Timewalk

Chapter 374: An Urgent Switch

Mato

“Mato, help!”

He already knew she needed help; Survival Instinct had made it abundantly clear that Malika would have died if that last attack hit. The great weeping wounds on his trunk bore testament to the deadliness of the Bone Avatar’s strikes.

Malika was enormously powerful right now, thanks to her skills increasing in potency the longer a battle continued, but her tanking style relied on dodging, which was an inherently risky endeavor. In this case, Alexand...

Chapter 373: An Abomination of Bone

“Get out of the fucking fire! Idiot!”
- Anonymous raid healer.

Aliandra

Ali went all out the instant the mana shield dropped. She summoned her Winter’s Desolate Celerity wand and emptied it on all the highest-damage casters – two of which were her own evolved Mages of Piercing Frost.

“Bloodlust,” she called. Joraa roared, throwing his head back to face the sky, and unleashed a fountain of blood runes upon the raid.

Calen ignited Righ...

Chapter 372: The Battle for Lyton Ruins (Part 4)

Aliandra

The area fear formation flickered within the Ghoul, but the only people in range were already under the protection of Malika’s Touch of Clarity, so Ali didn’t call it, choosing instead to eviscerate a Mass Summoning spell with her Disruption. Then, she turned her focus on trying to get through the ridiculous mana shield with every tool she had.

She sent Kir’vella to the spirit realm, and from there, she had her witch doctor attract spirit beasts with her Spirit Sp...

Chapter 371: The Battle for Lyton Ruins (Part 3)

Aliandra

Ali sat on a small barrier disk, floating a safe distance above the ruined logging town and the skeletons and zombies bogged down in Mato’s vast field of grasping roots, vines, and consecration. Two dozen smaller barrier disks circled her, periodically zipping back and forth to intercept falling flames or projectiles aimed at her or the raiders below.

“Unknown domain skill from the Ghoul,” Ali shouted, several seconds too late.

Ordinarily, she would never ha...

Chapter 370: The Battle for Lyton Ruins (Part 2)

Mato

Mato charged down the hillside, reveling in the power of his Dire Bear Form, but for once, he was not the person in front. That honor belonged to Malika, this time.

“This is the stupidest plan ever,” Malika muttered under her breath, glancing back at him as they sprinted down across the ruined cobblestones of the town square together, but with his skill-enhanced hearing, it was like she’d spoken directly into his ears.

“Yes,” Mato sent, unable to ke...

Chapter 369: The Battle for Lyton Ruins (Part 1)

Seth

The pitiful remains of Lyton lay sprawled out like a handful of rubble carelessly cast into the valley below. A large raven circled lazily above, descending slowly till it settled on a jutting pile of stone that had once been the mill. It made no cry, perched there with uncanny stillness as if it had suddenly been turned to stone.

Zombie. Seth shivered as he stood waiting – an unusual reaction for a necromancer when noticing a zombie, but it was not the raven tha...

Chapter 368: A Crazy Plan

Aliandra

While Calen went to fetch Vivian and the guild raid groups, Ali busied herself by unleashing an army of Moss Creepers, Floral Menaces, and Spore Spreaders on the ruined Temple of Blood and the surrounding verdant overgrowth of the jungle. She inhaled the spreading floral and leafy scents with a sense of satisfaction that went far deeper than merely mundane appreciation. Sweet justice. Directing them with a relatively small fraction of her attention, she flew back and...

Chapter 367: Dungeon Travel

Aliandra

As the Fetish-Painted Assassin collapsed and the chimes rang out in her mind, the death mana of the Lyton Ruins domain receded, abruptly retreating to the forest below and taking the ever-present miasma with it.

Did he move the domain? Ali thought, staring at the strange phenomenon and then at the bizarrely painted troll. She had never seen anything like it and had no answers to that question, but she was grateful that the dungeon rage had finally subsided.

Chapter 366: Sixfold Strike

Malika

Chilling pressure caused a ripple of prickling goosebumps to pass over her skin as Malika dove through the veil, chasing the assassin back into the mortal realm like a trainee leaping through the waterfall at Rezan’s favorite meditation spot high in the icy mountains above Kezda.

The world about her seemed sedate and still from within the calmness of her Clarity, all her excess stamina overspent to push her Divine Step well past the normal realm of mere haste. She was g...

Chapter 365: Headhunter

Aliandra

“Help,” Ali croaked. Behind her, the ominous shadows and glinting blade surged through her remaining minions, reaping lives like wheat. Impossibly, her own domain billowed out of the Gate, pouring into the Temple of Blood and colliding with the death domain in a blaze of mutual annihilation. She ground her teeth, tasting the sudden metal tang of blood as she dragged herself toward the Gate.

Something flickered beside her, and she felt a gentle hand lifting her. “I...

Chapter 364: Return to Aman Rak

Aliandra

“I think I’m ready,” Ali announced. She was fussing unnecessarily, but she was as ready as she would ever be. She glanced at her friends, who were waiting patiently nearby in the darkness of the ruined second level of Dal’mohra, lit only by the soft greenish glow of the restoration circle and the clear radiance pouring off her new construct. They had all been so patient with her over the last couple of days while she finished her project and finally recovered fully fr...

Chapter 363: Sparkly Ink

Teharissa Evensong

“Ilantha, dear? Would you mind setting a fire? These old bones are feeling the chill tonight,” Teharissa said, clutching the shawl closer about her shoulders. Their living space was far more comfortable now that they had the money to afford some of the essentials, but they would need to renovate if they wanted to eliminate the draft that blew in from under the door or through the poorly fitted windows.

“Of course,” Ilantha said immediately. “Would yo...

Chapter 362: Jewelry is a Dungeon’s Best Friend

Aliandra

Ali opened the squeaky door and entered the tiny, cramped store. It stank of flux and solder, and a haze of fine dust hung in the air, sparkling in the sunbeams. Wooden floorboards creaked beneath her feet as she picked her way around stacked boxes of supplies and a few workstations with their well-used grinding disks and polishing machines. The low ceiling with a single hanging glowstone didn’t bother her much, but Mato or Calen would need to stoop low to avoid bumping the...

Chapter 361: A Spot of Shade for Ali

Calen

At once, Calen identified the huge, surging shadow.

Shadow Dragon – Dragon, Shade – level 109 (Shadow).

“Second tier,” he announced. A bowstring twanged from right beside him as Coria beat him to the draw, her arrow shooting unerringly through the dragon’s blurry, shadowed chest.

“Immune to Wing Clip!” Coria said, shock filling her voice. Her arrow had passed clean through the monster as it swooped downward, its maw openi...

Chapter 360: A Jaunt Through the Shadows

Calen

Calen stared out over the mind-bending expanse of the Infinite Maze. White islands of stone floated in the sky connected by all manner of stairways, walkways, floating stepping stones, and bridges of golden magic that twisted in every possible direction and a few more besides. Magic that was the spitting image of Ali’s golden barriers.

“Well, there’s a sight,” Willow said, squinting as she tilted her head sideways.

“Is that it?” Devan asked, pointing towa...

Chapter 359: Guild Plans

Aliandra

Ali found a spot near the back of the crowded guild hall and perched on the edge of her barrier, levitating herself high enough that she was about level with Mato’s eyeline. He nodded briefly to her as if to say, ‘I’ve got your back.’ She nodded back. Appreciated. That was too close with Calen’s mother. What about Mato’s family? Could they be in danger too? Mori’s dead, surely it’s safer now? She looked on curiously as everyone in the hall engaged in ...

Chapter 358: Mayor Aiden Turner

Vivian Ross

Vivian nodded to Donella and took her seat at the council table. It was to be a private session this morning with just the council members in session, and the air inside the mostly empty town hall still held the remnants of the night’s chill. An almost imperceptibly tiny pulse of her fire aura banished the incipient goosebumps from her skin. She wasn’t the last to arrive, but it looked like she wouldn’t have to wait – as she settled in, Bastian Asterford and Hadrik...

Chapter 357: The Spear of Silent Extinction (Part 2)

Calen

Calen’s vision tunneled in, highlighting the ghastly crimson spray of his mother’s blood through the expanding cloud of shattered golden barrier shards. The world around him faded to a muted roar as his mother’s body hit the ground like a limp mannequin.

“Mom!” someone screamed, using his voice.

A dark figure, clad entirely in black leather, loomed over her and Ali. A silver spear buzzed at the maximum reach of his thrust as the echoes of his thunderous mov...

Chapter 356: The Spear of Silent Extinction (Part 1)

Kieran Mori

Kieran stalked the streets, his blood boiling in his veins. Ever since he had been assigned to Myrin’s Keep, his job had remained the same – operating from the shadows to keep powerful figures like Bastian and Jax in check, and the population pliable and controlled. Keep the region plump and ripe for the picking. All he had to do was funnel a steady stream of resources back to the Southport chapter, and the Shadow Council would reward him handsomely. All as long as he ...

Chapter 355: Mithril Beetle

Aliandra

A scorching, dry breeze poured from the Emberforge Mines, but it was still nothing like it had been when the fire dungeon had lurked in the depths. Ali examined her notifications.

Subterranean Brood Queen – Rock Beetle – level 81 (Earth)

Your reserved mana has increased by +293.

“Not bad,” she said. It was a relatively cheap cost for a level eighty-one monster. A high-level summon in a fresh and useful affinity – and one ...