Chapter 110: Man vs ckcinders
It felt so good to be rescued for once.<blockquote>Simeons [<strong>Pdin Halo III</strong>] empowered you with a [<strong>Regen</strong>] effect, buffed all your stats, and granted you Resistance to all Ailments for five minutes! [<strong>All for One</strong>] spread the effect to your Guild!</blockquote>
Simeon and Benjamin flew straight at ckcinders. The former engaged the dragon in closebat with a spear and sword of light, while thetter attacked from afar with eye-beams. ckcinders threw a Big Bang attack to keep them off her back, which granted Basil a moment of respite.
I need to get out Basil grunted as he dragged him across the lunarndscape. The heightened gravity weighed on his shoulders and prevented him from jumping away, but it appeared to only affect a localized area. He needed to escape it on foot. A little more
ckcinders Big Bang spell illuminated the ckened sky. Benjamin turned into his shadowy form to avoid being consumed by the mes, while Simeon powered through them. The pdins spear grazed ckcinders chest and left a wound before the Unity general punched him aside. With the reinforcements temporarily repelled, ckcinders dived down towards Basil to finish him off before he could escape the gravity well.
A magma sting from the ground forced her to retreat.
Boss, were here! Bugsy emerged from the cloud of dust with to and Shellgirl riding on his back. The former immediately used the opportunity to rob ckcinders of her power. One look from the feline turned the dragons crimson circuits back to their inert state. The Unity general slowed down.<blockquote>to stole ckcinders buffs with [<strong>Catnapping</strong>]!</blockquote>
At her wits end, ckcinders raised a hand at Bugsys group. Gravipull.
The same telekic force that had propelled Basil backward earlier now pulled Bugsy, Shellgirl, and to to ckcinders. The trio was flung at her in spite of the heightened gravity.
While ckcinders opened her mouth to incinerate them with her breath, Shellgirl reacted quicker. Open inventory!
A Shell-corporation tank truck materialized between Shellgirl and ckcinders.
Taken aback, ckcinders failed to cancel her Gravipull effect in time. The truck rammed into her chest before swiftly exploding in a fiery explosion that propelled her backward. Her breath of light missed the group and her gravity spell was canceled.
Basil struggled not to cry in joy as Bugsy, Shellgirl, and tonded back to the ground unharmed. Shellgirl, Im so proud of you.
I learned from the best! she teased him back. Now get her, tiger! Well cover you!
That was the n.
After a harsh struggle, Basil reached the limit of the heightened gravity zone. He immediately felt the weight lifted from his shoulders and instantly took flight after giving ckcinders a quick nce.<blockquote><strong>ckcinders, Star Tyrant</strong></blockquote><blockquote>Level 78 Elite [Dragon]</blockquote><blockquote>Faction: Unity (High Command).</blockquote><blockquote>HP: 18543/28880.</blockquote>
Regr attacks were starting to take their toll on the dragon, but she still had plenty of gas left in the tank.
Worse, increasingly powerful tremors tore the lunarndscape asunder. Rifts widened in between facilities. Unity bases exploded as members of Maures demonic army and Bulgarian armed forces engaged dragons above them. In spite of the mutineers call to action, forces loyal to ckcinders still fought to protect their superweapon.
There was so little time left.
Thanks to Bugsy, to, and Shellgirl shooting down meteors that could have harmed him, Basil closed in on ckcinders. The cruel wyrm struggled to keep Simeon and Benjamin off her back without her buffs. Steve charged up the Gehenna Cannon on the ground, waiting for the right opportunity to blow her out of the sky.
Sending Simeon flying back with a swing of her tail, ckcinders failed to dodge as Basil impaled her through the chest. His halberd pierced all the way to the ribs and reaped another four thousand HP.<blockquote>You have brought ckcinders below half-health!</blockquote>
Basil removed his halberd from her flesh and readied himself for another strike. No sooner did he raise his weapon than he noticed something strange bursting out of the dragons body.
Bubbles.
Hundreds of pitch ck bubbles floated off her scales like tar jelly. They quickly grew in size from norger than a thumb to bigger than Basils fist.
Dark Matter, ckcinders rasped.
Basil immediately retreated with a back jump. Toote. The bubbles violently burst open, each of them unleashing a st of eldritch ck light. The air around ckcinders simmered under the sudden pressure and the sts built up in a chain of destruction. A bubble exploded close to Basil and bathed his armor in its energies. He felt cold, so terribly cold as the fell power bypassed his protections and irradiated his flesh.<blockquote>154 [<strong>Darkness</strong>] damage! 154 [<strong>Frost</strong>] damage! [<strong>Blind</strong>] negated by [<strong>Pdin Halo III</strong>]!</blockquote>
ckcinders tail swept Basil and sent him crashing against a falling meteor or so he would have, had shadowy hands not grabbed his chest and carried him out of the way. Basil looked over his shoulder to see Benjamin Leroy holding him.
Steve chose this moment to attack. Activating the Gehenna Cannon, he shot a beam of light across the sky. ckcinders fled in a desperate attempt to dodge, but the ray sessfully vaporized her left wing and caused the Unity dragon to lose altitude.
Basil activated his double-jump to go after her, only for the horizon to brighten in fire and light. Massive explosions rocked the Lunar Cannon and started earthquakes. Part of the superweapons barrel copsed under its own weight.
Whats happening? Simeon asked as he rejoined Basil.
It worked. Benjamin opened a System screen and checked the information. The dual damage from the Field and our sabotagepounded. The Lunar Cannon cant process the umted power anymore. Its running amok.
Basil didnt need a degree in engineering to understand how this would turn out. Is it going to self-destruct?
Yes. The energy will umte in the barrel, but instead of firing it at Earth, the Lunar Cannon will unleash it in an explosion the size of a small country. Benjamin squinted at his allies. We have to evacuate now.
Not before killing ckcinders first, Basil rasped. Short of one wing, the dragon failed to maintain her flight. She managed tond on her feet, her sheer weight blowing moondust in all directions. If she escapes today, she will try againter. She wont stop. <em>Ever</em>.
So long as she breathed, ckcinders would hound them relentlessly. She would never give up on destroying Earth. One way or another, she had to go.
Agreed, Simeon said. Steve, Bugsy, and the others were already rushing toward ckcinders on foot. Let us share the news with our allies and finish her off.
Understood, Benjamin replied as he typed on the System screen. Im mass-messaging everyone.
Basil sent a warning to his team through the Logs and flew after ckcinders. He received no answer from either Vasi or Rosemarine; both hadnt yet returned from their forced trip into the upper atmosphere, though thetters field remained active so far.
Seeing them arrive, ckcinders fired a Big Bang at Basils group. They spread apart to dodge the projectile and soon all three of them circled the dragon from above. It turned out to be a terrible mistake.
Heavy G. No sooner did ckcinders say the words than gravity increased in a vast radius around her. Basil, Benjamin, and Simeon were all pulled to the ground amidst a cloud of moon dust. The dragonknight and the pdinnded not too far from each other, while Leroy crashed a dozen meters away from them.<blockquote>224 [<strong>Physical</strong>] damage! You have fallen below half-health!</blockquote>
Though Basils wounds healed on their own thanks to the Regen effect, he was once more a sitting duck. He managed to get back to his knees and fired an Elemental Orb of water at ckcinders. Simeon threw his spear, while Benjamin once again resorted to his eye-beams.
Only thest projectile hit its mark, and ckcinders deflected it with herst remaining wing anyway; the rest didnt get past two meters before the heightened gravity pulled them toward the cracking ground.
ckcinders red at Basil and opened her mouth. Light built up inside her gullet.
We need to get away! Simeon grabbed Basil by the shoulder and tried to pull him to safety, but both stumbled due to the increased gravity. Bugsy and the others were shouting their leaders name in the distance. They were still half a crater away, too far to help.
Seeing the danger, Benjamin expanded his shadowy arms until they became as long as a football field. The heightened gravity pulled them to the ground, yet their unnatural growth pushed them onward. Take my hands! he shouted as ckcinders prepared to breathe death upon them. Hurry!
Acting quickly, Basil and Simeon both grabbed one of Benjamins hands. The programmer swiftly retracted his elongated arms and pulled his allies to his position. A secondter, ckcinders unleashed her breath of light. A mighty burst of energy erupted from her gullet and vaporized the spot where Basil and Simeon used to crawl a few seconds ago. Benjamin had pulled them to safety just in time.
Basil sighed in relief as he and his allies escaped a certain death.
But then ckcinders turned her head towards them.
Her draconic lungs did not pause to inhale. In spite of all the wounds ckcinders had umted, she kept pumping out her destructive breath. The light annihted all in its path, from rocks to nts, and grew ever closer to their position. ckcinders eyes shone with murderous wrath.
Gathering all of his strength, Basil tried to jump away with his allies. He failed to even stand up before the heightened gravity brought him back to his knees. His eyes widened in despair as the light of death gained ground on them. Simeon uttered a quick prayer, and Benjamin sighed in resignation. He alone seemed at peace with the idea of dying today.
Destroy it, Basil, he said. The System. Destroy it all.
Basil failed to understand what he meant, until he realized Benjamins hand was still squeezing his own. No, he said, panicking. Ben, dont
Benjamin Leroy extended his arm again. This time, however, he did not pull his allies closer to him. Instead, he pushed them as far away from ckcinders beam as humanly possible. The programmer remained trapped in his spot by the heightened gravity, unable to escape its pull.
ckcinders breath swallowed Benjamin Leroy.
He was vaporized in an instant.
When his extended arms crumbled to dust, Basil knew Benjamin wouldnte back from this. He and Simeonnded on the ground while ckcinders finally ran out of breath. Of Benjamin Leroy, only a sphere of darkness remained. Plutos godly essence had been freed by its wielders demise.
ckcinders squinted in wrath at Basil upon realizing he had cheated death once again.
Then she immediately gathered her breath for a second onught.
I win, ckcinders said as her gullet lit up with deadly radiance.
The ground burst open at her feet and mes erupted from below. A column of fire struck ckcinders in the face, and a volcanipedes shape burrowed out of the ground.<blockquote>Bugsys [<strong>Turbo: Fire</strong>] bypassed ckcinders Resistance!</blockquote>
The surprise attack caused ckcinders to scoff smoke rather than light. Basil immediately felt the gravity effect weaken with her broken concentration. The roar of engines thundered as arge shadow passed by him.
Steve violently tackled ckcinders, with Shellgirl and to riding upon its shoulders.
ckcinders hands grabbed those of the Steamobile as it pushed her back, both heavenly nearly matched in terms of strength. She opened her mouth in an attempt to st Steves chest, only for Shellgirl to nail her left eye with an artillery piece. It burst open in a shower of blood like a fruit, a wound that drew a scream from the ancient dragon.
Without the heavy gravity pinning them down, Basil and Simeon lunged at ckcinders from both sides. Both knights struck one of her heels with their weapons.<blockquote>Supereffective hit!</blockquote>
Though she had weathered the pain without flinching so far, ckcinders finally stumbled under the strain of constant battle. to used the opportunity to leap from Steves back to her own. His fur shone with a crimson aura; the same power he had stolen from ckcinders now let himnd a blow on her. Tiger king to the face!
to rammed Joyeuse through ckcinders skull, right between the eyes.
The dragonying de pierced the wyrms scales and gored its way to the brain. Oily blood spilled over ckcinders head. The light within her gullet died out like an extinguished candle.<blockquote>Supereffective hit!</blockquote>
Agh agh gra ckcinders raised her head and let out a roar of savage pain. RHARHG!!
ckcinders screeching wail was followed by a savage thrashing. She first trampled the ground, forcing Basil and Simeon to retreat so as to be crushed underfoot. Then she violently headbutted Steve with all her might. The blow sent to flying and tossed Shellgirl off the Steamobiles shoulder. ckcinders smashed the Gehenna cannon with her head again and again, cracking Steves armor and slowly beating him into submission.
Rhargh! She roared, unable to form words in her fury. Gone were the tactics, the cold-blooded focus, and the carefully controlled cruelty. Her mask of control had slipped to reveal the bestial reptile lurking underneath. Agh! AGH!
ckcinders threw Steve back with a violent push, and then threw herself at Basil with berserk rage. He barely managed to leap out of her way as her hands smashed against the ground. Bugsy burrowed out of the moon rocks to throw a magma bomb in her face. Snarling asva devoured her flesh all the way to the bone, ckcinders grabbed the volcanipede, lifted him above the ground, and then savagely mmed him against a rock. It mattered not that Bugsys blood melted off her flesh on contact. Like a crocodile holding on to a bull even as its horns gored through its scales, she refused to let her prey go.
Basil threw his halberd at ckcinders right hand. His weapon severed it off from the arm, freeing Bugsy from her grasp. The dragon wailed in agony and desperation while a fountain of blood erupted from her wound.
<em>One more! </em>Swiftly summoning his halberd back to his hand,<em></em>Basil jumped towards ckcinders throat for the final blow. <em>Just one more!</em>
Graviforce! ckcinders roared in her fury.
A wave of power stronger than a hurricane burst from the dragon. The ground split open beneath her feet. to, Bugsy, Shellgirl, everyone was blown away. Steve stumbled to the side, nearly crushing Simeon under its weight. Basil himself bounced off a moonstone rock andnded a few feet away from Plutos essence.
Agh dragons ckcinders rasped as she stumbled to her knees. Dragons over all
The sight was as terrifying as it was disturbing. ckcinders was down to one eye, with half her melted skull exposed to the outside world. Wounds cried rivers of blood in a dozen ces across her immense body. She gasped for her and threatened to fall over with each step. She was a mangled corpse that refused to die.
And yet she <em>still </em>lumbered after Basil with murder on her mind.
Dragons Energy gathered in ckcindersst hand for a final Big Bang. Over all
She got her wish.
A space ruptured right above ckcinders head. A circle widened in the very fabric of reality, revealing the colossal shape of a nt dragon and a winged witch riding atop her shoulder.
Eden Guns! Rosemarine giggled as she crossed the portal.
In a malicious twist of fate, ckcinderswho had killed thousands with an orbital weaponfound herself bombarded from above by another dragon. Three beams of magical pollen pierced holes in her back, her neck, and her head. The ck wyrms body shattered to pieces and violently fell to the ground in a rain of ckened blood.
The skullnded a few feet from Basil. Even in death, ckcinders remaining eye red at him; so he gouged it out with his halberd.
That was for Mom, Basil said. <em>And Benjamin.</em><blockquote>Congrattions! Your party earned 18,900,000 EXP (3,150,000 for you). You have earned four levels (total 72). Shellgirl can now undergo her metamorphosis!</blockquote>
Bones rained from the heavens.
Skulls and skeletons suddenly materialized above ckcinders corpse. They fell by the hundreds in a white tide that nearly buried the Bohens. Shattered human skulls, the broken bones of dragons, and the mummified remains of beasts great and small drowned ckcinders corpse under their terrible weight.
How many were there? Basil couldnt know. Thousands perhaps? They formed a pile, then a mound, then a hill that dwarfed even Steve in height. He thought they would never stoping; though eventually, they did. Together they formed a ghastly monument of death and destruction. A butchers tombstone.
to squinted in horror at the sight. What is that?
Her hoard. Shellgirl spat, her voice dripping with disgust. A hoard of death.
In the end, ckcinders only knew how to kill.
Noticing the hand Basil had severed earlier, Steve crushed it under its wheels with a furious roar. Noneined. Though ckcinders bones might have made for good crafting materials, Basil wouldnt have used them anyway.
The world was better off without any trace of ckcinders in it.
Heras Grace! Rosemarines body unleashed a green pulse of magic in all directions. Basils wounds closed on their own, as did those of his allies.
Grimalkin Gate, Vasi told Basil after closing the portal. Told you I would catch up.
The Coven Spell? Basil had almost forgotten she could use those. I thought teleportation effects didnt work on the moon?
Im not teleporting around, handsome, Vasi replied with a smirk. Im taking a shortcut.
If only she had been a second quicker Basil couldnt help but bit his tongue as he grabbed Plutos essence. The ck sphere of power was all that remained of Benjamin Leroy.
The man hadmitted a great many sins. Though he had never pushed the Lunar Cannons button, his actions in summoning the Trimurti System to Earth indirectly led to many more deaths than Shumens destruction. Benjamin Leroy and his cohort had ruined the world.
And yet out of all the members of Dismaker Labs, he alone had owned up to his mistakes and tried to rectify them. He had blunted thest Incursion the best he could, worked tirelessly to protect what remained of humanity, and perished with honors saving others from death.
Basil hoped that God would take mercy on him. Perhaps Benjamin Leroy hadnt earned himself a ticket to Heaven but hopefully he would avoid the fiery jaws of Hell.
We need to leave, Ser Bohen, Simeon warned him. Another earthquake shook the moon while the Lunar Cannon glowed brighter than the stars.
Yeah, Basil agreed as he handed the essence to Vasi for safekeeping. He opened his Logs feature to see a message from Neria Elissalde.<blockquote>NERIA: Basil, we are teleporting you all out. Victory is ours.</blockquote><blockquote>BASIL: Neria, Benjamin he</blockquote><blockquote>NERIA: I know.</blockquote>
Not knowing what else to say, Basil closed his Logs. A red glow surrounded him as the Lunar Cannon imploded on itself. The Unitys crown jewel detonated in a fiery burst of cosmic power right as the Bohens and their allies teleported away.
They were brought back to Earth in the blink of an eye. The shadow of their artificial Neurotower grew starker as the sky glowed. For a second the moon brightened like the rising sun as a colorful explosion covered part of its surface. From the ground up, it appeared like Earths satellite was shedding a tear.
The light expanded and then dissipated. Within a minute, nothing remained. The currents of power and steel structures that once scarred the moons surface were gone. The near side was immacte once again.
The camp erupted in cheers.<blockquote><strong>Quest: Mooooonwreckers</strong>!pleted! Your party received 7,630,000 Bonus EXP (1,271,666 for you)! You have earned a level (total 73)! The [Moon Shield] item has been added to your inventory! Bugsy Alphonse Venture can now undergo his final metamorphosis!</blockquote>
Though he couldnt shake the bittersweet feeling in his mouth, Basil raised his fist and echoed his countrymens joy.
The Unity was defeated, and Bulgaria was safe once more.