The group spent a few minutes drinking tea and watching Braag win chess against the two NPC of lowest difficulty. When they left, they felt greatly refreshed and had a buff for faster mana recovery.
Not far from the teahouse was one of Flood Dragon Manor's teleporters. They hadn't unlocked it from the start, which led to Liam tricking the others into an unpleasant boat ride. But now they could directly take the teleporter to Six Demon Island.
In a flash they arrived on the island. The rain was still pouring relentlessly, and all the cultists were nowhere to be seen, apparently still praying. The group ran as fast as possible, heading for the tunnel behind the temple.
Fortunately, the gates were still wide open. The group entered, asked C to dry their clothes, and walked back inside the mountain. Soon, they were in the large hall were the fight against Jeddid took place. They could already see the troll shaman Lekraxc's aged face.
As the players got closer the troll shaman slowly opened his eyes. A flash went through them. He could already feel the key in the players' possession.
"You were successful!"
"Yes, we didn't disappoint you."
Liam didn't waste much time and took out the red gemstone. A relieved smile formed on Lekraxc's face.
"Good. It is time to leave this prison. Too many years have passed..."
The troll shaman let out a sigh and his eyes grew focused. An immense power began to build up in his body. The entire mountain began to shake and quake. Instantly the chains tightened around him in an attempt to suppress the shaman's power.
But over the long years they have lost too much of their effectiveness. Lekraxc managed to push out quite a bit of his own mana. It engulfed the key and lifted it up. Under the troll's guidance the key slowly left the platform, floating towards his chest.
A voice came from the side.
"You are... freeing yourself?"
It was Harry who slowly recovered after the shock he received. But Lekraxc didn't have the mind to answer him right now. Under his careful control the key finally reached his chest where all the chains overlapped.
A magic circle appeared in the air. It lowered itself onto the chains. But suddenly the patterns covering the metal lit up, shaking violently and shattering the magic circle.
The troll shaman shivered as if he received a heavy blow. Blood trickled from his mouth. But his actions didn't stop.
Lekraxc conjured another magic circle. He pondered for a second before slightly altering it and letting it approach the chain again. This time everything worked out and the magic circle covered the chain, fusing into it.
Next came the key. The moment it settled in the centre of the magic circle it instantly let out a bright red light.
"Ah!"
The players closed their eyes, shocked by the blinding flash. It even surged outside, causing a bright red phenomenon in the air above the mountain, alerting people far and wide.
Suddenly an intense rattling echoed through the cave, assaulting everyone's eardrums. As the red light receded the players watched the chains swiftly falling from the troll shaman's body.
"Finally!"
Lekraxc couldn't help but let out a roar. Tears welled in his eyes and extremely complicated emotions could be seen on his face. With a wave of his arms he got rid of the chains completely.
Rattling loudly two of the chains fell down through the shafts, sinking into the ocean. They caused such a big commotion that the islands they were attached to drifted away for a few meters.
"You are free!"
Harry was just as excited, if nor more. He stared at Lekraxc with admiration and dependence. Yet right at this moment a shrill voice caused everyone's skin to be covered in goosebumps.
"NOO! You destroyed everything!"
Liam turned around and watched a bunch of cultists running towards them. High Priestess Efroahnol was at the back, staring at Lekraxc with bloodshot eyes. In front of her were dozens of cultists in red robes, which were her most loyal supporters.
Lekraxc watched the group gently, saying:
"Efroahnol. I know you have your own troubles, but this is not a solution. You should leave now. I will not pursue you."
"NO! It's not over yet! You should repent for your sins! It is your duty to help me."
"I already told you before. I am not willing to help you. I won't hurt innocent people again."
"You call them innocent?! Ha! They are all murderers and thieves! You know what... it doesn't matter! I don't need your agreement anymore!"
"What?"
Under everyone's confused eyes Efroahnol raised her hands, and an object appeared out of thin air. It was the effigy standing in the cultists' temple with the red key inlaid in its chest. Now that they reached this point the players obviously realized that the effigy was supposed to depict the troll shaman, the 'jailed god'.
"You will help me! No matter if you want or not!"
"What are you doing?"
"Lady, don't do anything stupid."
Both Lekraxc and even Harry had a bad premonition. Efroahnol hadn't even looked at Harry so far but now her eyes lit up.
"Two to the price of one? I'm in luck!"
With that, the smile on the beautiful elf's face slowly turned deranged. She infused mana into the effigy in her hand and blood-red patterns emerged on its surface. They were centred around the key, drawing some power from it.
"AH!"
"How is this possible?!"
Harry and Lekraxc both let out screams. Harry fell to the floor, winding in pain. Lekraxc remained calmer but his eyes also showed struggle. He realized how a strange magic came from the effigy, trying to take control of him.
Unable to move the troll shaman could only plead with Liam's group:
"Adventurers, please! You need to stop her, or a catastrophe might happen!"
"You can count on us!"
Liam quickly reassured the toll shaman as the quest got updated.
[
[Step one: Find the location of at least one key!]
[Step two: Bring one of the missing keys to Lekraxc!]
OR
[Step two: Destroy the two missing keys!]
[Sep three: Prevent Efroahnol from taking control of Harry and Lekraxc!]
"Fanatics! Block them!"
"Yes, high priestess!"
The red cloaked cultists moved on Efroahnol's command. They instantly blocked the way towards the other room. The sound of heavy armor could be heard from below their cloaks. The four cultists forming the front row stretched out their hands and towering shields appeared out of thin air.
At that moment two grey bars appeared above Efroahnol's head as the fight officially began. Instantly all eyes were on Liam.
"What's the plan now? We are blocked here!"
Liam kept calm, delivering an explanation:
"Look at the two bars! You can all see one of them fill with a blue colour. If it turns blue entirely, Efroahnol takes control of the trolls, and we fail the quest.
But if we attack her, the second bar will turn red. We need to fill it fast enough, which will interrupt her, and we will accomplish the quest."
"Ok, so it's basically a timed fight?"
"Exactly. We need to hurry and prioritize damage. Quickstep and I will use our skills to get past the wall of tanks. Lenn, you protect the others from Efroahnol's skills. The tanks can basically be ignored; you don't even need to aggro them."
"Alright, got it! I need to use a decoy though to attract the priestess."
"Mhm."
Liam nodded at the tank as everyone got moving. Quickstep comically ran in circles to gain enough storm to activate [Carrier of Storm]. Turning into a blade of surging wind she flashed, cutting right through the wall of tanks. In no time at all she arrived next to Efroahnol, checking her status swiftly.
[High Priestess Efroahnol
Rank: Boss
Level: 44
HP: 43.000/43.000
Status: Casting (118/10.000); Interruption (0/50.000]
At this moment Efroahnol was greatly weakened compared to earlier. It was obvious that she had lost the additional power stolen from Lekraxc.
Quickstep felt relieved, thinking that a level 44 boss was something they could handle. Keeping up her skill she powerfully slammed into the elf, noticing out of the corner of her eyes that Lenn had already thrown his decoy.
But before Quickstep could reach the enemy, the red key suddenly flashed. A barrier of red light engulfed Efroahnol for a moment, blocking Quickstep's attack.
[465!]
[195!]
For a moment Quickstep was confused by the neutral number. But she quickly comprehended that the damage wasn't deducted from the HP but was instead counted towards interruption. The red bar filled by a chunk, rewarding her efforts.
"Guys, this will be easy! Let's go!"
Listening to Quickstep's encouraging shout movement came into the group. A magical sphere slammed into the red barrier. A bomb exploded against it and a strange black shadow appeared behind the boss's back.
Meanwhile the cultist tanks stepped forward in unison, putting pressure on the players.