The Hundred Reigns 266: King of Spiders (8) (Patreon)

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Simon answered the challenge by putting on his Strength for Speed ring and then casting Chaos Wind. 

His malevolent whirlwind surged out of his hand in a torrent of torment that threatened to swallow Alfador whole. The self-proclaimed King of the Wild Hunt raised his cloak to shield himself from the gust with one hand, and pointed his spear at Simon with the other. A torrent of lightning surged out of the tip in response and cut through his Chaos Wind. 

Realizing he was vulnerable on the ground, Simon used Darkflight to fly and dodge the attack. The lightning bolts hit multiple spots in the plaza, blasting debris and frying demotaurs unlucky enough to be struck. 

A handful of loyal mephisgoats broke off from their fight with the ravenknights to rescue their Rancher-Shepherd, pelting Alfador with Brand of Wrath-empowered fireballs and lightning bolts. The man’s unicorn mount deftly dodged each and every one of them, while its rider tore his attackers to shreds with mere swings of his spear. His weapon brightened with holy power whenever it touched one of the demonic goats, the light reducing them to dust. Their bleats of agony would haunt Simon’s nightmares. 

“Leave him to me and take care of his helpers!” Simon informed his allies through telepathy. The difference in power meant his minions wouldn’t last a second against Alfador. “Ruin!”

His spell only resulted in the King of the Wild Hunt turning his gaze towards him. “Javelins of Light.”

The elf swung his spear in a circular motion, and a dozen spears of light appeared to throw themselves at Simon; though thankfully not at the same speed as his enemy’s opening strike. He dodged, only to realize the projectiles altered their paths to chase after him. 

He was forced to fly down towards the buildings near the marketplace, moving between narrow alleys and taking abrupt turns to cause the javelins to strike walls instead of him. Alfador chased after him as they left the marketplace for what likely used to be busy streets half a millennium ago. 

His Vassal Class is inferior to mine, and since he’s away from a large source of mana, he won’t be able to use his best abilities for long. Simon had spent enough time around Belzemine to learn she couldn’t keep the pressure up long without large quantities of manaliths to draw upon, meaning Simon’s position would improve the longer this battle went on. Those factors should partly compensate for the level difference. I have to tire him out. 

This would be tough, but winnable. 

Simon repelled the last of the light javelins away with a Chaos Wave blast, then quickly considered his options. Chaos Wind’s damage potential had been secondary to testing whether or not that Alfador could resist its Madness effect. The fact he showed no particular reaction to it and Ruin suggested he was likely ailment-proof. The Spearman Class didn’t have any particular protective Perks as far as Simon knew, which meant his defenses came entirely from either buffs or gear; though he couldn’t exclude the possibility the elf’s Class was really a variant of the Spearman with its own unique abilities. The outfit did seem a little different at the very least. 

If it’s buffs, then I can turn them against him, Simon guessed as he put on his Crown of Pain and pointed a finger at Alfador, right before he finished aiming at him. “Invert!”

His spell struck Alfador and successfully Slowed him down. His once frighteningly quick movements grew sluggish, and his spear flew at Simon at the speed of the wind rather than lightning. Simon landed in the mud, then attempted to use Arrow-Snatcher to catch the weapon and throw it back at its sender for the kill. 

His hand grabbed the spear’s shaft, and then bled.

The surge of pain was atrocious and utterly unexpected. The holy power burning his skin would have been manageable enough—Simon had been able to redirect a Worldtree bullet before—but the spear’s glass barbs suddenly burst out on their own and pierced his palm deep enough to draw blood. 

Godsthorn refused to serve you. Supereffective damage!

The light did more than wound him; it stripped him of Nightveil, drained his vitality, and would have likely removed his other buffs had Simon not dropped the spear fast enough. The weapon immediately flew back to its holder’s hand, who looked down on Simon with a shocked expression. His true Class outfit was exposed for all to see. 

“You,” Alfador said, his face torn between horror and resolve. “The Overl—”

Simon quickly cast Soul Sacrifice and Ruin before Alfador could recover, hoping his Ailment protections came from his newly dispelled buffs. He was wrong. Alfador once again shrugged off the spells. 

The Ailment immunity comes from his gear. The crown and cloak had to be magical accessories. Belzemine highly recommended Simon against using more than one to avoid conflicting and dangerous mana interference, but Illusea’s elves had centuries to refine their craft, and Warrior Classes could wield certain types of equipment without penalties. A well-placed Magic Eraser would thus leave him vulnerable long enough to throw him into the torment demiplane.

However, fighting a Warrior Vassal Class in melee would be utterly suicidal. Worse, the unicorn’s horn glowed and bathed its rider in a holy light. It lifted Alfador’s debuffs like the wind chased away dark clouds. 

Simon cursed all unicorns as he drained a handful cattle-warrior martyrs hiding in the Attic to heal his wounds. As if dealing with the rider alone wasn’t enough!

Realizing who he was up against, Alfador raised his spear to the sky and channeled immense amounts of magic through it. “Comet!”

Simon thought he had misheard, until he looked up to the point in the sky where the spear’s tip was raised. A shining blue star had appeared there, growing closer and closer while leaving a trail of stardust in its wake. Simon soon caught the outline of a house-sized block of ice coming straight for him. 

Comet was a Tier VIII Astromancy spell, from what Anaximander taught him during their lessons. While weaker than stronger variants like Ancient Meteor, it was still both powerful and difficult to cast. Either Alfador had dedicated some of his centuries of life to mastering spellcasting, or he had a secondary Class on top of his current one.

The Comet was slower than Godsthorn, but far bigger and thus impossible to dodge. Since he lacked the time to flee, Simon swiftly summoned his dracozombie, ducked beneath it for his safety, brought a shield out of his Inventory, and switched his Strength for Speed ring for a Cursed Winter ring to negate the impact’s Frost damage.  

The comet struck his mount from above and exploded. 

The impact unleashed a mighty shockwave, alongside countless pieces of shrapnel. It tore his dracozombie to pieces and then cracked Simon’s shield. However, he stood his ground even as the blast flattened all the nearby buildings and left him standing in the middle of a crater. 

Medium Physical damage!

His respite proved short-lived when Alfador leaped down from his mount and fell upon him, spear-first. Simon had trained so often with Meredith that he swiftly recognized the Valkyrie’s Jump Perk, and the enemy’s loss of speed buffs had put them on an even footing when it came to Agility. 

Swiftly switching rings again to bolster his reflexes, Simon leaped to the side right before impact, the spear missing him by an inch, and then lunged at Alfador before he could remove it from the ground. His Overlord scepter materialized in his hand for a Magic Eraser strike. 

A wave of telekinetic power repelled him back before the attack could land. 

Simon found himself thrown back a few feet, only for Alfador to close the gap in the blink of an eye. Simon instinctively fired off Hellfire Gaze, which likely saved his life as it threw off his aim. The man’s spear missed Simon’s heart and instead gored the left side of his stomach. The tip shredded his Overlord armor like tissue paper and evaporated his acidic blood on contact. 

Massive Mythic damage! Supereffective Light damage! Anti-Heal transferred through Lovestuck!

Thank the Light he always married one of Shabram’s agents at the start of each reign. Simon powered through the pain and exploited their brief closeness to grab Alfador’s arm. His Crown of Pain flared to life upon opening the Abyss’ jaw, its hunger calling for the elf’s soul.

Alfador’s spear glowed with holy power that closed the demiplane shut.

The sudden burst of mana and miasma resulting from the disrupted portal threw both duelists away from each other. Simon quickly healed his wounds by draining more branded demonic minions, and then spotted a flash of light from above. His buffed speed let him dodge a beam fired by the unicorn from above, then a spear thrust. 

“Your Majesty, Xenophon is coming your way to reinforce you,” Odette informed him. “We have the ravenknights contained for now.”

“The crystal?” Simon telepathically broadcasted to multiple people at once, most of his attention being focused on keeping himself alive. He replaced his cracked shield with a new one, but it barely deflected one strike before shattering to pieces. “Have you found the crystal?”

“We’re undoing the traps now,” Velvet replied, right as a unicorn beam narrowly missed Simon’s head. “Keep them occupied a little longer.”

“Are you the real one?” Alfador asked with a look of fury, his spear seemingly duplicating as he unleashed a flurry of thrusts too fast for an unclassed eye to see. One good hit would put Simon in the grave. “Or another of those impostors running around?”

“What difference does it make?” Simon replied, miasma surging from him as he repelled the elf with Chaos Wave before the spear could graze him. “You’ll lose either way.”

He immediately followed through with a Darkflare, whereas Alfador channeled a spell through his spear. “Sidereal!”

A pearly white sphere hit Darkflare, mana and miasma joining together in a dance of mutual annihilation that rippled across space itself. The two attacks cancelled each other out due to their evenly matched strength. 

Spells, Techniques, good stats and allies… This is like fighting a Noble Hero of old. The Spearman should have a terrible Magic stat, so how could Alfador—an elf—fire high-level spells capable of matching Simon’s own and not even look winded? There has to be a trick of some kind.  

Blood rained from above, followed by a squeal of pain. 

Both Simon and Alfador looked up to see the unicorn falling onto the crater’s edge with a spear gored through its throat. The many-armed shadow of Xenophon leaped off a pile of rubble, weapons out. Alfador swiftly raised his spear and found himself forced on the defensive as the eidolon struck him. Alfador was quicker and stronger, but he only had two eyes to keep up with multiple angles of attack. Xenophon kept up the pressure, swinging his weapons with inhuman dexterity. 

Xenophon is stronger than his level suggests, Simon realized. He had never fought side-by-side with the eidolon for long in past reigns, nor seen him in action much. He retains his memories and military experience no matter his current stats. 

This gave Simon an idea. “Velvet, bring me Exodeos as soon as you and your sister claim the Archer,” he ordered her, only to receive silence. “Velvet?”

No answer came. The Assassin wasn’t dead, she simply refused to answer his calls. 

I swear, if they chose today to betray me… Simon grit his teeth, reapplied his buffs, and waited for an opening. A direct hit ought to put him down. 

“You look familiar,” Xenophon said between two strikes. “I think we’ve met before.”

“We have, Lord Xenophon.” Alfador swung his spear. “Back when your employers had honor!”

There was a point where no amount of skill could cover too vast a gulf in strength and stats. Alfador struck Xenophon’s chest with his spear’s barbed shaft and propelled him into a pile of debris, shredding the eidolon’s armor and leaving a gashing wound oozing mana. 

Simon immediately seized the opportunity and hit the distracted Alfador with an Elemental Imbalance, followed by a full-power Darkflare. The elf had no time to dodge or counter, with the shadows swiftly engulfing him. 

A direct strike had nearly slain an archdemon-possessed Borsh, so that should hopefully do some damage. He was half-right. While most of Alfador’s skin had melted off his bones by the time the dust settled, he still had enough strength for another incantation.  

“Mother Nuwa… bestow upon us…” Shining liquid appeared out of nowhere around the elf. “The Waters of Life!” 

A bubble of shining water surrounded him and instantly healed his wounds. Molten flesh restored itself in an instant, sinew reformed over bones, and pristine skin covered damaged tissue. An entire battle’s worth of damage had been erased in the blink of an eye. 

A healing Prayer? The same regenerative liquid also swirled around the wounded unicorn from earlier, mending its wounds enough to rejoin its rider. Those two have a bond of some kind. 

His gaze wandered to his spear, at which point it finally hit him: since it was likely crafted from the Worldtree’s bark like the Mana Sword, then this Godsthorn likely contained a phenomenal reserve of mana for its wielder to call upon. 

He’s never going to run out of power, and he can call the spear back to him at will. This drastically changed Simon’s calculus, even as Xenophon rose back from his pile of debris to continue the fight in spite of his wounds. The eidolon was likely immune to Godsthorn’s Anti-Heal effect. I must seal his spear at the first opportunity. 

A familiar ominous presence fell upon the crater all of a sudden and cast the battleground in shadows. A storm of miasma enveloped the battlefield, entrapping everyone inside a void engulfing everything besides the destroyed street. 

Exodeos, the Scales of Emptiness, has trapped you in his Abyssal Domain! All teleportation effects are negated!

Simon smirked from ear to ear when he saw the monstrous Lotan floating down onto the battlefield, carrying twin sisters and the demon Exodeos on its back. The Crab Zodiac immediately fired a beam of miasma at Alfador, who swiftly hopped onto his unicorn to avoid it. 

“Sorry for the delay, sneaking up on him was harder than it looked,” Velvet informed Simon through telepathy. “What did you want with my pet?”

“Have him cast ‘Equalizer’ and tell your sister to steal the man’s spear if she can,” Simon replied as he switched his Overlord staff for a backup claymore in his Inventory. He had no idea if their next move would affect his Class weapon, so better safe than sorry. “If I’m right, we have this in the bag.”

Simon charged after Alfador, an Ectoplasmer spell ready to fire, while Xenophon swiftly flanked the elf from the other side. Alfador parried the eidolon with his spear, then raised his free hand at Simon. Light gathered in his fingers. 

“No immortal may escape time’s grasp,” Exodeos declared from above. “Equalizer.”

A pressure fell upon the area, an invisible weight pressing on Simon’s very soul. It diminished, weakened, and drained him. His strength was crippled, and dark power castrated his very soul. 

Exodeos’ Equalizer temporarily reduced all levels to 50 inside the Abyssal Domain!

All level 51+ Perks are suppressed, and your stats have been sharply diminished. Your Titles remain unaffected. 

Good to know. 

Simon’s loss in power paled in comparison to their foe. Alfador nearly collapsed from the sudden sensation of his strength being cut in half, of the might of centuries past being robbed away from him. He went from a demigod to the world’s strongest watchman. 

However, he still carried incredibly powerful gear and everyone else had taken a hit to their own strength. He managed to repel Xenophon and fire a Sidereal spell at Simon. 

While this unfortunately confirmed that the man’s spellcasting prowess was unrelated to any Class, his diminished Magic stat greatly weakened Sidereal’s potency. Simon’s own Ectoplasmer matched it enough that they detonated on impact, allowing the Overlord to catch up to his prey. 

The unicorn tried to gore him, but he was quicker on the draw. He brought down his sword with all of his might and beheaded the horse in a single strike. Its holy blood burned his armor on touch, and its corpse collapsed to the ground. 

Alfador let out a wail of utter agony as his mount’s death rippled through their link. However, his pain swiftly turned into savage rage as he leaped off his dead mount in vengeful fury and lunged at Simon. His swift reaction took him aback, and he barely managed to deflect a blow to the heart with his claymore.

However, the Godsthorn still slipped past his guard and struck his left shoulder. Its barbs immediately burst out of his arms and back, the pain so terrible his vision went white for a moment.

Massive Light damage! Anti-Heal ailment! 

Alfador threw him onto his back with all of his weight and twisted the spear inside the wound. Simon bit his tongue not to scream as he sensed his muscles being torn from inside his body. 

“I’ll tear out your heart, you fi—” Alfador blinked and looked up before he could fulfill his threat as a shadow moved onto his face. 

Silk was falling onto him from above with a sword of her own. 

Alfador immediately removed his spear—taking out a large chunk of Simon’s muscles while at it—and quickly parried the surprise attack with the shaft. 

Silk instantly used her Steal power the moment their weapons clashed. Alfador’s eyes went wide with fear while Silk screamed when Godsthorn’s barbs erupted in her palms, but it provided the opening Simon had been waiting for. He didn’t precisely recall which abilities he unlocked after level 50, so he settled on a sure bet. 

Hello, old friend. “Hellthunder!”

He shocked Alfador with lightning, his screams of agony filling the Domain. Then, keeping the juice flowing with one hand, Simon reached for Silk’s newly acquired spear with the other, forcing his mangled arm to touch the weapon. The barbs burst out to tear more flesh off his bones, but he swiftly stored it in his Inventory to ensure it would trouble them no more. 

Velvet then leaped down upon Alfador with two blades in hand. Her swords danced in a flash of steel, and the elf’s head rolled over the ground before her feet soundlessly landed. A rush of pleasure followed, sweet and welcome. 

Level 82 Overlord Level: Darkbound IV (Active): You are the Lord of Hell, and you look the part. You can shed your Humanoid Type to transform back and forth into a pure Demon Archfiend form, enhancing your stats and granting you mighty natural attacks.  

Equalizer cancelled.

Only one level? It astonished Simon that he only gained that much from slaying what he assumed to be a level 100 foe, even if it had been split six ways and he was a mere Vassal user. The exp penalties were getting worse and worse. Then again, we did reduce his level too…

“Aw…” Velvet licked her lips and tasted the elven blood on her hands, a look of pure bliss on her face. “So many levels at once…”

Simon guessed he wasn’t the only one to enjoy the rush of newfound strength, but he didn’t let that shroud his mind. He moved to Silk’s side, opened his Inventory, and then grabbed two poultices.

“The first will remove the Anti-Heal effect, and let us apply the other to heal you,” he said upon applying the first to her bloody hands. “I am thankful for your help.” 

Silk looked at him strangely. “Why aren’t you using it on yourself first?”

“Oh? This?” Simon barely paid his mangled shoulder any attention. “I’ve had worse.” Pain had become an old friend, one death at a time. “Besides, you saved my life. T’was a close call.”

Silk looked at him without a word, and Simon immediately had the distinct impression she hadn’t wanted to help him at all. She would have rather abandoned him to his fate from his past reigns’ experience. He guessed he had Velvet to thank for that. 

“It’s fine,” Simon told her. “I know what you think, and I don’t care. The outcome is what matters.”

“I see,” she finally said. “We have the Archer.”

“Good,” Simon replied as Exodeos cancelled his Domain, allowing them to return to Rhapta and turn his telepathic attention to his other allies. “Odette, report. Everything alright?”

“We’ve taken casualties, but killed the remaining ravenknights,” his ally confirmed. “Considering I’ve gained ten levels, I assume you’ve slain their leader?”

“Yes.” Simon wished anyone slain by his own eidolons would earn him experience. “The city is ours… for now. I have no idea how long it’ll take for the Oracle to send more people after her missing expedition, so let’s grab every treasure we can and depart.”

They would leave neither witnesses nor leads.

—-------

After healing the wounded and running a tally, they counted eight demotaurs and five mephisgoats dead in the line of duty. Their souls and corpses had been successfully revived as undead, so it wasn’t such a loss. 

The elves’ remains were destroyed to minimize evidence the Oracle could use to infer what happened, though their weapons and other items were confiscated for study. 

Otherwise, the expedition swiftly grabbed all the treasures they could find that weren’t nailed down, from countless gold items which had survived the centuries, alongside jewels, snake statuettes, even tablets inscribed with pre-Doom magical theories and observations. 

“This should more than compensate you for your expenses,” Simon mused to Odette as she and Xenophon studied the central ziggurat. She had found something there she wished to show him before their departure. 

“All this city’s wealth dwarfs our organization’s own tenfold,” Odette replied with a scowl. “A shame we must leave it behind.”

“There’ll be opportunities to return here in the future, once the Oracle is out of the picture.” Likely in a future reign. “You look less pleased with your discovery than I expected.”

Odette scowled. “I felt it calling to me.” 

“The Archer?” Simon swiftly reassured her. “He’ll be sealed soon, and his voice will trouble you no more.”

“It’s not that. I’ve always wondered why I was able to find my way to Rhapta when I was just a child. I thought it was destiny, but…” She shook her head in disgust. “It was that thing.”

“Does it matter? You honored your ancestors by rediscovering their ancestral home. They must be proud of you that their history will survive through your expedition.” 

“I don’t think they would have appreciated all the looting,” Xenophon mused. 

“They aren’t here to complain,” Odette replied with a thin smile. “I must say, Your Majesty, it has been a pleasure working with you.”

“Being the Overlord doesn’t mean I can’t treat my employees well.” Simon glanced at Xenophon. “By the way, where did you meet that elf we fought earlier?”

“He was with my first employer when we discussed our contract,” Xenophon replied, confirming Simon’s suspicion. “I recall he wore a different Class outfit back then; a green cowl with a bow.”

“He was likely a former Ranger, then.” Which explained how his Prayer could affect his unicorn mount too. He likely retained multiple Passive Perks and stats from that era of his life. Could he be the same Ranger I’ve heard about in that vision, the one where I saw the heroes fighting Valravn? His name was Erlking back then, I think…

Whoever this Alfador had been, it wouldn’t surprise Simon that the Oracle kept some of her former allies in reserve to protect Illusea. They were mere shadows of true Noble Class users—Simon was certain Louis could have bested Alfador on his own, even without a war to strengthen him—but still not to be underestimated. She wouldn’t risk sending them out without more backup in the future. 

They eventually made their way to a vast chamber that likely used to be a temple, based on all the unlit braziers and statues of snakes centered around an altar. A massive stone slab forty-feet tall stood on it, covered in ancient texts and adorned with a massive serpent’s image.

“This is what I wished to show you. This is the temple of Einganah, the Rainbow Serpent, and from what I read…” Odette pointed at the tablet. “These are instructions on how to summon her.”

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