Arc 2: Broken Crown

  Haru stared with eyes wide and mouth agape at the emerald figure before her. A knight clad in a full suit of green scaled armor.

  “What do you want?” She summoned her staff.

  The stranger impeded the foggy forest path between Fairbank and Waylander’s Wastes. It seemed he refused to respond, just standing slightly to the side, arms akimbo.

  After a few moments of silence, Haru realized who was before her. It was the demon that once played as EcruEmu. She lowered her rod, ready to blast him. “I remember who you are. Get out of my game.”

  The demon, Invidius, cackled. “Is it really still your game?” He crossed his arms and squared off with her.

  Haru recoiled at the remark, and she leaned forward. “It sure isn’t yours. Go away, forever.” She didn’t want to start a fight here in the forest, where other players might stumble upon them, especially on a main thoroughfare.

  Invidius cocked his head and hummed. “I’m surprised.”

  The witch turned her head down and lowered her eyebrows, hiding her face behind the wide brim of her purple hat. “Why?”

  “I know what you did to Irae.” He dropped his arms and folded his hands in front of his waist. “And I expected you to try that to me. But you haven’t. Curious.”

  Haru lowered her eyes to the ground and her head away, refusing to acknowledge the comment. Ever since the sibyl Crownbroke her, she was no longer able to target anything. After returning to the game world, Haru was afraid to use any kind of skill or ability at all, not wanting to risk damaging the environment or unintentionally hurting a player or mob.

  “It was overkill. A cruel thing to do, even to a demon.” Haru matched his gaze and squinted.

  Invidius hummed. “I see. What a pity, to let power go to waste in the name of mercy.” The demon flicked his wrist, and a cloud of smoke swirled in front of his body. He reached in and pulled out a crooked short sword, one side a fine edge, the other layers of jagged spikes. “I don’t share your sensibilities.”

  Haru retreated a couple of steps, still pointing the blue orb of her staff at the demon. “There’s no need to die. Just go away.”

  Invidius swiped his sword at the air in front of him; the fog parted like jungle vines being hacked away with a machete. “I can’t do that. My lord has given me a task and offered me a great reward for succeeding where Irae failed.”

  Branches and leaves within the forest around him rustled as he swung his weapon.

  Haru took a deep breath and aimed at the demon. Her normal attack would need time to charge. If she were to distract him, it might create enough of an opening to decide the battle quickly.

  “I think you’re going to end up just like your pal.” Haru goaded.

  Invidius let slip a belly laugh and he lowered his weapon. “Irae was a weak fool.”

  Haru suddenly leaped to the side and launched herself into low flight with her staff. The temptation lingered for her to just flee, being far faster and more mobile than her opponent. But her efforts in defeating the Lord of Wrath would be in vain if Invidius were simply allowed to be left to his devices in the game.

  She bobbed and weaved through the sparse forest, dodging thick tree trunks while orbiting where the demon stood on the road. A half turn from full circle would put her back on the path and give her a clear shot at his backside. She felt a sudden lingering presence as she approached her destination but ignored it and focused on downing Invidius.

  As she emerged from the tree line, Haru dismounted and slid to a stop, training the orb of her staff down the road, toward where the demon stood. A sparkle formed within the sphere, which ignited. The sparkle became an oppressive light.

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  “Normal Attack.” Haru uttered.

  A thick beam of light formed and shot forth from her staff. It burned away the fog and listed upward into the air. Haru expected there to be a silhouette of the demon within, if she hit him. But there was nothing, just pure light. Then the beam was occluded by a mass between Haru and her staff’s orb before the attack finished.

  Invidius had bounded beyond the length of her staff and got in Haru’s face. “Irae was a clumsy oaf. You’ll have to do better than that if you want any hope of defeating me.” The demon cackled. Then he grabbed her by the forehead and swung behind the witch. “Not that you’ll ever have a chance to.”

  Pulling her head back, Invidius flipped his short sword, the jagged end pointed toward her throat as he wound up to strike. Both Haru and the demon were hurled to the ground after something slammed into them from the side.

  Haru’s beam fizzled, leaving a bore hole of fogless air leading toward the blue cloudless sky. She scrambled to her feet, ready to flee. But between her and Invidius, a warrior clad in crimson mail. He had a metal helmet in the shape of a wolf’s head.

  The red warrior, rigidly standing straight up, held a great lance from overhead pointing downward.

  Invidius let out a deep growl and lowered his stance to a near-crouch, flipping the grip on his sword upside down, edge-side out. “You’re going to regret that and it’s going to be the last thing you’ll ever do.”

  The red warrior turned enough to look at Haru, then wagged his head, motioning for Haru to flee. But after a few steps back in retreat, to get some space away from Invidius, she shook her head. She wasn’t going to leave a player to his fate, especially one who didn’t know what he was getting into.

  With a snarl, the demon rushed forward. Before his blade clashed with the red warrior’s lance, Invidius disappeared into the fog with a puff of green mist. Then in the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind the red warrior and with both hands, thrust his sword down from overhead, ready to catch the warrior between the shoulder blades.

  “Look out!” Haru shouted, pointing at the demon.

  With the butt of his lance, the red warrior caught Invidius in the chin, blunting the demon’s attack without even looking. Then the warrior drew his weapon across his body and threw himself forward. With a spin, he swung the lance at Invidius.

  Still stunned, the demon caught the full brunt of the attack to the chest and slammed into a tree on the side of the road.

  Haru aimed, but before she could get a bead on the demon, the red warrior charged forth with his lance. He jabbed at Invidius with a torrent of strikes.

  But before they could land, the demon once again disappeared into an emerald puff of smoke.

  Wasting no time, the red warrior spun while bringing his weapon high and hammer striking where his back once pointed.

  Invidius reappeared right where the lancer struck, but the demon caught the attack with his weapon and was slinged backwards, sliding on his feet to a stop.

  “Who are you?” Invidius hissed.

  But the red warrior, apparently disinterested in talking, brought his weapon back tight against his body and charged forth at the demon once more without hesitation.

  Invidius let out a wretched cry and met his charge, guiding the tip of the lance away with the jagged side of his blade. Sparks flew where the two weapons met. He cackled after getting inside the length of the lance and closed the gap.

  But the lancer rolled his weapon, pinning the jagged sword downward with one hand. His other free arm reached forth and snatched the demon up by the gap between the demon’s scale armor with misaligned scales, and his tri-horned helmet. Then they crashed into each other and came to a stop with Invidius firmly in the lancer’s grip.

  The red warrior leaned back and head-butted the demon while keeping Invidius’s weapon held away with the weight of his lance. The lancer kept going, sparks and the clang of metal-on-metal ringing out with each forehead strike, until Invidius relented and faded once more into green mist.

  This time, the demon reappeared a few steps away, in front of the red warrior. Dazed, staggered and stumbled, struggling to stay upright Invidius sputtered. “I’ll make you pay for this.” His head bobbed and weaved. He clumsily brandished his sword, the tip dangling downward.

  The red warrior righted his lance against his body and prepared to charge yet again.

  Invidius recoiled and stumbled backward.

  Haru sensed the demon was about to flee. “Stop!” She held out her staff and readied to attack.

  But before she could muster another beam, the demon’s form melded with the fog and was gone.

  Beyond where Invidius once stood, Leonora, Haru’s best friend and boss of the Waylander’s Wastes final dungeon appeared from within the mist.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Her pirate pal called out.

  Haru lowered her weapon, realizing she was aiming it at her friend.

  “I came looking for you, usually you’re on time waiting for my encounters to finish.” Leonora closed on Haru. “What gives?”

  “I, uh…” Haru motioned toward the red warrior, but as her hand moved, she found he too was gone. She looked around for any sign of the demon. Finding nothing, the witch dismissed her staff, hanging her head low. “Got held up, I guess.”

  Leonora followed Haru’s lead, looking around aimlessly for a moment before blinking and shrugging. “We’re going to be late for HomeRoom, let’s get a move on. It would be bad for you to be tardy, especially since you have all the time in the world.”

  Haru closed her eyes and nodded. These days especially, HomeRoom was something she dreaded.

  Firestorm: Crusader.

  https://www.patreon.com/c/mekabukiko. The next two chapters for both Blight Witch Haru and Firestorm: Crusader will be out by the end of the week, don't miss it.

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