While the masses dealt with the smallfry, in the background, a giant Rathe came to life, even bigger than the first one they’d palled around with. She held out a hand, and shards of rock flew off the nearby wall. It all collided, forming into one solid piece—a massive hammer looming above them. But when Rathe went to grab the weapon she’d use to rain hell down upon them, it suddenly shattered just shy of her fingers, all the debris dropping into one dishevelled lump down on the ground.
Dice panted, the act of destroying something that big had winded him a bit, but he was still prepared for whatever the demigod would try next.
“Well done, Dicatta,” Rathe almost sounded proud of his competence. “I suspect anything else I make would meet a similar fate. But I know your ability well since I’m the one who gave it to you, and it’s built for power, not for quantity. Tell me, how will you fare against this?!”
The woman outstretched her arms, and the wall behind her began to bulge. The tips of hundreds, possibly even thousands of spikes protruded from the rock, slowly forming and floating out into the open air, becoming an army of stalactites waiting to be thrown. They started to turn towards the group, with Rathe aiming to fire them all at once.”
“Tize, help me!” the boy called out instantly, knowing it was far too much to handle. The helper responded as quickly as he could, his orange light twinkling around Dice’s hands within a fraction of a second. Up until then, Tize had been jumping from member to member, boosting them to help them out of jams, but this took top priority.
『Synchronization Rate: 18%』 Dice’s fingers extended to long metallic claws, a more metaphorical enhancement of his powers rather than anything functional. Dozens of rocky spikes shattered at once, followed by dozens more. “Zjik, it’s not enough!” the pair came to a quick realization that they wouldn’t be able to destroy them all in time.
“Group up!” Phon gave the order, teleporting several outlying members back to the main stack. She then moved herself to the very front, swapping her yo-yo’s to shields, protecting all those she could behind her. A few more rushed to her side, building the line of defense.
Chorus spawned the largest invincible wardrobe they could, to the point that it could almost be considered a walk-in closet more than furniture. Roque parked his mini-tank by them and then hopped out, hiding behind it with the others. Valen used every drop of Xard’s blood she had to fill in the gaps and attempt to curve around the group, offering some protection on the sides, but they still weren’t sure if it’d be enough.
Right as the spikes started to fly, The Artillery came to the rescue. He desperately used what strength he had to blast to the front, preparing to try and create a veil of energy that would disintegrate the spikes on impact, as he’d once used to save Archlave from a tidal wave. It would likely use up his remaining vigor, but it’d be worth it to keep everyone safe. Yet he never got the chance, since someone else ran out ahead of him.
Kada sprinted right at the spikes, not breaking stride as several threatened to impale her, more than she could dodge no matter what direction she went. But she committed, smacking her hand against it. Then to her and everyone else’s surprise it melted. And not only that, the countless rocky stalactites that remained all turned to goop, splashing to the floor.
“Ahaha, I knew it!” The Mermaid bolstered, having in fact no preconceived confidence that it would actually work. “Well, I assumed so anyways. I tested it earlier on the dolls. When it was sitting on the shelf, I couldn’t melt them, but as soon as I picked it up, I could. Even though it wasn’t made of her weird rocks, I had a hunch. So I’m guessing that as soon as something isn’t touching her, as in the room, everything around us, it’s no longer a part of her and we can affect it!”
“Hey, you actually used your brain for once,” Phon offered up a backhanded compliment.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Yes, I did,” the woman was clearly proud of herself for her bravery, though most behind her were only criticizing her foolishness. “But now you’ve given me all this ammo, Rathe! Let’s see how you like it!”
The rocky water shifted, lifting off the floor, flying back to its original creator. It then swirled around her, turning into a vortex at the gargantuan demigod’s feet. Faster and faster, it built up speed, becoming a rapid water spout that went up to her waist. Kada then made the circle tighten, squeezing the water towards Rathe’s stone body, causing it to quickly erode and rip away.
But just when they thought the demigod would succumb and collapse, she suddenly dropped towards the liquid of her own volition. ❝I tire of this!❞ Rathe sunk down into a new throne that appeared while all the goop around her suddenly lost its momentum, quickly settling back to the floor where it was quickly absorbed and removed.
It had hit Kada first, the all-encompassing exhaustion and weakening that made her drop to the floor, not even enough energy to break her own fall. And then the rest soon followed, all the Fiends and other members quickly losing the strength to stand, collapsing one at a time until no one was left on their feet.
While it wasn’t an agonizing pain, the overbearing drain left them feeling pitiful and on the verge blacking out, hardly keeping themselves from drifting off to sleep, let alone able to continue fighting. Phon tried to teleport herself away, to see if distance would lessen Rathe’s hold, but she couldn’t even manage that much. And the several other Fiends who attempted to use their Curses faced similar results. They weren’t entirely disabled, but they were too weak to even try.
Drimini, who hadn’t really been participating, and was rather just watching the amusing spectacle, mimicked the rest and flopped down to the floor a few times, giggling as she did, thinking it was some new game that they were playing.
“You just had to go and ruin the fun of it,” the demigod continued after a few moments of watching the group suffer. “I figured you all would at least amuse me by fighting desperately to save yourselves, but you couldn’t even manage that much. Though I guess I’m to blame for expecting too much from those so unrefined. I shouldn’t have even entertained this, and demanded you leave the moment you arrived without your leader. Forgive me if you thought that we could be friendly on any level, I was just that bored.”
“I’d hoped that humanity would have evolved more during this second turn, but you’re just as brutish and crass as the last. I guess I’ll just have to tune your traits on the next chance whenever this world comes to an end. Only one of you is worth preserving, and he’s not even here. I suppose this is just more karmic punishment from my father if he’s watching.”
“Go. Use what little strength I’ve left you and leave this place, and don’t dare return if your king is not with you. Drim is the only one I’ll speak to going forward. He’s the only one of you I respect, the only one worthy enough to even talk to me on the same level. For his sake, I will spare you, those he for some reasons calls his friends.”
“Or I suppose you can continue to lay there until he arrives, since I’m sure he’ll come trying to help you all soon enough. That’s just the kind of person he is. But please do your best to not be too much of an eye-sore in the meantime, I’ve already had my fill. All these flashy hair and eye colors, what was past-me thinking by making them have to be unique?”
“Oh right, it was only supposed to be one of you, so it never should have reached this unsightly point.” The woman then went on another tangent about how she wished Fiends had never been created, self-rambling to the point of muttering, having already lost all interest or care towards the others who were still sprawled across her shining stone floor.
“Alright, that’s it, I have to ask!” Kada now spoke out of turn, at the very least having garnered enough energy to run her mouth. “What’s your obsession with Drim anyways?! Like, from our perspective, I get it, I totally get it. He’s awesome, and special, and there’s no one like him. But what does that matter to you? A demigod shouldn’t care too much about a human, right? Even if he killed someone you hated. What makes him so different from the rest of us?!”
“Different? Oh, he couldn’t be more different,” Rathe laughed haughtily at the mockery of a question. “But that’s only thanks to me. While the rest of you are the result of genetic slop passed down from the rest of humanity, only he was fortunate enough to receive extra special care in his creation.”
“So while I originally assumed he’d be another disappointment, it just proves how marvelous my work can be. After he caught my interest, I suppose you could say I began to see him for what he is, what makes him special, what he could grow to be given the right guidance. And though I’d never seen myself as one until recently… as a mother… why wouldn’t I be enamored with my own son?!”