Chương 39: Frost Cyclops

The frost cyclops roared and threw the enormous corpse of the drake. The dead warbeast bounced once off the ground before it met Alcyr at crushing speeds. Rather than dodge or jump over it, Alcyr gritted his teeth and slashed his way through the broken body, his silverite sword melding Cleave and Power Strike together to create a mighty overhead slash. The corpse was severed in two, showering Alcyr in gore and acidic blood. [Power Strike has improved to 4] [Acid Resistance has improved to 4] He ignored the pain.

The blood that layered on his flesh — blood of men, beasts, and blighted creatures — was so thick that it felt like a second skin. He did not feel disgust or joy at it. It simply was. But something dark and ancient was shimmering behind the veil of reality, growing ever stronger as he drenched himself in blood. It was watching him. Waiting. He knew what it was, but he ignored it.

"On me!" Alcyr ordered. To his surprise, the two Regulars with him actually followed, despite their obvious dread. They closed the distance. The air was thick with snow and ash, the howling wind battling the burning walls of the northern mountain fortress. Alcyr saw mighty braziers fallen over, their blazing coals igniting vast pools of drake acid and other incendiary liquids the defenders must have prepared to delay the attackers.

The snowstorm still raged fiercely overhead, and the ghostly pallor it cast made the cyclops ever more menacing as it stood upon the shadowed courtyard. Up close, the creature looked even more monstrous. Wearing a myriad of mangy fur pelts, its ice-covered shoulders rose above even the height of the fortress walls. A single pale-blue eye burnt beneath the crown of hoarfrost that covered its ugly face and scar-ridden skin.

Cracked lips pulled back into a terrifying grin, revealing blackened teeth and a purple tongue. One clawed hand dragged a chain-wrapped stone pillar behind it, torn from some ancient barbarian hall. Faster than Alcyr thought possible, the cyclops swung its club. The pillar whipped across the air with a sound like thunder.

"Down!" Alcyr shouted as he dropped to the floor in a roll. His warning came too late. One of the Regulars closer to him couldn't react in time. The pillar didn't stop even as it obliterated everything above the soldier's waist. When it passed, there was nothing left of the man — saved for his legs, which still stood in place. While the other Regular seemed paralysed by the gruesome death of his comrade, Alcyr didn't mourn or waste his time staying still. When the pillar swung back around, he was ready.

Though fast, the enormous weapon wasn't beyond his ability to intercept. He raised his shield. Perfect Parry activated, and the giant club simply bounced off his guard. The cyclops stumbled.

"Strike him now!" Alcyr roared, the Leadership skill enhancing his voice and breaking the Regular free of his stupor. [Leadership has improved to 17] The other Regular yelled a battle cry and charged. Activating a weapon Arte, his sword tip speared towards the cyclop's ankle with blistering speed. Ice suddenly thickened upon the monster's skin right before the blow landed. The hardened frost absorbed most of the blow, causing the sword to skid off before it could puncture flesh.

The cyclops lifted its leg to stomp at the Regular, but Alcyr drew a pair of chakrams and threw them at its eye. They came at their target in crescent arcs, forcing the giant to reel back and block the projectiles with its meaty arm. The razor edges of the chakrams managed to cut through the ice that suddenly formed over the cyclops's skin, but their momentum failed to carry them through to its flesh. Some sort of reactive armour skill, Alcyr thought grimly.

There would be no easy victory to be found here, if it can even be found at all. A Low Master monster was a formidable target, arguably more so than if it had been merely human. But that didn't mean Alcyr was ready to give up. The Regular fell back, moving behind the cyclops as Alcyr stood at the front. After a brief signal, they both attacked once more, aiming for a pincer. It was no good.

The cyclops looked down at its feet and bellowed, its mouth opening wide as a jet of deadly frost poured forth and flooded the ground. Their surroundings exploded into a freezing mist, swallowing them instantly. Alcyr cursed as the frost breath spread too fast and wide for him to retreat. His vision was obscure, and the blood upon his skin began hardening instantly. Damn! Seeing no option, Alcyr advanced, pushing his body to move even as ice weighed it down. With a roar, he aimed high and slashed.

His silverite longsword tore through the cyclops' ice armour and finally drew a wound upon its forearm. Blue-white blood spilt onto the ground, now coated in a slick sheet of hoarfrost from its breath. The cyclops released a guttural cry as it swung its chained pillar at Alcyr. With no time to activate Perfect Parry, he raised his shield just as the club smashed into him with devastating force. There was no softening the impact.

He was sent flying across the courtyard, smashing into the fortress walls and leaving a crater. Though wounded and dazed, he still landed on his feet, blood leaving his lips as his armour creaked in protest. [Blunt Resistance has improved to 24] [Armour Discipline has improved to 40] The last remaining Regular had been frozen solid, his body encased in shimmering ice.

Whether he was actually still alive didn't matter as the cyclops lifted his pillar and smashed it down on the trapped soldier, turning him into a bloody paste that splattered in all directions. Only Alcyr was left. He tried lifting his left arm and found it unresponsive. He looked down. The shield was bent, and the bone of his forearm was sticking out. Not good. Mortal Defiance triggered. The rush of strength was intimately familiar to him by now, and he knew how to make the most of it.

Wasting no time, Alcyr resumed his attack. He wielded his longsword one-handed. The cyclops grinned, hefted his chained pillar once more, and swung. Tanking hits and overwhelming through brute force was not an option. Unlike previous battles, the foe here possessed a titanic level of strength. Alcyr would have to adopt another style, one that made full use of his smaller stature and quickness. As the chained pillar came for him, he purposefully pulled back at the last second, evading death by the skin of his teeth.

A fleeting surge of speed and precision flowed through his longsword — a boost given by Dodge Counter. The silverite blade slashed against the creature's thigh, easily parting the layer of ice to eat at the flesh beneath. [Dodge Counter has improved to 5] [Movement has improved to 44] Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The cyclops roared in pain and fury. It grabbed the pillar with both hands and smashed down with an overhead strike.

The timing of his evade was madness. No sane soul could be expected to be this calm, this reckless with their life, especially in the presence of such a beast. Yet even when faced with imminent death, Alcyr still purposefully chose to dodge at the final split second. There was no hesitation in his movements, no fear in his eyes, as he plunged his sword into the back of the creature's knee, the thrust delivered with enhanced accuracy. [Dodge Counter has improved to 6] The wound made the creature stumble.

Seizing the moment, Alcyr performed a full-body tackle, using the weight of his armour to push the giant creature off balance. The cyclops snarled as it was awkwardly forced on one knee. Sensing his chance, the soldier attempted to strike a decisive blow to the monster's throat. It turned to face him, its gleeful eye glowing blue as it opened its mouth. Acyr saw the faint glow of gathering power within its throat, ready to unleash a torrent of frost once more.

This close, there was no doubt the deadly breath would instantly kill him, and the cyclops knew it. Not this time. Before the monster could release its breath, Alcyr howled. [Deathbound Dirge has improved to 21] Deathbound Dirge stuck the cyclops head-on and from barely a few feet away. Alcyr saw the veins in its eye burst as the monster's head snapped to the side from the Dirge's force.

Its frost breath released at the last second, flooding the ground beside him in hoarfrost and turning the air to a hail of icicles. It didn't hit him head-on, but this close to the bellowing maw, the drop in temperature still chilled Alcyr to the bone. Ice formed on his limbs, weighing him down. The cyclops tried to turn its head back around, but Alcyr refused to let it. Half a heartbeat from instant death, Alcyr leapt upon its knee and struck.

The blade slashed into the side of the kneeling cyclops's neck, drawing a gout of dark blue blood. However, even empowered by his Artes, the weapon failed to slice through all the way, getting stuck on the monster's metal-hard spine. Damnation, what ridiculous toughness… Just die already! The cyclops's frost breath sputtered out as it panicked. It frantically rose to its feet, pulling Alcyr off the ground as he held onto the sword stuck in its neck. Without footing, he couldn't push the blade in further.

Seeing the monster about to grab him, Alcyr cursed and released the sword. The cyclops clawed hands grasped empty space as Alcyr dropped and rolled. Pulling more chakrams from his belt, he threw them at the giant's head, hoping to slow it down as he retreated from being crushed. The projectiles flew around the monster like deadly flies. A few managed to slice its cheeks or chipped its ear, but none that significant damage with its ice armour dampening their effectiveness. Now what?

He didn't really see a way to kill it. Its Master-tier toughness was proving problematic. Without his silverite sword, there weren't many ways he could feasibly hurt it, even if it aimed for its weakspots. Except, of course, the enormous eye in the middle of its head. Worth a shot. He saw one of the dead Regular's discarded gladius on the ground. He grabbed it as he ducked into a roll once more to avoid the swing of the cyclop's pillar.

The monster was breathing frost once more, unleashing explosive torrents of freezing mists that threatened to encase him if he stopped moving. The way the breath spread made it nearly impossible to avoid completely once he was within its range. A burning cold assailed him once more, deadening his nerves and weighing his limbs down with ice. [New Skill: Frost Resistance 1 (Rare)] The deadly cold that was seconds from killing him.

Alcyr rushed to close the gap before the ice sealed him in, moving with his left shoulder in front so that his broken arm bore the brunt of the frost breath. He couldn't see through the mist, but Combat Sense still warned him of an attack. Alcyr dodged right just as the cyclops' foot shot passed in a kick. The strike connected with his frozen left arm, smashing through it as if it were mere paper. Alcyr kept advancing. His eyes were focused, missing nothing. Waiting for the heartbeat of opportunity.

Enraged that it still hadn't killed him, the cyclops roared and swung the chained pillar down. Now! He was close enough now. In a move that was more madness than bravery — and definitely more luck than skill — Alcyr leapt onto the speeding pillar. [New Skill: Acrobatics 1 (Uncommon)] He nearly lost balance as he landed. Without wasting a second, he leapt off the giant weapon, rising even higher until his body was levelled with the cyclops's head.

Alcyr had the pleasure of seeing the cyclops' lone eye widened in terror before he plunged the blade in. [Power Strike has improved to 5] There was a deafening roar that blew out Alcyr's eardrums. No frost armour formed over the giant's eye to protect it, and so the blade went in completely unimpeded. Alcyr's triumph was brief, however, as the cyclops's hands shot up. Meaty wrapped around him, the stone pillar weapon abandoned entirely.

The monster screamed in rage and pain as it squeezed with ever ounce of its monstrous strength. Alcyr snarled as he fought against being crushed. It was no good; His right arm remained free, but no matter how he pummelled the giant's fingers, it would not let him go. He was a helpless doll being slowly pulverised. Blood vomited from his lips as he felt his armour bend and his bones cracked. Slowly, he began folding inwards.

[Blunt Resistance has improved to 25] [New Skill: Tempered Bone 1 (Uncommon)] The cyclops snarled. It brought him closer, as if it wanted to see Alcyr suffer through its bleeding vision. Its wounded eye was pouring blood, the gladius still stuck inside. Stuck within the throes of a painful death, a sudden idea occurred to him. Well, if it worked on the warlord… Summoning the last of his strength, Alcyr reared his arm back… … and hit the hilt of the gladius with an explosive punch, backed by Power Strike.

[Fated Hand has improved to 5] The gladius shot forth like the bolt from a siege engine. With brutal force, it lanced through the cyclops' head and exploded out from the back of its skull. Alcyr could see through the hole in its face. Ice-cold blood rained over him. The cyclops gave a dumb, confused-sounding grunt. Its grip finally loosened. Alcyr was dropped painfully onto the ground as the cyclops fell back, collapsing loudly onto the stone.

[Mystery: Blessed Blood of Violence] Awakening condition: Slay Monsters (1/10) Finally… Killed it… Blue blood continued raining around him, the freezing liquid spewing from the cyclops like a fountain. Alcyr tried to stand — a hopeless endeavour, as most of the bones in his body were now little more than shards. He collapsed, gasping for breath. The pool of freezing blood under him seeped into his wounds, along with the blood of countless others.

Drenched head-to-toe in the sanguine life force of other creatures, the malignant presence behind the veil of reality finally made itself known. The usual light blue of the Status Screen was replaced by the hue of old blood once more. [Warning: You have drawn the attention of a higher entity.] [The Seventh Saint sanctifies your baptism by blood.] [New Mystery: False Life Adorns You] Hells. This is going to be problematic.

"I really could have done without your blessings, Honsu," Alcyr laughed painfully.

"This will make the process of staying incognito a lot harder." The Saint of Agony did not reply, nor did he care, Alcyr suspected. So long as the blood flowed, the Red March would not bother casting his judgement. The weight of its dark presence receded. Alcyr had no time to worry about the Mystery. His vision was darkening, and the familiar pull of death was close. At least the base is safe now. This Well shouldn't take me more than a few loops.

All I have to do is kill the cyclops while also staying alive, and— Before he could finish that thought, another roar — one somehow even more powerful than even the cyclops — echoed across the courtyard. It came from within the base. Alcyr sighed.

"Of course." He couldn't see it, but he could clearly feel its power. The ground was shaking as it tore its way through the mountain, and its aura emitting from it left no question as to what tier it inhabited. Grandmaster. That made three monsters. The cyclops, the Rocfiend, and whatever hellish creature that just somehow dug its way into the heart of the base without anyone knowing. Just when he thought the situation couldn't devolve any further, there was another roar, one above.

It wasn't the screeching of the Rocfiend, nor the snarling of Lenore's drake. This roar was familiar, and it made Alcyr laugh viciously, even as the last of his life bled out from him.

"So, you're here too… Corpse Spawn." That explained why Lenore was occupied. The feral assassin was somehow also part of the assault, and she had already transformed into her manticore form. Four monsters — two within the Master tier and two within the Grandmaster tier. What kind of hellish Well had he just stumbled into it? A series of deafening explosions made the ground violently tremble. Giant cracks appeared above upon the cavernous ceiling. The entire mountain was collapsing.

As Alcyr's life ended, only one thought reigned in his mind: Four monsters… How much stronger will I be, once I kill them all?