Paladin hunter 3 a litrp.., p.17
Paladin Hunter 3: A LitRPG Adventure, page 17
“How long do you think this has been growing down here?” Clara asked softly.
Josiah frowned and started to think of a response, but before he could manage it, Mitchell answered for him. “My sensors can actually detect the thing growing right now. It’s small, only a bit per day, but… It would have been placed here about three months ago, depending on how large it was when it was installed.”
“Three months, and it’s become this large.” Josiah whistled as they walked over to the object. “Well, let’s get it—”
He stretched out his hand, but about five feet away, a crackling force field appeared. It was an angry, fiery red force field, and he whistled and stepped back. After a moment, the field only began to intensify, and thick bolts of red lightning began to lance off of it.
“Someone really doesn’t want us finding this thing.” Josiah drew Purity. “Let’s see if I can break—”
“No need for that.” Anthony opened up his own inventory and pulled out a Level 5 mana stone. It was Black Mana, a neutral type that absorbed energy instead of releasing it. “Here.”
He threw it at the field, and with a crackle, it stuck firmly in place. Lightning pulsed and whirled around it, and the field seemed to lose strength. Suddenly, with one final crack, it vanished altogether. Josiah nodded to Anthony and took another step toward the portal.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
The noise began to echo through the air, and Josiah froze. Lightning began to crackle across the crystal, and he took a step backward.
“Ahh… We’ve got problems.” He turned around. “Run! It’s going to-”
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
Energy exploded outward as the portal took form. Before Josiah could make it more than a foot or two, the energy wrapped around him, and he was blasted through the interdimensional boundary to the other side.
Chapter twenty-two
Jungle
Joan sighed as she looked out from the small meeting house of the Order of St. George. She didn’t know what was happening with Mitchell, with Clara, or particularly with Josiah. She had gone to help him in the portal out in the fields, and then… He had vanished, it seemed like. She didn’t know where he might have gone, what might have happened to him, or anything else like that.
“Don’t worry.” Fredrick, one of the police officers that had left the force with Mitchell, walked up next to her and smiled. “They’ll call you when they need you.”
“I know.” She balled her hands into fists. “I just want to be needed. Maybe that sounds silly, but I was on the front lines with Josiah ages ago. I know how to do all this, too. I may not be quite as good as he is, but I can still help.”
“Careful. Talk like that will make you look jealous.” Fredrick cautioned.
“I know, I know. I’m honestly not, but I took time off from Heaven’s Shield so I would be able to assist with whatever was happening, except that nothing is happening!” Joan shook her head. “I have to report back in two days. I don’t want to butt into their investigation, but I know I could be of some—”
The ground began to rumble, and she paused. Dishes rattled on the counter, left over from a meal that the order had taken together not more than an hour ago. Her hand slowly fell to her sword.
“Help,” she finished.
“Let’s see here…” Fredrik raised his arm, and a display popped up. “Looks like riftquakes, and bad ones. They’re coming from Pine.”
“Well, don’t just stand there! Let’s go!”
Joan left the house at a run, pounding across the cobblestones as fast as her feet could take her. The little Order headquarters was located in the Holly District, which she didn’t love, though it did give them easy access to a lot of the different areas of the city. Holly was located just next to Pine, giving all the hunters who lived there easy access to entertainment. As she bolted through the boundary, force fields sprang up around the whole of the district. Police rushed to the gates, reinforcing the checkpoints, while civilians and low-ranked hunters alike fought to get out.
“Please remain calm!” A loud, authoritative voice blared through a loudspeaker. “Please do not panic! All of you will get out safely. Please do not panic.”
The message repeated, and Joan, with Fredrik, rushed down the streets. The ground quaked even harder, making signs topple from the walls of the grand entertainment halls. Windows shattered, and dozens of entertainers wearing all sorts of outlandish costumes fought to escape. Police cars flashed through the streets, at least the ones that were still open, as policemen began to form lines. Meanwhile, hunters began to form up in ranks, though it still wasn’t exactly clear where the dungeon portal was actually forming.
“Come on, come on.” Joan grimaced as she rushed into the main courtyard of the Pine District. “It’s got to be around her somewhere! Right?”
“I’m detecting powerful dimensional fluctuations, but I can’t tell exactly where they’re coming from.” Fredrick muttered as he ran right up next to her. “Seems like we should be standing right on top of them, but I just don’t see it.”
“If we were standing on top of it, we’d know.” Joan muttered.
“Attention, all hunters!” An S-ranked hunter from the Association climbed up on top of a police car and began to shout orders. “Form up! Tanks to the sides! Artillery and long-range warriors to the back! Infantry down the middle! You know how to arrange yourselves in ranks! Go, go, go!”
Joan watched closely as the hunters began to follow orders, though… Without any clear portal to align themselves against, there was a great deal of confusion about the front and back of the formation, the sides, the rankings… It was utter chaos, which only increased as the guildmasters began to arrive on scene.
“Alright! Never fear!” Barnabas Rider came striding up. He was waving his arms wildly, trying to get everyone’s attention.
“Stay away from him!” Sara Barnes, the Whispering Winds guildmaster, appeared just next to Steven Adams, the Heaven’s Shield guildmaster. “Get back, everyone!”
“How dare you set yourself against me?” Barnabas snapped. “What is the meaning of this?”
“The meaning of this is clear! You’re nothing but a—”
The Hunter’s Association representative fired an arrow into the midst of the arguing Guildmasters, but aside from leaving a nice little flame effect in the air, it didn’t seem to do much. Joan glanced around frantically, trying to figure out what was happening… And then, with one more rumble, a massive crack exploded across the ground.
It stretched from one side of the courtyard, under the statue, and on to the opposite side. Stone cracked and split, and with a mighty roar, the statue itself fell into what seemed to be a cavern opening up beneath the Pine District. A moment later, a piercing blast of lightning shot up into the sky, and the warriors began to shout all manners of different things.
“The statue just fell into the portal!”
“The heartstone was in the statue!”
“It won’t be able to connect with the district anymore!”
Joan slowly looked up at the sky, only to find the gleaming force field vanishing. A hush fell across the crowd at that, reducing the noise to the crackling and roaring of the portal from below the ground.
“Surround that portal!” The association representative called out. “Now! Nothing, and I mean nothing, goes in or out!”
“Are you going to try to get inside?” Fredrick glanced at Joan.
“I don’t know that I can.” She muttered. “Everyone’s locking it down tight, and my guildmaster is standing right there.” She let out a long, pained breath. “Josiah, I only hope you know what you’re doing.”
###
Josiah tumbled through the portal. The ground vanished beneath his feet, and he fell, down… down… To land with a whack on a cold, stone surface. As he climbed to his feet, he found himself lying inside what looked to be an old castle. The exit portal swirled not far from where he lay, pulsing and crackling in front of a set of doors that presumably led to the throne room. He groaned and sat up, and Clara did the same. Mitchell picked himself up from off next to an old, broken-down wagon, while Anthony jumped down from a roof awning where he had landed.
“I’ve never seen a portal do that before.” Josiah muttered.
“In fairness, you’ve only ever seen a dungeon crystal transform into a portal once before. That’s not really a representative sample.” Clara answered.
“Fair.” Josiah slowly looked around the area, and his eyes settled upon a tower that rose from the throne room. “We should head that way, at least one of us.”
“Why?” Anthony snapped. “Why not just head back through?”
“Because we need to get this thing closed down to just a crystal.” Josiah answered. “We can’t do that while the boss is still alive. Basic dungeon physics. Once a portal is opened, it can’t be closed until the boss perishes. If we climb that thing, we stand a better chance of figuring out where the boss is hiding.”
“I’m afraid that could be quite a slog.” Clara murmured. “This place feels big. Why not just have Mitchell close it down with his police stuff?”
“Because that’ll only last for a day or so.” Mitchell answered. “I obviously didn’t see how big the portal got, but it seemed to me like it was growing rather large. I doubt that many of the guilds have a place to hold it.”
“Truth.” Anthony muttered. “Stormforge has a vault that would be large enough, but given that they’re partly the problem at the moment, I don’t think we can really trust them. I’ll climb the tower. You wait here.”
As he turned away, a loud thump echoed through the air. Josiah froze, then slowly drew out Purity and looked around for trouble.
“Did everyone else hear that?” Mitchell glanced around, then slowly walked toward the castle wall. He raised his gun and fired a grappling hook up at the top, then started to climb. “I’m guessing it’s a troll.”
“Then I’m going to guess it’s a giant.” Josiah answered.
“Dragon.” Clara called out.
“And I’m just going to kill whatever it winds up turning out to be.” Anthony snorted. He marched toward the door of the palace. “Look, if it shows up, just deal with it, and I’ll—”
Wham!
The doors were blasted off their hinges as a troll, fifteen feet tall, came stomping out. Drool dripped down from his mouth and chin, and he roared.
“You get on to the tower. We’ll take care of this guy!” Josiah charged forward. He drew out Faith’s Edge, and sighed. “Ahh, it’s been a long time.”
The troll snarled and stomped down. It wielded a massive club, and was covered in warts and pustules. It reached Anthony and swung the club at him, but Anthony merely dodged the attack as if it had been thrown by a child, ducked past the troll, and ran on into the palace. The troll turned after him, then shrugged and turned back to face Josiah and Clara.
“Eat human!”
“Eat steel.” Clara corrected. She threw herself into a jump, flashing over the club as the troll swung once more, and slashed her sword across the troll’s belly. Great gouts of blood and guts exploded across the cobblestones, and Josiah fired Purity several times. The bullets hit the troll in the face, making it stagger, and he stabbed Faith’s Edge deep into the rolling fat of the troll’s stomach.
“Blergh!” The troll screamed and swung his club wildly. Josiah ducked the first blow and started to retreat, but the backswing caught him handily. He was thrown across the courtyard and smashed into one of the many towers, and the troll stomped forward.
“Puny human! Human not hurt toll! Troll still have lots of health!”
Mitchell started shooting from the top of the wall. The bullets tore through the troll and splattered the ground with blood, and the monster roared.
“That not hurt either!”
“I honestly don’t know whether to believe him or not.” Josiah gave his sword a twirl, then started running forward. “Well, troll, why don’t you—”
Splat!
The fountain, which had hitherto been sitting peaceably in the Pine District, flashed through the portal and smashed into the troll. A long, greasy smear was added to the cobbles as the fountain slid almost all the way to the front gates, and Josiah raised an eyebrow.
“Well, that’s one way to skin a troll.” He slowly walked back toward the middle of the courtyard. “Stay on guard! There could be other enemies here, too.”
“Like… This?” Clara slowly pointed upward.
Josiah glanced up at the wall, where Mitchell was lying. Behind him, a door opened up from a tower, allowing a number of creatures to come racing out. They looked more or less like humans, but were withered, with only a bit of desiccated flesh holding their bones together. Spiky protrusions erupted from their elbows and fingers and spine, and their skulls were wedge-shaped. Mitchell rolled as he noticed them, and began to fire just as fast as he could pull the trigger.
Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!
The monsters exploded under the attacks, flinging bits of dead flesh and bone all around. Mitchell stood and began to back up, then spun as more of the creatures started to come from behind him. Josiah moved to assist, but turned as they began to flood down from the palace, swarming toward them like ants.
“I don’t know what these are, but there are a lot of them!” Clara called out.
“Don’t you worry about me!” Mitchell called down from the balcony. “You just focus on getting yourselves to safety!”
With that, Mitchell pulled a grenade off his belt and threw it at the monsters behind him. A mighty blast of light filled the air, and the explosion made a large portion of the wall crumble. With that, his rear was protected, only leaving him to handle the ones in front. Which, of course, he began to do quite expertly, firing again and again and again as the monsters came at him. A pile grew in front of him, which, frankly, rather helped him quite a lot.
Josiah, though, had no such cover. He shoved Purity back into his holster and raced forward, Faith’s Edge gleaming brilliantly as he did so. The monsters surged forward, and he threw himself into their midst. His sword flashed with a great blast of light, and he cut down half a dozen of the creatures in one blow. More came behind the first, and he cut off the head of the first, then spun and cut through the torso of two of them in a single blow. He took a deep breath, then nodded and gave the sword a twirl.
“Smite.”
The protrusions of bone had no effect against his armor as he lunged forward, red energy trailing from his sword. Each blow caused the undead monsters to explode, sometimes even several feet out from the edge of the swing. The blade was a force of nature, and he quickly began to force his way up toward the entrance of the palace.
“Helicopter!”
Clara whirled into the midst of the action, just next to him. Her spinning blades blasted the monsters into slivers, and Josiah flashed a smile as she landed just next to him.
“Looking good.” He gave her a nod.
“Compliment me after these things are all gone.”
“Fair—”
Thud.
“Enough.”
A massive one of the creatures, a solid ten feet high, but otherwise identical, came stomping out from the throne room. Dead eyes stared down at the two hunters, and Josiah took a deep breath.
“Let’s get him.”
The creature let out a piercing scream, then reached over and grabbed hold of a large chain, which had been connected to the doors. It ripped the chain away, then swung it through the air like a whip. As it smashed into the ground, dozens of the monsters were destroyed underneath, and Josiah charged forward as fast as he could. The captain, for being so large, proved to be quite fast, and turned to swing the chain at him before Josiah could blink. The weapon hit him and wrapped around his torso, and he grimaced.
“Josiah! Throw me your sword!”
“Easier said than… Done.” Josiah grunted. His arms were pinned tightly to his side, which made things quite difficult. After a moment, though, he was able to toss it up into the air. A moment later, the monster yanked him back, tossing him into the throne room. Still wrapped up in the chain, he came crashing down in the middle of the floor, where he groaned and slowly started working to rise.
“None of that.” The captain spoke for the first time. Josiah gritted his teeth, but, once more, he was yanked away before he could manage anything himself. The throne room, whose features he hadn’t had time to discern, whirled around him as he was tossed back out into the courtyard and brought smashing down. Out in the open now, the monsters rushed forward to throw themselves upon him, biting and clawing in a desperate attempt to kill him. His health began to drop, but not rapidly.
“Hi-ya!” Clara stepped up and brought Faith’s Edge crashing down on the chain. A brilliant blast of light flared across the courtyard, and the chain shattered into bits, at least that link. Freed, Josiah shoved the chain off himself, then climbed back to his feet.
Crack!
The chain once more slammed into him, but this time, it didn’t wrap around. Instead, it simply slammed him to the ground. He groaned as his head spun, and he climbed back to his feet as best he could. One of the strange, undead creatures jumped upon him, and he gritted his teeth, grabbed the monster by the neck, and squeezed. A loud snap echoed across the area, and the monster fell limp.
“Here!” Clara tossed the weapon back to him, and he caught it and hacked off the head of several more of the monsters. He was dizzy, more than he thought he had a right to be, and drew in a deep breath.
“Much appreciated.” He nodded. “Now… Come on.”
He charged forward once more, hacking his way through the monsters when he had to, but mostly ignoring them unless they attacked him directly. As he approached the captain, it launched attacks with the chain several more times, but he was better able to dodge them now. As he approached the thing, it dropped the chain and pulled out a massive sword, but Josiah shook his head.
