Everlast Online

Liz and the others had split up to cover the most ground, but through her puppets Liz was capable of sensing where Gloria and Nina were as well as their general surroundings.

While the puppets were inanimate objects themselves they contained fragments of her soul; and further connected to the main soul, as such they were considered both living beings and parts of Liz's body.

This came with a number of benefits. Firstly, all of her puppets could use her skills - even when they went beyond a certain range and Liz's connection faded slightly, they could still make use of most of her passive skills. Secondly, it gave her a number of scouts that were completely 100% disposable; being able to sense the general surroundings of her puppets could easily be used as an early warning system, and should her [Doll Maker] skill improve there was no reason she couldn't make dolls with stealth abilities.

She had even seen on the ELO forums that with the [Inscription] skill it was possible to add skills to items; there was even the enchanting-type skills that one player had learnt that gave items extra properties like strength or speed - not that Liz intended to change her class to become an [Enchanter] like that player had.

The 4th advantage was that all of her controlled puppets could use her inventory, meaning in the future she would be able to have her puppets running off and gathering her supplies.

The third and final benefit to Liz was that the puppets she had made were still classified as items despite having her soul; because of this Liz could store them in her inventory. This was another reason they were more efficient than using corpses.

Obviously corpses would rot, but more than that each corpse was considered a unique item; puppets were all the same in the eyes of the system. As such, unlike corpses, puppets would stack inside her inventory:

[Shoddy Puppet (F-)] x8

Liz did not like that all she was able to make were items of the literal lowest rank, but the time limit prevented her from doing much more.

It is a shame I've lost a lot of my multicasting ability. Liz sighed internally as she headed through her designated path with one of her own puppets. But I suppose I'll gain it back in the future, ten-fold as well if the rank of the skill is anything to go off of.

Liz had made 13 puppets; 1 was off making potions that were then added to her inventory; 2 were walking along with her; 2 more were given to Nina and Gloria; and the rest were kept in her inventory as Liz was only capable of controlling 5 - she was desperate for her [Multitasking] skill to improve.

Though there were some things that weren't perfect of course, thankfully nothing bad though. Liz's main grievance was that she could not really use her summons through the puppets; obviously she could summon her undead and golems through the puppets, but that would eat into the number she could summon - Liz was disappointed that her [Soul String] skill could not increase the total amount of summons available to her, but was not surprised either.

I wish SOU were less of an annoying stat. Liz complained, making the 2 puppets next to her nod as if they were external parties agreeing with her. Nina's CHA stat is honestly so much easier to use... And it got her a bunch of discounts when we were buying stuff since she dumped a bunch of points into it.

Liz and Nina had both gained new stat types, but Liz found herself disappointed that she could not freely use hers; constantly opening her menu to see if she could find something new about it.

[SOU: 95/100]

For one SOU was impossible for Liz to increase using stat points and it did not give any further details on how it would be increased in the stat itself or in her [Soul String] skill. Secondly, the stat had a visible gauge in her status that even MP and HP did not have - they were just bars in the top of her screen. Using [Soul String] on 5 puppets brought her soul down by 5, confirming they were considered soulless vessels. 

Liz had not even tried to control a souled vessel; not believing it worth the risk - should there be one, since she did not know. Though, Gloria did warn her that playing with the soul was a dangerous thing and that she should act with the utmost caution going forward.

With no way to increase, what Liz believed to be, her strongest stat Liz was going to increase her INT and AGI; but she stopped as if struck by lightning. In that instant she cursed herself for her idiocy. Instead of her original plan the 27 stat points she had gathered over the week were distributed with 17 into her INT (as her most important stat) and 10 into her END.

Liz had not played many, if any, video games before ELO and so had gained a lot of game-based knowledge over the time she had been playing, yet it was only now she realised how increasing her END would make her so much more powerful than increasing her AGI.

Even gaining the skill [Blood Donor] had not been enough of a wake-up call for her and the ridiculously powerful skill had been going to waste. Liz had been using [Voodooist] as an extension of her END and so neglecting to increase her actual END, but she realised this was not the best way to increase her power. Instead, by combining the regeneration ability of [Blood Donor] and the buffer HP that [Voodooist] granted to her Liz could achieve a pseudo-immortality where it became nearly impossible to kill her. Secondly, she would lose less of her summons with a higher HP - a sacrifice that Liz had simply been accepting up until now since she had not faced many enemies who could wipe out her force quick enough to attack her.

The synergy between [Blood Donor] and [Voodooist] was something Liz couldn't believe she had been ignoring up until now.

Guess I'm becoming a tanky wizard. Liz laughed as she looked at her END reaching a base level of 50.

(A/N: If you don't remember the effects of [Blood Donor] go check ch28 - honestly can't believe I've been ignoring that, and that I made it B-rank)

Liz ran slowly through the tunnels, the puppets not made well enough to match her full speed, but was still making good progress through the tunnel very quickly, being perfectly in sync with the puppets since they were controlled directly by her, so it was not long before she came upon the traitor forces.

Up ahead Liz could hear the rattling of metal and the flickering of shadows against the wall as a fully armed group of soldiers made their way towards the palace.

What they did not expect was an attack from the rear.

Shouts of shock and pain echoed over the walls of the tunnels; turning the other soldiers faces contorted in fear at the sight of skeletons in rusty armour and tattered cloth attacking them; their dirty bones and the green flames burning in their eyes were a terrifying sight in the darkness of the underground tunnels. Because of this the soldiers began to panic, allowing the skeletons to kill even more soldiers before they eventually regained their discipline.

"Stand your ground! They are mere skeletons! The army of the next king of Vradora will not fall so easi- AAAARGGHH!" One knight had made his way to the back of the group in an attempt to invigorate the other soldiers, but this had ultimately backfired.

Liz had spent a long time learning how best to utilise her summons; learning strategies where she could amplify the power of her undead - one of her favourites was to utilise fear.

The moment Liz noticed the traitors beginning to stand their ground, just barely stabilising their forces she gave new orders. The skeleton soldiers opened gaps in their ranks and from the darkness of the tunnels, the hounds were loosed.

Liz became elated as the most monstrous of her summons caused the screams of her enemies to return in force; even more so as one hound ripped what appeared to be a leader into pieces before the very men he was attempting to inspire. 

Liz had found that undead were excellent at carrying out strategies that lowered an enemies morale; between their appearance and unwavering loyalty it was not hard to create fear in anything they fought as they charged endlessly and without fear. It was even better in the tunnels thanks to their darkness, Liz couldn't have asked for a better environment to fight in.

(A/N: Seems Liz has become a bit more cruel over the week she was not doing her quest)

With the addition of the hounds, the small band of knights and soldiers quickly crumpled. One member of the traitors was left alive, surrounded by hounds and skeleton soldiers as he cried in a pool of his own urine. Through the darkness he could hear 3 sets of footprints approaching - one of which seemed oddly soft.

The crowd of undead parted to reveal even greater horrors to the man: 3 dolls walking towards him, 2 of wood and the last with a stitched mouth and button eyes dressed in regal attire - albeit ruined.

"I'm sensing a pattern among those recruited by the archduke." The man became confused and frightened as the stitches on the 3rd doll's face opened and closed, not being aware that the creature could talk - but he did not have long to consider it, nor how an enemy of the archduke had discovered the tunnels, as his vision went black, "Better luck next time, fatso"

With that the man felt an instant of horrifying pain before nothing at all; a hound having bitten his head off.

Liz sighed as she remembered the leader of the force she had just killed:

[Viscount Futra Troasf (13) (NPC)]

The man was excessively obese, squeezed into his formerly pristine armour to the point it seemed ready to explode and extremely unskilled in combat. Not only was his level low, but a skeleton soldier had bested him in one-on-one combat - it was pathetic really.

Liz picked up the sword he had used and was glad it seemed there was something of value there:

[Pristine Mythril Sword (C+): A highly decorated sword made from an extremely valuable metal. The sword's excessive decoration makes it useless in combat, but due to its appearance and material it would serve as a decent wall-mount]

"I can probably sell this." Liz said as she dismissed her undead and placed the sword in her inventory, "Though it is strange the archduke seems to have recruited the lowest quality nobles for his cause."

Liz had only seen 2 of the nobles recruited by Archduke Kilgard, but they were both pitifully weak and rather low station - it hardly seemed as though they would be able to help him beat the palace knights, even with a surprise attack and their numbers reduced.

Thinking about it deeper it seemed even stranger. The palace knights were not the largest group, but they were by no means small, and made up of the knights so loyal they would be willing to give up their lives for the king; just taking the throne while they were gone would not make them loya, even if Kilgard framed him.

The more I think about this plan, the less likely it seems it will succeed. Smokey thought as she headed deeper into the tunnels. I thought Kilgard was incredibly smart, why would he do something with such a low chance of success?

From what Liz had been told, the Archduke was an incredibly cunning man who had been blocking the king's attempts at reform for years; and on paper his plan seemed ingenious; but there were so many holes within it.

Sourcing Blizz from criminal gangs, leaving lists of his co-conspirators in the hands of a random merchant, there was almost no protection for the baron who had information about the tunnels that could easily put his plan at risk.

There's something more going on in this. Liz thought, but she had no idea what exactly that was. All she could do was pick up her speed and try to take out as many of the soldiers as she could.

So time passed in the tunnels as Liz took out more and more soldiers and nobles, similarly taking out the nobles leading them; and it became even clearer that something was wrong as even the knights were not difficult opponents - something Liz could see was a constant across other tunnels as she clued into the movement of Gloria and Nina.

Gloria was easily ploughing through the enemy while Nina was doing something similar; though using stealth and clones to make it harder to find her as she did. Gloria had only increased a level by the end with Nina and Liz's staying stagnant.

It did not take long for the girls to meet up.

"Something weird is going on." Liz did not greet them as they came across one another, Nina didn't fully understand but was not shocked while Gloria only nodded her head, seemingly having felt something wrong with the Archduke's forces.

"I agree, master." Gloria said, wiping some blood from her armour, "I've seen many coups and taken part in some myself - no one would attempt to overthrow a kingdom with such a feeble force; especially not one with the resources of an archduke."

"They did seem a little bit weaker than they should have been." Nina chimed in.

"Down there should be a final chamber before reaching the palace." Liz said, looking down the place where all the tunnels converged, "If anything was gonna happen, I'd expect it would occur in there."

Gloria and Nina nodded, preparing for a fight. Liz also took a look at their quest, seeing that it had changed slightly - as well as counting the number of people they had killed:

There were a lot more than Liz expected and according to the map created by the Marquise they had only covered a quarter of the tunnels. If that was true and each of the forces brought by the nobles were around the same size, then that still left more than 750 soldiers to fight.

Though Liz was more surprised the system had recognised her strange epiphany and even seemed to confirm it; it put her on edge as they made their way to the final chamber.

Opening the makeshift door Liz found only a single person inside. They were dressed in a large black robe with the symbol of what looked like a crimson red snake printed onto them. Their face and figure was covered so Liz could not find their gender; worse still was identifying gave no results:

[####]

The symbol was familiar, but none of the 3 could place it.

Again she was shocked. Even if they had entered the tunnel long after the coup had begun, how could all of the nobles have gotten into the palace so quickly - was this a trap?

"Hmmm... I was expecting the Marquise knights, but I suppose you'll do." The person said, their voice sounding incredibly harsh - neither masculine nor feminine, further preventing Liz from determining the person's gender, "You look strong, but we can't have you interrupt the plan and so you must be killed her. I thank you for your service, but it is no longer needed!"

From that around 5 others appeared from the shadows, dressed in identical robes, and stood around the first who had pulled out a crystal that gave off a powerful presence.

Liz didn't hesitate and summoned her own force of undead, but the robed figures did not flinch, a runic circle gathering below them. It was blood red, and inside was a pentagram with each of the figures positioned at the point of the star; symbols that Liz figured to be magic runes began appearing as well.

"We need to kill them, master!" Gloria yelled, her voice sounding more pressured than normal, "That's a ritual circle! They're trying to make an incredibly powerful spell!"

Liz would have to ask about that later, but right now it was more important to stop the spell; her undead charged forward, but it was too late as the runes began to float from the ground. They shone brighter and soon the 5 enemies began to float alongside the runes; the first still chanting at the centre of the pentagram. Right as the first hound reached the ritual circle they were blasted back from the force of each of the robed figures exploding into a mist of blood.

However, seconds later that blood began to swirl around the central figure who held up the ominous crystal. In a last ditch effort Gloria ran forward with her axe preparing to kill the first of the robed figures; but just as before she was a step behind and pushed back by the force of an explosion. The crystal shattered to release an overwhelming presence that seemed to attract the blood.

It took the shape of a snake, towering over everyone else in the chamber; releasing a horrific energy from its bloody body.

All that remained was the snake and the original robed figure who had fallen to the ground in exhaustion. The snake curled up around the figure, almost protecting it as Liz, Nina and Gloria stood still from the aura radiating from the creature.

Whatever it was, it had somehow managed to cause fear to ripple through both Liz and her undead, rendering them motionless - an impossible feat.

As Liz resisted her fear she heard a gradually growing chuckle from behind the snake. 

"I suppose even the undead are powerless before this power!" The nondescript voice laughed, "Kill them!"

The snake finally began to move and destroyed many of the undead in an instant. This was finally enough for Liz to break free from the grips of fear, her summons breaking free seconds later - as if linked - leaving only Nina paralysed.

"KILL IT!" Liz screamed, all of her undead charging at the snake in an instant; but even the few who managed to touch the creature could do anything - their attacks simply passed harmlessly through the bloody body of the snake.

Liz was beginning to run out of undead as she panicked, not even the aura empowered attacks of Gloria or spells seemed to damage - or even slow down - the snake, it was only Nina's illusions that began to slow it down as she seemed able to trick the blood snake's senses; Liz was beginning to feel that she would lose for the first time - not even the basic inspection showed anything. In desperation Liz looked through all of her skills.

On a whim she activated [Soul Sight] and her button eyes almost fell off her face as they did: The creature didn't have a soul! Instead it was giving off a crimson energy that felt in some way similar to the feeling of a soul.

Changing her object of focus Liz found another shocking sight. What she saw were 5 blood red stakes, each impaled directly into the robed figure's soul - emanating the exact same energy as the blood snake; what was more, the figure's soul was dyed crimson red as opposed to the turquoise hue of a normal soul. In an instant the proficiency of her skill jumped up to 52%, just from seeing the snake and the stakes implanted into the robed figure's soul.

This fight may end anticlimactically... Liz began to grin.

One of her puppets fell to the ground, a precaution, and Liz's soul began to stretch outward. Looking over, the robed figure didn't seem any different so Liz figured it was only through the ritual skill that they could use soul and not their own ability.

Liz's soul rushed forward, but as it met the crimson energy. It was like trying to push forward through a hurricane, no directed resistance, just general pushing. It was only as Liz's soul reached halfway through the energy that the robed figure seemed to notice something was wrong.

The serpent had become slightly sluggish and they themselves had begun to feel discomfort; the figure looked around frantically, trying to find the source as their discomfort grew. As if on instinct, their eyes landed on the small puppet at the very back of the fight: The necromancer.

A deep fear ran through their mind as they realised the necromancer might be a greater threat than first thought.

"Kill her! NOW!" They screamed, pointing directly at Liz.

"Protect me!" Liz responded.

In an instant the battle changed. Before the snake was running wild, killing whatever came close, but now it had a target; similarly, Liz's forces that had simply been trying whatever they could to kill the snake now had a solid goal.

The undead were loyal to Liz and Nina trusted her friend enough to know whatever she was doing could kill the snake.

So began a standoff, would the snake destroy the efforts of the young necromancer; or would Liz's allies buy her enough time to finish her plan?