Author Frank Morin
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Ch 166 - Ballerina Twirls of Death
🕑 Added 2025-05-07 16:00:08 +0000 UTCBoth of Noctarus’s skeletal heads roared like lions and he lunged, trying to smash me flat with his giant, poisoned feet. He was huge and heavy and a single stomp could probably flatten me, but I had Agility stacked onto Agility and to me, he moved like a snail.
I danced through his legs, smashing my ax and maul into one multi-jointed limb after another. Normally, the force of those blows would have shattered all his limbs, but his runes still offered protection, if not rebounded damage. The force of my impacts rattled him and enraged him even more.
So he tucked all his legs and tried to drop his multi-ton body onto my head. Just what I’d hoped for. I dove out between two of his legs, but dropped a square wooden platform behind. I’d built it during the movie.
Four feet square, it was covered in emoji trap stickers surrounding my last bear trap. I’d plastered 10 of the wonderful little emoji traps onto the platform, including 3 more of the piercing strike forest of spears, 2 exploding ones, 2 that unleashed spinning blades of various sizes, and 3 more adhesive ones to keep the platform stuck to his belly.
More importantly, the platform also acted as the delivery method for 4 rune scripts just like the one I’d used to overload Alpha’s rune matrix. I’d correctly guessed that Noctarus would protect himself with something similar since he’d called Alpha’s his best rune defense.
I dove between his legs just before his gigantic body crashed into the ground hard enough to shake the entire island. His rune shield flashed with blinding light as all the traps triggered, unleashing a storm of destruction across his underside that would have eviscerated him if not for that stupid rune protection.
This time the blazing light of his rune defense barrier intensified more and more as the quadruple recursion his contact with my runes triggered and adjusted the flow of power. Noctarus froze, his surprise evident on his skeletal heads as they twisted to look down at his blazing body.
Noctarus was a master runesmith, so he would figure out what was going on fast, and no doubt know how to counter my noob attempt to wreck his incredible script.
It distracted him for a second, though. In that second that he rotated his heads back over his body, I tossed my weapons into my inventory and leaped onto the top of his huge, disgusting stitched-together Frankenstein back. In his distraction, his skeletal heads reacted a second too slow.
I extracted my Guillotine Garrote and with a triumphant grin, slapped it against the base of his front serpentine neck. The slender golden chain snaked around his thick, scaly neck and sealed itself shut. I’d used the incredible little execution device to help kill 2 separate bosses, including Noctarus’s brother. Fitting that I use it to finish him off too.
Holding the Guillotine Trigger high, I looked into those empty eye sockets roiling with pure blackness, gave him the finger, and pressed the button. The golden chain flashed with light, then disappeared. The Trigger melted to dust in my hands.
“What the Handel?”
“You thought you could use my own weapon against me when I knew you possessed it? Foolish human. Now, give me my crystal!”
Bastard! I loved that weapon. I cursed myself too. I should have thought of that. Noctarus had planned every aspect of his double-cross with such detail, he never would have forgotten about the guillotine. I’d wasted a precious opportunity.
His front skull swept in to head-butt me, and Energy Ward nudged me, suggesting his other head was attacking from the other side. I triggered the Sunburst effect of my crystal bracers, unleashing a blinding flash that lit up the entire battlefield. As Noctarus snarled, his heads rearing back from the light, I rolled off.
When I landed, my ax and maul dropped back into my hands. With a growl of annoyance, Noctarus’s heads flared with darkness. Before he could counter my rune sabotage, I swung both my weapons with every ounce of force I could muster. I also unleashed all 2500 collected charges of Potential Hammer. I even tried to trigger Eminent Domain’s extra 25% extra damage per title, but it failed since I’d used it recently against Sixel.
My weapons struck just as the bright lights of his rune defense winked out. Some kind of reset to the defense, but he couldn’t have picked a worst time. Maybe he was still blinded by my starburst so hadn’t realized what I was doing.
My weapons hit so hard they both disappeared inside Noctarus’s gigantic body, plunging deep in that split second his rune defenses were inactive. The impact shook me to the core and unleashed a shockwave that cracked the air and blasted across the battlefield knocking everyone to the ground and splattering some of the closest zombies into meat paste.
Noctarus’s entire giant body catapulted away like a football punted by the best NFL kicker. Rivers of blood and black gore erupted from both mouths, trailing his tumbling form like nasty streamers. His giant legs windmilled like crazy as he soared over 100 yards.
The leviathan crashed to the shores of the lake not far from the first of the giant ships, but I growled to see another bright flash of golden light from his rune barrier. He’d gotten it reset in time to prevent him from splattering like he should have. I’d hurt him, but that gigantic battle form of his was tough. Most things would have just exploded from the force of a hit like I’d just unleashed.
“I’m really starting to hate rune smiths.”
How many times was I going to have to hit him with overwhelming force? I’d just unleashed enough power that I probably could have cracked the Ironwood Colossus and all I’d done was knock him out of the battle for a minute. How was he so strong?
I activated Spellseer’s Gaze and zoomed my vision on the distant leviathan. I should have looked sooner. Now that I thought to check, I finally spotted tendrils of power linking Noctarus with the central ship, his flagship. That cheater was drawing from external power sources again.
A shout from behind spun me around. I’d totally forgotten about the rest of the battle as I duked it out with Noctarus. More and more zombies had continued flowing from the basement of the castle. How many did Noctarus have?
Too many. The rest of my team were still fighting valiantly, but it was clear they were near the end of their ropes. No longer did grenades and potions rain down over the advancing elements of the zombie army. My team had consumed everything they had. Robin had landed and lay panting behind the barrier next to Hector, who had gotten wounded again. Even Tomas and Jerry were taking a break. They’d probably exhausted their teleport abilities. Nigel was totally savaging one side of the army, supported by Steve’s elemental arrows, while Burns was trying to hold the other side with his lightning bolts.
Even as I looked, he unleashed his master bolt. The sky split with deafening thunder as blinding light ripped down from above, splattering 20 zombies and knocking back twice as many with the resulting explosion of dirt and debris. That was awe-inspiring, but ultimately futile.
Several hundred more zombies were steadily closing. Soon they’d push past the sides of the defensive barrier and rip everyone apart with withering blaster fire. Jane was ripping back and forth along the front ranks of the army on Switchblade, killing many with lightning and fire, but she couldn’t do enough. With the increasing amount of laser fire targeting her, Shield Dome must be on the brink of shattering, then she’d get ripped to pieces.
The plan had worked, but only partially. I’d broken Noctarus’s rebound power, but not his overall rune defense. If I went after him to finish him off now, his army would slaughter my team. If I joined the fight against the army, Noctarus would overwhelm us when he returned to the fight. By then, his rebound defense might be active again, undoing all my hard work.
For a second, I hesitated, torn with indecision as I considered dozens of possible reactions. I scanned the messages I’d received during the fight and my sense of dread only grew. Tony and his team were fighting another zombie horde, unable to reach Lake Town. They’d taken some casualties. Meanwhile, the many layers of defense in place around the town had repulsed the attacking zombie army several times, but they were designed with the expectation that 200 people would be fighting, not 10. They were running out of options. Soon, they’d be overrun and hundreds of sleeping people would be slaughtered.
If only I could disable the sleep spell. With those hundreds of people added to our side, we could sweep the zombies aside, but I didn’t know how to do it and lacked time to figure it out. I needed to act, to change tactics, and I needed to do it now.
An idea finally percolated up through the torrent of thoughts and I seized on it and leaped into motion. Noctarus wanted that crystal so badly, I could lure him away with it and maybe kill him. First, though, I had to give my team a fighting chance.
So I triggered a scroll of Earth Armor, took a second Road Runner potion, and accelerated like the Flash while also triggering my Goliath title to double my Constitution. With my ax and maul in hand, I tore through the front ranks of the zombie army.
As fast as I moved, they saw me coming and hundreds of laser blasts ripped the air around me. Energy Ward deflected many, but could not stop such an overwhelming barrage. First a handful, then a torrent, then a flood of energy blasts ripped through my defenses. It was like the air had turned into a solid wall of laser death and I plowed right through it.
My outer layer of earth armor held up pretty well against individual laser blasts, but that storm of destruction ripped it apart in seconds. My Crash Test Dummy jacket didn’t fare much better, but shredded under the insane barrage. I finally tossed it into my inventory before it got so burned it wouldn’t be able to self repair. My layers of under armor seared and scarred,, protecting my skin, but not stopping the brutal onslaught completely.
My helmet flashed into view so often it looked totally tangible and rang like a never-ending series of gongs from one strike after another. My body burned with searing heat and pain washed through me in rivers. The air stank like burned toast and ozone and the constant laser blasts built into a crescendo so loud it drowned out thought.
I drank it all in and poured the pain, the insanity, and the bedlam into the furnace of my resolve, stoking the flames to white-hot intensity as I reached the zombie lines. I barreled through their ranks like a fiery reaper of worlds. I might not have been using my blades, but I was dual wielding and I managed to trigger the special boost of my new Dual Wield ability.
“Steel Blizzard. For your next 4 strikes, 4 clone blades will follow each weapon’s every move and deliver 50% pure kinetic force and 50% pure spiritual force against the target.”
Plunging into the thick-packed army of zombies, I spun and twisted, sweeping out with both weapons, trailed by their 4 spectral clones, striking with so much force I splattered zombies with every swing and sent dozens more flying. I was like Sauron wrecking the human armies in the Lord of the Rings, but at 100 times speed.
My team rallied to my aid. Lightning and fire and ice rained down on the zombie army, easing the burden a bit. Tomas appeared to my left and lashed out with Steve’s new scimitar, unleashing a cone of white-hot flames that incinerated a dozen zombies and sent scores more scrambling away.
Then Robin tore out of the foggy sky like a dive bomber and swept low over the massed zombies. She unleashed a devastating wave of fiery destruction that consumed at least 50 of them at once. It was like she’d either boosted her normal exploding missile ability, or had just used a boss carpet bombing spell.
That drew the attention away from me and the night filled with laser beams so thick they were like a hundred tether points between her and the ground. Her Earth Armor exploded, and the intense barrage sent her tumbling and screaming as she hurtled out of control into the night. I couldn’t tell if she recovered and flew up to safety, or if she crashed into the distant forests.
I didn’t have time to check, but used the flash of anger at seeing her brave sacrifice to strengthen my resolve. My world condensed to what I could reach with my weapons and I wreaked absolute slaughter across the front ranks of the zombie horde. I have no idea how many zombies I killed. It had to be dozens, but it wasn’t enough.
More pressed in, firing rifles or swinging melee weapons. I’d reaped down the front ranks, but not broken their advance. As I neared the end of my run across their front ranks, I prepared my trump card.
Lucas: “Tomas, Jerry, get everyone together. On my signal, teleport to the causeway across the marshes.”
Tomas: “What signal?”
Lucas: “You’ll see.”
I also messaged Jane and warned her to swing wide, closer to where Noctarus was already rushing back toward the fight.
Then I Shadow Walked closer to the castle. More zombies were still emerging, but the bulk of the army now stood between me and my team, who were already gathering behind our barriers. Zombies turned toward me, shouting a warning.
Too late.
I pulled out my Tidal Nexus and called for everything. I’d consumed all the pure hydraulic power gathered by the unique device, but hadn’t touched the physical water. Now I took it all.
A tidal wave of water exploded out of the Nexus cube. It spread out to cover the entire area and swept over the zombie army in an unstoppable wave. The churning waters tumbled zombies over each other and carried everything before it in a cresting wave that crossed the battlefield in seconds before shattering our defensive barriers and crashing down over the docks and moored long boats.
Everything disintegrated under the onslaught and the zombies disappeared into the lake. Even if the power of that wave hadn’t snuffed out their undead lives, the waters of the lake were poisonous to zombies. None would survive long enough to crawl back out.
Tomas and Jerry appeared next to me, the rest of the team clinging to them. Burns raised his hands and laughed with glee.
“Yes!”
Jane swept in on Switchblade, skidding the bike to a halt beside me. Her hair had come undone and blew around her head. She looked battered but exultant.
Switchblade looked worse, with scorch marks blackening most of the farings. When I checked my hover bike’s status in my mind, I winced. Power levels were low and Shield Dome was nearly spent. She’d used up all but one of the lightning cube chain lightning blasts and the firestorm offensive blast was on cooldown.
“Lucas, that was totally boss!”
If only it was enough. Noctarus was still coming fast and more zombies were recovering from their shock and pouring out of the nearby castle. Already laser blasts were starting to reach out to say hi. I’d killed at least 200 zombies, but the horde still seemed unending.
“Alpha. We are here.”
Oh, yeah! I’d totally forgotten about the werewolf pack I’d ordered north to help.
“Jane, Burns, listen. Run!” I pointed at the nearby causeway. “Run south through the marshes and around the lake to join with Tony. Reinforcements just arrived to cover your retreat.”
“Reinforcements?”
I willed commands to my pack and the roiling fog shook anew from a chorus of distant wolf howls. The sound shivered down my spine with a mixture of elation and primal fear. Jane’s shoulders slumped as she imagined another force about to pile on.
I flashed a confident smile. “I’m the new Alpha, remember? The pack will hold them off while you retreat. Go!”
“What about you?”
“I’ve got an idea to keep Noctarus distracted.”
“Good luck,” Tomas called, and Ruby added, “Be careful!”
“Knock him dead,” Steve said as 5 clones appeared around him and instantly started firing at the oncoming zombie reinforcements.
They clearly didn’t like leaving me behind, but they did what I asked and raced for the causeway through the marshes. The green glow covering the lake didn’t extend there, so they should be fine. Jane gunned Switchblade to keep between our running team and the increasing barrage of laser blasts. They’d make it, and I’d do whatever it took to make sure Noctarus never threatened them again.
Another wave of zombies rushed around the far side of the castle. They must have exited through the broken wall Noctarus had shattered earlier. If we hadn’t made our move already, the could have flanked us.
That was the direction I had to go anyway to get to Noctarus, so I charged. My speed, enhanced by my Alpha title and doubled by the Road Runner potion, allowed me to cross the open space like a living laser beam. The zombies barely had time to register my approach and open fire before I sprinted into their midst.
My heavy weapons had shattered zombies by the score, but I needed more speed. I couldn’t waste time with this group. I needed to reach Noctarus while he was still out near the ships. Tossing my ax and maul back into my inventory, I drew my blades.
As soon as they dropped into my hands, my tier-1 Swordsman ability activated, unlocking an extra 20% effective Agility. Power zipped through my limbs like I’d swallowed lightning.
The world seemed to slow around me as I accelerated again. I grinned with pure exhilaration and laughed as I tore into the zombie ranks. I’d been fast before, at least twice as fast as anyone else with similar levels. I’d never realized that was just a fraction of what a tier-1 body could do.
I had only unlocked 40% of my total effectiveness, and even that was awe inspiring. I unleashed every iota of speed as I flashed through the zombie hordes, dodging laser bolts and dancing between monsters who seemed to move in slow motion.
With every step, my blades wreaked death. I poured mana into Echo, magnifying its damage and unlocking its 60% echo ability before Double Strike mimicked the blows again. Each strike slashed through zombie heads, killing the powerful monsters instantly.
Unfortunately, Scalebiter’s stacking damage and penetration didn’t stack from one zombie to the next, so I swapped it out for Sixel’s Piercing Gale epic longsword and triggered its 50% bonus to my already over-the-top speed and agility.
The elegant blade snicked out, removing heads with every swing and leaving a trail of carnage in my wake. Not quite as permanent as Echo’s total destruction of skulls and brains, but a headless zombie was still effectively out of the fight.
That overclocked super-speed rampage through the zombie ranks sowed confusion and havoc through their forces and left half a hundred more zombies dead or headless behind me. I totally wiped out that flanking company before they could do more than shout in fear.
Only then did I pause, breath heaving, arms shaking from fatigue. That was such a rush, but drawing deep from tier-1 Agility winded me way faster than using tier-0 stats. Totally worth it, though, as I scanned the wide swath of absolute devastation marking my path. My entire body was covered in black zombie gore. All I could smell was death and corruption.
More zombies were pursuing my fleeing team back by the marshes, but a tide of werewolves erupted out of the fog, leaping from the deep marshes in a wave and swarming the front ranks of zombies.
Perfect. My team were escaping, and this zombie army at least would be distracted for a while. Time for me to push the old necromancer.
Turning the other way, I set my tether points and triggered Tether Slide.
