Elysium's Multiverse

Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Azmoth’s bellowing roar and the gleeful screeches of Athela intertwined with one another as sounds of battle climbed higher, and Riven teleported through a black rift in space as an axe from another charging enemy rounding the corner sliced across his robe and nicked his shin.

*CRUNCH*

The back end of Riven’s staff crushed the orc’s skull in completely with an explosion of shadow that radiated out upon impact - a relatively cost-free enchantment of the weapon whenever he struck a physical blow. The ice hadn’t slowed the others down as much as he’d though it would though, and he was growing irritated because of the amount of mana expenditure he had and the lack of time he was given to rejuvenate it. However he also couldn’t count on close combat to relieve his mana expenditure for too long, as he honestly knew very little about handling a staff of this size other than the utter basics of swing-for-the-hills.

But why was this so much different from back at the hospital? With this many bodies, he shouldn’t be having mana concerns... there was plenty of blood to fuel his spells with a reduced cost. Yet here he was, resorting to physical combat and notably having sluggish mana regeneration.

That’s when he noticed a little flashing icon in his peripheral vision. Focusing on it, he saw that he’d been hit with a debuff - likely from those frozen arrows that’d hit him in the chest and shoulder earlier.

[You have been afflicted with Frostbite. Mana, Health, and Stamina regeneration are all reduced by half for the next 29 minutes.]

By half?

Jesus. Well, Riven didn’t really use much stamina, and his health regeneration was insane. So it made sense in some regards that his mana loss would be most noticeable.

He whirled upon hearing a heartbeat turn the corner he’d just passed by, blocking a strike from a sword with the shaft of his weapon and knocking the man back with an on-contact explosion of shadow. Cursing and sending another spinning disc at the man that ripped through his ankle, Riven’s eyebrows shot up in surprise when his target’s body glowed green for a split second before the orc was launched to safety in a blur of motion even despite minor injury. The orc looked back, flinging his gladius to the ground in a panic and turned to hop as fast as he could in the opposite direction despite the useless right ankle just as another roar of challenge echoed from within the cabin.

Riven barely had time to dodge when a huge battle axe tore through a wooden support beam of the cabin wall. Frantically conjuring a series of acidic snares around him and attaching them from wall to wall of the short alley in layers, Riven watched the new warrior bulldozing through the shoddy construct come to a standstill and glare his way.

“Vampire scum!” The tusked, heavily muscled orc brute spat as he hoisted his battle axe with hatred in his eyes. “A GENOCIDE AGAINST YOUR KIND, UNHOLY CREATURE! I DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU ARE HERE FIGHTING TO HELP THE ELVES, BUT TODAY WILL BE YOUR LAST DAY IN THIS REALM!”

The enraged man roared, his battle axe shifting to a bright red color as he brought it down and sent an arc of energy tearing through the snares and rupturing another piece of the opposite wall of the tree-house in a spray of debris.

Riven shifted left to avoid the attack while laughing loudly at the attempt, enhanced by his electrified movement buff; and he began pouring mana into Crimson Ice. The red crystals of ice around his feet began rapidly spreading again, covering the entire alley, walls, barrels and rooftops around him as the warrior roared and charged ahead - but was quickly set upon by concentrated flurries of red snowflakes that bloomed all around in the air to blind the orc.

It was instinctive and a very first. The blood magic had responded to Riven’s will just as the idea popped into his mind, and as Riven focused the spell on a singular area in a way that he hadn’t realized he’d be able to do before now - the magic obeyed. The command had just felt right... and his mana had reacted without second guessing him at all. It wasn’t a new spell, it was the same as the normal Crimson Ice he’d already acquired, but utilized in a new way - and his chest swelled with pride in that instant at having found a unique use for it.

He could create snow with Crimson Ice too, and could partially blind his opponents with it. That was something he’d have to continue utilizing if he made it through this fight.

Riven’s opponent swore and cursed, waving his axe around and battering aside an iced-over barrel before slipping and screaming in rage when the blade of his own axe made a shallow cut into his right hand upon hitting the ground.Findd new stories at novelhall.com

*WHAM*

The warrior’s head was rocked back with a spartan kick to the face as the snow briefly cleared - stunning the man just as a Riven’s staff came crashing into him with a brutal horizontal swing that sent additional explosive shadow magic up through his weapon on contact.

*CRUNCH*

The orc's brains were immediately plastered against the side of the house, the entire front side of the orc’s head gored and caved in with nothing but his lower jaw remaining of his face. This was pretty brutal. Even since he’d been engaged in close combat and needed to watch his mana reserves, even then - when his ability to kill mass amounts of people dwindled to only a few at a time so he could regenerate, it was still a slaughter. Fay’s black mists continued to soak into orc and goblin alike from somewhere in the sky above, many of their withered bodies rotting with silent screams on their faces. Athela and Azmoth were still putting in work too. Other bodies were cut in half, blown up, burned to death, heads lopped off, body parts strewn across the ground in mounds, the list went on.

Riven then looked around to all the dead elves, children and women alike. His heart grew cold, and his determination solidified. There was no excuse for killing people who couldn’t fight back. What he was doing was right and just.

“ORC MAKES GOOD PUNCHING BAG!!!!”

The mace swung down, crushing the spot Riven had just been in with an aftershock of martial power right after Fay yanked him out of the way to the enraged bellows of Riven’s two pursuers. She rapidly flapped her wings and swung Riven around the side of another cabin, gliding through air between two burning tents, pulling him at breakneck speed up the side of a tree-house like he was on a brutal roller coaster ride until coming to an abrupt stop on top of a roof jutting from a tree.

The demoness dropped him, quickly inspecting his bleeding body and the wounds he’d accumulated that still hadn’t healed completely yet due to his regeneration slowing down. Her nervous expression soon changed to that of relief though when she saw he was ok.

Riven picked himself up, dusted his shoulders off, and gave Fay a head nod. “Thanks. Your hallucinations are still on cooldown, right?”

“Yes. I usually am able to use that ability once per battle, unless the battle goes on for more than a half hour.” The succubus nodded, gesturing to the battle below them where Athela was continuing to assassinate people at random while rapidly dashing in and out of the village terrain for cover.

“Ok. Stay with me and set up some defensive traps until I regain more mana and the ability to cast. My mana regeneration is being slowed down significantly.” Riven glanced down at the ice still coating his chest and shoulder, grimacing when he touched the mana infused wounds. His regeneration hadn’t completely rid himself of it, and the frostbite debuff was still in effect. “Who’d have thought those pain in the ass arrows would be what cripples me this battle. Never would have guessed.”

Fay nodded eagerly and her muscles relaxed, simultaneously withdrawing her long black wings to fold them behind her. “As you say, master!”

She raised her hands and began to point. Unholy green runes flashed in the air around them and along the tree before becoming invisible again, with Fay’s sky-blue hands twisting in front of her - starting to cover a large area before connecting different groups of them with mana-made tripwires for more of a punishing effect.

Meanwhile the screams and roars of the battle a couple cabins down echoed across the village as Azmoth continued to tear through poor souls stupid enough to get close. The brutalisk was an absolute beast of a creature, and he was now keeping well over half of the enemy party occupied as he rampaged through their midst while breathing fire or tearing greenskins apart in a masterful display of violence. He’d moved on to chewing on goblins midfight now, swallowing bites off the relatively smaller creatures while they gave out terrified shrieks and tried to get away and attack at range. The elves were still fighting on their own front too, though they were regaining a foothold in the fight and were pushing the greenskins back - simultaneously trying to make their way across the forest clearing towards their imprisoned loved ones.

“Fay...” Riven muttered under his breath, letting the seconds tick by and studying at the absolute carnage of Azmoth’s doing. “Is it normal for all hellscape brutalisk infants to be this kill-hungry?”

Fay let out a laugh and came to stand beside him, finishing her network of defensive traps. “Yes... it is. Just wait until he gets bigger though, those creatures get rather large. Athela has already been talking about how she’s going to make Azmoth her battle-steed.”

Riven snorted a laugh, shooting the grinning succubus a smirk and let out a long sigh. “Well, that sounds a lot like something Athela would say. Does Azmoth know of her master plan?”

“Not yet.”

“Figures. Can’t wait until the day she tries, I’d pay money to watch that episode unfold.”

The sound of multiple nearby heartbeats and rushing footsteps interrupted their idle chat mid-battle and alerted Riven to an advancing enemy at the back. Before he could even turn though, a series of explosions sent shockwaves and debris from along the treehouse roof. Branches, body parts and tiles blasted apart as two orc bodies were sent spiraling outwards onto the ground dozens of feet down, but he noticed the third attacker almost too late.

It was a rogue, a young orc woman with flowing raven hair that’d managed to avoid the traps. She had been stealthed somehow, making herself completely invisible until she’d gotten too close and the ability’s influence broke. Her fur-clad body and tusked, sneering face shimmered into existence only a couple feet away mid-sprint.

Riven was surprised, but startled even further when a glass vial of purple liquid was thrown at his feet. It didn’t hit him, but exploded on impact to release a cloud of purple mist.

*SPLASH*

The potion quickly started absorbing into his skin, and his mana channels felt like they were on fire as he screamed and dropped to his knees. His veins felt like they had sludge moving through them, and he tried to summon magic to kill this new opponent with a rage - but quickly found out that he couldn’t use the mana at all.

[You have been afflicted with Gulsh Lilly Toxin. Your mana and stamina channels are now blocked completely for the next three hours.]

Oh. Oh fuck.

He looked up, wide eyed, and brought his staff to bear. “THESE FUCKING ROGUES!”

With a snarl and only a moment later she leaped forward for his throat with a dagger pointed directly at it. “FOR ANTHAS!”