Chapter 99: Someone Else’s Game (2/2)

[Blood Harvest] (spell): [Iron 5] 18%.[Leech Bite] (special attack): [Iron 5] 78%.[Feast of Blood] (spell): [Iron 4] 97%.[Sanguine Horror] (familiar): [Iron 5] 16%.[Haemorrhage] (spell): [Iron 2] 46%.

Sin [Recovery] (5/5)

[Punish] (special attack): [Iron 5] 83%.[Feast of Absolution] (spell): [Iron 5] 91%.[Sin Eater] (special ability): [Iron 5] 69%.[Hegemony] (aura): [Iron 5] 67%.[Castigate] (spell): [Iron 2] 32%.

Doom [Spirit] (4/5)

[Inexorable Doom] (spell): [Iron 5] 66%.[Punition] (spell): [Iron 3] 57%.[Blade of Doom] (spell): [Iron 2] 08%.[Verdict] (spell): [Iron 1] 00%.

His abilities were coming along, with only three more to awaken before he was truly on the way to bronze.

“If anything goes wrong, I’m stepping in,” Vincent said.

“That’s why you came along?” Jason asked. “You think I’ll fail?”

“Actually, I had a favour to ask.”

“Oh?”

They were looking out at the ocean, sun lighting the sky with gold as it dropped to the horizon.

“It’ll return to its lair, soon, but we should have time to talk,” Vincent said. “You’re aware of the open contract? The thief girl?”

“I’m aware.”

“Have you considered going after it? The Society has added an awakening stone to the rewards.”

“It smells political,” Jason said. “I don’t have any interest in jumping on the board, just to end up a piece in someone else’s game.”

Vincent smiled wanly.

“I know exactly what you mean,” he said. “I support the changes the director is trying to make, but she’s pushing back against a long-entrenched network of power. No one is playing fair and it’s the mid-level officials like me being squeezed between powerful forces.”

“This thief’s activities are becoming a point of contention between the director and the traditional power-brokers?”

“It could have been anything, I think. This just happened to turn up and she’s using it.”

“And now you have pressure from both sides,” Jason said.

“Exactly. I don’t want to go against the director, but she either doesn’t know or is willing to accept the collateral damage. I’m not sure she understands how much that is hurting her. A lot of people have been happy to move away from the corruption of the past, but the director is pressuring the aristocrats, who are pulling hard on all the old levers. People who should be the director’s allies are becoming very unhappy.”

“So you want me to take this point of contention out of play,” Jason said. “Give people some room to breathe while the big nobs find the next vicarious battle.”

“Yes. The director has been relying on the fact that there aren’t a lot of iron-rankers with the skill-set to chase her down. You’re fast and good in darkness, and the thief mostly strikes at night. Have you noticed that any time you aren’t busy with a contract, one gets assigned to you?”

“Sounds familiar.”

“I’ve been looking at any adventurers with the right skills to chase the thief, and they’ve been getting the same treatment. For most of them, the assigned contracts have been lucrative enough to not turn down. She knows that isn’t your driving factor, so she’s been assigning contracts she thinks you’ll find interesting. Underground tunnels. Spirit coin farms. Recovering a dead adventurer’s remains.”

Jason considered as they watched the drop below the horizon.

“You know you’re asking me to do something she won’t like,” he said.

”That's why I came to you. Out of the various adventurers she's been keeping busy, you're the only one that would do it anyway.”

“That, and I bet she shuffled the rest off on the expedition.”

“Most, but not all. We do need some competent people left to actually do the work.”

“Alright,” Jason said. “The best I can do is look into it; I’m making no promises. There’s every chance she runs rings around me the same as everyone else that went after her.”

“That’s all I can ask,” Vincent said. “Rufus believes in your resourcefulness, as does the director. Otherwise, she wouldn't be keeping you busy.”

It was near dark when a huge form rose up from the water. Vincent withdrew as it moved closer to shore, more and more of a huge body rising above the surface until it strode onto the beach. It moved into the village where Jason got a better look at it than he wanted, realising the monster was buck naked. It was around five metres tall and over one shoulder carried a dead shark that could have swallowed Jason whole. The troll’s skin was the blue-grey of the ocean on an overcast day, and rough like that of the shark it was carrying. Dangling in a tangled mess from the troll’s head was what looked more like kelp than hair.

Light erupted from Jason’s cloak, scattering motes of illumination through the village. Shadows were everywhere in the shattered remains of the beach hamlet, from broken boats to half-collapsed buildings. The Tidal Troll roared at Jason and lumbered forward, swinging the shark like a flail.

Jason started with his old snake-tooth dagger, which ignored bronze-rank poison resistances and damage reduction. Appearing behind the monster, Jason scored the back of its leg.

Weapon [Night Fang] has inflicted [Umbral Snake Venom] on [Tidal Troll].

By the time the sluggish giant turned around, Jason was gone. Soon after the monster was sprayed with leeches from another direction, and they had plenty of flesh to latch onto. From the shadows, Jason winced as they bit into parts of the troll Jason would have preferred remain covered.

The monster was tough, perhaps even tougher than the hydra, and with resistances to match. The sheer quantity of leeches meant afflictions were landing, however, and Jason went to work on bringing those resistances down. Switching to his conjured dagger, he ran shadowy rings around the troll as he landed strike after strike.

Weapon [Ruin] has inflicted [Vulnerable] on [Tidal Troll].

Between his elusive strikes and casting spells from the shadows, all of Jason’s afflictions eventually took hold, while the troll alternated flailing ineffectually at Jason and brushing away leeches with its huge hand. It stomped on those pushed onto the ground, but even it's enormous feet could only catch so many. All the while, every instance of the sin curse allowed Jason's aura to further decrease the troll’s resistances, as did the vulnerable affliction from his new dagger.

[Vulnerable] (affliction, unholy, stacking): All resistances are reduced. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. Consumed to cleanse instances of [Resistant] on a 1:1 basis.

With inexorable doom racking up more instances of both, the troll eventually stopped resisting the effects at all. With leeches in full effect, the creature was ravaged and fled for the ocean. Vincent ran up to Jason.

“It’s making for the water,” Vincent said urgently. “If it makes it in, it’ll start healing.”

”No it wouldn't,” Jason said, ”but it won't get that far anyway.”

He didn't move from where he stood. Unhurried, he raised an arm in the monster's direction and chanted a spell.

“Suffer the cost of your transgressions.”

The creature's resistances were in ruins, but its bronze-rank damage reduction was still in effect. Even so, the punition spell inflicted damage for each of the myriad afflictions on the troll. It was enough that most monsters, even at bronze-rank, would be dead already. The troll stumbled as its flesh withered and turned black, but continued staggering forward. Jason chanted a final spell.

“Mine is the judgement, and the judgement is death.”

Light of silver, gold and blue shone down on the troll from above, and under its radiance, the monster’s body started rapidly dissolving into rainbow smoke. Leeches dropped out of the air as the flesh they were burying themselves in vanished. In the spot where it had been fighting, gobbets of blood and flesh remained, patches of light shining to eradicate them as well. In moments, there was nothing left of the troll but a memory.

Ability: [Verdict] (Doom)

Spell (execute)Cost: Moderate mana.Cooldown: 30 seconds.Current rank: Iron 1 (02%)Effect (iron): Deals a small amount of transcendent damage. As an execute effect, damage scales exponentially with the enemy’s level of injury.

“Was that transcendent damage?” Vincent asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Jason said as he glanced over the rewards.

You have defeated [Tidal Troll].[Tidal Troll] has been wholly annihilated. It has been looted automatically.[Gauntlet of the Sea Giant] has been added to your inventory.[Monster Core (Bronze)] has been added to your inventory.10 [Bronze Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.100 [Iron Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

Quest: [Contract: Tidal Troll]

Objective complete: Eliminate [Tidal Troll] 1/1.[Necklace of the Deep] has been added to your inventory.Quest complete.100 [Bronze Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.1000 [Iron Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

“What ability was that?” Vincent asked as he stared at the spot where the monster had been annihilated.

“That’s a rude question,” Jason said absently, also staring at the space where the troll vanished.

“You’re dealing transcendent damage with an iron-rank ability! Do you know what transcendent damage does?”

“I do,” Jason said.

Help: Transcendent Damage

Transcendent damage ignores all forms of physical and magical defence, damage reduction and resistances.

“So, what ability is that?”

Jason turned to look at Vincent, his face unreadable.

“It’s the end,” Jason told him, his voice flat and emotionless.

“The end? The end of what?”

“Of whatever I want.”

Jason’s hard expression suddenly broke into a grin and he laughed.

“Listen to me, right? ‘Whatever I want. I'm very scary.’ I need to stop listening to that chuuni angel on my shoulder. Colin, gather up. This sea air isn’t good for you.”