Chapter 16: 16. The Final Monster Wave – Part 2

Alistair’s body screamed in danger at the distant threat, yet he didn’t let himself panic. He had braved death before; this was just one more time against a much more dangerous enemy.

He turned behind him, looking past Alexandra and Oliver at the orcs on their back. There were dozens of them, including some scaly drake-orcs and cartoonishly buff death-orcs.

“Came… to.. warn…” Oliver wheezed out, his hands at his knees as he gasped for air. “Too many for me now.”

He popped a blue Mana pill into his mouth and tossed a Health pill to Alexandra, who looked like she had just been hit by a truck. “Hey! Snap out of it. We need you here.”

“Sorry,” Alexandra said sheepishly, gulping down the pill. “The backlash of [Barbarian’s Rage] is pretty strong.”

“Are you good to fight?”

“Yeah, I think so. I tried using [Healing Touch] to stop the backlash, but it didn’t work. Guess I can’t get off that easy,” she said.

Alistair felt his stomach churning with powerful energy as he digested the Mana pill he had purchased from the System Store for 400 drachma. He felt his Mana pool replenishing, the cool liquid seeping into every cell in his body. That was when he saw the blue line.

With a high-pitched scream, the line opened into a portal and a titanic battle axe flew out. It curved around, slicing the very air, Alistair barely ducking his head out of its arcing path. Alexandra wasn’t so quick, but she deflected the axe with a swing of her knife, sending it flying away.

Instead of obeying any normal laws of physics, the axe kept flying, returning to Kalgur’s hand like a boomerang.

The portal had grown wider, expanding to the point where the golden orc could step out without hitting his head or shoulders. Alistair knew as soon as his foot touched the concrete that he was the most powerful being he had ever seen in the flesh.

Prince Kalgur was over eight feet tall, no longer dressed in his royal attire, instead donning golden armor that gleamed in the red moonlight. He firmly clasped the axe that was just flying around, a massive double-headed weapon that was nearly as tall as its wielder.

The portal grew as large as a school bus as more orcs streamed out. The orcs practically surrounded them as they spread out in a circle around their small party. He could see the look of pure bloodlust on their bestial faces, barely restrained by their commander’s orders.

Kalgur held his gaze with Alistair before turning his attention to Alexandra and Oliver. The teen was frantically rummaging about Tybar’s body, his hands glowing with strands of pitch black Mana. Oliver’s aura had thickened and changed since Alistair had last felt it, suggesting he had leveled up to 15 during the fight. He only hoped that his new improvements would be enough.

Alistair activated [Eyes of Truth] on the towering orc.

Name: Kalgur Bykrozz
Species: Bloodsun Orc I (Partially Evolved)
Level: 23
Class: Dimensionalist (Rare) [Primary Attribute(s): Wisdom and Endurance]
Title: Prince of the Blood Orcs

“I have been expecting you, children. You have done well to seize the opportunities given to you.” The orc’s voice was deep and powerful, reverberating through the air, chilling Alistair to the bone. No one moved an inch as he spoke. “No kingdom can last forever.”

“What are you talking about?” Alistair called out. He’d had enough of the mysterious way some of the orcs talked. “You’re a bunch of factory-born monsters.”

“We are all slaves to the Dao,” Kalgur smiled. He held up a gauntleted fist. “Attack!”

All hell broke loose as the legions of orcs around them charged at once.

Most of the charging monsters were no longer a challenge to him and Alexandra, and probably Oliver too, now that he had leveled up. Without having to use [Mana Strike] at all, he delivered rapid-fire punches to the incoming wave of enemies, granting a sudden death to any foe that came too close. Alexandra was the same, swinging her once again giant knife in large arcs, bisecting dozens of orcs. Oliver surrounded himself with his two new zombies made from the corpses of the Bloodsun orcs they had just killed. While they weren’t as strong as they were while alive, they were more than enough to handle the wave.

Occasionally, a tougher drake-orc or death-orc would join the fray, needing a few more hits to put down. Alistair didn’t dare use any of his Mana, which had regenerated to 100 from his Mana pill, he wanted to save all of it for Kalgur.

The golden orc hadn’t moved an inch from his starting position, merely watching his minions getting slaughtered in front of him by the second. That was what scared Alistair the most. Sure, they could kill the inconsequential orcs all day, but without the crown jewel, it was all for naught.

With a jumping kick, Alistair smashed a line of orcs, jumping back to check on the others. Alexandra was using her high Constitution to tank the blows of the weaker orcs, while Oliver had grown his zombie army to nearly twenty orcs, clearly having surpassed his previous limit of five.

All in all, Alistair thought things were going well. Without the half-orc Shamans manipulating space or the head generals with their huge maces, the swarms of orcs weren’t very threatening. It was more a battle of attrition than anything else. His hands and feet throbbed with pain as he continued to punch and kick. There was nothing else except his limbs connecting with the enemy. The orc blood blended into the color of their own skin as piles of bodies formed around him.

As Alistair fought, his moves became more polished, more precise. A drake-orc’s tail barely missed his head as he turned to the right, kicking back at more grunts. He began to feel like his hand-to-hand combat exceeded his own experience. It was like his body knew what to do, even if his brain didn’t. A flicker of his subconscious realized he was putting his backlog of Upgrade Points into the Pugilism Branch, which was shared by all the Talent Trees granted by his Magical Pugilist Class.

Ten minutes of fighting passed in the blink of an eye. The hordes had finally thinned out, leaving just Prince Kalgur and a couple of stragglers. Alexandra was standing assisted by two of Oliver’s zombies, his army having grown to over thirty strong. Neither looked like they would be of much help in dealing with their final enemy.

At last, Kalgur started walking forward, dragging his axe along the ground.

“Why didn’t you attack with everyone else?” Alistair asked. He wasn’t complaining, but it seemed unlikely the orcs had a sense of fairness.

“You can free us from the cycle of death and rebirth, young friend. But only if you can best me in battle.”

With his free arm, Kalgur reached out a hand like he was grasping at air. Alistair felt the air shift around him as he was pulled toward his opponent. In one moment, he was standing fifty feet away from the giant orc, and in the next, he was right next to him, just like the magic of the half-orc Shamans.

Taking the initiative with what he learned from using [Mana Strike] on his head before, Alistair activated his Skill on his forearm, reinforcing his skin with Mana. The edge of the axe bit into his skin, drawing blood, but went no further. The force of the strike, however, pushed Alistair back several feet.

He only avoided the falling axes because of his heightened reactions. Two blue portals similar to the one Kalgur had stepped through opened above his head, sending two smaller axes flying down. Instead of backing down, Alistair decided to run forward.

[Dashing] toward the orc royal, Alistair feinted a punch to the face before delivering a [Mana Strike] kick to the leg. Before his foot could connect with Kalgur’s thigh, the orc shifted back. His kick hit only air, sending Alistair off balance. He tried to recover his footing and regain his balance, but he only ended up seeing stars.

Alistair raised his head off of the concrete as he regained his vision. He looked around frantically, trying to remember what had happened. At one moment, he was about to kick Kalgur, and in the next, he was lying on the ground. Red liquid pooled in his hand, dripping from his forehead.

Looking at his status screen, he dropped from full Health to only 60. The liquid wouldn’t stop flooding down his face. He realized with a startle that Kalgur must have hit him in the head with his axe. How had his [Fighter’s Instinct] failed him so badly?

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He rose to a knee and watched the battle unfold. Despite the backlash, Alexandra fought with brutal vigor, using all of her incredible Strength to slash and stab at the Bloodsun orc. It was obvious that her fatigue was affecting her combat prowess, and even besides that, she was far too slow to tag the dexterous orc, who was constantly manipulating space so as to not get hit.

Oliver sent his two zombies made from Gylar and Tybar to assist her, to little avail. The zombies were much slower than they were as living beings and lacked their former skill in battle. Kalgur toyed with all three of them like they were gnats. With her Strength, Alexandra could have cracked his skull open with a single open strike, but Kalgur was just too fast and had too many evasive Skills.

Alistair analyzed his abilities. As far as he could tell, the orc had three Skills that he used in perfect harmony with each other. One shifted others closer to him, another shifted him away from others, and the third opened portals in the air that sent out flying axes. He couldn’t tell if it was a Skill or an inherent part of the weapon, but Kalgur could also throw his war-axe and have it return to him no matter what.

He carefully got to his feet, taking off his shirt and wrapping it around his head to stop the bleeding. It was the second time in the past couple of days he used his shirt as a tourniquet. He didn’t mind being shirtless so much now that he had abs.

Keeping himself inconspicuous, Alistair crawled behind the piles of bodies strewn about the street. Alexandra’s grunts of pain were uncomfortable to listen to, but he needed to be in the optimal position to strike. Kalgur’s evasive abilities were second to none and with his high Endurance, he would outlast all of them in a protracted fight. While his Class was alright at smashing in the faces of tons of mooks, his true talents shone against a single opponent.

His tactic was based on a hunch, but it would have to be good enough. With an explosion of force, Alistair [Dashed] at Prince Kalgur.

Alistair’s perception of time slowed down as he closed in on Kalgur. He was in the middle of clashing weapons with Alexandra, while behind him, Oliver’s twin zombies prepared their own attack. Alistair’s [Dash] came at 90-degree angle from Alexandra, his right fist glowing with an already prepared [Mana Strike].

Being attacked from three different angles, Alistair judged Kalgur to have only one intelligent option, to shift away in a certain direction. The next part of his plan relied on his acting skills.

Recognizing Kalgur was an intelligent opponent, Alistair figured that the level 23 orc wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to take one of them out. He just had to give him that opportunity.

Alistair pretended to trip, stumbling forward wildly, as if he lost his balance. He could only pray Kalgur took the bait and shifted towards him. The safest move would have been to flee toward the two orc zombies, and Alistair prayed the royal orc was bold.

He spent the one point of positive Karma he had into a [Hand of Karma], hidden behind his back.

It was based on the tiniest of feelings he had earlier, seeing Kalgur shift. Alistair felt something different about his Skill, something similar but not quite identical to the feeling his Karmic Skills gave off.

As Kalgur phased through the air, Alistair brought up his cloaked red hand. At first, he thought it had failed entirely since the orc passed through him with no obstruction. But instead of the graceful steps away Alistair had become inured to, Kalgur was off-balance, unsteady in his movements.

That was all Alistair needed. He turned around with inhuman dexterity, landing an [Mana Strike] on Kalgur’s face. The armored orc’s head bounced against the concrete, letting Alistair follow up with a [Mana Strike] soccer kick to the skull. There was a sickening crunch as the Prince of the Blood Orcs skittered to a halt fifteen feet away, unmoving.

“Nice shot,” he heard Alexandra say from behind him.

Alistair was still on edge. There was no way it could be that easy, right?

As if answering his thoughts, Kalgur rose. For the first time, Alistair thought he saw some genuine emotion on the orc’s bloodied visage.

Alistair felt a buzz of Mana in the sky. Twenty feet above him, dozens of blue portals appeared. Hundreds of axes came flying down in an inundation of steel. At that moment, he quickly analyzed his options. His friends were too far behind him and there was nothing he could do. He wasn’t as sturdy as Alexandra, and Oliver had his zombies to defend him. He activated [Dash], running straight at Kalgur, who was still on his knees.

He ignored the sounds of metal hitting concrete as he set out on his collision course straight for Kalgur. In a peculiar move, he imbued his own head with [Mana Strike]. With time a precious commodity, he modeled his attack based on sprinters who leaned forward at the final meter.

Alistair was already upon the orc prince by the time he reacted. The orc started shifting back to avoid the blow, but it was too late to dodge all of it, and Alistair’s mana-enhanced head slammed into Kalgur’s golden chestplate, cracking it open.

His vision became blurry and Alistair felt more blood trickle down his forehead, but he couldn’t give up yet. Biting back the pain, he moved forward through sheer willpower and instinct.

The world around him moved, and Alistair found himself right in the path of Kalgur’s axe. He ducked under it and grabbed Kalgur’s legs, only to find Kalgur having shifted back even further. He couldn’t make out any details, but it looked like the boss was slowing down. That only spurred him forward even more.

Alistair used [Mana Strike] after [Mana Strike], his limbs practically becoming one with Mana. Kalgur evaded most of his attacks, but Alistair’s ferocity made it impossible to dodge everything, the occasional blow glancing his face or body. However, the orc responded in kind, opening portals at random locations and intervals, sending axes flying at Alistair. He dodged most of them, but even his [Fighter’s Instinct] wasn’t enough to save him from everything. His movements grew slower and heavier, and Alistair knew he was critically low on Health.

The last clash was upon them. Alistair felt himself being moved once again, preparing to dodge an axe, but nothing came. Instead, he felt a cold energy ripple through him. He instantly turned around, seeing that Kalgur had used his shifting Skill at the same time that he had moved Alistair forward, so it was as if they had swapped positions.

Alistair noticed Alexandra and Oliver standing in a sea of small axes covering the entire street. They were still breathing, which Alistair was thankful for, but he could see open wounds on both of them. With their condition, they were sitting ducks for Kalgur. The orc charged at them, Alexandra holding up her normal-sized knife in a feeble defense, but it was too late. With a cleave of his axe, Kalgur sliced off both of the humans’ heads.

The image of Alexandra and Oliver’s heads leaving their necks seared itself into Alistair’s memory, a burning rage coursing through his veins. In that moment, he knew there was nothing that could stop him from beating Kalgur to death. And so, he used [Dash] one final time.

Seeing as Alistair was his only enemy left, Kalgur met Alistair head-on, and that was his doom. As Alistair rocketed toward the injured orc, two figures appeared at his side. Somehow, Oliver and Alexandra were still alive, and they both speared the orc with their attacks. Howling in pain, Kalgur tried to shift away, but he only managed to move a couple of feet, not enough to escape Alistair’s range.

Every muscle in Alistair’s body worked in perfect unison to deliver a kick more powerful than anything he had ever reached before. An inexorable blow granting a quick death. Even before the notifications came pouring in, he knew he had won. His last thought before losing consciousness was annoyance that he was going to have to be carried home again.

---

Just a few days ago, Richard Atwood was a retired veteran, set on living out the rest of his days in peace with his family. Now, he was a level 25 Sniper, whatever that meant, with thousands of people listening to his every order. His body was superhumanly strong and durable and he could fire bullets to hit targets precisely from miles away, but he would trade it all back in an instant for his old life.

Now, he was determined to get as strong as possible. As long as he still breathed, he would never stop searching for them. With his name being seared as number 11 on the leaderboard, he hoped he could gather enough clout to locate his wife and daughters.

“Mr. Atwood, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Let’s discuss the cost of installing a teleporter.”

He groaned internally. It was the Russian man who contacted him earlier. Politics was something he never thought he’d have to deal with, but a deal was a deal. He only hoped there would be no more bloodshed.

---

The Lazarene Minister had overseen hundreds of initiations over his thousands of millennia. They were mostly boring affairs, rarely bringing any true talents to the Clear Water Sect. Most of the Prime Initiates would be mopped up by larger sects or families, the boldest of whom formed their own factions. In the past 100,000 years, they had found only three initiates who ever reached the position of sect elder.

This time, the Perfect had promised him that would change. The Fatewatchers had divined that FX-14752 was the location they needed to invest all their resources in. As a result, their envoy, which had landed in the location previously known as Pennsylvania, was the most impressive of any on the planet, beating out larger corporations and families.

Through the purchased ExtraVision program, he could see everything the Pathfinder AI did. He was most intrigued by a pair of siblings, separated by thousands of miles. The Lazarene Minister would watch them with interest. If they survived the upcoming challenges, they could make excellent recruits. Maybe it was his time to finally get a pay raise.

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