[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 89: Bird Bashin’

The chain launched itself toward the [Zuu’s] home with staggering speed, carrying Sam with it. For as slow as it was in reeling in, it more than made up for it in the launch.

Sam’s eyes watered from the blinding wind that threatened to peel him off the chain.

If he had thought about things beforehand, he would have used [Void: Smother] on the chain to nullify the Wind mana, but there was no time.

***

Hardly more than a second had passed between the chain’s launch and the heavy thunk as the chain’s spike attached to the other island.

It echoed through the suddenly still air. The chain pulled taut and began to reel the other island in, leaving Sam alone on the other floating island with its nests of [Zuu] monsters.

Kai and Matt looked at each other. They were worn out and tired from fighting, but they were still willing. But after all the training, they needed more time to rest.

“Did he really just—?” Matt started.

Kai nodded, wiping sweat and blood from his cheek. “Yes.”

“You’re not going alone, Sam!” Raiko leapt onto the [Source Chain] after him and deftly dashed across the suspended links. A feat no mere human could have achieved back on Earth.

Matt continued to stare. “Did she just—?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.” Matt put his hands on his hips. “You think they’re gonna smash?”

“She certainly ran after him fast enough. It is clear she has made a full recovery.”

Matt joined Kai at the edge of the Skyshard, where the chain joined the island. “You couldn’t pay me enough to do what they just did. One was sheer insanity, the other… well shit, I can’t imagine running across something so uneven over nothing but clouds.”

“We will wait,” Kai said. “I could use the time to recover.”

“I think,” Matt began, uncertain. “I gained some mana back when I hit that electrified bird…?”

***

Sam had wondered about what would happen when he hit the island. But since he didn’t have much time to dwell on it, he wasn’t nearly as frightened as he should have been.

Leaping at the last second, Sam raised his sword high over his head and with all the inertial force of the [Source Chain], he collided with a monstrous [Alpha Zuu].

Sam felt his arms nearly tug out of their sockets as the [Charred Claymore] met significantly more resistance than he had anticipated.

There was a disturbingly metallic crack, and then Sam dropped to the ground.

Rain pattered around him on the dusty soil as the [Alpha Zuu], split in half from the savage attack, fell into two pieces on either side of Sam.

You defeat the [Alpha Zuu (Level 22)].

You gain substantial Experience for slaying a Tough monster!

There was no time to celebrate, because Sam had just realized what that horrible sound was.

His [Charred Claymore] had finally broken. It was half its length, and where the other half was, Sam could only guess.

Probably somewhere in the corpse of the bird.

The raucous cawing of countless enraged birds filled the night sky. How many more [Alpha Zuu] were there? How many nests?

Sam put the broken claymore into his Inventory and took out the [Dullahan Greatsword]. He was slower with it, and the recovery was a bitch, but it was better than using a broken weapon.

He turned, expecting an attack, but was surprised to find Raiko running along the damn chain like it was a four-lane freeway.

Even before Raiko touched the Zuu’s island, she slashed a concentrated gale of Wind mana into the rallying birds, sending them into disarray.

Meowing, Komachi scampered across Raiko’s shoulder and into Sam’s armor.

Where, for some reason, she didn’t quite fit so well anymore. Was his muscle mass bigger because of his increased Strength, or was Komachi just… chonkier?

Maybe a bit of both, he thought, without sparing much more attention on it. There was much more going on that he needed to focus on.

[Rift: Mana Draw]

Green crescents of mana slashed across a trio of birds, leaving a lingering effect upon the monsters that he noticed earlier, except it had been in the form of Lightning mana. Whether it was some form of damage over time or something else, Sam didn’t know just yet.

He pounced on their weakness all the same.

“C’mon, give me Thunder mana already!” Raiko continued to harry the birds with her mana rifts. Though the Zuu were resistant to Wind mana, the debilitating strikes were enough to keep them at bay.

Sam jumped and slashed with his new greatsword. A cloud of pink feathers burst in front of his eyes. He didn’t even see the creatures die. They were just gone as tiny thumps of Impact mana detonated with each strike of the [Dullahan Greatsword].

Sam dropped to the ground and struggled forward as the immense unwieldy weight of the greatsword dragged him around like a doll on a string before he finally got his footing.

But it hardly mattered. The creatures, and a couple beyond those he aimed at, were all dead.

Nothing survived to attack him as he recovered from the strike.

I could get used to this.

Oddly, his MP jumped up higher than it should have. Something external replenished it, most likely that was [Rift: Mana Draw] at work. It appeared to be that when he demolished those birds, he gained some MP back.

He wondered if the spell was letting anyone who attacked the afflicted monsters drain a portion of the monster’s mana, or if it was some kind of recycling effect.

“That’s a fitting weapon for you,” Raiko said. “Impact is devastating in your hands.”

“Slow wind up and slow recovery,” he said, lifting it back into proper position. “If you can slow them, I can knock them out of the sky.”

She nodded. “It’s a plan.”

Another wave of [Zuu] cawed their challenge and appeared out of the sky. Sam could just see which nest they had come from.

With the Glyphs lighting up on Raiko’s arm, she ran her mana covered hand across the side of her glowing blade quickly.

As if urged on by what Sam said, Komachi cast [Haste Mazurka] upon him again. It felt like he gained several points of Agility all at once, but Sam knew it was merely from the buff.

His slow strikes with the [Dullahan Greatsword] would be a bit faster as a result, but still, it wouldn’t compare at all to the swiftness that the [Charred Claymore] had offered.

No amount of buffs, it seemed, could sidestep the Shard’s imposed penalties for using a piece of equipment he wasn’t fully able to.

Sped up from Komachi’s Mazurka, Sam faced the threat of the [Zuu] head on. He tapped [Power Stance] again and used [Tactics: Rolling Strikes].

For added protection, he used [Rally] as the silvery greatsword cleaved and obliterated the [Zuu] stupid enough to face him head-on.

Whenever a swirling Wind attack got too close, Sam reached out with a free hand and [Scoured] it from existence.

You defeat the [Zuu Swarm (Level 20)].

You gain greater Experience for slaying a Tough monster!

You defeat the [Zuu Swarm (Level 20)].

You gain greater Experience for slaying a Tough monster!

You defeat the [Zuu Swarm (Level 20)].

You gain greater Experience for slaying a Tough monster!

On and on, the Experience rained down upon them. Not quite so much as the Alpha had been, but a considerable amount just the same.

Enough to push him to level 19 Swordsman.

Level Up!

Your [Swordsman] Job has reached Level 19.

+4 Strength | +4 Vigor | +2 Agility | +2 Dexterity

+2 Bonus Points

Level Up!

Your [Voidknight] Legend has reached Level 11.

+2 to all Stats

+1 to all Talents

The rush of a level up never gets old! So close now to level 20. I even gained another level in my Legend. Nice, he thought with great relish.

The temporary HP from [Rally] helped to keep him healthy as he staggered to the ground and stumbled about, trying to regain control of his greatsword, cursing all the while.

When Sam looked up, another set of [Zuu] had replaced the ones he already killed.

Out in the distance, Sam saw a shimmer of dark purple light from one of the nests and, just at the edge of his vision, he saw another [Zuu] fly away from it.

The monsters definitely were coming from there. Maybe even spawning.

[Regen] after [Regen] went out, slowly restoring his HP. He realized belatedly that he could hear the spell, and that it was slightly different.

It had morphed into [Regen Paeon] instead and was a bit stronger as a result. He wasn’t sure how he knew the song’s name without seeing any accompanying Shardscript, but somehow, he did, as if he was aware of what buffs were affecting him from his cat.

Sam smiled at her. “Good cat.”

That got her really excited. Was her [Regen Paeon] healing just a bit more after his encouragement?

“I’ll leave the small fry to you, Raiko,” Sam shouted over his shoulder as he charged at the nearest nest. If they kept killing the small birds, they’d be at this all day.

“So gracious!”

He already killed the alpha. What they needed to do was get rid of the nests to stop the normal [Zuu] from spawning.

The first nest he came upon was filled with vibrating eggs the size of mini-fridges.

“Hate dat,” Komachi said.

Sam agreed and wasted no time waiting for them to hatch. Using [Shockwave], he slammed the oversized greatsword into the nest.

Its destruction was absolute as the Impact mana detonated at the same time as the added effect of his [Fury] amplified the Weapon Art further.

He even got a bunch of Experience from destroying the [Zuu Eggs].

By then, it seemed Raiko finally got lucky, and her Chaos mana switched to Thunder. The birds were far less resistant to that than Wind.

Struck by the concussive force, rows of the [Zuu] that dared to dive bomb at Sam were sent tumbling back. Some caught themselves in the air, but were too disoriented to renew their assault before Sam reduced them to bursts of feathers.

On and on they went in a one-two punch of an assault. Sam led the way while Raiko cleaned up the stragglers and Komachi kept them both topped up and moving fast.

With some of the [Zuu] afflicted by [Rift: Mana Draw], Sam was even able to recover some of his MP.

Komachi’s ability to overheal was immensely useful, but painfully short-lived. Whenever Sam’s HP topped out, he gained temp HP similar to [Rally]. But with the awkward swinging of his greatsword, his HP was in constant freefall.

He could attack, or he could defend, but he could not do both. And so he chose to attack with everything he had and trusted Komachi and Raiko to watch his back.

By the time Matt and Kai made it to the island, the pair had systematically destroyed every bird that crossed their path.

Two more alpha monsters went down as Raiko pulled her katana free of one’s chest. A spray of blood fountained into the air.

The other was a pulpy stain on the cliffside below one of the largest nests. The greatsword’s Impact enhancement truly was devastating. It was like a radiating blast of kinetic force that pulverized both stone and bird.

Sam took a moment to breathe and take stock. Even with Komachi healing him, the constant struggle to keep control of the [Dullahan Greatsword] had its costs.

He took far more hits than he normally would have, but considering his only other option was to fight with a broken weapon, he felt he was still doing quite well.

Awkwardly sheathing the greatsword, Sam began to climb up the cliffside, avoiding the mess of his latest victim.

Kai and Matt were helping Raiko clean up any stray [Zuu] that had flown home to roost, but instead found their death. He heard Matt say, “I really hope they taste like chicken.”

The sound of cracking eggs echoed as Sam pulled himself up onto the ledge.

“Oh dear Gods, don’t kill me!” cried a voice at the back of the nest, half hidden by broken shells and skeletons. “Wait, you’re not that blasted bird.” The young woman threw aside the bones and shell fragments, scrambling forward.

Sam nearly took a step back before realizing the drop behind him. He placed a hand on his sword hilt. “What are you doing here?”

Raiko defensively moved between the woman and Sam, or maybe she was inspecting the injured stranger closer.

The woman was disheveled and sported several old, crusted over wounds. Her eyes were ragged with fear. Seeing Raiko closer to hand, she clutched at Raiko’s garments and fell to her knees. “You must be away from this place before She comes back!”

“What monster is it? We’ll protect y—”

“There is no time,” she screeched. “Don’t you understand? It killed all of them! All of my friends were—” She stopped and stared, realization dawning on her face.

Eternal, bottomless fear gave way to wary hope. “You are the Incarnates that saved Islegard! You must help me, please… my friends, my home, it slaughtered—” The woman broke down sobbing, clinging desperately to Raiko as if she was the last bastion of safety in a churning sea.

“Sam!” Matt called from below.

Sam looked down at Matt and twisted around to follow his pointing finger. Had it been full day, the sun would have been blotted out by those massive wings.

As it was, no moonlight fell upon the island as the largest bird Sam had ever heard of descended, its dark wings spread out, as silent as the grave.