Chapter 99

(After some deliberation and experimentation, I've decided to do a chapter a day for five days a week going forward. If I'm not too tired, we can hit Saturday and Sunday as well. If the schedule changes, I'll tell you guys ahead of time.

what does that mean for Patreon?

I promised 15-20 standard chapters ahead and I've always delivered on that. This will not change. if anything it should increase as I devote more time to writing. Also, I have a fic in the woodworks. I'm like five chapters into writing it. It's based on a character from my earlier fic and he's transported into Naruto.

He's an Airbender, and this version of the Naruto world is AU. Other reincarnations have visited the world in the past so there are people with strange bloodlines and even stranger abilities. I'll likely be launching it two weeks from now, so look forward to that.)

Shin was playing with fucking fire, but he seemed more sure of himself than ever. According to him, my only options were eternal servitude and consumption, but I recognized a false dichotomy when I saw one.

An odd sense of confidence suddenly settled over me. "I kinda feel bad for old Quellitrax," I said. "He can't be okay with this entire situation. He's doing all the heavy lifting, and you're stealing the food right off his plate."

"We have an agreement," Shin explained. "May the best man win, and if, for some reason, you decide to commit suicide by Cthulu, he'll be compensated with a soul of commensurate value, Vergil," he smirked, and I burst out laughing.

"You're a real asshole, aren't you?"

"That's not news."

"No, it's not," I said, "which begs the question: Why not disable my most powerful skills and abilities to absolutely stick it to me? The fight would last 10 seconds, and you'd get what you wanted. After all, you're impatient and want what you want."

My words earned a brow raise and a chuckle from Shin. "Or maybe I just wanted to put you in your place."

"Maybe," I said, "but you're far too old and experienced to make such an obvious mistake. You never let your enemy power up," I announced, tapping on the bomb switch. The Island erupted in a swirling inferno of Red and black Demonic energy.

The shockwave was so powerful it sent me stumbling back and flipping to dodge debris.

The explosion clung in the air for a few seconds before flickering out. All five fighters leaped out of the fire, scattered on different islands, some with bombs and some without them.

Entire sections of their bodies seemed to be missing and on fire, but they seemed unconcerned. They each produced a flask that they knocked back mechanically. Almost immediately, the fire winked out, and their bodies started to mend themselves.

Crimson Flasks or healing flasks.

Fuck me. I wondered how many they had. This was going to be one of those fights.

And the worst part was that I had to destroy their core, or they would probably just keep coming.

The only way I was going to win this was by hitting them with enough firepower to put them down once and for all. Lucky for me, I had several demonic bombs ready to go.

Shin's eyes widened slightly, and I noted his reaction.

"Don't tell me you didn't see that coming?" I laughed. "So, you can't see everything I do every second of the day. Huh. That's good to know."

"Of course, I knew about your little project," he scoffed. "I just didn't expect it to be so…"

"Potent?" I laughed. "If you think that's impressive, wait to see what else I have in store. Taking away some of my abilities is not the flex you think it is. If anything, it just made this fight much more interesting."

Shin's face gave away nothing. "if you think your bombs will be enough to defeat this invasion, then you're sorely mistaken."

"We'll see, won't we?" I laughed as I materialized a loaded RPG. "Just stand by and watch me work."

I surveyed the line-up briefly before I selected my target. The Mage. Five were roughly equally spread apart, each standing alert, ready for me to make my move.

It was a level of confidence and certainty I'd not seen from Quellitrax yet. His agents were treating this as more of a challenge than some rabid feeding frenzy, or maybe it was the other way around.

Maybe they didn't need to go on the offensive against someone beneath them.

Banishing away my uncertainty, my free hand summoned a pair of detonators, clicking on them sequentially. With my baby skillset, rigging all of the bombs to a single detonator seemed like an impossible task, so I didn't try to. Instead, each bomb got its detonator. Ordinarily, rapidly swapping out would be a problem, but I had the benefit of high dexterity. Explosions went off on two of the five platforms where the Tarnished stood.

The Greatsword and Shieldbearer were specifically affected and leaped at me with astonishing speed. I hefted my rocket launcher, recruiting my second arm, but did not aim it at them but at the mage.

I'd played enough Elden Ring to know how overpowered and broken a sorcerer can be. All it'd take was one spell, and I'd be hanging by a thread.

The grenade shot out of the rocket with a subdued roar. I switched to Rebellion just as the Great Sword user tossed his sword. It moved faster than the RPG I'd thrown, and I flipped back in surprise just as the sorcerer fired an overpowered missile of blue energy at my grenade.

The SHIELD User rocketed at me with an overpowered stomp that Evasion warned me was life-threatening. I leaped into the air to avoid it and was surprised as a wave of spiky stone erupted from the point of contact.

The Greatsword guy landed the second I took to the air and was already swinging his monstrous sword.

Mid-air, a grin spread across my face as I summoned Rebellion and parried the hit. The blow was so strong it sent me flying off the platform, and they both chased after me immediately, but not before I hit my detonator. The Island exploded, sending them flying as I used Ophion to find my way to another platform. The moment I landed, he came for me. An Eldritch thing dressed in armor, swinging his Katana with a blue and white handle.

Oh shit.

It was the Moonveil Katana. The weapon was famous for its blue energy attacks that damn near broke the base game.

He swung in a wide arc that unleashed a wave of blue energy that forced me to twist so fast that I was nearly parallel to the ground. But he wasn't done with me. He came at my seemingly vulnerable body with a diagonal cut that would've drained at least half of my health bar. He swung so fast that it triggered Evasion, forcing me to twist to the side while spiking Demon Evade.

A grin spread across my face as I felt the surge of energy from the skill. A Burst threw me straight at his head. Arbiter materialized in my palm, packed with demon energy, and I swung.

To his credit, Katana dude was quick on his feet, twisting and raising his blade to mitigate damage, but he was boxing way out of his weight class. The blow sent him flipping. I recognized that the flip was intentional on some level, but that didn't make him any less vulnerable. I fired a flush with Arbiter, sending a glowing red blade head spinning. It crashed into a tall tower Shield of the Shield Eldritch, saving Katana man from a disgusting amount of damage.

A moment later, Evasion activated, and a beam of blue energy swung low, bisecting the Island I was on, much to my surprise. The foothold underneath me fell to the wayside as I leaped back to avoid the attack. It swept at me just as Katana dude leaped, trying to cut off my escape route. What it didn't count on was Ophion.

I yanked him close with Angel Pull, twisted, and used Gust at 30%, sending us spinning. Katana man raised his sword, intending to cut Ophion's chain, but I fired Betsy at Katana guy just as the beam reached us, shoving him straight into the blast.

It enveloped his body entirely, rocketing him towards the sea. Miraculously, he didn't die, as the claw user leaped after him. I summoned Aquila, hoping to stop them both, but the Greatsword user attacked before I could fire. I switched to Ophion to pull me to the nearest platform, while I pulled out Thunderer and switched to Rebellion.

The Greatsword user's blow came down with the strength of fifteen men, cratering the fragile island ground under me. I leaned under his sword cut and stabbed with Rebellion, but he rolled into the blade, letting the attack slide across his pauldron. He swung upward with his gauntleted fist, intending to cave my chest in, but Evasion warned me before the blow connected.

The protection rune on my vambrace flared as I banished Rebellion and activated Parry. The protection rune halved the impact of the punch, and Parry damn near nullified it, throwing back the force at him, but the hit still sent me sliding back several feet.

While he was still reeling, Demonic energy flooded Thunder as I activated Focused Shot. I closed the distance between us with quick footwork, avoiding the hail of blue missiles whizzing past my head.

Greatsword guy hefted his blade again, stepping back as he swung at me, but Evasion kept me three steps ahead. Leaning out of the way of the swing, I rolled to the side as the Katana wielder crashed into my former location swinging. He stepped forward, feet moving so fast Evasion triggered. On my left side, Greatsword guy was also swinging.

I spiked Gust, giving me a 30% speed boost as I let both swings breeze by my twisting body. I triggered Demon Evade and amped up the damage even further with Cloak. Thunderer went off before I hit the ground.

The sky flashed red, and the mage, who'd been taking potshots at me, stumbled back before crumbling entirely. The Shieldbearer was standing beside him with a chunk of his shoulder and Shield missing, too slow to react fully to the speed of the shot.

I banished Thunderer, and a laugh bubbled from my chest as notifications flooded in.

Parkour (Basic) has changed to Acrobatics (Adept)

Increased balance, control, and precision when attempting daring acrobatic feet. +20% speed while performing acrobatics

Demon Evade (Basic) has reached Adept.

Increases your attack power by 2.75 for 6 seconds

Costs 20 Demon Energy

You've Killed an Eldritch Avatar. 2000 Red Orbs

Now, this was what I was talking about.

I immediately moved, determined to make the most of the bonus. Aquila popped out, and my hands blurred. I sent a spectral blade at the Katana wielder. He parried, slowing him down slightly while I spun around, pumping as much energy as I could into the floating fractal blades.

After the fourth rotation, the two Eldrtich Avatars started backpedaling, pushing them to the very edge of the platform. A shotgun shot to the face sent the Katana wielder straight over, while a burst strike with Eryx was enough to rock the slower of the pair, but he still hung on, tittering on the edge. A spinning kick enhanced by the impact rune finished the job.

And in time, too, as Evasion activated. The claws were inches from my face when I noticed them and the person wielding them. He was a hazy, shimmering version of the Claw Eldritch I saw at the start of the fight, but something was different about him.

I found what that was when I dodged and counter-attacked with a Burst strike to the stomach. Evasion activated again before the attack fully connected, entirely too late this time. A claw attack bounced off my armored back before scoring a nasty gash in my lower back. I screamed, surprised by the attack. It felt like somebody was taking a bite out of my back. Osiris materialized in my hand, lending me a considerable speed boost before a follow-up attack landed. I twisted away in time, flipping back to get a full view of my attackers.

Oh fuck.

There were two of them. Two Claw Eldritches. The first one still looked misty and ethereal, while the second one seemed more solid and tangible.

You've been afflicted with the Bleed Status.

Congratulations: You've learned Arcane Resistance (Basic).

"Mimic Tear," I growled. In addition to being a Spell Slinger or sorcerer, Elden Ring also allowed you to become a summoner, who can call up everything from a literal double to a knight, mage, and even spectral dogs.

I swallowed. If the Claw Eldritch had a mimic, odds were the rest of them did as well.

(Read up to Chapter 120 on Patreon.com/Artandcreative writing)