Chapter 64: The Emperor’s Greatsword

Chapter 64: The Emperor’s Greatsword

Time Remaining – 0:03Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.

Dynamic Quest Complete

The Prince of the Swamp has been slain.

Congratulations. Achievement unlocked – Sleepy Heads

You prevented a terrible power from reawakening (for 3 hours).

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

Hiral dropped straight down to sit on the ground, the RHCs falling out of his hands as the drain of solar energy from the totem finally ended. In front of him, the bloody and torn body of the Princeof the Swamp lay unmoving. All three heads had been severed from the necks by Left, Yanily, and Seena, while Right and Vix had thrown everything they had into the far side of the body. Hiral, on the other hand, had done what he could on his side, which basically amounted to drilling a narrow hole right for the Prince’sheart.

“We did it... We actually did it,” he whispered to himself, ignoring the notification and looking at his current solar energy capacity. One percent. A few seconds longer wouldn’t have just seen the resurrection of the Prince to full power; it also would’ve left him without any resources to continue the fight.

Still needing a minute to recover—not just his solar energy, but also emotionally—he swiped aside the quest notification, only for another to immediately take its place.

The Mire: Complete

New Record

Time: 1:12:12

Congratulations. Achievement Unlocked – Lizards, Snakes, and... Hydras? Oh, my!

You have conquered the horrors of The Mire and prevented a terrible awakening.

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

Time until The Mire instance closure: 59:43

“Hiral, you still alive?” Right called out, jogging over with Left beside him.

“The fact you’re still around to ask that...” Hiral started, but just shook his head at the grin on his double’s face. “Do I really smirk like that?” he asked Left.

“Absolutely do,” Left said.

“All three of you do,” Seena said, rounding a corner and coming to join the trio. “But Left only does it when he thinks nobody’s looking. Yeah, I saw you.” She gave the double a friendly punch in the shoulder.

“I’ll have to be more careful in the future,” Left said, his voice far too serious.

“You okay?” Hiral asked Seena before taking a breath and pushing himself up to his feet.

“Almost had at least five heart attacks during that fight there,” Seena said while Hiral picked up his RHCs and sheathed them on his thighs.

“Don’t think I can heal heart attacks,” Wule said, the rest of the party coming over to join them.

Each of them had blood flowing freely from wounds, while Nivian looked like he’d had a fight with a barbeque and lost, practically dragging his left leg behind him with each step.

“We barely pulled that one out,” Nivian said. “Hiral, how’d you figure out the totems?”

“Honestly? Luck,” Hiral said. “Figured that thing was too tough to fight head on—er, heads on?— so I started looking for something else. Like Seena said before, a trick to the fight.”

“Everybody remember where they found the totems?” Seena asked. “As soon as we get out of here, we’re drawing up a map for my sister’s group, and for our next run. I don’t want any of us trying to take that thing straight up again.”

“Yanily? Do you remember where your totem was?” Vix asked, cradling his left elbow like his arm was giving him trouble.

“Uh...” Yanily said, turning to look at the Prince’s body, which was dissolving into inky black smoke even as they watched. “Is that normal?”

“Don’t change the subject,” Seena said, but her eyes were on the body that had already reduced to less than half its original size. “Do you know where your totem is?”

“Over... there?” Yanily said, pointing beyond the Prince with this spear. He then looked a little and shifted more to the left. “Or, over there? Maybe.”

“I know where they all are,” Left said. “I’ll take care of the map.”

“Thank you, Left. I’m glad somebody was thinking ahead,” Seena said, glaring at the spearman.

“I was thinking ahead,” Yanily said. “Thinking about getting to the dungeon interface to evolve.”

“Speaking of which, where is the interface?” Wule asked.

“I think you’re about to find out,” Hiral said, pointing at the last few dregs of the Prince’slarge frame finally dissolving into nothingness. The interface stood where the body had been.

“Alright, let’s do it,” Yanily said, immediately starting for the interface, the rest of the party following quickly despite their injuries.

“I’ll heal while we sort through the mess of notifications I know we’re about to get,” Wule said. “Left, could you do your Banner of Courage at the same time to help out?”

“Certainly,” Left said.

“Who gets to do the honors?” Yanily asked, eying the pedestal, while Left placed the banner. The dome of light enveloped the party.

“Chests with loot will be first, right?” Nivian asked.

“Hiral, you spotted the totems,” Seena said. “You do it.”

“Sure,” Hiral said, walking up to the pedestal then waving his hand over the inset crystal.

“Hey, my new armor gives resistances to those too!” Yanily said. “Hah, I got the hydra’s skin, and you got its balls. Pretty sure I know which is more badass.”

Wule scowled at the spearman, but the ball of fire zipped back from his brother’s head, and he held his tongue. With the three elemental balls from the crown, and the two glowing lanterns from an earlier achievement, the healer was practically a walking light show.

“Good haul,” Seena said, looking again at Hiral. “Even if that is broken, the rest of us got items that’ll definitely help the next time.”

“Isn’t it kind of odd?” Hiral asked, looking at the items in everybody’s hands. “Seena, weren’t you saying you wanted a floating book like that? And Wule said something about buffs to protect from fire. Nivian talked about a second shield... and this.” He gestured at the sword. “We were just talking about S-Rank items before we came in.”

“It’s like the dungeon knew what we needed... or wanted, I guess,” Seena said, nodding. “How do you think that works?”

“Something to ask Dr. Benza?” Hiral said.

“Speaking of which, let’s see what’s in the big box in the middle, get our achievements, and get out to tell my sister what’s going on.”

“I’m sure she’s worried by now,” Nivian said.

“Probably,” Seena agreed, then shivered. “She gets angry when she gets worried.”

“Well, we’ll come bearing gifts,” Vix said, throwing back the lid of the big central box, though he gave a slight wince and looked at his arm. “Nobody complains when you bring food.”

“Except... where is the food?” Yanily asked, leaning over the chest and pulling a pack out. “This is... empty? Only two packs... and... yeah, both empty. What’s going on?”

“Only two packs in there?” Seena asked, walking over to join them, and Hiral followed behind, the heavy sword in one hand and the backpiece in the other. “Nothing else?”

“There’s a crate of something...” Nivian said, reaching into the chest, moving something around, and lifting out a board of solid crystal. “Same material as Hiral’s sword?”

“Looks like it,” Hiral said. Noticing both of his hands were full, he pushed a touch of solar energy into the backpiece, and pushed it against the sword. The two objects bonded immediately, and Hiral lifted it over his shoulder and pressed it against the center of his back. Like the thigh plates, it stuck comfortably, and despite the weight of the sword, he hardly noticed it. “Can I see that?” he asked Nivian, pointing at the crystal.

“Sure,” Nivian said, handing over the piece.

Hiral took the piece of crystal and closely inspected it, running his fingers across the surface and peering at it from different angles. Despite the hard edges, something about it felt... malleable... and he easily bent it in his hands. Almost immediately, he got a flashing notification in the corner of his eyes.

Runic Artificer: Class Ability Unlocked – Mold Crystal

Mold Crystal – Shape and form crystal as needed for crafting.

“Huh. Unlocked a class skill without needing a dungeon interface,” Hiral said, molding the crystal into a ball, pulling it apart into two pieces, and finally combining it back together and flattening it out. A circle of his thumb on the surface created a slot to put a runic slide—like in his RHCs—and he even had ideas popping into his head on what he could do with all of it.

Does the class skill even include basic schematics?

“How... how are you doing that?” Nivian asked, another piece of crystal in his hands as he obviously tried to bend it.

“I think I can make equipment with this stuff. I’ve even got a few ideas what I can do. I’ll get to work on it as soon as we get out of here.”

“Can you fix the sword with it?” Seena asked.

Hiral thought about it for a second but immediately shook his head. “No, this crystal isn’t high enough quality. The sword is something special.”

“Too bad. Load it up into the packs?” Seena suggested, and they did just that. Interestingly, the packs held way more than they looked like they would.

“That’s everything from the big chest,” Nivian said. “Time for achievements?”

“And evolutions!” Yanily said. “I’ve been very patient, but... it’s finally time, right?”

“Almost,” Seena said. “I was thinking. You all remember that stretch of road after the King and Queen? The Lizardmen that kept coming?”

“What about it?” Wule asked.

“We should farm it a bit,” Seena said. “Come into the dungeon, kill the royalty, then just sit on the road and kill Lizardmen until the dungeon kicks us out. We’re all getting closer to D-Rank, and those warriors were decent experience without being too challenging. If we can all get to D before going to the final dungeon...”

“I’m up for it,” Nivian said. “We’ll get bonus experience for completing the dungeon the third time too, won’t we? We should keep that in mind. How many times do you think we’ll need to run it?”

“A few times, at least. We’ll see what Seeyela has to say about it,” Seena said.

“Balyo will want to do it,” Vix said. “She can’t stand Yanily getting ahead of her, and this’ll let her catch up.”

“Means we delay getting to the Asylum, though,” Wule pointed out. “Is it worth it?”

“Means we’re stronger for the journey too,” Hiral said. “If we run into more snakes, or groups of Troblins, or...”

“Or the Enemy,” Seena said. “As soon as we leave the dungeon entrance, we’re putting ourselves at risk. Might as well be a little stronger for it, right?”

Wule nodded. “Don’t get me wrong. I agree with you. Just giving the other side of it.”

“Speaking of a little bit stronger, could we please get our achievements?” Yanily asked.

“Yes, it’s about that time,” Seena said. “Hiral?”

“Sure,” Hiral said, returning to the interface and swiping his hand across the crystal again.

Time Records

Achievement Rewards

Rank Evolution

Exit Dungeon