Maria was clinging onto my back as I jumped higher and higher, until I reached the plateau. The explosions and crumbling sounds were still going on behind , all the while.
The tower is falling! Maria shouted in awe.
I didnt have the ti to look over my shoulder as Marias prison collapsed, but from the noise it created, I could tell that the abyss watchers fort was being reduced to rubble at an exceptional pace.
Yet, we werent out of the woods yet. The border was kiloters away and we had no hope of reaching it before daybreak, not at the pace we were going. Even worse, it wouldnt take long before pursuers from the fort caught up to . While the dry mans generals could keep the tier 5 classers at bay, the sa couldnt be said for tier 4 and below.
Maria and I continued along the rocky edges of the landscape, jumping from obsidian spire to obsidian spire, until the now destroyed fort disappeared behind the horizon. Unfortunately, using [Aura step] any more than I already had was out of the question, my passenger wouldnt be able to handle the recoil as I could. Even though that ant that we were traversing the area considerably slower, that also ant that we were quieter.
After almost ten minutes of silence, I was starting to dare hope that we hadnt been followed. That we would simply be able to cross the border without issue, and that freedom lay ahead. Unfortunately, it was not to be, because a minute later, a golden sheen appeared in the corner of my eye, at the edge of my vision.
It was all I could do to dodge to the right, just barely avoiding the two-handed sword that stood poised to pierce my shoulder. Strangely, nobody was holding the weapon. Instead, one of the guards from earlier, the tier 4 that bordered on tier 5, was swishing his hand around to direct its movent.
With Maria on my back, my movent was limited. Thankfully, my onyx chains quickly ford and were sowhat capable of fighting back against the floating weapon, though it was a losing battle.
The two ethereal weapons clashed in the air, sending sparks of mana flying as they did so. The sword shimred slightly each ti it ca into contact with my overloaded mana, which gave the confidence to continue running toward the border.
Strange mana you have, stranger! Lets see how you face overwhelming power, then! the guard called out, before swishing his hands in strange patterns, causing two more ethereal swords to shimr into existence. He renewed his assault and this ti, even my chains couldnt hold them back. I used [Relentless orbs] in hopes of distracting him at least, but he simply swatted the black marbles away when they reached him. Sohow, the orbs werent blowing up when I wanted them to. That could only an that this pseudo-tier 5 possessed the ability to control the dark mana of others skills!
My suspicions were confird as I gradually started to notice the chains becoming less maneuverable. They were becoming slower, clunkier, and inching closer to with each clash against the blades. It beca obvious that this fight was untenable, and I had to find a way out, NOW.
Suddenly, I heard a voice to my right, hidden by the rocks.
Over here! it said, though no further explanation ca. At first, I was scared it would be a trap, but as my battle with the tier 4 guard escalated further and further, most of my attacks not even affecting him, I beca desperate.
Co over here! the voice called again. This ti, I followed the sound to its source, the golden guard and his ethereal weapons in hit pursuit. I jumped above and around boulders, swerving to dodge sharp edges that jutted out of the ground. I almost slipped several tis, but made it to the voice.
When I arrived, however, I couldnt find anybody! Had I been tricked after all? As the guard approached, I realized that I couldnt wait around, so I continued running deeper into the rocky territory.
Then, when the golden guard passed the area where the voice had originated, I suddenly heard him scream in agony. I turned around instinctively, Maria still tightly holding onto my back and hiding her face in my robes, only to find the golden guard surrounded by four other classers.
Their armor was white and seed to be in the shape of bones, while one of them was draped in old tattered black robes. All four of them were undead skeletons, with dull green gems where their eyes should have been.
They were attacking the golden guard from four sides simultaneously, and he was losing ground. The robed caster started muttering so kind of spell, which sent the golden guard flying into the air and crashing back down in the distance, crushing so boulders with his fall.
I hesitantly approached the four classers, hoping them to be the dry mans subordinates.
Are you my backup? I asked.
All four classers turned to with the sa stare, before speaking in sync, their rough voice blending into one another.
I am your backup, Arthur. Quickly, to the border. That mana controller wont be stunned for long, and these pieces cant handle much more of my power. The voices spoke.
Hold on... are you... the dry man? I asked in wonder. Maria perked up when I had said that, and she peeked at the four skeletons over my shoulder, too scared to say anything.
In the flesh! Or... bone, I suppose. Now stop loitering! I shall guide you to your way across the border. Co, it isnt far. The dry man spoke, before his subjects fell silent and took off into the night.
I hurried after them, not willing to be left behind, and we navigated our way over the precarious landscape bit by bit.
Several more tis, a pack of guards would appear near us, but none were strong enough to handle the quartet the dry man had sent, and many died to my own blade and chains in those encounters. They were like a never-ending tide, though most of the guards were low-tier and therefore, unable to stop us for even a mont.
Unfortunately, the skeletons seed to be getting slower with each encounter, their eyes dimming as they collapsed under the dry mans power.
Thankfully, the golden guard still hadnt caught up with us when a myriad of lights appeared on the horizon. Imnsely tall towers that reached into the sky were visible from kiloters away, and the lights that shone into the sky reached higher still.
What is that...? I asked, unable to keep the wonder out of my voice. It was by far the last thing I expected to see in this hellscape. Sothing so colorful, alive... in this dead land.
That... is necropolis. The dry man spoke through his four voices. A holy land of death, the jewel of the between lands and a ho for everyone that is cast out by the countries around our borders. Its a place where anybody on the street might walk up to you and shank you, just to get a few copper coins off of your corpse... but too many of us its so much more than that...
Hold on, isnt the abyss watcher in the city? Hell sense if we attempt to cross the border by entering it! I asked in a panic.
Which is why we wont be entering the city! the dry man growled in a whisper, frustrated by my lack of patience. I will be guiding you to a nearby dungeon called [The grey waste]. Its a tier 3 dungeon, one of the rare few with two entrances. One near here and one, you guessed it, in my territory. Only issue is, the place is always heavily guarded, with it being one of our usual battlefronts and all, and now even moreso. Thankfully, anyone above tier 3 cant enter, so you wont be followed inside by anyone too strong for you to handle, capiche?
I nodded, accepting this turn of events. With this plan, I actually had a decent shot of making it there.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, a strange mineshaft ca into view. White ash seed to spill out of the entrance and litter the otherwise black stone, and wooden defenses had been erected around the entrance, patrolled by various guards carrying the abyss watchers sigil.
They looked like they were expecting us, because their weapons had already been drawn by the ti we stord their encampnt.
My black chains spread through the air and snatched the archers and casters before they could attack. I hurriedly killed them, before moving the chains to defend and Maria. More projectiles flew, but my chains swatted them out of the sky, before I launched my overloaded orbs and sent five of the explosive marbles at our adversaries.
The dry mans minions, anwhile, were making quick work of the sole tier 4 that stood guard in this outpost. Their strength was dimming further, but it was looking like their target would die first.
Sure enough, once I had mopped up the rest of the nearby guards, the dry man finished off their captain by withering all of his flesh and leaving only a dry skeleton; The death knights had held him in place while the caster had taken care of the withering part.
Now, all that stood between and the forest was a single tier 3 dungeon.
It was then that lady luck put up a last middle finger, a last hail mary telling to go fuck myself, because the golden guard crashed down from the sky, obstructing my path.
He roared furiously, before targeting the dry mans death knights with his ethereal swords, which sent them sprawling as their internal mana went haywire under the golden guards control.
The caster sent a strange white spell at the guard from behind, but one of his swords blocked it, and the spell seed to unravel at its touch. The dry man didnt have a build suitable to deal with... what had he called it? Ah yes, a mana controller build, which, thankfully, didnt seem to work very well on my overloaded mana.
I sent my chains to encircle the guards floating weapons, rather than the man himself, which actually worked pretty well. The swords were now grappling with my chains, but I kept supplying them with mana to sustain their efforts. Soon enough, the swords were locked in place, constricted by my snake-like chains.
The death knights and caster had stood up again by this point, their eyes dim and their movent weak. Yet, they were still strong enough to clasp onto the guard with their bodies, holding him down.
Then, the life left their eyes entirely, yet the empty husks continued to hold onto the guard with surprising strength.
Seeing the opportunity to run, I took it. re monts later, I stood at the entrance of the dungeon and prepared to enter, when the guard called out to .
You fool! You know not what chaos the dry man will visit upon these lands once you return his daughter!
Taking his words for what they were, a desperate, bitter attempt to have the final word, I ignored him and continued deeper into the mine. Still, the guard continued to shout at as he was being held down.
You better say goodbye to the girl now! The dry man only intends to finally finish her off himself! Why do you think the abyss watcher has kept her alive for so long? Once he abandons all attachnts, he will advance to tier 7 and no longer have need of you! Whatever he promised you, he lied! he called out after , sending a cold shiver down my spine.
At this point, I was sprinting down the tunnel as fast I could, hoping to escape him, no, hoping to escape what he was implying.
Maria, too, was shivering, even though it wasnt that cold.
Was I really delivering this girl to her death?
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