The Legend of William Oh-Chapter 189: Chasing a Bird

William Oh once told a miniboss to die.

It asked ‘how dead?’

-Jason Salazar

Walten Reed didn’t hold his breath as they crept closer and closer, instead inhaling and exhaling as evenly and quietly as possible. The insects surrounding the camp could smell it, of course, but it was better than making an audible gasp as his air ran out.

The insects might be able to perceive them, but their little minds were easily controlled by their CC specialist, clamping down on any kind of response from the caravan’s first line of defense.

They crept single-file behind their best Scout, Orev, as he weaved a careful path through the line of traps.

‘Godsdamnit.’ Orev signed in frustration. If there were two things that sign language had been invented for, it was quick, clear communication, and to allow Climbers to curse when they couldn’t speak.

‘Stupid kobold trap everywhere,’ Orev signed, carefully tiptoeing forward. ‘Wound in my ass. Right in the ass. Bitch-ass kobold shit trouble.’

The sign language was not meant to do more than convey simple commands and none of the curse words were trained in Climbing schools, only passed from Climber to Climber, so the language itself was simplistic and disjointed.

Walten got the point, though.

‘Turn back, find another way.’ Orev signed before eventually finding a way through only he was able to cross, then teleporting the others through.

This continued until they got within a quarter-mile of their target, where the traps ceased to be a problem.

It made sense: In a caravan of over a hundred, people were going to wander off at night, and lethal defenses couldn’t be set that close to the camp or they would surely eviscerate a couple in a late-night tryst far sooner than they would catch an ambush.

Once they were inside the ‘safe zone’, they left their CC behind to keep the insects from raising the alarm and proceeded with just the assault team, creeping forward with-

Crack!

The entire team froze as Argus stepped on a fallen twig. Orev turned silently towards the oversized man with wide eyes, but his gaze didn’t land on the tank, instead it fell on the two other scouts flanking him.

‘you keep Tank quiet! No do job why here!?’ Orev demanded, adding emphasis with a shaking fist.

Argus gave a sheepish shrug, and the two scouts signed an apology before moving in tighter around Argus, using their pathfinding Abilities to make the Tank as quiet as they were.

They waited for a breathless minute, but no alarm was raised. They were in the clear.

Walten’s heart began to stir in his chest as he saw the lights of the caravan spilling over the city walls. The nervous tension that made all discomfort fade away flooded him as his body focused on only one thing:

Killing William Oh.

Lord Caddock got me to level 50, I’ve got an Advanced Class and the best equipment we could bring to bear. I’m stronger than I ever thought I would be in my life, and William Oh is a level 45 scout.

He’s given us a Stronghold, his trust, and a Quest that will reward us handsomely upon completion.

…I can do this.

Walten silently reviewed his new Primary Ability

Snuff Out ****

Active: Variable Charge

Choose one target within range. Surreptitiously Deals a huge amount of damage to the target’s vital organs. Automatically consumes extra charge until the damage is high enough to kill the target instantly. Scales with Acuity

Damage bypasses a certain amount of Resistance and armor, Scaling with Acuity.

The ‘surreptitiously’, ‘bypasses resistance’ and ‘huge’ amount of damage had been the three upgrades he’d applied. Between those three upgrades, he could kill just about anything at the drop of a hat without anyone being the wiser.

His other two primaries had been maxed out a long time ago, so it was such a blessing that his Lord had taken him to the 10th Floor and given him rare sacrifices, allowing him to choose something as devastating as Snuff Out when he Advanced.

Walten’s new kit was primarily tailored around his new Primary, raising the damage of his first Ability in a fight, Acuity, Focus, and flat boosts to Curse attacks, along with the Ability to disengage from a fight at will, allowing him to reset his ‘first strike’ gear.

They came up to a large wall, the last barrier before they arrived at the caravan.

One of their scouts went to climb the wall, and Orev shook his head, offering his hands.

With practiced ease, they took his hand, and found themselves on the other side of the wall in the blink of an eye, illusionary raven feathers fading around them as they drifted to the ground.

They were tucked against the wall of the city in the shadow of a massive wagon, parked in an area of Bakton Keep left partially wooded. Orev scanned the surroundings before leading them to a slightly raised hill, where they could see the majority of the caravan at once.

Sooner or later, William Oh would cross Walten’s field of view, and that would be the moment he died.

They drew their camouflage suits over them, the scouts worked their magic, and became a part of the scenery.

It took a little over an hour. The alarm was never raised, but they knew it was only a matter of time. The moment Alicia Zodiac glanced their direction they would be in deep shit.

If that did happen, the orders were to snuff out Will’s eyes and ears, targeting Loth the Luminary and Alicia Zodiac, making another ambush far more likely to succeed.

Walten spotted Loth the Luminary and mentally noted her location in case they had to make a break for it.

The blue-eyed archer who could see through terrain was seemingly asleep or away from the caravan enjoying the keep’s dubious night-life.

Either way, the situation couldn’t get more ideal.

And that’s when it happened.

A…man? with a bucket-shaped helmet over his head and the most mismatched set of kit that Walten had ever seen came tottering out of one of the tents and walked up to Loth, spreading his arms.

“That one.” Orev signed.

“How?” Walten signed back. The damn figure was wearing so much bulky gear he couldn’t even tell it was a man for sure.

Orev motioned to his left hand.

Walten focused on the figure’s left hand, and indeed, it was a pale, thin example of a hand. As if it had just finished regrowing, and was now starting to build the muscle and fat reserves that made a hand look normal.

Ah.

Without hesitation, Walten triggered his Ability.

Snuff Out.

122->0 charges remaining

Wait, ZERO-

SQUELCH!

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Walten and the other scouts shot to their feet as Argus exploded in a spray of gore, the damage link between them spelling the man’s demise.

Walten glanced over at Orev for guidance, and all that remained of the high-level Scout was an explosion of feathers.

Wait, wha-

Three heartbeats later, the sound of sprinting feet on dirt came from the direction of the camp and Walten spotted William Oh charging, his ridiculous kit seeming much less silly as it came barreling towards them.

“RUN!” Marble, their Nuker shouted, holding one hand towards the wall, and the other towards the camp.

Walten flinched as the keep’s exterior wall exploded outward, while a lightning bolt came down from the heavens and impacted against Loth the Luminary.

The kobold must’ve had a damage link in place, because the searing bolt of lightning accomplished nothing except fill the air with the buzz of angry insects moving at unnatural speeds.

Walten ran.

William Oh, on the other side of the caravan, ran even faster, despite everything.

***William Oh***

I hate this, I hate this, I hate this...Will thought as he charged blindly forward, the massive amount of armor and extra inch of height wildly throwing off his balance.

Of course there would be an adjustment period. He nearly tripped the moment he started sprinting because his stride was wider than he expected.

Nothing about this build was precise and magical the way Will liked. It was brutal and messy and lumbering.

He was just lumbering at roughly twice the speed a normal lumber-er would, the ground rippling under his feet to keep him going, which meant he was flying through the startled caravan at blinding speed.

Completely blind, observing himself from above and behind like a toy soldier on a gameboard.

Most of the assassins were sprinting away from him towards a hole their Nuker had blown in the wall. One of the bigger ones drew a sword and turned toward Will, winding up a strike.

The Nuker must be an Advanced Class at least, Will thought as he ran forward, not bothering with tactics.

I suppose running forward at full speed is a tactic.

The sword glowed with Charge and the swordsman whipped it forward at Will, feigning a cut that turned into a stab aimed at a chink in Will’s armor near the femoral artery.

The man’s expectations were all based on the idea that Will would slow down to engage the swordsman, allowing him to save his friends by buying them time.

Will accepted the stab to the leg and slammed into his opponent at full speed, treating his body as a weapon.

The swordsman flew backwards in a crumpled heap as he suffered the damage of their collision twice along with a stab to the inner thigh.

Will kept running, stumbling as his gait changed again.

Next one. Will’s over-the shoulder gaze locked on a frizzy-haired assassin looking at Will over his shoulder, his eyes bulging and bloodshot.

“Wai-“

Will slammed into the man’s back and kept running, trampling him into the ground. It didn’t kill him, but it certainly slowed him down enough for Loth’s bugs to catch up.

The shriek of pain erupting behind him was all he needed to know.

Three more. Will thought, spotting the Nuker, and much further ahead, the scouts.

Will charged toward the Nuker, drastically outpacing the woman as he adapted to his longer stride.

Will grabbed a Greater Healing potion out of his Dimensional Storage and held it tightly in his fist. Might come in handy here in a second.

The Nuker glanced over her shoulder, eyes narrowing.

BOOM!

A blast of lightning descended on Will, accomplishing nothing aside from filling his bucket helmet with the smell of his own burning flesh, but the Nuker erupted in a flash of lightning and toppled over, limbs twitching.

Sourdough

179 Charges remaining.

Will splashed the potion across the woman’s body as he ran past, hoping that would stabilize her long enough for them to capture her.

“STAY DOWN!” Will barked over his shoulder as he ran, but the damned helmet muffled that too.

Come to think of it, how am I supposed to drink a potion in this thing…I hate this Build, Will thought sourly.

There was no arguing that it wasn’t effective, though.

The last two scouts shared a glance and split up, aiming to divide Will’s attention and hopefully allow one of them to escape.

Will skidded to a halt and simply sent Phantom Hand forward, turning it’s armor sharp and corporeal, aiming to hamstring his enemies.

They dodged.

Will cocked his head and sent the phantom hand after them again.

It’s not as fast as it usually is, but it should still be pretty damn fast.

They dodged again.

I think they’re wearing something that helps them fight my eidolons. They were kitted out to deal with me. The me that they were aware of, anyway.

If Will hadn’t been wearing his new kit, he’d be dead.

ZZZZZ

As Will stood there, insects covered the sky like an angry cloud, just as Loth arrived beside him.

“We catch any of them?” Will asked.

“Two.” Loth replied, scowling as she reached into her robe.

She retrieved two familiar wriggling pupae, each roughly the size of an orange.

Bullet wasp pupae. They looked a bit different from the one that Will had originally given Loth for her direct damage Ability. She had probably bred something better.

“Then we don’t need those two.” Will mused.

“My thoughts exactly.” Loth replied before whispering to her insects and holding them out.

The pupae split open, revealing glossy obsidian wasps somehow larger than the pupae they’d emerged from.

Like arrows, the two wasps shot forward at outrageous speed, impacting the back of the two scouts, sending them toppling to the ground as the wasps laid eggs inside them. In a matter of seconds new bullet wasps would eat their way out of the target.

“Is that a bullet wasp crossbred with that obsidian beetle from the third floor?”

“Why yes, I’m glad you noticed. The bullet wasp has the inborn behavior and speed I’m looking for, but the obsidian chip beetle has a tough, sharp carapace that lends itself well to dealing direct damage.”

“Have you considered a nonlethal version?” Will asked.

“PFFFT.”

Loth gave him a raspberry and opened her robe to reveal rows of squirming larvae organized by color.

“This row right here is bullet wasp crossbred with Netcatchers. This one with Maddening Hox. This one with breathstealers. Of course I made nonlethal versions.”

“I would probably be more impressed if I know what those were, but still…very impressive.” Will said, nodding appreciatively as Loth closed her robe again.

“Did we get all of them?” Will asked.

“I don’t think so. My bugs are picking up the scent of six humans. You ran down three, and there’s four and five.” Loth said, motioning to the two corpses being feasted on by a swarm of dog-sized wasps.

“I’m still pretty pissed they got past my trapline. Some parts it simply shouldn’t have been possible. I think they had a short-range teleporter.”

“FEATHERS!” Will shouted, eyes widening. He’d seen some black flutters in the beginning, but he’d been so focused on running those five down that he hadn’t understood exactly what he’d seen.

“Oh, him.” Loth said with a scowl.

Caddock’s head scout had been here. He was running back to his master with word about Will’s new Build, using his teleportation to get away faster than Will could hope to follow.

But…there’s only two ways off this Floor. He’ll have to wait for the current one to get re-infested again. To be fair, that should’ve happened already, but he doesn’t know that.

The alternative….

Will’s mind touched on the Fae Lords who had set up shop around Key Sites. Onacona kept hers clear all on her own, seemingly a traditionalist, but Mordaine…he definitely counted as clogging up a Key Site.

“Take this.” Loth said, offering Will a grub. “Not to eat,” She cautioned as Will inspected it.

“I suspect that they were using trap detection abilities paired with high level scouting Abilities and we know they teleported. Thankfully, there are certain kinds of traps that don’t show up to trap detectors.”

“Like what?” Will asked.

“In between my traplines, I spread different pheremones that activate when things walk through them. I’ll neutralize the pheremones on the five we have, and this grub will imprint on the natural scent of the sixth where they mix with the pheromones. Hold it up like so.”

She held the grub up by its butt and the grub began facing to the north, its miniscule tongue sticking out and tasting the air.

“…I’ll take it.”

Once Loth had imprinted the tracker, Will made Phantom Hand’s armor into straps and wrapped them around his shoulders and waist before blasting north.

If Fae Lords were anywhere near as powerful as they were hyped up to be, it would take Orev Harti several minutes to kill Mordaine, if he could manage it at all.

The man’s damage output was mediocre, and he mostly relied on trickery and his mobility that exceeded even Will’s.

If Will could catch him in the middle of that…He could stop word from getting back to Caddock.

Of course, no word was still information, but at least it was less.

Will followed the grub’s heading to the north, frowning as it kept pointing north rather than turning towards Mordaine’s castle.

Will was faced with the choice of trusting Loth or his reasoning.

Will chose to trust Loth, flying straight into Onacona’s territory as the grub continued pointing unwaveringly at the beam of light in the distance.

Will touched down beside the Key Site, where an elk the size of a draft horse was slowly desiccating with raven-feathered arrows perforating its lungs, heart, and eyes.

This must be the monster that was blocking the Key Site here. Onacona was protecting it. Looks like Caddock knew more about it than I did.

Kneeling beside the enormous elk was Onacona, watching Will arrive with undisguised fury, tears streaking her cheeks.

“How long?” Will asked.

“Hours.” She growled, her grip tightening on her bow.

Damn. Orev went and secured his Door before their group even arrived at our caravan. He’s already gone.

Onacona raised her bow. She was wearing her full Kit, and it undoubtedly packed a nasty punch. Will wasn’t sure if he would survive, but he knew for a fact that she wouldn’t.

“Try it.” Will said, meeting the fae lord’s angry gaze with his expressionless helmet. “It won’t go the way you think.”

“Just…get out of here.” She growled, pointing to the south.

And so I shall, Will thought, picking himself up and flying to the south. But not straight south. He had a stop to make.

Orev hadn’t gone after Mordaine like Will had anticipated, but there was nothing saying Will couldn’t. After his round trip to the 5th Floor and back, Will had used the Door provided by killing Kincaid and been waiting for a new Key Site mission, but now he couldn’t wait any longer.

In a matter of minutes, Will arrived at Mordaine’s castle, crashing through the stained-glass roof that functioned as the roof of the Fae Lord’s throne room.

Tarnish of the Mind.

Without supervision, the caretakers of this Floor have grown beyond their original purpose, engaging in a macabre mimicry of their former masters, hoarding power while choking off the flow of Miasma to higher Floors. Cull any showing aberrant behavior and drive the rest away from the Key Site.

“HOW DARE-“ Mordaine began to shout, shooting to his feet as Will landed in the opulent throne room.

“EVERYONE GET OUT!” Will shouted before gesturing at Mordaine, grabbing the fear flooding out of his body. “AND YOU, STOP YOUR HEART FOR A MOMENT OR I’LL GLASS YOUR CASTLE AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”

“Right away, sir!” Mordaine said before clutching his chest and toppling over.

Thank you for clearing the Key Site. You may advance or retreat to the next Floor at your discretion.

+ 20000XP