Chapter 43
Aurion, the Last King
Of all three types of foes, antelopes, strangely, proved to be the most challenging even for Ethan. It wasn't because they posed any particular danger but because they engaged in fleeing as soon as their Health hit 50%, and they ran really fast. So fast, in fact, that even Ethan was unable to keep up with them. As such, he devised a simple strategy to simply nuke them from 50% to 0% in a single hit, though that did lower his hunting speed whenever he'd encounter them.
Luckily, the antelopes made the tiniest portion of the monsters and, as such, didn't impede his progress too severely. By the time he found himself tired and returning to the lodge, he was only 4 monsters away from hitting the 80% mark. Though he could have shaved off even more, he decided to hunt the last 4 with the kids to warm them up for the boss fight.
When he returned, he found them in a tent. The atmosphere was cold and they remained silent when he greeted them, signalling a strange sort of protest. Ethan sat down and waited patiently for them to snap, and they seemed to be doing the same–but in the game of endurance, there was no way they would ever win.
"I see we're only four monsters away from the target number," Tara said. "What magic fairy helped us along?"
"Who's got the handsomest face and two opposable thumbs? This guy!" Ethan exclaimed flamboyantly, pointing toward himself. Tara groaned while Ronald and Elijah chuckled awkwardly. "I know, I know, joke's older than me, let alone you guys."
"So, what? Did you leave those four for us?" she asked.
"Yup," Ethan nodded. "A warmup for the boss."
"You're not going to solo the boss as well, huh?"
"... I often find your abrasiveness cute," Ethan said, glancing at her hollowly. "Passion of the youth and so on. Today, though, you're just pissing me off. Put a lid on it."
"..." The atmosphere chilled further as Tara promptly left the tent. Ethan fixed himself a simple sandwich while Ronald and Elijah seemed uncertain as to what to do. They seemed partway through leaving the tent, yet not quite certain whether they should just yet.
"What? Wasn't she being annoying?" Ethan asked with a faint smile.
"... yes, but you didn't have to say it." Ronald said.
"You gotta keep a leash on people like her, Kissass," Ethan said. "Give them some room and, soon enough, they'll be chewing your ear off 24/7 about one or another just cause like saving the seals or the trees or the parasitic worms 'cause it's all just part of nature."
"That's oddly specific," Ronald said with a strange look on his face.
"Exactly. Go fetch her. We'll leave in half an hour."
"What? Don't you want to rest? And did you just say to fetch her?"
"I'm not tired," Ethan replied simply. "Fetch, catch, leash–fine, fine, ferry her over."
"..." Ronald sighed and stood up without another word, leaving the tent. Elijah remained, seated in silence, occasionally glancing at Ethan. The latter didn't engage, his mind drifting aimlessly, resting.
Ronald returned with Tara about ten minutes later. She was coated in a sheen of sweat, her veins bulging, hair glued to her forehead. She likely went for a run during which she kicked and punched and screamed till she exhausted all the anger inside of her. On her way in, she didn't even glance at him, simply sitting down and taking out a bottle of water, gulping loudly on purpose.
"For the boss," Ethan broke the silence, laying out the basic plan. "I'll take the front and the brunt of it. Depending on the state of the fight, I'll have you assist me by either flanking for more damage or trying to take some aggro off. You'll support me full-time, Elijah, but do not waste your Mana to keep the shield on me. Unless I call for it, do not, under any circumstances, use it–no matter how dire the situation looks. Understood?"
"Yes," the boy nodded somberly.
"As for the Miss Pissed-off," corners of Tara's eyes twitched as she looked at him. "Your job will be area control. When I tell you to cast the ability, I'll tell you where to cast it. Can I count on you for that or will you use the opportunity to watch me sweat a bit more?"
"... fuck you." She flipped him off, though she may as well have said 'Yes'.
"You'll be their guard," Ethan said toward Ronald, his expression turning serious. "I mean this, Ronald. I will be occupied and though I'll try to cover for you, I do not know what boss I'll be fighting. You probably think I do and all this is just some bullshit facade to placate your teenage angst, but it's not. If the boss gets past me, he got past me. I didn't let him just to test you. In case that occurs, treat the situation as life-and-death which, well, it will be. I'll immediately try to recover, but you'll have to buy me at least a few seconds of time to catch up. Understood?"
"... yes." Ronald nodded with a stern and determined expression.
"Fantastic," Ethan slapped his palms together and stood up. "Alright. Let's go hunt some game."
They followed him out of the tent in silence. The temperature had cooled ever so slightly, though, by now, it was almost 120 even at night. A week longer, and chances were that they would be unable to hunt properly even during the night.
Ethan didn't have a particular route in mind, simply wandering in a wide circle in search of monsters. He encountered a pair of antelopes first and despite knowing it would take ages to hunt them down, he elected to give the kids a chance. After fumbling for nearly thirty minutes and failing, the antelopes got away, leaving behind the frustrated trio who all held their heads down in shame. Ethan shrugged it away; though he could have regaled that he'd failed similarly several times… he kept his own shame to himself. Hypocrisy and all.
Eventually, they managed to hunt down two lions, a pyraconda, and one last antelope which Ethan helped them with. By the end, everyone was more than just warmed up, their nerves stretched taut at the prospect of battling a creature beyond their means.
The world quaked ever so slightly as a string of notifications appeared in front of them, informing them that they'd hunted 80% of the surface dwellers and that they had the option to 'summon' the boss or to proceed with hunting down the remaining 20%. Without hesitation, Ethan elected to summon the boss.
Once more, the world quaked–though it did not end, only intensified. Within a minute, the kids were unable to stand upright, falling down and holding tightly with their hands. The 'night' blazed bright abruptly and the temperature shot up so high that it burned to the touch. Ethan frowned, not having expected further environmental hazards for a boss battle. While they weren't exactly uncommon, the pairing of natural environmental hazards with an additional one for a boss was exceedingly rare.
"Put on some clothes, fast," he quickly urged them and they needn't have been told twice. Though it was hot, at the very least their skin didn't scald immediately. However, they were also in no condition to fight. Luckily, as though answering their prayers, the sudden heat retreated and cooled the world even further. In fact, by the end of the entire strange phenomena, the temperature fell to at least 90 degrees which was almost arctic in comparison to before. "Well… that ain't good." Ethan mumbled to himself.
Just as the kids took the clothes off, an unfolding, rolling mist dyed in pure obsidian appeared on the horizon. It started as a tiny patch of smoke and grew rapidly and wildly, by the nature of the untamed lions. By the time it was about two hundred yards from them, it began dispersing as a silhouette strutted through it. It was mighty tall–in fact, it was around four times bigger than the biggest lion they'd fought, the size of a small vacation home. It wasn't just its size that differentiated it from the other lions. It was everything else, too.
Its fur was black–not just ordinary black, but so black it seemed to consume light around it. Toward the edges, however, dark, crimson hues appeared, embossing the towering and inspiring frame. Its eyes were a pair of bright stars, shining grandly in the sea of the abyss surrounding them, capable of seeing through all things, visible and otherwise.
The lion had two tails, both of equal length, dancing like a pair of lovers behind it. They mingled and untangled and flexed, bending light around them as they moved, creating fascinatingly eerie mirages. Tara, Ronald, and Elijah stepped back in awe and wonder and exceedingly existential horror. They were not fit to fight that thing–not even in the slightest. All they were fit to do was bow and kneel and pray it lets them go.
"... are you fucking kidding me?" Ethan's frown formed a canyon-like crease in his forehead, his heart faintly raging in anger. "A cognizant fucker this early on?"
"Your temporal affection is strange, human," the voice that replied was booming and majestic, seemingly not beholden to the laws of men. This, promptly, caused all three kids to yelp in horror and fall down, shaking. "And you seem unaffected by My Majesty."
"Oh, fuck off, you barely-evolved cannibal," Ethan rolled his eyes. There was little true majesty in beasts like him–they weren't truly 'cognizant' as people understood it. Yes, they had the ability to speak and some level of self-actualisation, but they weren't capable of thought. They were similar to forcibly fed AI models, just with one particular personality in mind. "You three, get your asses up. And–Jesus, did you piss yourselves? Haah. I'll buy you some time. Get your shit together."
Ethan didn't hesitate–it was never good to hesitate, but especially now when he had to snap the kids from their shocked state by showing them, in full colour, that the beast was larger than the danger it presented. That wasn't to say that it wasn't strong; in fact, Ethan forcibly had to suppress the part of his mind that told him to abandon this fight and look for another way out. While 'cognizant' creatures couldn't think as well as actual, intelligent species, it was still a good indicator that they were on the cusp. Which meant that their battle prowess allowed them to begin evolving past their instincts.
The lion didn't respond to Ethan's curse–it couldn't. It didn't 'understand' that Ethan was mocking him.
Just as Ethan began the attack, the notification appeared in front of him, informing him that he'd engaged in a death-lock with the Guardian of the Scorching Savanna.
[You have commenced a death-lock! Aurion the Last King welcomes the challenge!]
[Further incentives: defeat Aurion within 3/5/7 minutes for extra awards. Defeat Aurion without taking any damage.]
[Aurion the Last King roamed the plains before the Fire scorched them and burned all living with it. All his life was a persistent struggle for survival, tomorrow always uncertain. One does not become a King, even the last one, on the hooves of cowardice and weakness. To face the King, one must be willing to wear the Crown.]