Chapter 139 ‒ The Embered Veil
Chapter 139 ‒ The Embered Veil
The plateau quaked as Shindeon’s laughter tore through the night, echoing like a chasm cracking open. Flames swirled in his clawed hands, blazing brighter than any earthly fire.
[Activated Skill: Firestorm]
With a sweep of his massive arms, a roaring cyclone of crimson flames spiralled outward, crashing into the sea of ghosts. Wailing phantoms melted into pools of light, the ground charred in molten rivulets beneath the infernal blaze. Shindeon’s roar shook the stars themselves, and even the moonlight seemed to shrink away.
Tyler’s eyes widened in horror. “Stop! You’ll burn our allies too!”
Shindeon’s burning eyes darted down, contempt gleaming within their depths. “Why should I care? Weaklings deserve to perish. Their weakness is their own failing — not mine!”
Tyler gritted his teeth, slicing down a ghost that lunged at his flank. “You promised! You’re here to help us all stop Yandeon, not just me! Keep your word, or I’ll have Nellisa seal you inside a moldy boot next time!”
Shindeon let out a monstrous snarl, flickers of flame leaking from his fanged maw. “HOW DARE YOU THREATEN ME?! You insolent insect—”
Tyler swung around, cleaving three more ghosts in a single brutal arc. “It was you who agreed to my demands! You said you’d help us!”
Shindeon’s claws curled, his massive form trembling in seething fury. A moment passed, crackling with tension. Finally, his mouth curled into a feral, hateful grin.
“Fine, mortal… Fine. Watch closely and learn what true power looks like!”
He reared back, releasing a guttural roar that shook the ground. From beneath the cracked earth, crimson wisps began to ooze upward, writhing and swirling like blood in water. They twisted and coiled, gathering into clawed hands, armour-like chitin, and sharp fanged masks.
Trevor, swinging wildly amidst a tangle of ghosts, screamed. “What more ghosts?! Nooooo!”
Nellisa’s eyes flared wide with recognition. “No! Those aren’t Wandering Ghosts! They’re Vengeful Spirits!”
King Wing turned, slashing a ghost across the jaw. His eyes bulged as he saw the crimson spectres rise. “Aaaagh! Not these damned spirits again!”
Shindeon threw his head back and bellowed, his voice rumbling across every cracked wall and burning field. “Vengeful Spirits! Show these pitiful ghosts your true prowess!”
In a flash, the red spirits launched forward, each movement swift as a blade through silk. One spirit plunged an arm through a ghost’s core, wrenching it apart in a bloom of shimmering dust. Another flung five ghosts into the air like discarded dolls, tearing through them with a dozen rapid slashes.
Their shrieks rose in a symphony of despair. Ghost numbers dropped rapidly, the battlefield shifting as if a tide had reversed.
Morik, swinging his reinforced claymore, turned to Tyler, eyes blazing with urgency. “We’ve got this under control! Mister [Player], leave these ghosts to us! Take on the real threat now!”
Tyler cut through two ghosts, turning to Morik, breath harsh and ragged. “Thank you… I know it must have been difficult…”
Morik planted his claymore in the dirt, chest heaving. “No, Mister. Each one of us chose this. We can’t watch you shoulder the world alone. You have to trust us. We can do this much at least.”
Tyler’s fingers curled tighter around his hilt, his throat tight. He forced a shaky nod. “Thank you… You don’t know what that means to me… I… I sincerely thank you.”
With that, he roared, slicing down a ghost that lunged from the side, and charged forward. His legs coiled and launched him like an arrow, each slash a lightning bolt tearing through the spectral veil.
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[+584 XP]
[Level Up! Tyler Level 192 → 203]
[Attribute Points: +11]
[Achievement Unlocked: Peerless Hunter]
[Grade: A]
[Condition: Reach Level 200.]
The notifications flashed across his blurred vision, but Tyler barely glanced at them. Each step rang out like a war drum, his mind burning with one purpose — reach Myrrak.
He barrelled through the mist, ghosts disintegrating in frost-laced arcs. His breath thundered in his ears. Closer… Faster…
He emerged onto the plateau’s inner edge just as Zephryn’s wings clashed with Myrrak’s poison-cloaked claws. Sparks of moonlight and venom scattered, spraying against the black sky like shattered starlight.
“Zephryn!” Tyler shouted. “I can take it from here! Go help the others!”
Zephryn whirled on him, eyes fierce. “I can still fight! You do not need to shield me, [Player]!”
Tyler panted, his eyes locked on Myrrak. “Please… The others need you more right now. This colour-changing bastard is mine.”
A flicker of conflict flashed across her moonlit feathers. Finally, she nodded sharply. “Very well… Don’t you dare die, [Player].”
She leapt into the air, wings flaring as she launched toward the distant battle, where Kragg and Nellisa fought amid swirling ghosts and flames.
Myrrak coiled back, smirking through a veil of seeping mist. “So… you’re my opponent now? Will a sad story work again to spare me?”
[Myrrak, Veiled Fang of the Mire] [Level 110]
Tyler let out a harsh laugh, wiping blood from his chin. “Can you really afford to be joking now?”
Myrrak sighed, as if genuinely tired. “Well… I knew this would happen when I sided with that fool wizard.” His eyes narrowed. “Still, I won’t make this easy.”
[Myrrak Activated Skill: Poison Mist]
A suffocating wave of green fog billowed outward, coiling like a living thing around Tyler. It reeked of rotting marsh and acrid venom, clinging to his skin, seeping into every seam of his armour. His lungs seized as if stabbed from the inside.
Tyler immediately activated [Undying Tenacity]. A faint glow crawled beneath his skin, pushing back the stinging toxins. He swapped to his Storm Wizard Hat, PE surging as he braced for what he knew would come next.
Focus… breathe… His heartbeat thudded loud and slow in his ears. The fog shifted around him in sickly tendrils, whispering and curling like mocking fingers. Every drop of sweat crawled down his neck like icy insects.
A faint squelch behind him — Tyler pivoted instantly, swords rising in a crossed guard. Myrrak’s claws screeched against the steel, sparks and poison splattering into the dark.
“Oh? So you saw through my [Camouflage]?” Myrrak hissed, serpentine eyes narrowing with gleeful malice. “Lucky guess!”
He melted into the fog again, the green veil swallowing his outline in a heartbeat. Tyler’s eyes darted, his mind straining to catch each swirl, each sudden hush in the poisonous miasma.
A faint drip to the left — Tyler lunged, blades slicing in a savage arc. His sword bit into empty air, but a shadow slipped backward, hissing in amusement.
“You’re listening… impressive,” Myrrak’s voice dripped from everywhere at once, echoing in the fog. “But you won’t keep this up forever. Your precious energy will run dry — and then you’ll choke here like a fish on land!”
Tyler’s legs quivered under the strain. He flicked sweat from his brow, his breathing ragged. I can’t let him drag this out… At this rate, my PE will run out before I can finish him!
A sudden rush above — Tyler ducked instinctively, the wind of claws cutting past his hair. He surged upward with a sharp riposte, his blade slicing along Myrrak’s ribs. A harsh snarl erupted as dark ichor sprayed across the fog.
“You wretched rat!” Myrrak spat, twisting away, vanishing once again. The fog churned and hissed in every direction, each curl now shimmering with Myrrak’s hateful laughter.
Tyler’s hands trembled. The taste of poison coated his tongue, sharp and metallic. His mind raced — “I can’t keep dancing forever… I need to clear this…”
He raised his head, eyes burning. “Enough!”
[Activated Skill: Firestorm]
A deep thrum rolled through the earth beneath his feet. Then — a geyser of flames erupted, swirling upward in a violent cyclone of red and orange. The poison mist screamed as it evaporated, sizzling into steam that curled and fled into the night sky.
The fog vanished, revealing Myrrak’s silhouette, wreathed in flames. His eyes widened in horror as the burning vortex peeled away the last shreds of his camouflage, revealing his true form in stark, dancing light. His scales bubbled, green venom boiling and dripping in ragged streams.
“Aagh! Curse you—!” Myrrak writhed, twisting and clawing at the air as the flames roared around him. The reek of burning toxins filled the air, thick and sour, searing Tyler’s nostrils.
Tyler’s focus sharpened, each heartbeat steady and sharp as a blade. Now!
He lunged forward, swords crossed for a final, decisive strike. But as the flame and smoke cleared, his blades froze mid-swing.
Standing there — trembling, eyes wide, hair singed and tangled — was a familiar figure. The night fell silent in Tyler’s mind.
“Where… Where am I? Last I remember… I was just standing in the forest…”
Tyler’s heart crashed into his ribs, his breath caught in a vice. The edges of his vision pulsed with pale sparks.
“Milo?”
The entire battlefield fell away — the roars, the wails, the burning mist. All that remained was that face, those empty eyes staring back at him.