spent one of his eight power, and this further reduced him by two more. But it let him put any number of cards on the field so long as they were canine, and empowered them.
Master of the Infernal Hunt
Unique Tier-5 equivalent Infernal Persistent [Mantle]
2 Infernal Power
+10 Health, +3 to all remaining stats.
Special: Cerberus’s Champion: All other [Canine] Cards gain +5 Health and +1 to all other stats, and all [canine] cards gain advantage against Infernal cards.
Special: Versatile [Infernal]: This card alters to fit its wearer so long as they have at least 2 Infernal Power
Special: Grand Pack [Canine]: [Canine] cards do not count against cards on the field
Special: Favorable Façade [Canine]: Count as a Beast [Canine] card for all purposes except type match penalties.
Special: One of the ‘Gate to the Underworld’ cards. If all 6 are possessed in the same deck, the bearer will gain 7 Legendary Infernal or Beast card pulls. Additionally, the deckbearer may either gain the Mythic ‘Gate to the Underworld’ Building Card or evolve Cereboo. One card is held by each of the crime families of Noimoire, and the sixth is held within the city by another.
“Sometimes, the demons call a hunt on other demons, and a hunt master is always chosen to lead the chase.”
Wolfe ran along the path, but it took more than thirty seconds to reach his destination. He tossed down a Demonic Portal card, drawing forth five power worth of creatures—he picked his Gehenna Kennel Master and an Angry Hellhound, tier-4. The portal cost two power, reducing his power to three and his cards on field to zero.
Wolfe reached a small clearing. Inside, he saw Chief Pahto, an elite brave, and a named shaman. The Chief had two hundred life and strong stats in the mid teens, and the Shaman had fifty health, stats in the low teens, and a powerful healing ability.
Wolfe played his second Demonic Portal while sacrificing his Obsessive Cultist. It raised the cost to four, but the cultist gave three power, and so Wolfe was left with two power. He used the power to summon two Angry Hellhounds and a Lost Hellhound Puppy.
He glanced at his Angry Hellhounds, now that they had what was nearly the maximum possible buffs Wolfe could give.
Angry Hellhound
Common Tier-4 Beast/Infernal (Canine) Creature
Two Beast or Infernal Power
Health: 14(19)
Attack: 9(20)
Defense: 5(7)
Magical Attack: 5 [Fire or Infernal](16)
Magical Defense: 5(7)
Special: Dual Attacker: When this creature makes a physical attack, it also makes a Magical Attack on the same target.
Special: Empty Mind: Immune to all mind-affecting debuffs.
Special: Canine Tribal [1]: +1 to all attacks for every other canine on the field.
Special: Hunter [Escaped Damned 1]: Gains +1 Attack for every Escaped Damned on the field.
Special: Reformed Doggo: This card gains type advantage, and loses type disadvantage, against any Infernal, Undead, or Elder card, and any card with the word ‘criminal’ or ‘villain’ in its title or type.
“It could be argued that most things in the Infernal realms are angry, but these hellhounds take it to an entirely new level—and this one has torn many a spirit to the point it needs to reform on many an occasion.”
Malviere trigged one Hellhound with her fast-attacking ability, and it hit the Shaman, slaying it in a single grab of the neck and violent shake that ripped the Shaman’s throat out entirely. It did four-hundred damage, netting zero for combined type, and then second attacked as an Infernal Magic attack for three-hundred and eight-four base magical damage. The shaman was obliterated by the single strike, taking almost eighty damage net.
Wolfe ran over and slew the brave, just to get his pack and their insane stats focused on the bad guy.
Each of the three Angry Hellhounds hit the Chief. They ripped into his legs and arm, each doing the same base damage. Chief Pahto took less damage thanks to his higher stats, and each did only did about fifty net each.
But Cerberus hit as well, biting into the chief’s stomach and back, and he did another twenty-five damage. Malviere managed another Twenty or so with her Death attack.
Wolfe couldn’t help but feeling smug. At full synergy, with a couple perfect rounds of set-up, his deck was insane.
The Chief slammed his warclub down on an Angry Hellhound, killing it, but Wolfe summoned the Bulgar Chaser with his last power, keeping the other ones at full power.
The next round, the chief died to the first attack power of Malviere. Wolfe received a notification that it had been a Level Thirty-Five encounter, and he gained another level.
A card dropped from the dead boss, and Wolfe grabbed it. It was a decently strong rendition of Chief Pahto, a mortal subtyped for a couple things that didn’t subtype to anything their team used.
Based on his summoning and such, Wolfe was pretty sure only two and a half minutes had passed.
He turned and sprinted toward the other chief’s base, back along the path. He started dismissing his demonic Portal summons and trying to reset. It would take a minute to return to the village, so if he could somehow resummon everything in the same order, and presumably win in the same time, he might be able to end this before any buildings burned down.
Comments
Lazy Monster
It does make it more impressive when it comes together and if he got the perfect setup every time it would make it less dramatic.
John stovall
100% yes lol, will change
John stovall
Yeah, I don't like to do it to often, but occasionally reminding people of the details of the numbers is good I think.
Drakenclaw
Thanks for the chapter. and it hit the Shaman, saying it in a single grab of the neck and violent shake that ripped the Shaman’s throat out saying it -> slaying it ?
Lazy Monster
It’s great we finally get to see the raw damage that Wolfe’s deck can put out when he is not stuck cursing his ability to draw his mantle or some other card he needs for his specific situation.
