MM - Chapter 272 - ANGRY BIRD

The swarm of Zyrathaks descended like a feathered avalanche, and the dungeon’s boss stared Raine down with eyes eager to liquify his organs. Yet, a grin split his face. The moment was too perfect. Healing Burst flooded his chest with warmth, instantly vaporizing the blood clogging his airway. He coughed at the sudden loss of pressure while the sharp sting from the cuts across his arms faded into the dull memory of pain.

A pointed finger rose toward the furious Primarch. Darkness lashed out, an ethereal tether connecting his will to the monster’s soul. Vast reserves of Demonic Power were eagerly gobbled up by The Heart of Plutus. Again, the precise rules of Umbra’s Snare proved elusive. Despite their levels being the same, and the boss only being a noble, an iron fist of disorientation slammed into his stomach. The world tilted on its axis as he rapidly triggered Flawed Conversion to stem the tide of lost power.

[Fraction of Umbra: (Demonic Power +20%) (Potency +20%) Upon command liberate Umbra’s Snare to charm any living entity (Cost: DP equivalent to difference in level and class) (Cooldown: 5 minutes)]

When his Discipline hit 50%, Raine triggered the Medium Demonic Restoration Potion at his belt with a thought. Vile, dark energy surged into his core, and finally the hemorrhaging flow ceased its pull at 25%.

[Medium Demonic Recovery Potion (Common Grey) Instantly restores 5% Demonic Power, then restores an additional 25% Demonic Power over 60 seconds (10-minute shared potion cooldown)]

A tremor swept through the Primarch from crested head to razor-sharp talon, ending with a harsh, involuntary twitch of her ears. Clarity returned to her molten amber gaze. She stared at Raine, the weight of her Ocular Dominion pressing against his flesh, yet transferring not a single point of damage.

“Good.” Raine straightened with a deep breath, cracking his neck. “Kill them all. Show me everything you've got.”

His command was met with instant action. The Primarch threw her head back, a screech tearing from her throat that shattered the air pressure in the ravine. Every descending Zyrathak went stiff, locking up mid-beat. Bodies rained from the sky, crashing into the canyon walls and the hard-packed floor in a chaotic hail of meat and feathers.

The Primarch spread her wings wide. A single, ground-rumbling flap birthed a towering pillar of wind that rooted itself to the canyon floor and refused to die. Her kin were dragged helplessly into the roaring gyre. Thousands of Superior Crescent Gales ignited inside the vortex—a storm of blades bursting outward. They reduced the stunned flock to drifting crimson snow: Wrath of the Eyrie.

She flared her wings wide again, and hundreds of stiff feathers rocketed away in several rapid barrages of organic bullets that punched clean holes through the survivors. Galebarb Barrage.

She wasn’t done. Many more of her kin were still above, clawing for altitude against the pull of the raging storm.

Powerful legs coiled, talons splintering the stone beneath her. She jumped and landed perpendicularly on the canyon wall, claws biting deep. With a twist and kick, her body launched, spinning at an incredible speed for her size. Wind screamed around her, wrapping tight to her body. It was so mighty it condensed into a white tornado that followed her to the far wall. She tore clean through a dozen Zyrathaks before arriving and bouncing back the way she came.

Despite killing more of her kin with each ricochet, she picked up speed. Up and up she climbed. There seemed to be no end to her skill. Trapped in the confines of the ravine, she was death itself. Screaming Tempest.

Loot bubbles fell. Raine moved through the carnage, the Cloak of Amanesh keeping him hidden from the few confused stragglers. He gathered the drops with mechanical efficiency, ignoring the pointless notifications.

[Obtained 0 Superiority. -150% for defeating a monster 3 levels below you]

[Obtained 0% Attunement. -150% for defeating a monster 3 levels below you]

These Common Grey and Lustrous Blue drops were fodder for the guild bank. What he came for could only be provided by the Primarch. Before he could farm her, he first had to learn her moveset. Raine never personally came to this dungeon in the past. He’d seen a few Vods on how to clear it; they suggested particular group synergies that, at the time, he didn’t have, meaning the memories were buried deep enough that he only vaguely recalled the dungeon at all.

His neck craned, eyes narrowed on the boss’s distant form as she glided from one perch to the next, clearing out the last of her kin. Debuffs, direct damage, and wind manipulation. High burst damage, but not unavoidable. The real issue is that bouncing move. Once she gets started, I won’t be able to stop her.

The Primarch skidded to a halt amid a hail of carnage, talons leaving furrows in the wall, chest heaving. The ravine was silent, save for the wet sound of settling gore. 

Raine swiftly Lunged to her level, meeting her hard, intelligent stare. “You’re a messy one, aren’t you, Angry Bird?” He patted her blood-slicked beak. “Let’s go. One more test.” He led the way to the sliver of sky above. The boss grunted, crouching against the wall before running straight up it. “That explains a lot. You’re a glider, not a flyer.”

She didn’t respond, wings tucked tight to her sides to reduce drag as she followed him up. They crested the lip of the ravine together. The young elite left behind stumbled back, eyes wide with terror as a Nightmare Dungeon boss hauled herself onto the dais. His weapon was already out, a shout forming on his lips as it glowed a strobing teal.

“At ease!” Raine snapped, flickering into existence behind the man and clapping a hand on his shoulder.

The soldier froze, gaze darting between the monstrous bird preening her gore-slicked feathers and the too-powerful Alaric. “M-My Lord? That is… how is this possible?”

Raine didn’t bother explaining the mechanics of Umbral Snare. He stepped off the dais, the boss trailing like an oversized, murderous puppy. He resisted the urge to cross his fingers while stepping through the shimmering portal. When the Primarch crossed through right behind him and remained under his control, he finally allowed a short sigh. The elite scrambled after them, giving the boss a wide berth on the far side.

Raine pointed to the nearby treeline where the rest of Varak’s conrois had set up temporary defenses against any possible monster rushes. “You’re dismissed, lancer. Return to Varak and... never mind. Looks like he’s already on it.” Raine nodded in appreciation at the next elite, who was running toward the dais considerably slower than the first elite was booking it to the treeline.

The new lancer’s face was a mask of disciplined fear as he eyed the boss. He accepted Raine’s party invitation, then placed a trembling hand on the pedestal. The portal shimmered, resetting the instance. 

After passing through again, Raine turned to his pet. “Come here.” The Primarch obeyed his thoughts, wrapping her massive wings around him before they dove from the platform back into the ravine. Between the physical barrier of her feathers and the light-bending properties of his cloak, he vanished completely.

Screeches rose from the nests lining the walls, but they were cries of confusion, not aggression. Sensing the Alpha in their midst, the Zyrathaks peeled off the walls, falling into formation behind, unwittingly escorting their doom to the canyon floor. Nearly to the bottom, Raine expanded his Connection, thickening the air to slow only his descent. They separated, and the Primarch landed with a heavy thud, dust billowing around her talons. She threw her head back, letting out a raucous cry that challenged the very stones of the dungeon.

From the deep cave, a roar answered.

A shiny, new Zyrathak Primarch burst from the darkness, eyes glowing with territorial rage. She charged, intent on obliterating the challenger. She never saw the meteor falling from the heavens.

Unassailable Aegis ate forty percent of his health an instant before impact. A golden barrier flared around him as he smashed into the new boss’s spine. The impact cratered the ground, driving the fresh Primarch to her knees. Raine took zero damage from the collision, smoothly finding his feet with a two-handed axe already in hand.

“Get her!” His command was punctuated by the head of his weapon slamming into the boss.

Angry Bird’s whirlwind of crescent blades filled the air, creating a shredding canopy that blocked the sky and lesser mobs. Unable to penetrate the storm of wind, they could only circle uselessly above as their Primarch was cut to pieces. Raine unleashed hell. Rupture was followed by Great Divide and Guillotine Slash. His free hand was a blur, unloading Flurry of One repeatedly. Uncanny Acceleration tied them all together, comboing to speed his attacks by several times.

Chunks of health were carved from the boss. Her blood flowed freely as Angry Bird’s feathers drilled into her rising form. In seconds, they reduced the new Primarch to a quarter health. The wild boss shrieked, a red Berserk aura flaring from her feathers that pushed them back. She broke free from their pincer and leaped high. Ignoring Angry Bird’s storm, she landed on the canyon wall. Her body coiled, preparing to launch into the deadly tornado maneuver.

Raine had seen it once, picked apart its essence. That was more than enough. The axe spun in his grip, fingers tightening as he Lunged after her. Force-Damage Conversion worked both ways. Instead of channeling his intent into cutting power, he reversed the flow, sacrificing half his damage to boost the kinetic impact.

Uncanny Acceleration and Guillotine Slash comboed. The weapon struck just as the Primarch’s planted claw took on her full weight to push off the wall. The massive infusion of Force shattered her grip. Instead of launching across the ravine, she spun wildly out of control, slamming face-first into the ground with bone-breaking velocity.

Angry Bird was on her before she stopped sliding through the rock. Raine was there an instant later, bringing his axe down in a final, overhead arc. The boss heaved in a shuddering death throw, then began dissolving into starlight. Five loot bubbles appeared nearby. Raine snatched them up, commanding Angry Bird into action as he scanned their first real score. A grimace pulled at his lips.

Only two Marvelous, and no Chaotic Gold. That’s fine, forty-nine more runs to go today. With five drops per and a five percent drop rate, the odds are in my favor. Let’s see, five minutes between each run to reset Aegis; should take around six hours with a couple breaks. Bah. Who needs breaks? If I hurry, maybe I can finally squeeze in that date with Mel.

With a grin on his face, Raine took off after Angry Bird, who was sprinting up the ravine wall like it was flat ground.

* * *

After suffering the pain of innumerable injuries and shouldering the substantial effort of running the dungeon fifty-one times, Raine expected to come away with roughly thirteen pieces of Chaotic Gold loot. Instead, he earned nine. Statistically, the Marvelous Gold drops should have numbered around forty, but he only ended up with twenty. His rewards were lackluster to say the least, and he still had two more days of the same grueling experiences to look forward to. He was worn down, frustrated, and more than ready to kick his feet up and relax while drinking in the sight of Mel’s freckles.

Upon returning to Silverlight to check the core group’s progress, all thoughts of an enjoyable date were washed away. Overlooking the rented arena space from the stands, bone-deep disappointment churned in his gut. Twelve hours. He had left them here twelve hours ago, and they could still barely stand on their feet.

The sand-filled pit was a comedy of errors. Bodies were sent flying with each awkward punch, limbs flailing in directions that defied anatomy, often to painful effect. Only Pamalaiha remained consistently upright. She moved through the first few poses of Resplendence with a trembling, sweat-drenched focus, her form rigid but functional. The rest were lucky if they could take two steps without launching themselves into a wall or eating a mouthful of sand.

Raine immediately checked himself, battling down his ire with hard logic. At level 25, their attributes were only around ten times that of the strongest untempered human to have ever lived—manageable. With their levels doubled in two days, and then their attributes doubled again due to the arena’s modified settings, it was as though they suddenly became superhumans from some fantasy Vod. It was beyond ridiculous to expect that they could learn to control such power and speed at the drop of a hat.

Sure, all of these people had the potential to become future 4th-tier powerhouses, but nobody reached such an extreme end without hard work and time, time they didn’t have.

Just as he was coming to grips with their harsh reality, Kevinsbakon smacked his hand into the ground. An accidental overapplication of Force sent him flipping a dozen meters through the air, end over end. Knowing a simple fall would do nothing to his current Physique, he was cackling with mad laughter the entire way. Well before he landed, the others paused their practice to join in, laughing at his expense. 

All hints of sympathy evaporated like mist in a furnace.

Good… good, I'm glad they've been having so much fun all day. This is perfect. Exactly the therapy I need.

He jumped, landing in the pit with a heavy thud that silenced the room. His presence was further announced by the slow, deliberate cracking of his knuckles. The core group flinched. The excessive movement of their recoil sent several skittering across the floor like marbles spilled on glass. Unable to help themselves in the face of death, they released nervous giggles that only fueled his desire to enlighten them on the seriousness of their coming raid.

Raine's grin grew truly vicious as he rubbed his palms together. “Fizgore. My dear friend. Do you remember what it is that you lack?”

The large man shrank into himself, an embarrassed grimace painting his expression. “Uhh, desperation?”

“That’s right. Good. I’m glad I don’t have to explain it again, and we can get right to business. But first, it seems the floor hasn’t been hitting the lot of you hard enough to drive that desperation home. Don't worry. I’ll make sure to instruct it thoroughly on the proper meaning of the word.”