Zectas Volume IV: The Salubrious City of Centzo (41 page)

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POOF
Smoke, Sierra, Sharur, Laernea, and Ultimo were teleported inside a sealed great hall of the Zuchthaus Labyrinth under Coatl City.
Yet, this great hall was different to the others Smoke had been to, as this one had lesser pillars. They did, however, have torches. This considerably brightened the visibility of the expansive chamber.
Before Ultimo could do anything else, Smoke struck him with his energized staff and damaged him for 100,000 points.
Ultimo firmly planted his feet on the floor, but he was still blown backward while standing.
"That's very impressive," stated Ultimo. "What kind of attack was that? It has been a long time since I've been damage by this much."
"Laernea, Sharur, back away. Leave this to Sierra and Me," ordered Smoke, and paid Ultimo no mind. "Look for an exit instead."
He did a quick search with his eyes, but could not find any doorways. As he realized that this was another part of the labyrinth he had never been to, he wondered how many more sealed chambers like this one existed.
"Don't bother. There isn't one," interjected Ultimo. "This is where the Tenebris made their own preconfigured casting circle," he said, and pointed to the floor.
"Honestly, I was surprised that you had a transference gem as well," Ultimo casually spoke. "From the lack of powerful spells that attacked me during your entrapment, I'm guessing that you only have that one powerful Wizard who created your transference gem."
"Sharur, Laernea, do as much damage as you can, but don't let him get near you," said Sierra and charged at Ultimo.
The Duke of Coatl removed his thick, royal coat and revealed his massive muscles through his plaid shirt. He had no form of armor on him at all. "It has been a long time since my days in the Ladrones del Mundo. I gladly accept your challenge!"
Laernea and Sharur fired their bolts and arrows at Ultimo. However, they only damaged him for less than 200 points.
Ultimo did not bother to block or dodge the ranged attacks. Instead, he held his zweihänder with both his hands and swung it at Sierra.
Sierra parried Ultimo's zweihänder with her ferule, but she was blown backwards. Smoke hurriedly caught him, and avoided a harmful tumble on the floor.
Despite their low damage, Laernea and Sharur kept on attacking.
"Why did you two leave Nanahuatl's safety?" asked Smoke, as the four of them regrouped themselves. "Good thing Igniz wasn't near us when that bastard forcibly transferred us here."
"I don't know what happened myself," answered Sharur hesitantly. "After I saw Sierra rush inside the casting circle, my feet began running towards her."
"I tried to stop Sharur, but it was already too late," meekly added Laernea.
With them staying as far away from Ultimo as possible, the former High Commander of the Ladrones del Mundo kept on taunting them. "Smoke, did you know that I used a transference gem on your beloved Flame Knight, the one called Ilad?"
Smoke paid little attention to Ultimo as he racked his brain for ideas on how to get out of this situation.
"Of course, it was a different casting circle and a different room. I never kept track of which ones the Tenebris made. Unfortunately, I only have two more of these precious gems left," babbled on Ultimo.
"Sierra, can you use your Overgrowth ability on him?" asked Smoke in a hushed voice.
"I've been trying that for a while now, but it seems like the roots can't penetrate through this labyrinth's floor," she replied, annoyed.
"Then, let's just go for a two-two formation," said Smoke. "Sierra, can you cast—"
He was about to ask her to give them some buffs, but she already beat him to it.
Sierra tapped her ferule on top of their heads and small thorns enveloped their body, which gave them a return damage aura. She then casted Archon's Blessing on Smoke, doubling his life and damage for the next two minutes.
"But that bastard is still under my Contrition ability. So, he will still receive increased damage," explained Sierra.
"Alright, let's go!" yelled Smoke and charged at Ultimo.
Smoke and Sierra ran side by side while Laernea and Sharur constantly fired their ranged attacks at the Brandals' final Boss.
The ranged attackers continuously hit their mark, but Ultimo remained unfazed.
Sierra careened blindly towards Ultimo, but was blasted backwards with another full swing from his zweihänder.
However, this was all part of their plan as Smoke suddenly appeared behind Ultimo and delivered a point blank Lightning Strike on his spine.
Smoke successfully struck Ultimo with his surprise attack, but it only harmed Ultimo for 50,000 points.
Ultimo countered with a slash on Smoke's chest, but he was able to avoid it with his Hyper Jump ability at the last second.
"Smoke, you always keep on impressing me, I just can't believe it," bantered Ultimo. "It was a good idea on what you did to Horrabelle, and I bet you thought you could do the same thing with me. Trap me in a chamber, alone. Well, look where we are? Isn't this what you wanted?"
'What I wanted was for you to die outside Nanahuatl!' angrily thought Smoke.
Sharur and Laernea's ranged attacks kept hitting Ultimo, but their damage was barely registering in his life bar. Even Sharur's spiral bolts could not knock him back.
Sierra suddenly appeared from behind Ultimo and was about to hit his back, but Ultimo effortlessly parried her ferule with his sword and slashed her arm. She backed away and used Cure on herself.
With Ultimo still focused on Sierra, Smoke stepped in and struck his chin with Lightning Shock, paralyzing him for three seconds.
Both Smoke and Sierra dished out their attacks on his unarmored body, yet their damage could not go beyond 1,000 points.
"Back off, now!" shouted Smoke.
Ultimo stretched his arms over his head after he recovered from his paralysis. He looked like a man just woken up from a nap.
"Did you think that you could harm me, just because I didn't have any armor on?" questioned Ultimo. "Am I the first Barbarian Warlord that you have ever faced?"
"This guy just doesn't shut up," said an irritated Smoke out loud.
"Fighting a Witch in close range was a brilliant idea, but fighting a Warlord in closed quarters...Well, that's just inviting death," stated Ultimo flatly.
"Argh!" suddenly cried out Ultimo as four bolts struck his back, and impaled themselves deep into his flesh.
Sharur charged his Spiral Pierce attack, while Laernea coated the OrkElf's bolt with a strong poison and anticoagulant. With their joint strike, Ultimo was inflicted with the Poisoned and Bleeding status.
"I guess I shouldn't have underestimated the two of you," said Ultimo, and tried to reach for the bolts. He pulled each one without flinching.
"Your actions have consequences. Prepare to die," said Ultimo calmly and charged for Laernea and Sharur.
However, Smoke stepped in between them and protected them inside his spherical Manatl.
SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD
Sparks came out from each of Ultimo's strike with his zweihänder. Sierra tried to attack him, but Smoke signaled her to stay away.
With both his grip on the gigantic sword, Ultimo's attacks were steadily becoming faster. His sword began to show afterimages of itself, similar to Smoke's weighted chain and sickle.
After a minute of relentless attacks, Ultimo showed no signs of fatigue or becoming out of breath. Yet, Smoke's Manatl displayed cracks of degradation.
"Smoke, what do we do?" asked Laernea as she held on to her long bow and pointed it at Ultimo.
"I'm going to cancel my Manatl, and the two of you run over to where Sierra is," said Smoke calmly.
After giving them a nod, Smoke shouted. "Now!"
He canceled his Manatl, then Laernea and Sharur ran for their lives. Smoke jumped back. With his energized white staff, he charged into the flurry of Ultimo's zweihänder and struck him in the shoulders.
This time, Smoke damaged him for 75,000 points.
Ultimo backed away, and grabbed his injured left shoulder.
"So, that's how it works," said the Barbarian Warlord.
"Let me see you try and stop this," taunted Ultimo and charged at Smoke with another flurry of attacks.
Smoke instantly put up a concave Manatl and held his ground firmly, but suddenly the unceasing attacks stopped.
He searched for Ultimo in front of him, but he found him running over towards Sierra, Sharur, and Laernea.
Sierra transformed into a Werebear and fearlessly charged at him. Ultimo swung his sword at her, but she parried it away with her claws and slashed his arm instead.
"The famous red Werebear," said Ultimo unfazed. "Let's see you block this!"
Ultimo released afterimages of his sword and Sierra braced herself for the imminent slashes, but none of the Barbarian's attack made contact with her.
Smoke appeared in front of Sierra and protected her inside his Manatl.
SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD
Then, Ultimo's attack suddenly stopped. The Barbarian Warlord went after his real targets, Laernea and Sharur.
He threw his zweihänder at them, and it plunged into Laernea's stomach. The lioness Lioumerean slumped down to the floor.
Sharur rushed to Laernea's side and pulled out the Barbarian's sword. "Are you okay? Quick, give me some of your herbs," said the rattled OrkElf.
"I don't think my herbs could do anything for me now," she answered softly.
"Sierra! Sierra!" desperately shouted Sharur. "Come here, Laernea needs you!"
However, it was Ultimo who arrived first. He easily kicked the OrkElf away from Laernea, and picked up his zweihänder.
"Well, hello there, pretty kitten," said Ultimo with a sinister smile. "Want me to take your suffering a—" the Barbarian stopped talking as Smoke's charged staff hit him in the back.
Both Smoke and Sierra arrived at Laernea's side. Smoke hurriedly put up a Manatl sphere while Sierra cured the bleeding Lioumerean.
"Sharur!" Smoke yelled to warn his friend as Ultimo did not bother to attack his Manatl, and directly went after the OrkElf.
Sharur bravely stood his ground and fired his spiral bolts at Ultimo.
Smoke canceled his Manatl, but had not gathered any energy as the Barbarian did not attack his barrier.
Desperate, Smoke used his Hyper Jump ability and collided with Ultimo. The Barbarian Warlord's forward motion made him fall face front.
Two silver golems shortly stood up beside Ultimo. Smoke created them but was left with little mana. His two minions stomped on the grounded Barbarian but dealt insignificant damage.
Meanwhile, Sharur ran over to where Sierra and Laernea were. The red-haired HighElf was still healing the injured Lioumerean.
Laernea's life bar was still not fully restored as Sierra focused on closing her gaping wound.
Smoke switched to his power chainsaw bow and fired poison arrows at the downed Ultimo.
Suddenly, a zweihänder plunged through one of his metallic minions and knocked out the golem's electro stone.
The golem instantly crumbled to the floor.
"You really give me little credit, Smoke," angrily spat Ultimo. "Of course I would know the weakness to Horrabelle's beloved creations."
Ultimo stood up and effortlessly drove his zweihänder into Smoke's second golem.
Smoke retreated to where his friends were. He instantly created a spherical Manatl and protected them. He needed to buy time while he still had no idea how to deal with Ultimo.
SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD
Afterimages of Ultimo's zweihänder came at his barrier once more. This time it took less than a minute for his Manatl to show signs of degradation.
"Sierra, how are we doing back there?" worriedly asked Smoke.
"Laernea's healed," replied Sierra briskly, and casted Druid Archon's Blessing on Smoke once more.
"Alright, everyone retreat to the left," ordered Smoke.
He canceled his Manatl and backed away as before, but this time Sierra Transmogrified into her Werebear form and countered the Barbarian's zweihänder with her claws.
Sierra successfully delivered her Double Slash attack and knocked back Ultimo by two-meters.
Equipped with his energized staff, Smoke jumped behind Ultimo.
THWAK
Smoke delivered a decisive blow to the back of Ultimo's head, revealing his life bar to be (1,424,900/2,100,000 HP).
'I guess this could work,' thought Smoke and quickly joined Sierra and the others.
"How's everyone doing?" asked Smoke.
"We're all fine," added Sierra while clutching her Werebear arm. She had been injured when she countered Ultimo's swords earlier.
"Sierra, you should heal your wound," said a concerned Sharur.
"I can't use my Druid abilities when I'm in my Werebear form," answered Sierra.
"So, what's the plan, Smoke?" asked Laernea while pointing her bow at Ultimo.
"We'll wear him out," briskly answered Smoke. "Laernea, Sharur, you two keep firing at him. But make sure to always stay behind me."
"My attack hurt him earlier too," added Sierra. "I can't just sit still and wait to heal you guys. The best defense is a strong offense."
Smoke wanted to argue with what Sierra said, but he knew that she had no intention of doing anything else.
"Alright, but be care—" Smoke was interrupted by Ultimo as his zweihänder came at him.
Once more, Smoke created a full spherical Manatl.
Less than two minutes passed, and his Manatl showed signs of breaking.