Battle Start! Squire's Party Versus Caius the Dawnbreaker!
Squire uses Holy Aegis and Divine Wrath!
Strength and defense of all party members have increased!
The unnatural figure doesn't raise his blade towards us, instead lifting his wide-open gauntlet clad hand.
Caius the Dawnbreaker uses Spite!
Squire is weakened!
Slave is weakened!
Vile is weakened!
Carrie-Anne is weakened!
Just for a moment, my vision goes dark and every muscle in my body tenses up. It reminds me of Vile's electrical arc spell during my training, even if it doesn't inflict any actual damage. My whole body feels tense, however, every movement just a little more difficult, everything feeling a little bit more heavy, the air around me thicker, my senses dulled. I look to the others, all of whom were battle ready, but even the swift-moving cat and crow couldn't gain the initiative in this fight, tendrils of dark energy flowing and crackling across their bodies. Carrie had immediately taken to the sky, but that not-so-strange attack was nearly enough to send her crashing back down to the earth. It's only through visible effort that she manages to catch herself, and seemingly just as much effort is required to keep her airborne.
Carrie-Anne throws darts!
Caius the Dawnbreaker suffers 1, 1, 1 and 1 point(s) of damage!
I can't help but wince at those numbers. I suspect that the small darts aren't meant to be the hardest hitting, mainly existing to allow the crow to continue to strike while maintaining a safe distance, but that was much worse than I had hoped.
Slave attacks!
Caius the Dawnbreaker suffers 3 point(s) of damage!
Slave suffers 43 point(s) of damage!
The small cat made a swift dive towards the armored foe, raking her claws across his exposed neck, only to leap backwards, looking down at her now white forelimbs. I can see a visible vapor as she breathes, the intense cold emanating from the undead knight's body freezing her paws. She seems to be alright, thankfully, but clearly realizes that it wasn't a worthwhile trade.
Vile casts Fireball!
The spell is ineffective.
The rat atop her back does no better. The swirling orb of flames appears before her and launches at the not-man at an incredible speed, only to be caught in mid-air by the gauntletted hand, where the very fires appear to freeze and crumble away to nothing.
Squire uses Smite!
Caius the Dawnbreaker is weakened!
Darn. I was afraid of that. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly thankful that he didn't simply shrug the attack off (even if the golden arcs of energy dancing across his body seem to be affecting him far less than it is us), but the effect message is disturbingly familiar.
"Interesting..." the not-man says, still wearing a disturbingly calm smile as he rubs away the frozen remnants of ash from his armored gloves as though it were common filth, the golden tendrils still dancing across his ruined form. "Very interesting. I so rarely get guests here, and to think that I would encounter such... exotic company. It's a shame that you won't be staying long."
He moves quickly. Much more quickly than I would have thought him capable, given the decrepit state of his body. He raises his flaming black sword, making a bee-line straight towards me, far too swiftly for me to even hope to dodge.
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Caius the Dawnbreaker attacks Slave!
Slave's defense is ignored!
Slave suffers 895 point(s) of damage!
The black cat somehow moves even quicker, leaping in front of me, not hesitating to take the hit. She has little reason to, after all, that largely being her job, but even she was clearly surprised at the way that the dark, accursed blade tore into her. Her whole body goes pale and her legs shake, her fur simultaneously singed and frozen by the terrible blow, but she somehow remains standing.
We're all pretty stunned by this, the black cat most of all. She doesn't shrink back or try to escape, however. Quite the contrary. Her eyes shine with gold and crimson, her raised fur flowing with a familiar chaotic red energy.
Slave has used enrage(max level)!
Attack has increased by 32 times!
Defense reduced by 75%!
"No! Don't!" Vile calls from her back, but the feline doesn't even acknowledge the words, glaring hatefully, hardly a trace of the usual intelligence in those eyes.
Carrie frowns at the sight below and dives forward, metal blades capping each of her talons. At the last moment, she curves around, slashing twice across the back of the undead warriors neck.
Carrie-Anne uses coup-de-grace! Critical hit!
Caius the Dawnbreaker suffers 256 point(s) of damage!
Carrie-Anne suffers 35 point(s) of damage!
A good hit. A really good hit, but numbers only account for so much. While the bird looks to be on the verge of collapsing from that counter attack, the not-man doesn't show the faintest sign of discomfort, even when struck somewhere so vital.
Vile casts Sleep!
Slave as fallen asleep!
The black cat looks about briefly in confusion before her eyes droop and her balance falters before collapsing onto her side. I had no idea why Vile would do so a thing, at first, but after a moment of thought it became clear. Slave can't take another hit like that. Even if I healed her, I doubt that she would have survived that downright absurd amount of damage. I even understand why Slave had used her 'enrage' ability. If her defense is being ignored anyways, why not? She wasn't going to stop fighting on her own, though. Especially not in that infuriated state.
"Squire! It looks like my pet here needs a little time-out. Please keep her safe!" Vile calls to me. I gulp nervously but nod my head, having no idea of what exactly she expects me to do against... that. We're obviously completely outclassed here. We can't even run away, with Slave being unconscious. Not, even if she weren't, it wouldn't do much good. Our opponent is way too fast. Maybe Carrie could hope to fly away, but the rest of us wouldn't stand any sort of chance.
Besides, I can't run away, anyways. This... thing cannot be allowed to exist. I can't simply run off, continue my journey and pretend that it isn't here. Especially now that I know its true identity.
Squire summons her inner strength!
Weakness purged!
Attack power increased!
I debated healing Slave that turn instead, but there's little point. She's out of the fight, and in no position to endure another hit. I don't think that I need to worry about our foe attacking her while she's helpless, either. He's clearly focused on me. At least his burning blue eyes are. Or so I had thought.
Caius the Dawnbreaker attacks Carrie-Anne!
Carrie-Anne evades!
I gasp as the black blade slices a clean arc through the air, directly through the crow, only for her to vanish into a puff of smoke, reappearing a few feet away. That was clearly too close for comfort, however, as she quickly pulls away, making a point to keep her distance.
Slave is asleep
Vile casts Shield on Squire!
Squire's defense has increased!
I look back to the rat who cradles the head of the unconscious black cat with remarkable tenderness. "Don't worry. He's not nearly as tough as he looks."
I'm beyond skeptical, of course. He could I not be? Still, the rat hasn't steered me wrong yet, and backing down isn't even close to an option as I stand before that terrible void in the shape of a man.
Caius the Dawnbreaker attacks Squire!
90% damage negation!
Squire suffers 31 point(s) of damage!
Squire's HP is now 329!
Huh? I could barely even perceive the sword as it came down towards me in a lightning quick arc. I was absolutely sure that I was dead. How could I not be, is Slave could barely endure a single hit? Instead, I'm not only alive but unharmed. Well, not really. I very much feel the blow, the force of it enough to throw me back several paces, leaving my paws scraping across the dirt to find purchase, skidding to a stop just in front of the still prone Slave. Still, relative to what I had expected, it was little more than a tickle. That shield spell of Vile's must be incredibly powerful!
Carrie tosses another volley of darts which do virtually nothing, but her main priority is keeping well outside of the sword range of our enemy. As for me, I'm a bit of a distance away, and while I'm almost certain that I could cover it within a single attack round and still have time to strike, I don't want to take any chances.
Squire uses Aurabolt! Critical hit!
Caius the Dawnbreaker suffers 2454 point(s) of damage!
There's stunned silence all around. Even our opponent looks shocked, a deep crack now visible in its exposed skull, although the would is already beginning to fuse itself shut.
"What happened?" Carrie asks, shaking the bits of frost from the tips of her wings.
"Dark magic." Vile says with her usual disturbing grin. "Widely considered the most powerful element that there is. It wreaks havoc on flesh, plants, armor, even physical structures. Of course, everything balances out in the end. For all of those benefits, there must be one hell of a vulnerability."
Even I managed to figure it out, a fact that I'm quite proud of: Holy magic. The one element that is weak against almost everything. It all makes sense now. I was drawn to this place, to this... thing for a reason, and it wasn't simply to die. I can't help but smile a little myself. I've been spending a lot of my time hiding behind others. I relied on Slave to endure blows, Vile to come up with strategies... even Carrie to land the fatal blow against that poor, deranged human back in the city. There's nothing wrong with that, and I've long since learned to accept my limitations, and willingly accept the aid of others.
That doesn't mean that I'm not excited to stand on my own four feet, though. That doesn't mean that I won't take just a little bit of wicked pride in the fact that our seemingly invincible foe suddenly looks a lot more nervous.
---
Bully: ...
Carrie-Anne: "Is that thing still here? I thought it was just a one-off gag."
Vile: "Don't be ridiculous! Bully is a precious member of the party!"
Squire: "Sorry, Vile, but that thing is just creepy..."
Vile: "Oh, really? Well, if you want him to leave, I'll be more than willing to argue his case again."
Squire: "Um, never mind! Welcome to the team, Bully!"
Bully: ...
Squire: ...