The arguments between his friends were straying further and further from any real solution, the chameleon alpha was hidden somewhere in the massive tree, and its five siblings were getting closer every second.
Rahul closed his eyes, tuned out all the noise, and took in a deep deep breath.
Then he exhaled.
Letting go of not just the air in his lungs, but also the avarice in his heart.
He and his friends had spent the last minute trying to come up with a way to kill the chameleon alpha and then get rid of the other five one at a time, completing the dungeon quest with the maximum achievable reward.
With every breath he exhaled, the stupidity of that thought process became clearer.
"If we don't kill an alpha and open up a portal to get the fuck out of this dungeon, we could all die here."
Rahul said as he opened his eyes.
He didn't need to explain it any further.
The past three days running around the dungeon like disasters in the shape of humans had led the five to mistake themselves as invincible, a misconception that the chameleon alpha had almost shattered.
Then they had overcome its mental attacks and turned the tide.
As it retreated, the feeling of invincibility was back again, and no one was considering the fact they would want to get out of the dungeon without killing the six alphas and then continuing to grind levels until the end of the day.
But that single statement from Rahul brought back memories from the previous dungeon run, where Daniel's team would have been completely annihilated if it were not for Ivan's epiphany.
The solemn expression on everyone's face was all the confirmation that Rahul needed to be sure that they were all on the same page.
So, if all we have to do is kill an alpha, then the question becomes, which one?
The invisible alpha is out of the question. It was in his habitat, and if he didn't want to be found here, nothing short of burning down the entire tree would force it to come out of hiding.
That was a valid strategy, one that they discussed, but it would take far too long.
So Rahul looked around, focusing on each of the five alphas that were coming toward them.
Three among them were avians, flying between the flocks of Talon Guardians, but two were not.
One was a gigantic monkey, the other a snake.
"Take out your healing potions. We're descending the tree, faster than we've ever done before."
Rahul announced, already jumping down branches, as he observed the two targets and considered which one to attack.
Ivan noticed his eyes darting between the two arboreals that had left their trees and were now running and slithering through the massive open grassland and suggested something.
"Let's go for the snake. It's closer, and we'll have a minute or two alone with it before anyone can reinforce it."
Rahul nodded, and Matt, who was keeping pace, spoke next.
"Unless the chameleon decides to follow us."
Rahul replied.
"That is going to be a problem. If our back isn't secure, we won't be able to go too far ahead of the mages."
All three of them looked up at once and realized that Maya and Daniel were a bit too far.
"I'll stay with them."
Ivan said, then quickly added.
"Matt should be able to protect you against any mental attack the snake may have, and I have enough of a resistance to keep the chameleon at bay until we catch up to you two."
Rahul nodded, and Ivan immediately slowed down his descent.
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"So, at worst, we'll have half a minute alone with the snake, and then it'll be the chameleon and the snake against the five of us. If we don't manage to kill at least one of them within a minute, then the third alpha will arrive, and the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth."
Rahul said, and Matt simply nodded.
The three melee fighters could probably outrun any of the alphas on open grasslands, but no one voiced that thought.
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Ivan had escorted Maya and Daniel four-fifths of the way to the bottom of the tree when he felt the dreadful sensation on his spine.
He slowed down and raised his sword toward the approaching shimmer.
As expected, the shimmer passed him by without so much as a pause. But Ivan had decided not to let the alpha dictate the pace of the battle this time.
"Don't stop moving, don't look back. The alpha will have to go through me to get to you. "
He shouted to his friends, even though the alpha had now gone well past him and was almost at Maya's back.
Ivan smiled as Daniel neither flinched nor stumbled as he kept jumping down the branches.
An instant before the alpha attacked, Ivan used his skill.
In The Nick Of Time I - Spacetime bends for you as you move to intercept a fatal attack aimed at the chosen under your protection.
You can only have 1 chosen under your protection at a time, and a chosen can only be changed every minute or after a successful triggering of this skill.
If Daniel had tried to dodge or taken any protective action that had reduced the severity of the chameleon's attack below fatal, Ivan wouldn't have been able to use this skill.
That is why it had worked earlier when his friends were paralyzed by fear, and that is why it was working now since Daniel had left the nape of his neck completely exposed.
As the skill kicked in, the entire world around Ivan slowed down, and the space around him warped, shrinking so that a single step took Ivan from his current position to right in front of the attacking alpha.
He could see enough of the alpha's outline to shove its bite out of the trajectory enough to leave Daniel unharmed, but that's not what Ivan did.
Ivan knew that his trick would only work so many times, and before long, something will go wrong. He'll miss his timing, or his friends might try to get out of the way, or the alpha will execute a non-lethal attack. Even a single failure could have disastrous consequences.
So, instead of trying to deflect the alpha's attack and getting ready for another round, he just put his left arm in the bite's way, pushing nearly half of his accumulated intent into reinforcing that arm.
The startled chameleon found itself chomping down on Ivan's outstretched hand.
A hand into which its teeth had sunk into, but one that was still very much attached to Ivan's hands.
The next part is going to hurt.
Ivan thought as he started pouring Immutability intent into the alpha's jaw through his arms to stop the creature from wrenching its jaw free.
He couldn't keep this up for very long, but he didn't need to.
As Ivan started walking toward the edge of the branch, the chameleon finally understood the motivation behind the senseless series of actions.
Its efforts at fighting tug-of-war with Ivan proved ineffective. Despite the creature's large size, Ivan's strength was higher.
Stuck in an awkward position, the chameleon couldn't get enough leverage to put all its strength behind its claw strikes, and the little force it could muster could not go through Ivan's skin which was always getting reinforced in the right places.
Ivan could thank Shahid for that, as the fight had led to him earning the Honing Intent skill.
Honing Intent I - Your intent now autonomously follows your direction, eliminating the need for deliberate control.
Effect - Intent now obeys general instructions autonomously.
The interlocked man and monster kept reaching closer and closer to the edge of the branch, the tank using everything he had in his arsenal to tank the hits that came his way.
When the duo was only a few feet away from the edge, the monster finally did what Ivan had been waiting for.
It let go of its mental attack, losing its invisibility at the same time and suddenly grew a lot stronger.
This is going to hurt like hell.
Ivan thought as stopped reinforcing his arm and pulled it out of the beast's mouth, and then jumped off the branch, uncorking and drinking a healing potion as he fell toward the nearest branch.
The arm that was more bone than flesh now healed slowly and painfully, but as he looked back, Ivan smiled with satisfaction.
As I expected, there's a cooldown before it can get invisible again.
That was only part of the good news.
The slow tug of war along the branch had brought Maya and Daniel enough time to descend the tree, and they were now running to catch up to Rahul and Matt.
He was marginally slower than the alpha as he descended the tree, but with how little of a way he had left to go, and the alpha visible, Ivan was sure he could make it. He now had a decision to make.
Do I hold off the alpha here, giving my friends the chance the go four against one with the snake?
Or do I run and make a stand with them?
The first was likely the option that gave his team a greater chance of beating the alpha, but despite the reinforcing intent, the last minute had been horribly painful, and with his friends far away and the alpha's teeth clamped around his arms, Ivan had been feeling alone.
And abandoned.
Just like in the last dungeon run, when he'd been left alone to deal with the alpha, while everyone else died around him.
I don't want to go through that trauma again.
I don't care if it's the right choice or not. I'll fight with my team beside me.
Ivan thought as he easily outran the chameleon now that they were running on open fields.
He could see the vague forms of Rahul and Matt fighting the snake up ahead, with Maya and Daniel about to reach them.
For better or worse, that is where we'll make our final stand.
Ivan thought, drinking one more healing potion and finally getting his HP up to full.
I just wish I had some intent remaining.