Chương 60: THE SERAPH’S HEAD

Monan sat waiting in his great throne room. He'd had a couple of whiskey shots to pass the time, wondering if T'balt actually had a plan in mind this iteration. He doubted the kid would reach him this time and wondered how he'd fare against a full-scale assault. It made him laugh to himself.

"Monan." The sound of his name made his laughter fade.

"What do you want, Sam?"

"There's something I really need to tell you. It's about…" Monan's eyes sharpened, almost daring him to say what he was thinking. The usually clean-cut Sam was dressed like a common outback thug: scarred-up jacket with neon spraypaint on the sleeve. Though his blond hair was still packed neatly on top of his thin, pale head. His face was somber, almost fearful.

"They're dead. I know you said not to, but I went and looked anyway and… why didn't you tell me?" Monan grew annoyed, crossing his legs and resting his head on his fist.

"Because I don't care."

"But he was your—""I've lived thousands of lives, Sam. Do you understand what that means?" Sam slowly shook his head.

"It means… if my life doesn't matter. Then why should anyone else's?"

"I just—""Now go… I kept you alive this time because I thought it'd be funny, but you're just killing my buzz." He saw Sam's eyes glow that slight hint of red for a moment, analyzing him. Then he let Monan be, bowing out of the conversation. Monan took another shot. This time of vodka. He dropped the bottle and rested his eyes. Then he heard someone enter the great hall.

"Redeemer." It was a woman's voice. Her head was hooded, and her face was painted with black chalk. He didn't recognize her. Her voice sounded extra coarse, like she was running it through a meat grinder. He figured she was one of the low-level grunts who thought they needed to bow whenever they saw him. He barely opened his eyes.

"What is it?"

"Sir. The convoy is completely destroyed. It was an ambush. All those people… they're… gone."

"Gone? You're telling me he ambushed the ambush… I'd say the kid is getting smart, but it took him long enough. So what are they doing now?"

"Sir?"

"The believers… You catch what they're up to, or did you tuck and run like a little mutt that got kicked in the nuts?"

"Sorry. I don't know. I came to tell you as fast as I could."

"Ah, whatever…" He scratched his head, bending over to grab another drink.

"I guess it's my move now anyway." But the moment he took his eyes off the woman, she drew at him and an arrow of light reflected off the back of the throne. Monan spilt out of the chair, managing to save his bottle and landing on his feet. He took another sip as he aimed down the sights of the holy bow.

"He's got a reflex loot," she called out to the ether.

"Oh, the librarian bird. Did you get all dressed up just for me?" He took another swig. Then he heard a cracking in the ceiling and then a CRASH. Rubble rained on him along with a giant man screaming…

"CANNON BUSTER!" He dodged that too, but stumbled a bit as he struggled to keep hold of the bottle. The last one showed with a speed he couldn't match in time. Acelin apparated behind him in a flash of neon light and kicked hard at his head. Monan instinctively blocked, causing the bottle to fly out of his hand and smash against the wall.

"I was drinking that, ya dick." Acelin dashed around him in that spec of blinding light. The buzzing of that fly was close to catching him off guard, forcing Monan to zip away in his own glow of holy light. The two balls of light, one a warm white and the other a neon purple, danced around each other until one of them retreated back to his two allies. Monan landed on the skull of the Seraph, sitting and taking a look at his sudden challengers.

Cannon, Ellie, and Acelin stood in combat stances, all with their sights aimed at one man.

"And he has some sort of light loot," Ellie said aloud. Monan nodded, waiting for the main attraction to show his face.

"Not just any light loot," said T'balt, walking in from the shadows.

"He killed the Seraph."

"Hey there, good buddy," Monan said, suddenly with a big, cheesy smile on his face.

"Long time no see." T'balt was getting straight to the point.

"You want to save me the trouble by just telling me what your third loot is?" Monan shrugged.

"What third loot? You think I need more than two?"

"You're lying. There's no way you beat the Seraph with just reflex."

"Loot isn't everything, you know. You gotta use your tools wisely, but I see I don't have to tell you that." He gestured to the three standing next to T'balt.

"Monan. I'm tired of your mouth. So do me a favor and shut the hell up." Monan broke out into a loud, echoing laughter.

"Fine. Straight to the finish, huh? Well, I answered your question. Before we start, it's only right for you to return the favor."

"Me…" T'balt lifted the hair from his neck.

"I'm completely lootless."

"Lootless… You're kidding me?" Monan laughed.

"You survived all this way without a single piece of loot. I'm impressed." His words were slightly slurred. They'd caught him in his indulgence and his overconfidence. It was that very thing that T'balt was hoping to kill him with. Even though they were this far along, Monan still underestimated him, looking down from the skull of the giant. Everyone else was so small to him that he thought he was untouchable. Drinking right before their fight. T'balt almost took it as an insult.

"You know better than me that I'm never lootless."

"Ho.. Right. We are Redeemers. So then, Redeemer… shall we?" As if a light switch had suddenly flipped, Monan's light disappeared from the top of the Seraph's head. Then the light of him appeared directly in front of him, cutting through the others straight to the source. T'balt stood still because he knew he was protected. Acelin had the speed with his neon loot to cut the attack off. Their lights clashed in front of him. Acelin played the redirection.

He was told that if he went on a head-to-head of close combat with Monan, it wouldn't turn out well. So he played the game of cat and mouse to keep him busy. They flew through the hall, sparking where they touched as Monan relentlessly chased the boy. But whenever he came to knock him out of the air, an arrow was flashed right at him. His reflex allowed him to dodge, but just barely every time. Ellie was a quick shot, and she had trained specifically for this.

The hypersensitivity in her vision told her where he would be before Monan even knew himself. The beams of light singed his eyebrow as he turned his attention to the woman, flashing in front of her. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Cannon was her shield, acting upon his own reflex loot to meet Monan with a massive fist that skinned the side of his cheek. He reacted by leaping up and away.

The Seraph loot was powerful, but T'balt had prepared them in case they needed to fight it one day. It was far less intimidating to him in a man rather than a beast the size of a building. Much like the neon loot, one had to completely turn to their physical form to deal damage to their opponent and then could only zip around as a ball of light for about half a second each time. If you could see where they were going to appear, it left them open for a counterattack.

Monan had made himself a quick target every time he transformed. But it wasn't the only trick they had up their sleeves. As Monan flew through the air, riding the momentum of his leap, T'balt could see him reevaluating the situation. It was that sweet moment where T'balt could see on his face that he realized he'd underestimated him, and that feeling felt like sweet victory. Then a wall of ceiling rubble had formed fully around Monan.

"Where do you think you're going?" The second loot in Acelin's stack was psychic. He commanded the rubble into a closed-off sphere, perfect size to cut off Monan's field of vision. And before he could escape it, he was blinded by the flash of neon light on the inside. Unable to see. It didn't matter how heightened his senses were. If he couldn't use them, then he couldn't dodge.

Cannon channeled the strength loot to his legs, leaping and punching with his massive strength straight through the rubble and into the pit of Monan's stomach. Metal, marble, and wood careened across the galley and exploded into the wall along with Monan's body. Then Ellie was quick with her shots, three of them right to Monan's core before he could open his eyes again.

"Yes!" T'balt couldn't stop himself from shaking his fist in the air. They had got him. After all this time, they had finally got him. He could see Monan crushed and pinned against the wall, barely moving. And he didn't have to equip a single piece of loot. But as the others closed in, they were stopped short by a vile sight. Monan vomited all over the floor in front of him, a mix of alcohol, bile, and blood. He inched his eyes open.

"Well, that'll sober you up."

"Don't hesitate. Take him down now!" T'balt shouted. The others wiped away their disgust and moved to finish things off. Monan smiled. Suddenly, they were all blocked by a wall of floating water. It glowed a mesmerizing shade of turquoise and acted as Monan's shield.

"He does have a third loot," T'balt said.

"It's only water, though. You're going to need something more than that to stop me from…"

"Cannon don't!" But it was too late. Cannon drove his massive fist straight through the tidal wave of green-blue water, and when he did, it latched around his arm, and his skin began to smoke.

"What the hell… It burns. Get it off!" he yelled. The others rushed to him, seeing the strange liquid eroding Cannon's skin. Ellie unleashed healing on his arm as Acelin stepped in front to guard them.

"What was that?" T'balt thought. It clearly wasn't normal water. It was mystic with a strange glow, operating telepathically. It was like acid, but it only resembled colored water. Then the water went to surround Monan, centering on the spots that the arrows had hit, sinking into the wounds. Was it attacking him? The smoke began to form in the wounds, but by the look on Monan's face, he was experiencing some sort of euphoria.

"Acelin!" he called.

"It's healing him. Don't let him recover." Acelin reacted, flashing towards the man they thought was defeated, but right as Acelin's light formed the outline of his body, another man appeared, driving the water right into Acelin's core. He wasn't able to stop his momentum forward. Thankfully, T'balt had thought it pertinent to equip the boy with the forcefield loot. He activated it just in time and was able to retreat back to the others with only a singe in his shirt.

"Looks like I made it right on time. You're not looking too hot, buddy."

"Sam," Monan praised his friend.

"Can't you see how they're bullying me? 3-on-1 just isn't fair. I need to tag out for a bit. You got this right?"

"What? Me?" Sam chided.

"So instead of you getting bullied, you want me to?"

"Ehhh…" he groaned.

"I'm tired, and I've had too much to drink… look, you're stepping in my puke."

"Ahh shit. That's disgusting." Sam raised his foot, taking some of the holy water to wash the vomit off his shoe. It didn't burn him. T'balt didn't know what this was. He had never seen this Sam before today, and now he looked like Monan's confidant. Getting a look at his face, he seemed almost normal compared to the greased-up neon thugs that the rest of Monan's crew were. So that mystic water was his loot then.

T'balt didn't want to give them the chance to recover, but he was still in lootless mode, unwilling to play his cards just yet.

"Guys. I don't know how, but that water looks like it hurts us and heals them. Avoid touching it," T'balt called to them.

"It's like holy water," said Ellie.

"Holy water? Are you saying I'm a demon? Is that why it burned me?" Cannon had shaken back feeling in his arm after Ellie's healing, and he was ready to fight again. Sam saw the big man arise, and for a moment his eyes glowed that suspicious red.

"Oh my god! Is that Cannon Valkyr?" Sam called out, face lighting like a firework. Monan rolled his eyes.

"This guy's a legend, an absolute unit. Why didn't you tell me you were fighting him? You know what a big wrestling fan I am? This is crazy." That guy was entirely too loud, a lot like Cannon was. Monan didn't pay it any mind.

"Mr. Valkyr, I just want to say I'm a huge fan. Your matches against Big Body Braham are some of the highlights of the century," he continued.

"Oh well, thank you… I guess. Big Body was one of my greatest rivals. He and I used to tear the house down in banger after banger. I'm glad someone's a fan of real artful wrestling." Ellie and Acelin rolled their own eyes at Cannon for falling for one of his fanboys so quickly.

"Wow… so what were you doing out here? Was there a show here that I missed? There's no way. I always know when Cannon Valkyr's in town."

"Ah, yeah. There was a house show out here. Me and the boys were on a tour bus heading home when—""Cannon," T'balt interrupted.

"He's stalling."

"What?"

"While you've been talking, he's been healing Monan. Don't let him make you forget we're in a fight here." Cannon was disappointed having not found a fan after all.

"There's no more decency in this world…"

"Hey, Monan. That guy's kinda smart. Does he have a thinker's loot too?"

"Nah... He's just been at it a while."

"Thinkers loot?" T'balt wondered what that meant. It must've been why the man's eyes glowed red when he looked at him. Was it another perception loot like the tracker or the hypersensitivity? If so, that was another problem he had to deal with.

"Ah, well. Looks like you got me," Sam admitted, holding his hands in the air.

"I really am a fan, though, big guy."

"Yeah, right." Cannon sized him up, and Ellie reared her bow. Sam's eyes lit up in that crystallized red, and for him, the world slowed to a crawl. He took a good look at them all as he noticed the first steps of their coming actions.

"A bow, a strong man, a light user. Not a bad combo," he thought.

"So how do I go from here?" He lifted a veil of holy water in front of them to halt their movement. He saw the small one cutting around the wall with his speed, only to psychically pull a vase from a wall to crash into him. Sam blocked it with a sudden equipping of armor that covered his torso and legs in modern steel plating. He moved around to just in front of the wall of water, and when Acelin threw a series of telekinetic rocks at him, he ducked out of the way, undoing the veil.

Cannon posted in front of Ellie, taking the brunt of the flurry.

"I'm sorry," Acelin said. But then he felt his leg getting snatched from underneath him. Suddenly, he was upside down. Ellie drew her bow, but Sam dangled the kid in front of the arrow.

"You wouldn't shoot a kid, would ya?" She stopped herself. Acelin resorted to his telekinesis, his light powers being made irrelevant once he was touched. He lifted his arm, hurling in a sculpture of a large bird from outside the window. As the glass shattered, Sam's eyes turned red again, and he dropped the kid in front of the statue-shaped bullet. Acelin was forced to halt the statue so as not to hurt himself. Then Cannon turned up behind Sam, launching punches. One of them winged Sam on the shoulder.

More like he allowed it to, knowing the armor would absorb most of the impact and push him several yards away from his attackers. Ellie leaped forward for the continued assault with her bow, but it was exactly what Sam had predicted. She stepped right into a puddle of his holy water and soon found her body awash as the substance leaped from the ground and burned her skin. She started to scream in agony.

"Ellie!" all three of her allies called as she fell to the floor trying to force the water off her body. T'balt tried to piece together what had just happened. He was throwing feints that entire time, never even throwing one attack until he saw that wherever he stepped, he left puddles of water. Sam was crafty. He was able to come up with a strategy like that in just a few seconds. It was almost too quick for him to have been perfectly positioned for all of Cannon's blows.

To catch Acelin off guard when he'd never even seen Acelin accidentally hurt himself with his loot. He was running circles around them without them even realizing it.

"The thinker's loot. I get it now," he thought.

"Heh. I don't think I'll be able to sit this out much longer." T'balt stepped forward, fiddling in a sack of treasures he had pinned to his back pocket.

"Oh, now he wants in on the party." Monan was still slumped over.

"I'll make you regret having hurt her," T'balt said. He found the loot he was looking for and placed it on himself. This was his plan. The counter strategy.

"I won't be equipping any loot myself until the fight starts," he said during their planning.

"Why?" the others asked.

"Because I don't know what he has. If I'm going to beat him, I can't just pick any random loot stack. If it's a battle of pure strength, I lose every time. So I need to equip what I know he won't be able to deal with using his stack." But he realistically didn't think Monan would fight alongside a capable ally. He was never the type. But even T'balt could be surprised after all this time. He couldn't afford to give Sam all the time in the world to heal Monan back to normal.

They weren't prepared for someone as quick-thinking as him. So T'balt needed to be faster.

"First, equip. Speed."