While Jaiden began to manipulate the earth near the edge of the chasm, Dylan focused his attention on the monsters emerging from the back of the cavern. Without the Earth Mage picking off archers, he needed to take finer control of his phantom to make sure it shot at the correct targets as soon as they appeared.
“Chester!” Dylan called out to give the Guardian a heads up about what they wanted him to do. “In about a minute, be ready to pull the boss back to the cliff!”
The man intercepted a hit with his shield, boots digging into the earth before he let out a grunt and replied, “Got it!”
Then Dylan began to work.
He had yet to find a way to give his summoned creatures complex orders that they could use to operate completely without his supervision. As a result, most of his instructions were simple but vague. If he wanted to include more details, he generally needed to take more direct control by breaking down intricate tasks into a series of smaller pieces, and each piece required a different command.
Now, he cancelled the previous order he’d given his phantom to kill any approaching monsters; instead, he began to directly guide the archer to shoot any lizard carrying a bow the moment he saw one.
At the same time, he had the phantom hold its fire when only melee monsters remained. He didn’t want it wasting the five second charging time each one of its attacks required if he needed to quickly switch to another target.
When a new turn began, he drew a Basic Energy before continuing to monitor the fight.
The next time he couldn’t find an appropriate target and had the archer hold its fire, Dylan had an idea. He ordered, Charge an arrow but don’t release it.
He watched the mist condense. If the archer was capable of delaying when it released its shot, Dylan would have a lot more flexibility in how he could command it. He felt stupid for not thinking of the possibility sooner.
Of course, it had to work first.
He remembered how the phantom hadn’t been able to drop the bow when he’d wanted it to back in the shaman’s room. His summoned creatures still had limitations; he just needed more experience to find their edges.
But this time, his idea paid off.
Once the arrow finishing forming, the phantom kept it on the bow. Mist continued to swirl around the weapon but no longer condensed into the projectile.
Good, Dylan thought and returned his attention to scanning the incoming monsters. A few seconds later, he spotted one of the lizard archers and ordered the phantom to loose the arrow.
A misty streak shot across the cavern and took the monster through its eye.
That was much easier than letting it start charging after finding a target.
Dylan smiled and commanded it to prepare another arrow.
A few seconds later, the field produced by Lunadera’s Bloom disappeared, and Dylan checked his mana.
[Expenditure: 2.4 mana/min.]
[Mana: 57.3/108]
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his estimations when talking to Jaiden had been correct. He had enough to channel Immobilize for fifty seconds, and if he removed the mana that would require, he could maintain his deck for about three minutes. Enough for Jaiden to finish her preparations and then execute the plan. If things went well, he’d still have a little time left to support the group before he had to let the deck dissipate.
Over the next few turns he continued to experiment with what the archer could do. He didn’t have much time, but he managed to discovered two useful pieces of information.
First, he found that the phantom could move after it finished charging its arrow, but that movement was slow, not even half its normal pace. Still, slow was better than nothing. It would provide more options in battle, but the utility it could give was limited by Dylan’s second discovery. Holding an arrow for too long took a toll on the phantom.
There was one particular stretch where Dylan couldn’t find one of the bow wielding lizards for more than ten seconds, and about seven seconds after his archer had charged its shot, its arms began to shake. When he finally found an appropriate target and let the phantom fire, its aim was off. It still hit the lizard in the shoulder, but it took another arrow to finish the creature.
Dylan wondered about the maximum time his archers could hold their shots, and he put the problem on the list of things he wanted to test when he found a safe opportunity.
As the turns passed, Dylan drew a second Mana Spike and then chose to generate energy, preparing himself to use the other cards in his hand if necessary.
“Chester, you can start moving!” Jaiden yelled.
Dylan turned to see the Mage staring at a section of the cliff’s edge. It was masked by the constant tremors sent through the earth by the massive spider, but he thought he could make out subtle vibrations at the end of Jaiden’s gaze.
Chester shouted to activate his Taunt, making sure the boss would follow as he began to back up, but the skill also managed to catch a pair of lizards just reaching the battlefield from the back of the cavern. Defending against them wasn’t a problem for the Guardian, but Dylan worried they’d affect how well the man could maneuver the boss where they needed it to go.
Not seeing any lizard archers currently close enough to trouble the group, he ordered his phantom to take out one of the creatures while he activated his Basic Energy and one of his Mana Spikes to deal with the other.
With the interlopers gone, Chester began to move faster. It wasn’t long before he neared the chasm.
Dylan’s mind split with the beginning of a new turn, and he generated the energy he’d need to play Immobilize against the spider.
“Where do you want it?” Chester asked, shifting to the side as he avoided one the monster’s attacks.
“There,” Jaiden pointed with her staff, “about ten feet to your left and as close to the edge as you can get it.”
The Guardian nodded and moved over.
“Careful with your footing,” Jaiden warned as the man entered the range of the earth she’d weakened. According to what the Earth Mage had been trying to do, the ground should still be safe to walk on, but Dylan agreed with her caution. Safe was best.
Chester took a hit with his shield and was pushed close to precipice by the force. Dylan pulled Immobilize into his hand. The spider was almost where they needed it, but just in case something went wrong, he was also prepared to use the card to stop the Guardian from going over the edge.
Luckily, he didn’t have to.
Chester jumped to the side, rolling to avoid the spider’s front legs as they smashed into the ground he’d just occupied. Rocks shattered and a fine web of cracks began to spread. Leveraging himself to his feet with his shield, the man continued to entice the spider to move a few more steps in his direction.
And then it was there.
“Now!” Jaiden called, and Dylan played Immobilize.
The spider froze.
Dylan held his breath, praying that it wouldn’t be like the lizard boss and shrug off control effects. The spider had seemed affected by Taunt, so hopefully this would work too.
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A second passed. Mana began to drain.
And the spider didn’t move.
Success.
But before he could fully appreciate the wave of relief that washed over him, there was a massive tug at the back of his mind. It was almost enough to physically stagger him, and he felt his ability to channel Immobilize come under siege.
The spider was fighting him.
A headache began to build as he was forced to focus nearly all his will on keeping the boss still.
He almost missed the beginning of his turn but barely managed to choose to draw a card; though, he wasn’t able to see what it was.
He could no longer control his archer and once again left it with the simple command to kill any approaching monsters.
His brain buzzed, and he felt the familiar drip of blood begin cloying its way down the inside of his nose.
“You okay?” Dylan heard Jaiden’s voice coming from his left side.
“Fine,” he managed to get out, “hurry.”
“Chester, retreat!” Jaiden yelled.
“Just a moment!” The Guardian was still next to the spider, so, despite the trouble Dylan had with focusing on anything other than his task, he could see what Chester was doing. He moved closer to the edge of the cliff, almost directly beneath the spider’s head, and slammed his shield down.
There was a flash of light and a loud bang. Retaliation. After figuring out their plan, the man had decided to help by using his strongest attack to further fracture the ground. As the rocks around him began to crumble, Chester quickly scrambled back and escaped the area.
“That was reckless!” Jaiden scolded.
“And your plan isn’t?” the man asked, jogging to join Dylan and the Earth Mage. He looked back and forth between the pair and then back at the spider. “You got this?”
Dylan aggravated his headache by nodding.
“Yeah,” Jaiden said, “should be over in a min—”
“Rowan!” Alice’s shout cut across the cavern.
“Shit!” Chester immediately took off sprinting the moment he turned around.
Dylan couldn’t see what was happening and was only able to worry.
He forced himself to focus on what was in front of him and continued to channel Immobilize.
“Need to hurry,” he heard Jaiden mutter to herself. A warm yellow glow rose out of the corner of his eye, and Dylan thought he could make out the amulet he’d seen the woman rewarded with after Sara’s trial floating in his peripheral vision.
He managed to tilt his head just a little to the side and saw that he was right. With one hand, the Earth Mage pointed her staff to the ground beneath the spider, and with the other, she controlled the glowing piece of jewelry. It hovered six inches above her palm and sent periodic crackles of power bursting into the air.
In front of the spider, the earth along the edge of the cliff began to crumble. It started small, but slowly, more and more rocks began to break off and fall.
Dylan felt the resistance at the back of his mind falter, and seizing the moment, he drove the full force of his will into his channel. His pain eased. When the resistance returned a moment later, he found that it could no longer gain as firm a purchase on his mind and was no longer as hard to fight against.
Did that thing panic when the cliff started to fall away? Dylan wondered, but he didn’t think about it too much. Whatever had happened, it was good for him.
A new turn began, and he drew another card. Phantom Rally. As it joined the rest of his hand, Dylan noticed another Immobilize that he must have drawn last time.
With the lessened pressure, Dylan didn’t need to focus all his attention on the spider. Taking the opportunity, he turned around to check what had happened to the rest of the group.
The first place he looked was over at where he’d last seen Rowan fighting the lizard boss.
He quickly found the pair on the ground, the monster pressing Rowan beneath it. The creature straddled the redhead, one of its hands wrapped around the man’s neck. Claws dug into skin as the monster exerted its strength to try and crush his windpipe. Its other functional arm held down one of Rowan’s wrists; the previously flaming sword lay on the rocks mere inches away, dull and lifeless.
Rowan had run out of stamina. Despite all of his skill and the added protection of Siphoning Veil, he could no longer resist the lizard. All his remaining strength seemed to be pooled in his one free arm as he tried to push away the gaping mouthing biting down toward his face.
The only thing saving him from a grisly end was Dena’s music. Other than the two bosses, there were hardly any other monsters remaining, and the Bard had switched her full attention to the lizard on top of Rowan. Every few seconds she would start playing her sleep skill, making the creature drowsy, and when it shook itself awake, she would stop, only to start again a moment later.
The monster’s repeated bouts of listlessness gave the swordsman enough relief to keep fighting, but each time Dena started her music, the lizard would recover just a little faster. It was gaining resistance.
Alice rushed up with her sword only to be knocked back by the creature’s stump of a tail.
Chester was still making his way over. He’d been delayed by one of the smaller armored spiders. Because Dena’s music was now targeted solely at the boss, the few remaining monsters ran free over the battlefield. And because Chester had used his built-up Retaliation against the cliff, he couldn’t simply blast his way past the spider blocking his path.
Suddenly, the cavern trembled.
Dylan’s first thought was the spider boss. But that didn’t feel right. Despite the strong mental resistance it had displayed against Immobilize, the rest of its abilities had seemed tied to its physique. Whenever it had shaken its surroundings before, it had, at least in part, been using its body. And now that body was frozen.
A wave of dizzying mana patterns washed over the cavern from the unlit recesses at the back.
Though it had just receded, Dylan’s headache came back and intensified.
With the exception of the two bosses, every monster froze. And then they fled. They didn’t retreat back to where they’d come from; they scurried in every other direction.
What’s going on? Is something else coming?
Dylan forced himself to ignore his pain and ordered the phantom to charge an arrow. He wanted it to shoot the boss on top of Rowan but needed to be careful about the timing to make sure he didn’t hit anyone else.
Freed from the spider entangling him, Chester once again sprinted forward, but his progress was slowed when the shaking intensified.
Small rocks began to rain down, and one hit Rowan in the head. Slowed by the veil of smoke, it wasn’t moving fast enough to cause serious damage, but the swordsman couldn’t move. He couldn’t avoid it. His arm slumped, and the lizard pressed closer. Just before the creature’s fangs could tear into flesh, the next wave of Dena’s music pulled it to a stop.
Rowan managed to raise his arm again, but it was obviously weaker than before.
He can’t last.
When his next turn began, the usual split in his mind morphed into an acute discomfort when matched with his headache. He looked at his hand and chose to generate.
“How much longer?” he asked Jaiden, checking his mana.
[Mana: 16.5/108]
“A few more seconds.”
This is a bad idea, he thought, pulling the second Immobilize out of its illusory state. “Fast as you can.”
Maintaining two channels would drain his mana even faster than before. If Jaiden took too long, he didn’t even know if his deck would last beyond this turn, but if he didn’t do something Rowan would most likely die.
Although he was worried that the veil surrounding the redhead would disappear with his deck, he realized that it wasn’t giving the man much protection in the current situation anyway. Anything he could do to delay the boss until Chester arrived was better than what was happening now.
He activated the card against the lizard.
Pain and resistance tore through Dylan’s consciousness. He collapsed to the ground, and his will almost collapsed with him. His mind felt like it was being drawn and quartered.
He had an active Phantom Archer, was channeling spells against two bosses, and had just had his headache exacerbated by that wave of mana patterns. He’d known what he was doing would hurt, but this was beyond what he’d been expecting.
The worst part was he didn’t even know if it was working. He couldn’t see the lizard from where he was; his line of sight showed only the rumbling ceiling.
The one thing that kept him sane was the repeated refrain of Jaiden’s words. A few more seconds. That’s all he needed to last.
A new round of Dena’s music played across the cavern and the pain lessened.
Dylan found the strength to look over and saw the lizard completely frozen. He still didn’t how much the card had affected the creature before he could see it, but when Immobilize was combined with the Bard’s music, the result was obvious. They’d finally managed to work their way past the monster’s defenses.
A cascade of falling rocks sounded from the cliff.
“Dylan, now!” Jaiden’s voice was the signal he’d been waiting for.
After a moment to make sure he was releasing the correct channel, Dylan let the spider drop. He rolled over to watch, and as the massive creature’s weight met the already crumbling earth, the edge of the cliff shattered. A small rockfall became a landslide. And then the beast was gone.
At the same time a familiar loud bang came from the direction of the lizard. Chester’s Retaliation.
Relieved of one part of his mental burden, Dylan forced himself to his feet and faced the last monster on the battlefield.
Still frozen in place, part of the lizard’s jaw was caved in, presumably the result Chester’s skill.
He watched Alice plunge her sword into the monster’s scaled back, and in the corner of his vision, his mana ticked down.
[Mana: 2.5/108]
Dylan gritted his teeth and maintained the channel. This was their best chance.
He quickly discarded Phantom Rally to empower his archer, looking for an opening to let it release its already charged shot. Just like his mana was reaching its limit, so was the time the phantom could stably hold the arrow.
“Chester, step back!” Jaiden shouted, her amulet shining with a final, brilliant flash before going dim. She waved her staff and a sharp rock three times the size of her normal Stone Bullet blasted across the room.
In its wake, came the Phantom Archer’s empowered arrow.
Now or never.
The Guardian moved out of the way, and the projectiles smashed into the boss. The rock took it in the head, and the arrow pierced its chest.
Overwhelming exhaustion took hold of Dylan and dragged him to the ground. His mana was gone.
As he fell, he watched the boss fall with him. Even if it wasn’t dead, it shouldn’t be a problem for the rest of the group to finish things.
But just as Dylan’s head met the earth, the cavern shook again.
[ERROR]
[CORE MISSING]
[DUNGEON 10784-AT149-S312 WILL BE RECYCLED IN 10 MINUTES]
[CORE ROOM WILL BE RESET IN 1 HOUR]