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Seth Chapter 84
🕑 Added 2024-04-02 12:22:31 +0000 UTCChapter 84
“So, who's gonna try it?” Log asked, breaking the silence and looking at everyone.
“Not me.” Zacky shook his head. “Those runes there might as well activate if we touch it. They look complicated, so it's probably a high tier spell.”
Seth looked up at the runes on the edges. They gave off a crimson hue and certainly were complex, looking like mathematical symbols stitched together.
“Can we simply ruin it? Like how I did with the wrath?” He asked, looking at Zara and Rebecca. The only ones here who would know a thing or two about runes.
Both of them shook their heads. “No, they probably have a protective case around it. The runes on the wrath were just there for functionality, but these runes are clearly given more time to,” Zara muttered, frowning at the door.
“Then, what are our options?”
“Probably destroying the door without touching it. By a spell or something. Let me try it. There's a chance the runes might activate, so take your distance.”
Everyone moved back with Log and Zacky even standing on the stairs. Rebecca put up a barrier around them for added protection as Zara prepared her spell.
Seth felt mana moving around her arms as a fireball appeared in between her palms, but as she chanted the whole spell, it got bigger and bigger.
It soon looked like a giant, flaming ball of fire that casted a shadow over all of them. Taking a deep breath, she aimed it at the door before taking cover under the barrier.
The ball of fire hit the door and exploded, a deafening boom echoed as Seth closed his ears. Splinters from the door flew out, hitting the barrier and a mechanical sound appeared a second later.
It was a clicking motion and when Seth looked over the blackened steel door, it creaked open, the runes still giving off the crimson hue.
Blinking his eyes, he muttered, “That was simple.”
“Yes, yes it was,” Zara spoke in a daze, staring at the chamber beyond the door that she was able to peek into. “The runes didn't activate at all.”
“I think the runes were already out of mana. I don't feel a ton of ambient mana here, so they just didn't have enough of it to activate. Even if we have pushed open the door, it should have worked,” Rebecca said after a while and Xarth grunted.
“That means you wasted mana for nothing.” He looked at Zara who just smiled wryly.
“I think we should keep the conversation for later and see what's beyond the room.” Seth changed the subject and a few nodded in agreement.
Moving forward, Xarth pushed open the door to reveal the whole of the chamber and everyone's mouth gaped as they looked at it.
It was the single biggest chamber in the ruins, filled with murals and chests that overflowed with gold coins. On one side, there was just a pile of gold coins.
Even if the runes had rusted and floors have cracked, the gold coins shone with a glint like calling people to claim them.
A stair went onto the right, leading up to a room and a throne sat in the middle, a crown fitted with jewels on top of it.
Seth's attention was taken by a statue that stood next to the throne. It was the biggest statue of the Stormweaver he had seen, being over thirty feet tall and crafted in a way to show his majestic side. In one of its hands, it held a staff that his eyes stopped at.
The image Kalrus had shown came to his mind as he gaped at it. Lightning went through the shaft and a pattern of clouds was on top. It seemed to be made from red wood and he faintly felt the mana coming from it.
It was the Weather Staff!
“Seth, look!” Rebecca nudged him, breaking him from his thoughts.
“I'm looking at the staff.”
“No, not that. Look to the side.”
He followed her finger and froze. On the side of a wall, a colossal golem stood, being as tall as the statue. Unlike the wrath and guardians, it was sitting on the ground and its design was way different than both of them.
Its face was in a triangular shape rather than square.
Yellow runes were woven around both of its arms and a purple core sat in the middle of its chest, followed by its two red orb-like eyes. A large axe sat right next to it and he gave off the feeling of a monk busy in his meditation.
Stormweaver's Fury - Level 49
“Fuck! It's way too strong.” Seth cursed, taking a look at its level. His party members had the same reaction as they stared at the fury.
“How do we plan to deal with it?” Zacky asked, fidgeting his daggers.
“We barely defeated the wrath thanks to Seth messing with the runes. And it was five levels weaker. This one is way stronger and the runes around its arm. I doubt we can reach it without it squatting us away. Going by how big it is, it can simply crush us if it fell on us.” Zara shook her head, biting her lips. By her expression, Seth could see she was wondering if they should leave instead of taking a chance.
After all, they had a big level difference here and from their experience, the golems weren't easy to defeat.
“We have to take the chance,” Seth said before the conversation could move in a negative direction. “Yes, it's powerful, but like the ones we fought before, it's old and rusty. Probably won't even be able to land a hit without stumbling. We would be losing out on the staff and so many gold coins if we don't go for it.” He pointed at the pile of gold and smiled when he saw eyes glinting.
“Seth is right, but we would need a proper plan here,” Rebecca added.
“I still believe we shouldn't be hasty. I have a bad feeling about the chamber and the golem.” Zara stuck to her stances and Seth contemplated how to get her to agree.
They hadn't come a long way into the ruins to go back. As his eyes peered around the chamber, an idea buzzed into his mind.
“Look at that,” he said, pointing at the room on the right. “I believe that could be the office of the Stormweaver. It's clearly a throne room, so his research and everything would be there. If we go back, we won't get our hands on it. It will be an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Zara's ears perked up at the word “research”. Even Rebecca seemed excited about the prospect.
“That's… true.”
“So, are we going in?” Xarth asked in his rough voice.
Everyone nodded, Zara taking a second longer than the others. For the next ten minutes, they discussed their strategy, keeping an eye on the fury.
The guardians had been simple to defeat compared to the wrath since they were physical fighters while the wrath was a magic one. Going by how this one looked, Seth was sure it was a mix between them.
So, they had to be careful of whatever magical attacks came their way as well as steer clear away from the axe. It wasn't a hard task, but the strength difference meant that even if they got hit with one attack, it might hurt like a bitch.
Even with health potions, there were chances of serious injuries.
Fortunately, it was clear what the weakness of the fury was— The core in its chest!
After deciding on a plan, they all took deep breaths and stepped onto the room.
Seth felt a pressure daunting on him instantly as the steel door they had blasted open closed. The golem sitting on the floor slowly cocked its head towards them, it's eyes coming to life as it stood up.
“Intruders Detected… Examining Them… Levels Detected… Low Levelled… Easy To Kill.” It said in the most grating voice possible, making Seth feel like ants were crawling down it's neck.
“That's pretty rude,” Xarth grunted, gripping his axe as the fury did the same.
All of them prepared themselves as it let out another grating sound, this time it sounded like a rageful screech.
The fury stormed their way, its steps creating cracks on the ground as it swung its axe in a display of unusual agility, something they hadn't witnessed with any of the other golems.
Why is it so fast?
Seth dodged as did the others and scrambled away. Two barriers floated around the room, acting as a shield to all of them, but he was sure that it was only going to delay a strike by a second.
The fury moved again, swinging it's axe downward at Xarth who dodged to the left before striking its legs. His axe skittered away and only chipped up at the stone leg before the golem moved to stomp at it.
He rolled on the side as Log came with a mace, but like before, it didn't do anything before the fury's axe came to take his head.
The barrier separated him from the axe for a couple of seconds, giving him ample time to put distance between them.
A fireball stuck it next, hitting it straight on its face as it glared at Zara who stood right next to Rebecca. The fury moved his head to glare at her before letting out a loud roar.
Stomping its leg continuously, it shook the whole chamber as the runes on its arms glowed before lightning crackled in between its fingers and axe.
Seth gulped as it shot out lightning from his fingers towards all of them. The bolts arced in every direction and hit Zacky who was trying to peddle back to escape from them.
He convulsed on the ground as electricity crackled around him and his scream tore through the chamber.
“Zacky!” Log immediately moved towards him as more bolts flew out, Rebecca's barrier protecting them as he picked up Zacky who seemed to be paralysed and ran.
“Be careful of those! Even if they touch you, you are going to be out of battle,” Xarth roared, cutting through a line of bolts. “Any idea how to deal with this? It's clearly not a piece of rust like the other golems.”
“I'm thinking,” Seth replied.
He took a deep breath and flickered away as bolts of lightning hit the ground all around him. Due to his movement skill, he dodged all of them and covered the distance between the golem quickly before blades appeared around him.
They shot for the golem's core. It broke one of them by its axe, but one escaped past it to hit the core.
It only scratched its surface, but the fury grunted in annoyance and shot out more lightning.
It kept Seth away from getting too close to it, but he kept firing his blades towards it, creating scratches on the core from time to time, making the fury cock its head towards him.
Its eyes fixed on him in a motion that Seth recognised as squinting.
Seemingly in anger, it bolted at him, swinging it's axe in a rageful and frantic fashion. He rolled on the ground before taking off towards the far wall.
Lightning chased after him alongside the golem, but Rebecca protected his back with her barrier.
As he ran, an idea crept up in his mind as he flickered away, appearing on the side of the fury as it stopped its charge and turned around.
“Intruders… Will… Be Eliminated!” It spoke as a bolt of lightning struck right in front of Seth, causing him to feel a stinging sensation on his legs as he fell.
Fortunately, he managed to shake it away and Zara's spells managed to keep the attention of the fury as flaming arrows hit its back, causing it to stumble forward from the small explosion.
Once it got its footing, it roared around, leaping up and charging towards Seth who turned back just in time to not lose his head as an axe swished towards him.
Looking down on Seth, the fury started his assault, its axe moving in every direction to clob him to the ground.
Using everything he had learned after getting to this world, Seth kept jumping and rolling on the floor, getting away from the axe and bolts that were all around him.
The floor cracked through the chase, the large axe leaving marks of its strength. Still, Seth survived every time, but he didn't knew for how long.
Cracks were all over Rebecca's barrier and he knew it would be shattered soon enough.
Biting his lips and hoping it wasn't the day that would make up on his grave, he flickered again, escaping from a bolt that passed by where his head was.
Just a bit more.
He took a deep breath and found himself upon the base of the statue of the Stormweaver.
He stared at the outstretched hands in which Rackus held the Weather Staff before a noisy clang took his attention.
The fury was upon it, swinging it's axe with a heave, but Seth smiled. His plan was already in action as he slid back towards the statue, the golem following him like a brainless rock with only commands to follow.
Conjuring up more and more blades, Seth kept it's attention on him as the fury looked like it won't solve until it had Seth's blood on its axe.
Finally, it swung in a horizontal motion, completely missing him once again, but hit the statue on its chest, cleaving it in half.
The upper half of it began to tilt precariously as Seth scrambled away with a flicker. The fury let out another irritating grating noise and turned back to find it before realising the statue was upon it.
With a deafening crash, the massive statue came loose, slamming onto the golem with the force that shook the entire chamber.
The fury screamed in surprise, buckling under the sudden weight as it tried to get out of the way, but was trapped. It's axe fell out of its grip and taking the opportunity, Xarth charged towards it, an aura covering its axe and slammed it at the outstretched arm of the fury.
The arm came apart, revealing frayed wires interconnecting them, but Xarth kept cutting into them as the fury whimpered under the stone statue.
Seth took deep, calming breaths as he looked at the scene. His heart raced in his chest due to the assault and only he knew how close he was to losing his neck.
“Great job, Seth!” Zara and Rebecca walked up to him. “With the statue holding it down, Xarth could easily deal with it.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so. You don't know how—”
A roar stopped Zara's words as all of them looked at the fury. In a matter of seconds, Xarth's body flew out, slamming towards a wall as he threw up blood.
A tremor shook the cave.
Lightning crackled around the fallen statue before it was thrown out, breaking into pieces as the fury moved, clearing the large parts on top of it before roaring again.
It looked at its missing arm as its core spun, sending off waves of lightning mana around the room before panels opened up on its back, revealing arrows same as the wrath, but this time they crackled with lightning.
Turning it's head, the fury looked at Seth and he gulped.
“That don't look good,” he muttered before the arrows shot towards them.
