Chapter Two-Hundred-and-Fifty-Five

< < Now Entering > >

< Stage 4 >

< Siege of the Elphin Sanctuary >

< 20-minute Timer >

Adam zoned out while he was pulled through the motions of the cutscene, but as soon as he was able to move, he told all of the defenders to stay, before shooting himself out of the ritual site, moving at a speed unmatched by any of his previous attempts. The hardmode orb was left on, but from his last experience, it wasn’t that dangerous, since it just expanded the variety of soldiers he would encounter, as well as giving the mini bosses some extra shadowy powers. It wouldn’t matter, because he was simply too powerful for them to do anything about it.

He made it to the northern wall just as it was breached, and before any of the soldiers could push through, Adam pulled out one of his thin spidersilk ropes and made a simple trap in the opening that any intruder would trip over. Then he surged out through the gap in the wall the slay to first knight.

Before Adam could consider what effect his mix of Spear Dancer, the shapeshifter’s claw, and his insanely-high damage stat would have on the forlorn warrior, he’d already swung his fist and pulverised the knight. The strike against his armour was powerful enough to turn it into fragments and a blast of air that struck and pushed back all of the surrounding knights, which died alongside their leader.

Hmm, I should’ve probably kept the knight alive to be able to farm the soldiers for points…

It’s also not possible to loot the knights’ heart trophies if I turn them into a mist like this.

From the remains of the mini boss dropped his tainted blade, and Parvillo also gave him an option between four upgrades.

< < Secret Weapon Obtained > >

< Tainted Blade (Rare) — The greatsword of a Forlorn Knight >

< Unique Skill ( Shadowy Strike ) | Cleave the blade through the air to release a shadowy strike that travels until it hits a target, inflicting Taint on impact >

Adam sent the weapon to his player house and grabbed a legendary movement upgrade.

Right… These upgrades don’t have increased rarity, no matter how fast I go.

I’ve been spoiled by the last stage, but from here on those types of upgrades are going to get a lot more infrequent. Unless I keep upgrading my luck, though that seems quite a big investment of points at the moment, especially if I need to hit 250 or higher to guarantee divine upgrades and relics always appear.

Adam ran east from the breach, moving along the outside of the city wall to reach the next spot.

He knew he had almost half a minute before the crossbow-wielding knight would get far into the city, so he veered towards the hill overlooking the city where the forlorn aristocrat was seated, watching the invasion.

Adam rushed up towards the secret boss, who strode down to meet him. He powered up his shapeshifter’s claw and activated the hero’s pendant to infuse his attack with a holy nova. Although he’d first defeated the aristocrat using fire, he’d since learned that the forlorn were equally as weak to holy magic.

Adam swung his claw into the aristocrat as soon as he was close enough, but the boss parried the attack, sending his arm towards the ground, where the massive amount of energy was released as a huge nova of holy power and wind.

The boss was forced back by the magical attack and Adam rushed forward with a swing of his stone hand, which created two ghostly copies that each struck the discombobulated aristocrat in the side, producing a violent crunch before the force broke his body in half, knocking it aside into two pieces.

Adam stooped to pick up the relic he dropped on death.

That was close.

I need to be mindful of enemies that can parry. It doesn’t matter how much damage I can deal if they’re able to completely redirect it. Worse still if they can reflect it back at me…

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Skyblue Pearl (Rare) — Thine eyes hold a power oft forlorn, oft forgotten to time, oft lost to conflict. An unclouded gaze is the key to a world of secrets and thine eyes are a gift from on high >

He flew down the hill towards the hut with chest and soldiers guarding it, throwing one of his bear traps. As the trap and its two clones snapped shut on impact, all four soldiers perished simultaneously.

[Four traps triggered. 400 Points rewarded.]

At this point it’s less a trap and more like a stick of dynamite.

He pushed open the chest just as he heard the sound of the eastern breach blowing open the city wall.

I’m going absurdly fast this time around. It almost feels like the enemies are moving in slow-motion.

< < Relics Available > >

< Aristocrat’s Porcelain Mask (Legendary) — Activate to see the future actions of a single target for 5 seconds. 1-hour cooldown | All healing effects on you have their efficacy halved | Damage inflicted to you by fire is doubled >

< Tainted Helmet (Epic) — Attacks inflict Taint, lowering target’s Stamina regeneration by 40% for 30 seconds | When an afflicted target dies, its Afflictions are spread to nearby targets | Healing effects are 75% less effective >

< Conjuring Stone (Legendary) — Combine 2 Relics of Epic rarity or lower to produce a new unique Fusion Relic. 1 use >

< Fated Wishing Stone (Legendary) — Wish for any Relic of Epic rarity or lower. 1 use >

That must be the mask Yenna was referring to.

“Am I only seeing the aristocrat’s mask because I killed him first?”

[Correct.]

I didn’t even plan it, but that worked out in my favour.

Adam grabbed the mask and put it on. Its downsides weren’t great, but given the power it offered him, he thought it was more than worth it.

He chased down the crossbow knight, and though he wanted to farm him and his soldiers for points, he pounded them all into gristle and grabbed a legendary crush upgrade, before zipping across the city towards the next two breaches that were going to form.

Here he took the time to line two of the streets with the piano-wire-like spidersilk ropes, finishing just in time for the breaches to pop open, one after the other. He moved towards the first one that was directly west of the ritual site, stringing his spidersilk wire across at ankle-level, and then he went to the second further up the wall and did the same.

As the soldiers and dual-wielding knight surged through the opening to reach Adam, they all tripped over the spidersilk, earning him an easy thousand points. Another eight hundred points came from the other breach while Adam stomped the head of the knight, killing him and his entourage.

He was able to carefully break open the mini boss’ torso to grab the heart inside, though he had to use his stone hand, since even with the glove on his right, his flesh-dissolving acid effect bled through on touch.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Heart of Darkness (Common) — A heart borne by those who gorge on darkness >

He loped back to the first breach, finding the soldiers clumped together near his tripwire, while the halberdier knight was pushing towards the ritual site.

Adam jumped towards the boss, activating his shoes to send himself skating through the air on a rapidly-moving cloud and swinging his fist through the halberdier’s head as he passed, deleting the top of his body in a mist of black blood.

The soldiers once again perished alongside the knight they were tethered to, and Adam broke open its body to grab a second heart.

Then he picked up the two upgrades from Parvillo, another speed boost and a health upgrade, both legendary. He also picked up all of his spidersilk ropes again.

The horn announcing the arrival of the forlorn captain came from the north, but instead of going straight for the final boss, Adam slipped outside of the city to defeat the small groups of soldiers that didn’t join the attack, since he needed to defeat them all to evolve the dented crown and get the eradication bonus.

[Eleven trapstriggered. 1,100 Points rewarded,] Parvillo announced as the invaders from the northern breach found his tripwire.

Getting the Giggling Trapper evolution might’ve been the best decision I’ve made so far, Adam thought to himself as he ran back into the city, first climbing the giant tree to get the rotmaker idol, and then using his speed and the nearby buildings to get up onto the tower structure with the second hidden chest in the stage.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Rotmaker Idol (Rare) — Turns a tree into a living monster for 30 seconds. Relic disappears after use >

< < Relics Available > >

< Queen’s Pendant (Epic) — Sacrifice the nearest subordinate ally to negate the damage from an attack. 1-minute cooldown | Wearer is afflicted by Curse, increasing damage taken by 10% | Wearer is afflicted by Scorn, removing all beneficial effects of Worship >

< Pugilist’s Belt (Epic) — Increases Damage with fist-based attacks up to 100% based on your proximity to the target | Halves Movement Speed >

< Conjuring Stone (Legendary) — Combine 2 Relics of Epic rarity or lower to produce a new unique Fusion Relic. 1 use >

< Fated Wishing Stone (Legendary) — Wish for any Relic of Epic rarity or lower. 1 use >

The pugilist’s belt! I completely forgot this existed, but I absolutely need that for my build.

It was one of the rare few relics that operated on a multiplicative basis, meaning it would literally double his damage. It would be absolutely busted if paired with Priest and Brawler, and seeing it reminded him of how Helena had taken out two of his cores with a single punch.

The Flayed Lady will have taken notes about what did and did not work against me, so I suspect I’ll encounter more builds like that… With the pugilist’s belt empowering them, they’ll be absurdly dangerous.

Although he wanted to get the belt now, he knew he needed the pendant to unlock the Chaotic Convergence from the Forbidden Altar, so he grabbed it and put it in his bag. He hoped to have enough points to buy the belt from Lucca later, though his main priority was to get enough upgrades to evolve a fourth and final time.

Pushing those thoughts from his mind for now, Adam rushed towards the incoming group of invaders, led by the forlorn captain.

Adam didn’t hold back, using his great speed and shapeshifter’s claw to obliterate the captain’s shield and left arm as he tried to defend himself. Black smoke leaked out of the grievous wound, sealing it shut, but Adam didn’t stop, sending first a left hook of three stone hands into the right side of the captain, and then punching his right fist straight through his torso with enough force the turn his armour into explosive shrapnel that tore into the soldiers behind him.

Shadowy magic coalesced within the captain’s body and Adam used his night moth’s bracelet to teleport out of the way, just as the boss exploded, sending a cascade of shadowy magic across the area.

Adam threw himself over the surging wave of tainted mana, throwing a bear trap directly at the captain, before landing in a tucked roll.

The trap and its two clones struck the boss and exploded what was left of him.

[Three traps triggered. 300 Points rewarded.]

Around them, the soldiers stumbled and fell, but Adam moved through them all, stomping and punching them to smithereens, making sure none were left alive.

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

This for sure is a new speed record, Adam predicted.

< < Score > >

< 2 Minutes 41 Seconds Completion Time >

< 800 PointSecret Boss Bonus added >

< 500 PointFlawless Bonus added >

< 500 Point Eradication Bonus added >

< 500 PointSpeedrun Bonus added >

< 250 Point All Secrets Bonus added >

< 0Damage Received >

< 5150 Points Awarded >

Adam laughed. “Okay, that’s a lot faster than I thought it would be.”

[Truly the early Stages of the Trials of Defiance are not meant to encounter someone with power like yours. Though I must admit it was entertaining to observe.]

The dented crown in Adam’s bag popped out and landed on the ground, where it was suddenly covered in fire, before leaving behind its final form.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< True Flame’s Icon (Epic) — Only by the light of a True Flame may the Forlorn Shadow be truly banished | Subordinate allies gain 10% more Health | Subordinate allies gain Last Stand’s Fervour upon death, extending their lives by 10 seconds and increasing Damage & Speed by 25%| Subordinate allies are blessed with the True Flame, imbuing all attacks with 10% bonus fire damage | Become immune to Taint >

Wait a minute…

“Is the true flame’s icon not part of the secrets required for stage four?” he asked.

[No. It is unrelated.]

Adam sighed. What was the point of evolving it then?

I guess I’ll bring it to stage nine, if I make it that far this loop, since it may have a special power when used against the Forlorn Shadow. After all, the true flame’s oath ring made the flame effect permanent on the wielder’s weapon during the final fight.

After grabbing his last spidersilk rope from the breach, where it had helped trip up several soldiers, Adam and Parvillo went to the ritual site.

The elphin people were all excited to see him return victorious.

Just like last time, I didn’t let a single one of them die.

Adam gave the ‘All-Mother’s Wrath’ necklace to Belamouranthe after listening to her and the queen’s speeches, then he crawled up the giant tree behind the ritual site to grab a branch for Sprite, like he’d requested.

As he came back with the branch in his stone hand, he looked at the upgrades that Parvillo had for him, selecting legendary defence and venom upgrades.

Adam briefly considered if he should try to use the rotmaker idol on the giant tree, but it would of course doom the elphin people and possibly fail him the stage if Belamouranthe or the Queen were harmed. As he wondered why such a callous idea had popped into his head, he realised that there would actually be a much better use for it later.

If I make it to stage six, using it on the tree then would likely make it possible to get rid of some of the other players, or at least distract them for long enough that I can take them out myself.

It has to be quite powerful if it was able to take down Emelia, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about the seed that she said it dropped. With Meilo able to grow anything I give her, that seed might turn into something really powerful on Interim Island, or perhaps it can unlock another secret denizen.

Since there was nothing else left to do, Adam approached the relic chest and pushed it open.

< < Relics Available > >

< Queen’s Pendant (Epic) — Sacrifice the nearest subordinate ally to negate the damage from an attack. 1-minute cooldown | Wearer is afflicted by Curse, increasing damage taken by 10% | Wearer is afflicted by Scorn, removing all beneficial effects of Worship >

< Cracked Conjuring Stone (Epic) — Combine 2 Relics of Rare rarity or lower to produce a new unique Cracked Fusion Relic. 1 use >

< Fated Wishing Stone (Legendary) — Wish for any Relic of Epic rarity or lower. 1 use >

< Conjuring Stone (Legendary) — Combine 2 Relics of Epic rarity or lower to produce a new unique Fusion Relic. 1 use >

Now I feel stupid for grabbing the pendant and not the belt…

Wait, what am I thinking? I could just grab the wishing stone and get it that way. Though it’s probably smarter to sell the legendary and then just buy the belt from Lucca at a discount.

Or maybe the conjuring stone is the better choice?

I do want to see what happens if I combine a bear trap with my shapeshifter’s glove or my stone hand.

“If I fuse two relics with the conjuring stone, do they keep their current weaknesses?”

[The result depends on which Relics are fused together. The Fusion Relic produced will not have any additional weaknesses, but if both Relics fused together have the same weakness, that negative effect will compound as a result. For some Fusions, the negative effects may cancel out positive ones, if they are of a similar nature.]

“So, if I used my stone hand in a fusion with a bear trap, the fusion relic produced will still be possible to permanently destroy, since the stone hand has that weakness?”

[Correct.]

Adam scratched his chin.

If I’d grabbed the Jubilant Crafter evolution instead of Giggling Trapper, fusing relics would’ve been a great way to get rid of their weaknesses, since it made all fusions ‘flawless’.

“What about the fated wishing stone, its wording is different from the ‘Wishing Coin’ that drops in stage nine. Does it literally mean that I can wish for any epic relic?”

[To an extent. You are not able to wish for Relics that you only speculate might exist, but have not seen yourself.]

“That makes it very powerful in the hands of a time-looper,” Adam remarked.

[It does. Knowledge is power, after all.]

“Can I wish for secret relics?”

[Yes.]

“So, I could wish for the ‘Body of Sloth’ from stage six, since Emelia showed it to me?”

[Yes.]

Adam nodded. That makes the choice a no-brainer then. The body of sloth increases damage by 1% for every 3% of speed, meaning I’d currently get over 500% extra damage by just equipping it.

There’s also a potential exploit possible, thanks to my relic renewal stone. While I can’t use the renewal on anything above rare rarity, making it so the wishing stone doesn’t disappear means I might be able to retrigger it with Prankster, or at the very least sell it to Lucca.

Adam reached out and grabbed the relic.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Fated Wishing Stone (Legendary) >