Chapter 123 - Quest Completed
It was here again, the deep loathing Arthur felt by the tower. Even though it was inevitable that he would meet Tyrin at the tournament, triggering the legacy quest, it was still the first time he had come in contact with an Ender.
It had taken him some time to digest, but he realized the source of his deep loathing. It was their existence. The Enders corroded things and ended them, while he created them, giving life. They were polar opposite to each other and maybe that's why he needed to stop them.
The prince's body was beyond human now, as all that was left was an outer shell. Chaotic energy that felt like a deep abyss clashed with mana, spreading cracks in the surrounding space. The prince laughed harder at Arthur's word.
"Death is my alley, you ignorant cub. You had barely awakened and now you dare to rush here?" His words made sense but Arthur hadn't come here alone. He had decided to trust Mistletoe because he needed their help as much as they needed his.
Ivy and Li stepped forward, the former wearing the gauntlets and the other unsheathing his wooden sword. Ivy told him that Li was the strongest member of Mistletoe, physically. It was time for them to shine.
However, Arthur wouldn't stand idly and watch. Nor would Zas. They started surrounding prince Alfred as mana surged from within them.
Strength, agility, and stamina were amplified by his runes. Protection runes layered themselves around him. His stats were also boosted by his amplification gear. He had created several of them after he got his subspace since he wouldn't need to care about a place to hide them.
His three stats that were capped at 100s rose. He had bought high-grade armor that allowed him to inscribe the amplification runes without it being metal. It was created from high-tier monster skin. Gloves, boots, and wrist protectors. A chest plate and chausses also amplified him further.
Even though he looked for accessories, he didn't get any suitable material given how small they were. That's why they were rare, even for artificial artifacts.
This was his forte. His ability wasn't for combat, but it was certainly suitable for over-gearing him. Each piece of armor increased a stat by 10. He had eight items in total, but he didn't inscribe any of them with stamina runes since it sounded like a waste.
His agility and strength were now 140 each. With temporary runes too, they were 150. It was as if he had found a loophole in the rules for using runes. Since he could set conditions when he inscribed them, that could well mean that the amplification only happened for a part of his body.
His glove only gave made the muscles on his hand stronger. His wrist protectors for his forearm. This way, he could use this to gain an advantage over people of a similar rank to him.
He knew this was not a game, but he couldn't help but feel like it was. He was stacking buffs cheatingly. There were his stats and there were ways to raise them.
Li and Ivy dashed forward toward the prince. They each sent an attack of their own as black hands emerged from the ground and blocked them. A giant explosion was absorbed by the black hand from Ivy and the other black hand was sliced apart by Li.
Their attack may have failed to harm the prince, but Arthur emerged from behind them his eyes clad in golden. Release legacy rune was activated. His body boiled with a strength that he felt might destroy him if he didn't unleash it. His dagger burned with fire as he cut apart the prince's defense.
He was shocked at how much strength he was able to exhibit. He was sure his strength and agility were around 200 now. However, he also knew that his mana was being burned at the moment. He was ready to restore his mana at any second now.
At the expense of damaging the mana paths in his body, the Restore-I rune was able to gather mana from the surrounding. That was the reason he was unable to use mana for a day.
The prince tried to block with his arm that had morphed into a giant tentacle of darkness now. However, his rune cut through the darkness easily. However, mana was draining rapidly from Arthur.
With his other tentacle, the prince attacked him and he was able to evade in time. His foot left white marks on the metallic plates. Luckily, the fourth layer was similar to the second in shape, being large enough for Arthur to use his newly found speed.
He felt powerful. However, the prince was not that weak as well. Arthur knew the prince must be at the Vetus-rank in this form. Even though Li and Ivy were sure to be stronger, their abilities were countered with the black shadows. The two sides were on a stalemate, at the beginning at least.
Zas suddenly appeared behind the prince and slashed with his short-sword toward the enemy's back. A dark hand protruded from the prince's torso and stopped the sword in place. However, Zas teleported again and appeared to the side. The process repeated until Zas was teleporting every second, surrounding the prince from all sides.
"You insolent insects! Kneel before you king!" The prince roared in a strident metallic voice as darkness bloomed from his body. The darkness engulfed the light until they were unable to see anything. "Now is the time for your deaths!" A grating laugh traveled to their ears.
However, Arthur wouldn't allow him to. He used his Fire rune as widely as he can toward the ceiling lest he injures his friends. The darkness broke when it was met with the fire of creation and it started to back away. The fire spread until it revealed the face of the shocked prince who howled again in rage as he darted toward Arthur.
"Not so fast," Ivy met the prince's claw with a double-fist after appearing in front of Arthur to protect him. The two collided with a loud bang before the prince staggered backward. However, Ivy didn't look so well herself. It seemed she had used her ability to reflect some of the damage as the prince's hand was bent unnaturally.
"You…"
'This guy is quite the shit-talker,' Arthur realized as the prince seemed to want to insult them again and talk mid-fight.
Li was the opposite. He appeared in front of the prince silently and slashed with his sword that radiated a heavy pressure. The prince was sent flying and crashed into one of the gears before relaunching himself toward Li.
The pressure disappeared from Li's sword and Arthur lost track of its location for a moment before it reappeared in front of the prince's claw, the two colliding.
The two were evenly matched but the rest wouldn't stand to enjoy the good show. They also started attacking and pushing the prince backward. Suddenly the fortress shook before tilting the side. Arthur realized that the awakeners outside must have succeeded in taking down one of its legs.
'It's time to end this.' Arthur gripped his dagger tighter. The other three seemed to have a similar mindset as they all launched themselves forward. They surrounded the prince from all sides as each of them started to relentlessly attack him. Arthur with his blazing dagger, Ivy with her booming punches, Zas with his unpredictable speed, and Li with his mountain-toppling slashes.
"Zas!" Arthur suddenly shouted as a plan formed in his mind. Zas seemed to have realized his intentions as he appeared behind Arthur, placing his hand on Arthur's back.
Arthur used the Restore-I rune and his mana surged again. He burned most of it as an unprecedented amount of strength radiated from his body. Zas's mana enveloped Arthur as he felt the familiar feeling of teleportation.
The prince's face appeared in front of him, bewildered and hideous. Arthur pierced with his dagger that had a fire on top of it. The prince blocked with his arm but Arthur used his shadow-swap skill to teleport half a meter to the side, striking the pulsing necklace cleanly.
Now that he was close, Arthur could see what it was. It was a black crystal with a pulsing fluid inside. His dagger successfully landed on the crystal and a single crack appeared.
"No!" The prince shouted in rage as a giant hand came toward Arthur in a dangerous momentum. Ivy appeared again as she took the hit and the two were pushed back until Arthur had his back to the wall. Their feet left a trail on the ground.
They were able to see the runes dimming in the surroundings as the prince lost control of the fortress. With this, he would no longer be able to control it.
[Legacy Quest has been completed.]
Arthur's heart heaved in relief at this message. However, before he could read whatever came next, the prince roared in agony and fell to the ground. His body began convulsing before being torn in half as something else emerged from within him.