Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Chapter 107 – Floor 9: Part 28

“Ephemeral as the Wind.” Aster said, naming her Blessing in order to activate its abilities. She barely made it in time as Lucas’s axe cut through her now translucent body and dug deeply into the muddy ground.

Aster felt the pull of her mana from the use of the Blessing, and her reserves took a hit. She immediately deactivated it to keep from using it all, leaving her exhausted. Even its brief use left her panting, but it was better than blocking the axe with her lance.

Lucas cursed in frustration as he freed his muddy axe and flicked off the large lumps of earth from the weapon’s head. Shaking it roughly, Lucas resumed the chase while swinging wildly as he did so.

He didn’t use any Blessing or special Techniques. He didn’t need to. Lucas’s strength was far beyond any of the other players due to his pilfering of mana and Aether over the years. What he didn’t absorb to use to enhance his body went into levelling up.

Even his axe was something he had stolen from the dead.

“Stop running!” Lucas shouted. Rather than hitting the ground, his axe cut into a large rock that Aster was using to keep her distance. Biting into the stone, it held for a moment before shattering. She used that opportunity to strike, her silver lance shining like moonlight as it sped toward Lucas’s unprotected face.

“Bah! Enough of this bullshit!” Lucas said, letting go of his axe and grabbing the lance with both hands. With violence fueled by anger and frustration, he tried to rip it away from Aster, but the stubborn woman refused to let go.

So great was his strength that Aster’s feet left the ground, and she was hurled away along with the lance when Lucas spun around. Hitting the ground and rolling, Aster found the axe launching toward her with all of Luca’s considerable weight behind it.

“Onerous Stike!” Aster shouted, drawing back her arm and snapping it forward with all of the force she could muster. Her Blessing surrounded the weapon, coating it with an aura of fiery orange, and the sound of its passing made a shrill screech.

“You think you can hold your own against me!?” Lucas bellowed. The axe slammed against the side of the lance with a tremendous sound, like the banging of a bell or gong. A shockwave erupted from the conflict, flinging mud and torn earth in all directions.

Lucas laughed as he saw the Lance hold for only an instant before being forced back. The weapon soared from Aster’s hands, and she looked at it with stunned disbelief as the axe continued toward her unprotected body.

Aster resigned herself to being injured, possibly even killed, by the blow. There wasn’t time for her to activate ‘Ephemeral as the Wind’ or dodge in some other way.

“Blazing Sunbeam.” A golden light shot out from the side of Lucas and knocked into the side of the descending axe, altering its angle slightly. The blow that would have cut Aster in half merely grazed across her stomach, slicing through her silver, magical armour and striking her skin.

Aster leapt backwards away from Lucas and slapped a hand over the wound to stem the blood flow while pulling out a potion from the inventory. Thankfully, Lucas was distracted by the sudden assault of magic and ignored her while she healed.

She followed the glare left by the spell to its source. Alivia was standing, clearly hurt and struggling to remain upright. But she had her cards in her hands and was already pulling another from the deck.

“I should have broken your hands when I had the chance. I won’t make that mistake again. Don’t worry. I’ll keep you alive enough to enjoy our time together. I like it when they scream.” Lucas threatened. Raising his axe, he threw it at Alivia.

The magical weapon spun slowly as it streaked toward the Drafter. As it neared her, she pulled another card from the pile, and Aster clearly saw the crestfallen look on her friend's face as she saw what she had retrieved.

“Summon Goblin.” Alivia muttered, already knowing that the spell wouldn’t be much help against the foe they were facing. Indeed, no sooner had the card disappeared and a small, gangly limbed green-skinned Goblin appeared than the axe buried itself into the poor creature’s skull.

The summoned monster’s head exploded into red mist, and the axe, slowing slightly from the impact, struck Alivia in the shoulder as she tried to dodge. Luckily for the Drafter, some of the force of the blow had been absorbed by the Goblin.

Rather than cutting her in half, the axe gouged out a large chunk of her shoulder and chest. Alivia fell heavily onto the ground, gave a few twitches, and stilled.

“Alivia!” Aster screamed as she ran toward her friend. As she did so, the Lancer held her hand out to the side and summoned her magical lance back to her side. Leaping into the air, she flung it at the unarmed Lucas.

“Onerous Strike!” Aster yelled, pumping mana into her weapon to enhance its abilities. Once again, the silver lance streaked toward the Brigand like a beam of light. Lucas batted the weapon away, his large hand smacked into the side of the lance and sent it toward the ground next to him.

“Ahh, shit. Maybe I was too rough with her. I guess only one will have to do.” Lucas groused as he looked at the fallen Alivia. Turning away from the fallen Drafter, he snagged Aster out of the air and slammed her onto the ground.

When she tried to struggle free, Lucas raised his fist, smashed it down onto her stomach and knocked the wind out of her. Gasping, Aster couldn’t do a thing against him.

“Now, you and I are going to have some fun. And, if you play nicely, I might even let you live.” Lucas leaned toward her; his sour breath on her face made her gag, and she tried weakly to push him away.

Laughing as she struggled, Lucas kept her pinned with one hand while he used the other to loosen up the buckles on her armour. So intent was the Brigand on what he was doing that he didn’t hear or notice the figure approaching from behind him until it was too late.

Alivia gripped the silver lance in her right hand, her willpower the only thing keeping her from dropping it as the pain of the wound on her shoulder made her want to crumble. Even the multiple potions she drank couldn’t keep the pain away, although it had stemmed the bleeding.

Dragging the lance, she watched as Lucas struck Aster with his fist and fumbled with her armour. Filled with a desire for vengeance and driven by the need to protect her friend, Alvia hefted the lance just as Lucas straightened.

The Brigand had a large, lust-filled smile on his face as Alivia stabbed the lance forward with all of her strength.

Alivia’s body stat was nowhere near the equal of Lucas or even Aster. The lance, which had been so steady and sharp when wielded by Aster, wavered and shook when Alivia tried to drive it into the back of Lucas.

Her aim was off, and rather than piercing the unprotected base of his neck, it sliced a line across the side of his collar. Lucas jumped up in fright and slapped his hand on the now profusely bleeding wound. Cursing, he reached toward the lance and grabbed it.

Below him, Aster used his moment of distraction to kick him away while pulling a knife from her inventory. Scrambling across the ground, she stabbed it down into his thigh with all of her strength. The blade, sharp but mundane, bit deeply into his flesh before snapping off at the hilt.

“You gods damned whores!” Lucas bellowed as he took a swipe at Aster with the lance held awkwardly in his one hand. He didn’t have time to use a potion as the Lancer avoided the attack. Shouting angrily, he regained his feet.

Lurching away, Aster was repositioning herself to attack again when she heard Alivia.

“Are you hungry, you bastard!? Here, have all of them!” Alivia shouted. Clinging onto Lucas’s back before the Brigand could recover, Aster watched as Alviia took her entire deck of cards and stuffed them into his mouth, just as he was about to yell again.

Stunned, Lucas couldn’t react before Alivia activated all the cards. Jumping off his back, Aliva ran toward Aster and knocked her companion to the ground as a rush of mana and Aether filled the air.

The wind picked up, howling intensely as Lucas screamed in terror. He couldn’t absorb all of this energy, not at once! The smell of spice was overpowering, and the mana surged into his body. His stomach bulged, blowing up like a balloon before bursting.

Aster and Alivia's last view of the Brigand was an explosion of light, flesh and blood as Lucas exploded.

Leaning back onto the ground, Aster let out a breath of relief.

“How did you know that would work?” Aster asked. The Drafter shrugged, and winced as the action pulled at the still healing wound on her shoulder. The potions were doing their work, but it would be awhile before it closed.

“He ate one card and it was like he ate a full meal. I figured a hundred at once would be too much. That asshole just cost me another deck.” Alivia grumbled and Aster flashed her a rare smile.

“It was worth it.”