Barlan stood silent for a moment, his hollow gaze was still fixed on King. Then he spoke with a voice weighted in centuries of grief.
"You know what it means to be an Arcbearer, brother?"
Barlan's fingers twitched beneath his tattered sleeves, brushing against the leather straps that bound the coffin to his back.
"It means the ALLGods lied to me."
He turned slightly, the coffin shifting with him, and King could hear something faint inside it, scraping and then whispers, strange sounds that hinted living presences housed within the coffin itself.
"Decades ago, I was chosen. Huhhhh, that's what they told me. Chosen, as if it were an honor. Thinking I had been granted some divine gift, I was a fool" Barlan's voice cracked bitterly. "The Arc does not grant power, brother. it is a curse that erodes you and replaces the husk of your skin."
King listened in silence, he'd heard this tale multiple times, but hearing it in person felt different.
"I carry the Arc of Ruin. This... Burden" Barlan tapped the wood with one knuckle, it sounded with a dull thud "...is not a weapon. It is a prison, and I am its jailer. Inside are the Arcs of Ruin, spiritual creatures born from destruction itself. Wherever they touch, ruin follows. And I must carry them, forever."
He paused, breathing heavily through the hood.
"The burden never leaves. I can neither drop it, nor destroy it. I cannot hide from it, and the stronger I become, the heavier it grows."
Barlan's shoulders sagged slightly, as if the weight had just increased.
"For decades, I have lived like this. Wandering these cursed lands. Forsaken by the very Gods who claimed to honor me."
King clenched his fists as he felt Barlan's pain in real life.
Barlan turned fully toward King now, his hollow expression still unreadable.
"And just when I thought I had grown used to this life… a problem arose."
"One of the lesser arcs nestled within this box has gone rogue, and escaped."
Barlan's voice dropped, now edged with urgency.
"The creature is not the strongest. But it is quick and clever. Wherever it goes, it lays waste to everything it touches. I have tried to recapture it myself, but it eludes me. Mocks me."
He stepped closer, his presence suddenly heavier, King could see first hand, the sheer difference between their mass. The Arcbearers were huge.
"I need your help, brother. Help me retrieve this arc of ruin before it destroys everything in its path."
TUNN!
The options appeared in King's HUD.
[ACCEPT QUEST / DECLINE QUEST]
King tapped ACCEPT QUEST without hesitation.
Barlan exhaled in relief.
"Thank you, brother. I promise you will not regret this."
He turned sharply, the coffin swaying on his back.
"Follow me."
---
Barlan moved
Fast.
He wasn't weighed down by the enormous coffin strapped to his back. The Arcbearer moved like a shadow, gliding through the terrain with unnatural speed. His tattered robes billowed behind him, the coffin bouncing slightly with each step, yet never slowing him down.
King followed immediately, struggling to keep pace.
"Keep up," Barlan called over his shoulder as they navigated through overlaying terrain.
"Don't fall behind, brother," Barlan said again, his pace unrelenting.
King gritted his teeth and pushed harder.
The environment began to transition. The vibrant greens and blues of the earlier landscape drained away, replaced by ashen grays and sickly yellows, the trees grew skeletal, the ground waas cracked and dry. The air itself tasted of death.
As they got closer King recognized it immediately.
They were close to the desolation.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Finally, they came to a halt at a foggy ruin.
Ruined stone walls stuck out from the ground like broken teeth. Nearby, fallen pillars were wrapped in a mess of vines. The fog was thick and stiffling, making everything feel damp and heavy.
King came to a halt, his eyes scanning the area.
Then, he remembered what came next.
Barlan was going to cast an AoE spell to clear the fog. And when he did, the spirit would leap on him, releasing a destructive blast that annihilated everything within a two-meter radius.
If you stood close, that was a death sentence.
King immediately began creating distance between himself and Barlan, stepping backward quickly.
"Stay close, brother," Barlan called out, his voice sharp with warning. "It could be lurking anywhere."
King ignored him and kept moving, the call to safety sounded more like bait now that he knew what happened next.
Barlan crouched, pressing one hand to the ground.
"Harkan, val' El' Dorrn!"
He slammed his fist into the earth and a wave of energy exploded outward.
The fog disintegrated instantly, blown away in a violent rush of wind and light. The shockwave rippled backward, slamming into King and throwing him off his feet.
[-15 HP]
The damage flickered in King's vision as he hit the ground hard, rolling across the dirt. His HP bar dropped slightly.
But he was willing to trade that hit for the Arc's destructive blast.
As King recovered, the creature leaped.
It came from nowhere, like a blur of translucent scales and fire. It latched onto Barlan, its claws digging into his shoulders, its serpentine body coiling around him. Barlan grunted, struggling to throw it off.
And then the creature exploded.
Ba-KOOOM!
A two-meter radius of pure destruction erupted from its body, a blinding white light followed by a shockwave that sent Barlan crashing backward and slamming into a broken pillar with bone-rattling force.
[-100 HP]
The damage number flashed above Barlan's head as he crumpled to the ground, stunned.
The creature's translucent form glowed in the dim light as it circled him now, hissing.
King got a good look at it for the first time.
Serpentine, it resembled a snake, but with fire flickering beneath its scales and hind limbs that ended in razor-sharp claws. Its body was translucent, like light given shape, and its eyes glowed red.
King's plan was simple.
Let Barlan handle the majority of the fighting. Interfere only when the creature was gaining the upper hand, and in that way buy Barlan time to recover.
Facing this creature head-on was suicide. But letting Barlan fight alone also meant losing.
Balance was key.
King raised both hands, willing mana into form. Two hardened discs materialized in the air, spinning with edges sharp as blades. He launched them both at the creature.
WHISTLEEE
The first disc cut through the air
The creature dodged, twisting its body flexibly.
But the second disc caught it in the side, slamming into its translucent ribs with a satisfying crack.
SHREEEEE
The creature screeched, As it's body rebounded backward several feet away.
It recovered quickly, its glowing eyes snapping toward King.
[Aggro acquired.]
The creature hissed and lunged toward him.
King immediately turned and ran, strategically retreating in the direction of Barlan. He wasn't trying to escape, he was baiting it. Leading it back toward the now-recovered Arcbearer.
Barlan rose to his feet with his hand outstretched.
A massive black hammer materialized in his grip, wrapped in chains and having a unique seal pattern carved on it's surfaces.
Hammer of Ruin.
Barlan swung it in a wide arc, catching the incoming creature and slamming it into the ground. The impact cratered the earth, sending debris flying.
The creature's HP bar dipped sharply.
But it recovered fast, to fast.
It twisted, dodging Barlan's follow-up swing, and shot forward, its claws raking across Barlan's chest. The moment it made contact
BaKOOM.
The creature exploded again, the destructive blast throwing Barlan backward.
[-85 HP]
King interfered immediately, launching two more mana discs. Both struck the creature, staggering it, pulling its attention back to him.
The cycle continued.
King defended and evaded when the creature attacked him. Struck when it attacked Barlan. The back and forth rhythm continued.
Slowly, steadily, the creature's HP dropped.
70%
50%
30%
And then
King launched a final volley of mana discs, all four striking the creature in rapid succession.
The creature screeched as it's body coiled in pain
And then it wobbled.
[STUN INITIATED]
"Good, brother! Good!" Barlan roared.
He crouched and several chains shot out from the wooden coffin strapped to his back. They were translucent , as if made frombthe same material as the arc of ruin.
The traveling chains wrapped around the creature, binding its limbs.
The creature thrashed wildly, digging its claws into the ground, trying to anchor itself.
King didn't hesitate.
He launched several mana discs at the creature's forelimbs and head. The discs struck cleanly, shattering its grip.
Immediately, Barlan tugged as the chains reeled the creature backward, dragging it across the ground, its continued to resist as it was drawn closer and closer to the coffin.
And then
creEAK
The coffin opened.
It's interior was a pitch black void and the chains yanked the creature inside.
Then the coffin slammed shut.
The chains faded away, and the coffin glowed faintly with the symbol of an arc.
Barlan took heavy breaths as he stood up slowly, turning to King with a rather softened aura.
"You have my gratitude, brother. Few would stand beside an Arcbearer. Fewer still would survive."
He reached into his robes and pulled out three items and they hovered before King.
[GAUNTLET OF RUIN]
[HAMMER OF RUIN]
[SHIELD OF RUIN]
All three were Epic-Grade Armaments.
King stared with familiarity, yet examining each one carefully.
The Gauntlet of Ruin was a fitted black gauntlet, sleek and segmented, with seals etched along the fingers. Its spell allowed it to destroy anything it touched on contact. It is was versatile, lethal, and a lightweight.
The Shield of Ruin could function as a normal shield, but its spell created a magical barrier that defended by destroying attacks that made contact with it.
The Hammer of Ruin had the greatest attack output. It could release destructive waves on strike. But it was the heaviest, wielding it required high Strength stats, and it would slow him down.
King weighed the options.
He'd used all three on different playthroughs. The most fitting for his style were the gauntlet and the shield.
So he studied both items carefully.
And after a careful thought, he selected the Gauntlet of Ruin.