Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 343 (Patreon)

Chapter 343 – The Duel

Bargulg struck with a wide, sweeping blow with his chainsword, aiming at the Avatar’s shield arm. Not overextending, but a wide arc to try and claim ground and set the tempo. If his blade chewed through the shield to render it useless, all the better. And if it didn’t? Well, then he would learn that quickly, and be able to adjust.

Indomitable – This item is suffused with the concept of Domination. It cannot be lessened, destroyed, bypassed, or ignored without first dominating the one who wields it.

When the chainsword didn’t shear through the shield, he tried a quick [Appraise Value] on it, but that property was all that he got. It was annoying, but not unexpected. He hadn’t believed for an instant that his Lord would have forgotten something so basic as ensuring that his own defenses could not be stripped away. The first part of domination, after all, was to keep yourself from falling prey to the domination of others.

Still, it wasn’t like his attack had no effect. It was still a solid blow, and the Avatar had to respond to it as such. Even with the block, it should have done some damage. So, he could still win this, so long as he didn’t make a mistake.

The spear thrust forward, as he was pulling back from the swing. A short, quick thrust. He pulled back, but the spear tip grazed his leg armor, just below the knee. Not enough to damage him, or open a weakness in the armor. He had expected a counter, after all.

He stumbled slightly as he got back into his stance. Stumbled? That shouldn’t be. The floor was smooth, and even, despite the tiles. The attack wasn’t strong enough to damage his armor, let alone knock him off balance. Something else was going on, here!

He moved again, testing things. His left leg was heavy. Like the times that he’d practiced fighting in the armor without power, just to ensure he wasn’t screwed if someone managed to disable it. Some had called that level of preparation foolish, or overkill, but it was paying off, now. Somehow, the touch of the spear stopped the armor around his foot from working. Well, it was probably still good as armor, but without the power to help his movements, he was going to be slow. And if he got hit again…

The spear thrust forward again. No time to think, he had to dodge! Sidestepping was cumbersome with one foot effectively feeling like lead, but he could manage this much, now that he knew what was happening. On reflex, he brought the chainsword around, and the spinning teeth of the blade struck the haft of the spear. For half a second, he cursed, afraid that he had just lost his weapon, but the teeth continued spinning, even if they didn’t actually damage the weapon they clashed with.

Indomitable – This item is suffused with the concept of Domination. It cannot be lessened, destroyed, bypassed, or ignored without first dominating the one who wields it.

Domination – All attacks with this spear spread Domination. Magic items struck by the attack become nonmagical for 10 minutes, and limbs hit by the spearpoint do not function for 30 seconds.

He snapped a quick [Appraise Value] on the spear, and again only got bits and pieces, rather than the full report he might normally expect. Still, it was enough. The disabling effect was only on the spear’s point, not the haft, and it looked as though it only applied on attacks, not incidental contact. That meant he had something to work with.

The spear thrust forward again, this time aimed for his chest. No time to evade, and he couldn’t let the spearpoint touch the chest portion of his armor. Had to block. He shifted his arm forward, and conjured the energy shield in his gauntlet. The spear struck the shield, and… the shield held?

Bargulg didn’t think, he just acted. A [Magic Missile] spell was typically one of the earliest spells any offensive mage learned, but it was still used in higher Tiers thanks to its quick cast time, relatively low mana cost, and the fact that it homed in on an enemy automatically. As he jumped back to get some room to work with, a barrage of missiles shot forward, pelting the Avatar. Each one did only a little damage, comparatively, but twenty-one of them, all at once? That was going to hurt.

Or, well, it should have hurt. Unfortunately, the Avatar raised his shield hand, palm out, and a shield of shadow magic sprang into being in front of him. Bargulg just nodded. The some variant of the [Shield] spell was the answer to the [Magic Missile] spell, and was also taken by any defensive-minded mage as soon as they could grab it. It was all right for dealing with most spells and attacks, costing mana equal to the damage prevented, which was why other versions were more frequently used by higher-tier casters, but it specifically negated the different types of [Magic Missile] spells without increased cost. A simple counter for a simple spell.

Like all things, however, there were exceptions to this. The basic [Shield] spell could be negated entirely by [Void Missiles] and forced casters to spend extra mana to defend against Tier 2 elements. The [Shadow Shield] the Avatar used was slightly different. [Shadow Missiles] would slip through it as though it were not there, but [Light Missiles] would explode on contact, with a high chance of a knockback effect.

The Spear was the greatest threat. Oh, he did not doubt that the Avatar had plenty of magic to throw around. However, the Spear was the thing that could instantly turn the tide of the battle. A glancing blow to his helmet, for instance, would disrupt his sensors, and possibly even his air supply, meaning he would have to ventilate, opening him up for other attacks. And that was just one way the weapon could turn this fight on its head. No, he needed to keep his distance, and rely on magic, instead of his blade.

[Trinity Flamethrower] was his next spell. Three jets of flame sprang from his outstretched hand. Dragonflame, Hellfire, and Sanctified Flame, all coiling about as one. It was a high Tier 2 spell, and for good reason. It was a single spell with three elements, and, because of how the spell worked, one would have to be resistant or immune to all three types of flame in order to lessen its damage. Against any [Shield] spell, it would quickly drain the caster’s mana.

Bargulg’s eyes widened as he saw the flames being thrown back at him. No, they weren’t being thrown back, but pushed back! The Avatar charged through the flames, shield in front of him, spear already thrusting!

His wings saved him, a quick flapping allowing him to gain more distance, and fly quickly to another part of the room. He didn’t dare fly too high, or attempt to take refuge near the ceiling. After all, spears could be thrown, as well as carried, and he was far from practiced at dodging while in flight a hit would potentially cripple him enough to end the fight. No, he stayed low, for now.

[Ice Blast], [Lightning Strike], [Earth Crash], [Wind Cutter]. He unleashed a flurry of spells, one after another, each one a different element, doing different damage types, searching for weaknesses, or at least trying to keep the Avatar off balance. There was definitely some effect. He could see the Avatar stagger as the spells hit, so he was definitely doing damage, despite his defenses. But was he doing enough, or would he run out of MP before the end?

He had to do something about the spear. If he could take that out of the equation, then things suddenly got a lot easier. And he had a way that should work, since the Avatar wasn’t some cheating existence that was flatly immune to magic. He could do this. He just needed to get close enough, within the avatar’s guard. If he could do that, then he could change this fight around.

[Quickstep]. One of the few spells he had that was not strictly offensive or defensive. With it, he teleported a few feet, right in front of the Avatar. His blade swung to the side, doing no damage, but managing to knock the spear out of position. He moved closer, into the space opened by his attack. His back was partially turned to the Avatar, but he needed to take this chance.

[Grease]. Another Tier 1 spell, and a ‘non-combat’ one, at that. Though only fools called it a non-combat spell. The normal way to use the spell was to cast it on an area, and let the slick, flammable grease cause everyone to go slipping and sliding about, until someone lit it up. But he was using the alternate version of the spell, casting it on the spear, just as he managed to touch his hand to the haft.

A [Shield Bash] sent him sprawling to the floor, doing more damage than he expected it to. But then, he was facing the avatar of a god, so he probably should have expected more. Either way, when he rolled to his feet, he could see the Avatar smiling, even as he drew his sword.

The Avatar nodded his helmed head in appreciation. “Resourceful, clever, and willing to adapt and change plans on the fly. Yes, I can tell that you have earned your levels the hard way, not just allowed your women to carry you to glory. Not that I had any doubts about that, but it is always good to confirm things for yourself.”

The Avatar launched himself at Bargulg, crossing the gap between them in an instant. The sword crashed against his chainsword, but, as with the spear, there was no sign of damage. The Avatar tried for another shield bash, but Bargulg slipped out of the way, moving to the shield side, using the motion to line his blade up for a vicious strike at the Avatar’s helm, but the avatar moved, and so he struck the shoulder, instead.

For the first time in the fight, his blade struck the avatar true, and, this time, he was rewarded with the sound of metal grinding and shearing metal. The armor wasn’t as protected as the weapons! At least, not at this level of difficulty, which was still in line with the dungeon’s ‘tough, but fair’ theme. And that meant he did serious damage to the avatar!

With newfound purpose, he swung the blade again, but broke off the attack, and raised his blade to block on nothing but his instincts, honed in countless battles. Instincts that proved correct, as the Spear clanged against the side of his chainsword, causing its motor to go silent. The Spear was floating in the air, like the sword in the Arena had done!

With a curse, Bargulg dropped the chainsword, and brought up his energy blade in time to intercept the Avatar’s own blade as he tried to take advantage of the opening. His energy shield shone once more, deflecting the spear, and pushing it away. But another shield bash sent him reeling. The enemy had three weapons, plus magic, to use at his disposal. Now, he only had two.

No, that wasn’t all. He had another weapon, but no hands to use it! Well, magic was useful for such things, anyways. He would have to time it well, and disguise his actions. He would only get one shot at this, after all.

He rolled under the Avatar’s sweeping blade, which ‘knocked the weapon free’. He had to move quickly, as the spear stabbed at where his head had been only a moment before, the tip bouncing off the dungeon stone of the floor. As he rolled to his feet and backed away, defending against the flurry of incoming attacks, he cast the spell that would make or break this fight, another of his rare noncombat spells.

Spear, Sword, and Shield all hounded and harried him as he backed away from the Avatar, fighting defensively as he looked for an opportunity, any opening in the Avatar’s defenses that would allow him to launch a quick strike. He breathed dragonflame at the Avatar, but it was blocked by the shield. No matter, that block allowed him to slip to the side, and strike with the power sword, only for the haft of the spear to swing in and block.

Almost there.

He breathed dragonflame once again, but this time it was a true distraction. The Avatar couldn’t ignore it, however, and the shield came up to block. He made it!

Even as he unleashed the attack that would end this, pain struck him. He looked down, and saw the Spear embedded in his gut. He could no longer feel his legs, as the [Crippled] debuff told him that the spear had severed his spine, just above his tail. It was only the spear itself holding him upright.

There was a roar in the enclosed space, and the Avatar was thrown into him by a mighty blast. Bargulg laughed, before coughing up blood, to see a hole in the avatar, the size of his fist. Behind him, just off center, Bargulg saw the [Mage Hand] spell he’d cast, holding up his Assault Cannon, the barrel still smoking from the shot.

The Spear tilted upwards, allowing Bargulg to slide down its length, and onto the ground, without suffering more damage. With one hand, he pushed himself up enough to see the avatar fall to one knee beside him. The sword fell from his hand.

“Well done, Bargulg Parod, scion of Balreren. You fought well. Considering the terms of our duel, I believe that this would be a draw. A respectable outcome for any mortal when facing an Avatar of a god. You may hold your head high. Once you’ve gotten some healing, of course.”