The Fool's Freedom

What the fuck?

Somehow the sight of the arrogant lisarni running away was more surprising than the surprise attack itself. Kalyntha’s corpse, or whatever pieces remained of it, fell around the now enlarged cave with a dull thud before disintegrating and becoming just piles of steel and iron chips, along with the remains of clothes.

The creature rushed forward and Alan flashed to the side, dodging one of the limbs that had gone for him. He took out [True Edge] and the [Imbue Fire] daggers, activating both enchantments and sending two [Shadow Slashes]. Both did a lot of damage to the tree monster— the one from the sacrificial dagger managed to cut off one of its spidery legs, but another one quickly grew to replace it while the fallen limb was absorbed into the main body.

The shadow flame blade burned through the wood-like flesh and left a deep black scar upon the trunk of the creature. A deep screech came from the tunnel-like mouth and it turned toward Alan a second before a sword of blood skewered it, flying straight through.

And then another. And another. They came like a hail of blood specifically designed to slaughter. Alan stepped in, sent two more crisscrossing shadow flame blades at the thing, and watched as the dark flame burned at it.

The doll on its back finally moved. It was fast. Very fast. Alan barely managed to jump back as the wooden fist slammed into his crossed daggers and sent him flying back into the rock wall. The shadows burst around him taking on most of the impact and letting him land on his feet.

The strange doll was gone from its place and he noticed a flash of movement as it reappeared near Solorim. Runes of silver and gold lit up the cave as its fist flashed toward the man’s head. There was a sound reminiscent of a torn sheet of paper, but only a few of the runes dimmed. Only one broke into lines that disappeared in the air.

A red rune flashed near the abdomen of the doll, followed by a burst of fire that sent both Solorim and the doll in opposite directions. Alan jumped backward to escape the heat.

You have slain: Corrupted Treant Shifter (62)

Level up!

You have reached level 32 in [Warlock]!

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 1 Mind, Will, and Magic

Huh?

Alan looked toward the weird tree monster. It was drenched in blood that was already flowing back toward Zirida. Her robe and cloak were gone. All that was left was a short cloth wrapped like a skirt and a tube top. Her body was fit and brimming muscles showed that she was not just a mage. All of the revealed skin was covered in gruesome scars. Some were thin and well-healed, others looked as if the skin had been bitten or torn by a violent beast. Many of the wounds were open and the blood was currently pouring back into them.

There was barely anything left of the so-called Treant Shifter. Alan assumed that once it had died Zirida had thrown its body into the chasm behind.

She turned toward the doll and Alan did the same. It looked unharmed from the fiery attack of the [Rune Apprentice] although it had sent it flying. This was worrying.

Alan sent two shadow blades and cast [Synaptic Failure]. The doll didn’t react at all and his skill simply faded along with his mana, making him curse. The shadow blades crashed into the doll, shredding some of the cloth covering its form, but not much else aside from light charring.

It was then that another treant shifter crawled out of the chasm, a second doll on its back. There was a roar as a torrent of blood instantly attacked the new arrival, crashing like a red wave into an unprepared shore. The swords were merciless, leaving the treant no room to dodge and no way to survive.

Alan cursed as a third followed close behind the second, but it too was caught in Zirida’s insane attack.

The dolls were a different matter. They suffered some damage, but it was shallow. The dark wood they were made of was much harder than the treant, and the swords only managed to chip away at it despite the deadly force behind them.

The two treants didn’t stand a chance and he was sure one of them was already dead or on the verge of death, with the other following close behind. The dolls were the worrying part. What the fuck were those things? If Kalyntha hadn’t instantly died - if she was even dead considering the weird way the body behaved - they would have probably easily won.

Alan took a second to consider his options. There was one new thing he could try. Solorim was getting pushed back and the runes protecting him were dimming one by one. He seemed to be struggling as every time a red rune appeared the doll squashed it. How smart were those things? What were those things?

In the second he took to weigh things the doll attacking Solorim glowed with green light and its hand broke through the protective runes, reaching the man’s chest and piercing it. Alan saw it break through the back in a shower of blood. Solorim’s looked toward them before his whole body shone with light and he disappeared, leaving behind only his torn clothes.

People are having a blast dying or running away, huh? Not good.

Alan touched on the connection of the curse. The sweet nectar of the void parasite’s life rushed to his body and with nowhere to go it started burning. Alan felt the change and watched as the doll that had finished Solorim turned toward him. It was not important what had happened to the [Rune Apprentice] right now. It was important to survive.

The doll was between him and the exit and Alan briefly considered rushing past and using the life energy that was rampaging in his body as an insurance if he got hit. He repaired the [Monochrome Armor] and prepared to put some mana in his legs.

He threw a glance toward Zirida who was locked in combat with the second and third dolls. One of the dolls was glowing green and littered with cuts and nicks. It was striking against an unceasing avalanche of daggers and swords made out of blood. The doll punched at the weapons, making the blood splash all over only for it to reform into a new weapon mid-fall and rush back at it again.

The other doll was free and its attacks managed to reach Zirida often despite her dodging, but the blood would jump and solidify into red crystal just in time to defend before attacking back. The shields of blood didn’t form close to Zirida’s body, instead opting to stop attacks just as they had begun, not allowing them to gather momentum or power.

It was an impressive display of control and strength. Alan felt hesitant. He needed to look after himself, and he didn’t know these people. But acting like the damned lizard was in no way close to who he wanted to be.

“You should run.” Xil’s voice said in his head and Alan gritted his teeth. It was the smart thing to do and even the demon advised it. Then again, when had he been the one to do the smart thing? He wanted to push himself. To grow. To be much stronger.

Alan rushed in and narrowly dodged the strike of the strange doll, then slashed at its torso with the flaming dagger, making sure to release a point-blank shadow blade at it. He felt the hit and the blade sank just a little before he pivoted on his heel and charged a wide attack with [True Edge]. The shadow blade hit the doll right on the side of its head and sent it reeling back for a moment, during which Alan struck again.

His attacks were unceasing as he dodged and weaved and the damage started to build up little by little. However, a punch covered in a green glow shattered most of [Monochrome Armor] and a second made Alan spit out blood as it sent him flying into the rocks for the third time. He fell close to the battle between Zirida and the two other dolls flinched as a red blood veil dropped on him and turned into a shield.

The rampaging life inside of him instantly rushed toward his chest and he heaved for a few seconds until it fixed him up. There was still pain and bruising, but at least he was not bleeding internally. The shield was a surprise.

She has the mind to protect me during that fight?

Alan stood up. The doll that had sent him flying was stepping toward him somewhat slowly, and it looked almost as if it was leaning toward joining the fight against Zirida. Was it waiting for the right moment? If it attacked and he failed to stop it, it would make things much worse for the girl. Alan was certain he could not survive if she fell.

“What are you doing, idiot?” Xil asked. “Leave her, and save yourself!”

“Shut the fuck up for a second.”

Alan pulled on the connection of the curse and the life energy that had just healed him started rampaging again, making him almost shake. It was time to go big or go home.

Alan cast [Sacrificial Attack] and felt the world around him shake. No, it was his vision that shook. His mind screamed and [Mortal Peril] joined the cacophony in his head. The outside world, the sounds of battle, all was gone as if the demon had cast [Soundless] while simultaneously covering Alan’s eyes.

He drank thirsty from the river of life that was the existence of the large parasite. He felt as its waters became less turbulent, shallower. There was plenty left, but he had taken a lot. His body felt as if it was being broken and repaired over and over again as the skill drank from his life force, while the curse replenished it. He coughed blood and then felt as if he was the healthiest he had ever been. Physically.

His mind was about to break and the energy coursing through his body gave him a massive headache for some reason.

You have sacrificed 1 Vitality.

You have gained 1 Vitality.

You have sacrificed 1 Vitality.

You have gained 1 Vitality.

Alan put a stop to it as the enchanted dagger from Mr. Muge had become almost too much to bear. He put away the sacrificial dagger and used both hands to grab the flaming one, manipulating the shadows to extend the handle. They trembled as they moved, and it seemed like they were about to fall apart from the sheer amount of strange energy. Nothing but the skill remained. Alan barely held on.

One second.

Two seconds.

The doll burst into action, opting to go for Zirida and not him. It didn’t know what was coming.

With a grin that was threatening to break his teeth, Alan met the charge of the doll by slashing with both hands. He tried to aim the attack away from the woman but still got at least another one of the dolls in its trajectory. Not that he had any idea what was about to happen.

[Sacrificial Attack] went off for the first time, and Alan felt pressure unlike any he had ever produced fly off from his dagger. Since he had used [Shadow Slash] and imbued it with the energy from the [Sacrificial Attack] it was the form the skill took.

This shadow blade was much different than any before it. Dark shadows intertwined with golden energy mottled with black that was more representative of the void than the shadows. In the brief moment of its existence, all light coming from the outside or from the fight going on next to them was devoured, as if a hungry beast had swallowed the world. Then, with a flash of white, the darkness was broken and the cave trembled.

He felt as if he had spent the last week carrying sacks of iron up and down a never-ending flight of stairs. Despite his Vitality still being 5, everything hurt. Every cell, bone, and muscle fiber screamed with exhaustion.

He found himself falling, blacking in and out of consciousness. Where was he falling? Was it the chasm?

Even [Monochrome armor] was fully gone, despite having plenty of time left. For some reason that felt worse than his body.

Alan felt as if he was about to pass out but some of the life energy inside of him reinvigorated him. He managed to use some mana to supplement his stamina as well and opened his eyes to a world of darkness.

A voice screamed for him. No, there were two.

One was calm and coming from the outside. It said only ‘I got you.’ Warm blood wrapped around him and a strong scarred arm grabbed at his elbow.

The other was screaming obscenities in his head and calling him things many times worse than ‘stupid.

Alan smiled in the darkness. Maybe there was treasure down there?

***

Riasko watched as the cave collapsed with a smirk. This was going better than expected.

“I almost thought you wouldn’t make it. It would have been best to kill them all one by one while we were doing cleaning, but this works too. How did you even manage to bring those cursed things all the way here?” he asked.

“Trade secret,” answered the man next to him. “There was one more you didn’t tell me about.”

Riasko didn’t care about the outlander. He had riled him up and kept up with the façade he had put on. Acting like a buffoon and getting beaten up for so long had been tough, but he had learned a lot. All that mattered was that the cleric was dead. [Red Clerics] were too dangerous and too sensitive to things they shouldn’t be, and Zirida wasn’t someone they could use. The one in the outpost though was perfect.

“No System messages?”

“No. I didn’t act personally. It was all done by the dolls from the ruined temple of the Void Tree. We almost didn’t make it until you were back at the outpost because of that fucking dragon. It didn’t like that we entered the temple. Sensed us when we exited but we managed to avoid it underground.”

“And the ones in the outpost?”

“Two dead on patrols. Three died on the battlefield in unfortunate accidents. The one you wanted is captured. No one that can sense the ritual is left.”

“Good. My clan will be pleased. And you too, as soon as I get the Bloodline.”