With a double Bludgeoning Bolt salvo, the last of the Blighted Coral Golums went down, and Thera and Nippo started dropping more Fire Vulns, the recipient Summons of such dying within seconds as the Archers followed the flare of ruby light like beacons of death. Our fights began to wrap up much more quickly.

  Of course, the fact the bosses were Spawning in as the lesser ones died was a significant event, and naturally dragged things out longer than we wanted them to. They had to be Imperiled and Fire Vulned as they arrived, or in the case of the golums, they delayed how long Nippo and Thera had to take before they could get back to the others.

  I was dishing out Shards of Phoenix Fire Healing constantly from my Crown, flashing a Shardray through everyone every twelve or eighteen seconds, and using a Triadspell to drop a Vuln/Imperil combo at the same time as the bosses and their helpers came in.

  It was burning through a lot of my mana and Valances quickly, but that was why we didn’t normally fight like this. Way too easy to chew through all your mana and Valances and basically be next to dead weight to everyone like this.

  But the undead had lost more of their precious cultists and priestesses permanently, so it was worth it.

  ------

  It took about three minutes to clear out everything chasing us, fighting ferociously the whole time. Anyone who cleared an opponent automatically rotated to the next, the Wolfpack on the hunt and going for blood as the Fire Vulns and Imperils did the job of weakening them for the mauling precision of multiple Firephasing attacks cutting through everything.

  When the last one dropped, everyone staggered in place, keeping themselves from falling over only with effort. Disks scooted around at the call of their owners, and soon everyone was sagging against them, breathing deep and regulating ki to get back their stamina more quickly.

  I took down the wall which had divided and crowded up the Summons, basically everyone watching as Kris, a bit singed and scalded on her Armor, went toeing through the remnants of the coral golums Burning heavily there while Quaver did the Sifting and pulled out any gems crystallized among the remnants of their Matrices.

  “Seal their Spawn Points?” Kris asked me perfunctorily, having seen my Darts going streaking out into unseen targets in the distance.

  “What, you wanted to kill the spawns all over again?” I asked, leaning on Crown.

  “You are down a LOT of mana,” she stated, squinting at me.

  “I’ve a hundred or so left.” A couple of the fighters whistled, as I never got down that low if I could help it. It put them all at risk, me not being able to Heal them consistently long enough to get them away from danger. “I can do the Mana Boost trick and get back up, but that burns the deep reserves. We should head back to the Wagon conservatively.”

  Everyone agreed, with the note that it was going to be somewhat easier as a bunch of those spawns were now already cleared.

  “Slow and easy it is, then. We’ll make do with just Imperils,” Kris agreed. “Ten minutes, everyone. Mana and stamina, Meditate and top it off, everyone. Then we head back for a rest to the Wagon, and call it a day.”

  “Sir!” was the general reply to that, everyone taking up either relaxed positions or meditative Stances to begin the process.

  Ten minutes wouldn’t gain me back much, even with the Rose of Celdon helping out, but that was fine. Something was better than nothing, and I still had the Mana Boosts in my back pocket for real emergencies.

  I could get off 7’s for ten mana and less, which would stretch them out quite a ways if I didn’t get fancy. I had a lot of empty Valence Slots, and it was going to take hours to refill them all, but that was the cost of wiping a lot of undead really quickly, one way or another.

  ------

  The next day…

  I shimmered back into place on the Seal Focus, accompanied by Lord Mick and the Roaches. Kris, the Skeeters, and the lugians had remained here overnight, a wee bit curious to see if the undead would try another Wall run with the volcano still growing there a mile away and whatnot.

  But, no. It seemed the intelligent undead had withdrawn, or at the least had concealed themselves among the rote Summons and weren’t trying to get close. I could do a Wizard Sight survey and look for signs of them, but that wasn’t important.

  We brought in fresh hot sausages and warm honeybuns dripping with butter and sweet cheese, with plenty of warm milk to chase it all down. It was all much appreciated as we all shared a pretty hearty breakfast, all things being equal, and I listed out the names of those returned to life that morning after Aru rose.

  Everyone nodded somberly at the news, the Resurrections I was still doing every day, and had been for months now.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  But then it was time to get back to work here. We moved out, the Wall extending forward along the ridgeline, not directly towards the volcano.

  “Think we can get the Infusions?” Kris asked me as we closed in on the growling, rising form of the crater there, rising unnaturally high and steep with the influence of the Fire Monolith Tortoise inside. It had not-coincidentally run off to the south, flowing completely over the remains of the Empyrean Temple there, which had fallen into the molten rock and was now half-dissolved and scarcely visible under the black stone that had managed to reach all the way to the ocean last night. It had swallowed probably twoscore Spawn Points along the way of it all, forcing others to move away from the blazing stone or kill their Summons just from radiated heat.

  “All depends if we can withstand the heat. Everyone has to at least get their own, and we want extras for the Font.”

  “The extra Infusions.” We all looked to the Mick. “Skeletons, Olthoi, Shadows. The Infusions t’ grant Slayer effects to the Weapons were empowered with Radiant Infusions, too. So, one for yer Weapon, one for the Slayer Infusion ye want.”

  “And one for the Blood of Palacost, once we find it and purify it,” Kris stated, shaking her head. “Did you really all have multiple Weapons of Lost Light back then, Lord Mick?”

  “Aye, actually. Had me a full set o’ five of the things, including the Lost Hope. The only one of the Slayers worth much were the Shade Slayer, and that if a mage were along to Vuln. Were pretty sad that they weren’t the equal o’ a standard Weapon that had an Elemental Cleaving at the time otherwise, however. The Sword o’ Lost Hope were an awesome Weapon because it added the Acid Cleaving.”

  “I am curious as to what the Radiant Infusion will add on top of the Greater Blackfire Stones,” Kris admitted, everyone nodding.

  Three jetsilver Diamonds gleamed along blades and heads and bowgrips of everyone’s Weapons, the Motes of Lost Light spinning through them and picking up flickers of obsidian razored radiance in so doing. Together they added Armor Cleaving, Legendary Blood Thirst and Epic Heart Thirst, basically bonuses to damage and to hit, to the Weapons. Those were incredibly valuable additions, taking each up to extraordinary levels of power that was much appreciated against our opponents.

  The Infusions, however, would empower and be part of the Weapons themselves, and everyone was very curious to see what the final effect would be.

  We already had the Major and Minor Elemental Stones on the pommels and guards, which could be swapped in and out to exploit Elemental weaknesses, such as the Scorching Stones that were so useful here.

  “The Blood represents another clear upgrade, aye, we dinnae know how it will work if we manage t’ purify it. I agree the Slayer effects are summat best served as Artificer work fer short periods if possible, or mayhap we can find a way t’ make a Slayer Stone out o’ them, like the Elemental Stones are?” the Mick mused wishfully.

  “That is what Harlune is working towards,” I informed everyone, nodding at them. “His main problem is finding suitable jewels for the effects, but if it happens, we should have more modularity in all Warfang Weapons, not just the Lost Light ones.”

  “Any guesses on what the Radiant Infusion will do now, Ryin?” Kris asked.

  “Plenty, none relevant if they are Slotted effects. These are incredibly powerful and dangerous energies. If all it does is increase base damage and threat range, we’ll all still be happy, right?”

  Everyone nodded. The Warfang Weapons everyone held were without a doubt the finest in all of Dereth. Lacking Elemental Cleaves was a weakness, and since such things didn’t exist any more, even as an Artificer Infusion, nobody was worried about them.

  “Well, pick up three each, then. If we need to come back in the future for more, then we will. One for your Weapon, one for the Font, and possibly one for another Infusion in the future.”

  Everyone grunted and nodded agreement.

  I naturally ladled Mass Fire Protection, Resist Fire, and Protection from Fire over everyone.

  The first was a straight 65% reduction in damage from fire. The second was a straight 30 point reduction in fire damage, after the reduction. The third would absorb the first 300 points of fire damage after the first two before burning away, which should allow everyone to gain an Infusion without much risk.

  Then we went sidling over to go into a flowing, belching volcano.

  ------

  Ancient Schotiel was still standing over the altar to the Radiance, and the beautiful transcendent Flames of the Vivic Wall of Fire were still dancing around him, juiced up by heavy mana and filling the caldera. He caught sight of us instantly as I came up on the rim and waved at him.

  “Ah, Magos Ryin of Heaven. Come,” he indicated, lowering his head to the altar. “The Radiance awaits you.”

  Being immune to Elemental Fire, as was Kris, I brought her on her Floating Forge with me as we headed into the caldera below, far smaller than the other Courts we’d visited… but it hadn’t been long, and this place had plenty of room to grow.

  The Wall of Fire, of course, wouldn’t harm any of us, since it did no harm to Good people whatsoever, feeling like little more than a warm balm against our skin.

  “Ancient Schotiel, may I present to you Imperial Princess Kristie Rantha-Briggs, Warlord and Knight of the Lost Light,” I introduced her as we came up on the dais which the Altar of Radiance, such humble plain gray stone, rested upon. The solidified Radiance swirled gently there atop the center of it, undeterred by the roaring and rumbling of the flames and the lava.

  Kris saluted the towering bulk of the Fire Monolith Tortoise with elaborate grace and a deftness that made the Salute look like a simple child’s effort, unworthy of mention. The way the Motes of Lost Light flowed around her like lethal stars was not something that could escape his blazing eyes, however.

  “Oh, a true Swordmaster. The Lost Light enjoys you, I can see, with a Soul dripping Gold.” He hummed in pleasure. “Come. The Radiance will regather quickly. You are worthy of it, as your Weapons proclaim for you.”

  I let Kris go first, which she did without hesitation. She approached, bowed to the altar, and plucked up the first Infusion. Without hesitation, she crushed the ball of light against the blade of Quaver, and we watched the Lost Light converge on the leashed liquid Radiance therein, prismatic rainbows flaring around them in joy as they dove through the Radiance and returned to the gleaming metal below.

  Kris ran her hand slowly up and down the length of Quaver, until the Radiance was gone and iridescence ran all along the golden edge of her Blade. The heavy mana in the air was converging and swirling into another globe of Radiance upon the altar as she finished up.

  ============================

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