The Primal Hunter

Chapter 867: Nevermore: Twinhead Emperor

Jake deserved a goddamn award for his performance as the mysterious yet powerful Lord of Hunger. Ah, not those awards given for good acting, but those reserved for extremely shitty performances because hot damn had Jake felt embarrassed while saying his lines.

He could at least partly excuse how horrible it was by blaming Sim-Jake a little. In order to really sell it, Jake had infused his body with curse energy and even sent it emanating out of Eternal Hunger while mixing it with his presence. Shit, he went as far as to summon his Eternal Shadow to overlap with his own body during the entire thing.

This did inadvertedly result in Jake being affected by his own curse energy. No way around it. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Jake to feel like he could blame the remnants of cringe on Sim-Jake. At least his party members were kind enough to not say anything during or after his speech.

Not that they had much to complain about… because their plan had worked. Without them even having to use any of their two backups in case Jake’s acting had failed.

The ritual created by the Twinhead Emperor was in full swing as the curse and death energy exploded out of it. Over a hundred pillars of pure energy shot toward the sky as the two Twin Emperors merged into one being as their body was infused with energy all the meanwhile.

The energy pouring out of the many Totem Bone Spheres was the impurities, as the Twinhead Ogre only absorbed the cleanest of energy and Records. More than ninety-nine percent of this energy would not be used by the ogre as this ritual was never meant to raise their power, just their future potential. In all honesty, it was a damn impressive ritual, if also flawed in many ways, as it was rather forceful. Perhaps it would allow the Twinhead Ogre to reach B-grade, but akin to someone absorbing a fragment of the Viper and instantly evolving a few grades, B-grade would be the end of the Twinhead Ogre’s Path.

Well, if he ever did manage to evolve… something Jake and company were going to make sure that wasn’t gonna happen. As the ritual was winding down, a system message appeared before Jake and the others.

Event unlocked: Return of the Twinhead Emperor.

The culprits behind the war on the Vast Plateau were moments away from having their wish come true at the sacrifice of most enlightened beings on the Plateau. Their ritual was complete, everything ready, all factors accounted for… except for the appearance of five unknown entities.

Despite their prior plans, the Twin Emperors have decided to once more merge with one another, rebirthing the Twinhead Emperor in a state more powerful than ever. They viewed it as their only choice to face this threat, even if it ruined all they had been preparing for.

Now, with all hopes of evolution squashed, they seek only their own survival and revenge on those for forced them into this state.

End the Path of the Twinhead Emperor once and for all, thus ending not only the conflict on the Vast Plateau but the cause of it. Do so that it may never happen again.

New Bonus Objective gained: Do not allow a single party member to be slain during the battle while fully slaying the Twinhead Emperor for good.

It was a message saying something borderline identical to what was on floor seventy-five with the event boss here, except it now even had an added bonus objective. Jake and company had completed all of the bonus objectives on this floor already, so to get a new one was a bit of a surprise… plus it communicated that the difficulty of this fight was high, as the only other time Jake remembered seeing a bonus objective like that was during their fight with Minaga.

Jake stared down at the Twinhead Ogre as the ritual fully came to an end. The whole thing had only taken ten or so seconds, as the ritual had already been well underway by the time Jake appeared and interfered. As all the energy began to die down, the ritual kept humming with energy as the two figures standing at the center turned into one.

The ogre had gotten slightly taller and was the same bundle of muscle as before. His armor had changed quite a bit, as it was now a mix of the two Twin Emperor’s prior equipment. All the most important places were protected by metal, while the rest was just cloth. The only mostly visible flesh was on the ogre’s arms, legs, and face, with a kilt the only thing defending his legs, with even the feet wide open as the boss wore some sandal-looking footwear.

As expected, the biggest change by far was what could be found above the neck… or necks, as it should be called now. Two heads rested side by side, each having the face of one of the Twin Emperors. On the respective sides of their heads, they also wielded the weapons of each Twin Emperor, with the right side having a giant sword and the left side a staff.

Using Identity, Jake confirmed the result.

[Twinhead Emperor – lvl 335]

Even if the ritual had not been done to gain more power, getting a few levels was still inevitable. In fact, Jake found it a bit lucky the boss had not risen in level further… because if the Twinhead Emperor had, this would have gotten even harder than it already was going to be.

The aura of the ogre had entirely transformed after the two had merged into one. Before, they had both been incomplete, while now, reuinited, the Twinhead Ogre could show their full power once more. In pure power, it was by far the strongest creature Jake had ever faced on Nevermore, outside of the B-grade he had tried to fight in Minaga’s Labyrinth.

Powerful for sure… but compared to a B-grade, this ogre was still manageable.

“Lord of Hunger! You have forced me into this, so be prepared to face the consequences!” One of the heads of the Twinhead Emperor yelled, infusing his voice with mana. Jake felt like this was his queue to continue their plan.

“Consequences? No, thank you… I’d rather not deal with you at all,” Jake said, acting as much like a being born of a curse as he could.

“That is not your choice to-“

Before the ogre could finish the sentence, the attacks arrived. A massive drill of wind descended from above as hundreds of spear-like roots shot up from underneath. At the same time, a thin, piercing blade of water shot at the Twinhead Emperor from one side as a golden beam arrived from the other. Jake didn’t use any direct attack but instead simply stared at the boss as his eyes glowed orange, using Primal Gaze.

He felt a powerful impact on his soul, making Jake flinch in pain, but he still continued doing his part. A shadowy version of himself also flew out of his body, barreling down toward the ogre with a katar in hand as the real Jake prepared to use the cover of curse energy to fly upward.

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The many attacks arrived at the Twinhead Emperor, and they momentarily froze. Right as they did, the eyes of one of the heads began to glow as something entirely unexpected happened. The soul attack Jake had made was entirely taken on by only one of the heads, allowing the other one to control the body and energy fully.

Slamming their staff into the ground, the roots were crushed down as the earth erupted. Massive spikes hundreds of meters tall shot up all around him, weakening the the attacks coming from the side, as a barrier of swirling wind also appeared around the boss. The barrier did not look powerful enough to block the attack, but Jake understood when he saw the barrier slightly reflect the trajectory of the drill of wind from above, making it crash into the golden beam from the Fallen King. At the same time, the sword in the right arm was raised and blocked the Sword Saint’s attack fully, as the ogre’s arm barely moved from the impact.

The only one unblocked was Jake’s Eternal Shadow, but that was because the Twin Emperor had chosen an offensive option for that one. The glowing eyes of the ogre that had taken on the soul attack intensified as two burning beams blasted out. Rather than get hit, the Eternal Shadow dodged the blow as the beam turned in mid-air to strike from behind.

This one, the Eternal Shadow, didn’t even bother to dodge as it threw its weapon. It wasn’t even close to hitting the ogre but pierced through several layers of rock before embedding itself in the ground. The ogre’s attack did hit, though, as the Eternal Shadow dispersed into energy, making the ogre temporarily look confused.

They didn’t have much time to ponder, though, as more attacks arrived. Jake’s party – except Sylphie, who had been flying far up in the air - had all taken up hidden positions Jake had made using stable barriers of arcane mana around the ritual circle, Dina helping to further hide them using her nature magic. Now, they were all out of hiding and went for the boss.

As for where Jake, the Lord of Hunger, was? Well, he was already “dead,” or at least gone, right? At least it looked like he had disappeared as the true Jake rapidly ascended upwards, hidden by the remnant curse energy he had filled the sky with. He even felt that the Twinhead Emperor was no longer fully aware of him, allowing him to once more begin to enter stealth while flying upwards. In his quiver on his back, an arrow was also being created as Jake began making all of his preperations.

While ascending, he turned parts of his attention to the battle below as he hoped the other four could also handle their role until it was time for Jake to make his reentrance.

The Sword Saint went straight for the Twinhead Emperor, blade already in hand. He was the only true melee fighter of their party, making him alone in close combat more often than not, at least when the boss in question didn’t try to avoid fighting him directly. This was undoubtedly a risky role, but he was more than up for it.

Staring at the boss, Miyamoto knew the merged ogre was powerful. He did not have Jake’s ability to judge others’ power extremely accurately, but he had been in plenty of fights himself and had acceptable insight when measuring a foe… and this Emperor was powerful. Very powerful.

Due to that, he also didn’t dare hold back as the Sword Saint activated his boosting skill immediately. He would need it no matter what, and out of everyone, his was the one that could be used for the longest. It was based on water and time, both concepts rather gentle in nature, though it did come at the sacrifice of not making the power gained as explosive.

Closing in on the Twinhead Emperor, the ogre noticed him as one of the heads turned. He had approached from the right side, which, in retrospect, was perhaps not the best, as he found himself confronted with a massive sword. One that would usually be wielded in two hands, but the ogre wielded it with ease as he swung for the approaching swordsman.

Blocking was not an option as the Sword Saint momentarily delayed his step, allowing the blade to swing down in front of him, missing entirely. The blade struck the ground, making it erupt as an explosion of death mana washed over the old man, but he wasn’t deterred, as he went for a light slash, not wanting to overcommit to any attack.

Moving quickly, the ogre pulled back the arm the Sword Saint was going for, but a small cut was still left. Without waiting for a full response, the old man retreated slightly, which proved a good idea as the ogre ripped up the blade embedded in the ground, making it erupt and sending black rot shards infused with death energy flying toward Miyamoto.

Deflecting those he couldn’t dodge, he tried to launch a crescent blade of water to keep the ogre engaged and focused on him. However, clearly, the boss wasn’t taking him overly seriously yet. Miyamoto was, in effect, only fighting one of the heads, as the left one focused entirely on being prepared for the three other attacks.

Attacks that arrived soon after as Sylphie descended from above. She pierced down, aiming straight for the left head. Unfortunately, the ogre had been prepared as he raised his staff toward the sky and released a torrent of fire and rock, blasting upwards and lighting up the sky.

Right as the ogre did this, a blast of force arrived from the side, hitting the ogre in the arm, making the blast go slightly off-course. This allowed Sylphie to penetrate through the flames, but she was still forced to abandon fully committing at the very last second when a pillar of rock shot up toward her. Still, she managed to use all her momentum to launch a bullet of air that hit the ogre in the shoulder, drawing blood.

Both the Fallen King and Sylphie continued their many attacks as the Sword Saint stayed in melee range. So far, the ogre had yet to move a single time but had stayed mostly still throughout the entire battle. Yet he was not really losing any ground at all, handling the three of them. It didn’t help that the few minor wounds they did leave were healed within seconds, as the boss could even cast healing magic on themselves.

Not that their party was struggling much, either. The Sword Saint kept a primarily defensive style, as he stayed engaged with the right side of the ogre. He dodged all the blade swings and the blasts of death magic as he left minor wound after minor wound. Sometimes, he was a bit too slow to fully dodge an attack, which was where Dina came in with her healing.

A status quo was established, and the Sword Saint believed things were progressing far better than expected. They were buying time for Jake to do his thing without expending many of their resources, and they still had “that” prepared for later, too.

Continuing his attacks, the Sword Saint began to gain more confidence, as the boss was not as dangerous as first believed. The ogre wasn’t attacking much, but mostly defending, and when they did attack, it was to blast one of them away. It was almost as if the ogre was also buying time… but for what?

They would get their answer soon after.

The Sword Saint tried to land a deep cut on the arm of the ogre, but suddenly, he found a staff pointed at his head. Quickly, he dodged to the side as a bullet of air shot toward him, and before he could even raise his blade to block, a blade came swinging in from the side.

With alarm, Miyamoto was forced to use his newly gained evasion skill, as his body was replaced with a water clone. At the same time, he was sent back about five meters, where he still suffered from a shockwave of pure death energy released from the blade.

Stumbling, he didn’t even have time to stabilize before a shard of stone struck him in the shoulder, sending him flying back as blood splurted out. To make matters worse, he also saw the Fallen King suffer as a massive lighting strike came down right where he was standing, as Sylphie had been entirely pushed back by two summoned snake-like creatures of fire chasing her.

From one second to another, the ogre had entirely changed. Their moves were coordinated, calculated, and perfectly in sync. Retreating, the Sword Saint quickly felt Dina heal him as he ripped out the rock shard, luckily not getting injured too badly despite being taken by surprise. As he made some distance, he heard the ogre speak once more.

“It took a bit,” the right head said.

“A century apart was a long time,” the left followed up.

“However, I do believe-“

“-I’ve gotten used to it-“

“-once more-“

“-by now.”

That’s when the Sword Saint realized why the ogre had seemed so off… the two of them had been living as separate entities for so long it had taken them time to truly synchronize. Frowning, Miyamoto realized they had missed a great opportunity to strike, and looking at the entirely changed demeanor of the Twinhead Emperor, he hoped it was going to haunt them.

“How long?” he asked Jake.

“Ten seconds… brace for impact,” the hunter answered, the Sword Saint steeling himself as he and the rest of the party knew there was no time to hesitate.𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Bending his legs, water condensed on Miyamoto’s blade as he activated Rain Blade and charged forward. From a cloud of smoke also emerged the Fallen King, swinging two large golden hammers on what looked like chains as he rapidly approached the boss. Sylphie also unleashed a blast of wind to push away the flame snakes as their entire party moved to ensure Jake would have his opening.