Nightmare Realm Summoner

Thoughts spun through Alex’s head at a mile a minute. The loud whine building within all eight of the Gorganaga’s heads was nearly at its peak. And, when it reached, it would fire eight massive fire beams right in the direction of his town.

Even with the mist surrounding it, there was a good chance that some of the attacks would connect with its target — and it wasn’t like the Region Boss was going to stop after one attack. It would just keep raining hellfire down until nothing of Mirrorwane remained.

I can’t let it get that attack off. But what the hell can I do?

All of his monsters had already fallen. Alex could call them back, but in the time it would take him to get back up to the flying hydra, the attacks would have gone off already. He couldn’t get close enough to use Funhouse either.

And, even if he could, the spell wouldn’t be a perfect defense. He wouldn’t be able to control the exact spot of the fractured reality area the beams entered into. There was just no way for him to completely block all eight of the attacks. Some of them could end up still hitting his town.

”Claire!” Alex yelled as he started running in the direction of the Hydra. He couldn’t wait to think while standing around. A solution would have to come to him while he was already moving. ”Can you do anything?”

”No,” Claire yelled back. It was a minor miracle that she’d actually managed to stand back up. She didn’t have Princess’ healing factor boosting her, but she still managed to fall in beside Alex in a dead sprint. ”I haven’t been able to drink any of its blood yet. Until then, I’ve got nothing. The damn thing’s defenses are ridiculous.”

Alex’s teeth clenched. He craned his neck up to look at the gathering light at the monster’s heads. It was growing brighter every passing moment. There had to be something he could do. Some way he could stop the Region Boss.

Come on. Think! Could Princess block it? No. She got blown to pieces from one beam, let alone eight. Glint? No. He and Spark would just get obliterated. Shit! What do I do?

The whine in the air grew to a shrill shriek.

A deep, chilling weight drove down on Alex’s shoulders as realization finally settled in.

He was strong. Stronger than he had any right to be. In a normal fight, he could punch so far above his weight class that it was ridiculous. But Alex did not have a single ability that would let him stop a Region Boss’ attacks.

There wasn’t a single thing he could do. There wasn’t even enough time for him to get in the way of the magic and try to use a Qi-empowered Funhouse to try and divert some of the spells. There just wasn’t enough time. If he’d been stronger, if he’d been faster, then perhaps things would have been different.

But even with the immense boost that his Visualization had given him, Alex could do nothing. Despite all the preparations, despite all the training and tricks they’d pulled to get this far, he didn’t have a single ability that would let him stop the Region Boss from unleashing hell upon Mirrorwane.

Alex’s legs pumped harder as he desperately pushed himself to move faster, to try and beat time itself in a race. It wasn’t even just his town that was at risk. It was everyone within the mist.

All the other campers, fighting for their lives to protect his town. May. Aaron. Abby. Even Orchid. Every single one of them were counting on him to win this fight. They had been counting on him alone to protect them.

And he couldn’t.

The whine reached a peak.

Then it went silent. The world hung still, molten energy pouring free of the Gorganaga’s heads as fire sparked within its throats.

”No,” Alex whispered.

And then Orchid burst free from within the mist.

Coils of it clung to her back and swirled around her arms like hands trying to pull her back into its grasp, but they could do nothing to keep the end of her staff from driving down into the ground like a stake.

The air around Orchid warped in a thick heat haze. Her staff trembled in the ground before her as her hands split apart, her fingers trembling with exertion. Her hair whipped around her head as power infused the very air around her.

Eight shrill roars cut through the air. Beams of fire carved out from the Gorganaga’s head and streaked directly toward the mist before town on a path that would take them right over Orchid’s head.

Orchid’s hands clapped together.

”Partial Soul Manifestation,” Orchid snarled. ”Emberlord’s Descent.”

The ground beneath Orchid exploded.

Plumes of lava roared up around her with a thunderous crash, twisting up like rivers defying the laws of the heavens. The rivers of magma slammed into each other with the roaring crunch of stone on stone to form into the shape of an enormous hand. It was easily the size of a two-story building, and the heat radiating off it was so intense that the grass a dozen feet away from it caught aflame.

Alex’s mouth dropped open, even as his feet continued to propel him forward. It seemed that he and Claire hadn’t been the only ones that had gotten stronger.

Yes!

The huge hand swept forward to move into the paths of the Gorganaga’s magic. Each beam of fire, every one of them an immensely powerful attack on their own, crashed into the massive arm looming above Orchid.

And each one sputtered harmlessly, their heat nothing in the face of the bubbling lava.

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Orchid staggered. She grabbed onto her staff, sweat trickling down her face in rivers as she fought to keep herself from falling. The arm drooped above her, its shape losing cohesion. Rivers of lava poured away from it, splashing to the ground around Orchid and rapidly beginning to cool.

Loud hissing cut through the air like a nest of squirming snakes. The hair on the back of Alex’s neck stood on end. Something was wrong. His senses were screaming a warning to him, but he didn’t even know what it was about.

It took Alex’s stunned senses a moment to realize what the hissing was coming from.

The Gorganaga’s heads were laughing.

And it took Alex a moment longer to realize what the other thing he’d subconsciously picked up on was. The explosions that had been going off all around the Region Boss had finally come to a stop.

Save for the sounds of muted battle within the mist, the crackle of flame around them, and the Region Boss’ hissing laughter, the forest was silent.

”You dare manifest your pathetic soul before me?” The huge monster’s voice was eightfold. It was the hiss of a snake and the roar of a dragon, male and female, ragged and smooth all at once. Even its mere tone grated against Alex’s ears like a physical blow.

The Gorganaga’s wings snapped in. It dropped from the sky like a massive meteor to plummet down atop a dozen trees, shattering them like dry kindling beneath its weight. The impact from its landing bucked the ground beneath Alex’s feet, sending him stumbling. He and Claire both skidded to a stop.

All eight of the Gorganaga’s heads turned to stare straight at Orchid, the hissing laughter still slipping free of many of them as the others continued to speak.

”You arrogant little child,” the Gorganaga said through its laughter. ”You can barely even hold your manifestation together.”

Orchid’s grip tightened on her staff and she straightened back to her full height. Even though the grip of exhaustion was clear in her posture, her eyes didn’t so much as show a flicker of fear.

”So says the creature that fell to the System. You have already died once,” Orchid spat. ”You’re in no position to brag. How far have you fallen from what you once were? You’re nothing but a lamb to the slaughter. A very big, ugly lamb.”

If she’d been trying to piss the Gorganaga off, it didn’t work. The monster just let out another round of hissing laughter.

”I have earned another chance through merit of my power,” the Gorganaga said. ”A chance that you will not get, Outworlder. You are nothing but a pathetic invader. The System allows your existence only for purpose of challenge — and the Nativeworlders are not the only ones who can grow by crushing you beneath their heel.”

The air around the Region Boss trembled. An uneasy air rolled over Alex as something deep within him reacted to the shift in pressure. It was almost like recognition. He didn’t have any time to question it.

The Gorganaga was an Adept ranked monster, and a Region Boss at that. Given its derision at Orchid’s display of power, it wasn’t hard for Alex to guess what the hydra was about to do.

”Claire,” Alex hissed.

”Yeah,” Claire said grimly. ”I know. If I could just get a drop of blood from it, I think we might have a chance. I haven’t been able to use the full extent of my abilities.”

”We’ll have to get close,” Alex warned, drawing on the power left within him. He still had a fair amount to work with — not to mention his remaining Qi. Adept ranked or not, this fight was far from over.

”Don’t have a choice,” Claire replied.

Alex nodded.

Orchid’s arrival had reminded him of something. He’d nearly forgotten that he wasn’t fighting this thing alone. He and Claire had allies that stood by their side. They didn’t all have to be able to do everything. Nobody could fill every single role all on their own.

They just had to each do what they did best.

A smile split Alex’s lips. When it came to him, he knew exactly what it was that he was the best at. His hand tightened around the hilt of the chainsword still attached to his arm. The Riftwarped Qi within it trembled in response.

”Then get ready and stay out of sight,” Alex said. He cracked his neck, then lowered his stance. ”I’m getting you that opening.”

”I’ll be there,” Claire promised. She slipped back into the scorched forest, trying to keep herself out of attention as much as possible. It wasn’t the most effective camouflage, but it would have to do.

Alex drew in a deep breath and let it out in a sharp huff. He felt the adrenaline thundering through his veins like the handshake of an old friend.

Waves of pressure rolled off Gorganaga as its heads lifted into the air in a posture of ancient, primal pride. Its words cut through the air like the crash of an avalanche as it spoke, demanding silence of all who witnessed it.

”Soul Manifestation—”

”Hey, asshole!” Alex yelled.

And, such was the Region Boss’ incredulity, it turned all eight of its heads straight toward him in surprise.

”I thought you had already died,” the Region Boss said. ”How are you alive? Resilient little bug.”

”Yeah? And what do you think could have killed me? You hit like a pissed off ball of cotton.” Alex dropped into a charge. Each step propelled him across the ground faster than the last as he sprinted straight for the Region Boss. ”And you call that shit a Soul Manifestation? What a joke!”

The Gorganaga’s heads all swung toward him, sending the gazes of sixteen eyes boring into his skull like molten blades. The mere pressure of the monster’s attention was enough to make Alex’s heart shudder in his chest.

Not just in fear, but in hysteric excitement.

”Arrogant little fool. Allow me to demonstrate a real Soul Manifestation for you,” the Gorganaga rumbled.

”No. Allow me.” Alex called back. The chainsword on his arm roared to life as Riftwarped Qi poured out of it, trailing behind him in a crackling purple streak. ”Soul Manifestation…”

A flicker of caution passed through the Region Boss’ eyes. It was very rare that something charged something a thousand times more powerful than it without some manner of plan. To do such a thing would be the actions of a complete and utter fool. An aggressor had to have some manner in which they saw themselves coming out ahead.

And so, for a moment, the Gorganaga observed Alex to ensure it was not caught off guard by the little bug that should have been killed in a single strike. It prepared for a Soul Manifestation.

A manifestation that never came.

”…just kidding!” Alex cackled.

He bounded into the air, feeling the wind whip past his hair for one brief, glorious moment before he slammed right into one of the Gorganaga’s heads. Alex drove his whirring chainsword into the monster’s face with a roar.

The buzzing weapon tore through the monster’s scales, Riftwarped Qi slicing deep. Scales shattered and Alex felt his weapon take purchase in something softer. He didn’t have any time to celebrate his victory.

His stomach lurched as he suddenly found himself hurtling through the air. The world streaked past him in a blur. By the time he’d realized the Gorganaga had whipped him off its head, he’d slammed into the trunk of a huge tree.

Alex’s back broke with a loud snap. Pain arced through his body and he let out a ragged wheezing cough. All feeling in the lower half of his body evaporated instantly. He was paralyzed. Princess’ magic squirmed to repair the severe damage, but until it was done, Alex couldn’t do anything but watch.

”Pathetic. You do not even deserve to witness my Soul Manifestation,” the Gorganaga snarled. A small river of blood trickled down the side of one of its heads as a low whine filled the air and a mote of energy lit within its throat.

Alex smiled back at it. He was fine not moving for a little while. His eyes traced the blood as it traveled down the side of the hydra’s face and dripped to the ground — and they traced the blurred form that shot out from the treeline, heading straight for the Region Boss.

He’d gotten Claire her opportunity.

Time to see what her class is really capable of.