Forged Legacy

Chapter 149 - Lust and Greed

A short burst from Booster sent Harvey rocketing to the side just as a second bullet whizzed past him, colliding with a wall 30 feet behind. He could feel the heat of the twisted infernal flames licking his back, but it wasn’t enough to hurt. The demon laughed heartily, inspecting the gun again as his ruby ring surged. The life force he’d stolen from the dead sinners sank into his flesh, rapidly healing the wounds left by Harvey’s own bullets. Doing so consumed around half of the energy, with the rest returning to the large gem.

How the hell did he copy my gun!

[Who cares? Move!] Julius warned as a third bullet exploded from the chamber.

Harvey took to the skies, soaring high overhead as he returned Rupture to his ring. Instead, he pulled out a wildfire orb that he dropped into the roiling sea of rosy mist. It landed harmlessly, but the flames within danced through it like it was a cloud of hairspray, revealing the seductress skulking within.

Sparing a glance at the rooftop, he saw that Cash, Steve, and Tyler were nowhere to be seen. Cash’s summoned lion familiar was still there, clearly glad to be free of the poison mist even if that meant enduring Harvey’s flames. For now, it looked like he’d be fighting this one on his own.

Good.

Two more gunshots rang out, both sailing wide as Harvey took evasive maneuvers through the air. It was clear that, despite how common they appeared to be, this demon had never actually shot a gun before. Starting with a revolver that shot rounds normally reserved for only the largest of rifles, which were almost always shot lying prone, wasn’t helping.

“It’s kind of like that arcade game we played on our third date,” Cleo purred.

“Nice try,” Harvey replied, his voice straining under the jerking motions of changing directions with Booster. He flew like a person-sized fighter jet, and the g-forces weren’t kind.

The imposter hissed back, hurling her poisoned dagger straight towards him. It wasn’t as fast as a gunshot, but it also wasn’t as far behind as he expected. She was clearly adept at using throwing knives, and he rushed to bring his shield around in time. The weapon clinged off the steel, poking a shallow hole in the metal and leaving behind an extremely enticing smell. For a second, he was tempted to take off his helmet and lick the residue, but Julius was quick to snap him out.

The wildfire charge had dealt with the mist, but the demons had easily suppressed the weak flames before they could do any real damage. He wanted to toss some more Heaven’s Wrath orbs, but he didn’t have time to fill them. Maintaining flight with Booster required too much focus and was rapidly draining his essence reserves.

A sixth shot rang out, and Harvey was surprised to see the infernal flames consume the injured brimfiend instead of shooting towards him. The creature died instantly, its body soon wrapped in golden threads that siphoned its life force into his ruby ring.

“Varek!” the imposter scolded.

“It wasn’t gonna do anything. Better used feeding me,” the man replied.

Harvey was relieved to see the shadow of Rupture disappear with the final shot. Either the demon, Varek, couldn’t reload it, or he’d given up trying to shoot Harvey down. That opened a few new doors for Harvey. Doors he desperately needed if he was going to kill these two before Booster drained him completely.

Diving towards the ground, Harvey loosed three rounds towards the demoness before conjuring another shield with Innovator’s arsenal. The first hit true, cutting a hole through her side before erupting on the ground. But she was fast, dashing out of the way of the following rounds and out of range of his holy flames. Knives hammered into his shield one after another, but it protected him long enough to fill two more orbs with Heaven’s Wrath ink infused with the Architect of the Veils End. Just as his barrier began to buckle, he hurled the first towards the doorway of the restaurant where the demoness was hiding. Golden flames exploded forth, setting the building ablaze as she screamed in pain.

Varek didn’t seem to care about his companion, still smiling as six golden rings detached from his black wings, levitating in the air beside him. Harvey threw his second orb at the demon's feet, and once more, he did nothing to stop it. Red light joined the golden flames, leaving the demon unharmed and holding an obsidian orb filled with roiling black and red flames. The ruby proved he wasn’t immune to Harvey’s attacks, but the blatant disregard for two of his strongest weapons still sent a shiver down his spine.

“My turn,” Varek chuckled.

Instead of throwing the orb, the six rings shot towards Harvey, curving wide to attack from all different angles. Two were blocked by his shield, two missed when Harvey twisted to make himself a smaller target, and two pinged into his armor. It felt like he’d been shot point-blank with a BB gun in his right calf and left rib. Not lethal, but very annoying. Even worse, all six rings retreated before moving to strike again. He couldn’t afford to take his eyes off the demon and his twisted copy of Inkbound Ordnance, but it was like trying to ignore a swarm of angry bees circling all around you. His muscles tensed as he fought the urge to swat them all away.

Ping! Ping! Plonk!

Eventually, they started aiming for the gaps in his armor. Shooting towards his neck or bouncing off the thin visor in his helmet. It was insanely distracting, but he didn’t want to make his move until he’d escaped the grenade in Varek’s hand. Sensing his plans, Varek waggled the orb next to his face, pointing at it with his free hand before tossing the thing up and down.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

Screw it, Harvey thought, raising Rupture and aiming for his chest. The diamond ring glistened as the golden shield burst forth, but no bullet came. Instead, Harvey tried something he’d never done before. Infusing the gun with Innovator’s Arsenal, a conjured replica the size of a small cannon appeared in the air above him. With his latest boosts to Wisdom and Willpower, the projection looked more real than ever, down to the smallest lines of the inscriptions covering the gun. Just conjuring the complex weapon took almost a fifth of his essence, but it was worth it when the first shot left the barrel.

BOOM!

A silver missile covered in golden script joined the .50 caliber round exploding from the real revolver. He’d used the rounds that required him to manually infuse them with essence first, adding in his Imprint of the Architect of the Veils End to make sure his rounds were as destructive as possible.

For the first time since the fight began, Varek wavered. The demon staggered back, and Harvey felt Varek’s aura pouring into the diamond ring as the golden barrier grew brighter. Massive cracks formed in the shield as the gem rapidly dimmed. His normal bullet fell to the ground, but the missile above embedded halfway into the dome. Harvey fired again, this time adding his flame burst from the hammer charged by the first ring of kinetic absorption. His first shot was the nail, and the second became the hammer that cracked the dome wide open.

The demon screamed in pain as both missiles crashed into him, sending him tumbling backward, and the grenade falling to the ground. An explosion of infernal flames obscured his injured body, but the rings that had made Harvey’s body ache all over clattered to the ground. Harvey scrambled to put two of them into his own spatial ring before the rest shot back towards the demon. The last vestiges of life force he’d stolen from his allies faded away, healing most of the wounds. Before he could get up, Harvey shot him one last time, boring a hole straight through his stomach. Blood stained his suit red, and his shredded tie dangled over the hole as he screamed in pain.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“NO! GIVE THEM BACK! THEY’RE MINE!” Varek raved, somehow more concerned about the rings Harvey stole than the hole in his chest. He’d conjured another copy of Harvey’s revolver, but was frantically waving it around instead of lining up a shot. Harvey didn’t know if it was the pain or some sort of magical sickness that came with his path of greed, but the demon seemed to have lost his mind.

Taking a heavy step forward, Harvey lined up his sights on the demon’s head. The apparition conjured by Innovator’s Arsenal crumbled, his essence too drained to keep using it. He doubted he’d need it to finish him off anyway.

A plume of pink mist shot from behind, cutting off his vision as his mind swam. It broke his concentration just long enough for a knife to find his neck, but she was already gone by the time he sent a sweeping slash around him with the Sentinel’s Arcblade.

“Gah!” Harvey moaned, yanking the blade out. It wasn’t enough to kill him with his vitality, but the sensation of warmth flowing down his chest was like a mental attack of its own. Triggering two of the healing charges on the hilt of his sword sealed the wound, and flooding his body with his Tempered Heart Imprint suppressed the poison worming its way through his blood. It was an insidious mix, trying to distract him with lustful memories of his past while slowly eating away at his insides.

Another slash, this time imbued with his Flamestrike skill, burned away most of the mist, revealing an 8-foot-tall Cleo with multiple bleeding gashes cut into her red dress. Cash’s lion was gone, but it was clear that it had been keeping her busy while Harvey focused on Varek.

“Don’t fight it, baby,” she hissed. “You’ll like dying for me.”

Harvey hurriedly reloaded his gun, conjuring a new set of bullets before shooting at her head. She disappeared, filling the area with poison once again. Her path was one of stealth and seduction, making it incredibly hard to spot her aura in the middle of a chaotic battle. Still, Harvey and Julius both caught the subtle fluctuation at the same time.

[Right!]

Harvey couldn’t get his shield around fast enough, so instead he whipped the butt of his pistol towards her. It connected with a loud crack, knocking her to the ground and tumbling past him. Still, a pink rope had attached itself to his torso where she’d bumped into him. Disappearing, the demoness charged him again. This time, she’d moved towards his shield, bouncing away ineffectively while attaching another rope. When he tried to move his arm to intercept the next charge, he found it tethered to the floor. That let her attach two more ropes to his torso, effectively rooting him in place.

Oh no. What do I do?

He’d gotten better at not panicking during a fight, but the poison was messing with his mind. High Willpower proved to be a good defense, but it wasn’t a perfect one. He was still working off only a few months of experience, and these demons had been training their entire lives for fights like this.

Luckily, he had a second mind to back him up.

[Drop an arc charge and activate it the next time she rushes in. Then use a wildfire charge to burn the mist away, and hopefully it will deal with the ropes.]

Harvey had already snapped one as he tried thrashing free, so the skill wasn’t indestructible. As Julius suggested, he activated an arc charge and willed the bolts towards the demon. He heard her thump the ground and saw her writhe as flames burned away the mist. The ropes tying him down rapidly weakened as wildfire consumed them. As a power of his own creation, he managed to direct most of their energy into the skill, only suffering minor burns in the process.

When the bonds restraining his right arm finally snapped, he pointed the revolver and shot three bullets into her back. Her body disappeared just as he was about to unleash a fully charged attack. The gun hummed with power in his hands, and he hurriedly poured an essence and healing potion into his mouth. Mixing the two liquids nearly overwhelmed him, but his tired weave soon latched onto the essence while his vitality strained to direct the healing energy where it was needed most.

Across the street, the pained whimpering of the demoness joined the crazed ravings of Varek. His bullets had destroyed her back muscles, and she was doing her best to crawl towards her companion using her legs alone.

Harvey strained his weave to conjure one last Inkbound Ordnance ball and filled it with heaven’s wrath and his Imprint, hoping to kill them both in one go, but he froze when he saw Varek grab the woman by the hair, yank her towards him, and put a bullet in her mouth. Despite her inherent resistance to infernal resonance, she died instantly. Golden strands criss-crossed her body, consuming the dress, knives, and jewelry to recharge his diamond while her body became fuel for the ruby. New flesh wriggled from the edges of the hole in his torso, worming their way together to stop the flow of blood.

“I’m gonna kill you! I’m gonna drink your blood and melt that gun into a watch!” Varek raved.

Harvey desperately fought to break free of the rest of the ropes, eyes going wide as Rupture’s shadow pointed at his chest. The last pink thread only snapped when the bullet impacting Harvey’s chest sent him flying. The black metal bore right through his armor, infernal flames exploding inside his body. His vision flashed as blood gushed from his mouth, all the vital energy from his potion already consumed by the eruption. It was the worst pain he’d ever felt, and it took everything he had to stay conscious. He desperately channeled every last drop of essence into Legacy’s Redoubt, conjuring the bunker just in time to intercept a second shot. It shuddered ominously, part of the wall caving in slightly where the bullet hit. Julius forcefully took control of Harvey’s aura, infusing the redoubt with his Guardian of the Gilded Return. Tempered Heart would make the walls stronger, but Harvey needed the subtle healing effect if he was going to stay conscious.

[Hold on! Recover what you can!]

The taste of iron permeated his mouth as he coughed up more blood. He thought about his family hidden inside the building behind him. They had no chance if this lunatic came looking for them.

“Run!” he croaked, the words coming out garbled. He spat, trying to get as much out as he could before shouting louder. “Run! Get out, please!”

[Nobody’s leaving you behind, Harvey. Now stop wasting energy and fight!]

More gunshots erupted outside, accompanied by Varek’s crazed laughter. The bunker stopped shuddering after the first three, making him worry Varek was trying to collapse the building on him.

“Here! Take them!” Harvey wailed, pulling the two rings he’d stolen out of his spatial ring. They instantly shot towards the wall, getting caught on the inside before sliding up and out of the window.

The shooting didn’t stop, and Harvey realized whoever it was had more bullets than they should. Varek should only have six, and he’d used most of them on Harvey.

“You too, angel!” Varek screamed.

Cash shouted in rage, unloading his magazine into the golden shield Harvey could barely see outside the bunker window. Cracks quickly spread, and it shattered entirely right as the roar of a second conjured lion filled the street. Harvey knew the familiar wasn’t strong enough to kill the demon outright, but it bought Cash enough time to reload and send a second volley of bullets the demon's way.

The fighting lasted less than a minute before someone came pounding on the bunker door.

“Harvey! Let me in!” Cash shouted.

Part of him worried the demoness was back somehow, impersonating his friend, but he couldn’t afford to wait any longer. His mental energy was fading fast, and the Guardian of the Gilded Return’s healing was only a stay of execution. He didn’t have the strength to manually open the door, so he let the bunker dissipate back into pure essence. A burned and bloodied Cash tumbled forward, golden light already glowing from his hands as he fell to his knees atop Harvey.

Holy light soon overcame the poison and infernal resonance still lingering inside his body, pulling him back from the brink of death.

“Sorry it took so long, had to put that guy down before those rings poked too many holes in me.” His wings, still golden thanks to his defensive skill, were charred black and dented in multiple places. Blood leaked from a few wounds on his face, but he let them bleed as he poured all of his essence into healing Harvey.

“Now we’re even,” Harvey croaked.

Cash just laughed, relief flooding over both of them. He turned his head to see Varek lying dead on the pavement, his suit pocked full of bullet holes. The demoness lay beside him, not bleeding at all after having her life force stolen. It almost looked like it was trying to fight its way back to her as Varek’s blood soaked the ground beneath them both.

“Where’s my family?” Harvey asked.

“Safe. I had to lock them inside an apartment so they wouldn't fight to save their mom. That magic she used was powerful.”

“Tell me about it,” Harvey said as he tried to sit himself up. The pain in his core made him finally black out, collapsing to the floor.