I’ll think of something, Ruwen said, give me a minute.
But we might not have a minute, Hamma said. Every minute we’re here helps them.
Hamma locked eyes with Ruwen and put a hand on his chest. Save us.
Ruwen put a hand over Hamma’s but didn’t know how to respond. Hamma was right, they were completely outclassed here. The only thing Ruwen could use was his Spirit, but that would create catastrophic consequences for the entire continent. Worse, he knew he would do it to save his friends. An unbelievably selfish choice that made him feel sick.
Hamma let out a deep breath and then pulled a hand-sized black book from her Inventory. Ruwen recognized it as the prayer book she’d gotten from Blapy when Hamma had become the Custodian of the Chapel in the Black Pyramid. She had used it to perform a wedding ceremony, give last rites to the goblins outside the Mist Wraith Talker’s castle, and provide them a powerful buff that had helped them defeat Talker.
An uneasy feeling churned in Ruwen’s stomach. “What are you doing, Hamma?”
Hamma gave a small smile. “I’m using some Prayer Points I earned with all the stuff you guys make fun of me for taking.”
“I don’t know about this,” Ruwen said.
“You don’t need to,” Hamma said. “You just need to finish this and get us back home.”
Hamma kissed her index and middle fingers and then touched her heart, mouth, and forehead. She opened the small black book, took a deep breath, and then whispered, “Prayer Ten.”
The two words, barely audible, somehow echoed off the walls, filling the entire area with their sound.
The area exploded and Ruwen was thrown backward fifteen feet. He flipped himself to his feet to find the Dust Reverend standing over Hamma, red-tinged energy pouring from his hands as he attacked her.
Hamma remained unaffected, a soft glow around her.
“She’s a Chapel Priestess!” the Dust Reverend shouted.
The elite squad, who had showed no interest in fighting, and had only wanted to delay them, suddenly looked panicked. Hamma became hard to see with the spells and hostile energy surrounding her.
The Dust Reverend turned to Ruwen and screamed. “What dungeon does she serve?”
Hamma’s soft voice echoed off the walls again. Like the first time in Talker’s castle, she chanted a poem only this time the last two line had changed slightly.
Despair, misery, fear, and dread,
Enemies around us, all hope has fled,
Friendship, love, and sacrifice,
Power this prayer, sword of paradise.
Tears streamed down Hamma’s face, as she placed the black book back in her Inventory. The elite squad frantically struck at her, but the glow protected her completely. They stopped their useless attacks and stepped backward, their faces full of worry.
Hamma locked eyes with Ruwen, kissed her index and middle fingers, and touched her heart, mouth, and forehead.
The soft glow surrounding Hamma disappeared, and she fell to the ground, dead.
Chapter 75
Ruwen stared in disbelief. Hamma’s portrait had greyed out, confirming her death. He took a step forward when a thunderclap shattered the stillness.
A white beam of light fell from the heavens, striking Ruwen and freezing him in place. His body grew hot as the energy saturated his body. The elite squad stepped backward again, their faces now showing fear.
The light disappeared, revealing Ruwen’s new armor, white plate that covered him completely. Seven new buffs had appeared.
Shield of Divine Sacrifice: Immune to all non-Divine damage
Boots of Divine Sacrifice: Teleport to any visible location
Sword of Divine Sacrifice: Damage increased by 10,000%
Gloves of Divine Sacrifice: Detect and Root any non-Divine target
Helmet of Divine Sacrifice: Attributes increased by 1,000
Pants of Divine Sacrifice: Regeneration Rates increased by 1,000
Tunic of Divine Sacrifice: Spells and Abilities Instacast
The buffs all had a counter, and it had already started counting down from sixty. Hamma had used her Prayer Points, along with her own life, to turn Ruwen into a god for one minute.
The Crag Defender launched a spiked shield at Ruwen. He willed himself in front of the Fighter, and just like taking a portal in Blapy, he appeared in front of the plate wearing enemy, bypassing the shield attack. Ruwen punched the Crag Defender in the chest, and the Fighter vaporized in a mist of blood and metal.
The counter had reached fifty seconds.
The four remaining elite squad members fled.
Ruwen rooted the Echo Blade, who’d already made it thirty feet. He took a single step and stood next to her. He channeled Energy into Wrath and burst into magical flames, doing ten percent weapon damage. The Echo Blade turned to ash.
Ruwen looked up to see the Quake Summoner riding his Cave Wyvern. Ruwen opened his Void Band six inches, and pushed air out the bottom with a thousand Energy per second. The extra thousand points in Strength kept his arm from snapping, and his increased Dexterity made flying effortless.
In a heartbeat, Ruwen had reached the Mage and slowed the air flow through his Void Band to match the Cave Wyvern’s speed. The Quake Summoner’s Mana emptied, and ten more Cave Wyvern’s appeared, circling around them.
Ruwen channeled Energy into the level five Fighter spell Whirlwind, doing ten percent weapon damage to everything in striking distance. As he darted around the flying creatures, Whirlwind diced them into one-inch cubes. The Quake Summoner died and fell to the ground in a thousand pieces.
The counter slid past thirty, Ruwen had used half his time already. The Rift Ghost lay hiding in the mound of dirt Ruwen had created when tripping Smash with Dig. Short on time and relying on his Shield of Divine Sacrifice to keep him safe, Ruwen increased the Energy to his Void Band to a thousand again, and aimed himself like an arrow at the Rift Ghost.
Ruwen impacted the ground with such force, he created a circular hole twenty feet wide. Glass, formed from the energy released, glittered in the sunlight. No sign of the Rift Ghost remained; her body obliterated by the impact.
The last elite squad member,
