154. Rain Dance (Part 2)

I've banked a lot of goodwill with a lot of decent, honest souls. And maybe—just maybe—now would be a good time for some of that goodwill to pay off.

Wishful thinking or the natural conclusion of a Path well-trod? More and more, Serac leaned toward the latter. And this magical reappearance of REVOLVER was just the latest tick in the good-things-happen-to-good-souls column.

Of course, she wasn't so naive as to believe that REVOLVER had just fallen from from the heavens. She looked up—past the flabbergasted figure of Hilde—and straight at the ceiling directly overhead. And amidst the mixture of solid leaf and crumbling earth, she saw it: the evidence of another decent, honest soul having come to her rescue.

A hole just about big enough for a six-shooter to drop through—and, apparently, also for a skinny mackerel hand to reach down and give a thumb-up. Serac grinned and gave one straight back, raising her PULVERIZER hand into the burning rain. She doubted Petter could see her, and the gesture did incur a few extra ticks of DoT, but she didn't care. What was the point of happy surprises if she couldn't express her joy in the moment?

The hole closed in short order, and Serac was once more left to contend with her angry manta ray of an opponent. Hilde's fiery [Mistfall] raged on, and the woman herself continued to bounce up and down in the air. The expression on her face was one of pure disgust—as if she couldn't imagine a grosser affront than a cornered foe lucking into a major 'upgrade' mid-fight.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Serac shouted, still grinning wide. "You're a Wayfarer, aren't you? You should be old hat at multi-phase fights. Just think of me as a boss who's just pulled a whole new moveset out of their ass—and count yourself lucky that it didn't come with a fresh health bar!"

"You think this makes a difference, do you?" Hilde spat, showing the cracks in her calm veneer. "I still have the higher ground—and the elements in my favor. Don't think I'd allow you to—"

Bang!

[97!]

Serac fired from the hip, not waiting to find out what Hilde would or wouldn't allow. It was a technique she'd consciously worked on throughout her journey, and it paid off now by catching her aerial foe off guard. The manta ray's [Abyssal] chestpiece covered much of her center of mass, but thankfully, her flapping pectoral fins provided another big target.

Hilde's response was immediate and twofold: a furious snarl, together with a [Sunset] dive. Serac was ready for it, backstepping away from the point of impact before jumping to avoid the secondary AOE. She fired her next shot from mid-air, well aware that she had precious little time to waste.

[Chamber Two: APPETIZER]

[128!]

Another hit and a big jump in damage! A much higher BAV, together with Hilde's slightly lower mitigation, gave the Zealous damage type a significant advantage over Physical. Even as both combatants adjusted to their new reality, Serac took a Ksana or two to do some quick maths.

She recalled how much Hilde had healed from Rathor's [Sanjiva] spell—a little under 1,100 if memory served. Assuming that to be the manta ray's max health, so far, she'd taken it down by a total of 400 points. Which left at most 700 more points until victory, or five Zealous-imbued bullets and change—maybe even less if she could break Hilde's poise.

With that in mind, Serac quickly switched the 'source' of [Appetizer]'s magic—from [Satiety] to MP. For while channeling with Mana was more expensive, she had a lot more of it to spare. Besides, there was no point trying to be conservative when [Mistfall] continued to eat into her health.

Gotta keep it simple, she told herself. Quick, clean hits. Make every shot count.

Hilde made the next move: a FJADRHAMR-boosted uppercut from a crouching position. It was aimed at Serac's chin, which meant it was another perfect opportunity for her to use what she'd learned from fellow Wayfarers.

A pullback in the last possible moment—her best imitation of both Zacko and Hilde. The latter's punch—as well as its accompanying shockwave—whiffed completely.

But the manta ray already had another attack lined up: a gut punch with the other fist, only aimed even lower to bypass the chestpiece. Too bad for her, this was exactly the kind of trick Zacko would pull. As such, Serac preempted it by squatting down, causing the punch to connect with her [Abyssal Plate].

[ABYSSAL PLATE Current Durability: 41%]

Another chunk off a [Durability] that had already been under heavy fire. But Serac couldn't worry about that now. What was a Trinket for if not to help her out in a tight spot?

The absorption by the [Abyssal Plate] also caused an interruption to Hilde's combo. Serac took full advantage, punishing the former with a point-blank shot.

[128!]

Serac kept her discipline and took only the one shot. Good thing too, because Hilde immediately spun in place, producing a pillar of wind that knocked back everything in its vicinity. The manta ray then transitioned directly into a roundhouse kick—as light as a feather yet as mighty as a goddess.

[Auxiliary Technique: GALEDRIFT]

The kick came in at chest-height, but its secondary AOE rose higher, enough to threaten neck-and-up in a wide arc. Neither pulling back nor sidestepping could hope to evade the shockwave, and if Serac were to duck instead, she'd eat the kick directly.

If this had been Serac's first time seeing this attack, she would've been done for. Good thing then that she'd gone out of her way to spar with Hilde while she could. On this occasion, the Kronvakt woman had even telegraphed [Galedrift] with the preceding spin, thereby allowing her opponent the slightest window to react accordingly.

PULVERIZER up, angled just so to cover the neck region. The shockwave made contact first, its damage mitigated to a manageable [59!]. Then came the physical kick, only to be nullified by the [Abyssal Plate].

[ABYSSAL PLATE Current Durability: 29%]

True to form, Serac had every intention to turn defense into attack. But she knew her window to be vanishingly brief. She fired a blind shot from the waist, angling REVOLVER into the considerable bulk of Hilde's thigh.

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[128!]

"Arrgghh!!"

A cry of sheer frustration rather than pain. Serac understood. This was what happened to fights when you'd shown your hand to the opponent—something a self-assured Kronvakt team leader had rarely experienced.

I hope this is a good wake-up call for you, Serac mused as she recalled her own lesson of a similar nature. So many Pretjordians I've met here are 'frogs in the well'. I wonder if any of them are willing to take that next leap…

It remained to be seen whether or not Hilde Vindsdatter would turn out to be one such leaping frog. For now, the manta ray flexed a different kind of 'leaping' muscle, taking off into the air with a burst of [Moonrise].

The intent couldn't be clearer. By now, Serac's HP had been whittled dangerously low, and it'd only take one clean FJADRHAMR-powered hit to finish the job. Hilde aimed to do just that with her most trusted combo:

[Auxiliary Technique: SUNSET]

A diving fist, too fast for a rocky shield to track. Serac could try the trick with the [Abyssal Plate] again, but she had a hunch Hilde would be wise to it this time.

So, she was left with only one real option—admittedly a gamble of sorts. For PULVERIZER might be too slow and unwieldy, but REVOLVER certainly wasn't. Serac brought the six-shooter up to her face, as if to shield herself. Then, as barrel met fist, she squeezed the trigger.

[128!]

She knew the damage would go through. The question remained, however, whether Hilde's [Sun] might [set] at the same time. And the answer…

Poise-break! The gamble paid off! The third Zealous-imbued bullet—and also the fifth hit Serac had landed during the fight—proved one too many for Hilde to withstand. The manta-ray woman crumpled to the ground, all four of her fins folded.

Simultaneously, the 'rain' too stopped, releasing a landbound Rakshasa from its DoT effect. Serac barely paid the weather any mind, however, as she focused on her target. Now, she had all the time in the world to aim, lock, and:

[307!]

The last bullet in the cylinder, buffed twofold and more by the critical multiplier. It did the job! Serac congratulated the accuracy of her own quick maths as she watched Hilde turn to Dust.

[33,687 क]

A big injection of Karma—and it'd been a long time coming! Serac's last 'real' smite had been that of poor Rodrin Skjortsdatter and her [0 क] worth of Liminal Karma. Well, she'd certainly caught a much bigger 'fish' in Hilde Vindsdatter.

What an awful way to put it! True to form, Serac quickly admonished herself for her own insensitivity, then took a brief moment to pay Hilde her respects. I hope we get a chance to talk things out after all this is over. I'm not qualified to give relationship advice to anyone, but… in your case, I might have to make an exception.

But enough about her foes. It was time to move on, hopefully to another rendezvous with her friends. Serac bounded up the central branch, paying no mind to the walls of fire that lined her path. The branch eventually led her to a leafy platform, walled off by a massive double-door about the size of three Rumpejettes stacked together.

Must lead to that 'throne hall' Renna mentioned earlier. Is Prince Sicko camping out on the other side then?

Speaking of Prince Sicko, Serac noticed something rather strange about this topmost platform. She'd just left the hellish inferno of the rotunda behind, and she'd expected to see more of the same up here, where Rathor presumably had spread more of his [Avici] madness.

Instead, it was back to that surrealist painting from before Rathor's arrival. That was to say, the place had been engulfed by [Avici], only for its black-green flames to have 'frozen' in stillness.

"The effects of [Pacification] appear to be overpowering [Avici]," Trippy theorized. "Perhaps it only makes sense for the King's magic to be more powerful the closer it is to his throne."

"That's well and good, but what do we do about this?"

Serac referred to a clear obstacle to her stated quest of humbling a prince. The fires here had apparently been so extensive prior to being [Pacified] that they now covered the entire passage to the throne hall.

Serac absent-mindedly touched the frozen fire, only to receive a painful reminder of its retained heat. She then tried knocking on it with PULVERIZER, finding it to be as solid as a stone castle wall. Finally, a tentative shot with REVOLVER, only for the bullet to bounce away harmlessly.

"I don't think it was his intention," Serac observed with a defeated sigh, "but looks like Prince Sicko's 'locked' himself behind his father's magic. Meanwhile, [Avici] is still active lower down in the palace and probably everywhere else in the Realm. I mean, seriously, two Realm-wide spells active and competing with each other at the same time? It's like we're dealing with two Realm Immortals. How—"

Serac's thoughts were interrupted as she felt something falling onto her head. She looked up, only to be met by a now familiar (but still surreal!) sight: a patch of curved ceiling crumbling into dirt, with all the debris pouring down like the sand in an hourglass. Well, in this case, not just debris, but also—

"Look out!"

The warning issued from above—from the falling debris. Then the patch of dirt broke wide open, spitting out two humanoid figures as it did.

Petter first, then Zacko directly above him, dropped down from the ceiling. The mackerel—clearly an inexperienced 'fall-er'—hit the ground face-first (ouch!) without so much as an attempt at breaking his own fall. Thankfully, the distance was just shy of lethal territory, allowing him to come away with just his HP halved.

Zacko had a much better time of it—not least because he'd used Petter to break his fall! The Manusya dusted himself off with his usual nonchalance, all while pulling his mackerel cushion to his feet.

"Thanks, Pete," Zacko said, cool as you like. "I really needed that, what with my Health being down to its last point and all."

"Don't mention it, Mithter," Petter—down several teeth after his ordeal—spoke with an obvious lisp. "It'th the leatht I can do."

Meanwhile, Serac didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She settled on an odd mixture of both as she hugged and caught up with her friends.

The three of them gave each other rapid-fire recaps of their respective adventures. Serac was impressed by Zacko's epic duel against Skjal, and even more so by Petter's initiative and ingenuity.

The most junior Wayfarer among them had shown the mental wherewithal to read and react to the evolving circumstances. Judicious application of [Heat Sink] had allowed him to navigate the spreading inferno. He then used his crystal shenanigans to sneak into a then deserted throne room, where he'd retrieved Serac's REVOLVER in the nick of time.

"It really was too close for comfort," he now admitted. "Almost as soon as I made my way back to the roof, the whole throne hall went up in flames. I shudder to think what would've happened if Prince Rathor had spotted me."

"You're a life-saver, Petey!" Serac enthused. But then her admiration turned to anxiety as she suddenly recalled: "Wait, does that mean you found Renna's DREDGER too?"

Petter shook his head.

"Sadly not, Miss. I can't say my search was exactly thorough, but even so, I think it would've been hard for me to miss a giant shovel."

"Dang it! I wonder what's happened to it… and I hope Renna's having a better time without her shovel than I did without my gun!"

"Well, wherever DREDGER is, we better hope Bubblegum has found it by now," Zacko remarked, eyeing the flames that barred entry to the throne hall. "Because something tells me that's our only hope of getting through this."

Zacko was right of course, and by now, Serac had reached the same conclusion.

A stalemate between two Immortals and their immense magic—with a whole Realm hanging in the balance. Something had to give, lest the Realmtree be encased forever more in frozen hellfire.

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