"Show yourself, coward!!" I bellowed, stomping another fighter's knee in and smashing my fiery fist straight through his face, caving it in with a wet crunch. Another fireball loosed from my free hand to the side, incinerating another foolishly brave warrior. My eyes remained trained on the horizon, using my peripherals to spot and parry incoming attackers. At this point however, most of this massive battleground's remaining crowd had grown aware of my presence, most smartly choosing to flee. That didn't stop them from being hunted down by either myself, or this damned hidden void archer, who hadn't stopped picking people off since he stole the FUCKING Light Rogue from me.
"Relax, using your rage is a valuable skill, but do not succumb to it."
They're going to die, G-Money.
A spear whizzed by my neck before I twisted and snatched it from the air, twirling around and tossing the sharp wooden pike back through its owner's stomach. The sharp end pierced into the burned and blood-soaked soil, causing the spear to slowly sink deeper through his gut, expanding the wound. A shorter, heavily armored warrior charged at me shield first, my foot shredding through its metal-plated face launching the back several meters through the air. Three fireballs and seven fleeing eliminations later, a wispy purple cloud forced me to evade yet again. I easily slid out of its path with all of my stats actively boosted, though twisting my shoulders finally brought how far I'd traveled to my attention. What was originally a field of noble warriors clashing was nothing more than a charred ghost town, save for the few survivors sprinting into the treeline.
Doesn't matter, I fucking saw you.
Several of the last dozen arrows the mystery archer fired sparked a small but bright purplish-violet light that created a short, small trail behind them that slowly dissipated. Yet, it took me entirely too long each time to track where they'd come from due to how many curves those arrows took along their path. This time, however, I saw exactly which mountain ridge tucked behind the low, fast moving clouds rolling in over the grasslands the arrow came from.
"Good, kill them."
Duh.
Feeling properly satiated with how many strangers had been slain, I channeled my Infernal Enhancement exclusively in my legs and spine, preserving much of my mana while sprinting toward the sharpshooter who dared steal the only kill that mattered to me here. The archer must have finally realized I wasn't being slowed down any long, as his shots quickened and honed solely on me. Yet, the location of his flashing shots continued to move horizontally across the steep mountainside slowly growing into better view through the clouds. There was considerably less light pollution from flashing Death Echoes illuminating the sky, though I was also no longer in the middle of an unbridled blood-bath. Feeling a moment to think, I quickly opened the objective's Live HUD to skim over a few things.
[ KILL & BE KILLED ] - Final Event (LIVE)
Remaining Participants: 3,861,859
Titan's Path: West (234.1m)
Eliminations: 248
Time Until Catastrophic Tectonic Shift: 0:18:47
Shit, less than 20 fuckin' minutes already?
"Duck."
Several ghostly arrows continued whizzing by, occasionally blinking along new angles from a distance, no doubt an attempt to derail my chase from this mountain face. The open grasslands quickly thickened in foliage and humidity transitioning into a dense, pink-leaved tropical rainforest. While I may not be Tom-fast, it didn't take me long to start closing the distance between myself and the mystery archer. That's of course, until I noticed the arrow tip manifesting from a purple cloud emerging from a tree in front of me. Then another, from seemingly thin air to my side. The second arrow flew in too quickly for me to fully evade, forcing me to deflect the arrow off my burning, armor-plated shoulder. At least I tried to, yet the arrow somehow sunk straight through my armor, seemingly unfettered and leaving a deep dull aching pain to the bone.
Chuckling, I summoned a Healing Potion from my storage space and swigged it down. The arrow suddenly disappeared as its healing factor took hold, though the ghostly arrows continued showering quicker and quicker.
"Consider retreat. They're either overcommitting or well equipped w-"
"-ith a surplus of mana. So am I." I finished aloud, leaping off the tan bark of a towering pink-leaved tree and slashing my battle axe through a tangled bundle of vines impeding the only path that didn't lead to a head on meeting with an arrow.
"Then hasten your pace, Korbin. Or seek other combatants to kill, your mana pool is still merely that of an H grade." Galenthelos wearily warned as I broke through the foliage, my eyes barely adjusting to the beam of sunlight breaking through the trees to spot two more shadows hurtling my way. Twisting hard, I barely managed to dodge the arrow trained for my head and suffered the second arrowtip to the back of my calf.
"Noted." I replied, ripping the arrow free from my leg while rolling to my feet. Luckily, I was still enjoying a regenerative period from the Health Potion, sealing the wound before wearing off. My focus sharpened on keeping their arrows and my organs unacquainted. But more and more wisps turned projectiles flooded in from every angle, forcing me to frantically dodge in turn dramatically slowing my progress. What's worse, my boosting skill wasn't taking any less mana per second to maintain, and this had been the first time I hadn't ran into another combatant within 6 minutes of running in any particular direction since the objective started.
Luckily, I also came strapped with plenty of mana potions. So long as I can wait out the cooldown period between potions without taking too much damage, I'll be fine. Unfortunately, this archer's insane volume of pressure being rained down is making that 'if' look exceedingly far-fetched. Still, I have a decent enough health pool to arrive a little battered for a close quarters fight with an archer, especially someone clearly as devoted to long-shooting as this one.
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
Two more arrows spiraled by, forcing me to dive down to avoid the head and body shot. Rolling to my feet however, my eyes nearly leapt from my skull seeing what looked like a purple cloud oscillating in and out of existence.
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
*THUNK*
A shower of arrows blipping in and out of existence poured down, sending my mind racing to find a means to defend myself. Seeing no other choice, I simply continued sprinting as quickly as I could toward the mountainside peaking through the vines. Shockingly, only one arrow managed to find purchase, piercing deep through my boot. I nearly tore my entire foot in half trying to sprint out of the dirt, not realizing I'd been hit until the sharp ripping sensation flared. I felt my teeth slice through my cheek, enraged with this archer's capabilities. I'd be absolutely impressed had he not been tossing his countless teleporting arrows my way. Amidst my internal frustration, a vine snagged around my ankle before I realized. The yank threw all of my momentum off course as I tumbled forward, bracing for another barrage of arrows to punish my first mistake. That's when a bright orange comet streaking overhead caught my attention.
*whistle*
*BANG*
The large streaming flame blasted into the side of the mountain, sending fire rock fragments aloft.
"Wh-…oh HELL no, not another sharpshooting prima donna." I declared, realizing someone may very well be trying to poach the only semblance of vengeance I had remaining for stealing the Light Rogue from me.
"This opportunistic form of cowardice seems rampant in your generation."
"Tell me about it." I replied, shaking my head and leaning into a full sprint. Luckily, the distraction of destruction seems to have stolen the archers attention, seeing as there's no longer a steady diet of curving and teleporting arrows peppering my surroundings. A few minutes and over 140 Mana Points later, I found myself at the base of the mountain. Low and behold, the archers blipping purplish violet shots flashed in the distance above, giving me a rough location to climb toward. The mountain itself stood a little more obtuse than a 90 degree angle, however its jagged rocket nature would prove difficult for most humans pre integration. A battle buddy and close friend of mine grew up rock climbing, who always made a point to show me up after we got out at every climbing gym. He probably couldn't scale this beast in any timely fashion, not without gear.
That being said, a smug grin peeled across my face as I leapt up, reallocating my boosting skill into my upper body and blasting my fist straight through the rock face. With a strong pull, I threw my body up a full meter before bashing my other hand through the mountainside and repeating. It didn't take long for me to find a sustainable Flow to ride, in turn creating a constant cacophony of cracking stone fragmenting in my wake.
"This method will alert them to our presence. Do not dally." Galenthelos warned.
"No backseat climbing." I grunted through heavy breaths, my eyes locked on the mountaintops edge awaiting the archer. As I reached about halfway up the towering landmark, the skillful sharpshooter finally peered over the edge, firing three consecutive arrows that curved and spiraled around one another.
"Oh, come ON!?" I angrily growled, charging a fireball in my open hand and holding it out. My palm traced the arrows as the fireball quickly grew larger and larger, its rate quickened by my boosting skill. Just before the twirling arrows looked too close for comfort, I pushed up the fireball and pulled my arm free from the wall. Two arrows instantly melted on impact with my fireball, while the third shot that lagged behind twisted around the blast.
*BAM*
The arrow brushed by my chest as my foot bashed into the stone face, leaving me dangling by my leg buried knee-deep in the mountain. Pulling free, Infernal Enhancement surged through my hands snagging the ledge and pulling me several meters up the mountain. The archer let loose one more curving shot from over the cliff side before retreating, requiring only a single fireball to destroy his twisting arrow. Quickly, I scaled the rest of the mountainside, stopping just before pulling myself over the cliff.
He's not far.
Summing my battle axe, I launched a stream of infernal energy over the side activating Infernal Confines. I popped my head up, immediately spotting the archer who fired an arrow the moment my head emerged over the cliff. I dropped right back down like a mole in its hole, abiding the arrow and bouncing right back up and over the cliff. The archer fired one more dark, shadowy arrow before turning and leaping forward, leaving purple afterimages of their figure behind them. The cloud slipped through the infernal dome, for a moment appearing to have found a loophole to escape.
Then, as his body settled into corporeal form, several charred hands emerged from the outer dome slithering toward the archer. I let loose a fireball, the archer managing to use whatever movement skill he's got to only suffer the concussive force from the blast before getting snatched and dragged back again. He continued firing arrow after arrow while prone, each twisting or blipping around from differing angles. I ducked and slid to evade until noticing the one arrow that did 'hit' actually deflected off my armor, unlike earlier when they just passed through it.
"Gettin' tuckered, shooter?" I jeered with a grin, sprinting, striding toward the purple cloaked and many-pocketed archer. He didn't speak, instead scrambling to his feet with an arrow trained at me once the infernal hands pulled him full back into the dome.
"Wrong answer." I replied, twisting my palm toward him and firing a fireball at my hip. The archer dashed to the side, his body stretching and spiraling like a long cloth being pulled underwater by a hook line before blipping in and out of existence, reanimating just a couple feet away from where he originally stood.
"Nascent." Galenthelos commented, sounding almost impressed by the Void Archer.
"Annoying." I angrily corrected through tightly clenched teeth. Feeling mana running shorter than I'd prefer, I summoned a mana potion and pressed it to my lips. The moment the fluid trickled down my throat however, the archer fired a barrage of arrows, half of them aimed directly into the ground. My eyes twitched counting my shadows on the floor than arrows in the sky, stalling my dive out of the way. Two dark shadows leapt up from the floor at my feet, spiraling into corporeal form. The arrows pierced into my stomach and shoulder, followed immediately by a large portion of my energy being sapped in a blink.
Shit.
I tossed two fireballs at the archer, who ducked under one and used their movement skill to avoid the other. The archer dove to the side firing a pair of arrows into the ground again. I managed to dive out of the way, though I could only snap one of the arrows off at the head before crashing to the ground. By the time I snapped the other, the void archer dove into a dark whipping cloud yet again before appearing mid-firing another arrow. This time it was a straight shot, one that pierced through my palm before I could summon a fireball. Another fireball shot out, just missing the dissipating archer. He reappeared mid-air this time, his bow drawn back as he drifted overhead.
I felt the energy sapping from my palm removing massive chunks of Stamina, forcing me down to a knee as I ripped the arrow free. I looked up as he released another, raising my good arm to avoid a head shot and bracing for the worst.
*tink*
The arrow deflected off my armor as the archer landed shakily to the dirt. His arms trembled trying to knock another arrow, though he managed to get another one pulled back. The arrow fired out at me as I forced myself to my feet, bouncing off my chest piece and falling to the dirt.
"…ohhh, you're ALL mana and no muscle." I snickered, dragging myself toward the archer exhibiting the telltale signs of mana exhaustion.
"…haha, I had you. That's more than he could say." The man replied with a raspy chuckle.
"And who's this 'he' you're comparing yourself to? I'll be honest, you got closer than most." I said, raising my battle axe up over my downed opponent. He smiled, and pulled an arrow out from under his back and jabbed the head through his neck.
"Oh sonuva-"
*SQUELCH*
My axe bashed through the archer's paper-pale skin, splitting his forehead in two. The rush of Mana points were immense, far more than any normal archer should afford. Clearly, this one leaned hard on his intelligence stat, as I received a negligible amount of Health points.
"Too close, these void types are proving themselves exceedingly impressive." Galenthelos dubiously commented.
"Yeah, I'm not sure I'm a fan yet." I replied, shaking out my hand.
*clap*
*clap*
*clap*
I spun around after the first slow applause, relaxing only slightly realizing who the surprise 3rd party was.
"Bravo, Korbin. I was beginning to think you'd need me to step in again. Not that I would've." Phoebe chuckled, standing atop a tall tree and spinning her bow over her wrist like Cassi would her bo staff.
"Always nice to see a friendly face. Don't suppose you're interested in teaming up with Elysium for a bit?" I offered, slowly positioning my hand to summon a health potion. I waited for her eyes to finally drift from me as she looked up to the sky.
"Hmmm…you know Korb-" I summoned the health potion by my mouth, biting off the lid and pouring it down m-
*WHIZZ*
A fiery arrow shattered the bottom of the potion, completely covering my face in liquid and broken glass. I shook off the spill, grateful no shards cut me up. Phoebe raised a single brow, holding another arrow knocked in her bow trained on me.
"-you know I can't do that."