416. Horizon IV

416. Horizon IV

This old man is going to learn today.

Sir Vonda swallowed, reaching for her magical mace. Whatever this foe was, it was no doubt immune to mundane weapons, so she would need to use her mace to strike it. However, the fact that it was so eager to use spells of the fiery variety, caused her to grow cold.

“I haven’t had a good fight in a while,” Dunes said, gently swinging his blade, trying rid himself of his nerves. Whatever this foe was, he was great. Facing such a foe was a great honour.

“You too, Dunes,” Adam said. “Step back.”

“What?” Dunes asked, daring to throw a look to Adam. “You want me to step back from a battle? Have you forgotten who I worship, Adam?”

“You and Vonda need to step back,” Adam said, keenly aware that this old man was familiar with flame based spells. He couldn’t subject Vonda to such a thing.

“I can’t do that,” Dunes said, stepping forward confidently, feeling the adrenaline run through his veins. His sword, aptly named Dunes’ Sword, felt light in his hand. “If I back down now, how can I say I am a humble follower of Lady Arya.”Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

The old man sneered at the mention of the name, but he remained waiting, patiently. As long as he showed good faith, then that woman wouldn’t try to bother him about what happened here.

Adam placed a hand on Dunes’ shoulder. “You need to look at the bigger picture, Dunes. If something happens to all of us, it’s up to you and Vonda to make sure everyone else is okay.”

Dunes clutched his blade tighter in hand, his eyes falling back to the old man, who was allowing them to set up for the fight between them. He then looked back to Vonda, and to the younger members of their party. He and Vonda were both leaders, chosen by Adam himself. Though they hadn’t formally split off their parties, it spoke volumes about Adam’s priorities.

“We might lose this battle, but we need to win the war,” Adam whispered, patting Dunes’ shoulder as the Aswadian stepped back. He was under no illusion that this was going to be easy, though he was confident. However, there was another matter to deal with. “Fred. Do you want to step out too?”

Fred hadn’t expected the question, though knowing how Adam was like, he wasn’t surprised one bit. Adam had found Fred back then. He had been roasting under the sun, deep in a pit of despair after having lost everything during the massacre. He had spent a decade trying to find himself until one day, when he decided to give himself to the earth.

He had spent a year with Adam, and through his conversations with Vonda, and seeing Adam’s shenanigans, Fred wondered deeply about his position in this life. He looked to the old man, before looking back to Adam. He had been clung with the fear earlier in the day and it had revealed to him something he hadn’t expected.

‘I want to live.’

Fred raised his sword, pointing it towards the old man. He had been given the will to live, but he was not the type of person to run away from his debts. “I will fight, Adam.”

“Fight, not die,” Adam said. “Vonda, would you mind handing him the sword which is strapped to Zeus’ side.”

‘Zeus?’ the old man thought. He swore the name was familiar, but wasn’t entire sure where he knew the name from. He waited patiently, allowing Adam to hand Fred the magical weapon.

“Lifeblade,” Adam said, accepting the blade from Sir Vonda, allowing her to retreat. “I was going to hand it over when you officially accepted to work under me, but I think now’s a good time. It’s a Basic Enhanced weapon which holds three charges and can heal you a little with each charge.”

Fred wasn’t going to refuse, not when he was so unnerved by the old man. He was allowing them to prepare, as though it made no difference to him. The type of person who did that was either extremely foolish, or extremely powerful. Once he touched the blade, he could feel its magic instantly. This weapon didn’t require anyone to attune to it, which surprised Fred. He wondered if it only held three charges, those which did not recharge, but since Adam had passed it to him, he decided he should use them all if it came to it.

‘I missed?’ Adam thought, though he quickly spun around, to strike across the old man’s back, barely managing to strike across his back. His blow was empowered by his spell, and though he had managed to deal a great amount of damage, which was empowered even by Jonn’s aura, somehow it seemed as though he hadn’t struck at all.

Jurot, full of rage, cut along the old man’s side with Phantom, but he could feel just how hardy the man’s skin was, providing even greater protection than his own rage. He had managed to strike with great force, but it was as though his blade had almost bounced off the skin.

Lucy’s greataxe, Great Destroyer, which was even greater than Destroyer, managed to slam squarely into the man’s chest, and yet it didn’t cut even a hair’s width into the man’s skin. She, too, was within her rage, but the shock of it almost brought her out of it.

‘He’s strong!’ Lucy thought, quickly realising the extent of her foe’s strength.

The old man’s blade blurred, having deflected a number of his assailant’s attacks with ease, before he pushed Lucy back, the tip of his blade almost piercing her shoulder. The self proclaimed Demon Lord skid backwards, having lost the bout of strength with only a simple jab.

Kitool leapt off Lucy’s back, her Seekerstaff swinging down, striking the old man across his head, though she could feel her weapon bend from the force. She spent her energy to try and freeze the old man in place, but he paid no attention to her as Jaygak appeared, Stormdrake in hand, crackling with lightning. She slashed downward, though her blade was caught by the old man’s sword, which fought the lightning with its flame, though it still crackled against his cheek and skin.

It had been so long since he had felt Stormdrake’s lightning, and in that moment, Fred had approached. The young man, whose thoughts were about living, struck the old man before him, his attacked fuelled by Jonn’s aura as he managed to cut the old man thrice. He, like Adam, could go beyond his limits for a moment, and he had done all he could to strike his foe.

Seven Experts had each spent all they could against the old man, and though he had dodged a few of their blows, he couldn’t escape them all. Yet, as their weapons clattered against his body, trying to break him, they had not yet managed to draw blood from him, nor had he broken into a sweat.

“I believe it’s my turn?” the old man said, while the others were making to slash towards him again. He leapt up through the air, floating in front of them all. His eyes fell to Adam, whose head tried to follow the blur of the old man’s body.

Dexterity Save

D20 + 4 = 20 (16)

His tattoo flashed for a moment, before fire engulfed the entire group, almost reaching the second group which stood at least twenty metres away. The flames surrounded the group, and Adam grit his teeth as the fire engulfed him. ‘Thank the Gods for Jonn,’ Adam thought, the aura from the Half Elf managing to assist him in his save.

Jaygak hadn’t managed to duck in time, but with her natural resistance to the flames, she had managed to stave away most of the heat. This flame was not something any of them could have withstood, not unless they had managed to step aside or had somehow managed to defend from most of the flames. She heard Kitool drop behind her, followed by two others.

“Adam!” she shouted, peeking up from her shield to see the old man, who still looked fine. “You need to take Lucy-,” she continued to shout, only to stop. Though she was against a great foe who had almost managed to deal with her in a single blow, she dared to look back over her shoulder.

It was not surprising that Fred had fallen, for he had very little ability to deal with with such great fire, his agility not quite up to the standards of the others. It was surprising that Kitool had fallen, as she was the most nimble of the group, though the flames had overcame her.

However, what was most surprising to those in the thick of battle, and those who were watching, was that a Half Elf had fallen.

The flames surrounded Lucy, but her natural resistance fought away most of the flames. Jurot’s rage had managed to deal with most of the fire, though he had also managed to duck in time. Jonn had raised his shield in time, and his magical aura had managed to allow him to suffer less from the heat.

Health: 65 -> 0

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I rolled EXACTLY 65 on his damage roll.

Yes, a 20 did indeed fail.