Arrows plinked off the knight’s armour as he advanced. The helmet was impervious to the archers’ attacks as a slit so narrow only an envelope could pass through was the only opening. But that gave Adam an idea. He just needed to keep him still for it to work.

  With a sudden burst of speed, the forlorn knight came at him with a downward chop of his halberd. Adam didn’t dare attempt to parry it, so he dodged to the side as it cut into the mossy ground. The knight adjusted his two-handed grip and tore the weapon out of the ground in a horizontal slash aimed at Adam’s mid-section.

  Clang!

  He parried the strike and disoriented the knight, but as he moved in close the three soldiers came to the defence of their leader. Adam managed to kill one with a stab through the side of his neck, but was forced to manoeuvre around the back of the tall bastard to avoid the other two. Just as the disorientation ran out, Adam spotted three rusted holes on the knight’s back plate.

  Arrows pelted the knight from above as he whirled around, swinging his halberd in a powerful attack. Adam pushed one of the soldiers in front of himself and got splattered by foul black blood as a reward, though he managed to stop the knight’s weapon from reaching him.

  With a series of quick stabs, Adam disabled the last soldier and moved around the back of the halberdier. He rammed his spear into one of the rusted holes and triggered the Fiendbarb right around the knight’s ribcage, which would’ve been fatal had he been human. Despite the internal damage, the mini boss was unfazed and swung for Adam once more.

  Clang!

  He parried the halberd again, but just as Adam went around the knight’s back a second time, the disorient wore off.

  That was way less than 3 seconds!

  Crap… I think that means the effect has diminishing returns.

  As the knight swung for him, Adam retreated several steps. It was clear this wouldn’t be doable with his current setup and he didn’t have time to wait for his cooldowns to finish.

  I’ve got no choice here.

  “Unequip Fiendbarb.”

  [Unequipping Relic.]

  The Relic dropped to the ground next to him and the original narrow leaf-shaped tip of his spear was revealed.

  As the knight stabbed his halberd forward, Adam dodged out of the way and pushed in close. He parried the follow-up slash coming at him from the side and then quickly stabbed the knight in the plate above his left knee three times. On the third strike, his spear-tip pierced the armour and dug into the rotten flesh below.

  The halberdier spun to try and get to him, but Adam moved against his rotation and tore the spear out sideways, collapsing the knight as he destroyed his knee joint. Adam moved around the back and aimed his Slime Glove directly at the three holes that exposed his innards.

  When he launched the glob of acidic jelly, it almost immediately moved into the top hole, as though sucked by a vacuum. A moment later the knight collapsed onto his stomach, eaten from within his suit.

  Adam retrieved his discarded Relic.

  “Equip Fiendbarb.”

  [Equipping Relic.]

  The bone cactus reappeared at the tip of his spear.

  < Choose your Upgrade >

  Shitbox unfolded into a podium and once again Adam hurried through his selection, before running back towards the great tree.

  < < Upgrades Available > >

  < Spear Speed (Rare) — Increases spear attack speed by 35% >

  < Shield Parry (Uncommon) — Successful parry disorients for 1 second >

  < Bleed (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 10% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

  Pretty obvious that parry is not as powerful as I thought, so spear speed makes more sense here.

  < < Upgrade Selected > >

  < Spear Speed (Rare) >

  Adam told the two archers to follow him and, as he made it to the roots of the tree, he quickly ran along the tops of them while looking for anywhere the Secret Relic could be hiding. The roots overlapped each other like a nest of giant serpents, but he couldn’t find any obvious place for something to be hidden.

  Maybe Ilya’s directions were wrong. I’ll have to look for this thing after I’m done with the Stage I think.

  He continued around the huge trunk until the central ritual site came into view.

  Shit.

  Twelve soldiers and a single knight were fighting only ten metres from where the steps led down to Belamouranthe and her mother. Defending the site were just seven Elphin warriors and four archers.

  “Go!” Adam told the archers. “We can’t let them reach the centre!”

  The Elphin, who were already running along the walkways above him, sped off towards the fight, while Adam hurried along the ground.

  “Boots?”

  [8 seconds remaining until they are ready.]

  Fuck.

  To make matters worse, Adam could feel how his Stamina was almost entirely gone. It was like a hole had opened in his lungs, and his saliva tasted like copper.

  Despite knowing it was a bad idea, he forced himself to slow down. If he leapt into the fray, he’d run out of Stamina and die. But that meant he was leaving the Elphin warriors to die in his place.

  I’ll wait for my Ring and Boots to be ready, then I’ll repeat that move from earlier.

  Maybe if I command the defenders, they can hold off until then?

  Adam moved close enough that his words could be heard by the Elphin.

  “Archers and spearmen, aim for the legs to disable the soldiers! Swordsmen, avoid getting in too close and work together to decapitate the enemies one by one!”

  Once again the Elphin followed his instructions, but there were only five warriors remaining, two with spears and the other three wielding swords. The knight was responsible for most of the deaths. He wielded two longswords and was covered in armour except for his head, which had a torn and frayed blue hood, the unnatural shadows of which obscured his rotten face.

  As the knight realised Adam had command over the defenders, he broke away from the fight and headed towards him.

  He could’ve gone down the pit and killed the Queen, Adam thought to himself. Thank fuck these enemies aren’t super bright.

  Adam raised his dented shield and strode towards the knight. Only a few metres to his left were the top of the stairs that led to the ritual site. He couldn’t really see what was happening down there, but part of him also didn’t want to know.

  With a surge of speed, the dual-wielding swordsman loped forward, chopping his blades down in an X-shaped strike.

  Adam was completely caught off-guard and the wooziness from his low Stamina made him unable to respond in time. The pane of blood popped up in front of him and deflected the two strikes before dissolving into nothingness. The knight was not so easily deterred however and just pushed forward before Adam could regain his composure.

  With an awkward movement, he put his parry shield in the way of the knight’s double strike and stumbled back three steps from the impacts.

  Adam gasped and his legs suddenly felt tingly with static.

  He could feel it.

  He’d extinguished the last embers of his Stamina and was seconds away from collapse.

  With a desperate shout, he flung his shield out in a parry, catching one of the swords. The other skimmed along his right arm, drawing blood and setting fire to his nerves.

  [Warning! Health below 5%. You are close to dying.]

  [The attack dealt 40 points of damage, which was increased to 44 due to your Defence rating. That means you now have 2 Health or 2% remaining.]

  [You have been afflicted with Taint. Stamina recovery reduced by 50%.]

  He could feel exhaustion overtake him, even numbing the pain that flared in his upper arm.

  [Affliction Ward triggered. Affliction negated.]

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  On his belt, the Affliction Ward popped and disintegrated.

  Without any solid plan in mind, Adam triggered the Spring Boots and shot directly into the knight, while gripping his spear in both hands. The Fiendbarb tip was unable to pierce the swordsman’s armoured torso, but it pushed with enough force to dent it like a bowl, while carrying him backwards with Adam’s explosive momentum.

  When they landed near the soldiers and Elphin, the knight struck the mossy ground back first and Adam was launched head-over-heels through the air, before belly-flopping a few metres away.

  He coughed up blood and saw the world in monochrome colours, though his Health did not move down below the 2 points remaining. With a last bit of exertion, Adam raised his arm and fired the blood bolt towards the downed knight and the nearby soldiers.

  It landed like a grenade and showered them in crystallised shards, killing three of the soldiers and striking the knight right in his shadow-cowled face.

  The remaining soldiers became incapacitated. It wasn’t until an Elphin cut the head off of one nearby that Adam realised he’d been three seconds away from death. With what little he had left, a single kick would have been the end of him.

  “Potion… cooldown?” he asked Shitbox.

  [1 minute remaining on potion toxicity.]

  A wailing horn filled the air, along with three explosions back-to-back. All of them came from the north.

  There’s no way I’m doing this…

  < Choose your Upgrade >

  The surviving Elphin ran off to defend this newest set of breaches.

  It was quiet around him for a moment, until gentle footfalls from nearby drew his attention and he slowly pushed himself to his knees. The exertion was enough to make blood well up his throat, though he had no idea where it was coming from, since none of his wounds were internal. He swallowed it back down.

  “Consume this offering from our Goddess,” said a female voice.

  Adam looked up and met the green-glowing eyes of a young Elphin girl. She was a few years older than Bel and her blonde hair was tinged with red. A tiny wing sprouted from the back of her white silken dress, which was too long for her short frame and dragged along the mossy ground.

  He accepted the fruit, which was a blue apple-sized strawberry with pink seeds dotting it.

  Without questioning it, he bit into the strawberry and his mouth was immediately flooded with the taste of vanilla, banana, and pear.

  [All-Mother’s Fruit consumed! Recovering Health, Stamina, and Mana back to 100%.]

  The fruit instantly healed him back to full, flushing all the pain and fatigue from his system. At the same time, it knitted shut his injured arm and even dispelled the black veins from where the crossbow bolt had struck his shoulder.

  He got to his feet and hugged the girl.

  “Thank you!”

  Then he quickly selected an upgrade from where Shitbox was unfolded into a podium, before running off towards the northern wall.

  < < Upgrades Available > >

  < Spear Damage (Uncommon) — Increases spear damage by 10% >

  < Bash Damage (Rare) — Increases shield bash damage by 15% >

  < Crush (Uncommon) — Increases the impact of attacks by 10% >

  < < Upgrade Selected > >

  < Spear Damage (Uncommon) >

  “Time remaining?”

  [4 minutes and 28 seconds.]

  This last invasion has to be the boss then. That’s gotta be why they sounded the horn again.

  As the northern breaches came into view, Elphin ran up alongside Adam, coming from all parts of the city for one last-ditch defence. In total, there were seventeen Elphin. Nine were archers and the rest were warriors with swords and spears.

  He frowned when he saw what they were up against.

  Thirty or more soldiers poured through the holes in the northern wall. The serpent-like roots that’d defended the initial breach were all defeated and many Elphin lay dead on the ground, covered in ugly black wounds.

  At the head of this invasion was an armoured giant. A frayed blue sash was bound around his abdomen like a belt and a cape of the same material fluttered behind him as he tore his way through the defenders. He wielded a sword that oozed dark smoke and his shield trailed a black haze. His helmet was a bucket shape with protrusions at the top like the rook piece from chess.

  That’s gotta be the captain that Ilya described.

  He looks way more intimidating than I thought he’d be.

  As Adam watched, the boss slapped his sword against the shield and shot out a black shadowy ring. It flew out like an expanding halo and cut into five Elphin, immediately killing them.

  Then he swung his sword and launched a black slicing wind through the air, killing another two.

  Fuck, this guy is trouble.

  [Potion toxicity has dissipated. You may now consume another potion.]

  Yeah… I’ll probably need it too.

  “Everyone!” Adam yelled. “Focus on the soldiers and avoid the captain!”

  The Elphin quickly obeyed and gave the boss a wide berth, before moving to halt the soldiers’ advance.

  The captain immediately locked in on Adam and loped towards him with powerful strides. He had to be two-and-a-half-metres tall, if not more, and his sword was almost the length of Adam’s spear. He raised his shield and drove his blade forward.

  Adam dodged to the side, while back-pedalling to avoid being caught by any of the boss’ crazy attacks.

  “Unequip Fiendbarb.”

  [Unequipping Relic.]

  It dropped to his feet, just as the captain slashed his sword sideways at Adam’s throat.

  Clang!

  He parried the strike, dispersing the shadows from the blade momentarily. Then he leaped forward and thrust his spear into one of the narrow eye sockets of the bucket helmet with all his might.

  The captain stumbled back a step. Adam lifted his Green Slime Glove and fired off a glob of acid. It struck the helmet, but before it could penetrate the armour and dissolve the boss, an explosion of shadowy energy shot out from within the suit. The corrosive jelly evaporated and the boss immediately went back on the offensive.

  What the fuck was that!?

  Adam dodged an overhead chop and parried the follow-up slash. He only managed to strike the captain in the neck-guard once before the disorient wore off. His parry effect was proving to be way less effective than he’d thought.

  I should’ve focused on damage instead, he mused as he saw the shallow dents his spear had left behind. It was scarcely any better than with the Fiendbarb Relic.

  The captain swung again and Adam backed away, but the strike was not aimed at him. The flat of the sword hit the shield’s face and released a pulse of darkness that shot out like a ring.

  Oh shit!

  Adam dropped to his stomach just as it passed over him, but before he could roll aside, the captain swung his sword and sent a cutting black wind down his back. It passed through his shirt as though it wasn’t there. When it struck his skin, it tore at him like a dull blade and Adam screamed in pain.

  [Warning! Health below 50%.]

  [The attack dealt 50 points of damage, which was increased to 55 due to your Defence rating. That means you now have 45 Health or 45% remaining.]

  [You have been afflicted with Taint. Stamina recovery reduced by 50%.]

  Adam hurriedly got back to his feet, while blood ran down his back. He pulled the potion from his belt and lifted it up to his mouth, while rapidly backing away from the captain’s follow-up attacks. The edge of the ritual site was right behind him and only one more step would send him crashing down the steps to where Belamouranthe and her mother were preparing their magic.

  [Small Healing Potion consumed! Recovering Health back to 85%.]

  Adam gritted his teeth and gripped the spear with both hands. Then he triggered his Spring Boots and flew right at the captain.

  Before the boss could lift his shield and protect himself, Adam’s spear pierced right through the armour protecting his neck and tore the weapon out the side as he shot past, leaving a devastating rend in the captain’s neck-guard and almost decapitating him.

  Black blood sputtered out of the normally-fatal wound, but the captain was not defeated. He turned around, his head hanging limply to the side, while Adam skidded across the moss where he landed.

  He raised his left hand and fired the blood bolt.

  Except, nothing happened.

  “Cooldown!?”

  [11 seconds remaining.]

  Adam roared and launched himself right back at the captain.

  The boss slapped his shield again, but this time Adam jumped over the ring, rather than diving under. A second later he slashed his sword through the air and shot forth a diagonal cutting wind, which Adam side-stepped. He could feel his Stamina rapidly depleting and was sure there had to be a hidden effect to the Taint affliction.

  With a leap, Adam rammed his spear into the captain’s helmet, nearly breaking the last bit of his neck keeping it attached to his body.

  The boss stumbled a step and Adam exploited the opening by stabbing him in the gaps between the plates of his legs, reducing his mobility.

  When the captain went back on the offensive, his movements were slower, and Adam carefully waited out the series of slashes, stabs, and chopping strikes, until the boss tried to slap his shield again. Adam moved forward and parried the blade, disorienting the boss just long enough to ram his spear into the eye-socket of his bucket helmet.

  He tore with all his might and the captain’s head came off from his neck.

  The boss collapsed onto his knees and remained in a sitting position as Shitbox floated over.

  < < Stage Complete > >

  < Tallying Score >

  Adam stumbled over to where he’d discarded his Fiendbarb Relic and equipped it to his spear again.

  That was fucking hard.

  I really shouldn’t have survived that…

  All the soldiers had collapsed as well, the necromantic power sustaining them vanishing along with the captain’s death. The Elphin looked tired and bruised, and only eight defenders remained. From the nearby towers, women and children started popping out now that the coast was clear.

  < < Score > >

  < 17 Minutes 12 Seconds Completion Time >

  < 193 Damage Received >

  < 1079 Points Awarded >

  That’s a lot of Points for not getting Speedrun or Flawless.

  But that probably means I missed out on a ton of Points… Wonder how the score is even counted. Maybe it’s a ‘every kill has a value’ thing, but if so, do the kills the Elphin make count?

  Whatever, I’ll figure out the logic later. For now I’ve got a Relic to find.

  The tesseract unfolded itself into an upgrade podium and a treasure chest appeared next to it, but Adam was already running towards the great tree.

  Maybe Ilya was wrong and it isn’t found amongst the roots, but rather at the top of the canopy like the Glass Acorn.

  When he made it to the roots, he climbed up the side of the tree, using the deep grooves in its dark-blue bark as handholds. Some of the city’s children and youths quickly spotted Adam and raced him to the canopy.

  At the top he could look out over the entire city and see each of the breaches in the walls, as well as small camps and huts outside. There were no soldiers anywhere, and even the ones that’d collapsed near the ritual site had vanished.

  This would be a great place to set up if I had a long-ranged bow.

  I should take a second to look for any more hidden chests, he realised.

  But first he scanned the canopy. He didn’t notice anything glinting amongst the leaves, however, when he looked down to the top of the tree itself, from which branches protruded, he noticed something buried there.

  Adam climbed over the branches until he reached it. It looked like a cocoon made of bark and woven vines, but it had a pale fleshy texture and pulsed with a malevolent purple light from within.

  He put his hand on it.

  < < Secret Relic Obtained > >

  < Rotmaker Idol (Rare) — Turns a tree into a living monster for 30 seconds. Relic disappears after use >

  That sounds… crazy?

  Can’t imagine, with the way it’s worded, that it wouldn’t end up a threat to me as well.

  The idol appeared attached to his belt in the same spot where the Affliction Ward had been.

  Guess it’s good if I need to distract an enemy, but I wonder if I can aim it or decide what tree to transform.

  There’s a few too many unknowns with this for me to wanna use it.

  Anyway, glad I found the Relic, but Ilya’s instructions were completely wrong… I wonder if he knew that or if he was misled as well.

  Adam went back out to the edge of the canopy, where Elphin children watched him with their glowing eyes.

  “You guys wouldn’t happen to know where I can find any treasure chests or hidden secrets, do you?”

  “Father says we mustn’t play with the termite nest.”

  Termites? Wait… is this gonna be another secret vendor or something?

  “Where’s that at?”

  The boy who’d told him climbed through the canopy to the other side, before pointing off towards the southern breach.

  Adam patted him on the head. “Thanks.”

  “Have thou seen mine father?” the boy asked.

  He clenched his jaw.

  Damn…

  Whoever made this world is a cruel bastard for putting that in.

  “I’ll look for him,” Adam lied. “You should stay here with the others.”

  “Understood.”

  Although Shitbox was still back by the dead captain, Adam asked into the air. “Will I survive if I use my Spring Boots from up here?”

  [Yes.]

  A grin spread across his face.

  Fuck yeah.

  He crouched and triggered the boots, shooting himself towards the southern wall.

  [Make sure to land on your feet.]

  “What happens if I don’t land on my feet!?” Adam yelled into the air as he soared across the city.

  He started to spin forward.

  Oh shiiiit!!

  Depending on how today goes, Loopshard might hit 3000 followers before midnight.

  All that in less than 20 days! That's insane to me <.<

  The bonus chapter for the 3100 milestone (my old record) may perhaps arrive tomorrow,

  which is a lot sooner than I expected.

  Thanks so much for the continued support!