HC: Pacifist | Ch. 201 - Abyssal Bolt

Even though his short-sighted underlings probably believed that Loki was looking for stat-boosting consumables to eat now and increase his stats further and, in turn, make them stronger, Loki was just stashing them in the guild’s vault. He still wasn’t sure what would happen after being hunted down, but even if his account was crippled and he had to delete his avatar and start over, his guild coffers had so many incredible consumables, skills, and items that he would be able to recover his strength in a matter of months and come back even stronger.

The items obtained from the first clears of high-level bosses were of unparalleled quality. Only through extraordinary willpower could Loki stop himself from wolfing all these down.

Supernova Ash (Consumable)

Description: Ashes from a faraway star which strengthen the organism and grant incredible vitality.

Item effects:

+20 strength;

+500 hp.

Can only be eaten once.

Black Hippo Bone Dust (Consumable)

Description: Dust obtained from grinding the metal-strong bones of the black hippo alpha male that roams the swamps of the Dark Abyss.

Item effects:

+3 to all stats;

+10 darkness affinity.

Can only be eaten once.

These consumables were miles beyond those gained in the game's early levels. Pegasus ran from dungeon to dungeon, from wild boss to wild boss, picking the Dark Abyss clean of its black riches. Even when he fell from his pedestal, he would have gained so much that it would still be worth it. No one could take away all the goodies his high level had allowed him to collect.

Additionally, because of the increased guild activity and how much stronger they became because of Loki's strength, several players in his guild had gained two or three levels in just ten days, catching up to the top levels in the game.

Whereas before, only five places among the top 100 players were taken by Pegasus players, triple that number now graced the scoreboard. Loki would have taken the number one spot had he not chosen to hide his name from the rankings. The event was stimulus enough to get someone to come for him eventually. The last thing he needed was to scream at the top guilds to go after him, and letting them know he was level 80 would do precisely that.

Pegasus had already finished hunting all wild bosses level 60 and below and was currently going through dungeons and bosses originally designed for players between levels 60 and 70. Only because of Loki’s bonuses were they able to make it through them

Loki sat in his guild's tent, following a hunt in the tar pits. Even though tar pits should have been devoid of life, the radiation of the Dark Abyss had twisted the genetics of the local wild boar population, who had gained a taste for bathing in tar instead of mud. Deep within the tar pits was the Tar Hog, a level 62 wild boss that had never been hunted before.

Due to the 18-level difference between Loki and the wild boss, he had to sit this one out and let his guild hunt it without him. He watched Anak lead the party and whittle down the boss’ health, but the terrain was difficult to navigate, and they had taken heavy losses already. Even so, Anak persisted. Levels could be regained, but this was a one-time opportunity to gain whatever rare treasures this wild boss dropped on a first clear.

Loki suspected there would be a consumable here similar to [Power Truffle] and couldn’t wait to add it to the coffer. As he kept watching the footage, he suddenly tensed. There was a deep rumble, a sharp sound. It was the roar of some kind of beast.

He sent messages to the guild members guarding the perimeter, asking about what was happening, but the prompt responses let him know that no one had heard anything.

Had he imagined it? He turned off the sound from the footage of the hunt and frowned. He was positive that the sound hadn’t come from the video feed. Why would he hear a sound that no one else heard?

“Zin, something is going on at the observatory. Come at once.”

The player you tried to reach is not online.

Loki frowned. Strange. Zin was always online at this time. Why had he left the game and not given him a warning?

Loki was getting a strange feeling. He stood and walked to the next room, where the guild’s vault was. He checked his inventory and deposited the latest batch of gold he’d received and all the precious items he didn’t need to have equipped, just in case. In the off-chance assassins got to him, he kept his most valuable treasures inside the vault. With such an evil affinity, and as the alien king, it was likely that he’d drop all his gold and items if he died, and he couldn’t have that. At least in the guild’s vault, his treasures were safe. Breaking into a guild’s vault was impossible without the required permissions.

He walked back to his armchair, frowning. Was he just imagining things? Lately, he saw enemies in every shadow. Enemies would have to fight through his numerous troops to make it to the observatory. There was no way anyone could make it all the way here without triggering one of the many traps and alarms he had installed in the perimeter. Maybe he was overthinking things.

Loki caught movement from the corner of his eyes. It was hardly visible, but his high perception had still been able to detect it. He wasn’t being paranoid. He really had company!

Black Void!

Loki snapped his fingers, letting a wave of energy ripple throughout the observatory. Sure enough, his skill canceled the camouflage of a nearby rogue.

The invader was freakishly tall and had broad shoulders. Even though he had [Camouflage] like a rogue, his clothes seemed more like a medic’s. They were all made of green and white wool. All his jewelry was made of dark wooden berlocks, and he had a neatly trimmed beard. For some reason, his eyes were yellow, his beard and hair were dyed black and white, and he had whiskers, but his facial features were still unmistakable. Loki blinked his alien eyes a few times and rubbed them together in disbelief.

“Slayer?” he yelped.

Hearing his voice, the man also squinted, and his jaw dropped.

“Loki? Is that you?”

Loki stared at the Slayer in disbelief. He had never expected to see his nemesis here, right in front of him. A mix of excitement at seeing his prey and traumatizing terror at the memory of this man beating him to a pulp sent a jolt of pain to his deformed spine. How had he come here? Why had he come here? What was going on? He wanted to act, but this absurd scenario was beyond his wildest dreams.

Roth finally broke the awkward silence.

“Why do you look so gross and ugly?” The pain turned into anger, which allied to his excitement, finally letting him break away from his stupor.

Shadow Shackles!

The Slayer looked around him, confused, seeing that nothing had happened. With this, Loki had canceled his previous spawn location. If he died, he would just respawn at the nearest graveyard instead of the last saved location. He couldn’t run away from him anymore.

“I don’t know why you’re here, but I’m glad to see you. Finally, we can solve our unfinished business.”

The Slayer did something that Loki had never seen him do before. He turned tail and ran. Loki smirked at the futile effort. Loki had to be 50 levels over him. This was as simple as it got.

Abyssal Bolt!

Dark lightning spread from his hand, and just as it was about to hit Roth, it bounced off a tall shield.

A tall blue lizardman had appeared in the nick of time and dug his shiny massive shield into the ground. The lightning dispersed, hitting the walls of the observatory.

“MountainTop?” shrieked Loki in disbelief. What was the number two tank in the game doing here? How had he appeared out of thin air?

“We’re under attack!” he sent the alert to his guild. “Observatory. NOW!”

Even as he sent messages to his guild, he kept bombarding MountainTop with attacks.

Purple Beam!

MountainTop’s shield shone in a blue color; this time, it just absorbed the whole beam, heating the shield red. The lizardman hit the shield with his mace, and its accumulated energy was dispersed in all directions. Loki deflected the damage directed toward him with a wave of his claws. He had [Mirror Shield] and [Shock and Awe]. Just how many life-saving rare skills did the tank have?

All these skills had long cooldowns, and Loki didn’t relent. He just had to make the tank spend them all, and then he could one-shot him.

Void Claw!

Loki scratched the air around him, sending another wave of damage toward the tank, and, his shield now shone orange, and the attack pierced a glass-like dome that had formed in front of him. He had [Life Barrier] too? Seeing his [Abyssal Bolt] had come off cooldown, he sent the attack again.

Abyssal Bolt!

-2341

This time, the attack landed, turning the lizardman into a sorry figure. He only had the tiniest sliver of hp left. He must have a skill that prevented him from being one-shot, probably [Second Wind]. Even as Loki observed him, he was already regenerating at a crazy rate, and he could see his hp bar growing: one of the perks of the lizardman race. Loki smirked. The next attack would end this.

Coup de Grâce!

He sent his epic skill that could execute targets, and just as it was about to hit, a massive figure appeared and slashed the energy beam into two with his sword, dispersing the attack Loki had thrown at him.

“Ogre….” Loki’s expression was grave. The number one berserker in the game, Ogre, was here too. Where did these high-level players keep popping up from? There must be a teleportation skill at play. He clicked his tongue, he had many ways to prevent prey from leaving, but nothing to prevent others from teleporting in. This was the first time he heard of an instance where players could teleport without using a gate.

His eyes focused on the man behind MountainTop and Ogre… The Slayer. It had to be him. He was the one teleporting them in. He was the one who disrupted things in the sewers of Hilsford. He must have unlocked some skill or quest leading them to their doorstep. He had foreseen the possibility of the game developers speeding the end of the event along, but he had never imagined that the Slayer would be involved.

The realization incensed him. He hated this man to the bone. He hated everything, how evil he was. Why did he keep pestering him? Why couldn’t he just die and leave him alone?

“You…” he said, stretching his clawed hands toward Roth, “Slayer, I don’t know how you got here and what’s wrong with you, but I’ll make sure that none of you leave this place alive.”

From when MountainTop appeared until Ogre stepped in, no more than 30 seconds had elapsed. His guild guards would be here any moment now, but he didn’t have to wait until then to deal with this small fry.

Ground Spikes!

Thanks to his high level, just about any basic skill he had could one-shot these players 30 levels lower than him. Any life-saving skill in the game was a precious treasure, and even these players standing at the top could only have a limited number of cooldowns.

Iron Skin!

-1312

Cloud Step!

Ogre activated a skill to negate some of the damage, but a third of his health was gone. As expected, the amount of health that Ogre had was impressive. He crossed the distance separating the two and slashed Loki with his swords.

Double Slash!

-10

-9

Loki savored the moment when the guild leader of the Ogres realized how little damage his powerful attack had dealt. Even though he was an esper, with his high level, he reckoned that even a slap would be enough to deal with the berserker.

-1130

The guild leader’s expression sunk even further, seeing how even a little slap from Loki had been enough to take another large chunk of his hp. Loki dealt another slap, but just as the hand was about to connect, his hand was pulled toward a new person in the room.

One For The Team!

-895

TurtleShell, number eight in the tank rankings, had appeared and used a skill to absorb the incoming damage. Loki tensed. Him too? Just how many allies did the Slayer want to teleport in? Just how had he met all these idiots?

Ch. 200 - Energy Pool

INDEX

Ch. 202 - Infiltration