Book 5. Chapter 25: Greater Rift Conclusion

Book 5. Chapter 25: Greater Rift Conclusion

As the countdown neared its end, the elementals respawned. They immediately started heading towards a few points where it could spawn, and Jake knew he had to make a decision.

Bree, the Hearth Guardian, and the Garuda can wait here. Lets go for the buff to keep them from capturing it. I think we can learn more about it by obtaining it for ourselves, besides.

Jakes party rushed off. There was one path the enemy could take where they went straight to the peak to capture it, but he strongly doubted they could defeat their guardians before Ophelia could blitz there anyhow. This was even if they took all their elementals straight there.

The buff could spawn in several locations, and Jakes focus was on camping a choke point and eliminating the enemy. Ira and Fhesiah warned them of the incoming elementals. A few had gone for the peak, rather than going for the buff.

As they reached the location, Ophelia cast a [Sacrificial Barrier] just before nearly a dozen bolts of lightning slammed into her. One elemental had rounded the blind, and all the lightning was focused into it.

Berris baseball slammed into it, just as the notification that the buff had spawned appeared.

Berri saw the glimmering buff down the passage. It was like an orb floating in the air, with blue lightning flowing through it. Oh! Its over here. I can get it? I want it!

Jake shrugged, as he leaped out of her basket. The elementals were trying to play peekaboo around the corner, so he added the Einherjar buff to Valora as Fhesiah leaped on her back behind Ophelia.

Like a near bolt of lightning herself, Valora shot down the stairs and around the corner, Ophelia adding to the barrier in front of them. Tanda and Jake both dashed to follow.

The elementals released their condensed lightning once more, but then Fhesiah released a powerful cone of flame from her Torch, and Ophelia lanced through several in a row, as Valora rushed through them.

Tanda rounded the corner next, launching several arrows into the fray, followed by Jake releasing several earthen spears with his spell bubbles.

Jake sent, Wait to grab that, Berri. It looks like three went to the center and Bree and them took them out easily. All are accounted for.

Berri sighed, looking strange orb floating. [Aww. I wanted to grab it!]

Jake chuckled. You can, just wait until they are about to respawn. When you do grab it, make sure you test everything you can.

[Ill make sure its done, Milord. This one can getdistracted.]

The party returned to the center, without Bloodberri. The lightning was now becoming quite harmful now, and the Garuda had taken a fair amount of damage from two in a row. Jake and Ophelia quickly healed it to full.

Sorry, my friend. Good job holding down the fort.

The elementals respawned, and Berri grabbed the buff just moments before as she got ready to head back. Energy flowed through her, empowering everything that she wasmuch like Jakes Divine Reinforcement.

[Aww, this is lame. I was hoping itd make me bigger!]

Berri rushed back to the center, her movements infused with haste. Ophelia was ready to use intervene on her in case the elementals arrived a little fast or went for her.

When she arrived in the center, the elementals arrived near the entrance and immediately released an empowered bolt at her. Her [Armor of Faith] seemed to just reject the attack, enhanced as the buff was.

She smacked a baseball, and it shattered two of them in one blow.

Blood grabbed three of them with her [Telekinesis] at once, ripping and tearing at them as she shoved them, and her body surged for them.

Some vines from Bree and a wind blade from Garuda slayed others, but Jake and the rest just watched and regenerated their mana with mana water as Berri and Blood tore them all apart.

Blood launched a powerful Earth Spear at the end, and Jake guessed it empowered their spells even more than Jakes Divine Reinforcement.

Fhesiah hummed. Its powerful. I dont think we want to allow them to receive that while defending against this lightning near the peak.

Ophelia added, If it somehow multiplies their lightning convergence, it will be pretty dangerous.

Jake! You really need to figure out that spell! Zhangzhang said you could!

Jake groaned at the reminder. Zhang Fhei had made his life harder with his passing mention of it being possible, her incessantly asking about it. Im trying. Its not that easy.

What looked like blue rippling lightning was buzzing through her body, and even her eyes, as she looked at Jake with a wide smile. Ill love you forever if you figure it out!

Tanda frowned, but with a smile tugging at her lips. Uh, you love Jake forever already anyway? Thats what the hearth bond is.

Yup! But Ill love him even more. Lets hurry and smash these guys!

The buff continued and lasted through yet another spawn and fight of the elementals, Berri cleaning up the enemies just as easily this time. The lightning building up above the peak was already slamming down hard enough to nearly knock people down.

Jake had the party to mostly huddle up to allow Ophelias Guardian to tank it by floating with a barrier above.

[Sentinel Spawn in 3 Minutes.]

Jake said, Lets let them recapture the peak by leaving one alive to reset the lightning counterunless they do something different.

Fhesiah nodded. Its certainly the safer way to go. Butah, well, they did something different.

Ophelia chuckled. Of course they did. Whatd they do?

Another lightning bolt slammed into the Guardian blasting the shield off to the side, but then another slammed into Jake in quick succession.

Fhesiah replied, It looks like they didnt leave their Gatehouse yetI cant really see beyond the shield. I think they are combining.

Blood and Berri continued their assault, their maul shifting to more of a pick-type weapon. Swinging the heavy weapon at the downed foe with their immense strength, they pierced deeply into it as their tail began wrapping around their foe.

Its blade couldnt even move, Tanda and Brees vines along with Bloodberris powerful tail wrapping around the creature. It began to burn in flames as Bloodberri repeatedly pierced into it with their pick.

Things were looking easy, until Ira raised the alarm. A powerful energy buildup was gathering within the Sentinel, and the giant lightning elemental, at the same time. Jake used [Call Summon] on Bloodberri and Bree, just as the Sentinel exploded.

Ophelias Guardian Hearth used a powerful barrier on Ophelia and the Garuda, which took the brunt of the explosion from a distance. The giant elemental then released its powerful blast of lightning.

It pierced through what was left of the Sacrificial Barriers easily, but Valora took the hit for Ophelia, her Guan Yu apparition taking the blow. Despite that, enough of the attack crashed into her, the amount of lightning immense.

She was disbursed in motes of light, as the remains of the attack pierced past her and struck Ophelia.

Ophelia cladded her armor and weapon with mana, as she filled her body with auril. In a flurry of stabs with her halberd, she cut into the living tornado. Each attack disturbed the storms that gave the creature form, and the Garuda joined her furious assault.

The Garudas blade was particularly effective, having a special control of the energies that made up the creature. The size of it visibly decreased with each attack, the many flames from Fhesiah and arrows from Tanda striking into it.

Tanda had a golden light swirling around her, drawing up auril from her connection to the Heart of the World, it appeared. Jake had long-since wondered how the auril heroes and various other beastkin would be able to fight away from Highlands, and it appeared this was the answer.

Somehow, they could draw upon it from their homeland itself. Their body would store the vitality, but as their heart beat, and it sang the song of the beastkin, it would mix what it received together with their vitality to create auril energy to be expended.

It was as if by listening to the Heart of the World radio station, they would receive the will of the beastkin and the world itself.

Environmental lightning was about to strike Tanda, and Ira warned Jake just in time. He threw up several of his barriers from the prepared bubbles, the powerful lightning crashing straight through them, before being blocked by the Guan Yu apparition.

Blood and Berri wasted no time in beginning to launch their deathly balls with their weapon morphed into a baseball bat, powerfully sending their spheres into the creature.

It raged and sent out more lightning, but Ophelias Guardian Hearth stabbed into the monster repeatedly with its spear, absorbing much of it. After taking a few more blows from their powerful attacks, it was finally defeated.

Yay! Its like we won already.

[Energize Buff Spawns in 3 minutes.]

Jake groaned. I wouldnt say that. They may have more tricks up their sleeves, but we just have a little over four minutes before our victory, it looks like?

Blood nodded. That combined with the environmental lightning may be devastating. I guess we must just collect it before they do?

Ophelia added, Its worrisome because if they take the peak at all, we may not be able to take it back. The environmental lightning will probably empower it and make it bigger.

The apparition of Guan Yu took a few more lightning bolts from the environment as they recuperated for several of them, but eventually, it was dispelled. Drinking mana water and mana potions, they all gathered at the center of the peak once more.

Jake prepared his spell bubbles and was ready with his Sacrificial Barrier. Ophelia eventually let her Valkyrie Champion ability go, as it was consuming too much mana during the downtime. Bree wove a shield of vines above them.

The lightning was becoming more powerful with each strike, and even Jakes barriers could hardly take it. Bree wove a barrier with knots much like the wreath Oran would make. It was a tight fit, but even the Garuda gathered underneath it as Tanda added her rampant growth and various Highlands vines to it.

Lightning continued to crash into it, but the vines were uniquely suited to taking the attack. A large amount of the knotted vines were ripped away by the powerful bolts of lightning, but they quickly regrew with Tanda and Brees efforts, sharing the partys resources.

They eventually decided on Valora and the Guardian to go steal the buff when it spawnedOphelia resummoning her with a proud whinny. The two were near-immune to the environmental lightning, the greatest challenge was knowing where it could even spawn in the first place.

However, between Ira and Fhesiah, directing the summons was just something theyd have to try. The buff was strong, but it was not enough to risk leaving the peak for with so many of them. Valora left one way with a Sacrificial Barrier covering her, and the Guardian the other.

The buff spawned, and the massive elemental moved faster than it had any business to. But Valora was faster, grabbing it just in the nick of time.

A bolt of lightning from the monster slammed through the prepped barrier, the remaining energy not enough to dispel her. She bolted toward their party, the Guardian eventually arriving to shield her.

Jake found resonance with Fhesiah the Sage, and they all worked together once more to cast their Tier 2 Earthen Spikes spell just as the giant elemental appeared. Lightning pierced directly through their dome above them, shocking Bree significantly.

The earthen spikes were defended against using the nova of lightning once more, as the party rained ranged attacks down on it. Bloodberri was ready with their deathly balls, Fhesiah with her flames of the kitsune and dragon, and Tandas Cyclic Resonance had already reached its peak.

Empowered by her flaming technique and Jakes Heavenly Aura, she released her beam of golden light into the monster with her bow. Piercing through its core, the enemy was finally defeated.

They withstood the lightning for another minute under Brees vine shield, Jake and Ophelia adding barriers periodically. After a time, they hit the points required for victory.

[Greater Rift Victory. Winner: Alliance!]

[Party Reward: 50,000 CP Per Party Member, Merit Increase]

They were once again transported to their Gatehouse.

[Challenge Completed. Five minutes to exit.]

Blood hummed. It looks like we really earned a lot. Between the two Greater Rifts, we can buy some amazing stuff for our Guild.

Gnome snowmaker thingy!

Tanda laughed. We can just go to Harmony Peaks, Berri! We can have our next snowball fight there, and with all the young ones!

Jake nodded. All thats left is the Raid. Well get some rest after this, then well meet with Valtor.

They prepared for the Greater Rifts exit. They didnt predict any ambush, but they couldnt be too careful.

The portal dropped them in the field, where they were surrounded by their allies. The surroundings all cheered and roared, beastkin shouting out with glee. They had done it.