Hero Scout

"Wh what happened, where are we?" Kenji said and rocketed up in his cot. Patting himself down he found a distinct lack of wounds and found himself in a little room made of leaves.

Beside his bed lay Ellie, fast asleep in her chair, with her head resting on the bed.

"What...?" She murmured as her sleepy eyes slowly opened.

It all came back to them, of what Kenji had done. He knew now she would return to her hatred of him, if anything, she was foolish for ever letting go of it. Of trusting him. It had been their undoing.

"Grand Master...I..." Ellie struggled to well up the words.

Kenji flinched, waiting for the other shoes to drop. Waiting to be told he would be sentenced for his failures.

"I"m so sorry!" Ellie burst into tears, each rolling so sadly down her cheeks to splash in the fibrous sheets. "It was m-my fault, Rams and the others....they"re dead because of m-me-"

"Hey, Ellie, it wasn"t your fault. You didn"t know I would become that powerful, and the plan was supposed to rely on me getting to grips with the script. If anything the fault is mine, ok? So don"t blame yourself, no good will come of doing that," Kenji said, feeling as if should be crucified, set afire or at least lightly scolded.

Instead Ellie stared at him shocked. As if a candle said it wasn"t meant for light, or a fireplace had claimed to make rooms colder when roaring.

Wiping away her tears, that stern look of hers returned, and she stood tall.

"I"m sorry Grand Master, I should not have shown you that. The Raid comes first, so give the order, what do we do next?"

Still perturbed, Kenji nodded. Better to focus on the task at hand.

"Update me on what happened after the boss was defeated, and how I am so fully healed. Please."

"As soon as you killed your...yourself, a chest appeared. Inside we found a scroll of healing, I used it on you right away," Kenji nodded, understanding flooding him. No simple magic could have healed his true body so quickly, he had just gotten lucky. "We also found some equipment, the best of it being the [Soul Anchor]."

"We still have that?" Kenji raised his eyebrow, a deep aching sorrow filling his heart.

"We do," Ellie said with wet eyes, "the Spirit Warriors have told us the souls of our comrades still remain in there. The ability activated on it is torturing them, producing huge amounts of mana, but at the cost of grinding down their souls for f-fuel."

Kenji sprang to his feet, "and did they say how to stop it?"

"They said it can only be broken with a high-level weapon. A Corrupt Spirit weapon to be specific, but there"s only one place we could get it and we don"t have the manpower anymore..."

"We do. We have me, I"ll do it," if Kenji had caused this problem, these deaths, this pain....then he was sure as h.e.l.l that he"d be the one to fix it. "I"ll fight the fifth-floor boss alone, when the Green Overlord becomes available again I"ll go on in and use it."

It was currently stored at the peak of its power, if with that bloodl.u.s.t to kill all adventurers. Still, Kenji just needed to be able to take down the Fifth-floor demonic boss, if no one else came he wouldn"t have to worry about endangering his allies.

"You can"t go alone. What if we lose you? The Hero Guild would crumble, Tenko might stay lost forever and Mistress Violet would be forced to bear the burdens of leadership without aid. Almanac might be put in charge!"

Kenji smiled at that last part, not thinking Almanac that bad of a guy.

Ellie"s soured features claimed otherwise.

"Ellie, keep the others safe, will you? And just know, whatever happens, I"ve always believed in you. You"ll be a greater leader," hauling himself to his feet, Kenji felt the Green Overlord copy strong as ever in his [Forbidden Slot]. Ellie trailed after him, so Kenji turned to the Sun Elf Queen and ran around a corner.

In an instant, he activated his invisibility ring and sent an illusion of himself forward.

Ellie followed the illusion, pleading, rationalizing, and trying everything she could to be involved.

But Kenji was already gone, blasting along the trails of light, following them to their end. The Jailor"s Office arose ahead and beside it a great crack in the earth that marked the entranced to the Fifth Floor Boss Chambers. Entering, Kenji found dark stairs that descended between walls lit with flickering blue. No h.e.l.lflame here, just this strange blue that winked intermittently down far as Kenji could see.

Fluttering down on a blast of wind, Kenji was surprised to find the torches resist his wind as he pa.s.sed. In moments he reached down hundreds of stairs, before landing before a great pulsing wall of magic.

Red and orange lines crisscrossed in a demonic summoning circle, a stone tablet before the circle blazing with its own words of warning.

"Beware, this is the point of no return. Defeat the beast, or be consumed."

"Simple enough," Kenji muttered and fluttered on through.

He stood in a huge platform of black basalt, from the sky dangling with a thousand chains, while rivers of lava cut the platform off from far away tunnels. The path behind him had vanished as if kenji had entered a portal, while another blazed on the platform"s other side just as he had entered.

"Who dares challenge a Lieutenant of the d.a.m.ned?" roared a deep voice of crackling bone and power. From the portal emerged a muscular demon of pale blue skin, it"s body bound in several chains, it"s wings locked together and its eyes blinded with an iron helmet that held the chained demon"s restraints in check. "I may be bound, but I am still a greater power than your measely capacity can possibly handle....oh? There is but one challenger?"

The Demon Lieutenant"s yellow teeth drew back in a grin.

Just as Kenji had expected. His time in the Green Overlord"s mind was long while they had fought the other four, and he was well aware that fighting the boss alone raised the chance of receiving the higher tear loot.

Freeing the demon would guarantee it.

"Unchain yourself demon, and fight me one on one. I am your equal, so there is no need to hold back," Kenji roared, the demon"s many chains crumbling free. And yet that iron helmet that blocked the creatures sight remained.

No matter, asking the demon to be free was the only condition Kenji needed to activate. If this dungeon wanted to make the fight a little easier, he"d accept all the help he could get.

"Mortal, you have chosen VERY poorly. But I shall enjoy sucking free your soul...although whether it will taste of sweet foolishness or wretched bravery is another thing to be seen all together- GAH!" the boss shattered the [Wind Blade] Kenji had sent with an ebony claw, the magic than being sucked into the demon"s clenched fist. His grand wings unfurling behind him, each filled with a hundred crimson eyes, while a great power roared through the demon"s veins.

"Thank you, for the morsel," the demon grinned, each of the hundreds of crimson eyes welling with wind magic before it sent a torrent of [Wind Blade]s back at Kenji. Kenji blasted himself above the barrage, and opted for a closer a.s.sault instead.

"Your feet are on fire," Kenji yelled as he blasted close, the demon stubbornly refusing to look down as Kenji"s blades met the demon"s claws. In rapid-fire succession they met, again and again, Kenji"s smaller frame and bursts of speed landing several blows.

"Bah, suffer through my [Blood Spear]s!" Each of the demon"s wounds grew bright scarlet before each fired a lance of blood. Kenji was caught in the abdomen and shoulder, but at least managed to unleash a wind blade at one of the wings before he was forced to shift.

Screaming the demon backtracked, dozens of crimson eyes damaged or destroyed.

"I"ll make you pay for that-"

Kenji punched the demon so had it flew across the ground. Jumping from foot to foot, arms raised in a boxer"s stance, Kenji revealed his upgraded Troll body. The Troll form was now once again coated in armour, gleaming steel plate, while his fists were coated in thick troll sized gauntlets tipped with spikes.

"Fool, at range you will- gah!" fluttering aside the demon avoided being hit with Kenji"s troll sized javaline in the body, the steel tipped spear instead tearing right through his left-wing. Pulling free another from his internal s.p.a.ce, Kenji built up the strength and threw again.

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" the demon fluttered past this one, and closed in with his ebony claws ready to slash Kenji three different ways into the grave. Kenji blocked, the claws eating into the steel and cutting through the troll flesh beneath like ribbon.

"That"s gunna cost me a lot you know!" Kenji said with gritted teeth and planted a fist square under the demon"s jaw. A cracking sound blasted out, Kenji following up with a hit on the demon"s side and a kick between the legs.

"I know your weakness, beast!" The demon sneered. Twitching, the demon set his claws ablaze with blue fire. One slash is all it took, Kenji sent into the maddened troll state. He gripped the demon by the throat and slammed it into the ground, bellowing right in the demon"s face as his heart was pierced with long fiery claws.

Jettisoning backwards, Kenji aloud the Troll Copy to slump on the demon and reformed as Dana the d.a.m.ned.

"Why am I still here?" the demon said, pushing the Troll corpse aside only to be gripped by its trollish arms. "What-AHHHH!"

The demon became hysterical as Kenji set the corpse ablaze with [Blessing-fire], the Holy Flame setting the demon"s entire right-wing and left claw ablaze like dry timber. Unleashing a wave of blue fire, the infernal around the Zombie Troll blazed white-hot and reduced Kenji"s creation to ashes.

The demon was then forced to lop off his left claw and right wing, lest the holy fire should consume him. A shame he was too panicked to think of how this had happened, Kenji tackling the demon and setting himself afire with holy flame.

Kenji screamed as the holy fire ate away at him, the Demon screamed as holy flame consumed his very essence. Kenji jettisoned again, and allowed the demon to bash aside the flaming corpse with a look of disgust, fear and bewilderment.

When his armoured head lifted, his mouth fell agape.

As Kenji stood tall as the Green Overlord.

"You...this is all some trick, is it?" the demon spat, the iron of his faceplate cracking, and fell away. "Then let my true strength be revealed in turn. It is time to end this."

From beneath the plate was revealed a great blue orb filled with such potent magic as Kenji had ever seen.

"[Gates - Three] [Soul Engine] [Obliterate]!" Kenji cast in quick succession. Three green gates appeared in front of him, each pouring forth fully upgraded Green Boys. His [Soul Anchor] in his left hand-activated, securing him against soul-based attacks and allowing him to suck in the souls of the dying to convert into mana, while from the golden sceptre in his right hand the black and green laser that was [Obliterate] fired directly at the enemies orange eye.

"[Greater Obliterate]!" the enemy roared, an orange beam meeting that of Kenji"s and splitting it. The explosion wiped away the first ranks of his Green Boys, while the remaining power behind it blasted right through to shatter Kenji"s [Soul Anchor], the crystal exploding within his hand.

"[Obliterate]!" Kenji cast again, his [Obliterate] dodged by the enemy, who nonetheless shattered it with his claws. As the demon"s veins plared with green and black light, Kenji"s eyes widened with fear.

"You were strong, but still just a sp.a.w.nling," the demon chuckled as dozens of Green Boys charged with flaming weapons and armour. It was too late for them, Kenji focused on himself and ran. Behind him, the demon unfurled his ruined last wing, and let loose a barrage of [Obliterate]s that moved down every last Green Boy and destroyed the portals behind them.

Through the smoke, Kenji threw himself through the air as Kragg, his werewolf form fast as the wind as he charged. A single [Greater Obliterate] was fired, Kenji dodged, and yet it exploded in the air next to him all the same.

His charred corpse was thrown forward, and springing out was Kenji running forth as the Boy Knight.

"[Martial Aura]!" Kenji cast his blessing as a Crusader of the Truthblade, "[Full Frontal a.s.sault]" he roared, using that near-suicidal ability he had invented so long ago now, fighting a shade in a land far away.

Together Kenji wover his way closer with impressive speed, his blade Honour dancing forward even if still infused with stones. And as the demon locked in its feet, used its wing to balance itself like a tripod, and built up an [Obliterate] that would surely see Kenji reduced to dust - he pierced it"s great organge eye.

The resulting explosion threw him backwards, both arms ripped off, legs twisting in ways they were not meant to go and head smashing into the ground again and again before he came to rest beside a bubbling river of lava.

Wearily Kenji returned to his true form, although still had the Green Overlord up his sleeve. The Green Overlord might be only able to cast a few [Green Fire Blasts] before it was tapped of mana, but it would have to do if the enemy somehow survived.

Because if it didn"t do, Kenji had nothing left.

Yet as the smoke cleared, the smouldering bones of the demon lietenant were all that remained.

Before it was a blue chest adorned with black ivory, and opening it wide Kenji smiled.

Then frowned.