Chapter Eighteen #2
Vester tried dropping a few illusions around Rachel’s group to distract the remaining undead, but the damned things ignored his phantasms completely.
They also failed to retaliate from Rachel’ and Davis’ attacks—they just parted to go around the group and continue chasing Vester.
He wasn’t thrilled with being so popular, but all he could do was continue moving away from the Sanctuary.
“If you want to live, move down to my team and promise you surrender!” Vester shouted to Rachel before he ran off.
Despite the constant conflicts they’d had, Vester was still hesitant to simply put down the people who had been on the bus with him when he’d died.
Emma he viewed as a threat, her connection to Peace so deep he didn’t trust her not to be making Denny’s enslavement worse.
Jack, well, Vester had actively hated that asshole; though he’d have left Jack alone if Jack had done the same.
With Rachel, Davis, and Kimmy, Vester couldn’t tell if they were victims or conspirators. Kimmy’s chains had always suggested she was being coerced, and Rachel and Davis had acted friendly enough when they traveled together for the Raid that Vester viewed them neutrally.
All of that had run through his head when he recommended Rachel just give up and surrender to his team, though he doubted she would take him up on his offer.
The Hero’s Party had been crushing all the challenges that came before them outside of Vester’s team, so he doubted they truly grasped how dangerous this world could be.
Three scorpion tails impacted the ground all around him, and only a timely Decoy Swap let Vester vanish without being skewered.
He forced himself to refocus, turning all his attention to the undead chasing him.
The monstrosities were fast and strong, and they clearly had a way to see through his illusions.
His only advantage was that he was slightly faster, but he knew that wasn’t sustainable—undead never got tired. Eventually, Vester’s stamina would run out and he’d be torn apart. They wouldn’t kill him, but that still wasn’t a memory he wanted to possess.
A bolt of crimson energy lanced through the skull of one of his pursuers.
The bone immediately charred black, then shattered as the air inside superheated.
Flames blew out the skeleton’s eye sockets moments before its head came apart.
Sadly, the body continued to chase Vester, though it seemed to have a much harder time keeping track of him now.
Vester turned, heading back downhill, and the added boost of gravity let him widen the gap between himself and Jack’s minions.
He passed straight through the illusory maze he’d built around Jack, his Freeform Illusion allowing him to warp the creation to keep it intact while he shot out the other side.
He got a momentary glimpse of Jack and saw the skeleton had been put over Ralph’s knee, and the drunk was whipping Jack’s armor with the belt, all while insulting his masculinity and implying Jack was a sissy-failure.
I don’t think he’ll be defeating his greatest fears anytime soon, Vester thought while using his momentum to run up one of the shorter pillars; he paused for a moment to take deep breaths, trying to regain his wind.
Fuck, so the Goddess of Death obviously brought Jack back…
Maybe he’s the Avatar of Death now? Ugh, I have no idea if Non would want me to kill the bastard again… not that I’m sure I can.
He knew there were some obscure rules about Avatar interactions, but the only other Avatar he’d met was Reve, and they weren’t exactly fighting. Non and Julius had thrown the pair together and almost required them to cooperate. This situation was far different.
Greater undead are harder to kill, he mused, Jack could have some kind of enchanted anchor object somewhere, or it might take some kind of special ritual to put him down.
Hell, Death herself might have applied a blessing to ensure Jack can no more stay dead than I can.
Gods, that’s a horrifying thought. I don’t like the idea of Jack and I being the only two people on this planet that might be permanently immortal.
The clatter of chitinous legs on stone announced the arrival of Vester’s three shadows, so he leaped off the column and once more started circling. He didn’t see Rachel or the others where he’d left them, so his strategy of leading the undead through that group wasn’t going to work a second time.
The fight between Kimmy and Kora was still going strong, though now Ripper was part of it as well.
The trio were a ball of blades, claws, and flashing metal.
Blood kept flying into the air, but it didn’t look like Kimmy was going down anytime soon.
The Ragedancer’s clothing was growing far scarcer, though her body looked to be keeping up with the brutal fight without a problem.
Vester rounded a boulder, only to go flying backward when an unseen forced grabbed hold of him and lifted him into the air. He found himself coming down next to Krysta, who was kneeling over Denny and channeling her full attention into the injured Hero.
Denny looked terrible. Black veins had spread all over his body, his muscles appeared to be wasting away, and his skin had taken on an ivory pallor that made him appear half-dead.
Considering how Jack had raised the elfling corpses, and that the undead had been riding a transformed titanbat, Vester wondered if Jack was attempting to turn his brother into another undead.
“Can you save him?” he asked Krysta. He might not have been sure what he wanted to happen with Denny; but Vester definitely didn’t want his brother to become a walking corpse controlled by Jack.