A second Skinwalker surfaced. Initially, it was just a corpse half-buried in the sand, then it rose and the skin sloughed off the underlying exoskeleton like an outgrown suit. A fact that was made quite confusing by the rapid growth of the monstrosity. Its shoulders widened, fingers and arms lengthened, and its rib cage swelled, until it stood two tres tall, putting it two heads shorter than its comrade. This new Skinwalker was visibly weaker and lacked the additional limbs sprouting from its back.
“Gno,” John said a single word and pointed with his chin at the second Skinwalker. He hadn’t even fully finished saying the elental’s na when she charged forward. A swarm of leaf-winged butterflies followed in her wake, soon turning into a set of thin stone trees that separated one half of the corridor from the other. The trunks were too dense for most people to pass through, but slis and those that could teleport would not have that issue.
While the season elental distracted the weaker opponent, the rest of the party turned to the original Skinwalker, who stood still beyond the exit of the tent.
John’s combat instincts had him duck imdiately. The motion was too slow. The Skinwalker they were all seeing turned into a fading image, the illusion breaking just as the actual monster twisted its body. Both the Gar and Undine were caught in a sideways swipe by the Skinwalker’s many additional limbs. Hardened carapace cut through sli, splattering deep blue sli all over the sand, before coming to a harsh halt against Particle Skin.
As per usual, the level of the Raid enemy was deceptive to the uninitiated. In real space, a level 650 Abyssal could be expected to be about as strong as another level 650 Abyssal. An enemy monster, especially in a Raid, of that level was ant to be tackled by a whole group around that level.
It was therefore unsurprising when the attack carved 6000 points of mana out of his MP bar, over a fifth of what he had to offer. ‘These things could two-shot without defences,’ John thought. ‘Doesn’t seem like Gno is having similar troubles though… Do they get empowered if we pass through a tent without spotting them?’
The theory had to wait. Aclysia, Ehtra, Nightingale, and Nia all had successfully avoided the attack. Nightingale perched herself up on the rim of the corridor, only to fall back in when so kind of pale bolt made of bone struck her in the back. The projectile drilled through her shoulder and remained stuck.
Aclysia took the frontline, Ehtra close behind her. “Wait!” John instructed the First of Hatred, ntally and audibly. She opened her grey wings wide to halt her charge. A disciplined glance and a nod, that was all she had to offer.
The Skinwalker’s outstretched limbs had pulled back in the anti, pulled together like worms covered in chitin. White claws were raised in defence to the overhead strike Aclysia executed with her katana. Eclys sliced through the air, then through the raised claws. The Skinwalker swayed like a mirage.
The creature manifested from invisibility right in front of the floored Nightingale. It raised a foot, to stomp down – and did. The flat sole crushed underneath it only sand, missing the harpy by more than half a tre.
The creature let out so kind of confused groan after getting a taste of its own dicine. Purple chains leapt out of the darkness of the midnight all around them, wrapping around the creature and around the projectile that was still buried in Nightingale’s shoulder. Through her magic, the harpy ripped out the botherso piece of horn.
A piece of Undine, grown into its own double of the healing sli, tended to the hole just as swiftly as Lydia was upon the bound enemy. Either the chains or the repeated usage made it impossible for the creature to utilize its illusion again.
Armour-clad and leaving behind a streak of soft golden light, the ornate royal lunged. The rapier pierced a weak segnt of the lded ribs, singing in piano keys while tasting the blue blood of the monstrosity.
Raising and then clenching her offhand, Lydia commanded a swarm of tal that had been created all around her by the Hydra Steel. Bits and pieces of supernatural steel collapsed all around the monster’s hand.
Of course, it was never that easy. Gathering its might, the Skinwalker ripped through the chains. The magic of the night goddess shattered into deep purple fragnts. The tal pieces kept the monster in place for a mont longer, but not long enough for Nia to get her shot in. tal screeched over the pale carapace of the monster. The hand was freed and hurled at the pariah, who was mid-air following a leap.
Claws grasped at nothing, Nia re-evaluating her position in the world in a wave of weirdness. Neither the monster nor the fighters were hindered by it – save for Ehtra who still stood exactly where John had ordered her to remain. The slit of her closed helt remained ever pointed at the direction of the combat.
The various additional limbs at the back of the Skinwalker suddenly curved forwards, at least one of them aid at each of the combatants. Nightingale shrouded herself and the now re-assembled Undine in a misdirecting cloak of darkness; Lydia and Nia expertly dodged; John used Magus Step to set himself off by half a tre, avoiding the impact that way.
Aclysia and Ehtra took the impacts head on. The pointed tendrils slamd into them, taking a chunk out of the sturdy won’s HP. Both recovered swiftly, both swung their swords, both sliced through the additional limbs. Black ice attached to the stump as a Blood Halo flared.
The tendrils pulled back. John spawned two Unstable Arcanas along their segnt of the corridor. Both of the spheres pulsed once, the silvery light dispersing the new illusion. A single ripple in the air announced the impending launch of the automatic Mana Chain. ‘There would be two if it was close enough for the Punishnt Chain or the overlap area,’ he thought at rapid speed. ‘It must be near the tent again! Ehtra! Aclysia!’
The First of Hatred snapped into action. Two-handing her sword, she swung it in a wide arc, while Aclysia’s frost breath covered the other half of that segnt of the corridor. Ehtra was the one to land the blow. Her sword stopped in the air, suddenly decorated by blue blood. The rest of the creature peeled out of its camouflaged state. Effortlessly, it knocked aside the launched Mana Chain.
The wrong attack to address first.
The whirling of Ehtra’s Chain Sword filled the error with a terrorizing buzz. Gore sprayed over the grey angel’s armour as the whirling teeth ripped deeper and deeper into the dense flesh of the monster’s side. Screeching in pain, the eternally frowning Skinwalker brought both its arms down. The true impact of the hit was parried by Astrotium feathers, but Ehtra nevertheless backed off. Then, a wave of weirdness made her take an additional step back.
Nia’s sword pierced the back of the Skinwalker and erged from the solar plexus at the front. It was a slow, thodical movent, like gently pushing a carving instrunt through fragile wood. The Skinwalker was overco by a series of seizures. Thrashing tendrils threatened to slam Nia aside.
Aclysia was right there thanks to Aid. Pieces of grey tal and multi-coloured wires hindered the movent of the left set of tendrils, purple chains and Undine’s sli the right set.
The Skinwalker continued to put up a fight, trying to throw off the pariah and all those that hindered it in that endeavour. Ultimately, Nia dragged her void sword upwards through the head of the monster, causing its spasms to turn into frozen twitches. Black Ice had crept up to its back, immobilizing what few tendrils it may have been able to wield against Ehtra’s Chain Sword slamming into its forehead and then gnawing its way through the thick skull.
The First of Hatred kept on pressing and pressing, until the monster died and its body suddenly turned into ash and dust. The Astrotium blade slamd into the sand below.
All of the party moved, overcoming the obstacle Gno had deliberately placed in their individual ways. Nightingale and Ehtra deftly dodged another set of projectiles hurled during their flight over the stone trees.
Gno was down to half her HP. She was missing an arm and part of her face, both wounds glowing a warm red from the regeneration magic she used on herself. The Skinwalker was faring better, but an indentation matching the season elental’s knuckles was clearly present at the centre of a cracked part of its chest.
‘Ever reliable,’ John complinted the brunette, before giving her the order to step back. Aclysia charged swiftly into the gap and the rest of the group surrounded the lone Skinwalker. Dispatching it was a much smoother affair, as it was physically weaker, less capable in the illusion departnt, and lacked the additional limbs. Aside from the single annoying trick it played on them via its illusions, it was a straightforward elimination.
They tended to their wounded afterwards. Gno ripped one of the branches off the trees and held the stone against the stump of her arm. Sumry red energy took root, spreading up the stone and soon reshaping it into a new limb. The brown rock gradually changed into the fair skin of the season elental.
“Ehtra, can you do a favour and take a short peek over the edge?” John requested, while they let their resources tick back up to a healthy degree. Moving quickly was for when they had so degree of confidence regarding their enemies.
The First of Hatred took her eyes off Nia and gave John a curt nod. Grey wings unfolded and the ancient weapon leapt, blowing away enough sand to unearth the previously unseen bedrock the path was on top of.
‘Nice attention to detail, Gaia,’ John sent silent appreciation to the supre deity. Up above, Ehtra reached the zenith of her rise, then imdiately went into a sharp dive to avoid the potential follow-up. There was none. “See anything?”
“No,” Ehtra’s answer was concise, her expression as annoyed as ever. A shadow of strain mixed into it when she resud a position close to Nia.
“You’re really pushing yourself,” John said.
“Don’t dare to suggest I should do otherwise,” Ehtra growled.
John took half a second, suppressing a confused wrinkling of his brows. “Quite the contrary, I just wanted to let you know that I noticed – and that I appreciate it.” He turned his view to Aclysia, who had quietly stepped into arm’s reach. She wiggled a little closer, ready for him to put his arm around her waist. He deed that would have detracted from the point he wanted to make, in this instance. “Maybe I’m too used to people that imdiately catch my tone. My apologies.”
Ehtra crossed her arms and stared. Her lips moved a little, her half-frown forming his words again. Fingertips tugged at the tip of one of the two side braids that just barely managed to enter their reach. “You are an observant creature, I’ll give you that much,” she stated a bit too chanically for them to be thoughtless words.
John smiled, a response that seed to upset Ehtra greatly. The First of Hatred scoffed and demonstrably turned not just her eyes but her entire face away from him. Her chest, however, remained towards him. The artistic boob armour just scratched all of the right itches in John’s brain at that mont. He did quite love the knight-woman, sci-fi, angel aesthetic she had going on.
The grey angel created a little, “Tsk,” sound, closed her eyes, and just stood there, still tugging on her braid. The signals were completely mixed and a less experienced Gar would have erred on the side of caution. The thoroughly experienced Gar still did. He could practically feel the judging gaze of Lydia lingering on him.
“Think you could move those along?” John gestured towards the various pieces of shredded tal that hung suspended in the air. The Hydra Steel necklace, one of the three items Lydia had received from Astria, spawned these gravity-ignoring pieces of ammunition for the tal mage as combat continued.
Disappointingly, Lydia shook her head. “I have experinted on this matter on my own ti. Non-consecutive combat does not lend itself to a continued accumulation of this resource.”
“But if we chain pull deliberately, you could keep spawning them?”
“The Ramping Power would assure a growing supply, albeit access range will still be an issue.” Lydia trailed a finger up the side of her prismatic rapier. She stopped and stared at the weapon with greater annoyance than even Ehtra could summon when it plonked the first few notes of galovania.
Amusingly, the grey necklace of interlocking pieces of evenly sized tal that was the Hydra Steel was really the only piece that vibed with Lydia’s typical presentation of herself. Her armour was a bright plate that belonged in a particularly hopeful high fantasy setting, as was the cape of woven sunlight that glowed behind her, painting even these grey sands a dull gold. Strimata, her rapier, glowed in various elental colours, matching the notes that continued to ring from it.
Right up until Lydia slamd the weapon into its sheath.
“Insufferable,” she stated, her grip clenched around the handle to make sure the semi-sapient weapon remained put and quietened. “Shall we advance, my love, before the obnoxious nature of your various gifts drives to insanity?”
“I don’t know, I sort of enjoy seeing you annoyed,” John teased her.
Lydia ran a hand over her hair, as a sigh left her. The gauntlet was like a second skin to her. On the ring finger of the gleaming silver-gold was a band as dark as wrought iron. John smiled when he saw the engagent ring, as he always did.
“Alright, alright,” John gave. “Let’s continue.”
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