Chương 221: Chapter Two-Hundred-and-Twenty-One

The Forlorn Shadow billowed like black smoke as it burst from the antechamber leading to the throne room. Countless limbs reached out, pulling its enormous shape out of the narrow room, shadow claws digging into the flagstones. Adam froze in place at the sight while Chien immediately ran forward. It was like a Voidspawn, but less coherent and intelligent, but he was still wrong-footed by how large and imposing it was.

His moment of inaction cost him, as a clawed limbs suddenly shot forward, flying past him to spear Seo-Yoon in the gut, passing right through the Shade Barrier somehow. Two things happened simultaneously. First the blood nova from her crimson shirt exploded on impact, killing Father Adam and one of the priests on the spot, and triggering both Natalia and Adam's blood barriers, which knocked them away from her.

Then her blue winter gloves turned to ice in a flash, the relic getting destroyed as it instantly expanded to encase her in a coffin of ice so cold it froze the stone floor around it. Adam immediately ran over to her side and activated his Cleansing Beacon skill while creating a wall of bone in front of them, just as the Forlorn Shadow flung out more of its clawed arms. Chien was hit by a claw a moment later, his Shade Barrier also failing to protect him from direct attack.

His holy nova triggered and cleared a bubble in the darkness around him.

"Use the ring!" Adam yelled to Natalia as the beacon that he'd summoned evaporated Seo-Yoon's ice coffin. Like he'd hoped, the protective effect of her gloves was considered a type of affliction, similar to the illusionist's mask's transformative power. The Shadow was unable to pass its arms into the light of the Cleansing Barrier, likely because it was a living form of affliction.

A cross of true flame flew out from Natalia's katana, which itself took on the properties of the golden flame, burning brightly with holy fire. As the cross passed through the body of the Forlorn Shadow, its entire form broke apart, but there followed no announcement of their victory, and Adam knew they had only been bought a moment's respite as its main body retreated.

The Forlorn Shadow's melody was like a warbly scream that only Adam could hear, but it was less like a defeated animal and more like an angry monster. A monster that'd just been burnt and now wanted revenge. Following it seemed like the dumbest thing imaginable, and Adam wanted nothing more than to turn around and flee the castle, but he knew their only way out was to enter the throne room. Chien charged forward, chasing the retreating Shadow, as did the remaining priests and the two guard captains.

Before Chien left his sight, Adam flung out one of his gauntlets to grab the metal box holding their last true flame, bringing it over to him. Chien didn't even notice, clearly too focused on killing the secret boss, with a melody full of conviction. He really thinks we can win this… Adam held Seo-Yoon's unconscious body in his arms, feeding her one of his medium healing potions, but she didn't wake up.

He recalled the description of her winter gloves, wondering if the five-minute duration that kept her asleep was impossible to dispel, even if the ice coffin itself had been removed. < Relic > < Silken Gloves of Winter (Epic) — When Health goes below 10%, encase the wearer in a protective coffin of ice that lasts 5 minutes. Relic breaks after 1 use | Fire a bolt of ice.

2-minute cooldown > Despite taking a hit right to the stomach from the Shadow's claw, there was no clear sign of affliction around the wound as it healed itself shut. Adam doubted she would be safe when they left the beacon's shelter. Natalia came over, panic and chaos filling her melody.

"What do we do!?" she asked.

"We stick to the plan," Adam told her calmly.

"Since your katana has turned into a true flame weapon, you've gotta lead the way." They had planned to use Seo-Yoon's cloud after she absorbed the true flame, but that was out of the question since she wasn't waking up. Given that the true flame's oath ring apparently had a special effect when used against the Shadow, which allowed for the true flame to imbue Natalia's weapon, necessity meant that she would have to assume the role of the one keeping them safe.

Adam reabsorbed the bone wall he'd made and removed the damaged construct that'd been wrapped around Seo-Yoon for days, coiling it around Natalia's waist instead. He had to keep her a few metres at bay, since the aura of the golden flame burning from her katana encompassed her entire body like a shield. We should have given Chien the ring, he thought in regret. Adam lifted them both off the ground and flew after the others.

The moment they left the beacon's glow, a darkness spread from Seo-Yoon's stomach, even though the wound was gone.

"She's afflicted with something!" Adam told Natalia.

"Give me your sacred stone!" Natalia pulled it out of her pocket and Adam grabbed it with a floating gauntlet, before pressing it into Seo-Yoon's limp hand. The stone immediately broke, and some of the darkness spreading from her stomach vanished, but there was still something left and it seemed to be hurting her. He asked the cube about her condition, and it confirmed that she was losing one percent of her health every five seconds.

"We've gotta hurry," Adam said.

"She's dying." The moment they reached the burst-open gate to the throne room, they were enveloped in darkness, the light of Natalia's weapon the only thing keeping them safe. Adam felt as foreign mana pushed up against the construct around Natalia's waist and his own raiment. It would take a while to push through his skill and twist its power towards the Shadow, but the construct wouldn't last more than a few seconds, so he pulled it from Natalia and absorbed it, dropping her down onto the floor.

Fortunately, she had incredible reflexes and immediately adapted to the sudden change in speed, landing on her feet in a tucked roll.

"Keep going!" she yelled and Adam flew ahead, trusting her, even as he was fully emerged in shadow again. He tried to summon a flame into his glove to light the way, but its glow was absorbed by the unnatural darkness. Then a warm breeze fluttered his hair, before suddenly a horizontal spiral of golden fire burst across the flagstones of the throne room below him, clearing a path as it burned away the Shadow's body.

Adam dipped down into the tunnel as soon as the holy energy dissipated, following the path Natalia's weapon skill had created. She was further ahead, leaping forward with a non-stop series of swings to clear a path. Suddenly she carved through to a bubble filled with holy magic, wherein Chien had his keepsake active and the three surviving priests were using their powers to keep the Shadow at bay.

Chien's hammer sent out rolling waves of holy mana that kept pushing back the secret boss, only for more of its claws and body to surge forward the second the waves faded. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Adam!" Chien shouted.

"Give me the true flame and the oath ring!" Adam gritted his teeth and moved into the bubble of holy magic, feeling the skin below his raiment starting to bubble and char. It was either that or risk being torn apart in the darkness. [You are taking 5 points of damage every second. Since you are inherently weak to Holy magic, this damage bypasses your Defence,] Adam's cube announced. I can only stay here for a little over a minute before I die.

They needed to find a way to push back the Shadow again and buy themselves enough time to escape down into the royal tomb, which was accessed from somewhere in the pitch-black throne room. Adam sent a gauntlet holding the box with the true flame over to Chien. Natalia looked at Adam, clearly not wanting to give up the flame effect on her sword.

"You won't be able to use the ring!" she told him, though she still closed the gap between them.

"It can be recharged with the true flame!" Chien replied.

"The angel said so!" Reluctantly, Natalia pulled off the true flame's oath ring, handing it to Chien who had already unequipped the hero's gauntlets, which now lay on the floor next to him.

"Be ready to run," Chien told them. The aura of the keepsake relic blinked and started to fade. At the same time, the magic from the three priests was also flickering and dying. Based on their exhausted and nauseated melodies, Adam knew they were running out of mana. If they pushed themselves all the way to zero, they would likely receive the ' Mana Exhaustion' affliction, just like spell-casting players. [Warning! Your Health is below 75%.] Suddenly all of the holy magic disappeared and the Forlorn Shadow surged in. Adam surrounded himself and Seo-Yoon in a barrier of bone, feeling several impacts around them. The raiment was rapidly losing durability. Then he heard Chien's voice and the attacks pulled back.

"I am the First Light's Chosen!" A cross of golden fire flew up from the floor, too close for Adam to escape, and he suffered more burns to his body, even though its holy aura only grazed him. [The attack dealt 40 points of damage, bypassing your Defence rating due to your inherent weakness to Holy magic. That means you now have 222 Health or 63% remaining.] Adam gasped, but the pain quickly subsided.

Thanks to Chien managing to recharge and trigger the oath ring with their last true flame, the Forlorn Shadow was once more repelled. This time it retreated to outside the throne room, revealing the dark interior in the light of Chien's flaming war hammer. Nearby was a large throne that seated a giant man clad in rusted and stained regalia with faded royal blue cloth. His emaciated and decayed body slumped in the seat, dead from the Shadow forcefully bursting out of him.

A huge sword of black slate leant against the side of the throne, its handle only long enough to fit one hand, though the weapon was clearly very heavy and would require absurd strength to wield. The throne room had pillars rising to a high ceiling and blue banners hung down between them, faded by time, and torn by the many fights that had taken place within. The flagstones around them were littered with the remains of dead heroes, their bodies blessed in the way that made them inviolable by the Forlorn Shadow.

Adam had his compass out, searching for the entrance to the royal tomb. It pointed to the back corner of the room, where a staircase went down below the floor, partially obscured by a large stone pillar.

"I see the exit, let's go!" he told the others, still holding the unconscious Seo-Yoon in his arms. Only one of the priests had survived, and both Chien and Natalia were injured. She handed him a potion from her belt, consuming the other one herself.

"I will keep it at bay," Chien said.

"Go, before it returns."

"You'll die," Adam told him.

"The First Light will prevail," he said stubbornly. Since Seo-Yoon was dying, Adam didn't waste time arguing with the zealous moron and flew over to grab Natalia before she could decide to kill herself against the boss as well.

"We can defeat it!" Natalia insisted, struggling weakly against Adam's powerful grip as he moved towards the stairs leading down.

"Its melody says otherwise," Adam told her as he flew down the steps as fast as he could without risking a collision with the walls or ceiling. As they moved into the darkness, Adam floated a bright flame out ahead of them, concentrating hard to control both the fire and the grip on his raiment keeping them airborne. Although the Forlorn Shadow had recoiled from the true flame attacks, it was clearly more angry than injured.

It might take three more attacks with the oath ring to put it down, but they didn't have the means to recharge it, so it might as well have required a hundred. The end result was the same: they would lose if they tried to fight back. The stairwell started to curve to the right, before suddenly leading into a large chamber with stone coffins on daises that were engraved with scenes from the lives of the deceased, all of whom were royalty. Visages of the dead were also engraved into the tops of the coffin lids.

In the centre of the chamber was an ash-filled brazier in front of an open coffin with the lid next to it. The engraving of a handsome prince adorned it, and as they landed next to it, they saw a shrivelled dead body inside the coffin, the final fragment of the Godstone grasped in-between his dead fingers. I wonder if this is the Forlorn King's brother, the one that the oath ring's description mentioned. Perhaps the King tried to use its power to save the brother that he killed.

"See you later, Adam," Natalia said gratefully and touched the Godstone. The second before she disappeared, Adam noticed black veins criss-crossing her skin. She'd likely caught the same affliction as Seo-Yoon. Since she wouldn't wake up, Adam pushed his mana into Seo-Yoon's body and puppeteered her so that she would touch the Godstone without Adam holding onto her.

He had no idea if it would work, but he feared that if he completed the objective before her, then she would end up dying in the chamber, unconscious and alone. The floor shook and dust rained down from the ceiling. Then what sounded like stampeding hooves echoed down the long stairwell behind them. As Adam forced Seo-Yoon to touch the Godstone, she turned into golden particles and vanished like Natalia. Adam didn't waste a moment and grabbed the Godstone too.

< < Stage Complete > > < Tallying Score > < < Score > > < 5 days 16 Hours 9 Minutes Completion Time > < 3 Players survived 750 Points > < 1 Player slain 500 Points > < 1 Capgras Demon slain 500 Points > < 1 Hunger Demon slain 500 Points > < 13 Forlorn Knights slain 3, 900 Points > < 41 Forlorn Elites slain 6, 150 Points > < 1 Second Generation Bloodfiends slain 350 Points > < — — — > < Main Objective Completion 4000 Points > < Defeated the Forlorn Horsemen 4000 Points > < Defeated the Shadow Bird 2000 Points > < Defended Silt from the Hunger Demon 1600 Points > < Defended Gothershall 1500 Points > < Defeated the Amalgamated Knight 1000 Points > < Defeated the Forlorn Bulwark 1000 Points > < Defeated the Forlorn Herald 1000 Points > < Defeated the Forlorn Jailer 1000 Points > < Defeated the Forlorn Judge 1000 Points > < Defeated the Forlorn Marksman 1000 Points > < Defeated the Forlorn Ritualist 1000 Points > < Defeated the Forlorn Twins 1000 Points > < Rekindled the True Flame 800 Points > < Defeated the Forlorn Intruder 800 Points > < Defeated Red Rian 600 Points > < Eliminated the Goblin Tribe 600 Points > < Participated in the Gothershall Tournament 500 Points > < — — — > < 2000 Point Most Valuable Player Bonus added > < 2000 Point Defender Bonus added > < 1500 Point Secret Boss Bonus added > < 1000 Point Eradication Bonus added > < 700 Point Quester Bonus added > < 600 Point Plunderer Bonus added > < — — — > < 213 Damage Received > < 44850 Points Awarded >