Chapter 127

Merder Pyramid, Merder Stadium, Atlanta - 12:09 PM

Glancing through the crowd, I picked out the spellcasters and lunged towards Olivia and Ava with my Vague Spear. A block of stone appeared in my way, and I jumped, planting my feet on it, and shifted targets.

Samantha looked surprised as I was suddenly charging her way, and raised her hand. While I moved, I Lifted and Pushed two of the grounded javelins towards the ladies of Best In Show.

My Vague Spear pierced through the Thunder Striker’s heart as the javelins struck Olivia and Ava, though those two didn't suffer heavy injuries. Samantha, on the other hand, disappeared immediately. A scream erupted from beside me and I turned to see Michael, the trash-covered Scavenger, approaching with a broken bottle. I threw myself towards him.

I had the advantage in reach, but his rags and cloak were too strong due to his class abilities. The Vague Spear pierced through him, though not at the angle I wanted. His screaming didn’t stop as he started stabbing me with the bottle. I spun away as I imagined my weapon growing spikes. Ripping the serrated spearhead out of his chest, Michael fell to the ground until a swift kick took him out of commission.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Thunderstealers].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

Blake appeared before me, attempting to grab me in a bear hug. His shields were nowhere to be seen, which was unusual for a Shield Tank, and I stepped back before skewering his windpipe. Blood gushed from the wound, and he didn't last.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Summer Breeze].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

The sound of an MP5 firing filled the room and I turned around to see Jayden, Four Best Friend’s Gun Tank, shooting at me from behind her riot shield. Bullets tore into me and I activated Shield before I could take too much damage, but wasn’t immediately concerned by her. Instead, I watched as Lucy barrel through her teammate and tossed Ava aside to get to me.

My eyes widened as I watched the Raging Hulk demolish the ramp in one swing of her claymore as she came for me. While I wanted to go after the tank, or another spellcaster, I couldn’t ignore this threat. Not that ignoring it was the right choice.

I dove to the ground as the rage-filled barbarian swung her sword. My Shield protected me from the weapons I had scattered, and I quickly scrambled to my feet. Once again I dove, but this time towards Jayden.

“Hey, Warmong-“ Haley, the Local Celebrity, started to say.

I Pushed myself forward on the ground, weaving between Haley and Jayden like a snake before rolling to my feet. A rope lashed around my arm, and my eyes snapped to Tito just outside of the pyramid. My body went stiff from just the touch, and his spell succeeded in distracting me. Lucy roared before tackling me and the two women to the ground.

The Raging Hulk started slamming her fist down on the ground wildly, and I managed to shift so that the Gun Tank was mostly on top of me. Screaming and flailing, but mostly providing cover.

Haley only took a few punches to go down, being a mostly noncombatant class, but Jayden was taking it like a champ. As the Crowd Stopper released his rope, I sent the Cable Conglomerate after him.

It snagged him by the wrist and I pulled him in close. Lucy attempted to grab him for daring to approach her prey, but the Savage Defender tackled him to the ground and out of reach. I could tell that Jayden was almost dead, and I needed to do something fast.

I reached up and bent my Kingtin’s Foil so it was no longer covering my mouth and screamed. “Bill! We’ve got him! Fire inside!“ I yelled in my original voice, not the modified one.

A collective scream went out as the people realized what was going to happen. I fixed my mask as I turtled up, leaving Shield activated while also setting Force Field above me. The room exploded.

Both my Shield and Force Field shattered, but I came out of this better than most everyone else. The Raging Hulk shielded me from the bulk of the explosion, but not all of it. My upper half was in tatters, and my hood had been blown off of my head. I started laughing as I looked around the room. A single notification appeared before me.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Adrenaline Junkies], [Best In Show], and [Tag Team Champions].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

I could see the Jugglernauts outside, singed and dazed with a pile of items at their feet. I understood why they wanted to stay in the open, there wasn’t a lot of room in here for their style of combat. Regardless of their reason, I Pushed two javelins, one at each of them, and knocked them off of their feet. They plummeted down the stairs.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [The Jugglernauts].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

Any celebration I might have wanted to take part in, I didn’t have time for. Joanna appeared beside me and stuck her Vanishing Dagger in my side. I grit my teeth in pain, but didn’t give her the satisfaction of a scream. Lashing out with my Vague Spear, she disappeared into the shadows to avoid the blow.

I shifted so that I was on my back. The new hole in the ceiling was close to right above me, and I saw Manny looking down at me. A knife flew from the old hole, heading straight for my heart, and in a split second before it impacted I saw Lucas, the Knife Master, grinning at me. I Lifted the knife as I Pushed my shoes so I would slide away.

Luck favored me today. The knife pierced my chest, but it was just shy of my heart. I gasped in pain and watched in amusement as Lucas’ face soured. Before I could fully savor it, Manny jumped down with his axe raised high, coming right at me.

Before, his weapon had been a bearded axe of such pitch black that it looked to be drinking in the light. It was similar in shape, but it was a chaotic blend of white and black that leaned ever so slightly towards the former. When he activated Spiritual Strike, it was simply a ghostly figure that rose from him instead of a demonic one.

This was, however, bad. First Lucas used his accuracy enhancing ability on me, and now Manny. Worst yet, he was fresh. A single casting of Summon Swarm wouldn’t be enough to stop him. My only chance was to take him out in one blow. With a roar, I raised the Vague Spear so that, no matter how he landed, he would be impaled.

At the same time, I raised my arm with the Vambrace of Wires and pushed out the Cable Conglomerate to wrap around it as fast as I could. My focus was split, but I also Pushed the knife that Lucas had thrown into my chest. It spun in the air so that the point was facing the Spirit Axe’s face.

I pushed it into his neck, missing the windpipe but definitely nicking an artery, but he kept coming down. Two more knives were thrown, but these were at my Vague Spear, knocking it out of Manny’s path. His axe collided with the wire rope and I felt the pressure pushing me down into the ground, though without the same demonic twist.

As strong as the rope was, Manny was proving even stronger. The axe cut through the Cable Conglomerate little by little, and I could see the look of determination in his eyes even as the knife stayed stuck in his neck. This, right here, was a true MVP.

Arrows and knives rained down upon me, piercing my sides. I could see Lucas throwing more knives, though without a powerful ability, as well as Robin and Oliver from the Sherwood Forest Knaves in one of the entrances.

“How’s it feel, Warmonger?“ Manny grunted. “No holding back, just like you wanted.“

I didn’t respond. No holds barred was exactly what I had wanted, but telling him that this would literally kill me was the right thing to do. He would back off, perhaps even help me survive this death game. That was the kind of person Manny was.

But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Despite the pain, the agony, the risk, I was having fun. I laughed through the pain as adrenaline continued to fill my veins. The last of the wire rope snapped, and I could feel the blade cracking through the vambrace. Even with my life on the line, I was in my element.

My mind started to sharpen, and I started Spinning the knife. It shaved through Manny’s neck and windpipe, and his eyes went blank before he disappeared. The attack had nearly managed to cut through the Vambrace of Wires, and I couldn’t see the ghostly rope inside. I would have to get that fixed before it could be used again.

Without the Spirit Axe looming over me, I put my feet flat on the ground and used Divine Messenger to get myself out of the line of fire. The scattered weapons were pushed out of the way as I made it to the throne and painfully stood up. Dave was hiding behind the massive seat, and gave me a scared grin and wave before I thrust the Vague Spear into his chest and made him disappear.

Arrows, bolts, and knives started raining down on my new position, and I quickly took up Dave’s spot behind the throne. I could feel my wounds stitching back together from Heavenly Hero, but it wasn’t going to amount to much any time soon. Since it had worked for Crash Test I attempted to activate Cheetah Sprint, but it didn’t work. It had a much longer cooldown, and I guessed it didn’t get reduced as much.

Looking up, I saw Lucas’ head peeking out of the hole in order to get a better look at me. I took my chance and tossed the Vague Spear underneath him, Spinning it so that the tip was facing the sky. Reaching up with my hand as if it’d help, I Dropped the Knife Master by his sleeve. He struggled, dropping the knife he was preparing to throw, but couldn’t regain his balance from his strange pose.

I started Spinning the Vague Spear as I Lifted it so that it would bore and drill into Lucas, and his scream of panic and pain was soon cut off as he disappeared. Recalling both the weapon and My Golden Bowling Ball, I took a deep breath.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Most Valuable Prisoners].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

Aside from myself, that was all of the MVPs. I knew that Bill was out there on the ground, but the fact that there still had to be a lot of people around made me anxious. The thought of drinking my last Wondrous Health Potion flitted through my mind, but as I shifted and removed the ammunition sticking out of me so my body could heal the wounds, I decided against it.

Rubble fell from the ceiling, and I heard people shifting up there. There was no easy way down since the ramp was destroyed, though that wasn’t much to people with superhuman power like us. Still, they had the high ground, and that was important.

Stretching and wincing from the pain, I stood up straight and wheeled out from behind the stone throne. Robin and Oliver hadn’t moved, and they had their weapons trained on me in an instant. I Bent the arrow in the Marksman’s bow, snapping it in half, while Lifting the Highwayman’s crossbow. Both fired uselessly, and I was on them.

I lowered my shoulder on Robin as he pulled out another arrow before pushing him off of the pyramid. He sailed through the air, screaming, before hitting the staircase at an unfortunate angle and falling down. Turning to Oliver, he ducked back as John, Sherwood Forests Knave’s Wild Hunter, came at me with throwing axes.

They couldn’t see my grin, but it was there when I pulsed my Tyrant’s Will at them. They had felt this once before back when I was threatening Lars.

“You want me to come after you and Branson, eh?“ I yelled, and John skidded to a stop.

Activating Crash Test again, I slammed into him and Oliver before pushing them off of the side of the pyramid. I slid to a stop right before falling off, and they bounced off of the large stone steps before plummeting to their deaths.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Sherwood Forest Knaves].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

A hook caught me in my side, piercing through my skin and dragging me upwards. I coughed up blood before I was caught and thrown onto the ground. Albert and the Diamond Breaker’s Hammerman, Jeremiah, stood over me. They started bringing their hammers down, and I did my best to block the latter’s blows with My Golden Bowling Ball.

The Raider got a different treatment. I continually stabbed him in the chest as he beat me mercilessly. My Shield was back to full health, and I activated it along with Force Field. Every failed swing made him angrier, just as Jeremiah was having trouble getting past my bowling ball shield. I took a quick glance to see who was left.

James, the Blasphemous Priest, was obviously the reason why these people were up here. Everyone had been healed and his wings were out. Getting up here had to have been easy for him.

Turning my Vague Spear in his direction, I Pushed it out. He panicked and tried to dive out of the way, but I managed to clip his wing in the process. It disappeared as he hit the ground.

He wasn’t out of the woods yet. I Spun the spear so it was facing downwards, and used Orbit to get it into the right position. When he tried to get up, the weapon pushed up against the back of his neck, and that’s when I dropped it. James’ spinal cord was cut in half, but he disappeared before he could really feel it.

“Stop defending!“ the sign clad Hammerman yelled angrily.

“Stop attacking!“ I yelled back before pointing at Albert. “Look! His hammer is bigger than yours! Are you just going to take that?“

I activated Hyperbolic Declaration again, and Jeremiah paused to look at Albert’s hammer. In that moment of distraction, I swung My Golden Bowling Ball up in his direction, adding in the extra fire damage as it flew from my fingers, and watched as it smacked him square in the chin. The Hammerman staggered backwards and I quickly rose to my feet. I continued to ignore Albert.

Grabbing the ball as it fell, I spun and struck Jeremiah square in the stop sign that made up the front of his armor. He staggered again, but didn’t fall backwards yet. Wheeling forward, I shoved him hard with my shoulder. The man fell down onto the stairs, though he didn’t get up or disappear.

A hammer blow to my back caused my Shield to shimmer, and I spun again. This time I went low, bringing the bowling ball down on the Raider’s knee. He had blocked high, expecting me to go for his head, and had chosen poorly. Albert’s leg buckled, and I brought my foot up to meet his face. He fell backwards onto the ground, and I started taking fire.

Grey was on the other side of the roof, down on one knee with both hands on his pistol. Pierce, the Violent Negotiator, was with him, but at this point he just looked scared. I Pulled the Vague Spear back to me before sticking it through Albert as he started to stand up, and he disappeared.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Atlanta’s Worst Team].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

My Shield was almost gone and I was limping heavily, but I started walking towards Grey and Pierce. He continued to fire, but every time he did I would interfere with his gun. Moving it back and forth with Orbit, or Lift and Drop. He started to get exasperated as he couldn’t hit a slow, obviously injured man. I kept an eye out for Joanna, but there hasn't been sign of her for a while.

Once I gave myself the all clear that Joanna wasn’t around, I gave both My Golden Bowling Ball and Vague Spear a gentle, underhanded toss. Augmenting their trajectories with Push, I sent them after Pierce and Grey, respectfully. The Violent Negotiator threw his hands up to stop it, but wasn’t built for tanking blows and he flew off of the roof to his doom.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Four Best Friends].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

Grey had leapt out of the way, trapping himself in the corner of the roof, and I Pulled my weapons back towards me as I limped.

“Fuck you, dude,“ he spat before standing up straight and putting the gun to his head. I grimaced as he pulled the trigger, but then shrugged as he disappeared.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [BYOB].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

“You do you, I guess,“ I said as I looked around. “Come on, Joanna, might as well come out.“

“Come on down here,“ she said from inside the room below.

“Yeah, sure, alright.“

Without hesitation, I walked down to the new hole, but passed right by it. I spun the Vague Spear in my hand before getting a bead on Bill far down below. The man hadn’t moved from the disc, and he still had the cannon pointed towards the pyramid’s top. I threw the weapon, Pushing and Lifting it as required, and even though he tried to dive out of the way I was there to make sure it was delivered properly.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Team Trouser Snake].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

“Just killed Bill, if that was your plan,“ I announced down the hole. There was no answer, so I jumped down.

Joanna was there, sitting on my throne with the Vanishing Dagger in her hand. “You might be classy, Warmonger, but you’re pretty annoying. You know that?“ she asked.

“Yeah, comes with the territory,“ I replied with a shrug. “You the only one left? Not sure who all died during Bill’s blasts.“

“Heather’s hiding out behind the throne,“ Joanna replied lazily. “But we both know she’s not surviving.“

“Traitor!“ Heather, Diamond Breakers’ Tribal Tinkerer, yelled. The moment her head popped out, I threw the bowling ball. She smashed against the wall and disappeared. I retrieved it with Pull.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Diamond Breakers].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

“I know Manny’s dead, and so’s Tito, so I think you might literally be the only one left,“ I said seriously as I snapped open my menu and scrolled through the notifications. Once I checked them all, I nodded. “Yep, just you.“

Joanna sighed and shifted in the throne before nodding. “Alright. You’ve got stuff you need to do, so I’ll sit this one out instead of making you waste more resources. You’re welcome.“

“Mighty kind of you,“ I chuckled. “Enjoy the show.“

“And you do your best to win it,“ she replied before opening her menu. Joanna disappeared from sight.

[[Notice]]

You have defeated [Dunbar Runners].

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

I breathed a sigh of relief as my ordeal was over. My hands shook, and despite my mind firmly wanting to fight Joanna and finish the job, I was glad I was able to reign in my emotions. Walking outside of the top of the pyramid, I raised my arms in triumphant victory. The gesture hurt, but the adrenaline dulled it considerably.

[[Quest Complete!]]

You have survived.

Kill: Team Titan; +300 points.

Kill: Thunderstealers; +200 points.

Kill: Summer Breeze; +400 points.

Kill: Adrenaline Junkies; +400 points.

Kill: Best In Show; +300 points.

Kill: Tag Team Champions; +200 points.

Kill: The Jugglernauts; +200 points.

Kill: Most Valuable Prisoners; +400 points.

Kill: Sherwood Forest Knaves; +300 points.

Kill: Atlanta's Worst Team; +300 points.

Kill: Four Best Friends; +300 points.

Kill: BYOB; +300 points.

Kill: Team Trouser Snake; +300 points.

Kill: Diamond Breakers; +300 points.

Kill: Dunbar Runners; +400 points.

Solo Bonus: x2 points.

Raid Boss Bonus: x5 points.

Reward: 46,000 points.

“There’s that promised bonus,“ I said as I read through the rewards and found the Raid Boss multiplier. It wasn’t more than we would make, but it was close enough.

I had complained that we would be lacking points if we weren’t allowed to bet, but I didn’t expect to get them like this. That x5 multiplier was hefty, and I found myself nodding approvingly. 46,000 points for a few minutes of work; it would be a long time before I could match that without the kind of shenanigans I went through today.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Merder Stadium safe zone, give it up for the Warmonger!

Benedict Merder’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked around at the crowd. The cheers were deafening, and I partially wished that they would drown out the administrator. Even so, I paid attention because of what I expected next.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

That does conclude the Chaos Cup, with our winner taking it all in an impressive show of violent action! However, that doesn’t mean the event is completely over.

The pyramid started shaking beneath my feet. I wasted no time running out of the room at the top and down the stairs before it could collapse on me.

We have a very special fight for you now. As requested by the Warmonger himself, here is a one on one with your next Scenario Boss, the Uuska!

All around me, the crowd’s cheers became chaotic, as if they weren’t sure if they should continue or not. I made it down to the bottom just as the building collapsed, though it didn’t do so in the way I expected. The rubble fell outwards, dipping through the grassy floor and out of sight with not so much as a dent to mark their passage.

What was in its place was the tank and the monster itself: the Uuska. It dawned on me that, from its position inside of the pyramid, it could absorb everything much clearer than it could in a room surrounded by televisions down below. My blood, which had just started to simmer, began boiling again.

May I introduce the monster Atlanta will have to defeat for the second scenario, the Uuska!

It lashed out with its fist, breaking the glass and releasing that same psychic scream it had before.

I grinned, shrugged the attack off, and raised my hand to flip it off. “Bring it, asshole.“