“DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!” The gold haired Fire Shaman cried out in agony, stopping Bu Dong in his tracks. “Figure a way out to at least kill the first form without me!” Jasmin pleaded as her tears rolled down profusely due to the pain, and she could feel that her life was at an end.
“What are you talking about?! I am going to pull you out!” Bu Dong shouted as he initiated his intermediate sword art, Blazing Edge of the Angry Ape, hoping to hurt Evil Santa bad enough to let Jasmin go.
“It’s too late…” Jasmin said as she lifted her free hand and aimed her rental pistol at Bu Dong. “By the powers of Tiw, grant this weary warrior the strength to fight a battle worthy of your praise. Armour of Tiw!” She used up her final instant spell as she fired her pistol, imbued with the magic of a Fire Shaman
The bullet flew towards Bu Dong and it transformed into a metaphysical armour that imbued the Angry Ape cultivator with magical signs. Those magical body signs floating slightly above his body was the Level 2 Fire Armour of Tiw.
As it was only a level 2 version of the spell, the armour materialised looked something similar to a piece of thin shirt floating over his body. However, the essence of it remained which boosted Bu Dong’s defences as well as his ability to resist the cold even better, especially thanks to Katerina’s earlier support.
At that moment, Bu Dong noticed that Jasmin’s eyes turning bloodshot with blood coming out of her mouth. He did not know what was going on, but for the other fire Shamans, the effects were as plain as day.
From the kind of damage Jasmin suffered, they understood it had to be necrotic in nature. This evil energy was primarily used by the School of Necromancy or powers wielded by Undead Monsters or Demons.
The spectators were also at a loss at what was happening. Mr Patsu, the inhouse penguin announcer, explained to them that Evil Santa was using Dead Touch, a necrotic based spell that could rot the body.
Based on previous interactions, some of the cultivators discerned that it was acid attack since it was similar in appearance. The projectile blast that Evil Santa shot at the cultivators was able to corrode the weapons or shields they were holding and sometimes burned through their skin.
They never knew that it was necrotic damage.
Understanding her own predicament, Jasmin brought the pistol to her head. Her own insides were eating her, slowly corrupting her into a piece of mindless flesh and there was no way to defeat it other than accepting the fate. If they had a Water Shaman or perhaps a Druid they could have averted the situation, but right now all they had were a bunch of warrior-ish shamans that had skills to fight but none to heal.
“Not so fast…” A voice said as another charred hand pierced through the metal shutters and grabbed Jasmin by the waist. “Naughty children…will be put to sleep by me.”
The voice alone was enough to shudder the entire group of spectators watching it. The whole situation seemed less like a Christmas dungeon and more as if it was a horror movie. Jasmin panicked even more, and instead of killing herself, she kept pistol whipping the enormous hand that was grabbing her entire waist.
After which, the Fire Shaman attempted to let loose some bullets into the hand itself. It bled, but it did not have any other noticeable effect in releasing her. It was not until the pistol clip was empty that she immediately dropped it and tried to hit it with the dagger she hung it over her shoulder.
But at that point, her movements were already sluggish, and she knew her time was up.
Bu Dong hesitated for a while as Jasmin emptied her pistol, but when he saw that it was of no use, the Angry Ape cultivator immediately lunged into the fray, stabbing the hand that was holding onto Jasmin and he inserted a burst full of chi into Evil Santa.
This time, not only his skin was burnt, but the vessels in his arm ignited into flames, causing it to release his grip. Bu Dong quickly pulled the dropped Jasmin aside, but the emptiness in her eyes indicated that the necrotic damage had already reached her brain and heart.
“Good luck…” Jasmin whispered with her last breath as she tried to pass her knife to Bu Dong before losing all strength. Bu Dong inadvertently grabbed onto the dagger as he saw Evil Santa destroy the rest of the garage shutter and reveal his haggard self.
His face was all charred by the previous fire wall. Yet, he remained standing in it, seemingly without a care for his life. Evil Santa endured the flames while gazing at the culprit who did this. His clothes were also burnt into crisps, exposing the various scarred marks on his body.
“Bu Dong! Move away!” Nia and Shanice shouted as Bu Dong turned and saw that the sleigh that he wished to light up was burning furiously like a sun. After seeing what the Boss Monster did to their friend, they decided not to use it as a source of heat like a campfire.
Instead, they planned to ram the burning sleigh onto the exhausted Evil Santa.
Without any further warning, Nia and Shanice threw their already huge Fireball which they had sustained for a very long time onto the sleigh, giving it the explosive push needed to go back down the slope and towards the garage door.
It zoomed and crashed into the Santa who stood there either unable or unwilling to move out of the way, receiving the full blow of the attack. The sleigh smashed into pieces further burning the Santa but instead of sounds of pain and agony, there was laugher within the smothering mess.
Slowly but surely, a hairy black hoof came out of the burning debris as the fire crackled and the smell of burnt rotten flesh filled the surrounding winter air.
What followed was a black furred body with horns on his forehead that was previously hidden by his hat. The masked HUD interface activated automatically and indicated that the being in front of it was no longer Evil Santa.
A digital noise scrabbled before unveiling a new name for his supposedly last form.
Krampus.
