Chapter 48 – Lair of the Beast.

Crystal fired off a series of shots with her gun, the drones careening off course and plummeting to the ground. Briefly taking in her surroundings, she took aim, firing again, Fairweather behind her firing another shot with her crossbow. Saylin was right, the Old City was beautiful, more so than any that she had seen in her time, but she didn’t really have the opportunity to pay much attention to it at the moment. While the drones weren’t particularly well armoured, and hence easy enough to take care of, there was just so many of them, and they were annoying. Crystal was guessing that this was the first time in a while, or perhaps ever, that Bowser had deployed them, hence the sheer numbers.

It was definitely Bowser controlling them too. She could feel the power of the leyline underneath her, and she could feel his influence throughout it. What little she knew of Channellers pointed out that they had to touch what they were channelling the mana into it, but obviously Bowser had found a way to keep them connected after the initial powering. At least it meant that once they were down, the drones wouldn’t be getting up again. While a few did appear to have guns attached to them, most of them either packed explosives, grappling limbs or stun weapons. Plus a few other random surprises. The most important thing was to deal with as many of them as they could, as quickly as possible, before they became a real issue.

The drones had started harassing them as soon as they had driven through the gate. Given that Old City was still just that, part of the city, there was no reason not to keep driving for as long as they could, and so they had. After the initial assault, where they had been pelted with explosives and poisonous gas (which Saylin had quite easily neutralised with her magic, something that she pretty much did with her concoctions in the first place), Crystal and Fairweather had climbed onto the roof of the van to keep them at bay.

‘Two at four, one at ten.’

Crystal twisted to her right, loosing off another couple of shots, the array on her hand glowing as she did so. Rachael had done an awesome job with the gun. Well, it was technically just had the shape and that was all, but as a conduit for the array it was perfect. Not to mention that Rachael had put a lot of love into it, the form of the gun itself a dragon, the shots coming out of it’s mouth, folded back wings the barrel. The only downside was that with the amount of use it was getting at the moment it heated up very quickly, and at some point she’d want to look at other options for a base material. Even with her magic she didn’t appear to be able to completely circumvent the whole issue around guns. She had her orbs of light as backups, currently lazily orbiting around her.

“Any sign yet?” Crystal asked of her cat-fox, who was somehow managing to stay on the top of the van with her. While both her and Fairweather were using reinforcement magic, Spectre just seemed to have his tiny claws dug into the armour of the van.

‘We’re still scanning the area. Saylin was right, there’s a real lack of any life in most of the area, so he’ll be easy to spot. I’ll let you know when we do.’

The plan was that they would just head towards the centre of Old City, as that was the most likely place for Bowser to be. Once they knew where he or Vorsce was then they’d adjust as needed.

Crystal and Fairweather crouched as the van skidded around a corner, and straight into a swarm of the drones that appeared to only just be activating. Crystal grinned, fuelling magic into herself as her wings and tail materialized. Tapping on the roof of the van, signalling Rachael to slow down, she holstered the gun, and summoned her weapons. She still couldn’t quite fly yet, but her wings would still help her here. Launching herself into the middle of the drones, Crystal fed magic into her blade, swinging it in an arc, slicing clean through the drones as they started to fall around her, her shield or orbs deflecting their attacks. Using both her wings and her momentum, Crystal pushed off the hull of one, sweeping into her next attack. Fairweather leapt up behind her, her ethereal twin tails tearing through the drones as she bounced from one to the next.

‘Found them. Both together, Vorsce is still alive, signal is quite weak due to distance. If wasn’t for the leylines we wouldn’t have found them at all. Two blocks away, is the central tower. However the surrounding roads all have traps. We will have to go through them.’

Crystal and Fairweather landed back on the roof of the van with a thud, the remaining drones retreating and moving out of reach. Crystal dismissed her weapons, crouching down again.

“Let’s do this.”

Rachael put her foot down on the accelerator, the van surging forward again, the drones still staying out of reach. The area had indeed been very well maintained. The road was in perfect condition, litter free (apart from broken drone pieces), small trees evenly spaced along both sides. The buildings were definitely aged, but in better condition than any others that Crystal had seen, a few even sporting tidy displays in the store fronts. Though those were a little creepy for an area that was out of bounds for almost everyone.

The was an audible shink as the road ahead of them took on a glossy sheen, twenty meters of it suddenly covered spikes. The van slowed down, Rachael stopping it just shy of the blockade.

“There is no way the van is getting across that,” Rachael stated, hopping out of the van on to the road. “Guess we’re jumping or flying over, then walking.”

“Seems like it,” Crystal agreed. Twenty meters wasn’t much for them, even Clocky would be able to make that from the back of the van. Saylin and Abigail on the other hand hadn’t had the training.

Rachael manifested her wings and tail, launching herself into the air and at some of the closest drones, her kicks sending them careening through the air and shattering on the walls of the buildings. The remaining drones retreated even further away.

“Think she was missing out?” Saylin said with a cheeky grin, as they all extracted themselves from the back of the van. Abigail was still lying over the back of the larger of the Grazeye’s, but she was looking a little more focused now.

“Perhaps,” Crystal admitted. It had been somewhat satisfying sending the tin cans to oblivion. “Rachael can help you across,” she then added, grinning back.

“Let’s keep moving then,” Myne said. “I’ll take the cats.”

The Grazeyes were surprisingly submissive. Peeling Abigail off the back of the cat, Crystal took her in her arms and jumped back on top of the van, while Myne picked up the first of the cats. Cradling her like a princess, Crystal ran and leapt off the back of the van, pushing a little extra mana into her jump. Not that she probably needed to with her wings already out, landing well clear of the other side.

“You smellsh nice,” Abigail murmured as Crystal attempted to put her down. She wasn’t quite there yet it appeared. Crystal draped Abigail back over the back of the Grazeye.

Clocky and Fairweather made the jump with ease as well, Saylin running over to Abigail as soon as Rachael put her down, and Myne returning with the last Grazeye.

“And we have more company,” Saylin sighed, lining up the crossbow that she was still carrying, loosing a bolt at one of the shambling figures that had come out from between the buildings. It embedded itself in the figures head, but it just kept moving. A dozen or so followed it out.

“Just great.” Saylin tossed the crossbow back to Fairweather, pulling a vial out from her bandoleer.

“I thought you were just support?” asked Rachael with amusement.

“I have a princess to watch over now,” Saylin said with a smile.

Ignoring that a bolt to the head hadn’t dropped them, there was something off about the figures. They were all dressed in plate, a sickly red glow emanating from the joints in the armour. And they weren’t walking, it was definitely a shuffle, as if they were having issues getting their feet off the ground. They wielded a variety of weapons, Crystal spotting swords, maces, axes and even a polearm.

“They’re already dead, aren’t they?” Crystal finally stated. And Bowser was animating them. She could feel the pull on the leylines again, but they certainly weren’t machines or technology, and there also wasn’t any blood from the head wound.

‘Correct on all accounts I believe.’

a waste of potential.

once, they would have fought bravely,

now naught but a shell.

“If they aren’t, they will be soon.” Saylin held the vial loosely in one hand, arcs of purple energy flowing all over her, before she tossed it as hard as she could into the midst of the shamblers. The explosion pushed Crystal back a little, pieces of the one the vial landed on and the two directly beside it raining down everywhere, the rest of the shamblers strewn away from the epicentre.

The remaining whole shamblers then started getting up again. No surprises there.

“Bah,” Saylin pouted, drawing another vial. The next explosion left a sizeable crater in the ground, and another three unable to rise.

“No wonder your lab exploded,” Rachael observed. “We’ll deal with the rest.”

Crystal joined Rachael in doing so. The drones had been a lot more interesting than the shamblers. While they might have posed a threat to normal people, perhaps even touched, they weren’t to them. Sure they took a lot of hits, but the shamblers were slow and uncoordinated, their attacks easy to avoid, and their weapons easily disarmed (at which point they usually tried to bite or claw at them). Rachael sent most of them into the field of spikes behind the group, who took the hint and moved off to the side after the first one when flying, while Crystal worked at disabling their joints. Just removing the head wasn’t enough she discovered after the first one, but once they were fully unable to move the animating magic abandoned them.

“Blood magic,” Myne commented, looking at the inside of a section of the armour she had removed from one of the fallen shamblers, before turning it around and showing it to them. There were arrays etched inside, but they were crude, with a whole lot of runes that made Crystal feel sick.

“This knowledge should not be out here,” Myne continued with a frown. “He’s not alone in this, these arrays are too complete, and familiar.” She then tossed the plate back on top the shambler it had come from, before engulfing them all in her flames.

There was nothing particularly special about the alley that the shamblers had come out of. It was dull, narrow, and smelled cleaner than it should, but that was about it. At a guess, Crystal would have said that they had probably just been stationed there in wait for an occasion such as this. The bodies though hadn't decayed at all, so they probably weren't that old either. Not something that she really wanted to dwell on at the moment.

They continued to run down the street, the central tower coming into view. It was impressive, she would give it that. It was the tallest building in Old City, as far as she could tell, and it's exterior was entirely tinted glass. Unlike many of the building that she had briefly seen as they had made their way through the city, including here in Old City, there were no walkways connecting it to any of the others. On the outside at least, it stood alone.

A sudden pull on the mana of the leyline brought her attention back to the immediate surroundings. Windows shattered above them, glass raining down all around them as a large machine dropped down from the third story a little further along the road, a hiss of hydraulics as it slammed into the ground before raising itself up to its full height. It towered over them.

It looked like a crude bipedal mech, something out of an early science fiction movie or game, a collection of large metal boxes forming it's body, with heavily armoured panels where a pilot could sit, a pair of arms on the side wielding a sword and shield as well as hand mounted cannons, thick reverse jointed legs, and a pair of unusual designed rotating gatling guns mounted on its head. Unlike the shamblers, this things seemed a lot more agile and responsive as the body twisted, the rotating guns starting to spin up.

"%#&#. Spread out, don't get hit by that." Clocky yelled urgently, drawing his sword as he moved off to the side.

“What is it?” Crystal asked.

“It’s looks like a defence bot, but it can’t be...”

‘It is indeed based on similar designs...’ Spectre also sounded a little worried. Likely about the connotations of its existence.

Drawing her gun again, Crystal loosed a few shots at the mounted guns as she started running closer, the mech blocking the shots with its large shield.

"Let me guess, since they don't use gunpowder they're not governed by the same curse?" she asked.

"Exactly."

Clocky had his sword out, Fairweather’s ethereal tails trailing behind her as she moved with him. Saylin and Abigail had moved to the other side of the road, Saylin charging another vial in her hands, while Abigail stood, hand on the taller of the Grazeyes.

"I'll distract it. Rachael, they're all yours."

Crystal fired off another couple of shots, the mech again blocking them with the shield as the other gatling gun whirled into action, tearing up the road beside her. Crystal dodged to the side, stone shrapnel pelting her as she moved, the spray of bullets following her. Pushing herself back and up with her wings, she attempted to fire more shots, her aim off with the mech reacting too quickly.

And then the hail of bullets stopped, the gun slowing down while the second one started speeding up.

“It’s overheated. You have a small window to work with.’

The mech started to advance towards them, Crystal landing and starting to sprint towards it. Holstering the gun, she summoned her weapons, the floating orbs sending beams of light straight into what she hoped was the cockpit of the mech. There was a slight delay before the mech twisted, gatling gun whirling fully to life and tearing up a path straight for her. Drawing magic into her shield and recalling the orbs back to her, she half attempted to dodge out of the way. The bullets glanced off her shield, the force of the impact throwing her like a rag doll off to the side. Using her wings, she quickly stabilized herself, skidding to a halt beside Saylin. Her arm hurt a little, but the shield hadn’t taken any damage at all, and at least she now had an idea of what the payload was like.

Rachael slammed into the top of the mech, fist impacting with the cooling gatling gun. Metallic shrapnel flew everywhere, the mech pushed off balance as its bullet arc washed over Crystal and tore up the wall of the building, before the second gun also slowed down, its firing stopping. There was a bright flash as its entire body lit up, arcs of blue energy coarsening over it, Rachael jumping clear just in time.

“Heh. It even has close range defences.” Rachael said, somewhat amused as she hovered above it, the mech jumping back to try and get her into view.

“Throw this!” Saylin yelled, passing Crystal a pulsating vial.

Crystal grimaced, dismissing her weapons and taking the vial from Saylin, almost panicking knowing what she was handling. Dashing forward, she hurled it as hard as she could towards the mech.

The explosion unbalanced the mech, pushing it back, the arcs of blue energy ceasing. Rachael took the opportunity, slamming into the other gatling gun before then jumping back again as the energy returned.

‘A rudimentary defence, but it’ll still bite.’

The mech righted itself, jumping towards them, landing with a hiss far too close for comfort to Crystal, Saylin and Abigail, sword swinging down as it pointed the hand mounted cannon on the shield arm directly at Saylin. Crystal recalled her sword and shield, reinforcing them both as she deflected the mechs sword away from her and into the ground, the effort pushing her back. Saylin jumped off to the side, pulling Abigail with her as the cannon fired, the shells explosion still tossing them off to the side and into the wall of the building in a cloud of dust, and Crystal into the middle of the street.

‘That one however will still be single shot.’

“How dare you!,” screamed Abigail, striding angrily as she emerged from the cloud of dust, fury in her eyes. “Keep your hands off her!”

Abigail stretched out her arm towards the mech, three tendrils of blackness streaking off her towards the mech, twisting themselves around it’s right leg, corruption creeping out from where they touched, the metal visibly rusting rapidly underneath. Crystal dashed back towards the mech as it pulled it’s sword out from the ground, dashing underneath it as it swung the sword down in an attempt to sever the tendrils, again pushed back as she deflected the blade harmlessly off to the side.

A loud scrunch echoed as Rachael slammed into the rusting leg from the other side, snapping it into two, before skidding to a halt beside Crystal.

“Bingo,” Rachael grinned as the mech groaned and then toppled over onto its back. “Let’s finish this.”

‘Pilots in the dead centre,’ Spectre provided as Crystal ran to the mech, launching herself into the air. Feeding magic into her sword, she landed in the centre of the mech, plunging the sword straight down, slicing through the plating with ease. She then swept the sword along the plate and then pulled it out. The sword came back out coated in blood, Crystal suddenly feeling squeamish. While she knew what she had been doing, she’d just killed someone, even if she hadn’t seen their face...

the deed is done.

it was either them, or you.

there was never going to be any quarter given,

nor will it be your last.

you are after all my chosen.

The pull on the leylines around them faded, Bowser rescinding his connection to the mech, confirming the fate of the pilot and the machine.

Rachael pulled Crystal into a hug. It was comforting and reassuring.

“It had to be done. Don’t feel ashamed of how you feel about it,” Rachael whispered to her. Crystal snuggled her face into her. Had she been that obvious.

Saylin extracted herself from the pile of debris that she had been coated in, making her way back over to the mech, Grazeyes accompanying her, Clocky Fairweather, and Myne doing the same.

“Stupid thing,” Saylin grumbled as she dusted herself off, before she then bounded up to Abigail, pulling her close and giving her a passionate kiss. “And you were awesome,” she declared. Abigail just blushed.

Clocky frowned as he looked at the mech, blood starting to drip from it’s lowest corner. “Where on earth did he get it from.” He then looked up, at the tower. “Come let’s move.”

The area around the central tower was clean and clear, the glass monolith rising seamlessly out of the pavement that surrounded it. Something was off however, and it didn’t take Crystal long to work out what. There were no signs of any entrances at all.

One of the first floor front panes flickered to life, the initial static noise quickly replaced by the serious face of the cubby and greying man as he looked down on the group. Crystal couldn’t see any cameras, but she was sure they would be there, probably on the other side of the glass of the tower, and likely hidden in all of the other buildings as well. She would have been very surprised if he didn’t have visuals on most of Old Town, given what she had seen and heard of his capabilities.

“Well well, what do we have here. If it isn’t some rats scurrying around.” Bowser chuckled unpleasantly. “I knew it would come to this one day, Clocky. You have played straight into my hands, boy. Your little girl’s campaign has given me all I need to ruin both you and your mother.”

“Though I must admit, your little team of pets has changed from when I last saw it. Even more animals now. Oh how you have fallen. At least you have plenty of sluts to keep you warm at night.”

Crystal felt herself bristling at his comments. Bowser was deliberately riling them up, though for what purpose she wasn’t sure. It was a stupid move either way.

“Your genocide stops here Bowser,” Clocky simply stated, staring up at the screen. “Your son has met his justice, and you will too.”

“Oh I doubt that. I am the justice here, boy. Your little charade is over. You have no idea what you’re trying to go up against.”

“Heh.” Myne laughed, as she closely inspected her nails. “I think it is you who has no clue.”

Bowser blinked, and narrowed his eyes at her. “And you are?”

“Oh, just a tourist. And I must say, your little fortress has been such a disappointment.”

Bowser briefly looked confused, almost out of place, before he shrugged. “You shall have the pleasure of watching all your friends die first then, before I then kill you too. Speaking of which...”

The image on the screen zoomed out, showing the full body of Bowser, with Vorsce chained to the wall nearby. Vorsce was looking much worse for the wear, battered and bruised, his face more purple than not. His upper armour had been removed, and his chest was covered in cuts, some still very fresh, a thick metallic collar fastened around his neck with a long chain hanging off it. Vorsce had not given up hope, and was staring defiantly at his captor. Crystal could feel the rage rising within her. Another nail in Bowser’s coffin.

Bowser wasn’t actually that tall, standing just a little bit higher than Vorsce. He was wearing a crimson red robe, and he had let his age and eating habits get the better of him. He was rather well padded, to put it politely, and his skin had the sickly tinge of one who was eating far too much rich food. His left hand was covered in gem encrusted rings, while his right was covered by a rather complex and technological looking gauntlet, lights glowing all over it, and mana flowing through it, which made sense of course with the screen projecting the images and so forth.

“All that effort, wasted.” Bowser grinned as he picked up a wicked looking knife from a small table beside him, slashing across Vorsce’s front, blood pouring down and pooling onto the floor. Bowser then held out his gauntleted hand, an array on the floor and on the wall behind Vorsce flaring to life in a blood red hue.

“&^$%@! We’re out of time.”

Crystal could feel Myne’s magic washing over them all as panic starting to set in. We’re they doomed to just stand here and watch Vorsce die. She wasn’t going to accept that.

Crystal felt something alter in the space around her.

nor should you.

-I’ve modified the array. Destination locked.

Activating the relay in 3... 2... 1...-

The shift relay array flowed out of Spectre and Kitsune, flaring to life as a warm white light enveloped Crystal, and she felt herself shifting. Then it was gone, and she found herself and Rachael standing near Bowser, the room reeking of blood.

“What the...” Bowser looked more than a little startled, taking a step back.

Vorsce did not look good. His front was a glossy mess, blood still pooling around him, tendrils of reddish magic trying to claw at him from the inside of the array that surrounded him, the lines and rules pulsing erratically.

you already have the means to stop it.

Crystal blinked for a second, confused by Warrior’s words, before the realisation hit her. While what he was doing was no where near what they had seen before, it was still the same process. Rachael lunged at Bowser, her attack pushing him back as Crystal powered the purification array. The array flowed out from her, sliding underneath Bowser’s, before it activated in a bright flash of light, the blood magic shattering like glass around Vorsce, Bowser’s array burning away till all that remained was the lingering smell of burnt blood.

“Thanks kid,” Vorsce managed weakly.

“We’re going to save you,” Crystal said, unable to hide the worry on her face.

A loud crash echoed around the room as a drone shattered against one of the central pillars, half a dozen more floating around Bowser. Rachael darted around the closest ones, fist slamming into Bowser. A dome of arcing blue energy briefly materialized around Bowser, Rachael’s blow stopping short, though the impact still pushed him back.

“What have you done,” growled Bowser as Rachael retreated back to Crystal’s side. “Ignorant fools.”

“He’s got some form of energy shield. Keep him occupied while I stabilize Vorsce,” Rachael stated. “Then we’ll go all out,” she added with a grin, turning towards Vorsce as Crystal walked forward.

Crystal stopped and stared at Bowser. Here he was, the man who had killed so many innocent people, and had been about to kill their friend. He was the ruler of the city though, and it had prospered under him, yet there was so much darkness and blood on his hands. Had he always been this way she wondered, or had the corruption slowly crept in.

“Surrender,” she stated, glaring at him. The initial panic was all gone now, all that was left was the anger at what he’d done.

The room they were in was larger than she had expected. Probably two stories in size, large floodlights hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room. Six pillars formed a ring in the outer third of the room, banks of computers lined up against one wall. A number of TV screens were set up on the pillars, though there were currently all blank, Bowser probably having decided that the broadcast was no longer needed, and tables will all manner of things were scattered around the room. Crystal cringed as she spotted two rather familiar metal cannisters sitting against one of the pillars, glass rods still intact.

“No. Die.” Bowser stated, the glow on his gauntlet intensifying.

There was a clicking noise a three gatling guns popped out, one of the far wall by the computers, the other two on pillars to either side of her, all whirring to life. Crystal dashed towards the closest one, sword glowing as she sliced clean through it, the bulk of the barrel clattering to the floor as the rest of it was flung it pieces around the room. Beams of light flashed from her orbs of light, consuming them as they struck the second of the guns, searing through any visible connection and joint that Crystal could see. The second gun sparked, and then slowed down. Crystal dashed back towards the middle of the room. She needed to place herself between the last gun and Rachael and Vorsce, or they’d get caught in the crossfire.

The gun reached optimal speed, bullets ricocheted off her shield, flying off in random directions around the room. Bowser seemed unconcerned, his energy shield blocking the stray bullet that went his way. There also seemed to be a similar shield around the bank of computers as well, the one bullet that went that way stopped short by a blue flash. The burst was shorter and less intense than she had expected however, nowhere near that of the mech that they had just fought. Crystal lunged forward, Bowser’s shield blocking her sword and pushing it away at an inconvenient angle. Another burst from the gun pushed her off to the side as she blocked it again. She corrected herself, dashing back in, sword bouncing off the shield yet again. Crystal twisted gracefully, using the momentum to shift around Bowser, taking out one of the drones on her way as another volley of bullets assailed her.

Crystal heard the clatter of chains as Bowser suddenly dodged back, the entire floor underneath her sparking with a huge surge of electricity, the power stinging briefly as she lifted herself off the ground with her wings, the immediately following burst from the gatling gun throwing her into one of the pillars as she blocked it. Shifting herself around, she hit the side of the pillar feet first.

“How’s Vorsce?” Crystal managed, before she pushed herself back off it and towards Bowser.

‘Stable now,’ Spectre answered on Rachael’s behalf.

Another burst of fire impacted with her, Crystal using her wings to shift herself just enough to deflect it while keeping herself above the electrified floor. Capitalising on her momentum, she spun around, rebounding off the drone that had closed in on her, leaping straight for Bowser. Bowser raised his gauntleted hand, the shield flaring to life and blocking her sword again with a large discharge of mana. Bowser grinned, a sudden sharp pain as bullets sprayed her from behind.

‘Channellers repair technology that they power...’ Crystal grimaced as Spectre reminded her as she fell to the floor, the landing rather unpleasant. If it hadn’t been for the nature of her armour, she would have been in a lot more pain. While it looked metallic, it was more magical than anything else, and Crystal was sure she probably couldn’t even guess what the material was actually meant to be.

Ignoring the arcs of pain, Crystal pushed her self up again, more bullets spraying into her back and wings, throwing her off balance. She could feel blood flowing down her shoulder where the armour didn’t cover it, and she instinctively raised her wings as a shield.

“Just stay down wench,” Bowser growled, the gauntlet taking on a new glow as electrified cables snaked down from the ceiling towards her.

Resummoning her orbs, the cables suddenly finding them of interest, Crystal dodged backwards, and then dashed towards the pillar mounted gun. Twisting out of the way of the two cables that were still interested in her, she skidded to a halt under it. Jumping up just as it started to fire at her again, her glowing sword sliced clean through it. The resulting explosion sent her tumbling backwards across the room, the sword flying out of her grasp, embedding itself in the floor on the far edge of the electrified zone. Bowser smiled triumphantly as he walked up to her sword.

“Game over worm,” he declared, as he made to pick up her sword. Except that his hand passed straight around it, as it did the second time he tried as Crystal stood up, surprise on both their faces.

it is soul bound to you.

none bar you may wield it.

Crystal dashed towards Bowser again. He wouldn’t reactivate the electric field while he was standing in it. Bowser moved over the sword, standing between her and it, the cables dangling around him again, waiting for her to be in range. Crystal continued towards him irrespective. She had a hunch.

Dodging the cables as they swooped towards her, resummoning the orbs at the same time to keep them out of the way, she leapt towards Bowser, mimicking the action of striking down with the sword. Grinning in amusement at her apparent stupidity, Bowser brought up his gauntleted hand to block the phantom blow. Except it wasn’t. Calling the sword to herself, Erstes Solas appeared in her hands, glowing fiercely as it sliced clean through the energy shield and the middle of Bowser’s gauntlet, Bowser screaming in pain as his blood sprayed the floor, his armoured hand clattering off to the side. Crystal dodged backwards as Bowser glared at her, mana pooling around him from the leyline.

“You brought this on yourself,” Bowser declared through gritted teeth, holding his severed arm close to himself, a crimson array lighting up underneath him, his blood flowing into the lines. A sense of wrongness permeated the room.

let him seal his fate.

Darkness seemed to creep out from around Bowser, the array around him dulling to a deep red, and then a tainted purple, the energy curling around him, hungry for his blood. The glass rods on the two cannisters behind Bowser shattered, the taint within seeping out of the top of them, flowing towards him and into the array, merging with the energy there, and then flowing up into Bowser.

“He’s a fool,” Rachael said as walked up beside Crystal, fists clenched and a look of anger on her face. “You okay,” she asked, glancing at Crystal’s shoulder.

“I think so?” Crystal replied. While it was still bleeding, it didn’t hurt much at all at the moment.

Energy flared out from Bowser’s severed hand, wrapping around the fallen segment of the gauntlet, and pulling it back to him. Blue energy flowed around the gauntlet as it appeared to repair itself before their eyes, Bowser looking back towards then once the energy faded, a faint black sheen manifesting in the air around him. A stained purple miasma seemed to surround him, his eyes now a solid reddy black. Black energy arched over the gauntlet, his good hand now clawed.

“D I E.”

Bowser launched himself at them, cables following suit. Rachael dodged off to the side, Crystal leaping straight up, slicing clean through the cables. Bowser collided with the pillar behind them, smashing clean through it before he managed to stop himself. Rachael dashed toward him, fist slamming into his shield and causing it to flicker, shunting him back.

‘The repair is incomplete...’

Bowser retaliated, his gauntleted punch sending Rachael careening back, Crystal landing then dashing towards Bowser herself. The energy shield flickered as her sword slammed into it, Crystal blocked Bowser’s claw with her shield, the blow still pushing her back. Bowser chased after her, claw and gauntlet raining blows down on her as she dodged and blocked them. His attacks had power behind them, they were pushing her back, but they lacked any real intelligence or finesse. Rachael rejoined the fray, Bowser ignoring her, and just concentrating on Crystal. Probably because she severed his hand.

Crystal noted that the gap in the flickers was starting to lengthen as their assault continued.

‘The shield appears to be weakening. He will fall.’

They just needed to coordinate their attacks. Pausing as Rachael nodded, Kitsune having passed the message on, Crystal feinted her attack, drawing Bowser off to the side, before sword impacted with his shield again. Rachael attacked from behind, fist going straight through the pause in the energy shield, sending Bowser tumbling into another pillar. Not letting up, Crystal dashed over, sword cleaving through the gauntlet again and cutting deep into Bowser. Bowser staggered upright, the corrupted magic starting to pull the gauntlet back together again.

“No you don’t,” Rachael stated, fist fashioning into a claw as she punched it straight into him. Bowser coughed up blood as she pulled it out, heart in claw. Crystal followed through, sword pinning his head to the pillar as she activated the purification ritual, warm magic flowing out from her, encompassing all three of them as it burned away the corrupted mana, blood flaking away.

“Is it over?” Crystal asked, as she pulled her sword free, the purification magic flaring and fading.

“Yeah, I think so.” Rachael tossed the heart back onto Bowser’s body, and stepped back.

“He’s definitely dead,” Vorsce stated, walking up to the pair. “Thanks,” he then added. He was certainly looking a lot better now.

The room was eerily quiet. Not only had the remaining gun stopped, but so had all of the computers.

“Let’s go find the others,” Crystal stated, finally breaking the silence. “This place is giving me the creeps.”

Rachael nodded, and then looked at Vorsce. “Any idea of the way out of this tower?”

Bowser’s body burst aflame, hellfire consuming it, once Crystal, Rachael and Vorsce had left the room.

“He won’t be coming back,” Myne stated to herself, her magic keeping track of the trio’s progress out of the tower. The place was a maze, but Vorsce should be able to get them out of there quick enough, and if they somehow got lost, then she’d just make a few ‘adjustments’ to the layout.

Ashling sat on her shoulder, enjoying the warmth of the sun as they waited with the others outside of the tower. Fairweather and Saylin had wanted to break into the tower and try and find them, but Clocky had restrained them. He knew that they would return out of the tower soon enough.

‘Why didn’t you just kill Bowser yourself? You’ve known where he was since we entered Old City, and he was well within the range of your flames.’

While she could have, she never was going to. As she had said, it was their mission. Their test.

“They did well though,” Myne said with a smile.

Passed with flying colours. She would happily accept them as Velvet’s daughters.

There was plenty still do though.

Velvet would finally be returning soon.

[[Arc 3 end.]]

mogust

The climatic chapter of the arc, one of the longest ones in the novel thus far, and filled with action. I don't think long action sequences are my strong point, but overall I am happy with how it turned out. I had the basic gist of how it was going to go in my head for a long time, even before Bowser was formally introduced into the story, and it was good to finally reach that point. It is however just a way point of Crystal and Rachael's (and their companions) journey. 

As always thanks for reading, and comments are appreciated.

The next chapter (49 - Influences) will be out later this week.