Chapter 78

Vespae Hive, Etson National Forest, Etson - 10:19 AM

I felt incredible.

Power surged through my body. Energy flowed through me like lightning, my mind was freed from the constraints of humanity, and the wind flowing through my hair as I flew was exhilarating.

Although I didn’t have time to stop and look, I knew what changes my body had gone through. Six ghostly, white-feathered wings sprouted from my back. While they were ethereal, I could still feel them and they were allowing me to fly.

I had thought that getting used to using them would be a long and arduous process, but it was surprisingly intuitive. Having had experience with wings like this before was helpful, but it honestly felt like they were a part of me that I had all of my life instead of something that grew just moments before.

Esaraphelscion’s Love had vanished from my finger, though I could see it floating above my head as a full sized halo. It didn’t glow like hers did, but it did reflect the sunlight. My thoughts went back to when I first met Sara.

At the time, I had fired the endgame level solar cannon called Victa Solis directly at her out of suspicion that she was yet another boss. Her halo had flown away from her head and turned into a portal that had my continuous laser beam harmlessly carve into the ceiling instead. Even though this form didn’t come with a manual, I instinctively knew that the halo would be a less powerful version of hers.

On top of the outside changes, I just felt great all around. Even my eyesight was sharper than it ever had been before; as I chased Amlex out of her hive, I looked down and could easily see every individual soldier whether they were on our side or not. The Vespae horde had taken far more casualties than our side had, which was what I expected. It seemed like the ground had an ugly black and yellow carpet rolled over it from how many corpses were scattered about.

My eyes shifted to the target. The humans below had pushed the wasps into a more cautious war than they were used to, but the way to end this war quickly was in front of me. Amlex didn’t even look at her troops as she fled, still gaining speed every time she flapped her demonic wings. Unfortunately for her, I was faster.

Faster and more maneuverable. Even as she twisted and turned, doing barrel rolls and loops, I matched her every step of the way. In an admirable attempt to lose me, she shot through a group of Vespae who all turned and pointed their spears at me. I activated Shield and covered my face with my arms before breaking through. Despite the speed I struck them, my Shield didn’t break like their ranks did. I still followed Amlex without issue.

Suddenly curious, I snapped open my menu as I gained on my prey. I navigated to the menu with my stats screen but was concerned to find that it wasn’t what it was supposed to be. Instead, I was looking at a garbled mess of characters that I didn’t recognize. I couldn’t tell what my name was let alone what my stats were.

With a shrug, I snapped it back off. No use beating around the bush. This transformation was bound to have some sort of drawback that I wasn’t privy to yet.

As if she could sense me, Amlex quickly shifted her wings and began descending. My wings tilted in tandem to get the best angle and I shot downwards. I quickly overtook the Vespae queen and grabbed onto her wings. She struggled, lashing out at me with her feet and claws as best she could in this position. While she was incredibly flexible, I had a better angle. I grabbed both of her wings, one in each hand, and planted my feet on her back.

Once I was sure that Amlex couldn’t cut through my ankles, I pulled back on her wings. Her exoskeleton and strange crimson plating creaked as I straightened out her extremities, and we began falling at an accelerated rate. The queen screamed in rage and fear. She struggled to free her wings, but I didn’t let her. With the added leverage of my position and whatever my Strength was now, the debuffed Vespae didn’t have the power to stop me.

I had aimed our landing towards a place where the players were no longer fighting. Corpses were spread out haphazardly along the ground. They were mostly Vespae, but I saw a few humans and at least one Kobold. Once we were twenty feet from the ground, I spread my wings and let go. The ethereal wings coming out of my back caught me and I glided forward before slowing down enough to turn around. Amlex was not so lucky. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t return her wings to a safe position.

She landed face first into a pile of Vespae warriors, while I landed safely nearby. I glanced around, taking note of everything in the area. While I was distracted, Amlex burst into the air. A quick look showed me that one of her wings were torn. It appeared as though she might be able to fly, but it wouldn’t be fast or graceful.

Instead, she had leapt into the air and was pointing her stinger directly at me. Yellow poison exploded outwards from the gaster, firing the embedded spike directly at my face. I was surprised; I hadn’t known she could do that though, to be fair, she hadn’t needed to before. Regardless, I didn’t act but waited.

When the stinger was mere feet away from me, my halo moved of its own accord. It enlarged itself and began to spin to open a defensive portal. Above me, a second halo appeared out of thin air. The stinger flew through the first one and, with no time in between, shot out of the newly formed one directly back at the Vespae queen. Amlex’s demonic eye went wide and she tried to open her wings to escape. She managed to move but couldn’t get far enough out of the way, and the stinger pierced her shoulder.

My halo returned to float in its proper position over my head as the second one disappeared. Amlex fell to the ground, landing on her feet. The stinger she had used as a projectile was still in her shoulder, but another one formed at the end of her arm. It dripped with yellow poison and it seemed like she was no worse for wear despite it.

I Pulled the stinger out of her carapace, and my eyes went wide. Not only was my Strength much higher, but so was my Willpower. Not only that, but I could feel my Warmind abilities had expanded beyond the scenario limits.

“Just how many of my shackles did this break me from?” I asked aloud, though I didn’t expect an answer. I caught the stinger in my hand before throwing it up in the air. Might as well test a little.

Focusing on the projectile, I used an ability I knew I was going to get during the next scenario and activated Orbit. The stinger circled around me, getting faster and faster as I focused harder on it. I was giddy with excitement at the thought of being able to readjust my projectiles in real time, and I locked eyes with the Vespae queen. She was seeing what I could do, but she didn’t stumble on her way to me.

Letting the stinger Orbit around me, I looked at the pile of Vespae warriors she had left behind. More specifically, I looked at the spears that had been left with their corpses. The ability I was using now would be gotten during the next scenario, but this one was still two off. I raised my hand towards a spear directly behind Amlex and motioned it towards me. It twitched, and I grinned before Pulling it.

While orchestrating with my hands wasn’t necessary, it helped me get back into the swing of things when I gained the ability to affect multiple objects with my Warmind abilities. I confirmed that I could only use two, but that was fine by me. Right now, I was confident that was all I needed.

The spear struck the Vespae queen in the back, but wasn’t sharp enough to pierce through her tough plating. What it did do was distract her for a moment, and the moment I saw her eye look away from me I sent the Orbiting stinger directly towards her. It had picked up so much speed that Push didn’t even give it any extra oomph, but it was crucial to get the aim right.

The stinger whistled through the air before slamming into the spot it had been lodged before and continued piercing through. Amlex’s shoulder nearly exploded as the projectile shattered the crimson plating along her back and sped into the pile of corpses behind her. One of her clawed arms hung limply at her side, and she screeched in unholy rage.

Despite my attack and her fear, she was on me. I raised my hand as she prepared a haymaker with her stinger, and a shimmering sheet less than an inch thick appeared between us. “Fuck yeah,” I said as I watched Amlex run into the Force Field I had conjured.

Force Field was the next step up from Shield. The more levels I put into it, the more damage it would stop, the bigger it would get, and the farther I could place it. It would never be able to stop as much as a similarly leveled Shield would, but it was incredibly handy.

As Amlex attempted to batter the Force Field, I dropped it just before it broke. Her stinger arm fell to the ground, throwing her off balance, and I reached out for her one antenna. I grabbed it and yanked her up.

She attempted to pierce me through, but I threw up my Shield and let it slide by me instead. The misstep had put her further off balance, and I took the opportunity to wrap her antenna around my hand.

The queen planted her foot and started swinging for my kidneys with her stinger. One incredibly quick jab turned into two, and a third one finally pierced my Shield and skin. Despite how amazing the Break Free buff was making me feel, I couldn’t help but yell out in pain. Amlex laughed at my pain and twisted her arm, and I felt the stinger dislodge itself inside me.

“Think that’s funny?” I said through clenched teeth. With my free hand I attempted to grab the stinger stuck inside me, but it had broken beyond the skin. I could see that she was already in the process of forming another stinger, and was no doubt about doing it again.

My mind began to strain as the poison circulated through my body, but it was not enough to throw me off yet. I could tell another dose or two would make me comatose even with the boost in power; I couldn’t let her sting me again.

So I did the only thing I could do. I Pushed the stinger out of my gut and into my waiting hand. Going out wasn’t nearly as painful as going in, but it still wasn’t a pleasant experience. With my other hand tightly gripping Amlex’s antenna, I pulled upwards. Her emerald exoskeleton groaned from being picked up by such a delicate instrument. She was rather lightweight, and I threw her over my head and onto her back on the ground.

I didn’t let go of her antenna. Before she could scramble away, I dove on her, placing one knee on her neck and another on the arm with her stinger. Her other arms were free and she clawed at my leg and sides. When she got a purchase in the hole she had created in my gut, I cried out in pain but didn’t waver in my convictions.

Instead of listening to my instincts and getting away, I yanked her antenna as hard as I could. Her head jerked as if I were about to dislodge it from her neck. Twice more I yanked before I got the result I wanted. Amlex’s antenna broke free with a piece of her exoskeleton, and I wasted no time. Raising the stinger high into the air, I brought it down with an extra kick from Drop.

Her demonic eye went wide, but she couldn’t maneuver her head out of the way with my knee to her neck. The stinger, dripping yellow from poison and red with my blood, cleanly pierced the small opening that I had created.

I let go, Spinning and hammering it deeper with my fist until the long spike was lodged firmly into her brain. Amlex began to spasm and buck, and I let her throw me off. I landed on the ground nearby and shifted onto my knees to watch her, clutching at my wound.

The Vespae queen did not move in any voluntary fashion, twitching and jerking at random. I let out a sigh of relief as four items appeared next to her body: two skill books, a single gauntlet, and a single sheet of paper. Then the screens I was waiting for appeared.

[[Victory!]]

You have contributed in defeating the Awakened Scenario Boss [Amlex, the Demonic Vespae Queen]; +1,200 (2,000) points.

[[Notice]]

You have completed a portion of the Scenario that you had not received a quest for yet. Additional points will be given as part of the Scenario reward.

[[Main Scenario Complete!]]

With the Vespae queen, Amlex, defeated, peace has been restored to Etson. With no one left to lead them, any remaining Vespae will flee into the wilderness in the hopes of avoiding the ire of the remaining players.  While this may not be the last you’ve seen of these proud insectoid warriors, you may rest easy knowing that the city is safe from them for a good, long while.

Scenario MVP: Anthony Franklin

Reward: +800 points, +300 points (Scenario Break bonus), MVP token (Anthony Franklin).

[[Patron Quest Complete!]]

Great job, Anthony! I knew you could do it! Also turn off Break Free as soon as you can!!!

Reward: +1,000 points, the Circlet of Wasps.

I was on top of the world as I scrolled through the notifications. The amount of points I had received continued to make me happy; I had never rolled in it quite like this before. Not this early, anyway. Having a Patron whose only goal was “help Anthony” was going to be an amazingly huge boon, and one that was worth the risk. I still had to look through the contract to see what Sara had changed, but I was incredibly optimistic.

Glancing at the Patron Quest Complete screen once more, I looked at the final sentence she had added. Turn off Break Free. I looked down at my gore covered hand and knew that I should. The power was just so damn nice. Taking a deep breath, I shook my head and closed my eyes. I’m sure there was a reason she had said that with three exclamation marks.

Turning it off was as simple as letting go of the power. Pain and fatigue washed over me immediately. My eyes shifted out of focus, but I stayed conscious enough to read one last message that popped up.

[[Warning!]]

An unknown entity is no longer blocking administrator access.

Collapsing to my side, I closed my eyes and promptly lost consciousness.

Hall of the End - 99th Run

“I truly hope your battle with the Vespae queen is as easy as it’s ever been, Ant,” Sara said, squeezing my hand. “We’re almost out of time, so I suppose I should tell you about the second part of the boon I’ve offered you.”

“It never seems like we have enough time,” I replied. Taking a deep breath, I snapped away the last of my notifications.

[[Notice]]

Esaraphelscion’s Kiss [boon] has been applied.

“No, it never seems like we do,” she agreed. “You already know that you’re going to start early. About a half hour, although I’m unsure due to how much I had to discount the boon.”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be enough to help me become a Warmind before the Medallion of Uuska ruins it.”

Sara smiled at me and nodded, resting her head on my shoulder. “The second part of the boon is summoning me exactly once to your world for a short time. I’m not sure how long because of the discount, but long enough that I can help you.”

My jaw dropped. Summoning Sara was a huge event, and not one to be taken lightly. I had long ago learned that the Angel of the End wasn’t an administrator like I had originally thought, tucked away in the Halls of the End as punishment for one thing or another. She was a World Boss that had been created and placed here by the system itself.

When I asked, she couldn’t give me a lot of information about it. I knew about the World Boss on Earth hiding as an island in the Pacific Ocean and had even fought it a few times. While I never successfully defeated the creature due to how outrageously tough World Bosses were, the fights had been eye-opening and gave me a lot of practical experience.

Although I had guessed there were three of the bosses, one on Earth, in Heaven, and in Hell, she had never given me a straight answer on whether or not there was a third. Given how she always deflected, I assumed this was the truth. What really got me was how connected to the system itself the World Bosses were.

Sara, at least, could communicate directly with the system mentally. She could change the structure of the Endgame Shop and give us more time to be together by simply asking for it, though there was a limit to what could be done. While Sara could discount her own boon, she couldn’t make The Prize cost any less than what the wish called for.

“Ant?” Sara asked, placing a hand on my cheek.

I was snapped out of my thoughts and tilted my head to look at the concerned angel on my lap. “What happens after I summon you?” I asked, smiling.

“Well, first you’ll have to deal with my attitude,” she reluctantly continued. “You… remember how I was at first.”

“I’ll be so happy to see you that I won’t even be bothered,” I said honestly. “How about giving you the Memory Orb?”

Sara hesitated. “You… can, though that might open doors that you don’t want opened.”

“Can you explain that?”

She shook her head. “I can’t give you an answer. If you give me the Memory Orb, I’ll likely take it if only to satisfy my curiosity. What happens is up to you, but it could have dangerous repercussions later on.”

“Dangerous enough that I can’t handle them?” I asked, worried about the concern in her voice.

“I’d give it fifty-fifty odds, if I had to guess. It would take a long time before something comes of it, though. Months, maybe even years.”

“Okay, those are some good odds,” I said cheekily, trying to lift the mood. “I’ve certainly fought and won against worse odds than that. Plus, if the repercussions might be years out, I may finish this run before it has a chance to hit me.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She didn’t sound reassured, but also didn’t push the issue. “If you want to give it to me, make sure that you word it as an offering. Present it to me as an offering, and it won’t count towards the reason I can show up.”

“Gotcha. And for the record, I am going to offer it to you. So fast,” I said with a chuckle. “But what’s the reason?”

“After you summon me, you can make one request. I’ll be constrained by the scenario limits, but I’m still going to be more powerful than anything else near you.”

“Oh, it’s a booty call boon,” I teased.

“I-it’s not!” she replied, her hair flaring up. “And don’t you dare treat it like that, okay? It’s a really big deal.”

“I know, I’m just teasing,” I chuckled. I kissed her forehead and the flames of her hair began to calm. “Summoning you is going to be a huge thing with the administrators, though. Unless you have some way of stopping that?”

More hesitation. “I don’t, but I think it’ll be fine. At least 85% sure that it’s going to be fine.”

I watched Sara carefully as she fidgeted on my lap. She seemed both really happy to be of use and fully dreading the potential fallout of being summoned. Leaning back into the couch, I pulled her close to my chest. She didn’t resist. “I’m going to make a spectacle of it,” I said after a few moments of contemplation.

Sara lifted her head and looked into my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“85%, you said. I like those odds, so I’m going to make a spectacle of your summoning.” I grinned. “In Atlanta, I’m going to Merder Stadium. It was repurposed by the system from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Tons of people come to bet on the games, fight in the arena, etcetera. After I win the MVP Token by completing the main scenario in Etson, I’ll be able to enter as a VIP.”

“Wait a minute, you’re going to make me fight other people?” Sara asked, looking horrified at the suggestion.

“No, not other people, I wouldn’t ask you to do that,” I told her. “People I can handle. The games are a ruse, though. The proprietor, a low level tutorial administrator calling themselves Benedict Merder, has a secret underneath the stadium. Do I have the time to explain?”

Sara shook her head quickly. “No, but I know what you’re talking about.”

I nodded. “Okay, well, I’ll let it absorb power until it’s ready to be unleashed on the world. Normally I’d have stopped it well before it was ready, but with your help I’ll be able to reap the rewards of defeating it when it's at maximum power.”

The angel lowered her head and stared at my chest as she thought this over. “The administrator would see it, then.”

“Yeah, but he’s a showboat that only cares about his prized toy,” I said with a wave of my hand. “There’s a reason why he doesn’t care that I’m a glitch that shows up out of the blue, and it’s because he knows my presence there will only make his monster stronger. If you don’t show up on their radar, then none of the administrators that matter will believe him when he reports that a World Boss has shown up out of nowhere. Summoned by a player, no less. And that’s if he even survives.”

Sara looked back up at me, and I could see the conflict in her eyes. “Do you trust me?” I asked gently. My vision was slowly starting to darken, and I knew my time with her was ending.

“Without question,” she replied quickly.

“Then we’ll meet again there, Sara,” I said before kissing her. She returned the kiss, shifting so that she was straddling my lap, and wrapped her arms around me so tightly it almost hurt. We held each other until the Halls of the End went completely dark, and I was sent back to the beginning of that deadly game.