No. 388 Feathered Snake Altar (2)
A sky so sullen with clouds it looked ready to burst at any moment. A tropical rainforest, its greenery grown thick and dense. And cutting straight through that rainforest, a road stretched out long and flat, as if on proud display. At its far end, a massive stone structure reminiscent of a pyramid rose into view—the heart of this dungeon, the Feathered Serpent Altar.
The next step was obvious to anyone. Follow the road ahead, and you would arrive at your destination: the altar. Whether that road would be a smooth one, however, was another question entirely.
- Shwaaak!
A cluster of slender shapes came flying, aimed at Go Hyeon-woo and me. I sidestepped lightly, and they sailed past to bury themselves deep in the earth and the trees behind us. Wooden spears, whittled to wicked points. One after another, savages then revealed themselves in the undergrowth—wearing hardly any clothing, but slathered head to toe in thick daubs of what looked like red and white paint.
"No wonder they look the part."
Their ferocious scowls helped the impression along, too. First impressions really are everything, it seems.
"A sacrifice!"
"Take it alive!"
- Hsst!
For men shouting about taking something alive, they showed remarkably little qualm about using weapons. Some of the savages hurled their spears anew; others came charging with wooden spearpoints thrust out ahead. I gave one hand a light wave.
Wind Force
A wind laden with physical force raked through their formation in one hard sweep. The savages toppled like dominoes. Those still on their feet lunged with their spears, but—
- Swish!
Go Hyeon-woo cut them all down in the space of a breath. With things more or less settled, another band of savages could already be seen racing up the road. There was no window for so much as a word. Go Hyeon-woo looked at me and gave a small nod.
"May fortune favor you."
"You too."
And with that he dashed off and set about reaping the savages. Every time his iron sword flashed, blood spattered the air.
We had settled this in advance, once I'd walked him through the dungeon's strategy: from this point on, we would act independently. I would leave Go Hyeon-woo to push along the road to the altar, while I struck out from the path and plunged into a rainforest with no clear direction at all.
Swinging the F-rank machete I'd bought beforehand in wide X's, I hacked my way through the undergrowth.
The core rule of the Feathered Serpent Altar was [Raid]. To summarize the gist of it: a party of four—the maximum—enters and fights its way through the swarming savages to reach the altar. With the ritual in full swing there, even more of them would be waiting. As you wage a blood-spattered struggle against the horde, the boss monster finally makes its appearance: the Feathered Serpent High Priest. From that moment, the true raid begins. You must disrupt the ritual even as you hold off the pincer assault of the priest and his savages. Bring the boss down by any means necessary, and the dungeon is cleared.
'That's the textbook version, anyway.' Needless to say, playing it by the book—following only the road laid out before you—would never get you the hidden piece. You had to dig hard where nobody else thought to look. That was where the good things turned up. Just like right now.
- Whack!
A hard blow of the machete sent the branch barring my way crashing to the ground, and beyond it opened a reasonably clear space. Faint traces of human passage lingered here and there. Follow those traces faithfully backward...
'And this is how you find the village.'
A settlement of crudely built huts huddled together in clusters. Where there are savages, there is naturally a savage stronghold. The Feathered Serpent Altar was so blatant about displaying the path and the objective that this blind spot was easy to miss—but whether you caught this small oversight was precisely what decided whether the hidden piece was yours to take.
There were few savages inside the village, most having streamed toward the altar. The ones tending a bonfire spotted me and sprang to their feet. I offered a friendly wave first.
"Haha, greetings, everyone. Have you eaten yet?"
"A sacrifice?"
"The sacrifice has come to us."
"Take it alive!"
- Hsst!
And with that, one of them abruptly hurled a bamboo spear. Aimed dead at my chest. A person rather famously dies when something sharp goes through the heart, so I couldn't for the life of me see how they planned to take me alive this way.
Having no intention of dying or of being caught, I focused Wind Force onto the incoming spear. It shuddered, bled off its speed in an instant, and settled snugly into my hand. The moment I hurled it back and sent a fierce gust chasing after it—
- Thunk!
it punched clean through its original owner and lodged itself in the savage behind him.
Concentrating physical force on a single point like this also let me decelerate or accelerate a projectile at will. It couldn't match what a melee class could throw with superior strength and mana, or the signature projectiles of a ranged class, but it still hit harder than average, and I was putting it to good use. Back when I ran strategy runs with Hong Yeon-hwa, I'd even returned a troll's hand-axe this very way.
"A strong sacrifice!"
"We must take it, whatever the cost!"
"Take it alive!"
Two of their comrades had gone down, yet the savages looked, if anything, even more worked up. In their eyes burned not so much vengeance as a blind craving for a sacrifice. Still, I figured if I asked, they might just answer. So I asked, ever so casually—
"Is the chieftain in there?"
"Die!!"
Instead of an answer, a long spear came thrusting at me. Weren't you just saying to take me alive? A change of heart already? In any case, there was no time to waste in a place like this. I began to advance, twisting my body this way and that. Sharp, pointed things grazed past by a hair's breadth. I blasted those blocking the way far off with Wind Force, and anything that came within reach—arm or nape, it made no difference—went straight up and over.
"Aaaagh—"
The scream receded into the high sky. I trusted they would stick their own landings. Or not. I drove forward like a bulldozer through the wall of humanity.
I hadn't needed to comb the village hunting for the savage chieftain, the high priest. All I had to do was make for the biggest hut in the settlement. Common sense alone said a man of his station would hardly be keeping a modest little dwelling in some corner of the village.
- Bam!
I sent the savages still rushing me lightly flying, lifted the curtain hung across the entrance, and stepped inside. A mellow fragrance of incense greeted me—or so it seemed, rising from a makeshift altar arranged along one side. Before it knelt a middle-aged man, presumably the high priest. Befitting his office, feather ornaments draped over him in resplendent layers, and his face paint ran heavier still.
Sensing my presence, the high priest raised his head and found me. He looked me over slowly, top to bottom, as if appraising wares, and spoke.
"...One who bears a strength seldom seen. You shall make a fine sacrifice."
"Every last one of you only ever talks about sacrifices. Have you nothing else to discuss?"
"What need have I for long words with the livestock I raise? Their fate is to have their bellies cut open in the end regardless."
"Can't argue with that."
It did have a certain logic, so I nodded. The high priest made his proposal in a tone of exceeding mercy.
"Submit quietly, and even your moment of agony shall be brief."
"I'd rather not be caught. Or hurt, for that matter."
"That is not yours to choose."
"All the same, I'd like to try as far as I'm able."
"By all means."
The high priest smiled with saintly warmth. A few savages followed me in and took up position at my back,
"Seize him."
and hands shot toward me all at once. I hammered a fist into the nearest man's philtrum, seized him by the nape, and hurled him at the high priest. He struck the translucent membrane surrounding the priest and was slammed down against the ground.
- Clang!
'A D-rank barrier.' I threw four, five more after him, but it was every bit as pointless. Of course, breaching the barrier had never been my aim. Clearing out the bodies blocking my way out was. I wedged through a narrow gap in the tide of flesh and slipped outside—and didn't forget to toss back one last jab.
"Catch me if you can."
- KRA-BOOM!
Golden energy pulverized the spot I had just vacated. As I waited outside with perfect composure, as though nothing at all had happened, the high priest walked out of his dwelling. In his hand gleamed a staff shining gold. And with that, every savage in the village had ringed the area around us in a wide circle.
Dodging incoming bursts of golden energy and thrown spears, I ran the numbers. 'Minimum condition: cleared.'
That was the bare prerequisite for claiming the Feathered Serpent Altar's hidden piece: pin the high priest down in the village. The moment he set foot at the altar, the dormant hidden piece would pass into his possession of its own accord. Until Go Hyeon-woo took full ownership, it had to be kept apart from him. That was why I had gone to the trouble of hacking through the forest to find this place. Everything so far had unfolded exactly to plan.
- BOOM!
As I kicked off the ground and fell back, another mass of golden light came crashing down. The savages chasing me caught it in my stead, their bodies crumpling whole. That attack wasn't elemental—one clean hit and you were a goner. But I wasn't overly worried. 'Just don't get hit.' Dodging was the one thing I trusted myself to do.
Dark-crimson flame seared up my fist.
Part of me wanted to let it fly in one satisfying blast, but if I misjudged the output and killed the high priest outright, the dungeon would seal itself shut before Go Hyeon-woo could claim the hidden piece. He had to stay alive for the time being, so I held back. I had cast Inferno Fist for an entirely different reason.
Overheat
The tremendous power steeped into my fist spread through my whole body, flooding it with energy. Weaving through the incoming golden bursts, I charged straight in.
- Tap! Tap!
Every time my foot slapped the ground, the view whipped past, and the high priest loomed closer. The instant his eyes bulged and he moved to chant a defensive spell, my hand shot out. It smashed through the transparent membrane in a single stroke and landed square on the priest's chest.
- WHAM—!
The high priest's body went flying into his dwelling and crashed down inside. From within came the splintering sound of furniture breaking. 'Handy.' I shook out my hand, which had gone slightly numb. One strike, Wind Force channeled through a body reinforced by Overheat—and a D-rank barrier had shattered without much fuss. Still, boss was boss; his actual body would hardly be hurt. I called toward the interior.
"Hey, maybe show a little more care with your defenses. Feels awfully flimsy from out here, don't you thi—"
I snapped my head aside just as a vivid golden beam streaked past. A colossal power was swelling from within. '—nk. Someone's in quite a mood.'
"—nk. You do seem rather angry."
"...I will not grant you a gentle death."
- KRA-KRA-BOOM!
Now the golden masses came falling two and three at a time. This, too, was by design. The Feathered Serpent High Priest's first priority was carrying out the 'ritual.' Draw its aggro half-heartedly, and it would sometimes simply walk away mid-battle. The remedy for that particular headache? Work it into a proper fury.
- KRA-KRA-KRA-BOOM!
Naturally, that came with the drawback of making everything far harder to dodge. Keeping my legs churning, I flicked a glance toward a distant point behind me. By now, a ferocious battle would be raging at the towering Feathered Serpent Altar.
'Do me proud, Go Hyeon-woo.' The rest was up to him.
[64] The Support Ate It All