Chương 219: Chapter Two-Hundred-and-Nineteen

The sun was setting by the time they reached Gothershall. Adam landed them within its walls, where they were quickly met by a lot of soldiers eager to take the fight to the Forlorn King. < < Special Quest Updated > > < Banish the Shadow > < Lead the defenders of the Old Kingdom to victory over the Forlorn Shadow on the fifth day > Chien frowned, his melody a mix of emotions, though the strongest one was guilt.

He clearly didn't want to expend the soldiers' lives on something he believed they could do themselves, but even though he talked with the priests from Gothershall and Old Town that'd gathered in the city, alongside the two guard captains, they could not be persuaded to change their minds. Adam looked at him with pity.

He understood that Chien's patron had tasked him with protecting the people of the kingdom, but Natalia, Seo-Yoon, and Adam understood that having the NPCs for backup would likely make their fight with the Forlorn King much easier. But once the Shadow appears, these people may be defeated with ease. It was too much risk to take on the secret boss. While Emelia had coddled him a lot, he understood that she'd been deeply serious about avoiding a fight with the Shadow.

Nova had also echoed her warning, so there had to be a very good reason for it. If I had a different build, it might not have been such a concern, but I'm too reliant on the others, despite how powerful I've been in every other stage. I wonder if the trick for a successful run through the stages is to have a lot of different builds to switch between, or finding something that's competent for many stages, like the Warder or Emelia's speed brawler build.

Hiroshi Sakurai's soul blade or Nova's speed ram build might also have been better here. The issue with specialised builds, such as Blood Mage, is that they're absurdly strong against certain opponents, but hard-countered by anything without blood, flesh, and bone, not to mention the Forlorn Shadow's anti-magic and reanimation powers. I do have the power to make a lot of different builds in future loops, so maybe I will try that instead. It makes more sense to have something made for each stage.

Right now, my main weakness is not knowing enough. Many of the time-loopers survived to reach the Singing City because their builds were generalised enough to work for most challenges they'd face. The reason they're all sticking to specific builds is likely less because of it being the most optimal choice, and more due to a fear that too big of a change prevents them from reaching the Singing City and looping again. Adam looked to the others.

"Seeing as we don't have a choice about whether or not to bring them as backup, it may be a good idea to go for the king tomorrow if we beat the twins without too much trouble."

"Since Father Adam has moved to Gothershall, he is tending the brazier on the wall," Chien said.

"We will be able to obtain another true flame from him tomorrow, without having to visit Old Town."

"That'll be useful," Adam replied.

"We still have the one from today, so let's see if we can eliminate both of the twins without using any of the flames or Natalia's ring. I think that using the true flame with Seo-Yoon's cloud attack would be effective at keeping the Forlorn Shadow at bay, allowing us to escape the throne room to find the last Godstone fragment."

"And you're certain we must fight the Shadow?" Chien asked.

"Absolutely."

"Then I would like to light the beacon before we take on the Forlorn King," he replied.

"It is the final step of my patron quest."

"Chien will have enough charge in his rosary when we fight the twins for us to do our special attack to permanently eliminate them," Seo-Yoon interjected.

"We shouldn't need to use any of our precious flames." Adam nodded.

"I don't know," Natalia suddenly remarked. They were walking towards an inn where they'd been offered free lodging.

"Doesn't it seem like something might happen when we defeat the last forlorn knight?"

"My guess is that it's another way to unlock the Forlorn Shadow secret boss," Adam replied.

"But we'll be right under the nose of the Shadow when that happens," she pressed.

"It might attack or trigger an ambush or something. If each knight gives it power and defeating them makes it weaker, then it might react like a cornered animal, lashing out at the nearest thing." Adam hadn't considered such a possibility, but he thought there was sound logic behind the worry.

"We'll try and pull the twins as far away from the throne room as we can," Adam replied.

"I will be ready to hold it back to let you escape, should it be necessary," Chien said.

"No one is sacrificing themselves," Adam scolded him. Chien didn't reply and his melody was no assurance, because a righteous zealotry burned within it. I'm dragging that fool with us, even if I have to knock him out to make it happen. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. They reached the inn and went to the four rooms they'd been assigned. There were a massive bed and washroom in each room, which the others made use of eagerly.

Adam meanwhile flew to the top of the Gothershall wall where he sat down and kept vigil throughout the night. The others soon found rest, even Seo-Yoon who had seemed scared of sleeping in a stage. I'm sure her room is trapped to all hell, though. Unlike the nights before, the tainted melodies of animals and a few scattered humans weren't spreading out, rather, they were going to the Forlorn Castle. Like Natalia had said, the Shadow was cornered, so it was amassing its strength.

Perhaps it even knew of the attack that would come tomorrow. Adam recalled Beck's description of the twins. The invisible brother with the dagger was the biggest threat, but the other was supposed to be quite fast and would have a spear and shield, as well as some kind of magic-reflection power. They're not the issue. We've dealt with the more troublesome knights already, and the main threat with the twins is just knowing that one is invisible and the other reflects magic, as well as the fact that there are two.

I really hope that Natalia is wrong about the last knight's death being some kind of trigger. Adam spent the rest of the night experimenting with his powers and trying, unsuccessfully, to recreate a sun flare. Beck had insisted it should be possible, but he'd never used the flame glove, so he'd clearly just been speculating. Although, if I had a sun gem, like those from the Forbidden Altar and Alepheria's Tower, then it should have been possible to absorb it into my glove.

The main difficulty comes from obtaining a way to bless something. There has to be something besides the rosary with that power. If I could obtain that, then maybe just blessing a sun gem would be enough to make a true flame. That would be useful for a Fool run. As dawn broke on the fifth day, Adam was pulled from his experimentation by the entire city of Gothershall waking up. Only his party members remained asleep.

Before he flew to the inn to rouse them, he first gathered another true flame from the brazier that Father Adam was tending, putting them at two. Seo-Yoon was the first to answer the door after Adam knocked, followed by Chien, and then Natalia.

"We should go to the market before the citizens charge the castle," Adam told them.

"I thought it was only the soldiers," Natalia said.

"I'm not so sure," Adam replied.

"It feels like all of the citizens are gearing up for an assault."

"What about the Forlorn Shadow?" Chien asked.

"It has consolidated its power in the castle. All night, its servants came from afar to join the defences," Adam said.

"We must do what we can to spare as many human lives as possible," Chien remarked. They left the inn after grabbing some quick food from its restaurant and then headed to the market. Adam bought two medium healing potions for 2, 000 Silvers, refilling his potion belt. He was unsuccessful in convincing Natalia to part with her stamina potion and exchange it for a third healing potion. Still, with five potions between them, they were well-prepared for any injuries. Next, they went over the weapons available.

< < Classes For Sale > > < Prodigal Duellist (Uncommon) > < Tournament Champion (Rare) > < Healer (Epic) >"Slim pickings," Natalia remarked. The Healer class was the only new one, and its weapon was a pale wooden staff, likely made of Centennial Oak. Adam was doubtful about whether it could fuse with the Priest, despite what should be an obvious crossover of effects. Granted, the Priest is only able to heal because of its rosary, so maybe this Class can actually fuse with the Spellcaster instead.

He didn't know quite enough to say whether it was the weapon or the Class that decided what fusions were possible, so he wanted to get it, although it would cost 5, 000 Silvers. Before he made the decision, they looked through the options at the relic vendors. < < Relics For Sale > > < Judge's Pendant (Uncommon) — Force a humanoid target to obey one command, so long as it doesn't harm them.

Breaks after use > < Flame Priest's Robes (Rare) — Gain passive Health regeneration while in the presence of fire | Reduce the effectiveness of all Afflictions used against you by 50% > < Hero's Gauntlets (Epic) — Imbue all weapon attacks with the Righteous Blessing, adding 25% damage as pure Holy damage | Bless a target for 1 minute. If the target is a weapon, add 25% damage as pure Holy damage to its attacks. If the target is alive, heal them for 1% of their maximum Health every second.

If the target is a relic, the effect depends on the function of the relic. Not all relics can be blessed. 2-hour cooldown | All afflictions suffered by the wearer are twice as powerful > The last relic was a pair of silver gauntlets with the parts near the wrists shaped like feathered wings. The fingers were narrow and ended in life-like nails and even had fingerprints on the underside, as well as realistically-shaped palms with lines crisscrossing them.

"I want the gauntlets," Chien said. Adam nodded. It was exactly the kind of relic they had been looking for. It also gave them a deeper insight into the kind of person that Alisé had been, considering that these were likely gauntlets tied to her legend.

After spending the 5, 000 Silvers that the gauntlets cost, Chien put them on, pocketing the duellist's glove and giving the power ring to Natalia, who swapped out her shapeshifter's claw for it, leaving her with the true flame's oath on her left hand, and the power ring on her right. Adam immediately realised he wouldn't be able to wear the gauntlets, since they were steeped in holy magic. It was yet another part of Chien's outfit that magically repelled him.

"I have given some thought to Natalia's concern," Chien remarked after donning the new gauntlets.

"I believe there is logic in what she said, so it would be a good idea if we split up the loot now, since there may not be a chance later."

"I'll make a bag for each of us," Adam said, quickly shaping a flesh sack with shoulder straps for the others. Since the Shadow hadn't tried to turn the bags that they'd already lugged back and forth into some kind of enemy, Adam figured it was no different if each of them carried one. Likely, the small amount of material they required was insufficient to reanimate. After a bit of a heated discussion, they managed to split their loot into what each of them thought was a fair quarter of the overall amount.

There wasn't anything else they wanted to buy, so Adam got to grab the Healer staff for himself. Natalia and Seo-Yoon split the remaining 10, 515 Silvers between them, even though they weren't sure they'd be able to spend the coins later. With the preparations finished, they went towards the city gate where hundreds of men and women had armed themselves. At the head of this small army were the priests of the First Light, and the two guard captains.

Several of the tournament participants were also here, making Adam doubly glad they'd made sure to keep as many of them alive as possible. < < Special Quest Updated > > < Banish the Shadow > < Lead the defenders of the Old Kingdom to the walls of the Forlorn Castle >