Questing Sucks! Book II (73 page)

Sehn kept his hand extended towards Duncan, who with an overconfident shrug, laughed and then said, “You think you can wound me with magic, elf? You believe you are any less unarmed with its power in your hands? Think again.”

Sehn grinned. “I already have.” Then, with another inhalation of breath, he raised his voice, and shouted, “
Remmos Sellos
!”

From his palm came a spear-shaped bolt of fire that blazed across the stage at Duncan. It moved at great speed, though it still fell many-times short of what his previous magic had achieved. From the way Duncan chuckled, he truly seemed not to know the spell’s purpose. Even despite his access to hundreds—if not thousands—of spells, he did not appear to know this one.

But Duncan’s ignorance did not last long. By the time the spear of fire had reached him, he knew fully well what it did; it collided with his barrier, and rather than dissipate, it burst into more flames, which then began to spread around him.

One won’t be enough.

“
Remmos Sellos
!”

“
Remmos Sellos
!”

Sehn unleashed another two barrier-destroying bolts of fire, each one furthering the spread of flames, activating the barrier everywhere that it surrounded Duncan until the dome-shape was visible in its entirety. Only, it was no longer red. Now, it was orange, consumed by Sehn’s flames. But more importantly, Sehn could see it peeling away, disintegrating.

There was fear in the way Duncan’s lips pulled apart and he began stumbling backwards as if to put himself out of the way of what he must surely have known would come next. But it was pointless. Nothing in this world was fast enough to avoid what Sehn had in store for him.

Seizing the advantage while he finally had it, Sehn shouted out the words to his new, powerful magic. “
Remmos
Vi
Ralos REHL! Remmos
Vi
Ralos REHL! Remmos
Vi
Ralos REHL!
”

Before the first pop and the first flash came from his palm, something flew off Duncan’s face: his ear and a good portion of the right side of his skull—and then came the loud crackle. Yet, strangely, a second and third pop did not follow the first. In fact, nothing happened after the first. And it was only after trying—and failing—several more times to cast the spell that he understood why.

No…no! No! No! No!

The sum of all the world’s rage erupted inside of him, and an anger took hold: one so terrible that even he himself feared it. His entire body shook as though he had the chills. It was almost too much for him just to speak, as when he opened his mouth, all that came out were guttural sounds and growls. But eventually he found his voice, and when he did, he howled his fury.

“YOU FUCKING COUNTERSPELLED ME YOU CHEATING LITTLE COWARDLY BITCH FUCKING IDEA-STEALING ASS GHOUL!
FUUUUUUUUCK!
”

The anger made Sehn so wild that, like a gorilla, he banged his fists against his own chest. And how could he
not
be angry? How could he
not
lose his mind with the sheer amount of venom that flowed through him almost to the point that it replaced his blood? It was as though the Gods themselves had delivered to him the holiest lump of bullshit in a golden box.

Now I won’t be able to use that spell for at least an hour. He…he…!

Sehn’s rage would have continued to grow at this point, and it nearly did, but it was somewhat halted as Duncan exploded at him, screaming with the same thunder in his voice that Sehn had just unleashed. There was so much anger and hatred in the sound of it that his words were garbled and Sehn wasn’t even sure what he was trying to say—until the end of it, when his malicious words turned to chants.

Sehn braced himself as Duncan placed one end of his staff on the floor and then released his hold of it. It stood upright all on its own. Then he extended both his hands at Sehn, and from each of them, a volley of fast-moving, multicolored beams of lights assaulted him so fast that he lost count of them. There must have been hundreds: red, blue, and pink. They escaped his palm with a speed that Sehn found unbelievable.

I’m so fucked!

A pressure on his scalp told him Estelle had once more come to his aid. But he didn’t see how she’d be able to stop
this
many of them, though she’d have to try, because Sehn had no other way of defending himself. To his shame, his fate was left in the tiny little hands of his bird-creature.

The first of the beams struck, and within an instant, the entire front portion of the barrier popped into existence, appearing far more like a giant, triangular, two-dimensional shield than something that surrounded him. But it was sturdy, and it held up to the Archmage’s brutal assault.

One after the next, the flurry of beams hammered the glass-like barrier, which amazingly continued to hold under the barrage of fire. Could it be that Estelle—
his
Estelle—was more powerful than he’d given her credit for at first?

Of course not! Clearly, being in her God-King’s presence is lending her strength
.
Really, this is all my doing no matter how you think of it, for this is all a result of the Great Sehn’s Great Summoning
!

“Yahhh!” Estelle squeaked.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

He could just make out the sound of her nervously panting from where she stood on top of his head. “He’s really hitting us hard, and um, and um, those blue ones are breaking the barrier.”

“It doesn’t look like
it’s
breaking.”

“It’s ‘cause I’m repairing it, yep-yep-mhmm!”

“How long can you hold it for?”

“Not much longer. I need to take a break!”

Sehn growled, loudly. “I cannot believe he stole my idea and counterspelled me. Curse that abominable dickhead!”

“Sehnny, I’m…getting really tired,” Estelle said, breathing even more heavily. At the same time, he saw the barrier begin to chip away and crack in places. “Do…something.”

“There’s nothing I
can
do! I don’t have a weapon, it takes an hour to chamber a counterspell, and…wait, why don’t
you
do something?”

Estelle’s only reply was to pant even more loudly, and Sehn gave up on expecting any more from her than what she was already doing.

We’re both going to die. Shit!

Part of the barrier finally shattered, and one of the beams got through. But thanks to sheer luck, it ended up moving towards him at too-wide an angle and instead ended up striking one of the barricades behind him, causing it to bubble and melt away.

Sehn knew he had mere seconds left to live unless he figured out something. But what? He tried to think. He refused to give up so easily. There just had to be something he could still do. But if so, he failed to think of it. In a panic, he tried to go over the list of spells he knew, only to realize that there was nothing he had for this occasion. He was screwed. He was completely, utterly—

Wait! Of course
.

Sehn lifted his head skywards, and shouted, “Sehn Two! Your master needs you!”

All at once, a gigantic shadow descended over the stage as his massive, noble gryphon swooped down behind Duncan and then rammed into his back, putting an immediate end to his magical barrage and sending him flat on his stomach. Duncan reached out, grabbed his staff, and attempted to spin around and strike the gryphon with it. But he wasn’t fast enough: Sehn Two took off and returned safely to the skies.

With a low growl, Duncan scrambled back to his feet and once more placed his staff on the floor, extending his palms. From the looks of things, he was intent on going right back to what he’d just been doing.

Cursing his luck, Sehn took off at a sprint in his direction, still unarmed and without any real means of defending himself. The moment Duncan saw this, he lowered his hands, picked his staff back up, and then raised it as if more than happy to kill Sehn in whatever way Sehn chose.

“Gods damn it all!” Sehn moaned. “I need a sword!”

“Huh?” Estelle chirped. “Okay!”

“Wh—?”

Sehn was nearly stabbed to death as a blade identical to the one he’d stolen from David—the one the Archmage had broken—flew straight for him, almost piercing him through his back. He had to spin just to get out of its way, then snatch it midair as it flew passed him—and all in time to ignite it and bring it up to defend himself as Duncan struck out at him.

“Where the hell did you get this?” Sehn asked as he clashed with the Archmage.

“I summoned it, yep-yep-mhmm!”

“Y-you can use lesser summons on your
own
?”

“Yep I can, ‘
cause
I’m a smart pixie who knows lots of magic.”

Before she’d even finished her sentence, Sehn’s summoned blade snapped in half and vanished after deflecting a close-range swipe from Duncan’s staff.

“Make me another! Hurry!”

“Okay!” Estelle said cheerfully.

Unarmed for the moment, Sehn twisted his body and used his elbow to bash Duncan on the side of his face. With most of grotesque skin now exposed, Sehn could feel the disgusting combination of mush, rot, and cracking bones. Then he saw a shadow moving behind him, and without turning his body, he extended his arm behind himself, grabbed the blade she’d summoned, and then ignited it.

This one lasted a good deal longer before breaking, during which the Archmage showed very clear signs of tiring, whereas Sehn felt more energetic and more
alive
the longer this went on.

So it’s true
,
Sehn thought.

This was just as Issius had said it would be. It was what made him different from those who were not cursed as he was. Sehn grew more powerful in the presence of Items or the fools who’d become enslaved by them. Whereas Duncan expended his energy in trying to fight Sehn, Sehn only felt stronger, more in control, and not even remotely winded.

Strike after strike, Sehn relentlessly attacked the Archmage, and by the time his blade shattered, he’d somehow ended up switching sides with Duncan so that he now faced Estelle and could actually see her creating his much-needed weapons.

A sword appeared in midair in front of her. With a flick of her wrist, it flew across the stage towards him. If not for the fact that he was completely certain she’d refuse—and he did
not
have the time to argue with her now—he’d have demanded she send them at the Archmage instead. But for now, at least, Sehn was glad he had a way of defending himself.

He attacked the Archmage within a second of catching the blade. The man was beginning to slow even more, and Sehn was clearly gaining the advantage. One after the next, he clobbered the Archmage, whose staff was the only thing protecting him from Sehn’s onslaught. It almost seemed like Sehn would break through his guard once and for all, but much as his luck had been earlier, the sword snapped into two pieces and Duncan backed away as if to steady himself and recover. At the same time, Estelle sent him two more of the sturdy summoned blades, and Sehn caught them both. Now, he held one in each hand.

Spurred on by seeing the Archmage’s weakened state, Sehn unloaded on him, swinging first with his left blade, then with his right, and then alternating between the two. Duncan held his staff horizontally and at the level of his chest, tiling the staff up in the direction of each of Sehn’s strikes, barely managing to protect himself.

Just a little more. Just a little more!

Sehn brought around his left blade, adding just a bit more strength, and with an audible gasp, Duncan blocked it, clearly straining to keep up. Then Sehn brought around the right one, and again he strained, but also managed to defend against it. Finally, Sehn spun full circle, bent his knees, and sent both blades out at the same time. Duncan switched his grip on his staff, quickly flipping it over so that he held it diagonally.

Then two things happened at once. Both of Sehn’s swords broke together, and the staff was knocked out of Duncan’s hands. It rolled along the stage then fell off it. Duncan turned his head to look its way, and he almost made as if to turn his body as well in order to go running after it, but there was no way Sehn was allowing that.

He closed his left hand into a fist, then closed his right a moment after. And as if the Gods themselves had made his fantasies a reality, he exploded into a series of vicious, unrelenting hooks, wildly bludgeoning both sides of the Archmage’s face.

It was immediately apparent that the Archmage had no experience in fist-fighting. And even if he had, his rotting corpse of a body was simply incapable of matching Sehn’s strength. Especially since, when he raised his right hand to defend his face, Sehn’s left-hook knocked his entire hand off his body—and still continued on its merry way to deck him so hard in the jaw that his mouth fell half off.

I cannot resist this opportunity!
Sehn realized, his heart pounding in his chest.

Sehn ignored the disgusted complaints from Cah’lia, Patrick, Rina, Shina, and even Issius, who had remained mostly silent until now. Each of them shouted out their disapproval, claiming that Sehn was being “disgusting” after he reached out, pulled off half of Duncan’s jaw, and then pressed it against his right butt cheek.