Unchosen Champion-Chapter 386: The Fated Hero
Coop stepped through the mists, disappearing from the physical plane and reappearing a moment later in a completely different place to flank a new golem variant. He had already categorized the new type as the Molten variety, giving them a nickname based on their outer characteristics.
He pierced its heart with his trusty spear as he exited the world of mists, identifying the core of its structure by observing the flow of energy across its exposed veins of lava, a conclusion inspired by his experience with Scavenging. Unlike the previous Boxing Golems, the Molten Golem was more balanced, relying on mana-infused punches instead of raw power. Its sturdy legs were less vulnerable, forcing Coop to target different weak points.
The earthen creature vibrated as it gave up on the bout, experiencing yet another critical blow after already being marred by half a dozen other wounds that disrupted its flow of power. It was unable to contend with Coop’s abuse of the mists. Even though it wasn’t as top heavy as the other Boxing Golems, it was still unable to match the Revenant’s speed. It opted to sacrifice itself in order to destroy its target rather than be whittled down any further. Any more damage and it might be unable to trigger a reaction at all.
Superheated energy built up, chunks tearing from the surface of the monster as a whirl of mana rose beyond its form. The gaps in its rock covering revealed beams of volatile red energy that shot through the mists like crimson spotlights, burning portions of the spectral domain away. It overcharged its mana and created a catastrophic failure of unstable energy.
Coop activated his vaporform, drifting far away through the mists as the golem erupted in a fiery explosion. Rock and flame were sent beyond the edge of the tower, finally dissipating only after they were part of the way across the gap toward the sealed compartments on the inner ring.
It was a huge explosion thanks to the massive amount of fuel provided by the golem, but none of the other demons were even partially affected. They naturally had high resistance to fire, just as their stoneflesh made them physically robust. The explosion swept through the mists, dissipating all the phantasms that were too close while the demons embraced the fire and were even boosted by it.
As the smoke cleared, the battlefield was essentially the same as before. The compartments that formed the tower and the external rings were reinforced by the broader construction. They were effectively invulnerable as far as Coop could tell, but the bridges could be overloaded, with individual cells temporarily collapsing before returning to their positions after recovering their energy. That meant that Coop, Lyriel, and all of their enemies could safely go all out while they fought on the tower, but it also prevented one of Coop’s suggested shortcuts in wrecking the cells before they could release more forces of mana. Instead, they had to crush whatever monsters got in their way after they were already awakened.
Coop took solace in the fact that every enemy they defeated was one less respawning monster on the surface of the planet. He might not be directly defending his island, but he was still contributing so long as he could distract the forces of mana with his presence inside the Ark. In that sense, he welcomed more challengers.
As soon as Coop stepped out of the surviving mists, he threw his spear at one of the smaller Scorching Imps that were hovering above the fray, catching it by surprise with his sudden reappearance on the opposite edge of the battlefield. If they thought he was dead just from an explosion, of course they would be mistaken.
The spear penetrated through the fat Imp’s chest and it screeched, abandoning the fireballs it was forming in each palm as it gripped the offending weapon with claws on both hands and both feet. The weapon was larger than any of its limbs, so the strike was a devastating blow, much more significant than if it had been applied to another golem.
The Imp suddenly lost its grip as Coop emerged from the Fog of War that still blanketed the tower, slowly reforming over the section where the explosion of fire chased it away. Coop had mistjumped to the spear, then quickswapped instead of retrieving it from the monster’s stone flesh, sending the imp’s claws through a cloud of disappearing vapors where the shaft had been. The weapon reemerged from the mists as a war fork, stabbing the imp again as they both fell back into the layer of fog.
The Imp burst into a fiery wave when they landed, destroying three more of the phantasms that happened to be nearby while also burning Coop’s arms. Coop was completely indifferent to the pain that bloomed from his injuries, slowly redeveloping the mana pathways his Reaper titles had carved out as he bathed in the amplified mana of the defeated demons. A little injury actually helped him improve his capacity to manipulate his internal mana. It was practice. Everything was practice.
The worst thing any of his enemies could do was give him the opportunity to practice, but by underestimating his capacity, the Ark was giving him a chance to ramp up and refine the mana pathways that the system would no longer highlight. All of his skills were there for the taking, and he might not stop there, with the limit only being his own capacity of control over his mana. He reset his grip as his temporarily scarred fingers almost instantly healed back up, drawing a satisfied smile on his face in the middle of battle with the personal victory.
Another Boxing Golem lumbered through the mists, unencumbered by the ensnaring effect of the Awakened Depths upgrade to his domain and immune to the disorienting impact of Fog of War. It swung its heavy fist at Coop as he rolled away, feeling the approach through the mists as they empowered his Presence of Mind. Of the seventeen demons waiting on this section, only five remained
“They’re almost here!” Lyriel shouted as she drifted off the side, barely avoiding a fiery lance that was aimed at her stomach. “We have to jump back down!”
“No!” Coop responded from within his domain as he smashed one of the golem’s ankles. “Let’s go up! We can outrun them!” He suggested, feeling like he was still building momentum.
Lyriel slammed back onto the edge of the open platform, clearing his mists with a wave of force. The pulse smashed another Scorching Imp that had been targeting her, making it tumble away. It crashed onto a hexagonal cell tile with a comical bounce before sliding into the edge of the mana tube, dazed from the abuse.
“You’re insane!” She yelled at Coop as she complied with his idea.
She bent her knees until she was almost on the floor, the tips of her fingers bracing the ground. She craned her neck to look straight up before leaping into the empty space, turning to a silvery blur with Palisteon firmly hanging on to her shoulders. She couldn’t really fly, but she was still capable of skipping hundreds of levels while her stamina held out just by using her own physical attributes. It was actually an amazing feat of Strength, one that Coop couldn’t recreate, not that he needed to.
As she crossed the threshold between the start of the second level, where they were fighting, all the way to the beginning of the third, Coop noted the mana-filled cells nearest to each level had already lost their color. The Ark was slowly releasing more and more of the forces of mana to contend with the presence of intruders. He thought that was good, every gray cell a victory for Ghost Reef.
Coop quickswapped back to his spear and launched it into the head of the disoriented Scorching Imp that had been blown away by Lyriel. After defeating the Imp he resummoned the spear and jabbed it into the newly identified core of the toppled Boxing Golem, causing it to crumble into pebbles. He yanked the weapon out before the monsters were fully dissipated and blasted it beyond his Fog of War, dragging a portion of his mists part of the way toward the next major platform in order to join the now hovering Lyriel. Even without defeating every single enemy, they were preventing them from projecting new manifestations elsewhere, and he had places to be.
When he exited the mists, he redirected his spear with a second short mistjump so that he could plant his feet and fight the next set of monsters. He landed before Lyriel made it to the edge.
The first segment when they started climbing the tower beyond the bottom entrance only had three demons to fight. When they skipped the circuit and reached the start of the next level, there were seventeen demons waiting for them, including three new variants. The first platform of the third level had 35.
Coop didn’t comment on the discovery, preferring to immediately enter combat with the Hellhounds before they had an opportunity to howl. One of the new variants was another hound-type that he was calling the Hellscreamer. Instead of attacking with flaming claws, tails, and burning teeth, they leapt around and opened their mouths wide, generating short spears of scorching air in an almost point blank blast. The second golem variant, the Molten Golems utilized explosive fists instead of solid boxing gloves, and then the new Scorching Imps were diminutive casters that let the others crowd the field while they zipped around in the air and took difficult to avoid potshots at their enemies.
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Coop was undaunted by the initial challenge, deciding he would earn himself the equivalent of some new Slayer titles on his way up the tower, but Lyriel had pointed out that they were in trouble. The sections that they had skipped weren’t satisfied with being bypassed. A mixture of the other forces of mana rushed up the tower, intent on reinforcing the demons that occupied his immediate attention.
Decaying angels, moist-skinned parasites, golden-scaled dragons, and double doses of demons rushed up the tower from their own sections, making it seem like the entire Ark was divided into organized categories for each of them, with the demons holding half of the sections. Coop, Lyriel, and Palisteon just happened to be on the edge of the demon side of the mana tube when they started and they hadn’t circled the feature even once.
On the third level, there was a new type of Imp. Instead of casting, like the Scorching Imps, it made a beeline for Coop as soon as it recognized his presence. As it flew, its dark stone skin stretched and cracked, revealing the same energy as the Molten Golems used in their fists and ultimately applied to their dying explosions. Coop abandoned his ambush of the Hellhounds in favor of countering what he would christen the Molten Imp, thinking it intended to explode on impact.
He was right. As the spear connected with the flying enemy, carrying it backwards like it was caught by a rocket, the Imp erupted in an explosion that was only slightly smaller than the much larger golems. Coop winced as the new variables indicated that the fights would become more and more complicated as they grew more crowded.
Fog of War billowed from the ground surrounding his feet, sweeping across the connected platforms on one demon section of the third level. It caught Lyriel as she hovered near the edge, always keeping her retreat secure, unconcerned by the effects of his ability with the implementation of her blindfolded mana sight.
Other than the Molten Imps, there was also a completely new type of enemy to test on the third level. It was another bipedal monster, but unlike the golems, it was much more fleshy, appearing more muscular and warrior-like.
“What is this?” Coop wondered out loud. “Are these really all one species?”
Lyriel drifted backwards, letting Coop take his position between the monsters and herself. “That one can become an Icon.” She observed as she sent a volley of energy at her chosen target. The bolts arced until they smashed into a Hellscreamer.
Coop grunted as he dodged the first Hellhound to react, summoning a dozen Drowned Phantasms to slow the others down while regular phantasms attacked and he continued to familiarize himself with the enemies. The hounds head came off before it completed its first feint and before the golems even reacted. Coop was already growing familiar enough with the most basic enemies to not only anticipate their weaknesses, but exploit them as well. The other hounds were jumping into the fight just a half second too slow to team up with their dead companion, and Coop faced them with the urge to gain experience and improve his lethality. Though the system wouldn’t grant him any levels, he was happy to give himself credit.
Meanwhile, the phantasms utilized the mists to the best of their ability, but the Horned Demon seemed like it could see them even when they weren’t a part of the world. The Drowned were easily cut down and as soon as the others solidified from the world of the mists, the demon was grappling with them. Their relatively weak constitutions meant that it easily swept them aside just as its superior strength overwhelmed the more defensive versions. It was already proving to be more potent than the other enemies who normally had at least one weakness already exposed by a combination of phantasms.
Coop only made it halfway through the more familiar demon types before he was forced to confront the Horned Demon directly, leaving Lyriel to engage with the rest of the golems and imps. He launched his spear directly at the skull of the demon as it stared directly at him through the mists.
It tilted its head to the side, letting it pass right by while Coop lunged forward. The spear disappeared and his sword and shield manifested before the two warriors met.
Claw and blade clashed in a shower of sparks, sending Coop’s arm bouncing back while the claw kept moving forward. Coop staggered backwards before he flipped the sword up and over, releasing his grip as if he couldn’t hold onto it, and teleported out of the way. He redirected his awkward momentum straight down to plant his feet and swing again, this time with a more controlled parrying strike.
Though he was better prepared for the strength of his opponent, he was still easily rebuffed. As he stumbled backwards a second time, he adjusted his tactics yet again. He lunged forward, throwing his shield through the mists while the demon stepped across the gap that had formed by his stumbling retreat. As it lifted its arm to slap his raised sword away, he disappeared, targeting the back of the demon where his shield was flying, but it twisted itself around as fast as the mistjump, and the claw caught the blade a third time. Coop kept a firm grip on the sword as the vibrations ran down his arm before settling in his shoulder.
He tried to fall into a Lucid Dream, but the sense that he was being outmatched had planted a seed of panic deep in his subconscious. He was off balance and struggled to control his mind in the moment. He needed the meditation that came with the flow of battle before it would work.
The Horned Demon pushed him deeper into the platform, stomping forward with the confidence it had sapped from its opponent. Each time it swiped at him, he avoided the challenge, worried that he couldn’t withstand them at all, taking the chance to pick off the variants he was more comfortable with as he avoided the baddest of the demons on the third level.
Once Coop was cornered, he knew he had to commit. He dug deep, tapping into a power he had avoided ever since the system expelled humanity. Inheritance of the Mists had been dangerous to use even when the system was in place protecting his body from his ambition. Without the guardrails, Coop was concerned that he would burn out at the whim of some selfish god, matching the strategy of the Molten Golems and Imps rather than actually wielding the power.
As time appeared to slow, Coop felt a tiny bit of relief that the skill had worked at all, though the rest was yet to come. The Horned Demon was frozen as it stepped forward confidently, practically ignoring Coop’s raised sword as it threatened to strike him down.
In the nearly static scene, a spectral shimmer coalesced behind Coop, revealing the faint outline of a figure clad in decorative holy armor that battle had scarred but not broken. The Apparition of the Fated Hero possessed Coop, doing its duty like an old soldier called up from retirement. It spoke with a voice too quiet for a battlefield, but it resonated with the weight of ages and countless battles, more even than Coop had experienced.
“You fight with courage, hero, yet you already falter?” It scoffed. “This foe is but a gnawing insect compared to the horrors that claw at the edges of our worlds.” The voice resonated inside his head, almost disappointed in Coop’s position. freewebnσvel.cѳm
“You lack the blessing of the Saintess, the promise of the Oracle, the guidance of the Grand Magician, the approval of the Wise King, and yet you carry the Trust of the People?” It questioned Coop.
“Hmph.” The Apparition grunted, judging Coop while time was practically still, Coop’s sword inching closer and closer toward the Horned Demon. “Fine. Wield my strength and feel the burden of what you must bear. I won’t hold back so that the fire that once burned so brightly during my quest might ignite once again.” The Apparition continued, as if Coop hadn’t been the one to make its existence real in the first place.
Coop’s sword abruptly expanded into a comically gargantuan holy greatsword that was decorated with complex mithril filigree before erupting with ivory fire that snaked far beyond the blade. As his perception of time returned to normal, he felt an enormous weight applied to the weapon, but he strained to complete the motion that had already been started. His joints screamed and his muscles struggled, his skin splitting down thin lines as uncontrolled mana escaped from his shoulder, triceps, and forearm, but he finished the empowered attack with a pained shout, refusing to let the expenditure of mana paid to manifest the Inheritance go to waste.
The smiting strike cut down not just the Horned Demon, but a dozen others, casting a blinding light that momentarily engulfed the entirety of the platform. The blast of energy rapidly shrank, temporarily overlaying a blurry depiction of a completely different world on the interior of the Ark, following the path of the sword. Smaller explosions of gold and yellow traced the path, erasing the afterimage and ultimately leaving a thin line across the inner ring of compartments, along several tiles on the tower, and a dark mark on the membrane that protected the flow of mana in the center that extended all the way across the visible rings of sealed compartments, as if the entire Ark had been subjected to the blast.
Coop kept his balance as the sword was extinguished, slouching from the absurd burden that had been placed on his body even after the weight disappeared, the bleeding all across his arm was already stifled by mists, recovering from the successful defeat of so many monsters. The weapon reset back to his more familiar spectral blade as steam drifted from his skin and the cuts in his skin became lightly colored scars.
“Remember this feeling, the strain, the desperation. Use it to forge the resolve to face what lies beyond.” The Apparition stated as it released Coop from its clutches and drifted back into the mists. “Your quest lies unfinished.” It echoed from the mists.
Coop stared at his ethereal sword with a twinge of confusion toward the character that had empowered him, the platform growing quiet after a few more explosions of demonfire faded away. He wondered what story it had come from.
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