Rune Seeker

Chapter 55: King Of The Swamp

Dynamic Quest

You’ve trespassed on his land and slain his beloved queen.

He will now pass judgment.

Survive.

Hiral slapped the notification aside as the King stalked over to his fallen queen, the ground shaking with each step. A low, long croak crawled up his throat and vibrated through the air, a combination of loss and anger building as he nudged the giant snake’s body.

“Plan?” Nivian asked. “That’s going to be like fighting a building. Are we even going to be able to hurt it? Its scales look like shields.”

“I have a plan,” Hiral said. “Left, Right, come here.” As soon as the two doubles got to him, Hiral reabsorbed them into himself, and then immediately used Foundational Split. “You guys got it?”

“You’re crazy,” Right said. “I like it.”

“And just like that, you know his plan?” Wule asked.

“Faster and easier than explaining. It looks like our time out is finished.” Hiral pointed to the giant lizard turning in their direction, its scales literally turning from normal green to a vibrant and violent red.

“Aaaaaand it looks pissed,” Yanily said. “What’s the plan?”

“Like the dynamic quest said—survive,” Hiral said, pulling Left and Right back into himself, then sprinting forward as the lizard began to lumber in their direction. If it was anything like the smaller lizards, it would be capable of huge bursts of speed, so Hiral needed to get to it first.

Of course, even if I get to it, my plan could very well get me killed.

“Don’t be reckless!” Seena shouted behind him, but then Nivian was beside him.

“You need to get close?” the tank asked.

“Yes,” Hiral said.

Nivian’s shape blurred and stretched ahead as he used his movement ability. Within a heartbeat, he was in front of the lizard, and a notification appeared in front of Hiral’s eyes.

Nivian wishes to bring you to his position with Swarm Tactics

Accept? Yes / No

Hiral hit Yes without hesitation, and reality warped and then kind of burped around him, and he found himself right in front of the massive lizard as it took a step in his direction.

“I don’t have enough solar energy to do that again, so make it count,” Nivian said, running off to the side and lashing his whip up at the lizard’s gigantic head.

“I will,” Hiral promised, dashing toward the lizard’s left side.

Like its smaller brethren, the beast was covered with hundreds of spikes, the ones down its legs and shoulders too close together to climb, and far too sharp to risk it. Even the usual softer underbelly looked heavily plated, and there was always the danger the lizard would simply fall on anything attacking it from below. No, the only area where it looked safe to attack from and there was space for something as big as Hiral to fit was up on its back.

“Here we go,” Hiral said half to himself, and half to his doubles, even though they would know what he was thinking as soon as he thought it anyway.

The lizard’s back was too high to reach even with the aid of his Rune of Rejection, so he was going to need to get a bit creative. Slowing just a half-step, Hiral activated his Foundational Split—only putting one percent into each copy—and his doubles peeled off him to sprint ahead. No more than a few feet in front of him, they skidded to a stop and then leaned in to lace their fingers together.

Hiral leapt forward, his foot landing perfectly in their cupped hands, and they launched him into the air.

Still not enough. Hiral pulled his legs up, aimed his right arm toward the ground, and triggered his Rune of Rejection. The burst pushed him even higher into the air, but the angle wasn’t right—he’d miss the lizard—so he cancelled his summons of Right. The tattoos appeared on his right half immediately, and then Hiral initiated Foundational Split yet again.

This time, though, instead of Right peeling off to the side like he usually did, Hiral forced the separation down his back. The double practically rolled off him from the shoulders, across his back, and then his legs, until only the soles of their feet were touching, almost like Hiral was standing on a reverse mirror of himself.

Then they both pushed.

Right shot for the ground at the same time Hiral arced up and over the lizard’s back. He had the momentum and the angle, but then the lizard changed direction to follow Nivian. And that left Hiral falling directly toward the pointy ends of all the spikes.

Using his Rune of Attraction would just hurtle him even faster into the waiting spikes, so Hiral quickly cancelled his summons of Left, then initiated Foundational Split as soon as the tattoos reappeared. This time, when Left formed, Hiral pushed him away to the side of the lizard with his Rune of Rejection, then subsequently activated his Rune of Attraction.

Focusing on his own movement, Hiral yanked himself toward Left, then twisted in the air and again used his Rune of Attraction, this time on the side of one of the King’s biggest spines.

“Oof,” he grunted, slamming into the side of the spike almost as big as he was. Better than spearing myself on it.With a thought, he cancelled both Left and Right, then called them to his side again with Foundational Split.

“That was crazy,” Right said.

“And reckless,” Left added. “Seena will be… annoyed.”

“Not after we kill this thing,” Hiral said, already moving through the forest of spikes toward the front shoulders of the beast. “You know what to do.”

“You got it,” Right said, his fist glowing with purple energy, and the Lashing Vines on his shoulders already slapping ineffectually at the lizard. Then, without another word, the double moved ahead of Hiral, toward the head.

“Cooldown time left on Banner of Courage?” Hiral asked.

“Just a few seconds,” Left said.

“Make sure you can get both of us, so move ahead a bit,” Hiral said.

Left nodded and moved off, leaving Hiral alone, just slightly back from the thing’s shoulders.

This looks like a good place to…

Powerful muscles under the heavy scales shifted, and Hiral dropped to his knees and activated his Rune of Attraction just in time as the beast surged ahead like an arrow. The wind whistled past Hiral and lifted his legs from the lizard’s back, his body flapping in the wind while he focused on keeping his left palm glued to one of the large scales.

Then, just as fast as the King had accelerated, it stopped, hurling Hiral forward. Shoulder screaming in pain at the treatment, he had no choice but to cancel the hold of his rune and slam into the side of one of the large spikes.

Falling to the King’s back on his head with a grunt of pain, Hiral flipped himself over and again activated his Rune of Attraction. Judging by the movement of the beast under him, it was attacking the other party members on the ground—he didn’t have time to dally.

I hope Left and Right are okay, but I can’t worry about them. I need to do my part.

Taking his RHC in his right hand, Hiral pressed it against the back of the King of the Swamp’s back and pulled the trigger. The scale beneath the weapon bent but didn’t break, so he pulled the trigger again. And again.

Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

Just how strong is this damn thing?

A dome of shimmering light rolled across the lizard’s back—and Hiral—a moment later, and then a purple pillar of flame leapt toward the sky.

I guess Left and Right are okay after all.

You have been buffed by Banner of Courage

Critical Strike Rate increased by 5% for 180 seconds.

Critical Strike Damage increased by 25% for 180 seconds.

Minor Healing Over Time for 180 seconds.

Minor Shielding granted for 180 seconds.

Immune to Fear and Fear-like effects for 180 seconds.

Solar Absorption Rate increased by 1 Rank for 180 seconds.

A quick check on his buffs showed the banner buff stacked with the food buff, and then Hiral pulled the trigger on his RHC again. The scale beneath the barrel cracked on the first shot, but he wasn’t anywhere close to done.

Holding on with his Rune of Attraction while the lizard attacked his party, Hiral pulled the trigger as fast as the weapon’s cooldown would allow. Four shots later, the scale blasted into small fragments, and he pushed the barrel of the weapon against the King’s exposed flesh.

And then… he. Just. Kept. Pulling.

Blood geysered out like he struck oil with every blast, each successive shot drilling deeper and deeper into the back of the lizard. Occasionally, he got shifted around as the great beast moved, but all that did was widen the hole he was blasting open.

At the head of the beast, two more pillars of purple flame reached for the sky, but then the lizard jerked to the side. That didn’t matter—Hiral was up to his elbow in the lizard’s back, and he didn’t dare spare the time to worry about his doubles. His party needed him. Without the protection of the thick scales, his RHC tore the lizard apart from the inside.

Six more shots and he was lying flat against the great King, his arm all the way up to his shoulder inside the horrific wound, green blood shooting up with every pull of the trigger, and his face covered in it. Another shot, and the lizard staggered, then stumbled to the side.

Hit something important, huh?

CROAAAAAAK! The great lizard bucked its back end up. Hiral held on for dear life with his Rune of Attraction. The landing whooshed the air out of his lungs as he slammed down, and then the lizard’s front end hopped into the air. Back down, and another smash against the lizard’s back, sending black specks floating across Hiral’s vision. But he was still holding on, so he did the only thing he could: He pulled the trigger.

Blood gushed up his arm as the lizard leapt straight up into the air, the speed of the jump pressing Hiral hard against its back and burying his face in the open wound. Thick, coppery liquid forced its way up his nose and into his mouth, and then there was a second of weightlessness.

Hiral floated atop the back of the King of the Swamp, one hand stuck inside the sucking wound, the other firmly attached via his rune. The sky stretched out to the sides, and he barely caught a glimpse of the insidiously dark briar patch off to the side before the lizard beneath him began to drop. Connected as he was to it, Hiral had no choice but to go along for the ride until the landing once again drove him hard into the lizard’s back.

He coughed out the air in his lungs as his face smooshed into the open wound, blood bubbling and spattering from his body ejecting his breath. Consciousness was getting harder to hold on to, and even one more slam like that last one would definitely break his concentration on his rune. Frankly, it was a miracle he’d held on as long as he had. He needed to either end this now or do enough damage the party could finish things from the ground.

He started firing like mad.

The King of the Swamp let out a wet-sounding croak, then dropped down to the ground with a thud that compressed Hiral’s already-punished lungs and rattled his bones. But, since the blood was still warm—still moving across his arm—Hiral kept pulling the trigger.

Time became an incoherent concept. It didn’t slow down or speed up, or even stop. It just… didn’t matter. The Banner of Courage faded somewhere along the way, but it wasn’t like he needed the critical bonuses by that point anymore. There was only Hiral and the trigger of his RHC. He pulled and pulled and pulled until, finally, something tapped him on the shoulder. One more blast—just to be sure—and Hiral turned his blood-soaked head to the side.

Left stood beside him, one eyebrow raised, then pointed at the gaping hole in the King’s back. “I think you missed a spot.”

“Is it dead?” Hiral asked wearily, then checked his solar energy capacity.

Three percent. He’d used almost his entire reserve sticking to the lizard’s back and firing his RHC.

“It’s been dead a while,” Left said. “Right and I both got knocked off, though, so it took us some time to get back up to tell you.”

“The others?” Hiral asked, pulling his arm out of the thick, goopy blood with a sucking pop.

“Minor injuries. Wule is taking care of them. The King seemed to have a lot of health, and speed in a straight line, but the party used hit-and-run tactics. Not much damage done to the King, but they mostly stayed out of danger. Your plan worked.”

Hiral looked down at himself where he sat—he was practically covered head to toe in green blood—then back up at Left. “That’s great. Just wish I had planned this part of it a bit better.”