Dark mist sprayed against my face parrying Phanthu's deathwater whipping forward, pumping lightning mana through my blades to destroy the Death energies in his attack. Lunging forward, Phanthu's deathwater slapped the side of my blade off course from his chest. Deathwater rushed by my ankles as Phanthu leapt up, gliding on his wave several feet away from my following slashes. Lightning ripped from the ends of my slapping blades, barely missing his arm and surging into his platform of water. Phanthu's body convulsed in place until the wave subsided, stumbling forward as he landed to the stone floor.
*RUMBLE*
The ground trembled underfoot, causing me to stumble forward as I began my pursuit. Air blew through my cowl creating a wind tunnel in my ears while Water Stepping after Phanthu, charging a Lightning Strike the entire way. His arm whipped a stream of deathwater at my side, forcing me to leap up and hurdle his attack. A larger, more solid ball of deathwater emerged from behind Phanthu, hurtling towards my landing zone.
My foot barely tapped onto the stone floor when the mass of deathwater was upon me. Not seeing a better option, I unleashed the Lightning Strike I had built up chasing after Phanthu. The world became momentarily consumed in bright blue light as the end of my blade pierced through Phanthu's ball of Deathwater, the momentum pulling me straight through it. My vision cleared while bursting out the back of the water ball, landing not a foot away from Phanthu. His eyes shot open trying to twist away, whipping multiple strings of water at me in retreat.
*RUMBLE*
Shuffling diagonally, I cut off Phanthu's path while ducking under his deathwater whip. His hand clasped onto my shoulder, causing my elbow to twist up and smack into his jaw as an auto response to being grappled. A wall of deathwater covered his ribs from my slashing strike, jutting across his body and parrying another flurry of strikes as he retreated.
As if with a mind of its own, the wall of deathwater flawlessly traced my strikes as I chased after Phanthu. Seeing he only had one, both of my blades flung upward for a dramatic double slash. The water wall launched above his head, leaving his torso exposed. Flow Inverse redirected my momentum into my leg, giving enough speed to slip by Phanthu's highly reactive water wall. His body folded around my foot, launching him backwards. My foot slammed to the ground sprinting after Phanthu before his body collided with the stone floor. Raising my blade, mana wriggled up the length of my blade preparing the killing blo-
*POW*
An ear shattering blast triggered from behind, the concussive force nearly knocking me to the floor. Looking back, the Porcilipenthi's middle head was engulfed in flames that were quickly spreading along the length of its tendrils. Out from the billowing flames emerged three figures, running along the length of a tendril.
*SNAP*
*SNAP*
Mycelium strings that comprised the tendrils began snapping, causing the tendril to bow in under the sprinting figures' legs. Two of them jumped forward, Korbin and Cassi's faces emerging from the smoke as the tendril snapped.
"AAAaaaaahhh" Lonni's indistinguishably deep cries echoed down the seemingly endless abyss.
Shit.
Cassi and Korbin quickly clambered up the side of the fissure, leaping to their feet and facing Phanthu.
"Where's Derrick?" Korbin asked. I shook my head solemnly in response. He nodded, staring off for a split second before snapping towards Phanthu.
"Well, only one left." Korbin said, wryly. A dark cloud slammed into the stone behind us, Zeldrich emerging from the smoke. Cassi glanced back at him before turning her attention back to Phanthu, wearing a cheeky smirk.
"Oh good, this just got even easi-EH!" Her antagonistic comment was cut short as Zeldrich plunged his curved dagger through the back of her throat, twisting and ripping it free out of the side. Cassi collapsed to the floor, cracking her skull in the stone. Zeldrich chuckled under his dark hood, wiping Cassi's blood off on his cloak.
"No, no it hasn't. You've killed the beast I worked so, so tirelessly to keep a secret." Zeldrich hissed, nodding to Phanthu.
"You're fucking joking." Korbin scornfully snickered. Zeldrich settled into a fighter's stance in response.
"The Titanus Gibslandris must rise again." He added, leaping forward with his daggers drawn.
*RUMBLE*
Korbin's battle axe slapped away Zeldrich's leaping stab as a wave of dark water came crashing towards my side, forcing me to shuffle away from Korbin. Phanthu continued his unrelenting flurry of ranged attacks, whipping different shapes and volumes of deathwater from nearly every angle. As I pressed forward however, Phanthu would immediately slide away on a platform of water surging underfoot.
"Tom!" My head whipped back hearing Korbin's call, Water Stepping just out of the edge of Zeldrich's dagger for my throat. I planted hard, snapping a kick to his calf when the butt of Korbin's polearm slammed into Zeldrich's face before evaporating into a puff of shadow that flew back around Korbin. A heavy splash brought my attention to Phanthu's barreling wave of deathwater crashing down on me. Lightning pulsated from my body, instantly burning away the death energy as it made contact. I dashed forward, hoping to catch his off guard with a Lightning Strike.
A tight pressure wrapping around my ankle dramatically slowed my momentum, giving Phanthu time to snatch my wrist and loop a heel kick under my arm. My head snapped back as I tumbled back, fluttering open my eyes to find streams of deathwater constricting my leg. A fireball blasted into Phanthu's water wall, giving me a window to fry off my watery constraints with lightning mana and kip up to my feet.
Blue, black and orange flashes peppered my vision gliding across the crumbling cavern, evading Phanthu's ranged water strikes trying to close the distance. Korbin didn't appear to have taken any damage, though I'd yet to see him get his hands on Zeldrich for longer than a counter strike before the shadow rogue sunk into a puff of smoke.
*RUMBLE*
*CRACK*
A thunderous blast shook across the crumbling Khotunn settlement cavern, shaking the ground and sinking a massive portion of the residential section across the first fissure. I caught myself staring at the mass of buildings cascading underground, preemptively Water Stepping as I turned to face Phanthu. To my surprise, his eyes remained locked on the sinking buildings wearing a wide grin.
"Vengeance will be ours." He muttered, summoning a wave of water under his feet lifting himself 10 feet in the air.
The fuck are you doing?!
Confused at his short memory, my arms quickly came swinging together, aiming a Lighting Bolt for his feet not caring if I hit the water.
*RUMBLE*
*CRACK*
A massive force smashed into my back, throwing me high into the air before my blades could touch. Chunks of stone filled my periphery as I hurtled high in the air, spinning out of control passing by Phanthu. As my vision panned, a giant elongated mass of jagged stones rising from the ground like a bullet train filled my view. It ascended to the top of the cavern, instantly burrowing through the ceiling with its insanely long body still emerging from the ground. After 2 full seconds, a sharp, jagged tail emerged from the ground, flying up into the ceiling.
What the fuck was that?!
*CRACK*
Dust and debris exploded from the top of the cavern above me. My grappling hook fired as I glared up at a fleshy cave filled with thousands of thick sharp teeth spiraling towards me. The jolt in my arm was all the notification I needed to pull hard on my line, yanking my body out of the stone titans path.
*RUMBLE*
My feet shuffled under me trying to keep my balance, the ground quaking as the assumed Titanus Gibslandris burrowed below. Phanthu's barreling wave shot across the cavern, with a ball of dark smoke bouncing off the walls around him. Looking down, Korbin stood in the distance peering in my general direction.
Oh thank the gods I'm not alone in this hell.
Sprinting over, Korbin gave a visible sigh of relief after spotting me, seemingly sharing my sentiment.
"Holy shit you survived? Good for you." Korbin snickered.
"Meh meh meh, that's you, that's how you sound right now." I shot back with a grin.
"Whatever, you ready to kill a harbinger of the apocalypse or not?" Korbin replied. Seeing I still had a little under half of my 217 points of mana, I decided to put off using any more potions until I was running on empty.
"No, no probably not-"
*CRACK*
The Titanus Gibslandris bursted from the ceiling across the cavern, crashing straight into a wall of deathwater soaking its enormous stony body. The giant worm curled its head, slamming into the wall narrowly missing Phanthu surfing by.
"…gonna have to be." Korbin replied, galloping into a dead-sprint towards the god-crafted planet parasite. I sighed before quickly catching up with his strides.
"What's the plan to hurt this fucking thing?!" I asked, running beside Korbin. A dark ball of clouds bounced from the wall to the ceiling before leaping past the Titanus Gibslandris, leaving a dark line that ripped through a layer of its stony skin.
"Whatever you got, and try to let them carry the team here!" Korbin yelled back.
"Why?!" I asked, feeling the tremors of the Gibslandris' movements shaking the planet itself.
"In case we survive this shit!" He exclaimed back through a big smile, summoning an orb of orange fire in his palm and peeling off.
*CRACK*
The Titanus Gibslandris' head slammed through the ground beginning to burrow as I arrived. Its body was visibly steaming from the insane amount of death mana covering its jagged exterior. My feet slid across the stone floor swiping an upward slash at its quickly tunneling body.
*TINK*
A nerve shocking vibration shot up my arm as my blade bounced off its stone skin. My vision was suddenly covered in darkness as I felt myself being drenched. A Lightning surge quickly cleared my vision to find Phanthu hovering atop his wave of deathwater blasting in the giant cave left behind by the Gibslandris.
Another explosion boomed from below as the worm emerged directly under Phanthu's wave. Zeldrich's shadowy figure darted through the air, leaving a black line, ripping stone debris from below the Titanus Gibslandris's jaw. Its head arched downward, smacking Phanthu off his wave across the cavern. While the beast lacked any eyes, its head appeared to lock onto me standing under it.
Shit.
A surge of hot air blasted behind me in a flash of orange light as I Water Stepped out of the Gibslandris's lunging, thousand-toothed maw. Turning back, its head emerged 20 feet from its tail still burrowing through the ground beside it. Korbin leaped from atop rock formation across its face, apparently having been its new target. Another flash of black smoke darted below the Gibslandris, ripping another layer of stone from below the titans jaw. The Gibslandris' head started slamming into the floor repeatedly, shaking free massive stones from the cavern ceiling that crashed to the stone all around me.
Phanthu flew in atop his wave of deathwater, spraying a jet of his rotten fluid onto the Gibslandris. The beast's cylindrical maw shot open, firing jagged boulders at Phanthu in response. Its head arched upward revealed the thin horizontal chunk of missing stone layers on its neck.
Wait…wait I got this?!
Dust filled my eyelids streaking across the cavern, beelining toward Gibslandris and analyzing its Flow along the way. Seeing the opportunity, I ran an Identify on the beast as well.
[Titanus Gibslandris (Level 16)]
Oh, I SO got this.
The translucent Flow energy streaming throughout the giant worm's body flared into a bright white just below its stone spitting maw. My footfalls clapped off the stone in rhythm with its pumping Flow as I leapt up, aiming my blade for the already torn through section below its jaw. Mana surged through my body, streaming through my elbow as I began to deliver a Flow Sever to its throat. Its mouth clamped shut, cutting off the Flow raging through its neck.
SHIT!
All of the energy welling in my arm suddenly faded, forcing me to use sheer might to pierce through its wounded stony exterior. Elation filled my chest feeling my blade slide into its body, sending purple blood leaking off its stone skin. It's head reared toward the surface as its entire body began violently trembling, shaking my arm still trying to free my blade from its body. All of my weight flew forward as the beast began burrowing into the stone without warning.
Darkness engulfed my vision, ear shattering crunches and cracks of stone breaking all around me.
Fucking AGAIN?!
Not wasting any time, my second blade plunged into the crater in its stone skin my body tucked into. The Gibslandris' body shuddered in response as our momentum violently shifted upward.
Why, WHY do I do this?!
Fighting off the urge to panic, I redirected all of my anxiety into surging lightning mana through my blades, creating flashes of blue light strobing amidst the utter darkness. The Gibslandris' body began violently convulsing as our vertical momentum started to slow. Feeling my blades beginning to loosen, I twisted the handles and stabbed in deeper to ensure I didn't fly off its body.
Shit, why won't you stop?!
Pressure welled in my jaw, biting down as I focused on pumping as much Lightning mana into my blades as possible, feeling a rapid drain in the pit of my stomach.
Dammit STOP!
*CRACK*
Cold air tunneled through the cloth in my cowl, circulating down my robes and sending a chill down my spine as we emerged to the surface. The Gibslandris collapsed to the ground, convulsing uncontrollably. I slid down its side, falling face down onto the cold, black sand. Immediately, the familiar excruciating stomach pain of being out of mana manifested, causing me to curl up on the ground in pain. Not willing to sit here while Korbin was alone with two homicidal future gods, I quickly snagged a mana potion from the internal storage in my necklace and chugged it down.
Fuck, I only have one more common mana potion left.
As my stomach ache quickly subsided and I reserved myself to being more wary of my potion usage, I clamored to my feet, surveying the surface world of Xernilia. Dark clouds covered the skies, with flashes of lightning illuminating the black sandstorm ripping across the endless desert. Arching sand dunes were the closest thing to landmarks as far as the eye could see, though the tiny dark pebbles bouncing from my eyeball certainly limited my vision.
Looking back, the Titanus Gibslandris' convulsing had slowed to periodic quivers. Noticing there was no death notification, I climbed up its stone body to resume purging its body with lightning.
"Pain."
My head wrapped around hearing a whisper from right over my shoulder, finding nothing but more sand in my eyes as I turned back.
…must be the wind.
Wrapping my hands around the handle of my twinblades, I wedged my feet comfortably into the Titanus Gibslandris' jagged exterior, preparing myself for another cycle of Lightn-
"PAIN!"
A screech bellowed across the dunes as a dim green glow emerged in the distance.
What the fuck..?
My eyes shot open at the memory of how this planets god, Vashi, punished the Zeldrich's heretic father…
"Come on, come on!" I demanded myself, vigorously trying to rip my blades free from the Titanus Gibslandris' body. The the air took on a green hue as I turned back, spotting the Rapacious Wraith that haunted Xernilia's surface flying towards me like a fighter jet.
"PAIN ETERNAL!" The wraiths wicked voice hissed across the dunes, his voice filing my head sending dread shooting through my very soul.
"Come on, COME on." I yelled, yanking on a single blade with both hands. Slowly, the blade began sliding free, a tinge of hope flickering in my chest before my head wrapped around. The Rapacious Wraith's eyes locked onto mine, accompanied by the sensation of a million fire ants filling my skull.
"AAahh!" I shrieked, trying to release my grips on my blades to grasp my head, only to find I'd lost all motor functions. I watched catatonically while the wraith bulleted towards me from across the dunes.
Fuck, fuck, come on MOVE damn it MOVE!
I begged my muscles to respond to my commands as the wraith's glowing transparent body came into full view. His eyes lacked any pigmentation, his skin visibly rotten and hanging from his unnaturally low-hanging jaw. The tattered robes waving in the winds vaguely resembled Phanthu's, the hood holding snug onto his undead skull. I willed for my eyes to pinch closed, but my body refused to allow me to avert my gaze. A hiss began crescendoing as the wraith came within spitting range, when the Titanus Gibslandris's tail smashed into the wraith, flinging it across the dunes.
My motor functions instantly returned as I gripped tight onto my blade handles before the Gibslandris's head dipped into the ground, burrowing back below the surface. Seeing no reason to piss it off further, I clung on for dear life as we tunnelled down. Before long, the worm found its way back into the Khotunn caverns, where I resumed ripping at my blades to get them free. Finally, just before its head slammed into the cavern floor, my blades slipped free sending me careening off the stone wall and onto the ground.
A massive fireball blasted into the Titanus Gibslandris' face, making it recoil back before launching massive boulders in Korbin's direction. One of the stones ricocheted off the wall, clipping Korbin and launching him flying through the air. My feet couldn't carry me fast enough to catch him as he bounced off the shattered stone debris covering the ground.
"Shit, you okay man?" I asked, keeping my eyes trained on the giant worm blasting boulders at Phanthu, who was surfing around the cavern.
"Good enough." Korbin said, popping up to his feet and slamming an empty health potion bottle on the ground. Just as we both began jogging toward the Titanus Gibslandris, a ball of dark clouds flashed across the front of the giant worm, slicing a dark line across the wound under the beast's jaw. A beam of grey light began shining from the wound across the Gibslandris's body as its head began violently slamming into the cavern floor. Phanthu surfed on his deathwater wave over the worm, blasting death water into its luminous wound.
Both the horizontal beam of grey light and the Titanus Gibslandris's smashing onto the ground intensified as we ran closer, its body covered in opaque liquid.
Its fucking dying, FINALLY!
Sliding across the stone floor, my arms quickly slammed my steel blades together, blasting a surge of jagged lightning towards the Gibslandris's shining wound.
"Tom wait DO-"
*BANG*
Korbin's voice fell mute under a thunderous boom. Wind gliding around my body, I felt myself launching violently through the air as a blinding white light enveloped my vision.
*RUMBLE*