By the Holy Light!

The brightness burned at John’s eyes; he recoiled in pain. Yet, at the same time, he felt a warmth wash over him, reinvigorate him. John could feel himself rise into the air, the control of his arms and legs slowly returning, and could feel a pop up demanding his attention from his closed eyes.

High Priestess Galiania has casted Mass Revive and would like to revive you, do you accept?
YES/NO?

John attempted to move his hand to no avail. Only his fingers would wiggle as he commanded his arm to reach out and his finger press yes. As he thought about pressing YES, he saw it light up, indicating his choice. The Holy Light that had been interwoven into his body, burst forth as he felt his lungs inhale again and his vision cleared, with The Soldier’s Anguish in front of him, just waiting.

“Arise my companions, and let us smite this unholy abomination!” shouted Gali as her staff was raised in the air, and a bubble of light enclosed her and the rest of John’s team, most likely keeping The Soldier’s Anguish out and reviving them. John saw Idena and Mikuru standing, no worse for wear.

“Everyone ok?” asked John.

“I don’t know what happened, master, but I feel better than I have in many years!” Idena happily reported.

“I, too, feel well enough to continue the fight,” Mikuru told John.

“Gali, thank you for saving us! How are you holding up?” asked John, worried she might have used up too much power.

“I… am fine, king. Let us continue this fight!” she said as she caught her breath and once again took a fighting stance. The others quickly followed the High Priestess’ lead, readying their weapons to strike.

“I, King John Newman of the Kingdom of Tenebris, hereby judge you to be a monstrous aberration to this land and shall be sealed away by the truth of these words!” decreed John as she rushed the creature and brought down his sword across the bone wraith’s bare chest, a large gash appeared where the sword struck. Idena and Mikuru flanked John, both attacking the creature’s side. Idena’s lightning infused gauntlet connected with the bone wings The Soldier’s Anguish brought down to shield it from the attack, only to have those same wings shatter as Idena tore through it. Mikuru, meanwhile, had spun around to gain power as her foot up to her knee was covered in rock; her leg connected with the bone wings on her side and easily passed through them as they gave away to her kick’s ****. Idena and Mikuru’s attacks connected at the same time on opposite sides of the chest. The power of those impacts caused the chest to cave in.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” yelled out the creature in its first showing of pain. John looked on as the bone wraith seemed to stumble on its non-existent legs. The skies split open as a beam of light filled the air and crashed on top of it’s head, causing even more pain.

“Yes! We’re doing real damage to it now! Continue the ****!” John commanded as he made good use of Templar’s Verdict and Crusader’s Strike to do massive damage to it. As John repeatedly struck The Soldier’s Anguish, he noticed a symbol of two blades striking each other over the name of his current enemy. After dodging a slash from its mighty axe, John cast Observe on the strange symol.

Censure
Deals 20 damage over 15 seconds. Caused by Judgement being used while Seal of Truth is active

“Huh. Guess I learned some more new moves,” John said out loud, ignoring the giant axe that was going for his neck.

“Noooooooooooooooooo!” screamed Gali as she wished she could get to John in time and shield him. Suddenly, John was surrounded by a protective bubble that absorbed the hit.

“Huh?” John said with a flabbergasted look on his face. “Thanks, Gali!” John quickly said as he put two and two together to realize Gali had just saved his life a second time in the same fight. “Let’s finish this, girls!” John said as he, Idena, and Mikuru performed a three prong attack on The Soldier’s Anguish. John attacked first, slashing wildly at the bone wraith’s chest; his finale driving his sword into the undead’s skeletal body. Mikuru was the second of this combo, using her earthen enhanced limbs to pound on the creature’s weakened chest, causing cracks to form. A powerful kick, enhanced by the magical rock on her foot and leg, on the hilt of the sword drove it even further into the chest cavity. The sword exacerbated the already numerous cracks. Idena finished the attack with a single blow. While John and Mikuru performed their part, Idena took to the skies and raced around the sky, gathering more and more momentum. When it was her turn, Idena swung around and made straight for The Soldier’s Anguish, her right gauntlet surging with her electrical magic. With her increased momentum, she made contact with the sword, driving it completely into The Soldier’s Anguish, complete with her electrical charge.

The Soldier’s Anguish let out a ghastly howl as its entire body began to glow, electricity arced from its broken wings, the spikes on its arms and back, and from skull to skull. The blue aura that permeated from the creature grew brighter and brighter as the sword in it began to shake in a violet nature.

“You’ll… pay… for… this…. ward…” were the only words the creature spoke to John before it exploded. John shielded his face with his hands but never felt the **** of the explosion. His lowered arms revealed why: Gali had once again proven herself as invaluable as she created a bubble of protection around the whole group. John glanced at Gali, whose face was contorted in pain and discomfort, most likely from all the magic she had to expend during this fight.

The Soldier’s Anguish has been defeated! You and your team have received 500 XP!

“It’s done Gali, you can lower the shield,” John said as he made his way to her, close enough to catch her when she collapsed from exhaustion. “You did well, Gali,” John said with a warm smile on his face, which Gali weakly returned. John gave her a quick but passionate kiss on the lips before helping her stand back up on her own volition.

“Thank you, my king. I serve to please you,” she said with a smile on her face. John placed his hand on her cheek, her hand meeting his.

“And you will be rewarded for all you’ve done here, do not doubt that!” John’s lips against hers let Gali know exactly what kind of reward she would be receiving later, and she would happily accept it.

John made his way over to the remains of The Soldier’s Anguish to gather his sword and loot from the broken creature’s body. John’s eyes stayed glued to the ground, now littered with various jagged bone parts. The last thing John wanted was to step on one of them and let the bone wraith get the last laugh.

“Oh look, the fog is clearing up!” Idena pointed out. The fog was slowly dissipating, revealing more and more of the campsite the group battled in. “I’ll take take a quick fly around and see if it’s clearing up throughout the entire forest,” Idena said as she flapped her wings and flew off, dodging the trees she could now far more easily see ahead of her.

“I’ll begin taking a look around, see if I can find anything that says why the Order was here to begin with,” Mikuru said as she finished checking on Gali to make sure she was completely ok.

“I think… I’ll rest,” Gali said as she sat on a stump, her chest heavy with each breath she took.

“Ok, sounds good everyone,” replied John as he got to what remained of one of his toughest enemies yet. He found his sword, or rather what remained of his sword, in the empty chest cavity of The Soldier’s Anguish. John reached down and grabbed the hilt of his sword and what remained of the blade connected to it and cast Observe on it.

Blade of the Order
Junk Item
A standard two-handed sword of the Order of the Golden Rose. This particular sword was destroyed in battle and is unusable for combat.
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” John said with a sigh as he put the sword in his inventory. “Let’s see what I get with you,” said John as he clicked on the pile of loot next to his now ruined sword. Besides $500 and some more bones, John found two items of note.

Essence of Undeath
Crafting Item
This contains the primordial energies of ****. If used by the right people, it can create powerful items.

Spinesplitter
Epic Item
Turns out, a bunch of bones magically stuck together can be a pretty effective weapon.
+15 STR
+10 CON
Chance on Hit: The necrotic magic used for this axe will sometimes summon bones from beneath the earth to rise up and strike your target.

“Oh, neat, a new weapon!” John proudly announced as he held the axe over his head with one hand.

“Very good to hear, my king,” Gali said with a measure of normality in her voice. “I believe I have recovered enough to be able to make the trek back to the castle, when you are ready,” she informed John, who nodded in understanding.

“John, come look at this,” beckoned Mikuru. John looked around until he saw Mikuru inside the remains of a building. She stood next to a table in a large, circular room that John could see thanks to only the wooden outline of the building remaining. There was some cloth still around, hanging onto the struts, which danced when the wind blew. John made his way to her side and looked at the scraps of paper she had found.