Chapter 45

  The room they entered was gigantic. It had an open design. Sunlight above illuminated the intricate architecture.

  Standing above a raised platform was a large, elderly orc shrouded in a long black robe. Its grey hair and hunched posture told of its age. It wielded a staff with a human skull at its tip. The bone staff channeled a black tendrils of magic toward a gigantic sphere.

  Ben and Eve could see children trapped within the large sphere, elevated on a pedestal.

  The orc kept its arms raised, its eyes closed while muttering an incantation.

  “The prey brings itself to the slaughter. How kind,” the orc said.

  The orc spoke with its back to the group. Ben narrowed his eyes as he read the boss’s information.

  [Kaun of the Black Death. Level 16 Raid Boss]

  “If you consider us prey, then does that make you the hunter? Some hunter, targeting children,” Ben taunted.

  Kaun glanced back at Ben with a sneer.

  “Spoils, fairly won. I do not expect you to understand, Meat. Your blood will satisfy all the same.”

  With a wave of his hand, Kaun manifested four large black portals. Out of the portals, the four bosses that Ben had slain stepped out.

  Like the other orcs in the spire, the bosses were silent, rigid, and subdued. They wielded shadowy versions of the weapons they had used in life.

  Ben’s eyes settled specifically on the undead version of the White Fang Chief. Ben frowned.

  “You too?” Ben asked.

  Ben was surprised to see a subtle twitch of the chieftain’s brow, but other than that, the chief did not respond.

  “Kill them. Try not to damage their bodies too badly. They will make better minions if they are intact,” Kaun said.

  Kaun did not even bother turning to face them. He continued to focus on his ritual.

  Ben was the first to strike. He sent a ball of holy fire sailing past the resurrected bosses, straight toward Kaun.

  The magic exploded a few feet away from its intended target. A black magical barrier flickered around Kaun. Ben saw the four bosses’ collective HP reduce slightly.

  “I see,” Ben said.

  Kaun snorted.

  “Pathetic,” Kaun said.

  The four bosses leapt into action. Behind them, countless undead orcs poured from the black portals that still swirled in the center of the massive room.

  The Orc Bowmaster and Dark Priestess stayed in the back and unleashed their attacks from range.

  The Orc Chieftain and Berserker sprinted into the fray. They were followed by a horde of orc soldiers.

  Ben equipped his dragon mask and glanced back to Eve.

  “You should probably record now,” Ben said.

  Eve was on edge upon bearing witness to the army that bore down on them, but Ben’s voice snapped her out of her daze.

  “Oh,” she thought.

  Eve hopped down from White Fang and set up her recording interface. She started recording just as Ben, his cherubs, and White Fang collided with the orc army.

  The battle was furious. Eve struggled to follow everything. The recording perspective came in the form of a floating orb that hovered above her head. She could see the perspective of the camera in her interface.

  She found an elevated platform where she could view the entire battlefield.

  Ben divided his cherubs into strategic squads of four. His sixteen cherubs made four groups. Each group had a similar squad composition. Tank, healer, and two DPS.

  Each squad attacked one of the generals while Ben attacked Kaun.

  Similar to the Dark Priestess, Kaun was shrouded in a magical black barrier that Ben attacked. It was much stronger than the veil of the Dark Priestess. Different varieties of orcs charged toward Ben, so he split his time between fighting off the reinforcements and attacking the barrier.

  The Cherub Master Pugilist led a squad against the Orc Berserker, who also had special clawed gauntlets. The Orc Berserker had its own reinforcements, which made fighting it exceedingly difficult.

  The Cherub Sword Master led a squad against the Orc Chieftain.

  The Cherub Master Archer exchanged attacks with the Orc Hunter Captain.

  Finally, the Cherub White Mage led its squad against the Orc Priestess.

  Each battle was a stalemate, primarily because of the healing of Kaun and the priestess. The two orcs had similar supporting styles. They drained the life force of their allies to refill their mana, heal, and cast various support abilities.

  Whenever the undead numbers were culled, Kaun would cast a mass reincarnation spell to revive them. At the same time, more and more orcs poured out of the black portals.

  Eve began to lose track of how long they had been fighting. It felt endless. Every time she thought the numbers were thinning, more shadows poured out of the portals.

  Eve intervened in the best way she could. She took over the healing of the group, which allowed the Cherub White Mage to conserve its mana by focusing exclusively on buffs like haste, frenzy, and holy weapon.

  White Fang acted as a mobile assassin that ran around using hit and run tactics to strike at priority targets. It bounced between the bosses, taking chunks out of their health pools. Sometimes it helped Ben strike Kaun’s barrier, sometimes it routed reinforcements, and finally, it protected Eve from any orcs that tried to reach her vantage point.

  The battle took so long that Eve could see White Fang visibly slow. Its breathing grew heavy, its movements less explosive than before. Ben noticed as well.

  Ben exhaled sharply and wiped sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. His movements were still precise, but Eve could see the effort behind them now. This fight was wearing him down.

  Ben decided to change tactics. Instead of trying to take down Kaun’s barrier, he attacked the black portals where the reinforcements came from. He carved his way through a group of orcs that blocked his path and sent a ball of holy fire directly into a portal.

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  It collapsed in on itself.

  “Insolence!” Kaun roared.

  After a moment of chanting, Kaun resummoned the portal. Ben noticed how much mana the spell consumed. Ben grinned.

  Ben signaled toward White Fang. White Fang ran over to him. Ben jumped onto the wolf while the beast was still in motion.

  Ben and White Fang darted across the battlefield, attacking the portals and collapsing them. Kaun was forced to expend more and more mana to resummon them. Eventually, Kaun adapted by sending reinforcements to guard the portals.

  That decision left each of the bosses vulnerable.

  The Orc Hunter Captain was the first to fall.

  The Berserker fell next.

  To Eve’s dismay, Kaun revived them. He then drained several orc warriors to regain his mana. Eve pouted.

  “This fight isn’t fair at all,” she typed in a fluster.

  Ben chuckled when he read her message. He looked up at her confidently.

  “As long as the children are safe and we keep fighting, then we have got this,” Ben said.

  Eve nodded and took out a mana regeneration potion. She settled into the grind with renewed determination.

  The battle continued for another thirty minutes before Kaun’s barrier finally shattered. White Fang could no longer maintain its speed. It focused on guarding Eve’s position and regaining stamina. Ben ran around, rotating between attacking the portals and hurling balls of holy fire at Kaun’s barrier.

  Eve was surprised to see that Ben did not attack Kaun once the barrier had fallen. Instead, Ben attacked the barrier that entrapped the children.

  Kaun roared in rage.

  “Enough!” Kaun shouted.

  The elderly orc suddenly tore away the black robe that covered his body, revealing a deceptively muscular frame given his apparent age.

  Kaun raised his staff and channeled a powerful incantation. Black tendrils of magic drained away from the portals, the bosses, and the orc soldiers, redirecting toward Kaun himself.

  The magic empowered his body, causing him to grow to three times his normal size. The barrier that entrapped the children fortified to an indestructible level.

  A sword formed in Kaun’s free hand. A gigantic greatsword. He now wielded his staff and the greatsword at the same time.

  A notification blared across Ben and Eve’s interface.

  [Kaun of the Black Death is temporarily enraged for 300 seconds]

  Eve looked upon the notice with dread. The air in the room became cold and dark. Gravity seemed to increase. Kaun took imposing steps toward Ben. The ground cracked beneath his feet.

  Eve looked down at White Fang. The wolf was growling and had taken a defensive posture that showed even it was scared of what Kaun had become. Eve clutched her staff tightly.

  A text snapped Eve out of her frightened daze.

  “Drop the soul link.”

  Eve looked at Ben in disbelief. What she saw was shocking. Ben was grinning. He walked toward Kaun without hesitation Eve understood.

  All her worry washed away. She dropped the soul link without another moment of hesitation.

  Still, she made the sign of the cross and whispered a brief prayer. Ben did the same as Kaun neared.

  ”Heavenly Father, please guide my hand.”

  Then they collided.

  Ben took on Kaun by himself. His angels kept fighting the other bosses. They could have helped. Ben did not let them.

  Kaun swung his gigantic sword in wide arcs with evident skill. Ben dodged each strike with precision.

  Eve watched Ben curiously. He did not counterattack even when the openings were there. He just dodged, much to Kaun’s frustration.

  “Insect!” Kaun roared.

  Kaun grew annoyed by having his sword strikes constantly avoided. He channeled power into his staff and prepared to bring it down like a hammer. Ben ran away at the last moment just as an eruption of black magic exploded outward. When the magic dissipated, Ben ran back into range to repeat the pattern.

  Kaun unleashed a variety of different attacks with his sword and staff. Ben continued to evade each one.

  Every few attacks, Ben intentionally blocked instead of dodged. His health dwindled, based on the strength of the attacks. He used his own healing spell to heal himself to full.

  He even intentionally allowed the full brunt of Kahn’s energy blast to hit him. It took over half of his health, but Ben was prepared. With another casual flick of his wrist, he was back to full health.

  Given Ben’s enhanced durability, Eve had a good idea of how much damage those attacks would have dealt to ordinary players. She also began to understand which attacks could be blocked and survived.

  Ben’s tactics were revealing everything about the mechanics of the fight.

  He did it for so long that Eve even noticed when Kaun began to repeat his attacks. Eve’s eyes widened in realization.

  Another text grabbed Eve’s attention.

  “Come and try.”

  Eve looked at Ben in disbelief. He winked at her.

  “You got this. Reactivate your soul link, just in case,” Ben instructed.

  Eve hesitated for only a moment before nodding and hopping down from her raised platform. White Fang carried her closer to the boss. Eve shivered but drew upon all her courage as she dismounted and approached.

  Ben stepped back and placed Eve between himself and Kaun.

  “You mock me?” Kaun said. “You will pay for your arrogance!”

  Kaun charged toward Eve and raised his sword in a blow that would have been lethal for almost any normal player.

  Eve dodged without thinking, to her own surprise. After watching Kaun attack Ben for so long, she easily predicted the strike. She sidestepped with time to spare.

  The sword caused a tremor near her that made her shiver, but she was otherwise unharmed.

  Kaun growled in frustration and followed up with a staff attack. It was equally predictable. Eve’s body moved almost on its own and dodged cleanly.

  When Kaun charged his signature spell, Eve ran away just in time to clear the blast zone. Then she ran back into the fray and continued dodging.

  Ben leaned forward slightly, hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down his face as he watched Eve with a satisfied smile. His grip tightened on his weapon, eyes locked on Kaun. If Eve faltered for even a moment, he was ready to move.

  Eve wasn’t perfect. She still got hit occasionally, but those were hits she knew she could take because of Ben’s example. Her Soul Link provided a buffer that made up for any gaps in her defenses. She even grew bold enough to block a few strikes, based on what Ben had shown her.

  Notifications appeared in the corner of her vision.

  [Congratulations. You have gained Apprentice Dodging Proficiency]

  [Congratulations. You have gained Apprentice Combat Sense]

  [Congratulations. You have gained Apprentice Blocking Proficiency]

  “I am really doing it,” Eve thought.

  Her fear did not disappear, but it no longer controlled her. For the first time since entering the spire, Eve felt steady.

  Ben nodded in approval from the sidelines. Before they knew it, Kaun’s rage effect wore off.

  Kaun shrank back to his normal size. He looked visibly fatigued. The pressure in the room eased. Eve did not realize how tense she had been until her shoulders finally dropped.

  Ben walked up to Eve.

  “You did amazing, Eve. I will take it from here,” Ben said.

  Eve looked up at Ben in admiration and nodded. Ben looked at Kaun with an intense gaze.

  “You think you have won?” Kaun asked.

  Ben took out the black orb from his inventory.

  “Only by the grace of God,” Ben said.

  Kaun sneered.

  “God?”

  Ben did not respond. Instead, he activated the orb. A dark pulse filled the room. The barrier that housed the children shattered. The children lay asleep but free.

  Eve felt a tightness in her chest loses as relief washed over her.

  Kaun’s power drained away. The portals collapsed.

  The black orb imploded within Ben’s hand. A dead silence lingered. The implication was obvious. Kaun no longer held power over those he had claimed.

  With the last of Kaun’s strength gone, Ben charged forward and delivered a decisive blow that ended the boss in a single strike.

  Ben and Eve were suddenly engulfed in a radiant golden light.

  [Level Up!]

  [Congratulations on reaching level 11!]

  [Congratulations on being the first to defeat the Orc Valley raid boss]

  [Your achievement has triggered a global announcement. Would you like to hide or reveal your name?]

  “Hide.”

  Ben didn’t pay attention to his other notifications. His eyes fell on the sleeping children. A few stirred, rubbing their eyes sleepily, murmuring in confusion.

  Eve and Ben exchanged a warm glance. Relief, exhaustion, and quiet triumph passed between them.

  “Let’s send them home.”