//------------------------------// // Episode 11 - What Lies Beyond // Story: My Little Pony Realization // by Slendy //------------------------------// Act III - Dark Within [Vault of the Abomination | Dungeon Floor 7] I turned to see two more shatter. During our initial entry to the dungeon, the walls immediately triggered a reaction, closing off the exit and dividing our groups among the gloomy halls of forestation. We were forced to find our way up without any real contact with our allies say for their stats below our own. It was just me, Silver, and Klaw. The hollow moans were all around us now, while the clanking and clopping echoed. My buckler aided in lighting the way. It was almost morbid with how dark it had become, the loud noises of unknown monsters with the snapping vines, and what sounded like crunching in the darkness of the tree-like ground, no longer dirt, or even grass, just bumpy vines, and bark. Then, the sickly green glow that emanated from the cracks in the wall split at a crossroads. "Great, more divides, this makes it, what, seven floors now?" I mused dryly, tapping my chin with a hoof. "Okay, Silver's turn to decide." The silent player stepped toward the crossroads, eyeing each passage carefully, then, he withdrew a rounded potion like a health pot, swishing around the black liquid inside. Then he handed it to me. I quirked a brow but he nodded anyway, pushing it to my hoof. "If you say so - or don't, that's fine too," Popping the cork off, I downing the grape-flavored elixir "Maybe we should keeping going straight, I don't see any reason we should wander around in circles." Klaw offered while I stepped in front of them, swinging Genesis to brush some weeds near the central tunnel. "Is something the matter, Artorias?" "Nope, just... three, two, one..." I drew Genesis upward, swiping an arrow from the sky. From the darkness sprung forth several enemies. Four armored ponies with the same tainted skin, skeletal socket lost in a crimson glow. Behind the Blood were two unicorns under the same infection, only their dark magic leveled two bows high, nocking an arrow each. These archer ponies were all of them roughly level twenty-seven to twenty-eight, two higher than us. Keeping my shield tight to my foreleg, I lowered my sword down with a dark green glow, my hooves firm while the first two Bloods pushed for the attack, swords glowing gold. Twisting Genesis back, I swung horizontally, tearing through the duo with twin halos of the resulting AOE dividing them into shards. Sliding to a halt I lifted my buckler to take two arrows and a from the right. I pushed back to my back hooves, swinging over my head and down with a powerful lunge, slicing across the third Blood's shoulder, it pushed me back while the fourth lunged to defend its allies, both slowly beginning to rejuvenate health among this cursed Vault. I held my shield before my face, the surface turning a light blue against the darkness. "!" The second they retaliated was when the concussive blast of air rippled through the third's chest, its body colliding with the forth while my cheek took an arrow for me as I drew through them both, drawing back around for the Arc variant, the twin slashes slaying the corrupted ponies. Inverting my grip, I swung up through the dark, deflecting an arrow while trailing my sword back toward the archers. *Schhwaff-Schhwaff* My body was grazed slightly at the last moment I pulled my head back. feel my hooves tremble at the ice infecting the ground the arrows pierced. Keeping to the left I rushed the duo, both unable to pin me as I kept flanking, lunging with a scarlet blade. tore across the gap, impaling the first Eye while my back right hoof was flung forward to snap-kick the second Eye from piercing me. Wrenching my sword free I raised it high and plunged it through both Eyes, their health vanishing and reducing their bodies to glass before my eyes. With a spin of Genesis, I sheathed it once more, my attention back on my group while I popped a health potion. Dashing my tabs away I bowed to Silver. "Nice thinking with the aggro potion," He reciprocated the nod, eyeing Klaw who was down the hall to our left. Looking between us we shrugged and approached our curious ally. "What's up, chie - woooooo-" There was a massive chasm between here and the next staircase leading upward. "-oow, that's a freaking huge hole," I then sneezed moments after saying that Klaw hummed slowly. "I could fly you across, there seems to be no sign of any traps along the length of the tunnel," His claw poked at the walls. "Seems if you lack wings there's a form of jumping puzzle, my guess is that they fall after a couple of seconds." "Interesting, so a dungeon that progressively tests all races, so inherently without either of you I'd be at a disadvantage." Smart planning, flawed given I had a purple dragon in shiny armor to carry me over. "I'd say this is the point you carry the damsel across danger but we both know who's carrying who in this Raid." Klaw chuckled at that, patting my back. "You have been instrumental so far, my friend-" I don't know about 'friend'. "-Not to worry, I'll be swift as to save your pride." I put a mock hoof to my chest. "My hero," Allowing him to pick me up while Silver appeared to have already crossed, glaring daggers at us we flew. "I think he's peeved at our mucking about?" Man, there's a fire in those eyes Klaw's arms shuddered slightly. "Ah, yes, well Silver's silence is only matched by his, ahem, short temper." He murmured to my ear as we landed safely. "Shall we continue?" "Aye, let's," I motioned for Silver to take the lead for us, himself nodding slowly before proceeding [※•⁎·°•⁎․•°·•⁎※] [Dungeon Floor 10] "I think we're stuck," Rain murmured over the bubbling pits of green magma, or whatever it was that flowed from old, withered ports in the walls, it stunk like a sewer and was painful to look at. They had to cross hallways filled with the stuff using platforms but some weren't as stable as others, sinking into the green sludge. "There's not alot of rocks to use." "Just keep goin'!" Rain pouted at the rude yelling from Bombard, she was all for getting to the next floor but blurting out commands like when she teamed with his group in the past wasn't helping. "You can fly, so go and check them!" "What's that gonna do?" She questioned, the only other pegasi of his group flying next to her. Bombard starting stomping his foot, terrifying the others as they felt the ground rumble under them "We can't just throw ourselves at the rocks so you fly and wait 'till they sink, then once they come back up we can time crossing 'em!" He spouted off and Rain blinked with surprise, looking back down the hall as some of the mounds of stone did indeed bob to the surface again. "We can't cross and get all panicked because the island starts sinking fast so you're both our best shot at the crossing!" Rain then giggled, landing on a new platform. "You're pretty smart for a short, grumpy guy who yells alot." "Watch it with that mouth, you brat!" He snapped back, herself rolling her eyes while scratching her cheek "Yeah-yeah, I hear ya loud and clear." "A little too loudly actually." [※•⁎·°•⁎․•°·•⁎※] [Dungeon Floor 9] "Hyah!" Riot struck with his reinforced gauntlets, the bronze sheen fading as the impact tore the head off a Timberwolf, now infected and turned into a , the wolf's body crumbled and shattered as another pounced through, forcing him to spin on his forehooves, spinning his back hooves, striking with the midnight blue arc shattering across the lunging wolf's side, followed by a contrasting hue across his left hoof, slapping a third into Axel's massive upswing with his ax, the mint-green light crashing into the Fang's frame as it slammed into the ceiling "Just a few more and we've reached the next floor!" Axel grunted, shoving a Fang back from his ax while Riot slid in beside him, grinning as his heart raced "Come on, we can bust through these mutts no sweat!" With a mighty yell, the boys engaged their targets [※•⁎·°•⁎․•°·•⁎※] [Dungeon Floor 11] "Keep moving!" Seraph called back to Skye, thrusting her rapier through the shambling Bloods as they crawled after them to the next floor, both having opted to outmaneuver their targets to save time and resources. It was tricky with the pitfall traps but judging from the distant explosions it was clear the others weren't far behind. "Skye, how's the staircase!?" "We're clear, move up!" He declared, "Switch!" She leapt up while he threw himself down the flight, striking with an emerald roundhouse kick to the first pony, itself crashing into the others as they lost their footing and tumbled down the steps. "Let's run!" Her hood bobbed, "On it!" Soon the duo made their escape from the dark corridor unscathed [Vault of the Abomination | Testing Ground 013] After hours of climbing, we arrived at the top of the spire, or atleast we weren't climbing anymore. Through a large archway of grey stone, we came out into a massive, glowing pit in the middle of the chamber, a single ring of stone lining the outside of the molten, cursed sea below, the pungent smell infecting my snout. It was like a swamp, a green smog hung around in a thin layer above the green lake. Deadpanning, I spotted two other entries across the chamber, seeing Skye and his partner come out of one. "Oh, I know what this is..." Out the final doorway came Bombard and Rain with their allies. "We're in a boss arena." Time to clinch the buttcheeks "How are you-" Klaw doubted my word, then allow this perfectly timed event to unfold *Rumble... RUMBLE... CRASH* The archways hummed as thorny vines unraveled from the cracks, caging us inside the chamber while it began to shake violently. Most of us drew our weapons and fanned out across the outer ring in preparation for the fight. All of us waited for the shaking to cease while pressing our bodies to the walls to secure our footing. The first thing to occur was a sudden fountain of green magma to erupt, followed by a massive, black hand of brambles and bark. The hand crashed down, clasped onto a platform to hoist its other arm on the adjacent side. Whatever bubbled beneath the waves was pulled forth with a cascade of molten liquid, the lower-half sinking back into the pool below. It was a mass of vines, both normal, and tainted with Kranon's corruption. Trees sprouted atop its broad shoulders, a forest seemed to grow on its chest too, alongside lime-green energy pulsing among the vines like blood, some it of them splitting the thick hide. The head was akin to a knight, radiating green eyes that lacked pupils with no mouth. Bare tree jutting from its head like a twisted crown. Bark covered its joints like natural armor, runes crackling to life across its arms, splitting some of the bark while flexing out its digits. <<< Agater, Hands of Kranon - Lv. 30>>> The declaration of its name led to the three health bars appearing below its name while it lurched up, the branches twisted and snapped, as it seemed to release an inhumane roar of defiance at our presence. Lowering my guard, I just gawked at the monster, swinging my hoof out. "Seriously!? What is the target audience with this amalgamation of the trees!?" Sensing my presence a fist embedded itself in the wall just inches from my face, myself completely unphased by the surprise attack as everyone went on the move to avoid the arms. Klaw flew high, drawing his greatsword as it gleamed in the emerald pool below. "Ready yourselves and keep away from its arms, long-range fighters aim for its face!" He declared, drawing his massive weapon around as a whirlwind gathered in a white tint around his true edge. "!" As the name implied, a torrent of razor wind tore from the sword, slashing at the brambles while he flew downward, evading the backswing of an arm From the wall, Silver dove over a sweep of the left-hand side of the arena, both curved daggers gold as he tore across the length of the arm like a razor-blade, lightning crackling with each strike as Agater reeled back, throwing Silver off its shoulder before crushing the ground just inches from his hooves, the hooded pony shaking off the stun while running away. His speed and Klaw's strength made for a good combo, but those attacks combined with the other players wasn't scratching it. Maybe those symbols...? "You figure something out?" Skye ran up to me with Seraph behind him, Rain was up above with a pegasus and Klaw, the trio keeping the arms from swiping us into the fires below. Back to Skye, he was right, though my info is limited to speculation "It's a gamble, but..." Looking to Seraph I saw her blink with a confused expression. "Mind being my lab rat for a sec? Relax, I'm not killing you... yet." You never know with these things "I um, I feel I don't have a choice?" "You're right, you don't, now move!" I slapped her flank to get her moving a few feet ahead of us, her face burning crimson at my chuckle as the particles left the bottle in my hoof, attaching themselves to her form. "Aggro buff." "You sure she'll be fine?" Skye asked warily, raising a hoof at my questioning stare. "I-I just rather not get haunted by her for this." I chuffed, "Just follow my lead, fellow gamer." Winking the boss stopped its attack on Bombard's team, drawing its sickening gaze over to Seraph who slowed herself to a halt, eyeing the tree golem as its left arm craned back, thundering toward her form at an alarming rate. The fist connected to the wall, digging further than intended while Seraph leapt aside, brushing the sweat from her brow. "Now!" Suddenly, the path behind us was slapped with a massive hand, the large mass sweeping toward us as we ran. We kept up our pace, leaping just shy of the hand and onto the wriggling arm. "Aim for the runes!" I galloped up the length of the tree arm, Skye and I cut off by the right hand attempting to crush me as I spotted one of the weakened plates of bark inscribed with a rune. Kicking back on my hooves the hand skimmed my mane, Genesis glowing scarlet with a powerful, cross through the rune as the green sap spewed from the wound, a good chunk taken from the health bar as the arm buckled. Down near the palm, Skye copied my motion, stabbing the rune as another piece was taken. The arm freed itself, throwing Skye off while I climbed up to the shoulder, hooking my left hoof around a vine while drawing my blade back, casting it in gold for a powerful thrust to stun Agater, green blood sprayed while I drew my buckler between it and my chest. "!" The airwaves shoved me back, my hooves skidding back on all fours while the left arm twitched and slipped from the platform, the side of its head crashing into the stone ring with a long groan. "It's head's down, go-go-go!" Bombard spoke with genuine clarity as we grouped on the head, using skills and buffs to our speed and strength to rip apart its head further now that it was no longer out of our reach. In the corner of my eye, the first bar was shattered, a backswing from Klaw and Axel's weaponry tossing the head back as the hand slid between us, pushing it back with a moan. "Craaap, run!" "Wow, what a real hero." My dry remark did little to stop the sweep of a hand as I was forced to block the wall of wood with my buckler, taking some damage as it swept through me, and a few others. "We need that right arm bruised next!" "Leave it us, man!" I heard Riot proclaim with Axel, Rain, and Klaw by his sides. "You guys step back, I got this!" He grinned, brushing them off as he took a stand, myself, and my small group evading the left arm as it attempted to flatten us. "Come on, big guy, right here!" Hearing his cry it loomed over his toothy smile, both gauntlets on his forehooves expanding into... duel shields? Is he-? "That's right, I'm the front-horse of this Raid, I'm !" True to his word, his fur hardened into steel, locking the two square shields forward to take the might of a direct hit from Agater, a cloud of dust and crunch of stone scraping against steel. Even I was surprised to see him holding back the massive fist with just two trick-shields and a defense buff, an impressive one at that. Riot's straightforward but this takes it to another level. Despite his hold on the fist, his health was chipping away gradually, his hooves strained and dug into the cracked stone beneath him. "We're up!" Rain declared from above, casting her blade in a blue hue for several slashes straight to the palm, the square tearing into the rune as the fist struggled against Riot's defense. "Switch!" She flew past Klaw upside-down, allowing the dragon to land on the wrist, plunging his large sword into the dark, flaming igniting from the handle and down the length of the sword "!" The magic spell enhanced his weapon with fire, his arms dragging the sword up and through the second rune with a powerful crescent of flames to split vines and evaporate sap with a single thrust. "Switch!" His claw slapped to Axel's hoof, the dark earth pony, jumping once to avoid the left arm's palm-heel strike, bringing his ax down in a diagonal line with both hooves, a forest green encapsulating the blade, created a seismic impact to the shoulder's rune, obliterating the weaker bark with a massive blast of emerald light that threw the large stallion back, both Rain and Klaw catching him before he could plummet to the pool below. That last strike resulted in Agater losing his posture, collapsing to the platform for our awaiting blades. The same mesh of flashing strobes of light and call of skills ranged for nearly half-a-minute, burying every digit we could through the monster's skull with vicious ferocity. One final wave of attacks caused the head to jerk away instantly, all of us missing one another narrowly with our weapons as it threw its head high, slamming both fists into the walkway with a terrifying amount of force, effectively dividing the pathways with a large gap. "Tch, the final phase," Bombard grinned, posing his weapon. "This time you'll lose out on that last attack bonus." Was that all he cared about? Well, granted, I wasn't going to lose to Skye this time so all's fair from this point on. Agater unleashed a deafening roar. "It's becoming Phase Two, get out of there!" Skye barked at the pegasus; they moved for an escape, only to have two massive arms block their attempts, the hands punching the walls of the arena. "He's been cut off!" "I'm on it!" Rain didn't even hesitate to take flight, however, that faceplate of Agater's finally fell away, a horrifying visage taking its place Its face was like a molten slag, green sap dripping from its skeletal features, the mouth opened wide to the player with green ooze dripping from its gargling maw. Rain partially dove as she evaded the stream of sap vomited atop the trapped player, drowning out his cries in the revolting smell of rotten sap. But we all just stared in shock, the sludge where the player was burst into glass, the shards fizzling to nothing. "In one hit...!" Riot gaped, whilst I backed up slightly, looking back to the others who just stood, frozen in shock. I can't blame them, that... was the first person I've seen with my own eyes perish from this world, sure, I saw the memory of Gwyn but this was here and now, and I couldn't do anything. That just... bothered me so much "How can we take something like this down? There no more weak points." Axel was wrong, we can take it down, it just took me a second, in a way, that player won't die in vain, I may not have ever known him or her, hell, I couldn't recall their name, but I'll be damned if I let another life just be scrubbed clean from the world without proper respect "Klaw, Riot, Axel, slash the right wrist!" I waved my sword to boys, just as the lumbering boss craned its head toward us, growling as the maw leaked sap. "Skye, Bombard, Silver, and Seraph take the left!" Enhancing myself with a flash of red I felt my muscles tense. "Me, Rain, and...?" I waited for the unicorn to answer "V-Valiant, Ma'am!" Good. "Valiant, you're with us, once that ugly mug comes crashing down we unleash everything we got into its mouth, aim for the spot between the eyes!" Without any other deliberation, our squad disassembled as a fist drove itself through the ring, segmenting more of the platform while the right sunk its fingers into the pathway. "We're only a step away from the end of this, balls deep no retreat!" Man, I love that saying, even got a small chuckle from me in this predicament. "Here goes..." From my item bar, I withdrew my own Aggro Potion, downing the contents as a hand collided with my shield, throwing me across the chamber while my health slowly fell into the yellow. With myself as his new favorite pony in the world, Agater placed both hands on either side of him, fingers tear at the pathways while leering down at me with a gargling growl. While Valiant and Rain rushed to my sides I could only pray that now the players before me could pull off this stupid gamble of mine, less we become a mesh of melted ponies and slime. "This seems too risky..." Rain murmured, tensing up beside me as the others moved in with their skills alight in this radiant arena. Patting her head I felt her body jolt as her big eyes looked up at me and my smile "Don't worry your little head, I got this," It's me after all. "May not be much but we've got our ace in the hole." Slowly, her bright smile returned, nodding as I nudged Valiant. "Keep your spear straight, kid." "R-right, of course!" He stammered under her blonde mane, bringing his spear around in his gold magic "Take this!!" Riot cried aloud, a massive explosion of red particles from the right arm as the shoulder and bicep buckled. To the left, a current of ice and water was carved an arc through the air, splitting the left wrist as it to sway, the torso of Agater shaking under the loss of grip strength, the sickly sap dripping from the eyes, nose, and mouth while it plummeted toward us, the forehead smashing into the edge of the pathway as it bounced back from the shockwave "It's down!!" Klaw commended the lot while I drew my forehoof back, channeling my stamina into a dark red cone forming around the tip. Valiant's spear did the same only gold ribbons enveloped the shaft. To my left, Rain's purple blade turned a vastly luminous variant of its tone, crackling like lightning caught in a bottle This was our one chance, a single stroke to the center of the monstrosity's core. My pupils dilated and my breathing snagged. Why I said what I was never thinking didn't quite register in my head, but as of right now, I couldn't care any less, "Don't let anyone else die, come on!!" With a furious battle cry, the three of us lunged for Agater's skeletal face, the maw wide and unable to produce any sap in the time it took for us to bridge the brief gap between us. The combined strength of , , and tore clean through the soft flesh hidden under layers of wood and vine, the crackle and hiss of our skills mingling against the boss' face causing a massive explosion of light and stardust, three small halos of our colorful attacks ringing out from Agater's crown, the impact enough to shatter the face tenfold, spewing sap as the hands fell back, unable to hold the boss up any longer as the last of its health was stripped away from its critical point. With one final spasm and roar, the arms went limp, slipping back into the pool of molten slag below, the torso slowly following suit as the shattered skull slumped to one side, sliding back beneath the molten waves, ushering in silence both from us and the music. Then, I just lowered my head with an empty sigh. [CONGRATULATIONS!!] |||||||||||><||||||||||| The small group cheered for our victory, all of us going up a level in the process, one thing this game got right was not making Bosses like this crazy strong and overly complex, otherwise, we'd have met our match. I'm good at what I do but even people like me can't predict and work out strategies one the first go all the time, if this were a boss with a wipe mechanic we'd probably be reduced to fragments right around now. [Artorias - Lv. 27-> Lv. 28] [Purplrain - Lv. 26 -> Lv. 27] [Skye - Lv. 27 -> Lv. 28] [Seraph - Lv. 27 -> Lv. 28] |Bonus Drop!| Reflective Breastplate **** Stamina Increase - 50 | Defense - 56 Passive Skill: Mirror - Random chance attack will reflect, dealing 15% of its original damage onto the opponent I whistled as the tabs disappeared, my hoof tapping the circle to equip the new armor. Under my Proxima Coat the shiny, mirror-like breastplate began to form, strapping itself around my torso with a little 'shiing' for added effect. "Daaamn, now we're talking," Rubbing the back of my head I eyed Bombard as he looked through his own rewards, frowning sorrowfully down at the molten pit. "Oi, Bombard!" He glanced at me. "What's his name?" "What?" He muttered "You're dumb enough already, just tell me," I berated as he grumbled for a moment, then stared directly at me "Wyoming," So the state, huh? Nodding to his reply I closed my menu, peering down at the molten rock below. "What's it to you?" "Can't a gal remember a fallen ally?" I sounded casual but I was being serious, I never got his name 'till now. Smiling gently, I bowed my head to him, surprising everyone. "I'm sorry, I should've known his name." Even for a person of my capabilities, that was plain ignorance on my part "I, ahh," He slapped his forehead, rubbing his mane. "It's fine, alright," Hmph, a complete idiot when bickering with that other group but he's not lost yet I suppose "Moving on, lackeys!" I threw my hoof up then down at the pit. "Just a small hint, buuuut..." All their eyes traveled down, seeing the black cracks above the fire, stretching into a strange, starlight abyss. "I think that's the next place to go, I dunno, just something tells me the black, scary, sucky void might be a clue." "Her sarcasm aside, we should rest a moment," Klaw ushered us away from the edge, watching me solemnly. "Once we travel into that rift, there will be no turning back." On July 1st, 2022 at 6:23 PM, the first boss of the Vault of the Abomination was slain, however, a brave player by the name of Wyoming had perished while defending his comrades from the boss, he too joined the others in death, but mark my words, he didn't die for nothing, don't forget that. I never will. I may not come off as the kind of girl to care for the survivability of others, however, he chose to be here even though it could be his end, that alone, earns my respect. To Be Continued...