Godslayer Arc 1.22 Tying Up Loose Ends

“Follow me idiot,” says Valen as he strides straight past Drakvar.

“Alright,” replies Drakvar as he gets up from where he was reading.

Valen and Drakvar exits their home together and head through the streets, going into Darklurker territory.

“So what exactly are we doing?” inquires Drakvar as he notes exactly how deep they have gone into the claimed territory of the Darklurkers.

“Tying up loose ends,” answers Valen as he pulls a black bowler hat out of his duster coat and puts on his head.

“Taking out the Darklurkers then,” says Drakvar.

“Aye,” confirms Valen, “We’ve both had our encounters with them and frankly, I’m blasting fed up with them. They got the run of the district, corrupted the local authorities and blatantly terrorise the people with only minimal opposition. And now we got myself, an Arch-Mage of the Northern Church and you, the Monster’s Curse as they’re calling back up north.”

“Monster’s Curse?” inquires Drakvar, unsure of how he got that particular name.

“The Ordic and Sir Galamin came up with the term and it got mentioned a few times in reports getting sent up north,” explains Valen, “It seems that has caught on and that is your title as I am a Greatflame and Sir Galamin is the First Saint and the Original Knight.”

“I see,” replies Drakvar as he takes in this new information.

“I think it has something-we got our first bunch of targets in sight,” says Valen as a group of ten Darklurkers walk into view, laughing about something.

“So how are we dealing with the Darklurkers?” asks Drakvar.

“Breaking their power, which is their members and reputation,” answers Valen, “We beat up their members so dey need days or weeks of rest to recover. Dat will weaken their ability to enforce their will in addition to making dem look weak, hindering their reputation and ability to intimidate. De final blow will be cutting off their head by capturing their leaders and turning dem over to de uncorrupted authorities. Dat will lead to infighting and with their weaken state, dey will collapse.”

“That is a sound plan,” agrees Drakvar as they near the unsuspecting gangsters.

“-got dat gib real slugging good,” says one Darklurker to the chortles of laughter from his fellow, “Dey won’t be able to walk for a good month or-arggh!”

The Darklurker cries out in pain as Valen slugs him in the face. As the Darklurker is knocked off his feet, Drakvar attacks another bunch of Darklurkers.

Without a battle cry or anything of that sort, Drakvar draws all four of this black swords. He swings at the closest two Darklurkers. Both get an arm and a leg cut open and before any of them react, Drakvar has already moved onto the next two, doing the same.

“Light Swords!” casts Valen out of Drakvar’s sight, but he hears the Darklurkers cry out in pain.

Panicking, one of the remaining Darklurker draws a dagger, but Drakvar just grins at the insignificant resistance. Moving swiftly, he stabs at the hand of the ganger, the black blade of his sword going straight through the hilt of the dagger and the Kith’s flesh.

As the Darklurker cries out in pain, Drakvar slashes each arm with one of his swords. Finishing off this foe, Drakvar makes two downward strikes, cutting open the legs of the already injured Kith.

“W-who are you?” cries out a panicked Darklurker as the one in front of Drakvar collapses on the ground.

“I am Pakdar Drakvar Blackborn the Monster’s Curse,” declares Drakvar as he sheathes all four of his blades.

That felt good. My title is the Monster’s Curse so I might as well use it and Pakdar is the Jord term for a Knight that fights without honour, which is what I am. Yes, that fits me very well.

With no more opponents still standing, Drakvar turns to face Valen. Like Drakvar, Valen has defeated all of the Darklurkers around him.

“One lot down, who knows how many more to go,” replies Valen with a smirk, four swords of glowing white light in each of his hands.

“So what do we do now?” inquires Drakvar.

“I’ll knock out dese guys while you find another lot,” says Valen, “We got another a couple of hours 
until night falls. Let’s see what damage we can do in dat time.”

“Alright,” agrees Drakvar as he begins to head off.

“And wait for me before you engage idiot,” says Valen eagerly, “I don’t want to miss de fun.”

***

Drakvar jumps down from the rooftops, landing in the midst of two Darklurkers harassing a young female student.

He stabs one in the shoulder with one of his black swords while punching the other Darklurker in the gut and face. As the first Darklurker staggers backwards clutching his bloody shoulder, Drakvar focuses on the second gangster.

He slashes the Kith across the chest, making sure not to cut too deeply, as he grabs him and slam-throws the Darklurker into the wall. Drakvar yanks the gangster back and punches him once in the bleeding chest and again in the face, bloodying the nose. He kicks the Darklurker in the knee before throwing him into the ground.

He stomps on the back of the Darklurker before turning to face the other. As the Darklurker fearfully steps back, Drakvar pounces. He quickly covers the small amount of ground between them and punches the Kith in the gut even as he slashes him across the legs.

Even as the Darklurker drops to his knees with a painful cry, Drakvar slugs him hard in the face, knocking the Kith out with that single blow.

“W-who are you?” asks the young female that Drakvar just rescued.

“Pakdar Drakvar Blackborn the Monster’s Curse,” answers Drakvar curtly as he begins to walk away with the Darklurkers dealt with and the girl safe.

“Ah, thank you?” says the rescued Kith hesitantly, but Drakvar is already some distance away.

He and Valen split up to cover more ground as the Darklurkers are pretty spread out across the Twelfth District.

“Oi idiot,” says Valen from out of sight and Drakvar turns to face him with a smile on his face.

“So?”

“Only two so far,” says Drakvar, indicating the two fallen Darklurkers further down the street.

“Ha,” replies Valen with a smug smirk, “Five you twit. Three and two. And you won’t believe what one of them spilled.”

“I’m sure I will,” replies Drakvar as he grins right back at Valen.

“One of de Darklurkers told me de location of Falmar and Korren,” says Valen, “I figured we could go and pay dem a visit before hunting down Blorin.”

“Sounds good,” agrees Drakvar, “So fire huh?”

Drakvar indicates towards the fistful of fire that Valen is fiddling with in one of his hands.

“Oh yeah,” says Valen, “I know, I’m a Light Mage and all, but Fire is pretty similar and I’ve been meaning to learn more of it. Light’s is good and all, but it lacks punch. It’s very fine and accurate, but Light is de blade to Fire’s hammer. And since we’re taking out small fry, I figured why not get the practice.”

“Do you know where to go?” asks Drakvar.

“Yeah,” replies Valen, “Well, I know the general area in which the Darklurker leadership will be in. Once we get there, I figured we could figure out exactly where to go from there.”

“Then let’s go,” says Drakvar, “Lead the way my friend.”

Valen grunts his acknowledgement.

***

“I believe I have found our targets,” says Drakvar as he comes to a halt, nodding towards a pub with a pair of armed Darklurkers standing guard at the entrance.

“So it would seem,” agrees Valen as he stops next to Drakvar, “Regardless, we should take out dose two and investigate whatever is inside.”

“Any ideas on how to deal with them?” asks Drakvar, “They each have a lock pistol. While I am less vulnerable than most to them, I can still easily be killed or crippled by one.”

“Don’t worry dose,” says Valen, “You charge in and let me deal with de problem.”

“Alright,” agrees Drakvar and drawing all four of his black swords, he charges straight at the pub entrance and the two guards.

“Glorious Blaze!” Drakvar hears Valen casting behind him as the two Darklurkers begin to aim, “Seeking of Jakcar!”

Both gangsters prepare to fire on Drakvar, but freeze at the sight of whatever Valen is doing. While he can feel the heat behind him, Drakvar doesn’t see the magic. At least not until the leaping flames over take him.

Knowing his power grants him total immunity to being harmed by the fire, Drakvar doesn’t freak out or even slow down as the burning blaze engulfs him. But as soon as he realises what will happen once the flames reach the Darklurkers, Drakvar does slow down a bit.

As the flickering flames touch the gunpowder on the Darklurkers standing guard, Drakvar comes to an almost halt to avoid getting hurt. While his powers will protect from the supernatural, he is still vulnerable to conventional attacks if less so than the average Kith.

But even a powerful explosion will take me out just as a gunshot will.

As the roaring explosion blows apart the Darklurkers and caves in the front of the pub, Drakvar charges forward once again as the flames consume the air where the front of the pub once stood.

While Drakvar was hit by the explosion, his resilience allows him to ignore most of it. But Drakvar doesn’t waste any time recovering as he spots several stunned Darklurkers inside the pub, Falmar amongst them.

“I am Pakdar Drakvar Blackborn the Monster’s Curse!” declares Drakvar as he leaps unharmed through the flames at the shocked gangsters.

As he lands, Drakvar swings at the closest two Darklurkers, cutting them down non-lethally. Spotting the tough Korren, Drakvar decides that the second in command of the Darklurkers should be his main priority.

The ruthless Kith is a scarred veteran with electronic braces and greaves that grant her inhumanly quick reflexes. While he doesn’t know how the Southerners explain such powers, Drakvar does know that Valen says it works by using the technology to harness an unnatural harmony of Mana and Chi to grant Korren her abilities.

Drakvar swings at Korren, but she is the quickest to recover as Drakvar expected. But despite expecting such things, Drakvar is still caught off guard as Korren barely dodges his attacks. He attempts to swipe at her with one of his blades, but Korren ducks as she draws a pistol.

“Fire Lances!” casts Valen even as Korren aims her gun at Drakvar’s gut at point blank range and pulls the trigger.

As the ball rips through his flesh and into his gut, Drakvar staggers backwards as his super-adrenaline kicks in. But neither Drakvar nor the Darklurkers get to do anything as the local flames and fire, of which there is now plenty, form into lances of blazing flames and strike at the Darklurkers.

As all of the Darklurkers go down, Valen leaps in and grabs Drakvar. With Valen supporting Drakvar, the two of them quickly exit the burning and half-destroyed pub.

“You okay?” asks Valen as he glances down at the ball hole in Drakvar’s gut.

“Yeah,” replies Drakvar, “Just give me a bit of time to recover.”

“You’re going to have to get dat ball removed from your internal organs you blasting idiot,” grumbles Valen.

“Your healing magic doesn’t work on me,” points out Drakvar.

“Moron,” grunts Valen, “Healing magic isn’t de only type of healing dat I can do. How to do conventionally take care of injuries and illnesses is one of de first things taught to priests and priestesses of de Northern Church. Even before teaching us healing magic.”

The two of them make their way to alley, where Valen then puts Drakvar down against the wall once they are out of sight.

“I’m going to remove de ball now,” says Valen as he pulls out a couple of metal tools, “Den I’ll clean de wound and put a bandage around it. Normally I would use some sort of magic as well, but dat isn’t an option in dis case. And it doesn’t matter dat much anyway given your good healing properties.”

“Alright,” agrees Drakvar as he grits his teeth as Valen begins the process.

While it hurts, his adrenaline dulls the pain greatly and Drakvar just tunes out Valen’s work.

“Dere, done,” grunts Valen as he finishes trying a thick strip of cloth around Drakvar’s gut.

“Thank you Valen,” says Drakvar gratefully as he gets to his feet.

“Eh, you’re welcome,” replies Valen as he begins to head back to the street, “Now come on, let’s hunt down more Darklurkers.”

“I’m with you,” says Drakvar as he rolls his shoulders.

***

Drakvar blocks the pipe with his arm before slamming a fist into the gut of his attacker, staggering the Darklurker. Before his foe can recover, Drakvar clocks the gangster in the face and she is tumbles over backwards.

Another Darklurker attacks Drakvar with a pair of machetes. Drakvar blocks one, but the other cuts into the flesh of his upper right arm. With an angry growl, Drakvar counterattacks with one of his own blades, but the Darklurker easily parries.

This gangster is clearly a better swordsman.

The Darklurker steps to the side and jabs at Drakvar, lightly stabbing him in the side. Now irritated with his adrenaline following, Drakvar lets out a battle cry and swings fiercely at his opponent.

The Darklurker attempts to block with one of his own weapons, but the black shadow blade of Drakvar’s sword flares with power and slices through the metal. The shocked Darklurker cries out in pain as Drakvar slices open his shoulder.

Drakvar headbutts his foe and grabs them by the neck before they can recover. He slams his foe into the wall next to them.

“H-have you nuh-oo honour?” demands the Darklurker in a pained hiss as he glares at Drakvar

“No,” answers Drakvar bluntly as he slams the Darklurker into the wall again and then a couple more times for good measure.

“Die!” screeches another Darklurker and a dagger flies over Drakvar’s shoulder.

Dropping the unconscious Darklurker he currently has around the neck, Drakvar turns to face his latest enemy.

The lithe female Kith is wielding a dadao and she swings wildly at Drakvar, but Drakvar is quicker and parries the strike. Even as he defends himself, Drakvar stabs forward with two of his blades and stabs both of his foe’s shoulders.

She stumbles backwards and Drakvar pushes the offensive, headbutting her and kneeing her gut. As the Darklurker doubles over, Drakvar brings his fists down on her back and slams her into the ground.

Certain she won’t be getting back up anytime soon, Drakvar looks around for his next opponent. But all of the Darklurkers in this group have been defeated.

“I got another of de Darklurkers to spill de location of their leader Blorin,” states Valen as he approaches Drakvar, letting the two Fireswords that he is holding dispel.

“Then let’s go and take the blaster out,” says Drakvar as he sheathes his own blades.

***

“Dese slugging kints have been messing up our boys and gals for dese last few hours!” declares the large and muscular Blorin to the Darklurkers he has assembled in this square, raising two revolvers into the air.

“Blast,” mutters Valen from where he and Drakvar are watching from a rooftop, “De guy has some real good quality firearms and dere has to be at least fifty Darklurkers down dere and at least half of them have firearms demselves. Even with our abilities, dere is too many of dem for us to take out. At least we had a good run.”

“We shouldn’t give up so soon,” replies Drakvar, “I know how we can even the odds.”

“How idiot?” demands Valen as he turns his head to look at Drakvar.

“You’re a Light Mage Valen,” says Drakvar, “Flash them with lights repeatedly so they stay off-guard and then hit from form away with some light beams or fire bolts.”

“And what will you be doing?” asks Valen as he considers Drakvar’s plan.

“Dealing with Blorin of course,” answers Drakvar with a smile.

“Alright,” says Valen, “You attack on my signal.”

“Agreed,” confirms Drakvar.

“This is our district and we shall-” Blorin continues his speech as Valen shouts, “Blinding Light!”

Drakvar leaps at Blorin and winces as the entire square is lit up with blinding white light. While the Monster’s Curse reduces the effects, he isn’t entirely immune.

“I am Pakdar Drakvar Blackborn the Monster’s Curse!” declares Drakvar as he lands by Blorin, drawing all four of his blades.

“Slug you Drakvar,” curses Blorin as he aims at Drakvar with both of his revolvers, recovering almost instantly from Valen’s Blinding Light.

He’s a mid-level Regenerator Psychic. That is going to be trouble. As are those revolvers. And while I’m quicker and tougher than he is, I’m not faster than a bullet. But I don’t need to be as I am faster than his ability to aim.

As Drakvar tracks the barrels of his guns, Blorin pulls both triggers and two bullets are unleashed with a pair of loud bangs.

But Drakvar is ready and already moving his blades so they block the incoming bullets. As Blorin looks uneasy at how seemingly easily Drakvar eliminated his attack, Drakvar just smiles and charges at the Darklurker Boss.

Blorin fires several move times, but Drakvar just intercepts the bullets or outright avoids them as he closes. As he reaches Blorin, Drakvar slashes and stabs with two of his swords. He slices one revolver in two whilst piercing the arm holding it.

Drakvar steps back as Blorin staggers backwards cursing in pain. Before his opponent can recover, Drakvar steps forwards and slashes Blorin across the chest, leaving four bleeding gashes.

“Slugger!” curses Blorin even as the wounds slowly begin to heal.

He heals, but it takes time. And it runs on his Mana and Chi reserves and they can’t be as impressive as those I usually hang out with. All I have to do is keep injuring him until he runs out of magical fuel to heal himself.

As Drakvar attacks again, Blorin draws two dao swords and barely defends himself, being forced back even as he does so.

“You can’t win this Drakvar,” snarls Blorin as he and Drakvar exchange more blows, “No ‘atter how good and fancy you gotten since we last met!”

So he knew the old Drakvar? Can’t say I’m surprised. The old Drakvar was a real blaster. And damn it, Blorin is a better swordsman than me. Time to change things up.

Drakvar jumps back and sheathes his black blades.

“What the ‘ell are you doing?” demands Blorin, sounding confused and slightly nervous.

Drakvar doesn’t respond as he charges forward. As Blorin tries to fend him off with his weapons, Drakvar uses his superior speed and reaction times in addition to Blorin’s hesitation to his advantage. He bushes the daos aside via the flat sides of the blade and grabs the wrist of the revolver hand as he swings a fist up into Blorin’s jaw. The Darklurker stumbles backwards dazed and Drakvar seizes the chance to disarm Blorin of both his swords, tossing them aside.

Not giving Blorin any opportunity to recover, Drakvar repeatedly swings his fists into his foe. After laying into Blorin for a minute or two, Drakvar finally knocks out the Darklurker with one punch to the face as Blorin’s Mana and Chi runs out.

As the Darklurker goes flying backwards, Drakvar looks around the rest of the square. All of the other Darklurkers are down or have fled while Valen is just standing there, leaning against the statue.

“Let’s bring de blaster to de police,” says Valen with a smirk.

“I’ll carry him,” replies Drakvar as he picks up Blorin’s intact revolver.