Week 2 (7)
Week 2 (7)
What a beautiful sight.
True to its epithet, its entire body in the form of a massive deer was covered in faded white tree bark.
The surface texture was already familiar by now—the mirror-like sheen, smoothly polished to perfection, which had caught my attention multiple times on the way here.
Above its head rose antlers split into twelve prongs, shimmering silver, and I wasn't the only one who thought they resembled a crown, as Ray steadied his breathing and said,
"Those antlers—have they mutated? They look like a crown."
"Look closer, Ray-ssi. The surface is moving ever so slightly. Like thin scales."
Kali's insight layered onto Ray's deduction.
Valerie, however, snorted as if none of that mattered.
"Hah, now this is worth scrapping with."
Valerie flashed a belligerent grin.
Like a snarling beast, she readjusted her grip on her dagger and aimed her flintlock pistol with her other hand.
At the end of her sight line, it stiffly raised its head and gazed quietly in our direction.
"Here we go."
Ray muttered curtly, gripping his greatsword with both hands and assuming position.
As if no further reading was needed, Mirenheart shifted its hoof.
The clear tak tak of clopping hooves rang out.
Ray's Speed Dice: 1d6=2, Valerie's Speed Dice: 4d6=11, Kali's Speed Dice: 3d6=13, Mirenheart's Speed Dice: 3d6=15 *
Mirenheart acts first. *
Mirenheart's [Silent Outcry]: 1d6=3 = 1d6=3 : Ray's Defense *
Mirenheart's [Silent Outcry]: 1d6=5 = 2d6=5 : Valerie's Evasion *
Mirenheart's [Silent Outcry]: 1d6=5 > 1d6=4 : Kali's Evasion *
5 of Kali's Life Tokens removed. Remaining Life Tokens: 11. *
[Silent Outcry] inflicts Slow 1 (2 stacks) on Kali. *
And then, a powerful wave soon blanketed the space.
Thanks to the Embers in my hand, I felt no immediate effect, but the mercenaries winced.
[Innate Madness] grants Kali 2 Luck. *
[Innate Madness] adds 1 Evasion Die to Kali. *
Kali's [Biological Experiment]: 1d6=1 < 2d6=6 : Mirenheart's Evasion *
[Biological Experiment] Judgment Roll 1d20=6(+2)=8 > 5+, inflicts Poison 5 (4 stacks) on Mirenheart. *
[Forbidden Knowledge] Kali's Desire decreases by 1d10=9. Current Desire: 0/100. *
Kali raised her Oleander Staff.
The most annoying thing about facing the First Layer Lord Mirenheart was its superior defensive spec of 2 Evasion Dice.
Its middling attacks were hard to land on due to that mobility.
But Kali was free from that issue.
Whether [Biological Experiment] or [Plague Pit], the core 'Poison' judgment triggered on 'use.'
In other words, she could stack Poison without even hitting.
The venom shot from the staff was easily dodged, but it couldn't escape the drifting toxic mist.
Valerie acts. *
Valerie's [Breakthrough]: 3d6=15 > 2d6=10 : Mirenheart's Evasion *
15 of Mirenheart's Life Tokens removed. Remaining Life Tokens: 45. *
[Mirror Bark] Judgment Roll 1d20=4 < 12+ *
[Breakthrough] Valerie advances to the front row. *
Right after came Valerie's charge.
With deft movement, she closed in instantly and swung her dagger.
It couldn't dodge that lightning-fast strike.
Its form staggered visibly from the massive damage, clear even from afar.
Moreover, whether by instinct sensing danger or not, her choice to cleverly avoid the glass scales on Mirenheart's antlers and body crevices while swinging was spot-on.
Its passive, [Mirror Bark], reflected half the damage taken.
For a glass cannon like Valerie, taking that backlash would've been a huge blow.
What a perfect start.
Ray acts. *
Ray's [Krumph] *
[Krumph] adds 1 Defense Die to Ray. *
Ray raised his pommel to the side of his head.
Ray's role in this fight was simple: tank as much of its murderous DPS as possible.
[Krumph] added a Defense Die with no drawbacks, essentially doubling Ray's toughness—a high-performance buff.
Always best to pop it turn one.
...Of course, the pose looked a bit dubious, so it might lack convincing flair, but mechanically, the math checked out, so no issue.
Ray's Speed Dice: 1d6=5, Valerie's Speed Dice: 4d6=14, Kali's Speed Dice: 3(-1)d6=2, Mirenheart's Speed Dice: 3d6=9 *
Valerie acts first. *
[Swiftness] adds 1 Power Die to Valerie. *
Valerie's [Skill]: 4d6=20 > 2d6=6 : Mirenheart's Evasion *
20 of Mirenheart's Life Tokens removed. Remaining Life Tokens: 25. *
[Mirror Bark] Judgment Roll 1d20=2 < 12+ *
Valerie's turn again.
This time, she'd charged to the front and finished her warmup.
Moderately hyped up, her gleaming eyes burned with intoxicating fervor.
In truly stylish motion, she utterly outsped it, tossing her flintlock into the air mid-stride before grabbing her dagger with both hands.
Then, she smashed down like it was a blunt weapon.
The glass scale on Mirenheart's forehead crackled with a vicious sound, splitting open.
Around then, Valerie probably thought:
—Huh, why'd it split so cleanly?
—Because that's where Mirenheart's real body hides.
Ooooooh—.
Dazzling yet nauseating—the sight of that heavenly beast's beautiful flesh splitting open in such gruesome fashion.
From the gap slithered a shadowy illusion with form.
The viscous mass dripped to the ground, soon swelling to rapidly encroach on the Floor Boss's domain.
Sensing crisis, Valerie snatched her recalled flintlock and leaped back.
The next instant, another burst of intimidation erupted.
This one was massive enough to make even my skin crawl involuntarily.
Mirenheart acts. *
Mirenheart's [Shattered Blood Path]: 2d6=3 < 2d6=10 : Ray's Defense *
Mirenheart's [Shattered Blood Path]: 2d6=7 > 1d6=5 : Valerie's Evasion *
7 of Valerie's Life Tokens removed. Remaining Life Tokens: 13. *
Valerie's Desire increases by 1d10=9. Current Desire: 57/100. *
Mirenheart's [Shattered Blood Path]: 2d6=9 > 2d6=4 : Kali's Evasion *
9 of Kali's Life Tokens removed. Remaining Life Tokens: 2. *
Kali's Desire increases by 1d10=3. Current Desire: 3/100. *
Mirenheart loses 5 Life Tokens from Poison 5 (3 stacks). Remaining Life Tokens: 20. *
An overwhelming wave of intimidation.
Ray weathered it fine, but the two in the back didn't.
The two took hefty damage and spat blood in unison with guttural retches.
Mirenheart, shrieking horrifically, shed all prior beauty.
Like seams forcibly stitched bursting open, its deer forehead tore, and a dark crimson hand emerged, wrapped like afterbirth.
That was the distortion corrupting the forest guardian Mirenheart.
Phase 2 at half HP or below—the real strategy crux from here.
Phase 2 Mirenheart's firepower was overwhelmingly dominant right now.
We had to deny it turns as much as possible and burst it down fast.
Ray raised his sword and leaped.
Ray acts. *
Ray's [Unter]: 2d6=7 < 2d6=12 : Mirenheart's Evasion *
But this time, the enemy was much faster.
Fully unshackled from its self-imposed restraint, Mirenheart dodged Ray's sword with almost brutish speed.
No more high-and-mighty act.
It was too grotesque to call a living creature's movement anymore.
Well, yeah—with a monster like that in its head.
Our formation was already wrecked to feed Valerie max DPS.
Out-of-rotation Kali could only basic attack to no effect or pass the turn eating Stress damage.
And I chose to pass eating Desire damage over basic.
Kali does not act. *
Kali's Desire increases by 1d10=8. Current Desire: 11/100. *
Simple reason: its passive [Mirror Bark] was up, and Kali had only 2 Life Tokens left.
Greedily chasing minor damage could backfire into a fatal reflection kill.
With Desire room to spare, better to minimize variables even if it meant a lighter penalty there.
This wasn't a game—it was reality. Couldn't gamble lives on dice.
Yeah, I'd planned up to that point.
But what kind of game was Tombstone?
The next instant, a foolish giggle clawed at my ears.
Simultaneously, I grasped it all and let out a hollow laugh.
Kali's 'Nerve Sedative' effect is removed. *
[Innate Madness] Kali's max Desire decreases by 10. Current Desire: 11/90. *
[Innate Madness] removes 1 Evasion Die from Kali. *
Her breathing grew ragged.
The Oleander Staff clenched in her hand slipped powerlessly to the ground.
Her pupils twitched anxiously—or entranced—beginning to tremble.
Hek, hek—.
A cheap, dog-in-heat panting.
Saliva drooled from her lolling tongue.
Her eyes, somewhat fatigued yet mysteriously intellectual before, had already clouded over in an instant.
Damn, the meds wore off.
"Heh, hek, hii...♥"
Before I could even think, I rushed forward and barely caught the staggering Kali on the verge of collapse.
She surrendered her full weight to me like she'd been waiting, practically collapsing into my arms.
As if forgetting we'd just been in a life-or-death fight, Kali squirmed.
The Restraints binding her dug into every crevice, and with self-control gone, she flushed at the rising pleasure, panting heavily.
Only then did I realize.
Tombstone's textual system—its [Innate Madness] Quirk—was just that.
Max Desire down, one Evasion Die removed—a big penalty, sure, but not world-ending.
But this was reality.
The madness Kali was born with wasn't some lightweight issue fitting in a single-line Quirk box.
My mind went blank, bleached white.
But that was my problem, and time mercilessly slowed again.
When a 'turn' starts, 'players' must issue commands to 'units' per the rules.