Essence Wave Book 2 Chapter 37

*** AUTHOR’S NOTE ***

And here we have it, the final chapter in the book! Ends with To Be Continued, as they still have quite a ways to go to finish driving the Daemons off of Earth.

*** AUTHOR’S NOTE ***

“NO!” the Daemon Baron bellowed, suddenly glowing the red-green of Corruption, a massive flow of Essence siphoning through the walls and into it. “I WILL NOT BE STOPPED BY PRIMATES!” It shot upward in size, reaching four meters tall. “I WILL KILL YOU ALL FOR THIS INSULT!”

“I’m stealing your stats,” David said, “then challenging the Daemon. Otherwise the prisoners will die in the fight.”

“Be safe,” Aly said.

David nodded as the Daemon grew, the Corruption flowing into it preventing them from taking advantage of its powerup move. He activated A Leader’s Due, pulling every stat he could. Surprisingly, it took from the humans huddling to the side. Only a dozen each, but there were nearly a hundred. David’s stats surged, doubling, tripling, quintupling. Finally, the massive increase stopped, every stat reaching seven hundred. His body and cores crackled, the colossal amount of power starting to cause issues already.

“I Challenge you!” David yelled, activating A Duel of Champions, one of his few Skills that couldn’t level. The walls surrounding them vanished, leaving David alone with the Baron. I knew it was going to come down to this, he thought, looking on as the Daemon Baron glared hatefully at him.

“Then come at me, ape,” the Baron growled, blasting forward. David Charged, but a meter before they met he slid, the Energy blast shooting upward to throw off the Daemon’s balance. He sliced at the other leg, cutting it but only shallowly. The Corrupted Essence formed a shield similar to David’s Mana shield, though it seemed to only slow down attacks, rather than prevent them entirely.

He rolled, dodging the quick slash the Baron threw at him, the edge of its ax extending in range with a surge of Corruption. David leapt to his feet, flying into the air much farther than he wanted. Unstable Mana Bolts flew out of his sword, the cooldown reduced to nothing with the massive increase of his Intelligence and Wisdom. They did little, the Daemon’s defenses effortlessly blocking the hundred Mana in each Bolt.

A flash of insight from Combat Reflexes had him stop attacking to reinforce his shields. His enemy’s ax came flying up at him and slammed into the carefully angled Artifact Shield. The impact shattered the shield, even though he’d pumped nearly ten thousand Mana into it. The impact knocked him sideways, letting him dodge the beam of Corruption the Baron launched at where he would’ve been.

On a whim, David threw a bunch of Earth Mana out the bottom of his right foot. It solidified for a split second, just long enough for him to activate Vanguard’s Charge. He morphed his Mana Artifact Shield, reformed with a few hundred Metal Mana, to have a point in the center. Vanguard’s Strike was channeled through the shield, and he slammed into the Daemon with a crunch. The Strike cut through its defenses and stabbed into the Daemon, then the Energy blast blew it backwards.

“Ha!” David screamed, then Sprinted at the Daemon, only to be blown forward as the war ax scythed through his side. The cut ripped through his hip, shattering the bones and shredding his organs. The pain was almost enough to overwhelm him, but then his Precast Advanced Bodily Repair stitched him back together nearly instantaneously. He rolled to his feet, not leaping this time, and Sprinted again.

The Daemon was just getting up, one of its wings misshapen and a flood of the ichor that passed for Daemon blood was pouring down its chest. Even as David approached, though, the flood shrank to a trickle. “DIE BEAST,” it howled, stepping forward to slash at him.

David led with his shield, continuously pumping more Mana into it, and shed the ax slash that shot out at him with a grunt. He reached the Baron’s side just in time to take the backhand, his shield holding against the attack. David cut at the Daemon’s arms, his reach not quite enough to hit its torso. He blocked the flurry of blows that were thrown at him, each hit taking hundreds of Mana off his shield, but his regeneration was putting out nearly that much every second now. Strengthen and Earthen Bulwark let him keep his feet, while Swordsman’s Step and Shield Bash were used to deflect the attacks. The Daemon was too fast for Swordsman's Step to let him fully dodge, but it was enough that the Baron’s superior strength was shed just right to prevent him being fully overwhelmed.

After each frenzied attack, David cut the Daemon’s arm, barely doing any damage, but bleeding away the Corruption aura that surrounded it. He could feel the borrowed power in him trembling, but he refused to relinquish it yet. The Daemon’s Corruption was dropping quickly, and finally David saw a chance to do some serious damage.

The Baron slammed its ax down at him, and this time he let it hit straight on. The shield broke and the blade sank into his forearm. With a scream, David darted in, stabbing the Baron in the same spot it’d been hit before. His left hand came off, but a hastily channeled Advanced Bodily Repair stopped the bleeding before he passed out.

His sword, full of an Overcharged Vanguard’s Strike, pierced straight through the Daemon. It gurgled, then a massive fist knocked David sprawling. With a thought, a string of Mana connected him to the sword he’d let go, and all of it converted into an Unstable Mana Bolt. The detonation sent a spray of ichor out both sides of the Daemon’s chest.

“Good try,” the Daemon growled, then sent an ax strike at David. He flopped sideways to dodge, the stump on his left arm throwing off his motion as he tried to grab the ground. The beam of Corrupted Essence sliced open his leg, sending his body spinning.

David used the spin to get to his feet, and sent a Vanguard’s Strike ranged attack at the Baron. It blocked, but its ax chipped. The aura of Corruption was finally dropping. David ran at the Daemon, forming another shield on his left forearm. The Skill didn’t require a hand, though David did hope he could grow a new one with Advanced Bodily Repair.

The Daemon started to shrink, “NO,” it shrieked in anger, and put everything it had into one last strike. David tried to dodge, but the air around him seemed to resist his motion, the attack seeling space off and forcing him to take it.

In response, David sent everything he could into a Vanguard’s Strike, and the beams of Energy and Mana from his weapon met the Corrupted Essence of the Daemon’s attack. A swirling maelstrom of conflicting power swelled up between them, the two meters distance bridged entirely. A split-second later, the maelstrom collapsed, and an explosion sent both combatants flying.

David hit and tumbled, unable to arrest his motion. The borrowed stats slipped from his grasp, leaving him panting with exhaustion and pain. I refuse to give up, he thought, using the shield, which miraculously was still whole, to push himself to his feet. He staggered towards the Daemon, who was flopping in agony.

It took him nearly thirty seconds to reach his enemy, but the Baron was unable to get back to its feet in that time. “My master,” it said, its voice rippling in pain as ichor spilled out of its mouth, “will see you dead.”

“This is our world, and you can’t have it,” David told it, lifting his sword over his head. He collapsed downward, his body falling adding extra strength to the attack. The Daemon’s head was ripped off its body. A chime echoed over the separate plane, and David found himself back in the Corrupted Keep.

“I won,” he said, then passed out.

An unknown, but short, amount of time later, he woke up with a start as green healing Mana was flooding into him. His mouth tasted of off-ripe raspberries, letting him know that someone had poured a healing potion down his throat. Everything hurt. Everything. “He’s awake,” Liz said, her voice flooded with relief.

“I’m okay,” he said, checking his Status. “Uh, well, mostly okay. Triple digits on Hit Points and only, uh, six injuries.” He tried to chuckle, but his stomach hurt too much.

“No more talking,” Aly said. “Just rest, and check your notifications. Don’t level, though, you’re not fit enough for it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, only to get a glare.

The first thing he did was pull up the quest, grinning as it showed success.

Congratulations! You have successfully stopped the upgrade of a Subsidiary Portal to the nearest World Portal! You are the first in your quadrant to shut down a Subsidiary Portal! Rewards increased significantly!

Reward: 2 Minor Barony Upgrades, 1 Moderate Barony Upgrade - Access your capital’s City Crystal to choose upgrades.

Each participant receives 20,000 Credits! As the leader and primary contributor, you receive 100,000 credits.

One Extra City Crystal - Access your capital’s City Crystal to choose location, or convert to upgrade a current City.

2000 Essence granted to you for closing the Subsidiary Portal - the World Portal has been weakened, reducing the number of Daemons able to travel

Yes! David thought, keeping his body still while Liz and Aly worked on him. Aly was wrapping a bandage over his left arm, where the stump had been cut open again. Liz’s Mana was working on his gut, fixing up the injuries he’d papered over when the Baron’s ax had split his side open.

“We did it,” he whispered. “The portal was shut down, and now the area is safe, at least for a while.”

“And we saved almost a thousand people,” Colin told him, walking into his sight. “The downgraded ritual used a lot less sacrifices, apparently, and the majority of the prisoners were sent to a different area of the keep. They weren’t even guarded! Josiah and the rest of the army are on their way, said it’ll only be a few minutes. Your battle with the Baron dissolved most of the Corruption. Josiah has half the army clearing a path with the food we brought, while the other half is finishing to disperse the Corruption.”

“Thanks,” David said. He grinned at them, then opened his notifications to see how the battles affected his Skills.

Congratulations! Through usage and learning, your Skills have grown!

Mana-Artifact Creation -> Apprentice 22

Hiking -> Beginner 15

Running -> Beginner 18

Scholar’s Vision [U] -> Beginner 19

Sneak -> Beginner 20

Sword Mastery -> Apprentice 13

Shield Mastery -> Apprentice 16

Unstable Mana Bolt [U] -> Apprentice 1

Vanguard’s Charge -> Apprentice 11

Pain Resistance -> Beginner 20

Vanguard’s Strike -> Apprentice 6

Strengthen -> Apprentice 1

Sprint -> Beginner 16

Omnicaster [E] -> Apprentice 8

Swordsman’s Step -> Beginner 19

Earthen Bulwark -> Apprentice 1

Mana Shield -> Apprentice 12

Shield Bash -> Beginner 10

Inciting Speech [L] -> Beginner 19

A Lord’s Presence [R]-> Apprentice 1

Lead from the Front [U] -> Beginner 20

Combat Reflexes -> Apprentice 3

A Leader’s Due - Beginner 1

Spike Field -> Beginner 10

Advanced Bodily Repair -> Apprentice 10

Earth’s Unrelenting Motion [A] -> Apprentice 6

Minor Muscle Efficiency -> Beginner 10

Overcharge -> Beginner 6

Precast [R] -> Beginner 2

Holy crap, David thought. I guess nearly dying, fighting on the frontline of an army, and defeating a number of opponents that were a higher level paid off. He laid his head back, resting a bit since he couldn’t put the last two-hundred-twenty-five Essence to level, and he didn’t want to do anything else with the Essence until he saw what new Ways or option he’d have.

A few minutes passed, and then Spencer, Summer, Andrea, and another healer were pouring their Mana into him. Water, Light, and Earth Mana joined Liz’s Nature Mana to get him mostly fixed. There were a few remnants of damage that would just need time to heal. “Alright,” Liz said. “You’re clear to get up. No leveling, though, not until you are fully recovered.”

“Sure thing,” David said, and Aly helped him to his feet.

“Come on, you have one last thing to do,” she said. In the center of the room, where the altar had been, was a City Crystal, floating calmly over the ground. Aly helped him over to the Crystal, and he put his hand on it.

Congratulations! You have recovered this City Crystal! Would you like to establish a City here, or convert the Crystal into 5,000 Essence?

“City here, or convert the Crystal?” He asked.

“City,” Aly said. “Even if we move most of the people to Hope’s Refuge, there will be some that will want to stay. Plus, we should think beyond the current invasion.”

He gave her a questioning look. “I’ve been thinking,” she said. “We’re going to want as many high level Cities as we can. I doubt we’ll be able to build spaceships until the highest level of City available.”

“Good point,” David said, then clicked the City. “Uh, what should we name it?”

“Colin’s City!” Colin yelled.

“No,” Liz said.

“You could just name it Buena Vista,” Josiah said.

“Or New Buena Vista,” Aly said. “With the right pronunciation of Buena.”

“Sure,” David laughed, then input New Buena Vista.

Congratulations! Your Barony has grown! Add two more Cities to upgrade Barony to Dukedom!

Warning! The Daemon King has become aware of your presence and deeds! The World Portal is being enhanced to allow a Daemon Emperor to enter the universe earlier than expected!

Quest: Destroy the World Portal updated!

Quest Issued: Destroy the World Portal before a Daemon Emperor is able to cross.

Time limit: 6 months

Reward: 20,000 Essence, 5 Major Essence Enhancements, Major Barony Upgrade, 250,000 credits, Title Upgrade

“Six months,” David whispered. “We have six months to close the World Portal.”

“Is that enough time?” Aly said.

“It’ll have to be.”

TO BE CONTINUED…