The Crystal Crusade_A LitRPG Action-Adventure Page 24

  “Holy s—”

  I whirled through the air and landed hard. My armor plates clanked on the stony, plaza ground, dropping my HP. A third of my life circle vanished.

  The captain’s laugh permeated his iron, face shield. “Chain reaction, bottom feeder.”

  I recovered from the fall and downed my draining potions. While Rokkit acted as both the damage dealer and the tank of the squad, Wu managed to sneak behind the boss. But with his focus on sneaky poison attacks, his cross blades couldn’t penetrate the captain’s heavy armor and caused minimal damage.

  This boss became harder to deal with by the minute. And L’ocean’s crowd control skills caused little damage. Rokkit yelled at me, “Boltzmann, damn it, don’t just stand there.”

  “I need a strategy.”

  The boss roared forward at L’ocean who couldn’t evade fast enough. She received the full brunt of the rush, her health points cut in half.

  My harpoon attack had cooled down again, but it proved useless against the boss. I would only slow him down for a couple of seconds before he pushed me across the ground like a crash test dummy. Then I remembered the additional uses of the chainlink ability—I could also use it as a grapple hook to cling on enemies.

  “Rokkit, distract him for me.”

  “What’s your damn plan?”

  “For once, trust me.”

  To his credit, Rokkit listened and unleashed another taunt which caught the captain’s attention, exposed his back to me, and allowed me to flank his rear. I fired my harpoon gun and rolled the chain in. My character flew over the battlefield and landed on the giant knight’s back with a clonk. Before the boss realized what was going on, I took a caustic charge from my gear pack and placed the device on his thinly protected Reepo-tank.

  “Move back, everybody.”

  I unplugged the harpoon and jumped back to the ground.

  All of us spread around the field and left a ten meter distance to the armored captain. I activated my charge on his back and watched as the explosion shattered his tubed Reepo-canisters. The liquid splashed on the ground like blood and smeared the stones. The captain unleashed a metallic groan and stumbled around like a drunk giant.

  Rokkit yelled, “The sucker’s staggering. Attack him now.”

  All four of us went for the offensive. Thanks to the boss in stagger mode, most of our attacks caused critical damage, slicing away the bosses’ HP. And since his surface armor offered a wide space for attack, I could plant a caustic charge on his armor plate and detonate it. The acid damage that had hit him had annihilated his armor. The captain’s plates collapsed to the ground like pebbles. Our collective attack had vaporized around 35% health of the boss when his mech armor stood up again and nullified the stagger effect. He lowered his left shoulder plate and exposed some kind of barrel attached to his rear. It reminded me of an ancient mortar, and boy, I hated when I was right.

  “You’re on fire,” Captain Odin said. “Maybe I can spice up the party.”

  Dozens of exploda balls shot from his rear mortar. The circle-shaped charges shot into the air and rained down on us in a wide area pattern.

  “Spread out,” Rokkit yelled.

  I maximized the distance to my teammates and evaded the exploda balls bouncing off the plaza ground before they detonated. The flames engulfed the air. A minor shockwave caught up with me and threw my beaten avatar body across the stony ground. My health was cut almost in half. Damn. Worse, the attack pattern of the boss changed yet again. His damaged armor suit smoked from all crevices as he knelt on the ground and his front plates opened up like a metallic flower in full bloom. A medium-armored Captain Odin jumped out of the crumbling armor and unsheathed his upgraded engine blade. “Free at last. That armor just dragged me down anyway.”

  The analyzer updated the information on the bosses’ second attack stage.

  Enemy: Captain Odin (2nd stage)

  Type: Human Elite

  HP: 3750 / Armor: Medium adaptive chest plating (+3)

  Special: electro-damage

  > Reduces 35% of melee damage

  > Reduces 25% of projectile damage

  >>weight: 86 kg

  Drops: mid-rare weapon

  Humanoid Captain Odin lifted his engine blade and held it in a deflective way.

  “Second stage boss,” L’ocean said. “Watch out.”

  We gathered around the boss but kept a secure distance. I was running low on health potions so I had to act extra careful.

  This second boss version had less armor but tripled in speed. He fought like a mix between a Stalker and a medium Lancer. He zigzagged across our party formation and unleashed hard-hitting slices with transferred electrical shots. “You’re persistent little rats, I give you that, but even you can’t stop progress. The Reepo is the heart of Fourlando, we have to make sure it keeps pumping.”

  I ignored his remarks and focused on his attacks. He always chose the weakest unit in our squad—in this case, L’ocean. One forward thrust pierced her weak armor and stunned her thanks to the Electric damage. He cut her health in half and went full engine blade berserk. Wu and Rokkit charged to her defense and tried to surround the fast-moving Odin. I, too, moved closer and regretted the poor choice. The boss rushed behind me with his engine blade in vertical attack stance. The excessive inventory slowed me down, making it nearly impossible to run away.

  “Got you,” Captain Odin said as he dashed behind my back. He slid his blade into my back and ripped it through the armor, going full pierce attack with electric stun side effects.

  No, no, no!

  I crumbled to the ground while my vision drowned in red. My VR suit vibrated like a sledgehammer out of control. The sensitive motion plates worked overtime.

  Captain Odin unleashed a combo of slashes which eliminated my resistance. The status effect ‘critical’ hovered in my HUD as my limbs refused to obey orders. Rokkit watched me from the sidelines, his damaged shield and broadsword still in hand.

  “Someone,” I said. “Please save me.”

  Out of nowhere, Wu attacked the captain and distracted him from me. My vision pulsed in glowing red as the world around me slowed down. Digital gravity pinned me down as a countdown timer started dropping from ten.

  Nine…Eight…

  The captain kept the team busy. Every time L’ocean tried to break the attack cycle, the captain evaded Wu and Rokkit with elegant side stepping.

  “Not so fast,” he would say, which grated on my nerves.

  Seven…

  Six…

  Rokkit rammed his damaged shield into the captain and caused him to stagger. L’ocean, with little regard to her own low health, entered my healing range and dropped a mid-potion which healed almost half of my HPs. She used the Reepo particles and laid regenerative rain on me, which showered me with five HP per second. The countdown faded, as well as the red vision. I was back in business and thanked L’ocean with a nod. In the corner of my right eye, I saw Captain Odin unleashing a forward thrust that broke Rokkit’s shield to pieces. He bounced backwards and neared critical status himself, but was too proud to call for help. With no more shield protection, Rokkit couldn’t guard himself against the powerful jabs of the captain’s fast blade. His HP turned free fall as he squeezed his avatar’s face.

  I raced toward the captain who quickly turned around, his fiery eyes set on me. “I should put you all in chains and use you as my personal torture toys.”

  The eureka moment took me by storm.

  Chain!

  Since Captain Odin lost his exoskeleton armor, his new slender form weighed less than me.

  “Everyone, lay low.”

  “What are you going to do?” L’ocean said.

  “Just watch me.”

  She threw herself to the ground, just like Wu.

  In mid-range, I fired my harpoon which pierced the captain’s chest plate. The second the chain tightened, I pushed it with all my force and swung the captain around. He yelled as I whirled him through t
he air space of the plaza. And with everyone beside me on the ground, I could accelerate my speed. Going round and round and round and round.

  The captain howled before I targeted the nearest building and released the harpoon chain. The captain thundered through the air and slammed against the nearest house with a dull smash.

  Boom.

  His health circle dropped to critical.

  Our battered squad gulped and exchanged confused glances.

  “Is this it? Have we defeated the boss?”

  Silence permeated the empty plaza as our eyes concentrated on the house I had just smashed the captain into. Seconds lingered like minutes.

  A defeated Captain Odin finally dragged his broken armor out of the rubble and staggered toward us.

  “I’ve underestimated you little cretins,” he stuttered. The man looked like as if he had been run through a garbage compactor. “Celebrate your pathetic victory while you can, the Syndicate will soon retaliate and wipe out your worthless existence.”

  Rokkit motioned to finish off the boss, but his broken shield and damaged armor reminded him to stand-by. We had exhausted our armor and resources.

  The Sunblood airship floated above Captain Odin and released a rope which he grabbed onto. The ship pulled their captain up and whooshed over our heads before it disappeared over the Varmegarden’s rooftops.

  Congratulations. You’ve liberated Varmegarden from the Sunblood Syndicate. Return to Blue Flame leader in Cloudkiss and collect your reward.

  The experience points almost drowned me. I upgraded to Level 14 and relaxed my shoulders for the first time since the mission. Yumi-D, whom we all had forgotten about because of the intense battles, cheered on our team channel.

  “You did it, guys. The Sunbleeders are retreating.”

  I exchanged glances of victory with Wu, Rokkit, and L’ocean. Damaged to the bone, but still alive, we gave each other a group hug which almost felt as real as a physical one, probably due to Sparrow’s VR suit.

  “I can’t believe it,” Rokkit said. “You and your freaking harpoon saved the day.”

  I lacked a witty response and welcomed the fact that Rokkit complimented me. We collected the goodies the boss had dropped for us. Rokkit picked up the advanced engine blade and handed it over to me.

  “Keep it.”

  Citizens stormed out of their houses and snooped around with nervous curiosity. Within a few minutes, dozens of them gathered around the well in the plaza and celebrated. They applauded us and whistled, calling us liberators. Rokkit, of course, attracted most of the clapping and pranced around as if he single-handedly liberated Varmegarden.

  “It’s just who he is,” L’ocean said as she joined my side.

  “I don’t really care.” A look at my e-scroll menu mattered more: the level up, decent credits, and new items painted a broad smile on my battle-beaten face.

  “Yumi-D and the other squad is waiting for us at the gate. Let’s head back to the village.”

  We left the central plaza and met more surprised citizens waving at us in the streets. Rokkit greeted everyone and cheered with the crowds. If he gained an HP for every chuckle, he would have reached a thousand points by now.

  Your affiliation with the citizens of Varmegarden has increased from neutral to ally.

  A quick glance at the map revealed another interesting fact: the former gray color of the city turned into the azure color of the Blue Flame. The resistance group thus increased its influence over Fourlando’s world map. I wondered what that would do to us players, but for now I was just happy to be alive and celebrate the victory. Back at the main gate, Yumi-D and Mort had survived, their armor damaged from slashes and blunt weapons. Ritter, the Lancer, had however died. His corpse piled in-between the dozens of Sunbleeder soldiers and hounds who still littered the perimeter.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s the price of playing.”

  Rokkit marched toward us and ignored the player corpse. He spread his arms and either group-hugged or unleashed a friendly-fire bruise attack, it was hard to tell. “You can always cry later. It’s time to head back to Balzac and get our rewards.”

  After all the sacrifices we made, we deserved the best.

  64

  All the way back to Cloudkiss, the mood rivaled the party people of Varmegarden. But instead of jumping for joy, Balzac granted us a solemn yet approving grin as we lined up in front of him. He walked around back and forth as if to ponder our recent victory.

  “You did good; better than I had expected.”

  What a low-key statement, even by Balzac’s standards.

  “We just freed an entire town from an overpowering force, sir.”

  “Indeed.”

  Maybe I expected too much. Balzac always struck me as the stoic type who distanced himself from strong emotions. “We have broken the Syndicate’s iron fist over a central township. This will both strengthen our rebellion and infuriate the Syndicate. We’ll have to expect harsher strikes in the future.”

  “We’ll just kick their asses again,” Rokkit said.

  Balzac’s mouth shaped into something reminiscent of a grin. “You, my dear Dash, have proven to be quite the rebel.

  Affiliation with the Blue Flame changed from neutral to ally.

  More experience points dropped in; I almost reached Level 15. Balzac mentioned the real reward I was after. “What do you want to have upgraded?”

  It was a no-brainer, really. I had to use the single tool that ensured my squad’s survival.

  “My harpoon. It served us well in the battle.”

  Even Rokkit grinned, and it looked almost genuine.

  “So it will be. You’ll get my recommendation from the local craft smith.”

  Triple nice. I couldn’t wait for the upgraded harpoon gun glove. I imagined more damage, maybe another mechanical upgrade, or simply better overall stats. Maybe even a new skill which extended the main function. Everything was possible.

  Beep.

  An alert entered my inbox in real life, reminding me of the insane hours I had spent yet again in Fourlando. The tiredness washed over me.

  “Don’t you want to check on your upgrade?” L’ocean said.

  “I’ll do that when I return here with fresh eyes. I want to cherish the moment.”

  “I can understand that.”

  We gathered in front of the Balzac’s tower. I could tell that my co-players had tired as well. They slouched their armored bodies and talked little.

  “Well, this is a temporary goodbye.”

  “It was an honor fighting alongside you,” L’ocean said.

  “No, thank you for teaming up with me. I couldn’t have done this quest without you.” I glanced at the Lancer. “Well, maybe without Rokkit.”

  “Shut up,” he said in a playful tone.

  I held out my hand, expecting to hug the air. But Rokkit reached out his hand and shook mine. “Gotta admit, you were semi-useful, Boltzmann. If you keep grinding and surviving difficult quests, you may reach ten percent of my potential.”

  Wu and L’ocean grinned. It seemed scientifically impossible for Rokkit to make a real compliment without snark. Still, we had won a major quest. And judging by the viewers watching my streams, my popularity surged as well. Win-win all the way.

  “We’ll continue fighting the Syndicate. We’ll beat the toughest enemies, snatch the rarest gear, and upgrade our skills like mofos from the moon.”

  Rokkit rolled his eyes. “Log off already, will ya?”

  “Later, Crystal Crusaders.”

  When I logged off and returned back into Sparrow’s refurbished storage room, I wanted to shut down the computer. But the blinking VIP mail caught my attention. The message read:

  “Dear Mr. Boltzmann,

  Fate Beater Inc. is holding an exclusive Crystal Crusade get-together event in Austin, Texas, where we welcome new and noteworthy players just like you. The invitations were sent out one month prior to the event, but your recent performance has kep
t us… hooked. ;)

  Seriously, we hope you’ll join us.

  The event takes place in the Austin Game Center, which is only a five minute ride away from the Hyperloop station.

  Accommodation and travel expenses will be taken care of if you accept our invitation. Please reply as soon as possible to allow for our arrangements. We know it’s short-notice, but your recent player performance has proven that you excel at improvisation.

  Warm regards,

  Valencia Cruzada

  Chief Event Planner of Fate Beater Inc.

  I had to check twice to make sure the message was legit. Whenever someone claimed that expenses were magically taken care of, I expected a scam. But the website link looked legit, as well as the protocols of verification. I hurried out of ‘my’ room and danced across the floor. I wanted to tell Sparrow and wondered if she had been invited as well. Her door stood open by a finger-wide crack, and I could almost peek into her holy room. The second I approached the doorframe, a shadow dashed across the room and slammed the door shut. Sparrow’s muffled voice permeated the door. “I told you not to come into my room.”

  “Are you breeding an alien in there?”

  “It’s none of your concern, Dash.”

  She was right. I was her guest, not the other way around.

  “I’m sorry… I just saw your door cracked open. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

  Silence sliced the moment. Her lowered voice sounded again. “What is it?”

  “I just received a mail from Fate Beater, the company behind the Crystal Crusade. They plan an event in Austin and invite a bunch of noteworthy players. They offered to pay for my ticket and accommodation.”

  Another break. I was starting to worry about Sparrow. Her new reaction surprised me.