Chapter 230: Hunger (Patreon)

The death empowered scythe bulldozed through the air as it reached for Coop’s neck. Rather than whistling with speed, it drove through the atmosphere like a semi-truck speeding on a snowy highway. A cloud of dark smoke billowed like a gas fire from the edge while a single streak of razor thin blackness traced the scythe’s exact trajectory from behind. The cloud dispersed into tiny curling waves with the rain helping wash it away.

Coop barely deflected the blow with the lip of his shield, sending it up above his head, and stopping the blade before the curling edge extended to his opposite side. His cheek collided with the inside of his shield despite his effort and he grunted as he stumbled two steps to his right before regaining his balance. There was easily enough Strength powering the blow to compare with his own, despite the lack of form, technique, or skill enhancing the potential. The difference in levels was finally catching up to him, exceeding what his passive skills could offer.

His stumble saved him from being struck by the forward most of six bowling ball-sized orbs that erupted with bassy thumps from the Lich as the scythe struck Coop’s shield. The slow moving projectiles floated at chest height, directly away from the Lich in all directions, equidistant from each other. The dark spheres of marble shadows hovered smoothly, glowing as they collected a ring of golden light on their shells before dissipating 20 yards away. They were clearly reminiscent of the Elite Void Queen’s void spheres, though they were constructed of enigmatic shadow rather than her powerful void mana.

Coop automatically counterattacked, letting muscle memory override his desire to continue assessing his opponent’s strengths and abilities. He thrust his spear forward even while he braced with his back foot. His attack whistled through the air, streamlined with efficiency rather than barreling through the atmosphere like the Lich’s scythe. However, for all of his practiced potency, before the tip of the spear connected with the omnipresent energy shield, a bone lance grew from the ground, like one of the Mushroom King’s spikes, and redirected the blow. Stone pebbles were flung in all directions as the lance shaped obstacle obstructed the spear, causing the ethereal tip to clank against its surface before slipping to the side. The Lich demonstrated an investment in Acumen that rivaled Coop’s Agility and more likely exceeded it.

The scythe cleaved straight through the bone as if it was merely a shadow, sending another plume of black smoke across their forms. The edge of the scythe caught Coop’s spear just below the tip, and cleaved his weapon like it was completely unsolidified mists, adding a demonstration of Agility to his repertoire. A bolt of black lightning followed the strike, arcing into Coop’s extended arms and running through his body into his upper chest with a flash of electricity. Coop flew backwards, unprepared for the potent magical strike. He subconsciously added Intelligence to the rapidly expanding list of the Lich’s formidable attributes. His feet struggled to find a grip on the wet stone while he slid away, leaving sparkling blue motes of electricity dancing in his trail as he hydroplaned across the surface.

The Lich followed even before he came to a stop, hovering like a witch, with a blast of black flames erupting from his feet as he revealed individual abilities taken from the Voice of Kukulkan and the Avatar of Huracan, respectively. He slid the scythe to his side, preparing another lunging horizontal swing that would separate Coop’s torso from his legs, but Coop growled as he leapt further backwards, out of range, and counterattacked with an off-balanced resummoned spear.

Coop barely shifted his body in time as another bone spike appeared at his flank. If not for Presence of Mind, he would have been impaled and completely vulnerable to the Lich’s assault, but he maintained his attack regardless.

The scythe wasn’t a practical weapon, and Coop felt that in isolation, it would be easy to overcome, regardless of any perceived stat difference. If it wasn’t for the powerful shield that protected the Lich, Coop believed he would be in control of the fight through technique alone, despite all of the other tricks being presented. The Lich was crudely powerful and unrefined.

The spear slipped beyond the backswing of the scythe, striking the Lich’s shield and sending a gout of miasmic mana from the other side, adding to the billowing smoke clouds that swirled around the two combatants. The Lich spared him an amused smile as he settled down, abandoning his pursuit in order to tap the end of his scythe on the ground. A pair of triangular zones of gray highlighted two quarters of the arena, forward and backward from the Cult leader’s position.

Coop slid to the side, exiting the pie shaped danger area just before hundreds of shadowy hands erupted from the nether within the active zone. The hands desperately clawed at the air, ripping and tearing as they blindly sought a target. As soon as they disappeared, the other two quarters darkened, repeating the effect.

The Lich calmly strode forward as Coop circled him. The Undead Chosen was content to make the Revenant dance to a repeating pattern that remained centered upon his position. It was obvious that the Lich also understood the gap between their stats, and it made him feel comfortable.

As Coop continued to dodge the danger zones, the Lich lunged forward again, dragging the quarters with him while utilizing the Avatar of Huracan’s speed boost. He slammed the scythe into Coop’s shield with a sick grin on his face. Six of the Void Queen’s orbs shot out again, just as another pair of the Tidesinger’s altered zones exploded with grasping shadows. Even as Coop twisted away, a bone spike shot from the ground in front of him, like a calcified anti-cavalry Mushroom King lance.

Coop barely avoided being wounded once again, twisting his hips far enough to dodge the spike, but he really was outmatched. He couldn’t just compare weapons and call it a day. The level gap was overwhelming. Mindbender couldn’t help him, because Coop was unsure what he needed. More speed, strength, magical defense, physical defense, firepower: what would it take? Sadly, everything was probably the answer. The Lich just gazed upon him as if it was about time he understood his place. 

“This is the difference between you and I.” The Lich taunted, letting Coop dance between zones of shadow hands while he stood still, spectating Coop’s struggle. “I have coalesced what little power lingers within the weakness of humanity and formed something greater.”

Chakyum raised his scythe and lines of the Voice of Kukulkan’s lightning struck, banging the ground in a cascade out from his position, forming a cross that cut the safe areas in half. Coop dove out of the way, sliding right up to the active section of grasping hands, teetering over the edge. Countless hands reached and clawed up toward him before he recovered his balance.

“Humans are perfidious creatures. Unreliable.” The Lich continued, amused by Coop’s struggle. He raised his scythe into the air once again. “It’s time to evolve.”

Streaks of black flame rained upon the alternating zones, and as the stone heated up, the rain sizzled, adding steam to the black smoke. Coop was forced to drift even further away from melee range. The area immediately surrounding the Lich became a blender of mixed magical attacks as he incorporated a single aspect of each of his minions’ abilities into his own.

“You see now, don’t you?” Chakyum sincerely wondered. “This is the way for humanity to shed its frailty.”

Coop defiantly planted his foot and threw his spear at the Lich, a visceral grunt was his vocalized response. The ethereal missile temporarily cleared the rain from the air, becoming a blur as it cut through the atmosphere. The Lich didn’t even react when it blasted his shield, sending an enormous miasmic plume of mana away from the collision before the rain returned. The Undead Chosen grinned at Coop, amused.

“You’re not human at all.” Coop stated, weakly accusing the Lich of some inherent betrayal.

The Lich laughed sharply. “Of course not. I have become something better.” He shook his head. “What does humanity have to offer? What can humans add that mana cannot?”

Coop wanted to answer with vague concepts like innovation or determination, and wield them like a shield, but he felt it was a weak response without being able to back it up. Coop’s build was empowered by human experience pulled from history as recorded by the system and accessed through the mists. The Lich had based his on human experience pulled from mana, and at the moment, the cult leader was demonstrably more powerful.

Coop was frustrated. He summoned his heaviest morning star, increasing the density to its maximum. In the moment, he wanted nothing more than to break that shield and prove something undefinable about where they had all come from, and how it empowered them. Without the impenetrable defense protecting the Lich, he thought they could actually compare strengths and weaknesses.

He planted his feet, feeling the weight of his mace anchor his stance, and shot forward, digging into the stone as he propelled himself through the rain. He envisioned the five steps necessary to cover the distance precisely just as the zones rotated and gave him a clear path.

His first step blasted him forward, even faster than his thrown spear, already shifting the morning star forward to help pull him along. On the second step, he shifted to the side with the enormous weight of his weapon helping counterbalance his body, utilizing the motion to bypass a bone spike in the instant that it broke the surface of the ground. He was already out of the way before it sprouted beyond ankle height, anticipating the counter before he started his rush. On his third step, he summoned an ancient warrior ahead of himself, squeezing his fingers against the ponderous weapon. A gleaming knight slammed his own steel mace into the Lich’s shield, sending a cloud of miasmic mana into the air. On his fourth step, a black bolt of lightning froze the phantasm’s form as the ghost was predictably countered by the magic of the Lich.

Coop exploded through the knight-shaped mists, planting his fifth step carefully. His final step was perfect, securing a stable base as he slammed his foot at the ideal distance to transfer his momentum into a flawless strike guided by the experience of his Haunted title. The ethereal morning star arced through the air, tearing through the smoke and rain, bearing down upon the Lich with inevitability. Coop’s muscles rippled beneath his armor as Mindbender poured his stats into Strength, finally compelled to act with a clear subconscious intent.

Coop roared as the mace cleared the scythe and smashed into the shield, inches from Chakyum’s unamused, pale face. Mana exploded in all directions, sending a mushroom cloud of black smoke far into the sky and a tidal wave of ethereal mana across the surface of the temple that billowed down the stepped sides before gliding along the surface of the lake like a sudden fog bank had been dropped on the structure.

Coop hoped to knock the Lich down and pummel his shield, reusing the tactic that had eventually worked on the Elite Void Queen, but the Lich didn’t even feel a breeze from the enormous strike. Instead, Coop felt the reverberation of all of his considerable Strength threaten to shake the flesh loose from his bones. He squeezed his mouth shut to withstand the feedback. Chakyum’s defense finally landed, retaliating with the back of the metal scythe. Thankfully, he was unable to shift the clunky blade around in time before Coop landed his strike, but the simple move forced Coop to improvise.

Coop Vaporformed, shifting one step to the right, reforming with his mace already over his shoulder in a batter’s swing aimed for the Lich’s head. Coop threw caution to the wind, fully exerting himself in the hope that he would rise to the occasion like so many times before, despite the thousands of levels that separated the two.

Another mushroom cloud erupted, this time from an angle, following the trajectory of Coop’s swing, disturbing the previous cloud. The shield absorbed the strike and sent the energy back into Coop’s arms while expelling mana into the sky. Coop clenched his jaw, letting go of his weapon with a flick before the vibration freed it from his weakening grip on its own.

The Lich moved to wield his scythe in another counter, this time with the tip of the blade aimed at Coop’s neck, but Coop was already gone. He mistjumped to the mace after the handle flipped a single time, appearing on the opposite side of the Lich, skipping one slice of the zone of danger. With a roar, he planted a third meteoric strike upon his opponent’s head.

Dark mana smoke billowed from the temple like it had become an active volcano. Only Coop could see that the green energy shield had held strong. His muscles screamed as he recoiled the mace in an effort to double tap the Undead Chosen, but the rear end of the scythe caught him in the chin before he could continue his assault.

At the same time, a phantasm had leapt from the mists where Coop had been on the previous strike, slamming his own ghostly morning star against the back of the Lich’s knees. However, a black flame erupted from the end of the scythe, scorching Coop’s neck as he was flung backwards. The misty summon evaporated in the backdraft. Coop rolled once before returning to his feet even further from the Lich than where he started his assault, slightly worse for the wear. As long as the Lich could withstand Coop’s onslaught, the culmination of his skills and experience, he had no chance.

The Lich raised his smoking scythe forward, raising his voice in excitement as the ripples in his shield gradually diminished. “I am an Archlich of the Unspeakable! The Lord of Death on Earth! I will make sure that your death is not the end. Swear an Oath to me, and I will give you the purpose that you seem to lack.” The Lich lowered his head to face Coop directly, eyes billowing with dark green energy, and pale skin glistening in the hazy atmosphere that engulfed the temple. His body was partially obscured by the smoke as it slowly drifted away. “Otherwise, I will simply add you to my collection.”

The Lich stepped forward, alternating zones of shadow framing his path. “You, the supposed strongest in the world, are unevolved and weak.” He taunted, stepping through the thick smoke that hid the rain, happy to continue their bout if Coop so desired. “It is obvious which of our paths is correct, given you are all that humanity has to offer.”

Coop took a deep breath, confirming that he wasn’t significantly injured by the black flame blast while he reconsidered how to approach this opponent. The fact that Chakyum was continually trying to recruit him didn’t even register in his mind as he completely ignored the spiel of the Lich. Instead, he concentrated on the fact that the Lich was clearly not a warrior. He was a caster, a summoner, and Coop was focused on thinking of a way to take advantage of the mismatch in skill.

Meanwhile, the Empowered Bone Titan had forced its way across the lake, away from the temple, sending waves sloshing over the banks. Tzultacaj was distinctly apparent. The leader of the Jaguar Sun had climbed on top of the enormous minion’s shoulder like a glowing purple flea. He was slamming his empowered axe against an individual neck vertebrae in an unceasing struggle to put his opponent down. Coop sent him some silent encouragement, feeling a kinship with the stoic warrior with the Inheritor class. Neither of them would give up, but Coop felt like he still had more avenues to explore.

Coop heaved his ultra heavy morning star onto his shoulder, feeling the impossible weight dig into his skin. Could he beat the Lich at his own game? A spellcaster Apparition might be the key to overcoming the gap in abilities. While Coop was worried about being vulnerable at the end of a possession, the words of the Lich finally registered and were the encouragement he needed to go through with it.

What did humanity have to offer? It obviously wasn’t just Coop.

“I’m just some guy.” Coop muttered to himself, shaking his head slowly. He met the Lich’s glowing eyes, scowling as his resolve built. “Let’s see what humanity actually has to offer.” He suggested.

Coop hoped he would be possessed by the Grim Reaper. He wondered how the mythological personification of Death itself would react to the Lich’s impersonation, but anything powerful enough to put the Cultleader in his place would do. He dumped mana into a series of phantasms, not wanting to waste any of his remaining resources before Inheritance reserved half of his pool. Legacy of the Mists provided a cascade of misty warriors, dancing from the smoke all around the Lich. The beat of their morning stars colliding with the shield established an unsteady rhythm as Coop cast Inheritance of the Mists.

Coop’s perception slowed down as the changes began and the buffs and debuffs applied. However, this time, his mind was invaded by the presence of the Apparition with little warning. It was completely unmitigated in its eagerness. Rather than the precise touch of the Battlemaiden, his very existence was slammed by the possession.

A being of pure maddening darkness had taken notice of Coop, despite his irrelevance. It was old and it was hungry.