Smurfocalypse Chapter 76: The Dark Tower Part 5
With the black hearted dead the knights were of course free to ascend to the next floor as the magic spell binding the staircase disappeared with the death of their enemy. Hefty and Sweepy returned to the others, picking up Clockwork's body in the process.
"Alright we're doing well so far, but there's still 3 more fights. Before they're all dead." Hefty pointed out.
"Let's do a quick inventory check!" Timber said.
The knights all retrieved their potion reserves and assembled them together in one spot on the ground. Between the seven of them they still had four health potions and three strength formulas. Alchemist made a potion for Clockwork, but they hadn't tested to see if it would repair his body.
"We only have a few minutes to spare. Should we try the potion on Clockwork?" Hefty asked.
"I think we should hold on to the potion incase we need it during a fight." Farmer said knowing he still had yet to fight.
"Clockwork can be repaired by Handy once we get him home." Archer said.
"Then it's settled. We're going to save the potion. Let's go to the next floor." Hefty said.
The knights collectively nodded and ran together up the staircase after grabbing their potions. Sweepy once again lagged behind, but for this time there was a better reason. Sweepy took the time to grab the magic armor shredding kris dagger that his opponent was wielding. Perhaps the blade could be used to save lives rather than end them. If anything it'd make for a nice tool in Port Saint Smurf. Enchanter Homnibus, friend of the Smurfs; Lives far away from Port Saint Smurf. The benefits of owning an enchanted item could be great for the village. Sweepy looted the dagger and its sheath off the corpse of his opponent and stored it on his person. Now that the kris had a new master Sweepy could advance up the staircase to join the others.
"It seems the Smurfs made it to my floor after all…" a voice said from the darkness.
The knights looked around in the dark and hear an eerie laughter echo throughout the room. The torches light to reveal a female demon with the same charcoal black skin as the others but with unkempt shoulder length forest green hair, and was wearing a dark green knee length dress with a matching cap. She sat cross-legged on her throne of bones and gazed across the room at the Smurfs.
"Dear me did one of you get a boo-boo?" The demon said noticing Clockwork before laughing.
The Smurfs said nothing as they were being sized up. The demon stood up from her throne and cracked her knuckles before a visible green aura surrounded her fists. She then raised her fists in a fighting stance and punched forward striking mid-air.
"Should I kill you all at once or what?" She asked.
Archer stepped forward and drew an arrow from his quiver and loaded his bladed combat bow.
"Still playing with that toy?" the demon asked.
"Answer me just one question monster… How come when I shot you in the heart back in the forest you didn't die?" Archer said.
The demon threw back her head and cackled obnoxiously.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" She said.
Archer grit his teeth in frustration. Of course she would never answer a question like that. Just what sort of battle did Archer did just get himself into? It just now dawned on him in the spur of the moment that he has no idea how to even defeat his opponent. However Archer has several skills and tricks up his sleeve. He is technically a celebrity tier marksman after all.
"I will put an end to your pointless killing!" Archer said.
"We'll see about that! I will destroy you with my divine fist!" the creature yelled back.
"Not if you can't make it to me…" Archer said with a smirk.
The demon tilted her head in both fascination and confusion to Archer's reply. Archer then loosed his arrow and his opponent smirked and stood there with a cocky grin as the arrow struck her in the chest. She was then sent flying off her feet by the punch of the arrow and soared backward a meter.
"You like that? I call it the Punch Arrow because it packs a punch!" Archer said.
The demon stood up and violently ripped the arrow out of her chest leaving a gaping bleeding hole behind with an arrowhead stuck in it. She then simply flexed and the arrowhead shot out of the wound and onto the floor before the wound began to close.
"Cute… Anything else you'd like to show off before I destroy you?" The demon asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Archer replied.
Archer quickly readied another arrow as his opponent closed the distance between them with a sprint. Archer stood, waited, and aimed; once the opportune moment presented itself he let loose a punch arrow that struck his opponent in the gut sending her back. Archer then quickly drew three more punch arrows and let them loose. All three arrows struck his opponent and she was sent a total of 3 meters back giving Archer plenty of space for him to remain in a favorable position. Archer was not bothering to aim for the heart as evidence and past experiences with this opponent have led him to believe there might be a different way required to kill her. He was currently just delaying the inevitable which was his death if he couldn't live long enough to figure out his opponent.
The demon stood up and glared at Archer. She was beginning to look like a pin cushion.
"You can put an end to all of this by telling me your weakness." Archer said.
"How dare you! You think you're better than me just because you can shoot a few arrows?!" The demon said.
"Seems I struck some sort of nerve…" Archer said as he loaded his bow.
"Shut up!" The creature yelled.
The creature quickly dashed toward Archer and attempted to throw an uppercut which Archer dodged before firing a punch arrow right into his opponent's forehead sending her flying backward with a flip. She landed on her feet and came after Archer again fists swinging Archer tried to bob and weave best he could, but caught a punch to the jaw that immediately dislocated it, causing severe pain despite the adrenaline.
"Ha Ha! I have you now! I'm going to break you into pieces!" The demon shouted.
She channeled the bizarre green energy back into her fists before swinging a right hook hitting Archer in the ribs and breaking a few of them on the right side of his torso. She continued to swing her fists and incorporated kicks into her combo, but Archer continued to bob and weave just as he practiced with Falconer during their close range combat training. Archer remembered his training and continued to dodge punches until finally he spotted an opening and jabbed the top end of his bladed combat bow into his opponent's ribcage on the left side of the torso just under the heart. Archer was mere inches away from possible victory, but his opponent quickly dashed backward and in doing do had sort of dislodged Archer's weapon from her body.
Upon gaining distance again Archer was free to continue to fire arrows, and this was the opportune moment to try a new special attack. Archer drew an arrow from his quiver that had a tiny red box with a black bow binding it tied to the arrowhead. He then loaded the bow and let loose the arrow just as his opponent was standing up. The arrow struck her in the right shoulder and as Archer suspected she began to pull the arrows out of herself. Archer only gave her time to do this because he was waiting very patiently. Then she reaches for the arrow embedded in her shoulder and yanks on it. The lid of the box is separated from the box itself causing a massive explosion that completely disintegrated the right half of her body and sent the other half flying across the arena. Blood and gore sprayed down from the sky coating Archer in the blood of his enemy. All that remained of his opponent was a body split in half from a bomb. It didn't do much besides just lay there and bleed.
"The Jokey Shot…" Archer said.
"Great shot Archer!" Farmer said.
"You did it!" Falconer said.
"I wouldn't be so sure…" Hefty said.
"What do you mean Hefty? Nothings ever survived a Jokey Box explosion before." Sweepy said.
Hefty then pointed to the hunk of bleeding meat laying on the arena floor as it began to twitch as though it were sentient.
"Never underestimate your opponent, or else you will die." Hefty said.
Archer nodded and loaded his bow, aiming down his sights at the body.
Suddenly an organ black as jet shot out of the body and into the air, and before their very eyes literally regenerated an entire new body to surround it. It was a disgusting sight from right out of hell, the organ formed bones, flesh, blood, and organs from absolutely nothing in order to perform full body regeneration. The knights aside from Hefty of course stared in horror Archer included as the black organ grew veins and arteries before forming a skeletal structure. A brain and eyeballs formed into the skull along with teeth, then muscle, skin, and hair before his opponent was fully reconstructed from nothing. She landed on her feet in the arena next to her old body and clenched her new fists as though to test them out briefly as though she had never been this badly injured before. Then she smirked as the bizarre green energy returned to her fists. This "Divine Fist" technique as she calls it seems to be her primary weapon, but what of it? What made the Divine Fist special, or even notable? These questions would soon be answered.
The demon walked over to the lifeless body on the floor, and upon placing both of her hands onto it she was able to fully restore it using the energy visibly being channeled into her hands. The heartless corpse then rose to its feet and opened its dead eyes before grinning a toothy grin baring jagged pointy fangs.
"It's… A walking corpse!?" Archer said.
"A dead body that moves on its own!" Farmer shouted in horror.
"Just what matter of witchcraft is THIS?!" Archer asked.
"This is the true power of the Divine Fist. Its original powers were to heal the wounded, but since I've undergone this transformation I can even make the dead walk on their own!" The demon shouts.
"Kill them!" The demon commanded outstretching her arm.
The demonic zombie grinned and snickered to herself before dashing towards Archer with chaotic speed. Running rapidly in a zig zag in order to avoid potential arrow fire. Archer pulled back his bow anyway and aimed down his sights.
"Have a Punch Arrow monster!" Archer yelled releasing his bowstring.
The arrow struck his opponent in the chest and sent her flying. Archer quickly loosed another arrow into her forehead.
"Maybe… Just maybe I could burn it." Archer thinks to himself.
"If I can get her into a position where I could douse her in the flammable liquid Alchemist made me for the battle then perhaps a Fire Shot could set the corpse on fire leaving nothing behind but ash. Surely that'd work… right? I'm willing to give it a shot." Archer thought.
The corpse continue to pursue Archer, and the demon that reanimated it joined in the pursuit. Archer found himself having to dodge energy fists left and right as his opponents continued to swing at him. Archer jumped back and swung his bow at them causing them to jump back to avoid being hit. Archer then jumped and quickly through a vial of clear liquid which collided with the corpse and broke drenching it in the liquid. Archer then quickly readied an arrow and set it ablaze with his flint ring before firing it into his opponent setting her alight in aggressive flame. This Archer would find would be a mistake as the creature then leaped forward while completely on fire and clung to Archer in such a way that he couldn't escape. The demon then began mercilessly just beating the hell out of him. She punched him in the gut and he felt a strange sensation shoot up his spine and bash him in the back of the head. What was happening was his opponent was directing energy into his body by punching him and it was damaging him from the inside out. His armor was completely useless in this situation.
Archer was on fire and being punched over and over again with energy shooting up all over inside his body and causing pain everywhere. His flaming opponent literally held him until it couldn't any longer leaving behind third degree burns along his back and causing his leather armor to fall off him as it was destroyed. Upon being free Archer fired a punch arrow into the demon's chest and quickly drank his potion of addicting health as his accumulated wounds were probably going to kill him soon otherwise. Archer ran in front of the remains of the corpse and tried to prevent the demon to getting to it to resurrect it once more, but he was rammed into with great force from his opponent sending him off his feet and tumbling backward onto the ground. In a few seconds she had her plaything up and running again and Archer once again had two opponents to fight, but the only one that mattered was the one that had the heart.
Archer readied an arrow and tried to aim up a shot, but his opponents were so fast and moved in just the right sync that they were able to avoid his arrows as they got closer. The demon closed in and Archer swung his bow, she ducked and followed through with an uppercut that sent Archer off his feet and airborne. She leaped up and drove her fist into his stomach which sent him flying even further. She landed and smirked as the corpse pursued Archer as he flew through the air. Archer readied his triple shot and fired the three arrows down all three hitting his opponent, but all of them missing the heart.
Archer fires another Triple shot into his opponent immediately following up with another. He hadn't even blown through half of his arrows yet. Eventually one will hit these things in a way that will kill them. An opening presented itself in an instant. As his opponents were pursuing him the demon moved at an angle where its heart was not completely guarded by the second opponent. Archer fired an arrow that would theoretically had ended the fight only for his opponent to literally spit up her heart much to Archer's horror. The creature spit up her jet black heart as to protect it from a fatal blow. The heart soared through the air and was caught in the mouth of the other opponent before being swallowed. They then reached Archer and unleashed a flurry of blows that Archer couldn't avoid.
Archer was struck in the gut with such intensity he was sent flying horizontally off his feet backward, there was an opponent waiting for him to send him airborne with a kick, and then the other opponent leaped upward top meet him and unleashed a devastating blow in the form of a blow in which she held her hands together to form one single fist of sorts before she struck him in the back sending him flying towards the floor. Archer hit the arena floor and bounced, he then laid there in pain before pulling himself up to his feet and drawing his bow.
Archer had more tricks up his sleeve of course. He had Jokey Shots on deck. Archer performed his greatest technique to date by assembling 5 jokey shots, and lining them up on his bowstring.
"Five Fold Jokey shot!" Archer screamed as he released his bowstring towards his opponent.
All five arrows hit their target. The first arrow struck and embedded itself deep into his opponent's stomach. Then upon the second one landing it removed the lid from the Jokey Box attached to the first arrow activating a chain reaction that resulted in his opponent being completely disintegrated by the awesome power of the Jokey Box. Much to Archer's disappointment though it was not the body with the heart, but he had destroyed his additional opponent to such an extent that not even the restorative powers of the Divine Fist could heal them.
"Oh my, Too bad… And it was such a great lightshow too." The demon said snickering.
"YOU shut up! I've had enough of these games!" Archer said.
"Oh my!" the demon yelled sarcastically before placing a hand over her mouth and snickering.
"You won't be laughing after I destroy you." Archer says.
"Dream on! I will break you apart!" The demon hissed.
It was now once again Archer and his opponent were alone in the arena. Whatever tricks she had up her sleeves were foiled by the awesome power of the Jokey box. Archer fired three more arrows into his opponent as she pursued him. Once she got close she unleased a flurry of blows which Archer completely avoided before he pulled back his arms and then shoved his bow into the stomach of his opponent. He impaled his opponent on his bow blade and sliced upward completely gutting his opponent, but yet she continued to move and it was then that Archer began to understand just how it was his opponent was able to stay alive in the forest. She had the ability to move her heart wherever she wanted however she liked. As evidenced by him clearly seeing her heart move into his skull upon her chest cavity being split open. There wasn't even a need for him to use his formula of strength because Archer was gaining and maintaining the upper hand without it. The extraordinarily skilled Smurf was holding his own.
"I don't understand! How could you be this strong?! You can't be strong you're a Smurf! A worthless cowering Smurf!" the demon shouts.
"A Smurf can be strong if he sets his mind to it… Without dark magic." Archer said.
"Its time for you to die…" Archer said as he readied a Jokey shot.
"You really think a technique like that will work twice?" the demon said.
Archer didn't answer. Instead he fired a Jokey shot right into his opponent's chest. The arrow embedded itself into his opponent's chest and then exploded severing his opponent in half yet again. The corpse laid there and Archer ran up to the remains of his opponent. He was not going to allow her to short him again.
"At last this is check mate…" Archer said aiming down his sights.
"Damn you!" The demon shouted.
Archer then fired an arrow into his opponent's heart, and ended the battle once and for all.
