Malcolm Tent
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Wish upon the Stars chapter 597
🕑 Added 2024-04-04 23:34:49 +0000 UTCWe waited for a second after he hit the ground, hoping to see him just spontaneously die, but when that failed I cursed under my breath and shifted gears. “That's plan B then” I sent to Callie mentally.
I'd really hoped we wouldn't have to use plan B. This particular part of the plan was hands down the most uncontrollable. We'd machined things down to the smallest detail we could, but when we were doing the planning we ran into a snag.
After Callie set the straw dolls in place as bait. We'd only have a minute or two of lead time tops on their D-ranker. We were hoping they'd be so distracted by the collapse and what felt like a dozen D-ranked attackers popping up that they wouldn't think to check on Spencer.
In that scenario Anna would backstab him out of nowhere. However, if things fell through the second plan was to overlap herself with one of the dolls and use it as a distraction to attack and possibly kill the D-ranked guard.
Since she wasn't here, that meant plan B version two, which meant she'd missing the instant kill on the backstab but had caught their attention and was drawing it off so we could finish things.
This was fine. We had Bethy, who was a monster, and Callie and I worked well together. Plus I'd impaled six of the guards with my spikes which should at least slow them down.
To make best use of our element of surprise, once I realized we wouldn't be taking him out quickly, I triggered Moonlit Night, flooding the room with fog.Within seconds, everything disappeared. Callie was connected to me through the bond so it was easy to allow her to see through the fog, and Bethy was close by so including her was simple enough, barely any strain on my soul.
Without a sound, Bethy dispersed into her cat swarm, streaking out to land on all six of the impaled guards. Each of them was covered in several cats, and within second I heard them start to scream as they collapsed to the floor, twitching as their stats were consumed. It was easy enough to tweak the fog to allow the screams to carry, travelling to the others through the cloak of mist.
Valk had mentioned how terrible it was, and he’d been kind of twitchy about the experience, but given Bethy’s demeanor I kind of assumed it wouldn’t be that bad. I’d been wrong.
Stats were a part of us, fragments of the whole that made us up, and hearing them torn away…the screaming was terrifying, primal and heart wrenching as she ripped out pieces of who and what they were. No wonder she refused to do this to Gabe, it was terrifying.
Even Spencer, who had gotten his groove back quickly after losing his defenses, seemed genuinely disturbed by the sound of his people being fed on. I understood better now why Morgan Lark was considered so terrifying. Sure, he was scary and tough, but so were plenty of others. This though. This was what people were REALLY afraid of. No wonder Bethy hated doing this.
I felt bad asking her to feed like this when she’d just gotten better control. I hadn’t know how traumatic it was going to be, but I didn’t have to for a pity party. I had to take advantage of this gap.
Triggering Mephistopheles and Belial, I lunged forward, my staff lashing out in a straight thrust, the cap on the end aimed right at where Spencer was standing.
Only to slam into one of the remaining six guards as he dove in front of the blow. The explosion of black flame ripped a hole in him, and I watched him collapse to the ground screaming as the corrosion spread. The multiple amplifications of the two forms stacked on top of each other, increasing their effectiveness.
It wasn’t enough to kill him, he was a strong E-ranker, and despite being completely unprepared to intercept the attack (some more of Spencer’s oathbinding I assumed) he was able to drag himself off to the side.
Meanwhile, the second he bought them allowed the other five guards to form up around their boss, and I grimaced as I realized that I wouldn't be able to sucker punch him to end this.
I started to circle, muffling my steps with stealth, looking for an opening. The screaming was still going on, and I wondered exactly how much she was taking from them. How much COULD she take? There had to be limits.
Examining the situation I considered my options. Dust Construction was out, unfortunately. The floor in here wasn’t thick enough for it to be a valid sea of dust for me to move in. I’d just end up dropping us into the basement, which I didn’t want to do because it would entirely nullify the traps we’d set up.
With that off the table, I needed to lean into something else. Some other area where I had an advantage. Which meant Impact. I had several more points than the rest of these E-rankers, making me a bit more durable, and I had a method of taking advantage of that.
Blurring forward, I planted my feet in Spencers eyeline, then sent a message to Callie as I dropped the fog in front of him and his people, calling on Mornax. My body turned to stone as I took up a defensive stance, waiting for them to notice me. While I could move slightly step by step, it wasn’t fast, and trying to do it in combat wouldn’t work on this many people.
If I tried to engage I wouldn’t be able to hold their attention, but luckily, I didn’t need to. I was the only visible enemy in an impenetrable fog bank full of the screams of their colleagues and I was standing five feet away holding a weapon. Not a single one of them even considered holding back, and every single member of Spencer’s entourage attacked instantly and without mercy.
The screaming and fog were scary, but seeing me stand there and tank every one of their blows without flinching (between my armor and all the boosts to defense they couldn’t even scratch me with off the cuff attacks, and they were all too panicked to stop and try something with buildup) really put them back on their heels. That was good because it hurt like a bitch despite not damaging me.
My hands flew, my staff intercepting and deflecting attacks where it could. I made sure to make plenty of contact with both the fighters and their attacks, draining life energy into my staff. Finally, after a minute or two, I hauled it back like a spear and hurled it at Spencer’s head. I condensed every bit of black flame into it that I could manage, having dropped Belial but still using Mephistopheles alongside Mornax.
He saw it coming and sidestepped it easily, letting it sail by without worry before turning to grin at me. “Is that it?” He asked snidely. “All that-” His words cut off as my staff, wielded by Callie, smashed into the arm that he’d barely gotten up in time. An explosion of death energy and black flame consumed the limb, and as the others spun to protect him, I activated Pit of Despair at last.
The E-rankers dropped through the floor, finally in position away from him because of their assault on me, and I blurred forward at the panicking psychopath.
Callie had emerged from the shadows behind him, caught my staff, and then turned it on him, and she was able to pass it back just as easily. Dropping Mornax, I slipped back into Belial alongside my still active Mephistopheles before triggering an old favorite, Flurry of Blows, along with Afterburner.
My staff struck out like dark wooden lightning through the clouds of fog that had rolled back in with my assault.
I had to hand it to spencer, even stripped of his defensive artifacts and guards, he was no slouch. He practiced some kind of weird trusting martial art that left behind after images, and only every few blows landed. He had a wicked looking dark knife he’d pulled that seemed genuinely threatening and he was waving it around to make space.
Each hit slowed him down though, and I could see the erosion from the black flame and corrosive energy tearing away at him.
Despite all that, I could feel the guards heading back. Dropping my two forms, I switched back to Mornax and hurled myself directly at him, tackling him to the ground. Callie screamed in concern as the knife vanished into my chest, my hands planted on the ground to maintain my stone form, pinning him to the ground.
Howling with rage, she streaked down on the struggling Tolbert, slamming a blade of shadow through his eye socket and into his brain, and I felt her pull on Mephistopheles briefly as an explosion of black flame consumed his brain, exploding out through his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
“Shane!’ She screamed as she flipped me over, terrified and searching my chest for damage. Of which there was…none. I grinned at her through my mask. “You seem upset, everything ok?”
The dagger, which was on the floor, roiled with awful looking energy. Neither of us wanted to touch it, but she gestured down at it emphatically. “I…I saw him stab you. He drove that thing right into your chest. Your armor didn’t even slow it down.”
I stood up, gesturing down to an empty hole in my torso. “True.” I said happily. “In point of fact, nothing slowed it down. Because it didn’t hit anything but air.” Waving my hand, I resealed the hole, allowing it to resume the form of stone. “Pit of Despair plus Dust Construction.” I said with a grin. “Because my body was made of stone.”
Putting my arms around her, I pulled her close…and paused when a series of attacks slammed into my back. Rolling my eyes, I turned slowly to look at the guards, who had just gotten back.
“I’m sorry.” I said in annoyance. “Who exactly are you working for?” I pointed at Spencer. “Because that guy is dead, so your whole army will be falling apart momentarily. If I were you I’d bail before Camden and Celine’s people start hunting down stragglers. Maybe spread the word if you have any friends among the armies.”
They stared at me in fear, then turned and booked it out of the room, the fog having faded and none of them bothering to try to help the feebly weeping men Bethy had torn into. They all looked…bad. Thin to the point of emaciation.
Bethy herself was huddled in the corner, blood all over her face, pressing her manacles over her eyes. I nodded to Callie when she shot me a questioning look, and she went over to help our friend, having to sooth Luggage who was standing guard.
“She looks like shit.” I heard from behind me, and turned to see Anna limping into the room, a long gash over one eye and a split lip. She was holding her ribs like they were broken, and I snorted a bit at the comment.
“You’re one to talk.” I laughed. “Glad to see you’re ok though. I think we’re going to be tied up here for a bit, do me a favor and let Camden know what happened. He might be able to defuse the situation a bit, and I don’t trust those guards further than I could throw this house.”
She nodded, reaching into her pocket, and withdrew a piece of paper. Pressing it to the wall she scrawled a note, then put it in an envelope and and stamped it with a black wax seal. The message was consumed in fire and she turned to nod to me before slumping down against the wall.
Looking around, I took in the damaged Dining Room and sighed. This place was going to be a pain to repair and disarm. I was just glad it wasn’t my job. No…my job was done. And I couldn’t be more relieved.
Comments
JJB4345_80_815
Thank you for the chappy! What was with the knife? Did it have anything to do with the god tied to Hatescream (the cardinal bird with the blood red feathers)? Friendly possible edits: Since she wasn't here, that meant plan B version two, which meant she'd missing the instant kill on the backstab but had caught their attention and was drawing it off so we could finish things. she'd missing ==> she'd be missing (not entirely sure on this one, it could require a different fix, just didn't sound right to me) To make best use of our element of surprise, once I realized we wouldn't be taking him out quickly, I triggered Moonlit Night, flooding the room with fog.Within seconds, everything disappeared. A space is needed between "fog." and "Within" I hadn’t know how traumatic it was going to be, but I didn’t have to for a pity party. know ==> known I had to hand it to spencer, even stripped of his defensive artifacts and guards, he was no slouch. spencer ==> Spencer
Malcolm Tent
This was a treat for everyone who hates that I don't optimize wishes lol. A month of two dedicated candidates gathering info and backstopping everyone gets you an easy win lol. At least in very limited circumstances with lots of ways to narrow down your questions to very specific pieces of not so secret information.
CringeWorthyStudios
That felt way too easy… is Spencer actually dead or are we going to get another game of ‘pop the weasel’ with an enemy?
