Collide Gamer

Chapter 106 – Versus the Bloodfallen 1 – Reaching Thana

They entered the Bloodfallen’s base. There was no other choice but to take the front entrance, they didn’t have the resources or time to dig down and hope to emerge above the right room. John took the lead, whoever was behind the door only needed one glance to confirm for himself that he would not be opening that door. However, opening that slit for just a moment was enough time for Sylph to fly in.

“Hey, Hey, Hey!” John heard from the other side. “I hope you don’t….WOW put away that….I am not a fly, if you swat at me with that one more time, I will make you cry, for the rhymes sake do you have some thyme?...Well I warned you!” There were some pained noises and moments later Sylph started chirping again. “Soooorryyyyy, I am – am – am- am, hihihihi what a stupid sound. Well, I am getting right to it.” The long opening process began during which John made his remaining preparations. He activated Mana Shield and let the verdin land on his hand, cancelled his Possession of it and put it into his inventory. Better to have both charges ready.

“Couldn’t you just use Possession on it?” Rave said with an annoyedly twitching eyebrow.

“Nope, I would take hold of the door but not all the closing mechanisms.” John explained, “Unless they are all built into the door itself and I saw some chains last time around.”

The door swung open and revealed a heaving air elemental. “Gaia, that was hard. You know what else is hard? Letting Undine do the laundry. You want to know why? BECAUSE SHE ALWAYS FORGETS THE UNDIES!” Sylph floated around on her back as she burst into laughter. There was a wave of shame from Undine that made John wonder if that was true and if yes why they had laundry? Was there a laundry machine in his head? How did that joke even make any sense anyway?

Sylph’s misplaced levity aside, they advanced. John signalled Aclysia to take the lead. Behind her were the people Herman had brought with him, then Rave and then himself, accompanied by another mage. “Truly magnificent that you control all four elements.” The mage complimented.

“Thanks.” John took it and awkwardly scratched the back of his head, not sure what to make of it, “So what brings you here anyway?” A little bit of small talk before they risked their lives wouldn’t hurt.

“Herman helped me in the past with a few things,” The mage laughed. “You think that mundane healthcare can be a shit show until you see what the Apothecaries take. Luckily, there are also a few good guys like Herman who help you free of charge. He might not act the part, but he can be pretty firm.”

John would have liked to learn more, but the end of the stairs came into view. “Okay everyone, our goal is to get Thana out of here, nothing else. Don’t get too deep into fighting. We will storm in there, take out whoever is in the way, move the container out and then up the stairs. Understood?” Covert nods, the last bit of subtlety they allowed themselves, before John shouted. “Let’s go!”

Whether it was the shout, an early warning mechanism, or just general preparation, the Bloodfallen were ready for the party that poured into the large chamber. Twenty cultists in black robes, their level an average of 30, stood armed and ready. A sizable army of Soldier Golems stood along the walls. A single, enormous one, three metres tall, bolstered their ranks. It sure looked threatening.

It sure was threatening. That was only good news for John. Staring at the construct, as it began to move, he cast Possession.

 “Straight ahead!” John shouted, as the golem suddenly whirled around, the weapon turned to its former allies. The Bloodfallen had evidently not expected him to be capable of that much. Just another point of underestimation that went to John’s benefit. While the enemy formation scattered, the rescue party advanced. Weapons primed and ready, they carved a path through the bodies. John noted that neither Gent nor Igor seemed to be among the enemies. They were either waiting further inside or this was just the normal response to an attack.

John personally hoped for the former. Isolated, he was fairly certain that they could take on the duo. Aclysia, who would have normally taken the job of intercepting at least some of the attackers headed for John, instead ran through the legs of the Golem he had possessed. Her primary job right now was to unlock the door. Everyone else followed closely behind her.

The Bloodfallen formed a semi-circle behind them, closing the bloody gap with more bodies. Soldier Golems were thrown as disposable distractions into the fray, as various weak arcane spells were flung at the rescue party. The allies Herman had brought in skillfully deflected and blocked the attacks, retaliating wherever possible and turning Soldier Golems into shards of black material.

The Crusher Golem’s large sweeps kept the majority of the front line clear. Rave jumped into the fray with it. Possession had long since improved to the point that John had no issue coordinating himself and his additional body. With all the understanding of hundreds of hours of shared combat, he and his girlfriend blasted apart the stream of disposable bodies.

In their place, the Bloodfallen themselves advanced. Further reinforcements streamed out of the corridors. John sent his mana to Sylph and Undine, the two elementals continuously using precise area attacks to alleviate the pressure from their allies.

A creak announced that Aclysia’s hand had finished being scanned. The vault door swung open. “In there!” John instructed and the rescue party hastily went inside. The Crusher Golem, too large and disposable anyway, stayed where it was, keeping enemies at bay. Whoever managed to make it past the Possessed weapon was stuck fighting the smaller party at a choke point. Even that was only a temporary solution though.

The allies had done well so far, but they were not as over levelled or prepared as John or Rave. The last of them made it into the corridor that connected this room to Thana’s. They looked exhausted, even Rave did, the fight had been short but with the number of small enemies and challenging opponents that was no wonder. “Aclysia, close the door.”

It wasn’t an easy decision. He would have preferred to keep fighting, thin out the numbers, but there was no way they would be able to hold position until they retrieved Thana. Although it let the enemy prepare for that time, John felt that this was the better decision. Aclysia used the terminal on this side and gradually the enemies backed away. They all knew that the only way back out was through that door.

The Bloodfallen, without anything else to target, took apart the golem within moments. John felt his stolen body break and his consciousness meld back together into just one. It had been days since he hadn’t Possessed anything, to the point that it felt weird having just one perspective.

“You wait here,” John instructed the exhausted party. “Catch your breath, abuse the choke point if they open the door. We’ll return with the container as quickly as possible.” Herman’s friends responded with a thankful nod.

“You’re good to work with,” the wizard stated.

John took the compliment with a nod, before turning around and jogging down the corridor. The distance was long, their time limited. With his Endurance and Agility, he could keep an alright pace for a long distance. Alright by Abyssal standards. The slower elementals followed in their incorporeal form.

Nothing about the chamber had changed. The same red twilight pulsed with the slow heartbeat, visualized by the green line on the glass container.

“How do we move that thing?” Rave asked.

“You only think about that now?” John responded with an amused question.

“You are the nerd in this relationship, John,” she teased. “Now go do your nerd things.”

Considering how many video games she played with him he doubted that he was the sole nerd here, but he was without a doubt the bigger one. “It hovers on its own.” John argued, “And they got it here in the first place. Pushing it will be enough, Herman said that much. Aclysia, you are the strongest here, if you would.”

“Of course, master,” Aclysia obeyed, the sword in her hand vanishing into the weapon space. She stepped up to the container and started pushing. The movement activated some kind of mechanism. A layer of glass suddenly sealed the bottom of the container. Nothing else happened. Perhaps a design choice to not lose any of her blood? Whatever the reason was, the container started moving.

They had succeeded in getting to Thana. Now to get her out.