Fire surrounded Carlos and there seemed to be no ground beneath his feet.
The Warden’s throat was a narrow tunnel of iron plates and burning flesh. Carlos held the Reinforced Long Spear with both hands while the weapon remained buried in the wall.
It was the only thing keeping him from falling into the flames below.
--
HP: 229/360
HP: 216/360
HP: 207/360
--
Regeneration pushed his health back upward but the fire was fast enough to drag it down again.
Carlos looked deeper inside and saw the bright Hellfire Heart floating at the end of the tunnel.
It was larger than his whole body.
Four chains entered the red crystal from different directions. Every time the heart beat, black fire traveled through them and spread across the Warden.
Now Carlos knew where the hellfire was coming from.
--
Hellfire Heart Overload: 40%
--
Carlos pulled the spear from the wall and fell.
The flames swallowed him fully.
He drove the weapon into another iron plate where he could still see before dropping too far. His shoulder almost left its joint, but the spearhead held.
He swung forward as the sound and force of another heartbeat shook the tunnel.
[Hellfire Heart Overload: 50%]
Carlos released the spear at the highest point of the swing and jumped.
He landed against the Hellfire Heart.
The surface burned through his boots and coat but he stabbed.
The iron spearhead struck the red crystal.
--
Hellfire Heart HP: 971/1,000
--
Only twenty-nine damage.
Red light moved through one of the chains.
The small crack Carlos had made disappeared.
--
Hellfire Heart HP: 1,000/1,000
--
"HEAL?" Carlos tried to shout but closed his mouth immediately. The heat was unbearable. His vision blurred as if his eyes were melting and being repaired again by the potion.
The Warden’s whole body convulsed and Carlos was thrown from the heart and struck the tunnel wall.
Outside, Brann’s hammer hit something with enough force to shake every iron plate.
The Bearkin was still fighting.
Carlos stabbed the spear into the wall again and looked at the four chains.
They were not protecting the heart.
They were feeding it.
’They need to go first...’
Carlos summoned one of the Granary Devourer Claws.
He placed the curved edge against the closest chain and pulled with both hands.
The claw scraped across black iron, and a thin line appeared.
The heart beat again.
[Hellfire Heart Overload: 60%]
Fire rushed through the tunnel.
Carlos’s health dropped once again.
--
HP: 181/360
--
His regeneration timer continued falling.
[01:19]
Carlos put one foot against the heart and pulled the claw harder.
The first chain cracked.
He summoned a second Devourer Claw and placed it inside the opening.
Carlos forced both claws apart, and the Warden released a muffled sound of pain when the link broke.
[Hellfire Conduit destroyed: 1/4]
[Hellfire Heart regeneration reduced]
The Warden’s body twisted and the tunnel walls closed around Carlos.
Iron plates pressed against his back and chest. Carlos pushed both arms outward as the space continued shrinking.
Brann roared outside. Carlos could hear the hammer strikes continuing.
Then one strike stopped, and the pressure loosened for a second. Carlos knew it was Brann’s doing and did not let the chance go to waste.
Carlos moved and jumped to the second chain and cut with both Devourer Claws.
The Warden shook him from side to side but Carlos wrapped one leg around the chain and refused to fall.
One claw slipped from his hand and disappeared into the fire.
There was no time to search for it. He continued with the other claw.
[Hellfire Conduit destroyed: 2/4]
The heart beat again.
[Hellfire Heart Overload: 70%]
The light inside the crystal became blinding.
Carlos jumped toward the third chain.
Black fire struck him in the air and he hit the wall.
--
HP: 139/360
--
[Regeneration Duration: 00:43]
Carlos coughed blood into the flames.
His hand found the edge of an iron plate behind him.
He pushed himself up but the heart beat again as if the timer increased in pace.
[Hellfire Heart Overload: 80%]
Outside, the Warden’s hands closed over the opening.
The last light from the courtyard disappeared.
Carlos summoned another Granary Devourer Claw.
’You should have gone anywhere else’ He thought about saying to the Warden.
Carlos jumped again and the claw entered the third chain.
He pulled until his burned fingers split open.
The chain resisted this time but Carlos used all the strength. Strength he did not even have anymore.
’You should have attacked anyone else,’ he thought again.
He planted both feet against the crystal and the chain began to bend.
’But you had to go and touch my fields.’
Carlos roared and pulled and the third chain snapped.
[Hellfire Conduit destroyed: 3/4]
The heart beat.
[Hellfire Heart Overload: 90%]
Every part of the Warden’s body became red.
Carlos’s regeneration ended.
--
HP: 103/360
--
The final chain entered the back of the heart. It was too far to reach by jumping.
Carlos looked at the Reinforced Long Spear still buried in the wall.
He pulled it free and then threw it.
The spear crossed the burning tunnel.
Its iron head entered the final chain link but it did not break.
Carlos opened his inventory.
He summoned an Iron Hammer produced by the Tool Workshop.
The heart beat again.
[Hellfire Heart Overload: 95%]
[Reverse Conquest collapse imminent]
Carlos threw the hammer which went and struck the end of his spear.
The spearhead passed through the link and it broke right away.
For a split second, Carlos thought that he had done something impossible under this pressure.
[Hellfire Conduit destroyed: 4/4]
[Hellfire Heart regeneration disabled]
The heart’s regeneration stopped but the overload did not.
[Hellfire Heart Overload: 97%]
The overload was rising more slowly now.
The heart remained only three points away from killing everything inside the Reverse Conquest. Carlos had no spear, no hammer.
Only one Devourer Claw remained in his hand.
He charged and the Warden compressed its body again as if it knew what was happening.
Iron plates closed around Carlos.
He jumped through the narrowing space and struck the heart.
The claw entered the crystal.
--
Hellfire Heart HP: 814/1,000
--
A pulse from the heart threw him backward.
Carlos caught one of the broken chains.
He swung and attacked again.
[Hellfire Heart HP: 603/1,000]
Fire covered his body.
--
HP: 72/360
--
Carlos struck again.
[Hellfire Heart HP: 397/1,000]
The Warden’s hands pushed against its own throat from outside, trying to crush him through its body.
One iron plate caught Carlos’s left leg.
Something broke.
--
HP: 41/360
--
[Tenacious Body activated]
His strength stopped decreasing. Carlos pulled his broken leg free as if his injuries no longer controlled his body.
He grabbed the Devourer Claw with both hands. But the heart beat again.
[Hellfire Heart Overload: 98%]
Carlos had no time to think, he just struck as hard as he could.
[Hellfire Heart HP: 176/1,000]
The crystal cracked from top to bottom.
Carlos pushed the claw into the opening.
"GET OUT OF MY FUCKING TERRITORY!"
He pulled sideways and the Hellfire Heart split apart.
[Hellfire Heart destroyed]
[Chainbound Hell Warden eliminated]
Every flame disappeared. The iron plates around Carlos stopped moving.
For a moment, there was complete darkness.
Then the Warden fell and Carlos fell with it.
The massive body struck the courtyard and broke through the black stone.
Carlos remained trapped inside.
--
HP: 19/360
Status:
Left leg fractured
Severe burns
Internal bleeding
--
[Reverse Conquest Commander defeated]
[Exit portal opened]
[Reverse Conquest space will collapse in 30 seconds]
Carlos tried to move after looking at the timer but his left leg did not respond.
The Warden’s dead hands remained locked over the entrance to its body.
[25]
Carlos struck the iron from inside with the Devourer Claw, there was full strength behind it but the plate did not move.
[20]
He struck again.
And again.
And again.
[15]
The Warden’s body moved as if it was alive and light entered through a crack.
Brann’s claws appeared between the dead fingers.
The Bearkin pulled and one finger came out, then he went to the other.
Then another.
Carlos reached toward the opening and Brann grabbed his arm.
"Hold."
[10]
The Bearkin tore the Warden’s hands apart and dragged Carlos out.
He lifted him over one shoulder and ran.
The black courtyard broke behind them.
[7]
The exit portal waited between two collapsing pillars.
Brann jumped through it, and Carlos saw the scenery change from dead land to the bright territory. The air became fresher.
[3]
The Reverse Conquest disappeared behind them a moment later.
Carlos and Brann fell into the center of the territory.
The black portal closed behind them.
Carlos rolled from Brann’s shoulder and landed on his back.
Smoke covered the sky.
The Common Farmland was burning in several places. The northern tower was gone, and dead Ash Hounds covered the ground around the kitchen.
But Kaia was standing and the four guards were alive.
Rowan knelt beside the damaged wheat.
Blue and One rushed toward Carlos.
The fight on this side was over too.
Mira reached him first.
She dropped beside him, her cheerful face covered with ash and fear.
"C-Carlos?"
Carlos tried to answer but his mouth did not move.
Neither did his arms, his fingers or his unbroken leg.
He could see them through a red blur. Mira leaned over him. Blue and One pressed against either side of his burned body. Rowan had abandoned the wheat. Kaia and all four guards were moving toward him.
Carlos tried to tell them that he had returned but not even a dry sound came out.
Mira placed two fingers against his neck.
Her hand started trembling.
"Why isn’t he moving?"
Kaia dropped to one knee on his other side. The Guard Captain who had faced the Ash Hounds without retreating looked afraid to touch him.
Brann lowered himself behind them.
"Lord?"
Carlos heard the Bearkin.
But his body refused to answer.
No one looked at the burning farmland anymore.
Every resident and guard stared down at Carlos with panic in their eyes.
They were not looking at a Lord who had returned victorious.
They were looking at a dead man who had somehow forgotten to stop breathing.
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