40: Showdown

The Chosen arrived with a wave of divine light, purifying the ambient mana and immediately drawing the attention of the Vexus Boss.

Without hesitation, it disengaged from Goliath, ripping out its claws and tearing out even more of the construct’s body with it. With the influx of corrupted mana slowing, I was able to begin to purge the mana channels, although it would take a great deal of time.

With Goliath in disrepair, there was nothing I could do to help. Considering the amount of corrupted mana inside the golem, it was a possibility that the Chosen would assume the construct had been converted and would need to be dispatched. So I had the golem retreat, moving considerably slower back into the underground chamber it had come from.

Almost immediately, the Chosen engaged with the boss, not hesitating to break out their most powerful attacks right off the bat.

With about thirty people remaining from perhaps a hundred Chosen, their power had already been skyrocketing. The power spread amongst them was slowly concentrating, providing a boost to everyone remaining.

Dain was a good example, as he was technically only level thirty, but functioned on the lower end of level sixty, his abilities and power enhanced by the divine blessing on his shoulder.

This boost wouldn’t be enough to overpower the boss in their current state, but thirty level sixty sapients attacking at once would still do some damage and maybe burn through what corruption remained in the atmosphere as the Invasion Boss continued to regenerate.

As the two sides clashed, the Chosen continued to take losses, one or two at a time, and the giant hound would pick out individuals.

The paladin of the group seemed to grow tired of this, and with a shout, released another wave of divine energy, pushing back at the hound and scorching the beast’s thick fur coat.

Almost instantly, the Vexus began to writhe in pain, swiping at the cause of its annoyance, and with a single wild strike, sliced the man who dared to bother it into ribbons.

In response, at least twelve different skills or spells were used, and hit the monster head-on, their divine mana interacting with the Vexus mana and reacting like potassium in water.

The response was cataclysmic, and while many of the Chosen managed to get to safety or defend themselves, there were still casualties among the sapients.

As the dust settled, in the place of the hound was a small puddle of grey goo. Its body had been completely destroyed by the attack, and the corrupted mana that it had been controlling went completely inert.

And for a single moment, nothing moved. Then, the pile of goo rippled and began to boil like lava in a volcano. Rising from the strange substance came the Boss, and from the look of it, phase two had begun.

The giant hound’s body had been completely replaced, its once somewhat sensible structure replaced by what could only be described as an eldritch horror. Now a mere eight meters tall instead of the fifty, it had a wild assortment of limbs and various structures all across its body. Some made more sense than others, like a pair of wings that stretched outward and would allow it to fly, while other parts of its body were just random organelles pulsing and writhing just underneath the inky grey surface.

It was like evolution had made a mistake, and once its transformation had completed, the ambient mana began to overpower the natural divine energy the survivors were radiating, requiring several of the supports to activity push against it, consuming a great deal of energy.

Although I was unable to physically help, there were likely few beings better at large-scale mana manipulation than me.

Using the Wildlands as inspiration, I summoned an obelisk near the battle and began to actively move a tremendous amount of ambient mana through my aurric channels. Normally, the passive transfer was quite slow, but I could accelerate it if I focused.

Drawing deeply from the obelisks placed in the Wildlands, I stiphoned an incredible amount of mana. If I were able to actually process it, it would skyrocket my generation temporarily, yet that was not my goal.

For the surrounding army and the people of Runehold, even they could see something changing about the battlefield that the Chosen and the Invasion Boss were occupying.

The ever-present auroras formed by my channels merely glowed brighter and brighter, so much so that they could even be seen as the sun began to rise over the horizon.

Hitting the battlefield like a wave of power, the Chosen were nearly thrown off their feet, and the Invasion Boss immediately fixated on the hidden Obelisk, despite the anti-detection barriers in its way.

It was obvious that it had noticed the source, but was still distracted enough that it was unable to destroy my Obelisk. Hesitating for a moment, it turned back to the battle at hand and the small pests at its feet that were constantly growing in power.

The brief moment allowed for the heroes to regain their footing, and while their backline supports were surprised that most of the corrupted mana had been removed from the battlefield, they quickly shifted to casting healing skills and buffs upon the melee combatants, which in turn, saw a dramatic increase in power due to the divine energies coursing through their mana channels.

Continuing to pump an ungodly amount of ambient mana through my channels, the battle seemed to never end. Anytime that the huge boss took damage, it returned fire, either harming or killing one of the Chosen. Sure, it gave the rest a boost in levels and power, but it also meant one more skillset out of play.

Slowly but surely, the party of Chosen was being whittled down.

Feeling the surge in power and rapid gain in levels, a particular prince was growing agitated. I had him and his girlfriend evacuate into a deep bunker far underground with many of the other citizens once the Invasion Boss arrived.

From the way he had begun to pace, it was obvious that he was struggling with his mind, glancing between the ceiling of the bunker and his loved one.

Eventually, after there were only four Chosen left, not including him, he spoke, regret filling his voice and concern in his eyes.

“Gol, I must go. I cannot sit here and let the others fight my battle for me.” He looked to his sweetheart with saddness. “Please care for Saliena for me.” Wrapping her in a hug, he did his best to comfort her, and then, after whispering for a moment in her ear, he stepped away, pulling himself from her tight grasp.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Knowing I was unable to stop him from leaving in his empowered state, even if I wanted to, I acknowledged his decision, “I will. She will be taken care of as long as I stand.”

Nodding in return, Dain activated a skill and, with a surge of light and divine energy, vanished from the bunker, leaving behind a stunned crowd and a crying woman.

Moments later, he reappeared near the remaining three Chosen. Surprised at his appearance, it was obvious they wanted to ask questions, and yet, they didn’t have the time or chance to speak.

Instead, their support simply inclined his head toward the new member and continued to combat the powerful necrotic energies spreading across the battlefield.

Watching as I maintained the flow of ambient mana to push back at the constant waves of corruption, it was an incredible sight.

While I was certainly powerful, especially considering my newly tested capability to animate literal mountains, these Chosen were on a different level.

For the most part, my skills were very broad, and that makes sense to me. In some ways, I am more of a provider and protector. While my abilities certainly have destructive potential, I only have one ‘official’ attacking skill, and that’s the [Crystal Bloom]. The rest of my abilities either require extensive preparation, such as Goliath, or have nothing to do with attacking, like my barriers and area effects.

I didn’t hold a candle to these people.

The surviving front liner was actually similar to the general that slayed the mini-boss, fighting almost entirely hand-to-hand with little assistance other than the occasional heal.

With a blast of energy, I watched as the mishapen form stunned the man within melee range, and despite his allies’ help, he was unable to escape his impending doom.