MM - Chapter 95 - WHY ME?!

The heat from the massive fireball was already painfully burning into Raine’s back. He immediately re-centered his mental state, entering satori—hyper-consciousness achieved through the release of excess thought and worldly concerns. 

With crystalized focus, Lunge forced another change in his trajectory. He tore forward with redoubled speed. His feet didn’t touch the ground, each lightning-fast step utilized his Connection, firming the air beneath his toes as Lunge activated non-stop. His body became a Discipline burning furnace, each muscle-group in his legs, abs, and arms consuming a point with every leaping burst.

Before passing the first attribute threshold, such a reckless feat would have shredded his limbs in two steps. Now, he merely ‘felt’ like that was the case. Within ten near-instant strides, one hundred and seventy-five Discipline vanished, taking a third of his health with it. [-524]

Extremely overworked muscles produced steam that blasted free from wretchedly-sizzling skin. Yet still the gargantuan fireball drew closer, charring his back. [-80] Raine didn’t stop. He couldn’t have stopped if he wanted to. The radiant heat from the encroaching Giga Blast pushed him forward just as surely as his legs were. 

His destination loomed, the two seconds he needed to reach the shield drawing out into agonizing eternities as his body was sundered from within and without. The damage piled up, taking the form of ticking numbers scrolling across his HUD at a blistering pace. Raine stretched his limbs, pulling and pushing himself forward with absolute urgency.

The ache of strained muscles turned dull, the throbbing becoming a distant annoyance. Raine had experienced the symptoms innumerable times, always in the moments before death claimed him. The mental cue that would instantly save him from his predicament was half formed when the heat behind him vanished as if it were an illusion all along.

Raine stopped his activation of the life-saving item, relieved he hadn’t needed to use it yet as he was far from out of danger. A final Lunge sent him hurtling to the side just before he impacted the stony barricade that was Celendine’s Shield. He flew parallel to the glistening brick surface, his head already tilted back to down a recovery potion. Healing Burst additionally restored a little over six hundred health in an instant.

[Healing Burst: (Beginner) Lay hands upon a target to restore health equal to 250% CP. Additional 250% CP health restored over 120 seconds - stacks 3 times - each stack refreshes timer (Cost: 30 CP) (Cooldown: 60 seconds)]

[ Minor Health Recovery Potion: (Common Grey) Restores 10% HP over 60 seconds, additionally cures one physical negative affliction (15 minute shared potion cooldown)]

A green shaded portion of the health bar indicated the two regen effects wouldn’t be enough to top him off. To his side, a meter-thick ripple in the energy shield passed by him. He twisted his torso on the next Lunge, turning midair to look up at the damage inflicted by the Giga Blast.

The explosion of living flames reached halfway up the wall’s shield. The blue wave continued outward for a hundred meters before finally settling. The ooze in the center of the blast had yet to dissipate. It continued to eat away at the point of impact where the shield was now a dark purple—a sure sign its integrity was near to buckling. Had the shield not been designed to completely stop such a powerful attack, portions of the wall would surely have melted, not to mention that he would have died.

[Regional Shield Stability: -5.6%]

Alarm bells rang from within the wall. Third and fourth tier classers poured out of the structure like a kicked hive. A veritable storm of elements shot from their outstretched hands, targeting another, equally powerful Giga Blast that hurtled through the sky toward Raine’s current position. He could only shake his head in consternation, not understanding the situation.

Why me? I only killed a few thousand little bugs. How could that possibly attract the attention of the world boss? And why are its siege attacks stronger than I remember? Doesn’t matter. This is too priceless an opportunity to miss!

Raine’s feet hit the ground and he leaned back to slide until his speed slowed enough to run normally. In the meantime, the Vaaterrans managed to overwhelm the huge fireball with their attacks and it exploded well short of the shield, blossoming into a fresh sun.

Reaching his destination, Raine banged on the door, hard, “Open up!”

A muffled voice came through the metal, barely heard over the rising clangor of the battlefield, “Passage is not permitted when the alarm’s been raised.”

Expecting it, Raine’s response was already prepared, “You would deny passage to a noble son of Silverlight?! I’ll have your heads!”

There was no reply for several long seconds. Much to Raine’s relief, a rumbling announced the door shifting enough for him to hurriedly squeeze through. Inside, spears and poleaxes were leveled his way until the door shut with the hefty clicking of internal mechanisms. His hands were raised as he waited patiently. 

The new commander on shift, decorated by a purple sash like the previous one, leaned close, “Brave of you to run from the battle… and threaten us. You indeed meet the requirements of a lesser noble, or I’d have already killed you. Consider yourself lucky and get out of my sight!”

Raine met his gaze without shirking, “I’m not running. I can’t do anything from the ground. Thanks for letting me in. I might be back in a few so I’d greatly appreciate being let in again if needed.” He pulled twenty gold from his inventory and it materialized into a small jingling sack. He dropped it on the only table in the room on his way to the hallway leading deeper into the wall.

The commander didn’t respond other than to click his tongue in disgust. Taking that as assent, Raine dashed down the tunnel. His Discipline was nearly bottomed out. Now that both Physique and Connection were above one-twenty, he regenerated four Discipline every ten seconds. By the time he huffed it up the many, many flights of stairs, half had been restored. Exiting the stone stairwell revealed the ongoing battle with the world boss.

[Rabinoid Queen (Hierarch): Level 123 (HP ?????/?????)]

One-twenty-three? Shouldn't it be one-twenty? Must be another of those forerunner things. Whatever, this is even better. With great risk, comes great reward!

In the distance, a hundred Vaaterrans flocked around a massive, ant-esque monstrosity, releasing an unending barrage of ranged attacks. A few on the ground circled the boss, smacking it with melee weapons to distract its focus.

Viewed from so far away, their efforts seemed insignificant but Raine knew they were anything but. Each and every one of those attacks contained the power and force to turn him into dust. As if to prove his understanding true, in the span of a breath, twenty skills of the same caliber as City Lord Salamon’s Judgement of The Unfaithful were unleashed, devastating the battlefield around the queen.

The ground rumbled, miniature volcanoes rising beneath the boss to shower her with jets of lava. The air trembled as dark clouds gathered, sending razor-sharp droplets of condensed water down in unending showers. Flares of blindingly bright lightning unleashed thunderous cracks that caused the distant shieldwall to flicker in distress.

Yet their efforts were not enough. An army of rabinoids, and their larger cousins—Siege Crandals, swarmed across the ground and the boss’s body. They sacrificed themselves in droves, ensuring their queen’s survival. In the past, the only way to reliably defeat her was to thin out the number of protectors the day before she spawned. Raine had never heard of an instance where the Vaaterrans fought without the aid of players and was highly interested in how they were going to pull it off.

Suddenly, the mass of creatures shifted violently as their queen moved beneath them. A fourth set of specialized legs at the fore of her gaster lifted the hindquarter high into the air until it faced the same direction as her head like a stubby scorpion’s stinger. A stomach-turning pulse started in the center of her shifting mass. The pulse widened, throwing rabinoids into the air as it worked its way backward to a large hole at the tip of the gaster.

A massive glob of sickly-colored ooze exploded free from the queen, sending her minions flying. The fresh Giga Blast soared high into the sky, heading directly toward Raine.

“What the crap?!” On reflex, Raine ducked behind a crenelation and checked the shield’s status.

[Regional Shield Stability: 69.1%]

With the region’s strongest class three and fours surrounding the boss, they were unable to stop the sticky glob of destruction during its long flight. It reached the wall, splattering across the shield in a brilliant light show.

[Regional Shield Stability: -5.6%]

Raine sprinted across the fortification as soon as it struck. He had no idea why the queen was still targeting him when she was actively being attacked by a host of Vaaterrans, but it hardly mattered at the moment. If two hits landed on the same portion of the shieldwall, it would certainly fail, and he would be next.

Between Giga Blast's, the queen’s body glowed orange through the innumerable bugs clinging to her surface. The little pests turned to dust as their life force was absorbed into a phenomenal Blastwave that swept outward in a pulse of energy.

The defenses of a dozen weaker Vaaterrans were overwhelmed. They died without the chance to scream, bodies turned to puffs of quickly-dispersing fiery filaments. Golden-hued equipment clattered to the baked-clean ground, the sight of it eliciting drool at the corners of Raine's lips.

The gear was quickly retrieved by the surviving Vaaterrans. Their healers topped off the survivors and their devastating barrage against the queen began anew. Likewise, another Giga Blast was launched into the sky toward Raine. The boss planted her front legs deep into the soil and released a ratcheting screech that caused the distant shield to flicker bright blue across its entire visible length. The Vaaterrans paused their assault, shaking their heads in pain or outright falling from the sky, bleeding from ears and eyes. Her call was answered by a freshly spawned mass of bugs that erupted from the ground, swarming over her. Nearly fifty of them were capable of flight and immediately set upon the stunned Vaaterrans.

While their battle intensified, Raine continued to run across the top of the wall. Two more fireballs capable of wiping out an intermediate town splashed against the shield, and another fifteen Vaaterrans died.

They won’t even bring her to half health at this rate. What are they thinking?

Another Giga Blast dropped the shield below fifty percent and Raine was done. There was no point sticking around if they couldn’t kill the boss while it continued to attack him. If Celendine’s Shield was destroyed, it would vastly hinder the future of the Tri-glades. Withdrawing a Return Stone from his inventory, he activated it and the ten second delay started ticking.

Halfway through, the shield was hit again. Unable to move, Raine could only hope he’d timed the use of the item right. Another blast flew high, though this one exploded seemingly on its own at the zenith of its arc. With only two seconds left, Raine canceled the teleportation.

After the flare of light, a new figure could be seen high in the sky. He stood on thin air, completely composed and exuding an aura of power that caused the space around him to flex. Grand Marshal Lirik was one of only three pseudo class five powerhouses of the kingdom, and second in power behind Queen Analice Celendine herself.

He pointed at the army of swarming bugs far below and a jet of green flames shot from his finger. The further it traveled, the wider the jet became. By the time it reached the ground, it encompassed several hundred meters. A casual sweep of his arm reduced the entire swarm to ashes.

A sphere of energy pulsed from his body, then retracted with a whoosh to form a shimmering halo above his head. His eyes turned golden, their glow intensifying until two thick beams of radiance shot forth, descending onto the battlefield. Wherever those rays touched, Vaaterrans were revived and those still alive were brought to full health. Shimmering curtains of golden energy settled around their bodies and they fought with vigor significantly higher than before.

The halo vanished and Lirik’s glowing eyes returned to normal. He turned back toward the great wall, then paused, glancing over his shoulder toward something unseen on the horizon. His gaze tracked back to the rabinoid queen, then to Raine who froze stiff at the penetrating power behind the Grand Marshal's attention.

Inevitable death descended, slamming into Raine’s body. Sweat instantly sprouted across his skin as he folded ninety degrees into a full bow.

Don’t look at me! I didn’t do shit!

The feeling of inevitable doom vanished and when Raine braved a peek, Lirik was gone. Not daring to remain distracted for long, he checked the state of the battle. The queen was fully visible now, the empowered Vaaterrans having wiped out the remaining bugs. Thick, chitinous armor blistered, unable to fully shrug off their renewed assault.

There we go! Too bad she won’t give SP now but I wasn’t aiming for that anyways. As if I could steal the last hit from a raid of Vaaterran powerhouses. Getting close to that madness is no different than begging for death…

She screamed again, summoning new defenders. Her tail curled above her again, pointing toward Raine and an idea struck him. It was beyond idiotic, but if he pulled it off…

Raine moved, not allowing room in his heart for doubt when such a tantalizing prize was within his grasp. Hopping to the lip of the nearest crenelation, he leaped from the wall, limbs spread wide as the air whistled in his ears. The queen released another Giga Blast and Raine’s skydrifter formed around him. Since he hadn’t attacked anything, he was still considered in an out of combat state. The drifter’s large wing caught the wind, whooshing him away at incredible speed. Simultaneously, a field of invisibility wrapped around him.

He banked hard to the right, zipping along the wall outside the range of the shield. The huge fireball’s trajectory changed, still able to track him. Raine’s grin stretched his cheeks as the base requirements for his plan were met. Collecting himself and entering a mode of complete focus, he Lunged against the air behind him, ever so slightly boosting his speed. He flew in a wide arc, gambling that the blast couldn’t turn sharply enough to follow.

It managed to turn thirty degrees before its dwindling velocity became the dominant force, pulling it to the ground where it detonated. A geyser of fire and bubbling goop sizzled deep into the soil. Long before the skill burned itself out, the queen fired again, and again. Raine tightened his flight, circling ever closer to the boss. Avoiding her Giga Blasts was the easy part. The tiniest graze from any of the Vaaterrans much wider AOE skills would mean his instant end.

Precious minutes passed as the battle swung in the favor of the Vaaterrans. Without her swarm to drain of lifeforce, the queen’s Blastwaves were much diminished. Additionally, Lirik’s raid buff was still in effect, empowering their every attack. Her health dropped from five ?’s to four, and Raine began the next step of his mad plan. With a burst of bloodlust, a light glow flowed over his hands as he finally entered the fight.