Dylak's Revenge (Part 18) Combat Butler
"Alright, then. Let's end this…" Amelia whispered to herself, as she calmly landed in front of the correct mansion. She put her hands inside her jacket's pockets and looked at the burned ground and a barrier of ice melting away.
**Our NPCs' work, probably. But that doesn't explain why the trees around this area look dead.**
Amelia got close to one and caressed its gray bark. The tree turned into ashes immediately.
**No, it's not only this place. While I was flying, I noticed that the whole domain has been gradually decaying. Is this programmed to happen as the bosses are being eliminated? As some sort of 'the end is near' ambience?**
**Whatever,** Amelia sighed, tossing her hair behind her shoulder. **The most important thing right now is planning my grand entrance.**
She grinned ear to ear. Something she would not do in front of others.
**Should I crash the rooftop, like a life-saving angel? Or should I hide somewhere nearby and wait for the last second to save his ass? I could even say: 'Sorry for being late', or, 'I arrived just in time, Alan!'.**
She giggled while embracing herself.
**I can only imagine his expression when his hot, awesome, extremely beautiful and powerful co-leader enters the scene and saves the day! I should have asked Clara to lend me her camera. Hu-hu-hu.**
"Speaking of the devil," she whispered, getting a Party Chat request notification.
++"Clara? Have you received the news? Tell me you're nearby, because I need your…"++
++"Amelia! Where are you?!"++
++"I'm about to enter the mansion Alan is in. I'm going to kick that Dylak's butt so hard than…"++
++"No, no, no! Do NOT help him!"++
++"What?"++ Amelia intoned angrily, grimacing.
++"Listen, you're the only one that can one-shot the boss, and the only one that Unus Town needs right now!"++
++"What are you talking abo--?"++
++"There is a group of Dylak Duplicates marching towards New Unus Town as we speak! I just got rid of a level 30 duplicate, so we must assume that those duplicates will be of the same level or even higher!"++
**A bunch of level thirty-something dungeon bosses marching towards the Beginner's Town?**
Through Amelia's mind flashed the faces of her neighbors, of the slime-folk, of the guilders helping rebuild their homes.
++"Understood,"++ Amelia replied. ++"It will take me a minute to kill the real Dy--"++
++"Don't do that either. The dungeon will reset!"++
Amelia shut her eyes.
**Her voice can be very annoying sometimes…**
++"How do you know all this, anyway?"++
++"I may have met the—ahem—'person' responsible for this mess…"++
++"That you what?!"++
++"I have a plan, trust me! In the meantime, just help me protect Unus, please! You're the only one capable of getting there fast and pulling it off!"++
Amelia glanced at the mansion in front of her and bit her lower lip. **Leave the security of my Guild Master in the hands of this weirdo?**
She formed fists, before turning around and crafting fire wings. "Fine. Leave it to me."
Amelia flew towards the area from where they had entered and crossed the force field safely.
**Very well, Clara. Show me how dependable you are.**
She hopped on her flying tiger as soon as it materialized and took flight at full speed.
**Alan Warden is the man that will save this spaceship from future damnation, so I expect his companions to be worthy of such a monumental task.**
**Prove that you're worthy of being a member of Phantom Seekers, then, Clara Dominguez…**
* * *
**
*
Meanwhile, the Weakest Hero of the People, was running away from the Boss Chambers.
"Oh, come on! Why is he level 40?!" Alan cried while going down the stairs in a hurry. "He should be level 15, right?! Or am I misremembering it?"
"No, you're correct, Guild Master," Fabio replied, while casting Zap towards their pursuer. "He should have leveled up during this time."
"25 levels in a matter of hours?! Yeah, right! I bet the system is cheating on me!"
**And worst of all, I can't let this Boss kill me. Although I can respawn, I'm not sure if it will be the same for Fabio. If he can't revive, I'll lose my best fighting chance!**
++"Can you hear me through Party Chat, Fabio?"++
++"Loud and clear, Guild Master."++
++"Can't you leave a trap or something? Something to distract him while I hide."++
++"Yes, I can."++
Fabio quietly cast: "Minor Electric Crafting, Zap Mine." He imbued the floor with mana and continued running towards the left aisle of the first floor. In a couple of seconds, they could hear Dylak getting incapacitated for a moment. ++"It's done, but he'll recover in a matter of seconds."++
++"Fine. Let's use this corridor. His movements will be restricted here."++ Alan quickly entered a room, and hid inside a closet where he cast: "Mechanic-Class Active Skill, Advanced Puppet Master."
++"Fabio has accepted the connection, Alan,"++ Aaron informed, materializing on his shoulder, at the same time a neon virtual keyboard and mouse illuminated the closet's interior. When Alan put on his goggles, he could see what Fabio was witnessing.
Count Dylak was walking down the corridor, cautiously. "Where is Alan Warden, NPC?"
"I'm buying him time so he can escape," Alan spoke through Fabio.
"Ridiculous," Dylak sneered. "He can't escape from the mansion. He is surely…"
++"Aaron,"++ Alan called, while Dylak spoke to Fabio. ++"Give me a complete list of Fabio's skills."++
++"Here it is."++
-----------------
++ACTIVE SKILLS++
+ Minor Electric Crafting. Zap
+ Minor Electric Crafting. Zap Mine
+ Medium Electric Style. Volt Punch
-----------------
++PASSIVE SKILLS++
+COMBAT BATTERY+
**An electric aura that surrounds the user and becomes more powerful as time goes on. Increases the speed of the user, and wears down the enemy overtime. **
+ELECTRIC INFUSED ATTACKS
(Provided by ELECTRIC KNUCKLES)+
**Only applicable while equipping the item. Requires mana.
-----------------
++"He doesn't have the Overcharge skill like Bella?"++
++"No, Alan. Although the Combat Battery skill could be a close approximation if Fabio can generate enough electric charge to activate it."++
++"Neat. It's good to see that you can read all this information and assimilate it quickly. By the way, I don't have to learn how to cast these skills, right?"++
++"Correct. Fabio will automatically cast them for you. Do you want me to create keyboard shortcuts for every one of his Active Skills?"++
++"Yes…"++
Alan exhaled, and made Fabio form fists, as Dylak finished talking:
"So, if you understand, get out of my way, you NPC…"
"You keep talking as if being an NPC made me inferior," Alan talked through Fabio, making Dylak frown. "But is having a little self-consciousness really a benefit? This ego of yours makes you more human-like. I thought NUs were supposed to be the next evolution of AIs. Aren't you failing your creator's expectations?"
"What do you know about what being unique is like?!" Count Dylak shouted, emanating a dark aura. "You obey your master's orders without question and parrot what they have programmed into you! You don't have a personality. YOU HAVE NOTHING!"
++"Aaron, can you scan Dylak's status?"++
++"Sorry, but no. His level is too high for us to scan. I could make an estimation though, but only after analyzing his combat capabilities. Are you afraid that Fabio won't stand a chance?"++
++"Kinda… Wait, no, I'm used to this. In games, the boss is always stronger than the player, you know?"++
++"Are those games some kind of torture, Alan?"++