*Schlick!* The blade went through and through. Black ichor leaves the body in a splash. In an instant, however, it reformed almost alive. Wrapping Thrasher up with tendrils. Binding his body in place. Struggling to get free was the best he could do currently.
As the bindings increased on his body, Thrasher missed the feeling of the sword-spear stabbing into him. He was raised into the air on the tip. With a small thrust, the blade pushed through his body sticking out his back.
A burst of magic left the weapon as lightning coursed through Thrasher's body. Scattering through his entire nervous system. If not for the upgrades from Deus Ex, Thrasher believed his body might have shut down for a moment.
The D.G. cells were getting destroyed at a fast pace. Faster than they could be produced. Expending the only spell slot left, Thrasher healed his wounds a little. But it was basically a wash from the current damage.
Health -33
Health -43
Health -46
Health +152
*Schlick!* Blood sprayed to the side as Thrasher kicked himself off the sword. Cutting more of his own flesh in the process. Landing, he barely had time to get back into the swing of combat.
"Damn it!" Thrasher's eyes went wide as the sword-spear came around already. The Nameless King stabbed him in the same location that Thrasher did to him previously. "What the hell is this!?" Enraged to new heights, he could feel the stone in his chest replenish.
Health -137
*Woosh!* Thrasher teleported free. Appearing behind the Nameless King, the Blade of Olympus in his hand. Using a spell slot that recovered, he used a Paladin spell. Branding Smite empowered the Blade of Olympus as he stabbed repeatedly.
Each stab radiated a holy glow that went outward. Oddly enough, his rage started to feed into the spell. The cavern was flooded with Radiant Light. Weakening the Darkspawn and empowering his ork-humans with a little power.
"Raaaawwwrr!" A beastly howl came from the far left. The presence that Thrasher felt earlier was getting closer and closer. The closer it moved to the area, the more the Nameless King increased in his fighting skill.
"Not happening!" Thrasher pivoted on the ground as the sword-spear moved in a pattern to do damage to him. Imitating each of the strikes he did to the Nameless King a few moments ago. Using the Blade of Olympus to parry was burning through his stamina quickly. "Waaaaggghhh!" Letting loose the battle cry, Thrasher summoned his reserved energy to fight back even harder.
Giving up on defense entirely to do damage. The wounds he received were ignored. The D.G. cells worked overtime to keep him going. An overhand strike from Thrasher was met with a blast of black lighting to the chest.
*Bzzzzt!* The force of the lighting carried him into the side of the nearest wall. Smashing into it, he felt the armor almost give way completely. The sword-spear was a deity ranked weapon after all. Dismissing his armor, Thrasher pulled himself free and stepped forward. A grim look on his face.
"Haa.. ha.. stupid traitorous bastards!" His eyes glazed over in madness. "Took.. everything from me.. all of them gone..." Each step he took, caused the ground to vibrate a little. The ork-humans took care of the Darkspawn finally. Eyes only on their Warchief now. A purple glow flashed in their eyes briefly. "...so many dead! Because of them! Still cleaning up the mess of those bastards!"
Thrasher hated the Traitor Users with a passion. Almost maddening at times.
*Shing!* The Club Ace on Thrasher's hand started glowing. His wounds closed up as his blood circulated to the utmost for a time. Combat spells activate in an instant. His veins bulged as the state of High Tension activated from his Dragon Quest abilities.
A wave of energy left from Thrasher hitting the Nameless King. A small look of recognition flashed in its eyes. Its posture and fighting changed immediately. Freed from whatever influence it was under briefly.
The two charge at each other in an instant.
*Booommm!* The swords let loose an explosion of power this time. The ground turning into an ever-expanding crater with each strike. Thrasher slashed the Blade of Olympus across his opponent's chest. Cutting almost three feet of armor off.
Health -73
"Ughh!" Groaning in pain from the counterattack, he continued his next attack. The Club Ace crest shone even brighter. Thrasher delivered a cross slash to his opponent's chest. As the Nameless King came with a slash of his own, he dodged by the skin of his teeth delivering a Reckless Attack that left him open. "Die already!"
With the next stab, Thrasher's state of High Tension dropped. His body became immediately fatigued. The Nameless King almost took a knee. Almost.
"Raawwrr!" An animal cry came out once more. This time, Thrasher caught onto the magic that entered the Nameless King. His opponent improved his fighting capabilities once more.
Seeing what looked to be some type of Wyvern coming towards them, Thrasher forced his body to move. He triggered Rage despite the current state of his body. Then he felt a powerful wave come over him from the surroundings.
"Thrasher! Thrasher!" The ork-humans had encircled them both. Cheering madly for them to fight. His Titles triggering with his traits. These ork-human rooted for their Warchief wholeheartedly. Not caring that they would die if he fell to his opponent. Such was the way of the Greenskin. "Fight! Crump 'em up boss!"
Mob Rule was in effect in various ways.
"Well.. can't disappoint me boys now can I?" Thrasher grinned. A purple shine in his eyes as he charged forward. "Give me a proppa death yah git!" A wide swing across with the Blade of Olympus changed the terrain once more.
The Nameless King swung as well. Doing the same motion as Thrasher once more. The weapons clashed for the final time. Shards flying in a single direction from the power put behind them before shattering.
Health -63
Thrasher was pelted with blade fragments. The Blade of Olympus shattered the sword-spear and continued its path. Cutting the Nameless King into two pieces. Black ichor sprayed over Thrasher. Burning against his flesh trying to corrupt him.
A blinding radiance engulfed the place. Elgar'nan, Gork, Bork, and Mork let loose their might. Not attacking the Nameless King mind you, but the Wyvern that flew over. In a single moment, all was made calm.
.
The others-
.
Several avenues of the Deep Roads were barricaded up. None in the present company had the authority to order the ork-humans present. Any attempt to get pass once the others healed and recuperate was denied.
"Let us pass!" Bethany bellowed. Trying once more to get them to budge. But it was no dice. Standing orders from Thrasher prevented them from disobeying. Even Tracker didn't let them pass. Way gentler than the others were being though when he denied them. "Even he can not survive alone against that Horde!"
They did not budge still.
"Orders are orders." Skullbita said. The Meganob was not going to even risk it. "Understand were he is coming from if you can. The longer he fights, the less Darkspawn to contend with for the surface."
Marian just bristled with anger. She turned to Oghren, Shayle, and Elissa furious. She needed to direct her anger to someone and these two were more than deserving of it.
"This is your fault!" Marian drew her daggers shaking. "If we took over that stupid hammer, we could have used those golems to march against the Darkspawn! Now, all we have is that stupid creature Shale! And a depressed Paragon not worth a damn!"
"Now see here, I know you are upset, but they did not need to be enslaved any longer."
"Bah! They volunteered so who cares what they think after the fact? Better than them just powering down.. useless doing nothing. A waste of war resources." Marian shook her head strongly in disapproval.
The idea of sacrificing people into golems pissed her off but volunteers or convicts would be good to put inside. They were at war after all. And after seeing those Darkspawn numbers down below, she knew Thedas was in danger.
The others were still on the fence about what happened. But they knew this was getting worse. Before reason could be mentioned, a wave of golden light passed over the lot of them. Those who lost limbs had the flesh regrow.
A purple magic circle formed to the left and the right. Around 10,000 Savage Ork Humans appeared fully armored. From behind the Warband that kept the others from going back into the deep roads, Thrasher in Lion form walked out on the path to the Deep Roads. Flanked by a few other Laguz.
*Shing!* Thrasher reverted to human form but not the others. They spread out to secure the area. Two blurs moved at extreme speed. Both hit Thrasher on each side.
"You bastard!" Marian and Bethany said togethor. Icy just gave a smile, happy that he made it back. She would have words with him later in private. "Never do that again!" Worry was very evident in the two Hawke siblings' voices.
"Proceed with the next operation." Thrasher spoke to the Warband. They gave a nod moving back into the Deep Roads. Several wagons pulled in behind them. The Warband would take over the defenses for the Deep Roads deep inside. The 10,000 Savage ork-humans were to guard this area in case they fell. "Did you all deliver something in place of that stupid crown?"
"Yes, we did." Elissa said. She was happy her cousin returned relatively unharmed by the looks of it, but she felt he was weak somehow. "Alistair and a few others went to make sure it was done. Those forces... how long will they remain down here?"
"Till the end of the Blight maybe." Thrasher said. "If nothing else needs to be done, I am heading back to my city. Unfortunately, the long way." Giving the two stuck to his side a hug, he walked forward. "Best of luck with your treaties Elissa."
"Yeah..sure." Elissa mumbled out. She honestly thought it would be worse but no dice. No confrontation or anything like that. Tracker walked up to her side with a worried look. "Is he ok?"
"No. He is injured. Really badly I might add." Tracker was torn between following Thrasher or just staying with Elissa. His duty to Elissa won out. 'The Warchief will be fine. I have to believe that.'
Dwarves that were recruited followed along with Thrasher and company. Jarvia had gathered all those in the slums that she could. Even an old running member of hers named Nadezda. Once topside and far from the Dwarf stronghold, Thrasher exposed them to spores and cast healing spells to help returned damaged limbs and body parts.
To say the former Carta members were more than grateful was an understatement. They never thought they would be happy to go to the surface. A few of them still looked up to the sky thinking it would swallow them up any moment.
Freaking Dwarves.
.
On the Road-
.
The dwarves were pretty rowdy while traveling. The air made them even happier compared to what was down below in the stronghold. Thrasher was quiet as he walked, which caused a few to worry even more.
Icy couldn't take it anymore, however. She moved up to him and bit the proverbial bullet.
"What happened down there?"
"Huh?" Thrasher was lost in thought and didn't really hear what she said. "Say that again."
"I said what happened down there." Icy moved in front of him. Walking backward since he was definitely not gonna stop moving. "You were unmoveable in trying to get you to leave. I am sure it was not just the Archdemon."
"You are correct." Thrasher couldn't even put on a forceful smile. "Remnants of the User War were down there. More than one at that. I think part of the Anvil was influenced as well. Defintely the blasted Deep Roads as a whole to."
"The golems would have been a real good addition to fight with." Marian chirped in. She flanked his side, as her sister moved up to his other side. "Suprised you didn't kill Shayle from almost getting us all killed."
"Me to. She did technically cause us all to get blown up." Bethany grumbled. "Sucks that she is the last of her kind though. But then again, she is a dwarf inside a construct, so that is iffy if she is that last of her kind really."
"Uh huh." Thrasher answered weakly. His eyes felt a little heavy for a moment. "Ahh.. time to set up camp." Giving the order, they stopped and went to work. He himself helped before collapsing to the ground.
"Thrasher!" Bethany yelled. Seeing him out cold was not a good sign. Especially with lines of lyrium that mimicked the Anvil of the Void passing over his body. "What do we do?! What to do?!" She looked at her sister that was staring away at the road. "Huh?!"
"Well well, what do we have here?" A Highwaymen teased. They outnumbered the current group three to one. Most of Thrasher's new forces were in the Deep Roads. "Quite a few lookers in the group to."
"Haaa, why do the idiots always come around at the worst time." Jarvia chuckled dryly. The Daughters of Astyth and the Carta members were itching for a fight. "Guess we have to kill before setting up camp."
"But honestly, I rather just relax for once." Marian switched her daggers for her bow. "You caught us at a really bad time. A really .. really.. bad time."
"Heh, spare yourself the trouble and give up." The Highwaymen sneered. But the others were unmoved by him. 'Why do they seem so sure of themselves? We have them outnumbered.'
Before the situation could turn into a battle, purple and orange magic washed through the area. All of it coming from Thrasher. His body shaking as he seemed to be having some type of spasm. Foam mixed with blood coming from his mouth.
*Woom!* A white rift opened as the Operator Norad stepped out. In his hand was a syringe with a white liquid. He stabbed it dead center in Thrasher's forehead. The waves of magic stopped along with his seizure.
"Haaa!" Thrasher sat up instantly in a panic. His eyes darting around wildly. "What the hell happened!?" Bethany looked away from Norad and just stared at the change in Thrasher. Lines of Lyrium slowly shrank before disappearing entirely.
"You had a seizure." Norad said plainly. As if it was no big deal. But it was. Users did not have seizures normally. Let alone one like Thrasher. A quick scan showed something was wrong inside his soul. Something very unknown. 'I can't take him to Rifts Earth for treatment. No way does that end well. I am just going to have to monitor him closely for now. Hopefully, I can get in touch with his Ancestor for help.'
"Get these fools!" The Highwayman boss yelled. To stupid to run away after seeing everything that transpired. "Apostates sell big these days!" Thinking of the money they will rake in, he didn't care a lick if they lost some people.
It would be the last dumb thought he had. Thrasher and company tore them apart with ease. Thrasher moves in weird ways that almost seem like a spirit on the battlefield. When the brief skirmish was over, Thrasher increased in strength.
He finally leveled up again. But this level-up was just weird.