Minutes later, you come to a thicket of mist-enshrouded trees. As you pass through this eerie wood, you detect the presence of Tagazin once more. Fresh tracks indicate his direction and determinedly you set off, finding it an easy task to follow his clawed footprints in the loamy soil. They lead you through a tangle of saw-toothed briar and up a gently sloping rise. As you crest the top of the rise, you look upon an awe-inspiring sight.
A few hundred yards beyond the rise, you see Tagazin moving along a track which leads to the top of a small hillock. Here, contained within an arch of ancient stone, you see a whirling vortex: it is unmistakably an open Shadow Gate.
Surrounding Tagazin are a host of winged, dragon-like creatures, with horny skins that glimmer like gold in the wan light. By the slow, laborious way in which the jackal-like Demonlord is moving his limbs, you sense that he has been injured and greatly weakened by his passage through the void.
(Yes I have been to this plane before)
At once you recognize the winged creatures. You encountered them the last time you were here upon the Plane of Darkness. They are Lavas—fell servants of the Dark God Naar.
The dozen or so Lavas surrounding the ailing Tagazin appear to be urging him on towards the Shadow Gate. Your hopes of returning to your home world rose when first you saw the Shadow Gate, but now the familiar sensation of fear returns to chill your blood. The thought occurs to you that if Tagazin should enter the Shadow Gate before you, the Lavas may be able to close it behind him and deny you the chance of escaping from this evil domain. It is a risk you cannot afford to take.
Drawing your weapon, you race along the track in pursuit of the Demonlord, grimly determined to prevent him from reaching the Shadow Gate alive.
(I do not have Assimilance)
You have taken only a few dozen steps in pursuit of the sickly Demonlord and his golden-winged escorts, when your presence is betrayed by the aura of goodly light your body is radiating whilst on this plane of existence. A wave of alarm spreads through the escorts when they detect your aura, and many of them take to the sky. Directed by a vengeful Tagazin, they circle around you and come diving down to attack you with beak and claw.
Lavas: COMBAT SKILL 52 ENDURANCE 52
(I gained 4 EP from the 4 sections. Alright, let’s do this thing. I have only +8 vs them. I toss 1 and 7. They have taken 25 total to my 6. Then we toss a 7 and they have another 15 coming their way. Then a 1 follows again, for 9 and 4. A 9 finishes them off for 19. We took 13 total and ended at 17/50)
As you slay the last of these golden-winged horrors, their torn bodies dissolve into a hot, steamy vapour which is carried away on a foul breeze. The few Lavas that remained with Tagazin, having seen what has befallen their comrades, now abandon the Demonlord to his fate. Tagazin curses their apparent cowardice as they take to the air and speed away.
For a moment you stare at the Demonlord and he returns your gaze; his bitter hatred of you burns brightly in his supernatural eyes. Then he turns and drives himself on towards the Shadow Gate. You give chase, determined to stop him, but you slow your pace when suddenly you see a wide rent appearing in the sky high above. Through a tear in the clouds you see a new host of Lavas come swooping down.
(Yes I have Grand Hunt)
Using your advanced mastery, you magnify your vision in order to see better the new enemy that is descending towards you from out of the sky. As the images grow larger, you see that the leading Lavas is holding an item which radiates an intense aura of evil power. At a distance it appears to be a large metal bowl with a sharp spear of crystal fixed to its underside. Unsure of its purpose, you hazard a guess that it is some kind of weapon that the Lavas leader intends to use against you.
Driven by fear, you increase your own pace, determined more than ever now to reach the Shadow Gate before either Tagazin, or his new wave of helpers, can stop you
(Yes I have both K-A and Sun Knight rank)
You recite the words of the Brotherhood Spell Strength, and within seconds, your body surges with newfound energy. You increase your pace until you are running at three times your previous speed. Within a matter of seconds you close upon Tagazin, your weapon drawn in preparation to strike at him as you pass by, but the Demonlord sees that he can no longer outdistance you and he stops to block your path. He is weaker than before, but he has lost none of his devilish cunning.
As you come to within striking distance, suddenly he leaps at your chest and brings you crashing to the loamy ground.
Demonlord Tagazin (injured): COMBAT SKILL 45 ENDURANCE 45
This being is immune to all forms of psychic attack, except Kai-surge and Kai-blast.
I get one attack. Just one. Now, it’s possible I can finish this. With ks I have a 60 CS right now with the Sommerswerd. That’s +15, or a +11. On that, any roll of a 8, 9 or 0 is an auto kill. That’s a 30% of taking him out. I haven’t rolled that well this game. Take the battle vs above where I had a high ratio and rolled some 1s a few times. So maybe the dice will reward me? We’ll see.
I toss……
6. He takes 17 and I take 2.
Ah well