Rune Seeker - Chapter 97: No, We Didn’t!

Dynamic Quest

Hidden Boss!

A Fallen has partially awoken.

Uh… do something?

Something Done: 0/1

Hiral’s brain processed the notification despite the shock threatening to overwhelm him. Even the PIMP doesn’t know what we should do. Not good.

With a thought, he dismissed the notification window and turned his eyes to the top of the tower. Terrifying power swirled to his Cycling ability, like the ocean he’d felt before had been released to hang above the entire island with a physical weight. Was it something like his Rune of Gravity? No, nothing so simple as that. The released Fallen was exerting pressure on reality itself.

Hiral had to forcefully shut down the extra sight Cycling gave his vision so he could make out the tower’s peak—and what their doom looked like. The top half of the crystal was completely gone now, a man atop it with his arms spread and his head back like he was tasting the air and freedom for the first time in a very, very long time.

Unlike the Infested Hiral had already met, there were no tentacles wrapping the man’s arms, torso, or head. Instead, lines glowed like tattooed tentacles in place of the real thing, and they shone with a fierce, concentrated power.

Are those the true inspiration behind our PIMs?

Putting the curiosity out of his mind, Hiral focused on the Fallen who had to be Vorinal, if the name of the tower held true. Besides the glowing lines, his arms and chest were toned, with wiry muscles like corded steel under the flesh, but emaciated. His waist was so narrow the bottom of his ribs showed clearly in his skin, like he hadn’t eaten in thousands of years—which, while true, couldn’t account for his appearance. If food was the issue, he would’ve just been dead.

No, it had to be something else… Solar energy! While the crystal held him captive, the whole point of the tower was to use him to channel solar energy into the island. The tower itself must’ve acted like some kind of vacuum, sucking the solar energy out of the Fallen and into the island’s systems. His physical appearance was probably some kind of representation of his solar reserves.

Beyond the body of a starved Shaper, a short-cropped beard framed his jaw, while oddly full hair stretched to his shoulders. For being trapped in a giant crystal, he looks like he just stepped out of a shower.

Energy sparked at his fingertips, pulling solar energy into the visible spectrum despite Hiral not using Cycling to look at it. But… something was odd. Something…

His legs are still trapped in the bottom of the crystal!

Half of the Fallen remained trapped, preventing him from completely escaping. And, as Hiral switched quickly back to his Cycling vision, he found the ocean of energy still waiting for him. This time, though, as he inspected it, he noticed it wasn’t a consistent density. Patches of it stretched thin, barely holding together, while other sections seemed almost too condensed, drooping under their own weight.

“He’s not free yet—not at full power,” Hiral whispered into the party chat. “We still have a chance.”

At Hiral’s words, Vorinal’s head snapped in his direction, and the restrained Fallen actually smiled. “Is that what you think?” The deep voice cut through the sounds of the battle and the storm like they were spoken right in Hiral’s ear—or through his Party Interface. “Trapped though I am—for the moment—this is all within my calculations.”

At his words, a network of energy shot out under Hiral’s feet, deep within the island itself. Traveling hundreds of feet per second, the stretching energy cut both deep into the island and inward to the main city.

“He’s using the veins within the island to spread his energy,” Hiral quickly said. “The veins we saw in the tunnels.” The sheer control and power it would take to do that… How could they ever counter that? Is this what it means to be S-Rank? Even restrained… he’s doing this.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“I’m surprised you can sense that,” Vorinal mused aloud. “There is something different about you. No. Not just you. Everybody on this island. What did I miss while I slept? Ah, it doesn’t matter. I’ll find out when I dissect you.”

By that point, something was clearly going on with the island, the whole thing beginning to rumble under Hiral’s feet.

“What’s happening?” Seena asked. “What’s he doing?”

“Taking control of the island,” Hiral realized. “The crystal veins connect everything. All the systems and functions, even the ones that weren’t working. The disappearing floors, the water coming up from the river, even the runes keeping us in the air—he’ll be able to manipulate them all.”

“And more,” Vorinal slipped into the party chat again. “There are so many functions you fools have squandered over the years. Let sit and gather dust. This island wasn’t just a refuge, but a… Oh, why am I monologuing? Long years of sleep, I guess? Whatever. I’ll just show you.”

Another shift of the energy beneath Hiral’s feet, and his still-active Domain sensed a change of the ground on both sides of the party. Chunks of the earth—each just over a foot square—vanished, and something head-sized floated up from the newly formed space.

“Look out!” Hiral shifted to the left and brought the Emperor’s Greatsword up like a shield just in time to deflect a piercing line of energy.

A sizzle in the air on the other side suggested it wasn’t the only attack, but he didn’t have time to worry about it for the moment. In front of him, a crystal ball the size of a watermelon floated in the rain. A shimmer on one of its many facets, and another beam of energy cut through the air to blast Hiral.

Again deflected by the flat of the large sword, Hiral launched ahead on a burst of Rejection and brought the sword up and around to cleave the floating crystal in two. As soon as Hiral moved, however, the crystal repositioned in response, smoothly zipping to the side while releasing a third energy beam from another facet.

Hiral changed his attack mid-swing to defend himself—catching the beam—before giving chase. Again, the crystal moved horizontally, then shot straight up to escape him. Not bound to the surface, Hiral rocketed up on planes of Rejection, batting aside energy beams as he went with the fast-moving sword. Even when he caught up, however, the crystal scooted to the side just enough to evade his hurried slash, then went on the counterattack. He flipped, dodged, and brought the sword up again to block the blasts as he sprinted to the side through the air.

This thing has to be at least C-Rank. What is going on? Was this on Fallen Reach the whole time?

That was a question for later, as the sphere fired off blast after blast to ping off Hiral’s sword. Still, despite his ability to block or avoid the shots, he didn’t doubt the damage they’d cause if one got through. Grabbing the RHC off his thigh in his free hand, Hiral flipped over another slicing energy beam and pulled the trigger while upside-down.

A slight shift to the side was enough for the sphere to dodge the bolt of Impact, and then it was back on the attack.

Starting to hate things I can’t hit.

Cutting his spring short so the next blast overshot him, Hiral cut hard in directly towards the sphere. Another pull of his trigger whipped past the dodging globe while he blocked the counterattacks with his sword. He managed to close half the distance, zigzagging as he went, and pulled his trigger again as soon as it was off cooldown. Another miss—though not by as much—and he parried one more blast before hurling his RHC at the sphere.

Almost like the thing was confused at his action, the sphere reflexively dodged but didn’t immediately launch more beams. In that odd hesitance, Hiral’s still-extended hand pulsed with Attraction. The contrary runes on the sphere that must’ve been used to move it flared with resistance, but they weren’t nearly as strong as Hiral, and the whole unit jerked in his direction.

And right into the path of his descending sword.

This time, there was no dodging or escaping, and the Emperor’s Greatsword punched through the crystal like it was rotten fruit. Small shards of broken crystal exploded in every direction, but not with enough force to punch through the Second-Skin of Ur’Thul. One second, then two, Hiral waited to see if the device had any other tricks up its sleeve. Then he spun on his heel and dashed back to the rest of the party.

They finished up with the second crystal sphere just as he arrived, the nimble thing managing to stay just out of reach until they finally took it seriously.

“You okay?” Seena asked.

“Fine,” Hiral said, skidding on the wet ground to a stop beside them.

In the distance, more of the crystal spheres had engaged the fighting Shapers, turning the melee into a three-way battle. Obviously, the Fallen wasn’t on the same side as the insurgents… which didn’t really help Hiral and the others.

“Not bad,” Vorinal said. “Too bad for you I have thousands of those.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Hiral felt dozens of the same cubes vanishing in the ground through his Domain. The same number of crystals floated up from the newly created spaces to surround the party, their facets already glowing.