AN: Day 4 of the My Craft Chapter bomb. How will I torture my characters this time, hmmm?
I'm wondering if I topped the Halstatt Arc in terms of epicness. Please weigh in in the Reviews.
Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. If I did, I'd make acquiring Tipped Arrows a hell of a lot easier.
"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."
Chapter 163
Wither (Part 4)
[Lenz]
I grimaced as I encountered more cultists in the streets. They were picking over the gear of withered Crafters, gathering Heads. Was it really necessary? It seemed like such a morbid way to keep track of the dead.
I grimaced further when I saw the number of arrows I had left. I could not keep picking off cultists with such a limited supply. Especially since the objective was to kill the Withers.
Yes, Withers, plural. The Endward Cult had spawned three in total. One was dead and another had descended to very same district I was attempting to navigate. The third had been summoned to the plateau and I watched Nowhere fly off to deal with that, carrying—any my eyes might have been deceiving me—the former Berserker, Ciro_Che. We last saw him in Jolin, but it looked like he was on our side this time. Those were his explosive arrows, after all, bombarding the Wither.
I could really do with some of those arrows right about now. I mentally envied, weighing the handful of arrows I had left. I should not have wasted those arrows when the Wither had its armor up.
That was another thing. While the Wither had armor up, my arrows were useless. I had no way to damage it without getting close, and that was plain suicide. I needed more firepower.
I peered down and watched the black-capped cultists celebrate the spoils they collected. It sounded like they were making a game of it, competing to see who gathered the most Heads. It made my gut roil in anger until the universe decided to throw me a bone.
There was an echoing scream as the earthbound Wither burst through a building with explosive force, startling the Endward out of those cultists. They cried out and tried to run, knowing fighting was fruitless.
An arrow or two may have mysterious sunk into their legs, tripping them up.
"You reap what you sow." I muttered under my breath, putting my bow away and putting distance between myself and the Wither slaughtering the cultists. They had declared war first when they stole the Asmodeus—I mean when they attacked Ringwood. Yes. That.
I had even less arrows now, but they would not have been much use anyway. The Wither's Health Bar was nearly at half and those cultists would provide it the Health it needed to drop its armor and take to the skies again.
But maybe fighting in the skies played more to my advantage.
I peered around the streets, searching for the tallest building in the area. I would need one for my purposes. When my eyes zeroed in on a seven-story building still under construction, I knew I found my battleground. I reached into my backpack and pulled out some redstone dust.
"Time for the Gray Eagle to represent the Redstone College."
[Noman]
"You don't have the Voda Shlem?" I asked the Millionth as we flew to the plateau and the enraged Wither. "But… at the auction—?"
"It was a fake." Ciro clarified, shooting more explosive arrows while I held him steady. The Wither shrieked and fired a trio of screaming heads. I only narrowly avoided them while carrying another Crafter. He raised an impressed eyebrow. "I see you've been busy, expanding your arsenal with the Bottes Zephyr. I searched all of Zeppil for that. Where'd you find it?"
"There was a Labyrinth." I answered vaguely, not really wanting to relive that experience. "We can't keep peppering the Wither, though. Once it puts up armor, arrows are useless."
"Don't worry. I got a plan. You're not the only one who's been expanding their arsenal." He held up a stick and it took me a moment of bemusement before I realized what it was.
"The Destierro del Palillo?" I guessed, earning a nod from the masked man. "Where did you find that?"
"Bough Terminus in Jolin." He answered just as vaguely. "I had to go through some unpleasantness with the Berserkers to get my hands on it."
"Will that even work?" I asked, referring to the stick. "It'll just banish the Wither far away. It'll still kill any living thing it sees."
"This'll do more than send it away." He promised. His facemask tilting up at the edges, a sign he was grinning underneath. "It'll send it careening into the Border where it'll die instantly. We just need to get it to a certain height so it won't get caught on any mountains or structures." He gazed out past the plateau, pointing with his stick like he was a batter telling his audience where the next home run would go. "East. Across the flat ocean. Nothing will stop it."
"Are you sure?" I didn't want to think we were condemning some other Kingdom to ruin.
Ciro nodded. "I'm positive. I've been around Minecraftia longer than you. We could also send it northwest across the Morel Islands or southwest across the savannah, but I think east is our best bet. Nothing but flat ocean."
"Alright, sounds like a plan." I stopped in midair, hitching Ciro up so that I had a better hold of him. "I probably don't have to tell you this, but if you mistakenly hit me you'll die."
"Yeah, I'm not an idiot." Ciro rolled his eyes. "I know about the Severe Shield. Notch wore it into battle."
"Okay, then." All that was left was to lure it high enough so that Ciro could land the hit. Then we'd do the same with the second Wither back in the Southern District. "I'm going to get us some height. Get ready to grab its attention."
Using the Bottes Zephyr, we ascended high over the Kingdom and the non-stop explosions sanding down the plateau. The barracks and palace had large chunks missing, looking more like ruins than standing buildings. Still, I flew higher and higher.
"This is good!" Ciro cried out over the howling wind before he angled the Yanhua Hong down and narrowed his mismatched eyes. His hands were quick, pulling the string taut, loading an arrow, firing, and notching a fresh one in quick succession. There was a tense moment as I held my breath, watching the arrows whistles down.
Then, in a series of explosions that were not its own, the Wither was bombarded. It screamed in pain, its Health Meter dipping to a little over half.
"Stop!" I ordered. "It can't fly if it's Health is lower than half!"
Ciro heeded my command and stopped firing. He still succeeded in garnering the Wither's attention. It peered at us with three Heads before beginning its ascent. Screaming heads were fired, but I had ample time to dodge them on the wind.
It'd get harder the closer it got.
"When it gets close, I'm gonna do a backflip."
Ciro's eyes widened. "A what!? This is no time to be flashy!"
"No, I need a backflip to descend!" I clarified. "Otherwise, I can only step higher."
"He couldn't make normal flying boots?" Ciro groused before whipping out the Destierro del Palillo. "I'm ready to strike. This is gonna be close…"
The Wither flew higher, its screams growing in intensity. More screaming heads were fired, these ones tougher to dodge and one even glancing off my pant leg.
"This is it!" I cried as I bet my legs, gripping Ciro tight. As soon as I could spot the dark particles coming off the Mob, I sprung in a wide backflip. Gravity took hold and I felt the two of us descend towards the Wither and the kingdom below.
Time seemed to slow down as the feeling of weightlessness overtook us. My stomach dropped and I was really glad I didn't have a crippling fear of heights. We accelerated faster and faster, our twin bodies acting like a missile aimed towards the Wither coming to meet us. Two heads got launched and I protected Ciro with both arms, my armor tanking the blows. I felt the withering effect take hold of both of us.
Through it all, Ciro's mismatched eyes remained open and steady. The arm holding the Destierro del Palillo was tensed, like a coiled snake. He was waiting for the opportune moment.
The Wither let out a lengthy scream as we passed its trio of heads, glaring eye to eye socket. Ciro's eyes flashed, his arm and the stick blurred towards the Wither's skeletal body.
If I listened past the howling wind, I could almost hear the wooden tap.
And just like that, the Wither was gone.
There wasn't even a rush of wind or a dark blur of a body sailing out into the distance. The Knockback was so impossibly fast, so instantaneous, that the Wither and its abruptly smothered scream were banished to the horizon. As if it never existed to begin with.
"Dear God…" I muttered breathlessly before realizing we were still falling. Ciro couldn't even slap me out of my musings for fear of dying to the Severe Shield. I quickly angled my body, putting the Bottes Zephyr beneath me, and felt my spine nearly shoot out my butt at the sudden stop.
"About time…" He groused before wincing at the wither effect. I was in the same boat, having tanked one of those screaming heads. I dealt with it with my last Splash Potion of Regeneration II for myself and a bucket of milk for Ciro. He gratefully accepted, guzzling the panacea down and banished the swirling bistre particles. "One to go."
"One to go." I agreed, looking to the Southern District for any sign of explosions.
There was a big one…
[Floyd]
"SPRING!" I suddenly shouted, bolting upright with my eyes smoldering.
I blinked in surprise when I found myself lying in a two-meter deep crater in the dirt. The smoke diminished when I realized nobody was around. It was still night time and I could hear distant explosions and see the fires in the north.
Did I pass out? I wondered before picking myself up and dusting myself off. Last thing I remember was seeing… Spring…
I felt my anger rise as I climbed out of that crater and searched for a head of orange hair. My head darted left and right, scanning the farmland for any cultists.
All that greeted me were piles of gear and Heads. The only thing in common with them were their proximity to the crater I was laying in.
"Oh…" I realized. MultiAura was fueled by anger. So when I saw Silent's killer, I… I exploded. "Oh no…"
I gripped my head with both hands as I took in the damage. I must've gone off like a bomb, scattering black spines indiscriminately. Whether cultist or Silver Intent members, no one was spared.
"Oh God, no…" I hurried over to the piles of gear, sifting through weapons and junk for something discernible. Whenever I found a black leather cap in a pile, I let out a sigh of relief that I hadn't killed an ally. But then I would keep searching for a disembodied Head with orange hair and curse when I came up with something else.
Don't tell me that prick got away. I thought savagely, throwing another unfamiliar Head away. None of the piles with black leather caps had Spring's Head.
When I found a pile without a black leather cap, I knew it was a Silver Intent member. There were three in total. Three Silver Intent members died in my explosion. That was three casualties that never needed to happen if I had better control over my powers. I had to either control my emotions or let my emotions control me.
Thankfully, none of the piles were Cara or Brett. I didn't recognize their Heads, so they were probably members I never met. It still didn't change the dull sorrow in my gut.
Question is, where were the other Silver Intent members? Did they chase after the cultists who survived? Did they go after Spring?
I glanced around and saw some Crafters near the Granger Barn in the distance. Friend or foe, I couldn't tell, so I hurried over.
When I got close, one of them pointed towards me and shouted something. The others turned to look before dropping everything and fleeing.
I slowed to a stop at the fleeing Crafters. They weren't wearing black leather caps. They weren't cultists.
Only four remained. Cara and Brett among them, blessedly. Brett kept the others behind him as I approached.
"That's far enough, monster."
The fear and disdain in Brett's voice stopped me cold. It was then I realized they and the fleeing Crafters were the Silver Intent members that survived. Now that the fight with the cultists was over, they treated me like the threat.
Glancing back at the size of that crater—and thinking of those three Silver Intent members that perished—I couldn't disagree with them.
"I'm sorry." I said immediately, making sure none of my Hacker smoke was present. "I saw Spring and I just… I lost control. He's the one that killed my friend and I—"
"YOU killed our friends!" One of the nameless Silver Intent members accused, pointing back to the crater. "You pierced them with spikes! Who cares that you scared off the cultists if our own had to die!"
"I… I didn't mean to..." I tried to say, reaching out a hand. They all shirked away from me like I was a wild animal. I lowered my hand in defeat. "…Did Spring_Fever escape?"
"Him and three others." Cara reported with a scowl, pointing to the eastern toll gate out of Ringwood. "Go after them and leave us."
"But… but I can help—"
"You've 'helped' enough, Hacker." Brett spat. "Go away. Do whatever you want, but don't stay here."
My mouth worked to try and defend myself, but I already knew it was pointless. I was a Hacker. My kind were feared. And I just reminded them why. This would be another step backward for me, a painful reminder of how far Hackers had to go to coexist with Crafters.
Staying would only frighten them more.
So, with one last look at their reproachful faces, I turned back towards the Central District and the sounds of explosions.
There was still a Wither to deal with.
[Lenz]
I shut the construction site's ender chest, my arms and backpack loaded with my stored TNT. The Wither continued its assault in the background as I lobbed an ender pearl as high up the seven-story building as I could. One warp later and I was stood upon the fifth floor, glaring at the Boss Mob's flight of destruction.
I quickly took my TNT and placed it around all the key structural points on the fifth floor. I then climbed up a construction ladder and did the same thing to the half-finished sixth floor. Beams were erected as supports, allowing Crafters to move from area to area, filling blocks in at their leisure and building from the ground up.
Only this time, instead of wood, the walls would be made of TNT.
I could not stress the risks associated with setting up TNT while there was a Boss Mob flinging explosive screaming heads in every direction. Any one of them could set off any block of TNT, and then the building and myself would go up like a gory red firework. I had to be quick.
The wind blasted me as I finished the sixth floor and climbed up to the seventh. There was no floor on this level—the builders had not gotten that far—but there were beams to walk along. I set what little TNT I had left and crafted a tiny button to be placed beside one of the TNT blocks. Then, I picked one pillar taller than any other and well within the line of sight for that lonely button. I climbed to the very tip top, taking a prime sniper position, and readied my goggles and bow.
Eight arrows left.
The Wither screamed in the distance as I pulled my string taut. The wind blew my hair back and chilled me to the bone, but I kept a tight grip on the notched arrow as I took steady aim.
One arrow was loosed. Then two more.
They struck dead on in all three of the Wither's skulls. I could not see the effect on its Health Meter, but I could tell I had its attention. It screamed and gave up destroying the streets in favor of killing the offending archer.
"An archer does not blink." I murmured to myself as I loaded another arrow. The Wither fired two screaming skulls at me.
I intercepted them with two arrows and felt a swell of relief that I could. Intercepting arrows was one thing, but it looked like I could do the same with those Wither's projectiles. They were even easier to hit, being much larger than arrows.
Three shots left.
The Wither got nearer and fired three skulls this time. I could not shoot down all of them; I needed one arrow to trigger the button at the end.
I cursed and aimed for the skulls most likely to hit my perch. The third one still came startlingly close and I had to duck to dodge it.
The Wither was closer now than ever.
My eyes flashed and my bow swung down, firing an arrow at the wooden button and priming the first TNT block.
The Wither screamed again as it burst through the half-constructed building to get at me. I threw an ender pearl towards the streets below and watched the Boss Mob approach with thunderous fury. The TNT hissed away.
…I tripped it too soon. I thought in alarm. The Wither shot a trio of skulls at my perch and I just jumped.
As I fell, the first TNT detonated. Then the ones beside it detonated. Then the seventh floor ones blasted down and set off the third floor ones, which then set off the fifth floor ones where the TNT was packed the heaviest.
The Wither screamed in agony as it was treated to a building full of explosions. I watched its Health Meter drop in large chunks to below half, the damage too great for its Wither Armor to sustain.
And then, before I hit the ground, the ender pearl struck and warped me down the street, my heart threatening to burst in my chest.
"Do not underestimate redstone, Wither demon." I whispered as I gazed upon the blasted construction site and the crater where the Wither fell. I felt elated to have killed it and aid Ringwood's defense…
Until it screamed to the heavens and popped out of that crater like a hideous, three-headed meerkat.
"Comparators!" I yelled before falling back on hands and knees. The Wither spotted me and hovered forward with furious screams that promised bloody vengeance. I had no arrows left. No TNT either. It only had a small sliver of Health left and I was powerless to finish it off. It was going to kill me. It was going to wither me away and suck out my Hearts like a vampire and fly off to terrorize again.
I shut my eyes, too afraid to watch my own demise.
That was when I heard the Wither let out a different kind of scream. A dying scream full of pain. Then, nothing. No sound. Crushing silence.
I peeked open an eye and gasped at the sight of Nowhere—in all his Severe Shield glory—stood over the remnants of the Boss Mob. EXP floated into his arm and a small diamond-shaped bounced along the street.
"Nice work, Eagle Eyes." I jumped at the voice behind me. Whipping around, I saw that it was Ciro_Che, congratulating me for a job well done.
"You didn't need to take such a risk, Lenz." Nowhere said, wearily turning and limping over. "You didn't have any milk. And what happened to Floyd?"
"Floyd is safe." I assured. "He told me to go on ahead and help. So that is what I did."
"You could have blown yourself up in that explosion."
"But I did not." I countered.
"No…" He sighed. "No you did not. And I couldn't be happier." He let out a weak chuckle before turning to the night sky and shouting for everyone to hear. "If you cultists have any more Withers to spawn, you might as well do it now!" He dared. "We already took out three! You want to send another!? HUH!?"
"That won't be necessary."
The three of us turned to the newest voice, Ciro pulling out a bow and firing automatically. The speaker dodged to the side, but the arrow struck the street and detonated, blasting the Crafter into a building.
"Lieutenant Leadstripe. Western Division." Ciro greeted, loading a new arrow. "Awful nice of you to come to us. Makes killing you easier."
Leadstripe cursed under his breath, tucking something away inside his belt. So this was the Leadstripe Nowhere encountered. The same one who stole the Looting Sword. Indeed, Nowhere had something to say about that.
"You used the Looting Sword for this?" Nowhere asked. "How many more skulls did you prepare? How many Withers did you stockpile? We took out three, we can take out more!"
"We only had three." Leadstripe revealed. "Farming them was no picnic, yet we blew all of them on this one night."
"And you failed." Nowhere said triumphantly. "We beat every one of them. They're all dead—the same day they were spawned. The Endward Cult has lost."
"Is that what you think? You have a lot to learn about strategy."
Another new voice. This time feminine. I tracked where it came from and watched a woman with long orange hair jump down from the above buildings. She was followed by a dark-skinned man with paper-white hair. 4Blite. Another Lieutenant. The two figures both wielded a Tinker's weapon. The woman—Ember_Waves—had a diamond rapier and 4Blite had a diamond Battleaxe.
Ciro fired another arrow without question, aiming straight for the woman. In response, she placed down two blocks of obsidian and hid behind them. The arrows detonated, but they could not break through the durable obsidian. It was the perfect cover, and Ember likely knew that.
"You were at the weapons outpost." Ember remarked, peeking around the obsidian to glare at Ciro. "Are you working with Carys?"
The name put Nowhere and I on edge. Ciro was working with Carys? The man neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, he kept his bow aimed, waiting for Ember to peak around.
"Who are you?" Nowhere asked. "Are you another cultist?"
"Oh, right, we haven't properly been introduced." Ember glanced around. "I was hoping the Darker Billionth would be around, but I guess I'll just reintroduce myself to him when I need to. Ahem." She cleared her throat and gave a slight half-bow. "Hello. My name is Ember_Waves. I'm the Executive of the Northern Division."
"The Northern…" Nowhere trailed off and I just stared apprehensively. This was our first time meeting an Executive. They were always so secretive, concealing their identities. Only Lieutenants had ever been revealed. And now, face to face with an Executive, I could feel some silent pressure radiating off of her. She had a presence, and not just because she was flanked by two Lieutenants who were powerful in their own rights.
There was something different about Ember.
"Well, if this was your plan, then it failed." Nowhere snapped out of his own musings, pointing his sword at the cultists. "We stopped every Wither you had. You're out of ammo."
"Yes, and you handled it masterfully." Ember held her rapier under one arm and began to clap. "Bravo, Lighter Billionth. Bravo." The title confused the two of us. Lighter Billionth? And before she mentioned the Darker Billionth. But Nowhere was the only Billionth there was—he said so himself. That was why Notch gave him the Severe Shield.
"You're acting like everything went according to your plan." Ciro growled, trying to position himself so that he could shoot around the obsidian barricade. Ember and the Lieutenants moved in turn, the former putting up more obsidian to stave off any potential blasts.
"Oh, everything went exactly according to plan." Ember beamed. "The Withers did their job and gutted Ringwood's population." She gestured to the devastation and destruction all around us. There was not a District that was not burned, blown apart, deserted, or ruined in some way. Were there even any people left? "And you did your job by slaying the Withers."
"I—what?" Nowhere looked befuddled.
"You killed three Withers tonight. The first, Leadstripe was too far away to claim the item. The second you made vanish—no telling where that one's drop went. But this one? This third and final one? We got what we wanted."
Nowhere's eyes widened. "You mean…?"
In response, Ember held out her hand to Leadstripe, who then deposited something into her waiting palm. I recognized the diamond shape and the enchanted gleam. It was the same thing dropped by the first Wither Nowhere killed. The object Herobrine made mention of in the Wither's entry.
"Nether Star…?" Nowhere asked, earning an excited nod from Ember. "What… you wanted to make a beacon? You did all this for a beacon—!?"
"We have no use for beacons." 4Blite spoke coldly, his battleaxe driven into the dirt and his hands leaning atop it. "To prove our worth as servants of Herobrine, we had to retrieve a couple of rare items. We had to pass his trials, and you so graciously volunteered your skills to assist us."
"You're lying." Nowhere accused. "Your plan was to have these Withers run amok and we stopped them! We stopped you! You're just trying to act like we were dancing in your palm all along!"
"What did you stop, exactly?" Ember rested a hand on her hip, tilting her head to regard Nowhere. "Look around you. Ringwood is finished. That's one point for us. We spawned three Withers to maximize the chance of getting away with one Nether Star. That's another point for us. And while you were distracted, we effortlessly ended Notch's line of kings, killed Ringwood's Captains, secured enough Heads to fill quotas for the next ten years, and sent a grim warning to all of Minecraftia that the Endward Cult is not to be trifled with. Now," she fixed her piercing light-blue eyes upon Nowhere, "tell me what you accomplished."
Nowhere's mouth hung open in horror at Ember's points. I shared that sentiment. The Captains were dead? Did that mean Wynn was too? And the line of kings was ended? What did Ember do on that plateau?
Beside us, Ciro ground his teeth together behind his facemask. The hand holding his bow was shaking so badly he could not aim properly.
"You bitch…" Ciro hissed. "What did you do to King Miles—?" He bit back a gasp as Ember presented a pair of Heads. A male and a female. "Deo too…?" Ciro whispered in disbelief before he fired at the obsidian wall out of anger. It detonated, but the cultists behind it remained unfazed.
"The King passed on with dignity." Ember assured. "Deo, less so."
"Why?" Nowhere finally asked. "Why are you doing this? Why are you a leader of the Endward Cult? Why are you leading people to do these horrible things? Why did you send Jade after us?"
Ember seemed to look right through him. "Why am I doing this? Why, you ask? Because I want to find Herobrine and I want to realize his grand ambition." Ember spread her arms out. "All this destruction and pain? It's fleeting. It's all in the moment. But a year from now, it'll hardly matter. It'll be no different from the Tragedy of Nitebane. And should you perish and move on to a Next Life, this moment's pain will mean even less. Just like how all your memories before spawning are just the echoes of Normal Sense. Nostalgia from a past life."
"You think people are willing to believe that?" Nowhere demanded, anger in his voice. "All life is precious. It's not something to be thrown away just because you claim it's fleeting. What you're being a part of is mass genocide!"
"And in the Next Life, it's a baby boom." Ember dismissed with practiced ease. I could tell this was a debate she had before. "Oh, and, for the record, if you think this is mass genocide…" She held up the Nether Star tauntingly. "Just wait until we get the power Herobrine left for us. I bet it'll make today look like a box of kittens."
Nowhere sprang forward, his Severe Shield on as he charged Ember. All he had to do was land a hit or two and the Executive would be dead. Ember could not even attack back due to the armor's powerful Thorns Enchantment. One hit and she would be dead.
My eyes bulged as I saw the Executive lash out with her rapier, skewering Nowhere straight through the chestplate. He coughed painfully, his eyes wide and confused at the blow.
"Rapiers ignore armor, fool." Ember insulted before following up with two lightning-fast jabs that floored Nowhere. He skid to a stop at our feet and Ember sheathed her rapier with a contemptuous snort. "Guess all the brains went to the Darker Billionth. I really wish I could have met him tonight."
"Ember, should we kill them?" Leadstripe asked, taking out his dagger. "They're weak from fighting three Withers. It wouldn't take much to finish the job."
"We'd get four of Herobrine's artifacts out of it." 4Blite added, trying to sweeten the deal.
"Try it scum." Ciro spat, aiming his bow between 4Blite's eyes. "I'll watch your limbs blow apart like confetti."
"No. We're withdrawing." Ember turned to their disappointed faces. "We got what we came for, and while I have a rapier, you two don't. What will you do if the Lighter Billionth lands a hit on you?" The pair of Lieutenants paled at the implication. "Plus, Ciro's explosive bow is too tough without our own archer to run interference. No, best to withdraw. This day is ours."
The Lieutenants reluctantly agreed, putting away their Tinker's weapons and gathering around the Executive. Nowhere glared at them, wanting to engage but still keeled over by Ember's ruthless rapier skills. I had no arrows and would be of little use in a fight. Even with Ciro's apparent ownership of two artifacts, there was no telling how this fight would go.
"You… You won't get away with this." Nowhere promised, slamming his fist into the street. "I'll avenge Ringwood! And I'll stop the Endward Cult!"
"Uh-huh. Yeah. Great." Ember rolled her eyes before pulling out a Splash Potion of Invisibility and cloaking the three of them. "Herobrine above, I hope the Darker Billionth can hold up a conversation better than this one…" She murmured at the last before her voice and the sounds of the Lieutenants became lost on the wind.
Left alone on that street, the three of us turned to gaze at the destruction wrought by the Endward Cult and their Withers. The Northern District was burnt to a crisp. The Southern, Western, and Central District—the sites where the Withers were spawned—were nothing more than ruined graveyards. The Eastern District was the least damaged, but even then all the cows were slain.
And, if Ember was to be believed, the Endward Cult had a promising weapon of Herobrine's just waiting to be unveiled. The Wither attack would pale in comparison to its destruction.
What little mirth and victory we felt defeating that final Wither had been swept away by one orange-haired woman. She drained us of hope, not unlike how the Wither drained us of life.
It was our loss.
Inventory (Floyd): 1 Mob Head {Creeper}, 1 Iron Sword, 1 Diamond Helmet [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Leggings [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Pickaxe, 2 Iron Ingots, 2 Sticks, 31 Coal, 20 Torches, 1 Fishing Rod, 1 Furnace, 19 Steak, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Minecart, 1 Bed, 1 Boat, 1 Diamond Boots [Projectile Protection IV], 16 Gunpowder, 16 Ender Pearls, 2 Ender Pearls, 1 Splash Potion of Invisibility {6:00}, 1 Bucket, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}
[EXP: 33]
Inventory (Lenz): 1 Leather Boots [Dyed Brown, Curse of Binding I, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Shears, 1 Lever, 9 Redstone Torches, 1 Bed, 8 Redstone Repeaters, 3 Redstone Comparators, 18 Blocks of Redstone, 2 Hoppers, 3 Pistons, 2 Sticky Pistons, 48 Cobblestone, 1 Compass, 25 Gunpowder, 1 Bow, 11 Jungle Wood Planks, 1 Crafting Table, 7 Ender Pearls, 38 Steak, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Airship Piloting 101}, 1 Book {Notebook}, 1 Book {How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts}, 1 Book {Advanced Mob-Slaying}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Nether}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Daymonte Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}
[EXP: 15]
Inventory (Noman): 1 Diamond Sword [Sharpness I], 1 Diamond Chestplate {Severe Shield}, 1 Leather Boots {Bottes Zephyr} [Dyed White], 1 Flint and Steel, 1 Bow [Infinity], 1 Milk Bucket, 6 Buckets, 2 Cobblestone, 1 Bed, 1 Crafting Table, 16 Ender Pearls, 5 Ender Pearls, 1 Nether Star, 28 Steak, 1 Phantom Membrane, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Splash Potion of Healing II, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}, 1 Arrow, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Enchanted Golden Apple, 1 Diamond Helmet, 1 Diamond Leggings, 1 Diamond Boots
[EXP: 27]
AN: It's weird how short this Chapter ended. Like, I expected it to be longer, but it wasn't. Huh.
Anyway, fourth Chapter of the My Craft Bomb is done. Next one will be the finale of the Darkest Arc and it'll definitely be longer as there's a lot to discuss.
I'm hoping the past couple of Chapters cemented Ember's status as a prominent bad guy. She's always been keeping her identity secret, working and recruiting behind the scenes. But now that she can reveal herself without worrying about her identity, just look at all the damage she did. Lenz is right to say that the Executives have a different presence. They're stronger, smarter, and insidiously cruel. Who do you hate more: Ember or Jade?
Also, in-preplanning, I was going to have Courageous_Cara die to Spring. (Cara went with Soul and Floyd to Nitebane). But then I thought, 'Meh. The readers won't have a reason to care that much for her and there are enough bodies without adding hers.' So I scrapped it. Maybe that's why this Chapter is so much shorter.
Lenz stepping up to fight off a Wither. Way to go, Nerd. Soul would be proud... wherever he is.
This Chapter was done around August 26th, 2020. Probably going to publish this some time in September...
FAV. FOLLOW. REVIEW. PM. OC. FORUM. DISCORD. SERVER. POPTARTS.