Chapter 446

James looked up at the dusty coliseum of cars and skyscrapers, his masterpiece set for his second floor. He’d seen it hundreds of times, and yet, this time, the feelings he felt, were completely different. This time, he was looking down the dark tunnel towards the Terminus, as a player preparing to face the boss. Every ounce of him tingled with excitement. It was time.

“Everyone good with the plan?” James said as he glanced at his teammates. They’d managed to hit level 36 during their efforts of clearing the floor, thanks in a big part to some achievements for defeating B.L.U. With the miniboss on cooldown, it was the ideal time to face The Terminus, without having to risk an encounter, and wipe, against the Perfect Cognivore.

“Go in, talk shit to the dino, and then stab it in the foot, yeah?” Steve said with his trademark grin across his face. The developer was having the time of his life playing his special tank class. That particular class, the more James saw of it, just screamed griefing troll. But, considering who had created it, James figured it fit perfectly.

“Keep our tank healed up, while sucking the life out of you.” Rue winked at James, her eyes dancing mischievously. “Pretty sure I can handle that.”

“When you say it like that…” James trailed off and shook his head. Nope, Rue knew what she was doing, and he was not going to give her the satisfaction of taking the bait, not this time. “Ifrit, are you ready?” James turned his full attention to his Djinn, his neck careening backwards as he sought the much taller creature’s face. “You’ve got the most to risk in this battle. Are you okay with it?” As the player, James knew full well he could just order the Djinn to battle. But, given how advanced the AI of DCO were, he didn’t want to. It felt, wrong, in a sense.

“The risk, is worth the reward.” The Djinn said, his voice an octave deeper than it had been when they first set foot onto the second floor. As expected, Ifrit had managed to finish off the tasks needed to evolve, and standing before James, was his new and improved Djinn. A third tier Djinn, classified as a Molten Djinn.

Following his evolution, Ifrit now stood close to fifteen feet in height, making him tower over the party members, especially Steve’s toon. On top of that, the flames flowing all over his body had condensed even more, and molten rock flowed protectively around his wrists, ankles, and thighs, while his bare chest burned with pure white power. A mask had taken shape on half of Ifrit’s face, obscuring the entire right side with a demonic visage formed from glowing embers of stone. Meanwhile, his swords had grown even longer, and had additional blades of black obsidian jutting out along the curving blades, which flickered with their own inner heat. Not only had Ifrit’s offensive capabilities and skills seen a boost, according to the Djinn, but he’d gained the passive armor buff of the molten armor, which, while active, could negate an additional 15% of incoming damage. Essentially, the DPS summon had gotten a little more survivability this time around, and James was all for it.

Still, With the party members preparing to face off against a boss, their was obvious risk, and if they wiped, Ifrit, who was currently seven levels into his climb towards level 36 for this tier, and his next evolution, would be knocked back to level 1. A loss, that surely, would be painful. However, James had explained to the summon that if they did defeat the Terminus on this run, they’d be able to advance immediately to the third floor for some mob grinding, which would be a great boon towards rushing their level growth even higher. The Djinn, after some consideration, had agreed to the plan.

“Alright, then as stated, I’ll open the battle up with Solomon’s seal, for some early DPS, and in an effort to proc at least the first of the Terminus’s King of All roars. We will also need to watch out for Big Head. If Steve gets eaten, it will be on Ifrit to focus the boss’s stomach, to get it to spit Steve up. I’ll keep buffs cycling on you Ifrit. All you need to do, really, is what you do best. Burn the enemy to the ground.”

“You will not be disappointed, Nyx.” Ifrit said, bowing his head slightly towards James. “On my pride as a Djinn, I will prove to you just how great an asset I can be. Soon, tales will spread of my fiery might. Soon, not a single foe will be able to withstand my fiery wrath.” The Djinn smiled, and the molten mask on his face made the effort terrifying. James was more than a little grateful that Ifrit was on his side. Truly, the summon was increasingly monstrous.

“Alrighty then,” James took a deep breath, preparing himself. “Let’s go wake the Steampunk Dino King.”

The party walked quickly into the passageway that would lead to the sand filled arena, Ifrit having to duck down, nearly crawling really, to follow everyone. Ahead of Rue and James, Steve’s halfling skipped, humming a merry tune as he did. Steve was having the time of his life.

“Think we’ve got a chance?” James whispered to Rue as they walked. Even with Ifrit, they were still a party member short of being properly prepared for this boss fight. And while they’d exceeded level 35, the extra level they had on Ifrit, wouldn’t make that much of difference. Not to mention, their gear was…less than optimal. The downside of not being able to have their own crafting jobs, as well as not having access to the massive armor and equipment market just yet, considering no actual players were in game yet, meant they were entirely reliant on drops from mobs, bosses, and treasure chests.

“Between Steve and Ifrit, our front line is pretty solid.” Rue responded quietly. “And my Sanguine Bond with you, means Ifrit’s DPS is increased, and we will have a constant blood loss pool from Terminus for my spells.”

“Yeah,” James mumbled, his mind running through the numbers. He knew how the Terminus fought. He knew the arena, he knew the triggers, the skills, everything. He literally had the best set of knowledge for this fight, possible. It was like walking into a game after reading every guidebook available and watching hundreds of hours of playthroughs. And yet, a part of him was still worried. What if they weren’t good enough? What if he made a mistake? He really didn’t want to let his team down.

As if sensing his thoughts, Rue reached out and took hold his hand, her eyes smiling up at him, her fangs protruding over her bottom lips as she grinned.

“Stop worrying.” She said softly, her fingers stroking his hand in a comforting way. “We can do this.”

James squeezed her hand tightly, taking comfort and strength from her reassurance. He steadied his heart and nodded at her. With her by his side, and Steve there for support as well, everything was possible.

“You’re right.” James said, blinking as they exited the tunnels, the magical walls slamming down behind them, locking them in for the boss fight. Steve was already halfway towards the Terminus’s cave, cackling in a creepy high-pitched manner, his psychic weapons drawn. “We will do this.” A moment later, an enraged roar shook the arena, and Steve’s tiny form was flying out of the cave, back towards the center of the arena, with a very angry, very taunted, Terminus on his heels. It was now, or never.