Karp
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Chapter 150
🕑 Added 2025-01-16 21:37:40 +0000 UTCAs the pair of Elves stood there posturing, the realm of the Emerald Dream wavered and shook as if it were undergoing a constant magnitude 9 earthquake.
The fabric of reality started to morph and combine, then tear itself apart. Trees that looked like they were low resolution suddenly came to life as monsters, then blew up into tiny particles as if they never existed.
To the inhabitants of the dream, the land felt like it was a piece of paper adrift on the wind, tilting sideways, diagonally, and in every which direction.
The clash of wills, and the power of Varrus's enhanced Illusion perks, and the status condition imposed by the Emerald Dream elevated him above his natural state.
[Emerald Dream: All magic/physical damage-except Illusion-decreased effectiveness by 100%. Illusion magic increased effectiveness by 150%.]
Imposing Presence boosted the effectiveness of Illusion spells by a further 25%, and Illusion Mastery boosted the power of his spells for every point he had in the Illusion tree. That was a 100% increase.
In total, he had a 275% increase in Illusion modifiers on top of the enchanted gear's spell power, which was what propelled him into the realm of demigods in the first place.
As a result, the pressure he exuded when applying Commanding/Imposing Presence upon the land was nothing short of extraordinary.
Animals, insects, even the plants and other foliage reacted to him, and bowed in his direction.
Malfurion snarled as he tried to counter Varrus's impact. Three bright orange orbs surrounded him, and span around at high speeds.
Just by looking at them, Varrus could tell that they contained the concepts of fear and nightmare, that they were intrinsically linked to the corrupted Night Elf.
All around the man, illusory beings came into existence, and the swamp that surrounded them shuddered and breathed as it came to life.
Heavy gravity surrounded Varrus, and he realized that the trap he had so boldly ran into earlier was an AOE zone control spell.
It was one that restricted movements, and prevented teleportation. Murky waters that were as thick and black like oil pooled around his ankles, and slowly ate at his mana.
At the same time, the cursed runes Malfurion had carved into his flesh pulsed with some unholy magic that made him feel light headed, and hallucinogenic.
Queasy, and on the verge of collapse, Varrus didn't care about any of this as he glared hatefully at this repeat foe.
He was not one to remain idle for long, and did two things at once.
First, he cast Dispel Magic to do away with the curse Malfurion had placed upon him. At the same time, he opened his mouth and shouted:
“Feim. Zii. Gron!”
(Fade. Spirit. Bind!)
Becoming a blue, see-through ‘ghost’ could not have come sooner, because the second Varrus had become intangible, Malfurion passed right through him.
The massive druid was bathed in lightning, and had an animalistic air about him as he paced around Varrus.
Snarling and talking to himself, Malfurion almost reminded Varrus of Golem from LOTR. The 9 ft tall purple man prowled behind Varrus, and was constantly darting in and out of the swamp like a hunter testing its prey.
Clearly this corruptive state had vastly altered Malfurion's psychology, because this behavior was in stark contrast to his calm collected typical self.
After assessing this attitude, Varrus decided to test this new Malfurion's capabilities while his Shout lasted.
Knowing that Become Ethereal would only break once the timer ran out, or he used an offensive skill/physical attack, Varrus opted for one of his more recent spells.
Seidstone.
This spell brought back illusions of the nearby dead, and it just so happened that Cenarius, and those two other creatures of nightmare had perished relatively close to where they were now.
As the stone floated in the sky, and sent forth a blue ring-like pulse of energy, countless beings rose from the ground, their pale blue forms were blank-faced as they all turned to Malfurion as one.
“You dare bring the foul instructor back to us? //// We missed you Canarius, where have you been, old friend?” Malfurion spoke towards Varrus and the illusion of Cenarius in a crazed manner.
He then pulled one of the orange orbs into his hand, and fashioned it into a blade of pure energy, and ran at Cenarius. The other two orbs then began to bombard the creatures of nightmare with beams.
As Varrus watched the fight, he noticed that Malfurion seemed to be much faster then any time they had fought in the past. In fact, it was almost as if he were a phantom, the way he moved.
While this could be a feature of his corruption, or even that of the swamp, Varrus felt that there was something fishy going on.
Continuing to watch, and make plans to catch Malfurion off guard, it wasn't until he saw one of the Seidstone illusions disappear into a nothingness that it clicked.
Varrus had trampled over Malfurion earlier, yet it had been a fake! What if the thing he was fighting right now…was also nothing more than a projection!
Casting Clairvoyance, Varrus used it with thoughts similar to ‘point me to Malfurion.’
…only, the spell began to point at the suspected illusion of Malfurion, only to fizzle out!
‘What the hell?!’ Varrus thought to himself in confusion.
Varrus slumped his shoulders. What had gone wrong? It couldn't be that the Malfurion fighting in front of him was real, because otherwise, Clairvoyance would be pointing towards him.
Perhaps there was some other interference? Maybe an anti tracking spell like what the Rune Stones did when they prevented any scrying of the Sunwell?
Wracking his brain, Varrus saw that his bar for Become Ethereal was ticking down and had almost reached its end. He had to come up with a solution and fast, otherwise, Malfurion would be on his back within seconds.
Just watching him casually slay one of the horrors was enough to put into perspective how much more powerful Malfurion was now, compared to when they first fought.
Frowning to himself, Varrus went over the past couple of minutes to see if he missed anything.
After a few seconds, he realized something critical!
“The nightmare creatures!” Varrus exclaimed to himself in shocked surprise.
This entire encounter had developed because they had led Malfy and Cenarius here in the first place!
Furthermore, who was to say that that was even Malfurion to begin with?!
Varrus was pulled into the Emerald Dream, but it also went by another name. The Emerald Nightmare!
Was this perhaps a plot orchestrated by the King of Nightmares, Xavius all along?!?!
Such a thought was sobering. The Satyr had lured Cenarius all the way out here, and got him killed. Now he was trying to murder Varrus.
‘But wait, no, that doesn't make any sense. Then what happened to Malfurion? Is this an illusion, the real thing, or something else?’ Varrus questioned the series of events, and confused himself.
Shaking his head, Varrus determined that the ‘how’ didn't matter, he would find out the truth in good time. What he had to do now was find out where that rat, Xavius was, and put an end to him.
Casting Clairvoyance once more, this time, Varrus had it direct him towards Xavius.
A second later, a pale blue stream spawned in, and pointed in a direction away from the current Malfurion vs illusory Cenarius!
Glancing back at the illusion he had created, and seeing that it would likely break soon under fake-Malfurion's onslaught, Varrus cast Seidstone once more, refreshing the fight so that it started all over again, and would buy him some time.
Varrus then tossed out his flying carpet, and pulled Omen close with a swift application of telekinesis.
Taking to the skies, Varrus healed the doggo, and fed him a handful of Mana Stones to regenerate his mana.
Pulling out his scrying orb, he sent a quick message to Rho'dan: \\Stay safe, I'm pursuing the foe. This Malfurion is a fake.//
He then began to follow Clairvoyance towards the source of this malaise. Towards Xavius!
After a dozen minutes of flight, Varrus saw an ominous tower sitting upon a castle in the distance.
Rolling his eyes, Varrus couldn't help but scoff at the cliché appearance of the corrupted wizards tower.
“Ha ha ha. Very clever boy. But this is still my game!” A calm voice boomed from the sky.
As soon as the voice-which Varrus could only assume belonged to Xavius-finished speaking, all hell broke loose.
Harnessing the powers of dreams, Xavius altered the landscape as if it were a simulation, and he had editorial control.
One moment, Varrus was flying at high speeds, the next, he slammed into a wall.
Instinctively raising his fist, Varrus braced himself, and punched out. At first, it felt as if he might splatter, the wall was extremely solid, and his high speed akin to a jet engine had him worry that something catastrophic might occur.
However, the invisible cloak of his Commanding & Imposing Presence flared, and he saw the wall for what it was. Nothing more than a paltry illusion!
With this revelation, he punched out with more confidence, and smashed through the wall as if it were constructed from a thin sheet of paper.
His Illusion perks were much more effective in the Emerald Dream than he thought! The fact that he had shook the entire realm when he released them in full should have clued him in as to their potential power.
Varrus had totally discounted the idea of engaging any enemies in melee on account of the 100% physical damage debuff.
However, the intangible presence of his perks were not physical!
Clenching his fist, Varrus appreciated his newfound power, and looked forward with confidence.
What awaited him on the other side was a miles long cavern and maze.
The tower that he assumed was Xavius's home was nowhere to be in sight.
Within the maze, countless monsters howled up at him, each and every one of them emitting the aura of Heroes. The ceiling ever so slowly began to fall down, as if gears were pressing on it. Spikes from the walls shot electric arcs at him with spells strong enough to disintegrate minor Heroes like Telonicus in three hits.
Chuckling to himself, Varrus thought Xavius was a fool if he thought he would enter this labyrinth and waste his time!
With the extreme boost to his Illusion skill, and his monstrous spell power, Varrus took to modifying one of his lesser spells, Illusory Flames.
Illusory Flames: Concentrate to deal 30% of their current Health as temporary damage that wears off after 2 seconds.
With all his boosts, the power and duration of this spell had increased to a 105% temporary destruction of health, lasting 60 seconds.
Anything without magic resistance would be like tinder before a match!
Using both hands, Varrus pointed down at the cavern, and released a firestorm of epic proportions.
Blue-white flames poured forth in an endless torrent, transforming the illusory cavern into a wasteland.
Xavius must have been panicking, because after the cavern was destroyed, the wizards tower had teleported even further away, and a new biome had been established in between them.
Varrus scoffed in derision, and was going to pursue, however, the shade of Malfurion had caught up to him.
Clad in orange wings of nightmare energy, Malfurion flew at Varrus moving at incredible speeds. In his hand he held his bright orange sword made of mana. Hovering above him, the third orb spat out a constant stream of bolts and beams.
“Begone foul illusion!” Varrus said, and cast out the sea of white-blue flames.
“I am no illusion! /// Release me from this torment, I beg of you!” The twin personalities of Malfurion spoke.
Varrus paid them no mind, and unleashed his full firepower.
Malfurion growled as he sliced through the flames, and used his orb as a shield.
The overwhelming power behind Varrus's spell was too much, however, and crushed one of his orbs of nightmare.
Malfurion howled in anguish, yet losing a piece of himself had placed him within melee range.
Varrus took this moment to use the Slow Time Shout, and unsheathed his sword.
Channeling Imposing Presence into his blade, Varrus clashed again and again with the corrupted druid throughout the sky.
Each one of their sword strikes shook the world, and made the air tremble as their wills tore apart the fabric of this realm.
“Tyrande! Why did you die! //// Varrus Vandercross, I will feast on your soul!” Malfurion wept great tears, causing a flood on the ground down below.
Varrus breathed heavily as he narrowly avoided a cut that took some of his hair, and pushed the Night Elf back by blasting him with Illusory Flames in his offhand.
Malfurion hissed as he was forced to bob and weave through the air to dodge Varrus's concentrated fire.
As soon as Varrus got a breather, he noticed that the biome had changed again, and the world was plunged into an impossibly deep darkness.
“Malfurion had plagued me for generations, I have to thank you for sending him to me. The remnants of his soul formed the illusion you face now, a fate you shall soon join in!” Xavius's voice taunted from within the dark.
“What makes you think this darkness will stand up to my flames any better than the cave? I fear you must not be that far removed from our Troll ancestors if such thinking is the best you could come up with.” Varrus smugly taunted, and unleashed the Illusory Flames once more, breaking this prison of darkness.
As soon as the illusion shattered, Varrus had an uncanny feeling.
“Surprise~” Malfurion called from behind, lightning coating his hand just like it did before!
When circumstances seemed like they would repeat themselves, one little dog intervened.
“Arf!” Omen barked, and lunged across the flying carpet to intercept Malfurion.
Biting him in the leg, Omen pulled the corrupted druid back by an inch.
But an inch was all Varrus needed.
Whipping around lightning fast, Varrus put his palm on Malfurion's face.
“What was it you said about deja vu?” Varrus mocked.
“This isn't over! //// Not my soul, please young one!” Malfurion replied.
Yet Varrus ignored him, and blasted Malfurion point blank with an unyielding deluge of raw power.
The Illusory Flames gushed out of his palm like a river breaking free from a dam.
Malfurion's eyes went wide, and he screamed in untold agony as his soul was erased from this plane.
Upon hearing the collection ding of a Soul Gem being placed into his inventory, Varrus turned towards Xavius’s tower.
“It was never your game, Xavius.”
Spitting to the side, Varrus gave Omen a scratch behind the ears, and set his sights on the tower.
This nightmare ended today!
Comments
Kasikan
If they get an afterlife. They easily could just be destroyed. Better than some of the alternatives though. Eternal torment or just destruction. Destruction definitely sounds better.
Conor McGroarty
To be fair, soul gem here is fairly humane compared to Elder Scrolls final destination. Instead of the soul cairn, their soul gets squeezed in a juicer before being yeeted into the afterlife they would go to anyway as long as they don’t have any bs extra lives or other cheating ways.
