The Homeseeker: Elemental Adventurer LitRPG [Isekai] (Series Complete!)

Rep cringed as Morloch came down with a heavy hand, striking his chest with all his might. Rep winced reflexively, holding his breath. A moment later, he cracked open an eye, looking confused and mostly unharmed. Morloch blinked in shock, then slammed his fist against him again, this time grunting with effort. For a second time, Rep looked like he didn't feel much pain. Utterly bewildered, Rep grabbed the leg Morloch planted on him and threw it off, causing Morloch to fly back three feet and landing hard on his rear. Morloch gasped, looking a mix of mortified and humiliated.

"Quickly Zalan! Blind him!" Rep said in a panic. "The battle has weakened Morloch and he stopped fighting with full force!"

"I can't," Zalan said casually, pushing himself to sit in a position that put no pressure on his ankle.

"Then I will try to stop him, myself," Rep said, struggling to get to his feet.

"Don't worry about it, Rep. We're good," Zalan assured him, taking a deep breath in relief.

"What did you do to me?" Morloch demanded, throwing his arms forward but producing no Elemental Power.

"The Oculus of Annihilation. The Artifact worked," Zalan said, smiling.

"Then, you are both dying?" Rep asked, dejected. "You should have allowed me. But I suppose it is done. We will not forget your sacrifice."

"No, we're both fine," Zalan replied to Rep's surprise. "I figured out what Madam Hikma meant, and it helped when I thought about that suggestion Moss gave to try and get rid of a dragon's wings. What if I got rid of something that only Morloch really had?"

"Die!" Morloch screeched, but he sounded scared as he pounded fists forward to no avail.

"I do not understand, what did he have that you did not?" Rep asked.

"An attachment to power," Zalan said, tapping his fingers together and revealing his stats.

Rep blinked once, then his jaw dropped wide. He stared at Zalan with massive eyes, shaking his head in tiny quivers of disbelief.

Zalan's wrist was totally bare, with no stats.

"You destroyed both of your abilities!" Rep exclaimed, a mix of impressed and horrified. "He has no Elemental Power anymore!"

"Or Strength, Wisdom, or anything." Zalan grinned.

Morloch heard them speak and tapped his fingers together rapidly. Staring at his scarred wrist, he slapped at the inside of his forearm wildly.

"No…" Morloch said in disbelief. Then crescendoed. "No! I am not powerless! I am an Ascended Being."

"Not anymore," Zalan told him. "What was it you said earlier? 'Power is everything and you have none?' Really inspiring stuff, it helped me figure out what to do."

"Nooo!" Morloch bounced up and charged at Zalan with his arms stretched out to strangle him. He ran sluggishly, like he hadn't run normally for as long as he had his Elemental Air to boost him.

Rep jumped up and stood in front of Zalan, imbuing himself in flame. Morloch crashed into him and bounced away like he had run into a brick wall, patting himself to escape the flames that attached to his clothes.

"By God, he is like a child," Rep remarked in surprise. A smirk stretched across his face. "Did you hear me, Morloch? You are so weak you are like a child."

"Silence! No! I will not be lectured by you savages! You are not deserving of what little power you have!" Morloch shouted, jumping up to scramble away. The vines at his leg pulled tight and he tripped onto his face. He was so used to using air to float around that having it abruptly taken away was like taking a leg from him. He thrashed on the hard floor, desperately pulling against his restraints.

Gorb crawled over, his shoulder charred and bleeding from being struck by the last bolt of lighting from the sky. He looked at Morloch with amusement.

"I was certain that we would die," Gorb admitted. "Once the Artifact had degraded, I thought there would be no stopping him. I was content with the fact I had learned to fly before I died."

"Did we win?" Moss asked from the distant rock he was bashed into. "My hip is broken, but it looks to me like we won!"

"We won!" Zalan replied, fist raised. "Big thanks to you holding him in place."

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"I knew it was wise to invite myself on this journey. But I did not expect it to be so painful." Moss placed a hand on his hip.

"I will go gather the others together and ensure they are all still breathing," Rep said.

Zalan and Gorb nodded. Gorb had no strength to stand and Zalan's lack of power and broken ankle left him wanting to do nothing more than rest. Morloch pulled at the oaken rope wrapped around him, but made no progress with his lack of power. Before the Artifact had affected him, he would have been able to break away in less than a second. Now, he was totally constrained.

Seconds turned to minutes as Rep realized just how bad of a state some of the others were in. Slauson was still bleeding, and barely breathing and Magnolia had lost color in her skin. He made a quick trip to the nearest abandoned building near the quarry with a bed to have them both undergo quick Healing Rests. When they returned, alive and well, they assisted in giving everyone else a chance to receive Healing Rest. Rep kept an eye on Morloch while the others healed and returned.

No longer feeling overwhelmed by constant pain, Zalan emerged from the abandoned building and approached Morloch who inched away, tugging madly at the vines holding him in place. The others surrounded him in a wide circle.

"I did my best to make something of Aetheria and a brutal murder is the thanks I receive," Morloch snapped angrily. "Free me, I must leave immediately. They will be coming for their revenge."

"Calm down, none of us are going to hurt you out of revenge. As much as you deserve it. We still need to figure out what to do with you now that you're pretty much helpless. Plus, I'm as strong as you are, neither of us can really hurt each other," Zalan said innocently.

Morloch balked, taking the statement as an insult. He suddenly breathed in sharply.

"Help!" Morloch screamed to the outside of the quarry. "We are being invaded from the surface! Send help!"

Yelsa whipped him on the back of the head with her bow, rolling her eyes.

"Quiet or I will do something worse," Yelsa warned him. "Your days of manipulation are over."

"I'm gonna need all your Rings of Range now," Zalan said.

Morloch closed his gloved fists tightly, then hid them behind his back.

"What Ring of Range? I have never heard of such an Artifact," he lied quickly.

"Come on. You have no power, you can't even use them anymore!"

"Neither can you, yet you still intend to rob me!" Morloch spat.

"Well, I can," Zalan said, presenting the Homeseeker. "This Artifact needs a bit more range on it and then we're hoping it can take me back to my world."

"Let me go this instant. It is too bad I have no Rings of Range, or…" Morloch trailed and then froze mid-sentence, ice crawling up his neck and covering his mouth. The group turned to Slauson who continued to stream Elemental Ice from his fingertips.

"What?" Slauson asked, surprised at the stares he received. "He tried to kill us! And now he was going to continue to refuse and lie to us. Let us just get the rings and then thaw him out."

Zalan shrugged in agreement and walked behind Morloch, his eyes following Zalan's every movement. Small whimpers came out from Morloch as Zalan slid off each of his rings, pocketing eight new Artifacts. Zalan stood and took a few steps back, nodding to Slauson to release him from the ice holding the rest of him in place.

"What… What do we do with him now?" Enzo asked, looking at Morloch like he was excrement left by a large animal.

"Let me free!" Morloch insisted. "You have no right to hold me, and I can not remain!"

"What to do is up to you, really. I'm gonna be back in my world soon, I don't really think I need to weigh in," Zalan shrugged.

"I thought we intended to kill him," Moss pointed out.

"No!" Morloch screamed.

"I feel like he is deserving of death after what he brought upon the realm of the surface," Magnolia said.

"I can crush him right now if it pleases the group," Dimak said, hoisting a massive boulder overhead with his power.

Morloch grit his teeth, enraged as the shadow of the boulder passed overhead.

"Maybe not so quickly. I feel like you guys should get a consensus, first," Zalan said.

"Fair point," Dimak said, placing the smashing device aside.

"I was your mentor," Morloch said between Rep, Zalan and Yelsa. "You would never have been able to take me down were it not for my instruction. I was the only one powerful enough to teach my students how to defeat me."

"I have no lost love for my former mentor," Yelsa said immediately.

"You tried to kill us on multiple occasions," Rep added.

"I could be convinced to spare you," Zalan said to everyone's surprise.

"This is why you were always my best student," Morloch said, nodding his head eagerly.

Zalan smirked widely and tilted his head to one side.

"Just one condition. Say my name, Morloch. One chance. What's the name of your favorite student?"

Morloch's smile was gone in a flash. His jaw hung slightly open as his tongue searched for sounds. Eyes darting across Zalan's features, Morloch's face scrunched together in intense thought.

"Zeepo?" Morloch said, his voice small.

"So much for that, you weren't even close," Zalan laughed. "I thought you would have at least listened when the others were saying my…"

The ground beneath them began to rumble slightly, and a shadow passed eerily in front of the sun, putting them in an immediate state of twilight. Zalan squinted, looking at Morloch for any tricks he was pulling, but his face had gone totally pale with fear.

"Free me! Please! I told you they would come! Any condition, just let me go! Please!" Morloch begged, pulling with all his might against the restraints.

"What's happening?" Zalan asked him.

No answer was needed. Behind Morloch, high above the city of Aetheria, a mass of creatures was floating their way. Dozens of intimidating forms all converging upon them. Zalan stared in a mix of awe and horror, never having seen anything like it before.

A group of Elementals descended upon them, all of their eyes focused solely on Morloch.