A beam of light pierced through the darkness above, engulfing Aegis in a spotlight of holy magic. It expanded outward, engulfing the statue and Tullan. A soft, warm voice whispered to them through the light.
“How shall I aid you in this dark hour?”
Tullan’s jaw dropped, but this was not Aegis's first time interacting directly with a god of this game, so his excitement did not override his focus.
He clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and lowered his head. “We need help. Two Avatars of darkness are on their way, along with their armies. Please help us survive until Bihi is fully grown.”
A pause followed his words. In that pause, his mind ran wild with what Eirene could, and would, do to help them. Best case, she’d complete the quest for them in an instant, but Aegis wasn’t going to kid himself into thinking that’d actually happen.
“I will do what I can,” she whispered. The light pulsed, and the beam ceased, settling around the statue. The name changed.
[Eirene, Goddess of Hope and Peace(ELITE) - Level 300] hovered over the glowing mithril statue, with its eyes shooting piercing divine energy in place of pupils. This time, Aegis’ jaw dropped. A notification and a buff appeared.
The goddess Eirene has accepted your request for divine aid and deemed the request worthy and appropriate for her teachings. You have maintained your role as the Harbinger of Light.
In the presence of your Goddess, you receive the following benefits:
The [Avatar of Eirene] skill has had its cooldown and duration removed.The effects of the [Avatar of Eirene] skill have doubled.
Aura of PeaceSource: Eirene, Goddess of Hope and PeaceEffect: All peaceful, non-combative NPCs are immune to all forms of damage and status effects. All creatures of the abyss level 30 or below who enter this aura are immediately destroyed.
After reading the aura, Aegis scanned their surroundings. Only a single NPC still above ground in Rene was being considered a ‘non-combative NPC’. But it was the most important one. Bihi.
So long as Eirene is here, Bihi can’t be destroyed. That’s better than I was hoping, Aegis thought.
“It is not in my nature to fight. As you know, this will only further empower the Avatars. I may assist in providing a divine mantra, however. Whichever you believe is best fitting for the people of Rene,” she spoke calmly.
The ground quaked violently. Something nearby had burst out of the ground, near the edge of Aegis’ aura of light. Tullan, Eirene, and Aegis’ heads swivelled to face the direction, but saw nothing.
“Mantra?” Aegis’s eyebrows furled.
“Apostles and some monk classes use ‘em. There’s a bunch,” Tullan chimed in. Aegis nodded, flicking open his interface and navigating through the game database. There were a lot, but one stood out above the rest.
“Mantra of purity, please,” Aegis bowed his head to her again.
Eirene nodded, moved back to the top of the fountain, and sat cross-legged atop it. She began a low humming chant, and another effect spread from her to everyone in Rene.
Mantra of PuritySource: Eirene, Goddess of Hope and PeaceEffect: Removes one debuff every 3 seconds from all those who can see or hear the chanter.
Aegis let out a sigh of relief when he saw it. Debuffs from Avatar of Affliction would be handled. Bihi and the civilian NPCs in the hive were unkillable. Chax took all the gold to weaken the Avatar of Greed.
It felt like they were in a strong position. He eyed the sapling, now standing 2 feet tall with three leaves sprouting from it. Amlie and the dark elves were casting everything they could, from watering spells to fertilization spells, but it was clear Bihi would take a while to grow.
With a deep, anxious breath, Aegis activated his Avatar of Eirene skill once again. The base effect enhanced the power and radius of his auras, and now that it was doubled, his aura of light exploded outward far beyond what it had been before.
It pushed back the black mist of the surrounding lands, up to the top of Jia’nir Mountain.
They were surrounded. On all sides, monstrosities of unimaginable size and shape were closing in on them. A few of the regulars were there, including a mass of reapers, abysslings, and ferrawolves. Most were level 30 or lower and would burn up when they got too close, thanks to Eirene. Some were upwards of level 50, though.
Juggernauts stomped toward them. On the front lines, bursting into the light of his aura, he counted 12 in total from all directions, but there were likely more still coming.
Then, there were the newcomers—a lot of creatures that had never shown themselves above the abyss. The largest of the bunch that drew Aegis’ attention first was in the skies above, surrounded by swarming reapers. [Abyssal Broodmother(Elite) - Level 214]. It resembled a flying, gigantic stingray with glowing bulbs all across its underside. It had an extended snout filled with razor-sharp teeth, a jaw big enough to swallow a house in one bite, and a huge flailing tail covered in spikes that wiped around through the air behind it.
The creature's head had gnarled grooves and tiny indentations. From those, reapers soared out, as if being birthed by the beast. The initial waves of reapers swarming from it were low-level and burned up in Eirene’s aura, but the Broodmothers adapted to this quickly as Aegis watched. They slowed down the production rate of reapers in favor of creating higher-level ones that could withstand the light of Eirene. Of these creatures, Aegis spotted three already flying towards them.
It answered a few questions for him on the nature of the reapers, specifically ones he’d had from all the way back in Arallia when they attacked him, behaving as a hive-mind. His theory was correct, and now he knew what was controlling and creating the swarms.
If he’d compared the effort it took him and Emerill to take down the voidhydras, who were lower level than these, then the idea of destroying these things while holding back everything else felt impossible.
That wasn’t even the worst of them.
On the ground, smaller humanoid creatures rushed forward alongside the abysslings, between the legs of the Juggernauts. They were donning black-plated armor and wielding various weapons. From swords, to spears, to crossbows, and staves. Ranged attackers. Despite the variety of weapons and types, they all had the same names. [Abyssal Fallen - Level 90]. Their levels ranged between 90 and 110.
Other variations of corrupted creatures, from Lagnok-looking monsters to gorilla-type creatures, were moving about as well, charging forward. The level range of these varied greatly, from 40 to 80, all with the name [Abyssal Beastling] above their heads.
The last two were what worried Aegis the most. [Abyssal Worldbreaker(Elite) - Level ??] and [Abyssal Horror - Level ??]. He’d seen both of these when watching back the footage of VGN’s attempts at this quest. Both failures had been caused by a combination of these and the Avatars. On the third try, they had a team of players lure them away and spam crowd control on them, in an attempt to avoid dealing with them entirely, but it only partially worked.
The Worldbreaker’s body was not entirely visible. Its head was bulging out of the side of the mountain of Jia’nir, with eight yellow eyes wriggling around, glaring through the aura of light down at Rene.
That thing had to have burrowed up from the ground through all of Kalmoore to get there. Reltrak Forest and the Underrealm were destroyed already.
It was some sort of worm-like creature. Even in VGN’s footage, its body was never completely revealed. It would burst its head up through the growth in the midst of the VGN fortifications, open its mouth, and release hundreds of abyssal creatures that it transported within, and use sharp mandibles around its mouth to stab at everything and everyone nearby, inflicting devastating debuffs to anyone who’d survived the attacks.
While Aegis could see it, there was no concern, but a few seconds after looking at it, the creature pulled its head back into the mountain, burrowing deep underneath Kalmoore, and causing the ground to rumble violently. Aegis knew that meant it’d be bursting up from underneath Rene any moment now, and was thankful the NPCs in the hive would be safe regardless.
The horror, aptly named, towered above the Juggernauts, and the Broodmothers had to be careful not to fly into it. It had four thin legs that held a blob of flesh aloft, with a single black eye and a cat-like red pupil. The blob could freely rotate the eye in all directions. When it locked onto a target, it would fire a focused beam of shadow magic down at something indefinitely, coating itself in thick mist-armor in the process, making it impossible to interrupt or kill while it did this. Once it had a target, it never stopped the beam until the target died. At least, that was what he’d gathered from watching VGN.
VGN had dealt with cycling dummy targets for them, low-level players, pets, golems, and mercenaries, that attempted to kite and distract the beams for as long as possible. When one died, the next would step up.
Aegis wasn’t sure that’d be viable for him, given how few his forces already were. And he could already see two of these creatures stomping towards them, looking for a target.
Last, but certainly not least, was the [Avatar of Affliction(Elite) - Level 200], sitting casually atop the shoulder of one of the approaching juggernauts. It was a black praying-mantis-looking creature wearing robes; he couldn’t make out any details more than that.
While Aegis took all of this in, Ruffily retreated to his and Tullan's side. “Used it all, grrwoof. Defense bonus from the wall of Rene is up to 25% from our enhancements. Durability way up. They won’t break it easily.”
Aegis nodded. “Good. As crafters, you’ve already done all you can. You can log out here if you want.”
Tullan pulled out a warhammer, and Ruffily equipped a crossbow, exchanging glances without saying a word.
“Kaef’aktos, focus your arrows on the reapers. Voidreavers, target the Broodmothers. Soldiers, hold back the ground forces. Hatchers, tangle the jungernauts. I’ll try to…” before the words left his mouth, how in-over-his-head he was truly sank in. “I’ll try to keep the Avatars, Horrors, and the Worldbreaker busy. Somehow.” He gulped, and Tullan patted him on the shoulder, with Ruffily throwing a look of sympathy. “Joshaka, if you see an opportunity to take out a juggernaut ensnared by voidsilk, take it.
“Stay within the light. Stay within the walls. The goddess of Eirene stands with us. We are the last hope of this island. Fight until your last breath!” Aegis shouted. “For the White Tree!”
The dark elves let out a roar of courage, the mosmirs chittered. It was barely audible over the sound of the horde of approaching abyss and the rumbling of the ground.
A giant hole ripped open where the castle of Rene had once been, and the Worldbreaker burst through, its head snapping through chunks of stone and debris that flew up in all directions.
It let out a horrifying, deafening screech that forced Tullan and Ruffily’s hands to their ears. The Worldbreaker settled its head down, opening its maw and digging its mandibles into a few scurrying Mosmir drones, killing them in single hits.
In an instant, the fight had been knocked out of Tullan. Hundreds of smaller abyss creatures swarmed out, already within the walls.
“It’s hopeless, ain’t it? Extreme V?” Tullan cried.
This time, Aegis put his hands on Tullan’s shoulder and smirked. “Yeah. They don’t stand a chance. VGN’s quest only had one Worldbreaker, and it was the biggest troublemaker.” Aegis snapped his fingers, casting Challenging Roar. The monsters swarming out of the Worldbreaker’s mouth went after him, and he flapped his wings toward the forge of Rene.
He dug his fingers into the center of the forge, grabbing the eternal flame and ripping it out from within, taking massive burning damage every second despite his maxed-out fire resistance skill.
Aegis cast heals on himself, soaring into the air with the flame in hand, narrowly avoiding spells and bolts fired by some of the Fallen focused on him.
He maneuvered above the gigantic Worldbreaker and whipped the eternal flame downward into its open maw. The mouth of the creature was the size of a car tunnel, and looked endlessly deep, the slimy grooves within illuminated by the falling Eternal flame.
The skin of the creature scorched black, and it let out a horrified roar, snapping its mouth shut defensively, but it was too late; the Eternal flame was already inside it. The creature thrashed violently, causing the entire world around them to quake. It pulled its head back into the earth, but red damage numbers flared up from within the beast.
Within a few moments, the quaking stopped, as the creature continued to flee further from the battlefield, desperate to rid itself of the hottest, ever-burning magic item the game-world had to offer.
Aegis casually landed back on the streets beside Ruffily and Tullan, with the infiltrators rushing at him. Aegis cast Bless on both of them, lifted his shield, and dug his feet into the ground. A few seconds later, he received a wall of notifications from the Worldbreaker dying, and his level shot up to 187.