Chapter 346: Upgraded Wrath
'Who sent you…?' The question clawed at him, but it was shoved to the very back of his thoughts instantly. Because a far worse truth now demanded his attention.
The swarm of monsters was coming.
The ground shuddered beneath their wings. Their roars drowned even the clash of steel. Every second wasted here in the open was a step closer to being torn apart.
"Let's move!" Kaiden shouted. "We'll be overrun in the middle of the street!"
"Moving!" Luna replied with a shout of her own, electricity flaring around her as she fell into stride beside him.
"What about Rae and Riven?" Aria's voice came instantly, worried. The slightly unhinged pair of twins didn't spend a lot of time with them yet, but all of them understood that they were good people. Riven, who made her little lab in the part of the basement they didn't use for their streams, helped Aria a lot with becoming more knowledgeable about the technical aspects of dungeon life.
Rae, meanwhile, was a lot more difficult to approach for the Moon Valkyrie, due to their completely different personalities, but that didn't make Aria appreciate the woman any less.
The fact that the twins were their guards, right now fighting a battle to the death due to their mission, only added to her feelings.
"We can't help them if we're dead!" Nyx responded with a hiss while she weaved a flurry of flying daggers into the incoming horde. The safety of Diaz and the rest of the Runewoven members wasn't voiced, for even Aria grimaced and steeled her resolve. She had a family to protect; others had to wait until heris lover and sisters were safe. She just hoped that the twins had some tricks up their sleeves to make it out alive.
Bastet's sunlit aura radiated from her frame like a beacon. "Let's go!" she declared as her palms formed blazing blasts to cover their fallback.
And so they pulled back as one, using the chaos to make their move. Their formation was tight, steps measured as blades, and magic cut a bloody trail through masked men and scattered beasts.
But even their bloody trail wasn't enough.
For every masked assailant and beast that fell, three more lunged after them. Wings beat like thunder, talons scraped across walls, and their roars rattled glass to shards.
Kaiden's crimson eyes flicked ahead, and saw that the path forward was clear for now. But speed was the problem. Luna, focused on the Agility stat which was further bolstered by her speedy class, could sprint through a collapsing storm without missing a beat. Aria, Nyx, and Bastet, however, didn't have that kind of speed. If the swarm caught up, they'd be shredded alive before they could even scream.
His grip tightened around his blood-forged greatsword.
"Luna, you protect the girls from the vanguard. I'll hold the rear."
Her violet eyes darted toward him. The hesitation in them was brief, for she caught his look and nodded sharply. Lightning flared across her armor as she stepped ahead.
"Let me help you, gremlin bestie. I didn't put points into defenses just to pretend to be a fragile princess," Nyx spoke up next as she stepped up to stand beside the Storm Valkyrie, replacing Kaiden.
The Paragon of Sin observed his lovers for a moment before he turned.
He faced the tide alone and called upon his first upgraded spell:
"[Doomrend]."
[Doomrend]
Your wrath no longer burns in a single strike; it festers, rips, and tears. Each empowered blow fractures matter and spirit alike, leaving chaos to linger behind your weapon.
Enter Doomrend state, mana is drained per second.
Basic attacks infused with Wrath deal additional chaos damage.
Strikes leave Chaos Fractures on hit enemies or terrain, erupting shortly after for bonus damage.
If the target is below 8% HP, the fracture detonates instantly for an Execution effect.
Each kill while Doomrend is active refreshes a portion of stamina.
The air warped around him. His crimson aura deepened, shifting into a violent maelstrom of heat and distortion. Wrath dripped off his body, and his greatsword vibrated with a guttural hum, hungry, eager to rend.
The first beast lunged.
Kaiden stepped into its path with his blade, carving through its chest.
SHRRK!
The wound pulsed with chaotic red light. The creature barely had time to screech before the fracture detonated, splitting it apart from within.
[You've slain Winged Ravager (Level 29).]
[You've gained 1,312 XP.]
Another dove from above. Kaiden pivoted, cleaving through both wings in two rapid, brutal arcs. Chaos fractures laced the cuts, and an instant later…
*BOOM!* The monster detonated in a rain of meat and gore.
[You've slain Winged Ravager (Level 28).]
[You've gained 1,244 XP.]
Three more lunged at once, their claws already wet with human blood, their jaws snapping for Kaiden's throat. He counted their numbers in an instant, his crimson eyes narrowing.
"Too many…" he muttered, and shifted.
His greatsword swept in a wide, horizontal arc, sending the beasts stumbling back as even they, in their frenzied charge, didn't feel like tanking it. Before they could regroup, his weapon transformed in his grip, liquid crimson folding and reshaping.
A spear.
He thrust it forward. The first monster's chest caved as the bloody lance punched straight through, pinning it midair.
[You've slain Winged Ravager (Level 27).]
[You've gained 1,181 XP.]
With a snarl, Kaiden willed the weapon to change again. The spear unraveled into a writhing whip of crimson gore. It lashed around the second beast's throat, yanking it forward just in time for Kaiden to snap the weapon back into its greatsword form.
One brutal overhead swing and the third was cut in half alongside the strangled second, their corpses detonating in twin bursts of Wrath fractures.
[You've slain Winged Ravager (Level 30).]
[You've gained 1,388 XP.]
[You've slain Winged Ravager (Level 32).]
[You've gained 1,497 XP.]
His aura pulsed with every kill, stamina flooding back into his limbs. The rhythm was intoxicating: strike, fracture, detonate, kill.
But the swarm didn't thin. More poured from the gate, more clawed their way from the shadows. His breathing grew ragged as mana was bleeding out of his core in rivers.
"Fine…" Kaiden growled, planting his feet as the next wave closed in. His blade shook with hunger, his aura boiling red. "Burn, then."
[Infernal Torrent]
No longer a mere burst, the flame has learned to hunger. Wrath exhales from your body in a torrent, devouring everything in its path.
Unleash a cone of chaotic flame in front of you, dealing damage over time.
Enemies scorched are marked with Lingering Ashes, reducing their defense briefly.
Burnt ground continues to smolder, inflicting damage over time to those who remain.
Kaiden unleashed hell.
The Wrath in his veins erupted from his body in a searing torrent, flame fused with chaos. It rolled out in a cone of crimson fire, swallowing the horde before him. Beasts shrieked as wings ignited, their hides blistering under the cursed blaze. The air itself seemed to melt.
[You've slain Winged Ravager (Level 26).]
[You've gained 1,126 XP.]
[You've slain Winged Ravager (Level 31).]
[You've gained 1,444 XP.]
[You've slain Winged Ravager (Level 28).]
[You've gained 1,239 XP.]
Those who survived stumbled, defenses shredded by the Lingering Ashes that clung to them. And when they tried to take another step, they came to the realization that the ground beneath them smoldered, burning their feet and dragging them into death.
From behind, support magic rained over Kaiden.
Aria's lunar bolts slammed into stragglers, piercing eyes and skulls.
Nyx warped the air, slowing enemies that tried to flank.
Bastet raised a blazing sun-disc that lanced fire through any monster brave enough to push through the torrent.
Kaiden grit his teeth, letting the flame devour the street, then spun and sprinted, chasing after his women, who had just reached the mouth of an alleyway.
"Watch out!" Luna shouted just as her lightning cut down a beast that tried to pounce on Aria from the rooftop.
The five of them crashed into the narrow alley, the chaotic roar of the street fading behind them, replaced by the sharp, ragged sounds of their own breathing. Smoke, fire, and distant screams painted the air with terror.
Kaiden glanced back, crimson eyes scanning the street. "We can't hold them here. Too many. Too strong. We run, and we wait for the government to clear this shit up."
Nyx, feeling a bucket of sweat pouring down on her, warped space ahead of them to cover their retreat. "I agree, Kai. We can't fight this outbreak, especially with the masked men trying to kill us as well."
Kaiden led the charge. The alley offered a temporary reprieve, walls shielding them from the swarm, but it was only a matter of time before the monsters—or the masked men—closed in again.
And then…
A sound cut through the chaos. A shrill, desperate crying.
The cries were unmistakable: little children, terrified, trapped somewhere behind them.
...