“How are we going to do this?” Jacque asked.
“This guy is pure power but he might have a hidden weapon. You work on his legs and I’ll disrupt his vision. Close combat is a bad idea,” I explained.
“I like that plan. Maybe a sniper would help?” Jacque murmured.
“You don’t even know how to use one. That’s a terrible idea. Try a cannon,” I suggested.
“I drew one with some modifications. Hope it actually works,” Jacque agreed, flipping through his sketchbook.
A miniature sized cannon positioned on a swivel appeared. Jacque poked his creation and it didn’t crumble. I headed toward our opponent, making sure there was enough distance so the orc wouldn’t mess Jacque up.
I heard a snarl as the orc noticed me. I flew into the air and fired off knives from multiple portals. The orc grunted and swatted away all my projectiles. I dodged his powerful punches and stabbed Mirror’s Rend into his back. The orc reached behind his back and hurled me into a bush. He reached for my blade but couldn’t quite reach it.
“At my weapon!” I shouted directions at Jacque.
A boom rang out as a black sphere just missed the enemy’s back. Another one followed, striking the edge of my sword. That was enough for Mirror’s Rend to absorb the energy of the blast. Jacque continued firing, five shots in total. Three were on target and charged up my blade. The other two exploded near the orc’s leg.
“Now the legs!” I commanded and unleashed the charged energy stored within my blade.
The orc screamed in agony after my explosion. Combined with the cannon fire from Jacque, the creature tumbled downward. I held my hand out and Mirror’s Rend returned to my possession. When the smoke dissipated, there was a large wound on his back. His armor was gone, revealing a light pink flesh underneath it, along with dripping blood. Jacque launched projectiles at the beast’s head. His helmet finally cracked after multiple rounds of fire.
“Can’t really hold back in this situation!” I warned Jacque about my incoming attack.
The artist scurried away with his cannon. I pointed up at the air. The orc stared at the sky in confusion. A barrage of meteors thundered down. The orc destroyed a few of the projectiles with powerful punches. However, the meteors overwhelmed him and all his armor was decimated.
“Jacque, get back here!” I motioned to the man.
“What’s up?” Jacque adjusted his cannon.
“Can you draw a missile? I’ll charge up your cannon and we’ll blast the orc,” I directed.
“Ready, Yuki?” Jacque questioned after completing his speed drawing.
“Let’s hope this doesn’t blow up in my face,” I answered.
The orc stood back up, grunting in pain. Once I reached zero on my countdown, Jacque launched his missile. There was a huge recoil and the cannon almost flew back into the artist. The orc never saw it coming. In the aftermath of the blast, the orc was no longer there, just a chunk of black coal. I stepped toward the coal with caution. Jacque wheeled his cannon over. We stood there in silence, unsure about our next steps.
“Wow, that was flashy!” Shan commented.
Where was Ksi? I saw her leap down from the air, landing near us. She bent down to inspect the coal.
“Where’s Ichaival?” I asked.
“Finishing up,” Shan answered, shrugging his shoulders.
“You’re not going to help him?” I watched Ksi place the coal into an evidence bag.
“Nah, he’s fine. Besides, Ichaival thinks my advice is terrible. It’s better this way. Actually, might as well check out how he’s doing,” Shan explained.
“Bro, what’s up with the coal?” Jacque checked his sketchbook for damage.
“That’s what they turn into after we beat them. Don’t ask me why, I have no idea. It’s perfectly safe, see?” Shan pulled out a bag containing a piece of coal.
“They ever turn back?” Jacque wondered.
“If the coal gets injected with a powerful magic source, the orc gets revived. It’s only happened once or twice though. Should be fine,” Shan replied.
Shan led us toward Ichaival’s location. The orc shoulder-tackled Ichaival and raised his fist, ready to pummel the false archer. Ichaival teleported away and arrived at the orc’s backside. He crashed into the enemy’s back, stabbing him multiple times.
The orc flailed around and then Ichaival fired knives into the creature’s eye. Blinded by the hero’s attack, the orc slammed his fists into the ground and generated a mini quake. Ichaival created a portal above the spiked shoulder pad and then another one above the orc’s head. The spiked shoulder pad vanished and pierced the orc’s head.
“Good for him!” Shan nodded with approval.
The orc collapsed to the floor and clutched his head in pain. Three massive tree trunks fell onto the orc’s back. Ichaival removed the spiked shoulder pad from the orc’s head and jammed it into his chest. The orc clutched his chest before a bright flash occurred. Like before, a piece of coal took its place.
“Should have finished him a long time ago, Darryl,” Shan said.
“What the f***? You could have helped me!” Ichaival sat on the ground, catching his breath.
“It’s for your own good,” Shan replied.
“Damn, there better not be anything crazy after this,” Ichaival sighed, clutching his arm.
“Did you get hit there?” I pointed at the area.
“Yeah, I got slammed into a tree by the orc. Didn’t react fast enough,” Ichaival answered.
Now that the orcs were taken care of, we were probably getting closer to Ichaival’s Kali sticks. We encountered more plants along the way but dispatched them with ease.
“This it?” I pointed at the small cave opening.
“Nowhere else to go,” Ksi answered, heading into the cave.
We followed after her. Torches, lit by fire magic, illuminated a pair of Kali sticks hanging in the back. Lyra, an impatient look on her face, stood beside the weapons.
“You got through all the threats, Darryl. I thought the orcs might give you trouble,” Lyra said.
“You set all of this up?” I stared at the prophet.
“Sort of. Just a little test. I didn’t know the location of the Kali sticks until you found that broken device. I came out here and found them. I thought it might be fun to make you run through this instead of just giving them to you,” Lyra explained, removing the Kali sticks from the wall rack.
“There’s one more challenge though, isn’t there?” I walked towards her.
“Of course. Darryl has to prove he’s worthy. What better challenge than to fight against his own weapon?” Lyra confirmed.
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” Ichaival exclaimed, not backing down.
“Let’s see how badly you want it,” Lyra declared, tossing the Kali sticks onto the ground.
A clay sculpture rose up from the ground and then it developed into… Ichaival? The last time we were here, Lyra demonstrated an ability to create clones. I recalled the powerful Zhuyu clone she made. If not for Kisai, we would lost. However, the magic user mentioned her clone lacked something. But she was very familiar with Ichaival so this should be an accurate representation without any flaws. How would this turn out?
