F acing a sudden obstacle, Raven pulled himself together and entered Stealth, escaping his opponents. He needed to revise his plan. His new goal was to remove the flower without damaging or destroying it. But something was bothering him.
Why don’t they look anxious? They look so calm... Too calm... Don’t they realize what’s going on? Or am I missing something?
Looking closer, he smirked.
“How can I miss an opportunity like that?” he whispered and, gulping down a Mana Potion, took out another item he had looted from Abenkhriar’s servants — The Profanity Scroll.
This scroll would’ve been perfect as his first attack if it weren’t for the fact that it couldn’t prevent the necromancers from reading their spell.
After the four seconds required to activate the scroll had passed, a gray cloud enveloped the necromancers. Unprepared, they tried to shake the magic ashes off, but the curse had already taken effect, making their bodies, already weakened by the spell, even more vulnerable by reducing their physical and magic resistance.
“Dorin. Sit down and stay put,” Duk commanded, his eyes blazing with fury. He — an old, seasoned necromancer — was ambushed by some pitiful rogue. He could only hope that their opponent had no more scrolls like this one, or the whole group was doomed.
“But...” The young man opened his mouth to argue. However, seeing Kerrg’s furious face, he swallowed and hid behind the rest of the group. The other five encircled him, looking around closely: the attacker had disappeared again.
It wasn’t out of kindness that Duk told Dorin to hide. If it weren’t for the device that only he could use — and that the cult desperately needed — he would’ve left the boy behind to cover the group’s retreat.
They had to wait for their mana, lost to the skill’s failed activation attempt, to replenish. Once they got it back, they’d make quick work of the idiot who dared to cross them. Seeing their opponent’s level, Kerrg was assured that they’d easily kill him with their combined power while the Silent Guards watched their backs.
Absorbed in his lust for vengeance, Kerrg almost forgot about Kharses: the other serious danger that was being held back by their minions while they focused on detecting the annoying rogue. Apart from searching spells, they used defensive and long-range attack ones that could reach the hiding rogue.
“Shield of Death!”
“Plague!”
“Stream of Life!”
“Boundaries of the Permissible!”
“The Dead Land Rider!”
“Heartbeat!”
The Dead Rider, put together from pieces of rotting flesh and sinew, was patrolling the area on his mount, a monstrous horse skeleton, ready to defend his masters. His armor was rusty and damaged in places, but it was oozing an intimidating aura of dead energy. Raven would rather not face him in direct combat if he could help it.
After Lorik had cast Boundaries of the Permissible, a giant circle appeared around the group. Zombified hands shot out of the ground, wriggling and swaying like reeds in the wind, reaching out to grab anyone daring to come close.
That must be efficient against a hiding opponent.
Raven just smirked as he watched from the shadows, waiting for the potion cooldown. It felt like an eternity.
In the meantime, Kharses had destroyed all weaker undead and was now fighting the Death Knights and dead wizards whose magic attacks barely did any damage to it, absorbed by the flower. And while the Dead Knights were rather good as tanks and defenders, there were too few of them. In a matter of seconds, one of them was reduced to a pile of bones and armor pieces.
That was when Kerrg, their summoner, realized that Kharses was a greater threat than the hiding rogue was.
“Get ready, everyone. Attack the monster.”
“Where did it even come from? Can you see its name?” Lorik was beyond himself with anger but he still obeyed his senior’s order. “Raising the Dead!”
“Negative Energy Sphere. Level Three.”
The cult member who had been silent until now raised a hand, summoning the Sphere. In a flash, it descended upon the group, filling their bodies with energy. Even the half-summoned minions came to life and charged at Kharses.
Raven waited another minute to restore his mana and then broke the seal on another scroll.
ASHES
Type: Scroll
Rank: Diamond
Description: “Devour their souls, Great Fire!”
Summons a flower of raging fire that devours every living thing in its way.
Deals 500 fire damage.
Effects: Burns, Smoking Flesh
Activation: Break the scroll.
Casting time: 10 seconds
Range: 45 feet
Affected area: 24 feet
Duration: 20 seconds
Cost: 1,000 mana
The fire came down suddenly. Like a shooting star, it cleaved the air as it fell and flared up as it landed among the necromancers.
BOOM!
An orange-red flower bloomed amidst the snow-white field, and the silence that ensued was broken by screams almost instantly.
This damage wasn’t physical so it couldn’t be blocked by the Silent Guards. Even with the damage reduced by the Shield of Death they had summoned earlier, their HP was now below fifty percent. Three of them even had their HP at thirty.
“Bastard! You’re good as dead! Fire Eater!” a fierce cry came from the group.
Casting Mirage, Raven had time to see the strange creature that appeared among the flames. Opening its mouth, it drew the fire in with a single breath and spat it at Kharses who deflected it with the flower.
“Feast of Death!”
“Leap!”
The skills were activated simultaneously. A pair of giant rotting jaws closed around the spot where Raven had just been. Closing with a loud snap, they disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared.
Snap of Fingers. Soul Cry.
The short Mirage blade was sent flying at one of the almost dead necromancers.
“Deception,” Raven said silently when the burned Silent Guard stepped in to intercept it.
The blade changed its trajectory, defying the laws of physics. Even the Silent Guard’s passive skill — teleportation — failed to stop it. With a squish, Mirage pierced through the necromancer’s robes and flesh, passing between the ribs, barely missing his heart.
- 7,204 HP
Combined with the earlier wounds, regeneration reduced by the Profanity Scroll, and weak defense (outsourced to the Silent Guards), the damage was lethal even if the blade didn’t pierce the heart.
The Silent Guard died with his master, which was a pleasant surprise. Activating Stealth, Raven disappeared into the shadows.
A sudden snapping sound came from Kharses’s side. Looking there, Raven saw the monster open its jaws wide, swallowing one skeleton. The snapping sound repeated and bony spikes popped up on Kharses’s back.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
With each consumed meal, one bony spike began to form into a wing.
What the fuck is that?!
The monster’s ability to transform was probably unique, which made it even more valuable as a pet. But what if its new evolution would be too strong for Raven to tame?
Considering his options, he remembered a skill that just might help him.
IN PLAIN SIGHT
Description: You can rob your target in broad daylight in the middle of a crowd and get away with it.
This skill will create an illusion concealing you and your target for several moments so you can relieve them of their possessions even with the guards looking at you.
Duration: 5 seconds
Cost: 20 Influence Points
Cooldown: 30 minutes
Limitation: Any attack will immediately expose you.
He had no idea why he even remembered this skill. It was the combination of his stats that granted him the ability to solve the most complicated tasks in a fraction of a second, his mind processing the amount of data that’d make an ordinary person’s head hurt.
Raven dashed toward Kharses through the crowd of undead, no longer caring about anything but his goal. His future pet.
“In Plain Sight!” he screamed as he jumped at Kharses like a bolt shot out of a crossbow.
Choose your target.