Tyrants of Earth - The Legend of Artigan-Chapter 18 - A dark angel with a smoking gun

“
Look, I know people are mad, but I was pioneering a new path. You can’t blame me if you follow my steps and it doesn't work out.”
- [Trickshot Expert] Leviath, seventh realm.
*The main issue with sector boosting is the doubling down of achievements in the latter sectors. If you start boosting you would have to keep challenging the higher sectors to maintain the same standard of achievements. Due to the rapidly increasing dangers of the higher sectors, this was often impossible. These two facts together meant that when you
stopped sector boosting, the achievements from completing the Trial in your higher realm would be significantly lower than those that stuck to their respective sectors. This was not considered worth the trade-off.
The path of a blacklister was one that was uttered in hushed whispers amongst adventurers. It was a sensitive topic in realmnet where those native to The Realm posted under verified accounts. It was something more commonly talked about in the cesspools of the internet, where minmaxing cretins on Earth liked to hypothesize without caring about what it actually meant.
In the rare situations where it happened, it would often be for a priceless relic or a truly evil Trial. In these situations, the adventurers would always be deep into their realms. A minimum of fifth, normally eighth realm was when a solo adventurer could have the breadth of skills to feasibly cover their weaknesses.
What would happen if someone tried to do it from the very start?
Was it even possible?
Garbolt didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to be the captain that had let a psychopath grow out of control. He started muttering orders.
“He won’t use his gun. Trevolt, stay behind with Chris and try an opening shot to bait him. Start running back into the corridors if he gets past us. He won’t chase into your tunnel, there’s no room to dodge your bolt. Kingsley in the front and we Storm Rush if we lose sight of him. Keep him pinned to the guardian. Retreat if he maneuvers us around. We can’t block that golem anymore.”
He took out his two-handed warhammer. It had a spike at the end of it, like a poleaxe. One good stab or swing was all that was needed. Wait for that dodge skill and strike—that was the plan.
The Storm Bears rushed into the chamber. The guardian was closer to the middle of the chamber while the blacklist had been leading it back into position to the gate.
Kingsley burst forward into the chamber, he took out a throwing axe from his belt and threw it with all his strength. The opposing [Rogue] simply stopped his movement and let the hatchet go wide.
The guardian took a step towards the [Rogue] and swung—the blacklister had already started moving. He slid under its legs as the crash of the guardian’s fist hammered behind him.
Garbolt hadn’t expected that.
The blacklister was now sprinting at Kingsley, a [Rogue] running at a large [Warrior]. The blacklister was no longer smiling.
“I gave you all a chance! I gave you two chances, Garbolt!”
The anger almost sounded righteous. Kingsley timed his [Speed Slam]. The [Rogue] skidded to a perfect stop, completely reading the skill’s distance and speed.
A twang of the crossbow and the blacklister ducked the bolt, then went closer to hide behind Kingsley’s bulk. This was the moment. Garbolt stood behind Kingsley, waiting for the [Rogue] to use his dodge skill. It made logical sense, Trevolt was reloading, so now was the perfect time for the blacklister to run around Kingsley.
And when he did, Garbolt would be ready to smash his bones.
Instead, the blacklister stood still, uncaring about the [Warrior] in front of him. Nor did he seem to care about the Trial guardian turning around behind him. They stood in the position for a little longer and Trevolt had finished reloading. Garbolt looked back, and Trevolt gave him a nod.
The leader of Storm Bears stepped to Kingsley’s side, his warhammer held forward like a spear. Kingsley spread his sword and shield as wide as he could.
They switched the situation into a two man pin instead. The Guardian on the other side, taking another crashing step forwards.
If the Blacklister dashed to the side, Garbolt would hound him with his spear stance, keep him more predictable for Trevolt to target him. Trevolt had nodded to him, their [Rogue] knew what he was doing and had observed how the blacklister had moved.
The shadows on the hood gave way to the lower part of the blacklister’s face. The [Rogue] sneered and flicked a throwing knife. Garbolt tilted his head as the knife glided across his face.
The guardian took one more step, it was almost in range, the blacklister would have to make his move now. The [Rogue] unsheathed the longsword on his back.
Then he stepped forward. The tip of the blade met the spike at the tip of Garbolt’s war hammer as the blacklister put some pressure on it.
Is a [Rogue] trying to fight me in a contest of strength?
Is he stup—
The guardian stepped forward, its fist raised high.
Then the blacklister leaped upwards. Garbolt tried to step forward and thrust—only to find the longsword being used as a defensive touch tool as the [Rogue] spun in midair, the spike sliding across the flat of the blade as the blacklister spun, redirecting the blow.
He was still in midair it would be easy to—
[Instant Dodge]
Like a video game character, the [Rogue] double jumped, not at him but straight above his head. Garbolt gaped upwards, it was a stupid move, it should have been a stupid move.
Until he saw the giant guardian’s limb descend on him, right from where the blacklister had used his dodge skill.
Garbolt heard a shout, and Kingsley pushed him to the side.
–
Trevolt had been waiting for the opposing [Rogue] to dodge to a side. He’d done it before, and it was the logical move when pinned. He was ready and understood how the blacklister moved, it was erratic but manageable.
Instead of doing as expected, the blacklister had jumped high above his [Warriors]. He adjusted his aim above–as two large bangs echoed throughout the chamber. Trevolt blinked at the black metal object that was aimed at him. It had already been fired.
The delay had been all the difference.
The team killer was like a dark avenging angel, Zedart’s bloody longsword, having just parried his team captain, pointing diagonally down, like a singular wingtip. A gun in the other hand, pointed right at him.
He wasn’t supposed to use a gun.
The last thing Trevolt saw as he fell to the ground was Chris, his teammate, running away into the tunnels.
–
There was a rush of adrenaline as Ryan landed on the ground. He watched the other [Rogue] run away, shook his head then turned around.
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Garbolt lay on the ground staring, not at Ryan, but at his [Warrior] teammate.
Kingsley had almost managed to block the blow. The [Warrior] knelt with his shield above his head. His knees had shattered and there was blood trickling down from his head. They were either dead or unconscious.
Then came the second blow.
Ryan grimaced as he heard the crash and splat as Kingsley gore exploded out from under the shield. He looked away from the sight and made his way towards Trevolt’s dead body. He glanced back, making sure the captain of Storm Bears wasn’t doing anything stupid.
Garbolt was still staring, shocked, at the crushed remains of his teammate.
“Kingsley…”
Ryan curled his lips in disgust. Why was it that when his plans went right that he still felt terrible?
The guardian turned around and made a step towards Garbolt. The captain was still in shock, not able to look away from Kingsley’s remains. Ryan called out.
“First time seeing your teammate die?”
That seemed to snap the leader out of his daze. “Y-you used a gun, you coward!”
He shrugged, trying to be nonchalant while he rummaged through Trevolt’s corpse. “So? You guys brought it in. I probably didn’t need to use it to beat you all, but why risk it?”
His fingers wrapped around a glass vial, a minor healing potion. Now that was a nice find. He kept going through Trevolt's belts and pockets.
Garbolt stood up and backed up from the guardian, outrage overriding his shock. “Aren’t you going for achievements? Why else would you act the way you have?”
Ryan laughed mirthlessly,
achievements again.
His hands covered in blood again. They just weren’t shaking this time. He made his eyes visible so they could meet the captain of the team he’d just dismantled.
“I
never
cared about achievements. I killed Zedart because he tried to kill me first. I never killed Gamielle.”
“That’s not -”
“
Believe what you want.
” His hands were crimson. He remembered the [Warrior] at the outpost he’d thrown his soulsword at. There hadn’t been any death notifications, so he knew that one had survived. Not much luck for the Storm Bears.
“I gave you a chance, Garbolt. I gave you two chances. Now look, your teammates are dead. They’re dead, and it’s your shitty calls that led them there.”
Garbolt listlessly moved around the guardian, the bear of a man was on the verge of tears. The realization that his life was ruined and that Storm Bears was no more was finally hitting him. Hard.
Just like me. At least you still have a safety life.
“Then finish me!” The captain of Storm Bears shouted. “One on one! Show me how you killed Zedart!”
Ryan laughed. Now that was hysterical.
“No, I’m not an idiot.”
He raised Trevolt’s crossbow. Handgun ammo was more precious after all.
It was comically easy when things went according to plan. Garbolt had [Power Strike] and probably a passive like [Lesser Might]. Nothing that really helped him reposition around the guardian.
Garbolt dodged the first two shots from the crossbow, Ryan was impressed, the bear of a man could move as fast as Zedart. He gave up and pulled out the gun.
The leader of the storm bears had the gall to look shocked. In the end, Garbolt dodged a crossbow bolt to find a bullet piercing his chestpiece.
Not once did the captain of Storm Bears try to flee. Ryan could respect that.
He respected it enough to let Garbolt bleed out instead of getting crushed by the guardian. Actually, he wasn’t sure if that was a mercy, he just didn’t like the idea of Garbolt’s body getting pasted like Kingsley’s did.
“It wasn’t your fault, Garbolt.” Ryan muttered as the large [Warrior] fell to the ground.
It wasn’t his fault either.
The rest was easy. He waited until [Instant Dodge] was off cooldown and used it to get the guardian to smash the gate. When that happened, the guardian collapsed into a pile of stone, dirt and manacores. Not something he could realistically take while facing the Trial boss.
Instant Dodge leveled up!
Instant Dodge level 2 > 3
He took his time to search Garbolt’s body. The captain still had one minor healing potion and even a minor stamina potion. He took both but left the hammer and shield behind him. A longsword suited him much better.
Then he noticed something around Garbolt’s chest. It was a small, thumb sized device with a lens. A bodycam. Ryan briefly thought about keeping it but then thought better of it. He stomped on it and then sliced the device into unrecoverable bits.
Ryan took a deep breath and took stock.
One minor healing potion. One longsword on his back, two throwing knives on his chest, one soulsword in his right hand and a crossbow in his left. Oh, and a gun strapped to his belt.
Things were looking good.
Ryan eyed Garbolt’s dead body.
He wanted to get used to running around with a crossbow. Dodging, rolling, aiming, shooting then reloading. He used Garbolt’s corpse as a practice dummy.
It took five minutes until he was confident he'd mastered it all.
If a realm one [Warrior] could fend off a ton of force, then a realm one [Rogue] could master moving around with a crossbow in record time.
He stepped towards the portal and looked back.
Three adventurers lay lifeless in the demon king’s reliquary. Ryan shook his head in disappointment. Not at them or at himself but at the Witch Tyrant.
He had always seen her as some sort of tragic heroine, all the Tyrants were supposed to be like that. People that had decided to stand up to an entire world because what Earth was doing was wrong. Never in his entire life did he imagine her as someone that would compromise their morals. Not even for the ‘greater good’, not even if they were desperate.
Maybe it had all been propaganda and he’d been a sucker. He touched the portal as a notification hit him.
Warning!
This portal leads to an unknown location. You have not gathered enough information to know what lies ahead.
Once you enter this portal, you will not be able to return to the reliquary. Please ensure that you have collected anything you may need from this area. Any foreign object will be ejected through the entrance Trial portal.
Now it was time to face the boss of a six scaled swarm Trial.
–
A Gamielle was snacking on some popcorn from afar. She was within a leveled zone, which meant that, while the popcorn seemed real, with all the sounds and smells real popcorn would have, it wasn’t actually real. If you tried to touch it your hand would go through.
So why eat illusionary food? Gamielle would just shrug and ask what idiot would be so fixated on imaginary food?
They watched as a frightened [Rogue], a kid really, running out of a portal like the Tyrants themselves had been chasing him. Chris, a rookie Destined of the Storm Bears, started recounting the events of the Trial. He started babbling when he described Ryan’s actions.
Her mother leaned in ever so slightly, listening in rapt attention.
Idiot, being exceptional is the opposite of what you should be doing if you wanted to be free.
Gamielle had tried giving hints when she had taken down Patrick’s team, but she couldn’t be any more explicit, not if she didn’t want her mother to notice.
Her mother tutted. “You’ll need to take that gun off of him in the next Sector.”
Gamielle made a face. “Assuming he survives the boss,
and
also why do I gotta be the one that does it?”
Her mother didn’t respond to her question. Oh yeah, make her be the bad guy. Typical.
The Witch Tyrant continued to listen to Chris’ babbling, then shook her head. “Still too soft by half.”
“Maybe this is better,” Gamielle shot back, “or is another mad [Warlord] what you want?”
The Witch turned her attention away from her wayward ‘daughter’, ignoring the question. Her mother's eyes went distant. Gamielle knew that look, she was plotting something and calculating the costs. How to keep Ryan a secret from the other Tyrants. Zedart’s parents causing a ruckus. The trust in the Adventurer’s Guild plummeting. Unrest among the Realmers.
All minor issues.
“Just one more Mezhar, no, even a Zhenren or Atellion would go a long way.” The Witch Tyrant muttered to herself.
A lie, her mother wouldn’t stop. Gamielle sighed, perhaps nobody could stop her mother now. Plans decades in the making were being rushed forward. Plots she hoped her mother would come see sense in cancelling were being confirmed. Those were the plots she knew about, the ones she didn't know... the fact that was even the case horrified her in more ways than one.
All because of that damned letter. The Manager, damn him to whatever hells his creators had crafted. No, damn him to an eternity in the Trials.
Three more bodies ejected out of the portal. One body crushed in a gory mess, another was mostly pristine except for three bullets in their chest. The other was riddled with holes… Crossbow bolt wounds.
Cryvale’s team gasped at the death and destruction. If they'd been doubting Chris' story, they weren't anymore.
Gamielle’s gaze focused on the broken bits of what had been Garbolt’s bodycam. Then, her eyes locked onto the recording device on Chris’ chest. She made it invisible, along with the bodycams on both Kingsley’s and Trevolt’s bodies, even Kingsley's seemed salvageable. The Witch Tyrant saw it all and raised a questioning eyebrow.
She shrugged at her mother. “What? Let me have some fun too.”