The Runesmith

Chapter 396: Ball Of Horrors.

The searing, blazing sun engulfed the imprisoned eldritch horror, and its writhing, monstrous form was consumed by the intense heat. The monster’s deafening roars turned into agonized screeches as it desperately attempted to break free, but the combination of the magical prison and the searing flames made it a grueling endeavor.

The immense ball of flames illuminated the entire compound, creating a light so intense that it seemed like daytime. Armand, Lobelia, and Aurdhan stood there with their heads pointed up. Some of them had to cover their faces to avoid getting secondary burns. The only one daring to approach the miniaturised sun was a flaming wolf that somewhat felt at home when next to it.

“Agni, you’ll have to lend me some of that divine mana of yours…”

“Awooo!”

Roland stood near the inferno, watching the black tentacles slam against his mana shields. Despite the monster being engulfed by the fiery prison he had created, it remained alive. It relentlessly battered against the defenses keeping it inside, and to make matters worse, the mithril cage was starting to melt. The metal couldn’t withstand the intense heat within this ball of flames. He needed to give it his all and have this monster incinerated before it was too late.

As Roland focused all his power on sustaining the fiery prison, the searing flames continued to consume the eldritch horror. Its anguished screeches intensified, and the flailing persisted. Only when Agni positioned himself directly under the ball of flames and allowed his divine mana to seep into the magical circle to empower it did they begin to see some results.

While holy energies were not as effective on abyssal creatures as they were on undead ones, they were still somewhat effective. The monster had also fused with a mass of undead creatures, which amplified the effect of this sun spell which continued to grow in size. Starting with a diameter of about five meters, it expanded to ten meters and beyond, as the flames swirled around with the addition of wind energy, making it increasingly challenging for the monstrosity to survive.

The greater spell continued to amass more power and drained all the mana reserves within his entire workshop. Even the golem batteries that were still functioning were being depleted to support the runic structures. All the years of amassing energy from his windmill farm and mana liquid from the dungeon mine were all for this very moment. Roland did not shy away from using it all, as this was his best chance of destroying the monstrosity inside.

If he managed to kill it now, then the battle would be over, and the cultists would have no way of knowing what had transpired. There was a big possibility that after this creature was destroyed, a new foe would present itself. The cult had tracked him all the way here, probably to confirm if he could affect their relics. It was possible that the cat was now out of the bag, and hiding out at this remote location would be impossible. Many worries raced through his mind, but he tried to push them back as he needed to focus on the moment.

Ten seconds passed, turning to thirty soon after. The sun spell expanded to around twenty meters and rose into the air. It started affecting the shroud of abyssal energies that created a dome shape around his entire home. The mana it was composed of began to waver as the two energies collided. The shroud grew thinner and thinner, allowing sunlight to finally shine through. It seemed that the battle was coming to an end as a new dawn arrived, forcibly created by his greater spell.

“Haha, He did it!”

Armand shouted while throwing his fists up into the air while Lobelia huffed instead.

“It’s so hot in here…”

The Guild Master stood there, leaning against the axe he had previously used. His body was covered in multiple wounds, but it was nothing his body couldn’t handle. He continued to look at the massive ball of flame with a grin, which suddenly vanished. His eyes caught some movement in the somewhat chaotic-looking sun, and before he could call out to Roland, it happened.

“Wayland watch out!”

“Huh?”

As the spell was about to clear out the malevolent energies surrounding his house, something shot out from within the flames at a tremendous speed, too fast for even Roland’s eyes to follow. Before he knew it, a sharp pain gripped his right shoulder as something pierced it. His body was pulled along with the black object that had impaled him, and as he was embedded into the ground, he identified it as an appendage belonging to the Eldritch Horror.

The appendage had stretched out from within the swirling death spiral in the sky. The creature’s ability to survive the prolonged exposure to the heat and divine energies was baffling. Roland attempted to focus on sustaining the spell, but before he knew it, his body went numb with pain, and he could barely keep himself from screaming. Even without looking at his status screen, it was evident that he had been affected by multiple debuffing and cursing effects.

The Eldritch Horror had managed to find a way to break free from its fiery prison, using its own tentacles as a means of escape. The appendage that had impaled Roland was now injecting him with a strange, corruptive energy that threatened to consume him from the inside. As his vision blurred and his senses dulled, he knew he had to act quickly.

Agni, mostly drained from his power, acted quickly by biting ferociously into the appendage that had slammed Roland into the ground. Roland called forth all the strength he could muster, aided by his body and the Overlord’s Might skill, in an attempt to pull it out. The blade he had won from confronting Emmerson came flying, along with other runic weapons, to help destroy this sturdy appendage.

“Hold on, Wayland!”

The Guild Master shouted while he swung his axe with all his strength, and together they were finally able to dislodge the malevolent whip of flesh, which was promptly yanked out of Roland’s shoulder. It had managed to go right through his bulky armor and even came out on the other side. The monstrous strength possessed by this creature was unfathomable, and now, it was poised to unleash it.

His wound was deep, and blood was flowing freely. Even though he could still use his armor to activate divine runes for healing, the multiple curses that came with the attack were actively countering these healing energies. The pain was similar to what he had felt when he was stabbed by the pale elf all those years ago, but this time it was magnified several times over.

The excruciating pain, coupled with the various curses, was finally enough to break his concentration. His body and armor had been the main conduits for this spell to keep running, and the creature had intelligently focused all of its power on singling him out. Now that the spell was wavering, it was attempting to launch a counterattack.

Multiple smaller tendrils started shooting out from within the shrinking sun. They targeted the floating cubes in the air. These creations were used to stabilize the spell into a circular shape, and with them gone, the flames started taking on a less condensed form of a pillar. This pillar finally shot up into the air as Roland attempted to empower it again.

The damage was done, and he couldn’t control it anymore. In a last-ditch effort, he decided to overload all the energies for one last blast. This flaming pillar of flames and radiant energies shot upward, blowing through the weakened dome of corrupted energies. The night sky was lit up by the flames, which lasted for a few seconds before subsiding. The glow spread in all directions, and the flames burst out in all directions, causing significant collateral damage to his entire compound.

His head was on fire and his shoulder wasn’t mending itself correctly. Only after pulling out several healing potions and an elixir from his spatial space was he able to halt the depletion of his health bar. When looking to the side at the appendage that caused this damage, it was slowly dissolving into a pool of black liquid. The grass that covered this patch of land when infused with it, started to quickly disintegrate before his eyes. It was clear that whatever this monstrosity was made of, was highly toxic and corrosive.

Roland slowly rose to his feet while activating his skill to restore his armor back to full. The hole that had been created slowly restored itself but also caused his head to hurt even more. The skill that had allowed him to create the large spell was reaching its limit. There was not much time left before he would be unable to restore his mana at a rapid pace. Even though he was feeling terrible the battle was not over, he could only muster up everything that he could to keep restoring the destroyed golems, turrets, and mines for one last attack.

“It’s not dead… everyone…“

Just as he expected, the monster was not destroyed. After the flames had cleared, a ball of darkened flesh could be seen. It was pulsating and emitting a pungent odor of seared dead flesh. It seemed that the monstrosity had transformed itself into a ball composed of tentacles and tendrils the moment his spell engulfed it. It had somehow managed to endure the heat prison, and Roland didn’t know what to do. He had given it his all, and the spell he had created should have been able to destroy everything, but the monster somehow survived.

“The monster must be weakened, don’t hesitate!”

The Guild Master shouted, and Roland nodded as he activated his Overlord’s Aura skill. A donut of light appeared under his feet, granting his allies a buffing effect. The creature was still alive, but it was likely weakened from his previous spell. There was a possibility that the five of them could deliver a finishing blow. If not, the shroud that had surrounded them was dispelled, and their reinforcements were probably coming soon. They needed to hold out for just a few more minutes, and it would all be over.

Even though his Mana Overflow skill had now ended, he remained a powerful combatant. The purple haze around his body turned to red, as he still had a massive stat boost from his Overlord’s Might skill. While mana was slowly running out, he was able to control four floating cubes along with a few floating weapons. His left hand held a large towering shield, while his right gripped a massive spiked hammer. As long as he managed to contain this monstrosity, it too would eventually burn through all of its stamina.

Perhaps if they were up against a real person, his plan would have had some merit. What Roland failed to account for was that this creature was of an abyssal nature, not something that could be contained by regular tactics. The ball of flesh started to unravel, revealing the monster inside, and before he knew what was happening, his body was flying through the air.

The floating cubes that were attempting to home in on the monster were quickly pierced by the creature’s tendrils. His allies suffered a similar fate. Armand endured a massive strike from the creature directly as it moved at astonishing speed and flew into the nearby forest. Lobelia, who was trying to use her stealth skill, was instantly discovered and had her thigh pierced by one of the many tendrils that went after her. Only Aurdhan managed to keep his wits, deflecting a few hits before eventually succumbing to the relentless assault.

“Argh…”

He could hear everyone screaming in agony, even Agni whimpering in pain, as the monstrosity took them all out in a matter of seconds. The speed it displayed was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Even with the help of all the golemic eyes in the vicinity, he could not perceive the monster’s movements. Soon, even the Guild Master was flung away with many wounds covering his body, leaving only Roland behind.

The monster stood before Roland, towering over him with its height. It appeared as if the creature was merely toying with everyone there. It could have easily killed all four of his friends, but instead, it had batted them away like bugs. Now, it stood before him without a care in the world, as if trying to convey that there was no way of winning, and it would take its time dismantling their bodies.

There was too much at stake for him to stop now. The reddish glow around his body intensified as he swung his weapon at the monster. His hammer, enhanced by his runes, started glowing and delivered an explosive blow as it connected with the monster’s arm. However, even though it should have been a direct and devastating hit, the monstrosity simply stood there as if it had been struck by a small stick.

For a moment, it seemed as though the multiple mouths that covered the monster’s body were imitating a smirk. Before he knew what was happening, the massive tower shield he was holding was smacked away, the black mithril it was made of unable to resist the force. He found himself spinning in the air and landing in a patch of dirt around ten meters away. The difference in speed and power was glaringly apparent; he couldn’t see where the attacks were coming from, nor could his body resist them.

The armor that he had been so proud of making was rapidly falling apart, and he lacked the mana to keep reforming it. His large quantity of golems, turrets, and mines had all been destroyed. They hadn’t proven much of a deterrent for this creature, which was taking its sweet time to kill him. Everyone else was out cold, and at a distance, his only solace in this situation was that at least the guests had been able to evacuate. His only hope was that Elodia did the same after calling for help and managed to meet up with Bernir along the way.

He was sent flying through the air again as the monster appeared to take pleasure in causing him misery. He didn’t know why this creature wasn’t simply delivering the final blow, but perhaps some of the personalities of the people that had formed it had mixed in. It was behaving similarly to the pale elven woman who often liked to toy with her enemies. Just like her, this entity seemed to take some delight in causing him harm.

Soon, parts of his armor were scattered all over the whole compound. His helmet was finally knocked to the side, and he lay there with a bruised and broken body. The red haze that had covered him was gone, as he was not able to muster any of his better skills anymore. It seemed that this would be it; his eyes had trouble focusing on the situation, and he could barely muster any strength to lift his head. There, he could only see a blurry image of the slowly approaching monster, probably ready to deliver the final blow.

‘Is there really nothing that I can do?’

His mind raced as he attempted to muster any type of strength. Even though the situation was dire, Roland was not one to give up easily. He frantically tried to orient himself to see if there were any runic devices nearby that he could use to help himself. However, his injuries, exacerbated by many debuffing effects, made focusing almost impossible. The monster was soon before him, tendrils hovering right before his face.

However, just as the monster was about to pierce one of his eye sockets with its tendrils, a strange sound, akin to static, resounded from the side. Roland’s eyes had managed to regain some of their focus, and with his mana sense, he could feel a shift in the environment. A runic spell used for stealth had been employed to reveal a strange duo. One was a man wearing a large exoskeleton meant for construction work, and the second was a woman who had replaced her wedding gown with darker leather armor with metallic runic parts, operating a large-looking cannon.

The sound that he was hearing was coming from this highly experimental cannon that he had been working on and not yet able to fully test. For some reason it had been dragged up to the surface by two people that weren’t supposed to be here. Before he could shout at them to get to safety he felt an expansion in the magnetic field caused by the weapon he created, which was then soon followed by a massive resounding boom.