The floating eyes shifted with eerie precision, forming a perfect line between SmileyX and us, like a demonic referee drawing the battle lines. "Uwaa!" barked the Beholder, its voice a guttural command that sent chills down my spine. They were all watching SmileyX now, who stepped back casually, plopped onto a nearby rock, and hid his weapons with a grin. "You can do this, Billa!" he cheered, his voice dripping with glee. In a complete turn of events, the crazy cheerleader was now hyping up his yes-man. He clearly understood exactly what was going on—and was loving every second.
What in the quack is happening that I'm not getting? My brain scrambled for answers, but came up empty.
The Beholder snorted more commands, and its minions began circulating in a wide, circular pattern around us, their irises glowing a menacing orange—not too close, but at a perfect, taunting distance. Some floating eyes flocked to the Beholder's left, while only the smallest one stayed behind, hovering like a pint-sized enforcer. They weren't attacking. Ollie shoot, my mind kept up, One FC? I thought the Beholder was just a mindless monster, but nope—it had sentience. Maybe it was bored out of its wits with whatever Labyrinth critters did for fun. Now, it was orchestrating a battle to the death, and sadly, I was a participant.
Billabong stashed his Warhammer and drew a massive claymore, its blade looking corroded and pitted, nearly as tall as he was. My General Awareness tagged it: The Serpent Tongue. He swung it a couple of times, did some stretches, and finally cracked his knuckles with a sound like snapping twigs. "You ready?" he asked menacingly, activating Stone Skin, Greater Deflect, and Veil of Thorns in a glowing cascade.
I gulped. "No?"
"Good!" He dashed forward, his footsteps roaring like thunder, his mighty silhouette barreling toward me. My Heightened Awareness pinged his attack: X-Slash! he screamed. A wide, red X pattern stretched toward me, glowing ominously.
I ran head-on, carefully calculating my jump-roll trajectory to the left, right from the center of the X. He swung left and right, creating the deadly cross, but I'd already seen it coming—shouting your attack was a total no-brainer. The X-slash unleashed a wave of light in front of him, but I effortlessly jumped headfirst, evading the energy blast, rolled, and dashed into a wild swing of my own. Eureka! My attack wasn't deflected by his Greater Deflect skill. He could only block attacks from outside the deflect bubble—I needed to get inside for mine to land. I aimed for his back (not my brightest idea, since the guy was a walking tin tank). My slash connected with a loud thunk, like hitting a wall with the texture of a wall.
"He can see the future, Billa!" shouted SmileyX from the sidelines, watching intently like a fight commentator.
Billabong immediately pulled his sword with his right arm, caught it with his left high above his head, and swung downward. A red attack area darted from the blade, aimed straight at my skull. "Skull Crasher!" he roared.
Right hand, I thought. The attack sped down, but knowing the trajectory, I sidestepped to his right, pulled my dagger from my left waist (reversed edge), and slashed swiftly at his arm as he slammed his sword into the ground. My dagger sped toward his stone-skinned arm, sparking on impact, leaving only a mere scratch. "What the quack!" I muttered under my breath, recovering from that bone-jarring rock-hit.
"You son of a—grrrrrr!" He swiftly executed a side slash.
I raised my sword at the last millisecond. Man oh man, this dude was strong. I parried, but my hand failed me—my sword recoiled into my chest and launched me skyward. The attack threw me farther than expected, followed by the "ouch" of a terrible landing and rolling across the floor.
As I tumbled, I caught a glimpse of the Beholder. It was utterly happy, clapping its tentacles to the side. "Uuuw," it cooed, like saying "Bravo!"
"Hoowie! That's what I'm talking about!" Billabong shouted, flexing his muscles and—for some inexplicable reason—kissing his bicep. "Hell yeah, 1 mil, you're mine!"
Heightened Awareness:
Name: Floating eyes
Attack: Laser beams
Attack Area: Shown in red dots.
The floating eyes didn't wait for me to catch my breath or stand. Laser beams rained down one after another, forming a cage closing in on me. I pushed myself up and scrambled away, body screaming in pain. I gasped and shook off the agony—because, you know, what else could I do?
"Why are you trying to kill me?" I panted, hands on my knees.
"Nothing personal, Fallen One. Just money, money..." Billabong sang mockingly.
"And how do you know I'm really the Fallen One?" I pressed.
"Smiley's good at this stuff, you know. I trust his gut!" He began running straight at me again. "No more talking—stay put, let me make it easier for you!" He hissed confidently. "Sword of Judgment!" he proclaimed. His sword began emanating a white light, sizzling ominously. My Heightened Awareness screamed WARNING, and I felt a warm, ominous aura radiating from the blade.
"Oh no, you're in trouble now!" shouted SmileyX, now doing some ridiculous robot dance steps as he excitedly cheered his companion—and my impending demise.
The Beholder, meanwhile, lounged on its rock, enjoying the one-sided battle sequence like it was premium entertainment.
There was really nothing I could do to change his mind. I glanced at my right leg—two more throwing daggers. I took a deep breath, drew them, and hurled one. It accelerated toward his head, but his Greater Deflect skill bounced it upward. I ran toward him, launching the second—which, as expected, bounced off his deflect bubble.
And here we were, in slow motion, face-to-face. His wickedly cool, blinding sword at mid-swing, while I, Kiko, made a desperate attempt to do something to keep my head connected to my body. His attack direction glowed red, swinging straight toward me.
Would you like to know more about Billabong's Sword of Judgment mechanics, or how Kiko plans to survive the next swing?