Apocalypse Tamer

Chapter 113: Man vs Upgrade

The minotaur charged down the national road while harpies sung a song from high above. Their nine-headed hydra pet hissed in response, its mistresses’ music filling the monster with savage rage.

Five, Basil Bohen counted his enemies as he raised his spear and shield. The former oozed venom, the second glittered in the sunlight. Shouldn’t take long.

“Plato,” he told his loyal feline and hunting partner. “I’ll take care of the harpies.”

“You know I’m the one most effective against birds, right?” Plato asked as he raised his sword. The charging minotaur sent a ruined car’s husk flying to the side as rushed toward his enemies. The bitumen cracked under his hooves, and his hammer’s head was larger than Basil’s own. “Shouldn’t we switch opponents?”

“I don’t want to poison the food again,” Basil said as he leaped in the air. “I’ll spare you some harpy wings if I can.”

Using his double-jump Perk, Basil achieved a measure of flight. The Greek Motorway A25 shrunk under him until the minotaur and hydra appeared no larger than a calf and a snake respectively. Only rocks bordered the road from both sides. They were still a few kilometers away from seeing the Mediterranean Sea.

The harpies, a trio of winged women with monstrous faces and an equally dangerous personality, moved to encircle him from all sides. One of them carried an electric whip and swiftly attempted to strike Basil’s head with it. The weapon harmlessly bounced off his armor’s helmet.

“Sorry, I’ve got a girlfriend,” Basil replied as he raised his spear at the shocked harpy. “Here, let me show you real foreplay.”

He rammed his spear through the harpy’s mouth. She instantly perished.

Though Birgha Spit-Spear was a poor substitute weapon for Basil’s halberd, it possessed a key advantage: it was tailor-made to kill enemies with musical abilities. Which seemed to include half of Greece’s bestiary.

The two other harpies shrieked in rage at their ally’s demise and swiftly assaulted Basil with sharp talons. On the ground, Plato had swiftly beheaded the minotaur with his sword and now charged at the hydra to do the same.

“Moonshield,” Basil said as he let the corpse of his latest foe fall to the ground below. “New Moon Mode.”

His shield, a silvery circle with a polished mirror for a surface, darkened until it became pitch black. Ghastly energies spread to Basil’s armor and shrouded it in a dark mist. He felt his body becoming lighter and his senses deadened.

The harpies’ talons—alongside their entire bodies—phased through him as if he no longer existed.

The incorporeal status was one of the strangest among the System’s oddities. Enemies failed to touch Basil as if he were a ghost, but when he went into the offensive…

“Shish kebab!” Basil roared his new favorite war cry. His ghostly spear impaled the two harpies in one stroke. The venomous tip pierced through flesh and bones alike as if they were paper. “Plato, I got them!”

“Me too!” The feline raced across the road so fast even Basil’s eyes failed to follow his movements. The hydra, a mighty bus-sized monster of a reptile, attempted to bite him with all of its nine heads. They only ate dirt. Plato vanished in a flash and reappeared behind the creature, standing on his two feet like a true master fencer. “Now.”

Plato sheathed his sword right as the hydra’s body split in half, both parts falling on a different side of the road.

“Finally!” Plato rejoiced. He had been trying to master that trick for days. “It worked!”

“Your time was slightly off,” Basil said as he landed on the ground. “Moonshield: Full Moon Mode.”

His shield returned to its original silvery state. This canceled the intangibility effect and let Basil walk on the ground rather than fall through it. He wondered how many ghosts ended up falling to the center of the Earth due to lacking flight options.

“Also, you shouldn’t say a thing as you sheath your sword,” Basil teased his best friend as he tossed the harpies’ corpses aside. Due to the thirty level difference between them, the dragonknight hadn’t gotten any experience from the slaughter. “It ruins the effect.”

“You’re just jealous of my Samurai Cat swagger,” Plato replied.

Basil raised an eyebrow. “Samurai Cat?”

“It’s a whole new franchise. With luck, I can cast you as my sidekick.” Plato examined the harpies and sneered in annoyance. Purple venom spread from their wounds. “Way to spoil the food, dog.”

“I know.” Since Basil’s trusted halberd was still in the hands of Walter Tye for refinement, he had to make use of his secondary spear Birgha. Unfortunately, the spear's poisonous abilities corrupted each kill’s remains. “Minotaur steaks and grilled hydra should be more than enough for today’s meal.”

“I’m glad we haven’t killed any Nemean Lions yet,” Plato mused as Basil stocked the corpses in his inventory. “I will never forgive you if you eat a fellow big cat.”

There was nothing big about Plato, but Basil knew better than to say it out loud. “I let you eat humanoids,” he pointed out, “and you don’t hear me whine about it.”

“Less talking, more cooking.”

Afterward, Basil used his Guild’s teleport feature to transport them two kilometers south back to the Steamobile. Since Steve’s Perks let him collect Lair features, it had allowed it to act as a beacon for the team. They could hunt in the morning and return to their mobile base in a blink.

Basil and Plato teleported back to their team to find most of them under the shadow of a rocky hill. The Steamobile had partly dug a hole in the stone to turn it into a makeshift cave. Vasi and Shellgirl were busy crafting, while Rosemarine rested in her nymph form.

Basil would never get used to this one. His dear Hesperides Dragon could shapeshift at will between her colossal, draconic true shape and a smaller humanoid disguise. However, the only things she shared with humans in this form were a head, two arms, and two legs. Colorful leaves formed her skin. Her feet were roots burrowing into the soil. Her arms ended in olive branches, and her face took the shape of a wooden tribal mask. Though Basil found Rosemarine cute no matter her form, he had to admit she looked more like a plant scarecrow than a true nymph in this one.

“Mister, you are back!” Rosemarine greeted him with a basket full of golden apples. “Here, for you!”

“Thank you, darling,” Basil replied kindly. Not only did Rosemarine’s fruits possess miraculous healing properties, but they also tasted delicious. The team simply couldn’t get enough of them. “How was your morning?”

“I don’t like this country’s soil, Mister,” Rosemarine admitted. “It is dry and tasteless. Can I activate my field now?”

“Not yet, I’m afraid.” Rosemarine’s God-Field offered the team many advantages, but since its effects spanned kilometers, it broadcasted the team’s location to the entire region. And Basil hoped to reach Athens undetected. “I’ve brought you a substitute though.”

Basil opened his inventory and dropped the three harpy corpses at Rosemarine’s feet. His dear plant squealed in happiness. “Thank you, Mister,” she said as her roots promptly burrowed into the flesh of the dead. “I love it when they are still warm…”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying them,” Basil said kindly. Rosemarine’s immunity to poison let her feed on nutrients without risking intoxication.

“It’s like recycling with a few extra steps,” Plato mused. “Hasn’t Bugsy returned yet?”

Rosemarine shook her head. “He said he sensed something strange through the Logs.”

“Did he?” Basil asked with a frown. Bugsy’s newly enhanced sensory abilities had turned him into a fearsome scout. “Did he request backup?”

“Not yet, Mister.” Rosemarine’s reptilian eyes lit up behind her wooden mask. “Are we close to Athens yet?”

“No, we’re still a few days away.” Basil thought they would reach Thessaloniki in the afternoon, and then follow the coast to Athens. Greece’s national road was still in good shape, so the team managed to cross the Bulgarian frontier and travel halfway across the country in a short time. “But we can’t rule out ambushes. The monsters we’ve hunted today belonged to Metal Olympus.”

Pluto glanced at the dead harpies. “Those ones aren’t sounding the alarm anytime soon.”

No, they wouldn’t. Since the Logs feature allowed monsters to send messages to their superiors, Basil’s team couldn’t afford to take prisoners. Greece was Metal Olympus’ stronghold, and every monster they encountered had to be silenced so they wouldn’t inform the faction of the Bohens’ presence.

Kalki’s life might depend on their discretion.

“Rhaaaa!”

Shellgirl’s scream caused the rest of the team to glance at her. She and Vasi had set up a full alchemical workshop in the open. A cauldron full of boiling potions sat amidst shelves covered in flasks and alchemical reagents. However, instead of mixing substances together, Shellgirl was busy slamming her head against the furniture.

“Ridiculous!” Shellgirl raged. “Utterly ridiculous!”

“This is fine, Shellgirl,” Vasi reassured her best friend. “You’ll succeed one day.”

“What’s up?” Basil asked as he and the rest of the troop joined them. He lightly kissed Vasi on the cheek along the way. “Have you managed to craft a wizard’s scepter yet?”

“No, I did not!” Shellgirl cursed. “Even with a fifty percent bonus to crafting, my chances of crafting S-quality stuff are abysmally low. And when I fail, I lose the materials I used! This is unjust!”

“Shellgirl, you’re too hard on yourself,” Vasi said with compassion. “You can craft A-quality stuff perfectly, and that’s more than enough for now.”

“It’s excellent,” Basil reassured her as he checked his armor. “You’ve already outdone yourself.”

Shellgirl had successfully improved upon his old Dragoon Armor design, incorporating dragon scales taken from defeated dragons and even parts of his old thunderbird-based clothes. The purple ensemble didn’t differ much from the old version in terms of appearance, but its abilities had been heightened.josei

“Honestly, the only weakness of this armor is that it doesn’t grant me any resistance to magic,” Basil said. Vitality was the stat used to resist physical attacks, while Charisma helped defend against spells.

“The Moonshield more than makes up for that,” Vasi pointed out. “Did you check your theory about proficiency?”

Basil sighed. “I did,” he said while checking his shield’s stats. “And I was wrong.”

“My Dragonknight shield proficiency increases the damage I inflict with it when I bash someone’s head with it, and the damage runs on Strength from what I can tell,” Basil explained. “But my proficiency does not boost the defensive bonuses. When I lent it to Plato, he received the same Vitality and Charisma boosts as me.”

“I still make better use of it than you,” Plato mused. “Since I’ve nearly a hundred Luck points, I basically take only half-damage from attacks.”

“That could make the difference against Ashok,” Vasi said with a grim look. “Last time we fought him, he could kill you in one blow.”

“Do you need to remind me?” Plato growled. “I lost two lives because of him. Two lives!”

“It happened during the New Year Event,” Basil pointed out. “The damage was boosted back then. But I agree it might be better for Plato to take the shield in battle.”

“Or…” Shellgirl calmed herself. “Or I can craft a second Moonshield, so you can both keep one! Shouldn’t be too hard!”

“It took us killing a dragon psychopath on the moon to earn this one,” Plato pointed out. “I’m not sure we can do that again anytime soon.”

“Think, Plato, think!” Shellgirl pressed her index against her temple. “Who says Quest rewards are unique? Nobody! The Moonshield is A-rank, so I’m sure I can replicate it with the right crafting materials!”

“Like what, a mirror and a piece of the moon?” Plato asked with skepticism.

“I can bite the moon and spit it out, if you want,” Rosemarine suggested.

While the group debated the merits of teleporting to the moon for material, Basil picked up the sound of flapping wings above his head. He looked to see Bugsy land among them, the invisibility spell on him swiftly dissipating. The lenses of a camera attached to his neck glittered under the warm mediterranean sun.

“Welcome back, Bugsy,” Basil greeted his friend, only to swiftly notice the worry in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“You won’t believe what I’ve seen, Boss.” Bugsy pointed at his camera with his chin. “See for yourself.”

Basil’s party had experimented with a new recon method: Plato cast an invisibility spell on Bugsy, who then used his enhanced senses to locate dangerous zones. A fireproof camera let him record everything he surveyed. Basil didn’t think anyone else had yet to use a flying centipede as a scouting drone.

Taking Bugsy at his word, Basil removed the camera from his neck. His party gathered around him as he examined the footage.

The camera had taken hundreds of pictures of the Greek countryside. Most of it were rocks, stones, dirt, abandoned roads, more rocks, and any combination of these varied outcomes.

But then came the picture of a black hole.

Basil had no other way to describe it. A sphere of darkness the size of a football field unfurled in the middle of the Greek countryside, consuming everything around it. It wasn’t truly black, no; it was an unnatural void in the very fabric of space from which no light could escape. The only hint of its presence and true nature was the ring of swirling dust forming around it as all matter was pulled inside its event horizon.

Just looking at it gave Basil a headache. He tried to glean information from it through the System, but the cosmic machinery that now ruled his universe could only come up with a single word.

A shiver down Basil’s spine.

“What kind of litter is this?” Plato asked in shock. “Bugsy, where did you find it?”

“Three kilometers southeast,” Bugsy said. “It’s slowly expanding too. I’d say a centimeter per hour or so.”

Vasi immediately formulated a theory. “Before his demise, Benjamin warned us that bugs in the System would increase with time and damage reality.”

“This must be the result,” Basil guessed with a scowl. “A vapid, empty void.”

The world was starting to fall apart. The phenomenon’s size worried Basil, not to mention the fact it probably wasn’t an isolated case. How many of these holes were manifesting everywhere around the world?

“This is bad, Basil,” Vasi said with a scowl.

Basil scoffed. “No kidding.”

“Beyond the obvious,” Vasi clarified her thoughts. “Benjamin told us the System gains power from death. The more bugs spread, the more stressed it becomes and the more magical output it requires.”

“It’ll need to summon more sacrifices to keep running,” Shellgirl guessed with a grim expression.

This could only mean one thing.

As if on cue, a System notification flashed before Basil’s eyes.

This is it, Basil thought as he read. The endgame.

The Bohens exchanged uneasy glances. Yet none of them showed panic, or even fear. They were no longer the newbies they started as, but experienced warriors hardened by endless bloodshed. The previous two Incursions had been cause for alarm; they addressed this one with rational thought and professionalism.

“Partner, where’s the nearest rift?” Shellgirl asked immediately.

“It must be in Thessaloniki,” Basil guessed as he opened his Logs feature. “The city has fifteen or so UNESCO monuments. That’s just as many potential dungeons.”

His System-provided map of the area showed a rift above Thessaloniki, confirming his suspicions. The information it provided only worried him further.

“These guys again?” Plato complained as he read the Apocalypse Force’s name. “How many times must we teach them a lesson?”

“But, but… it’s so close to the frontier with Bulgaria!” Bugsy panicked. “Boss, they’ll cross over in no time!”

“I know,” Basil replied grimly. Bulgaria’s army was already stretched thin after the battle with the Unity. They weren’t prepared for a new invasion. “And Thessaloniki was home to over a million people before the apocalypse. If the city is still inhabited… it’ll be a slaughter.”

“It compromises our plans for Athens too.” Vasi crossed her arms. “Dungeon bosses gain power with Incursions, which includes Ashok. He was already a cut above the rest of the board. Now he’ll be even deadlier.”

Plato sighed. “This just isn’t our day.”

Only Rosemarine saw the bright side in all things. “Who are we killing first, Mister?”

“There’s no way we can reach Athens before the Incursion begins,” Basil admitted. “Rescuing Kalki from Ashok is our priority, but we can’t let the Apocalypse Force overrun the region. Bugsy’s right, it’ll barely take them days to reach Bulgaria after they destroy Thessaloniki.”

Too little of the world remained, so every battle counted.

“We’ll go deal with the rift,” Basil decided. “I just hope we can handle whatever will crawl its way out of it.”

Bugsy cleared his throat. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Boss, but there are four Horsemen of the Apocalypse right? We’ve only killed one.”

“The weakest,” Basil said upon remembering Apollyon’s last words. Even then, the bug took a hefty level penalty before he could invade Earth. “Which means the others are over level seventy at the minimum.”

Vasi chewed her lower lip. “And this rift can let creatures up to level eighty-three through.”

Basil frowned. He didn’t need a memo to read between the lines. “You think a Horseman could pass through this rift?”

“We can’t rule it out,” his girlfriend pointed out.

“No,” Basil admitted. “No, we can’t.”

Apollyon could have probably devastated all of Europe on his own if the Bohens hadn’t slain him early in Paris. He had managed to shoot down the ISS from the sky and survived a neutron bomb to the face. If his colleagues were even more dangerous, then their emergence endangered what little remained of human civilization.

If a Horseman indeed crossed the portal, then it was the Bohens’ duty to put it down.

“Didn’t we get a Quest to kill them all?” Shellgirl said with a greedy grin.

“Yep, we did,” Basil confirmed.

“Perfect,” she replied.

Shellgirl loved to be paid for work she would have done for free.