“Ah, that feels much better.” While everyone was distracted by Itsy’s mass destruction. Dr. Farian suddenly sprung to his feet. Though he was in one of the battlesuits that Chorus had provided, it wasn’t what had given him the strength to stand upright and hold his composure, appearing as if nothing was wrong. That was actually thanks to the syringe in his hand.
“How are you managing that, Farian?” Tize asked as he himself tried to pull his body off the ground, having been forcibly unsynchronized from Dicatta due to both of their weakened states.
“Well…” the doctor took a glance at the situation to ensure he had a proper moment to speak. A few small Rathe clones had begun to sprout out of the ground, but Itsy was on top of it. She hopped into her truck and began driving around, bashing them before they could fully form. Though based on the spawning rate, they’d eventually appear faster than she could wreck them.
“I suppose you could say it’s thanks to Alk,” the man explained. “Due to the nature of her ability and past allegiances, I wanted to ensure we had contingencies should she ever see fit to betray us. As such, I created a special serum that serves to negate her Curse, at least to an extent.”
“You could call it a strengthening formula that Andi and I developed together, though it doesn’t do much to boost an already strong Fiend. It’d be more effective for one such as myself than all of you. But rather, its main function is to negate weakness and numb pain. Therefore, it is boosting me up enough that I can withstand the effect that Rathe is having. I’m certainly not back to my normal strength, and we’ll likely find it difficult to use our Curses still, but it takes off the oppressive edge that keeps us on the floor. And, I have enough for everybody.”
“Then use it on everyone else first, Fabian,” Mallea rose to her feet. “I am not too hampered by this, I suppose because I’m not a Fiend. So I will engage in combat and help keep her distracted. The butler then charged ahead and began dismantling a still-manifesting Rathe stone by stone until she collapsed.
“Let us Lessers join you as well,” Gatrim pried himself upright with his rapier. “We’re used to being weaker compared to the rest of you, so this didn’t crash us as hard. As long as I can stand and move my feet…” The Memory did a few test jolts, confirming his blinking dash still functioned, ending with the tip of his weapon skewering into the throat of one of the demigod’s minions. “Then I can fight!”
“Yeah, this isn’t even as bad as some of my hangovers,” Nachi stumbled to her feet. “And it doesn’t have the banging headache, so I can listen to some music.” She popped in her headphones and leapt away. Soon she was dancing with a Rathe, probably having more fun than she should. And while Ipucco didn’t bother with words, he joined their actions, getting to his knees to stabilize himself and then sniping a fresh clone right in the forehead.
Farian took the opening to run around, injecting as many as he could. And then when some of the Fiends were stable enough on their feet, he handed them syringes as well to help their fellows and speed up the process. Time quickly became an issue as well. Because while the crowd was doing well to hold off the small-fry, the demigod was taking bigger action in the background.
On one of the walls, rock had started to fall away in large chunks, quickly becoming like a waterfall of muck and stone. They were forming into a giant Rathe, just like the one that Itsy had defeated, but now there were three of them slowly coming to life. Those already in action tried to make their way to them, along with a few Fiends that had found their footing, but they found themselves blocked at every turn, smaller demigods popping up to deter them and hold them back.
“If you’ll allow me to take charge,” Feyj suddenly spouted once he’d composed himself. No one outright argued against him, and after a moment, Phon gave him a nod, transferring leadership. “Then Tize, if you can,” The Royal held his hand out to the man.
“I think I can, but don’t know how much help I’ll be in this state,” The Refuge accepted, and they shook on it, with the veteran dissolving to orange light. But with Feyj’s special conditions, they had to go through the extra rigamarole to make the sync happen. 『Incompatible host, synchronization can not be completed. Host’s existence can not be compared. Compatibility must be measured using an alternative method. State your goal.』
Feyj shouted as loud as his lungs would let him. “Help me keep everyone safe and defeat this unworthy demigod!”
『Symbiosis Rate: 99%』 Since Feyjrusa’s current body was male, instead of a dress of light, he found himself in a shining suit, though just as blinding and bright as its counterpart.
“Damn, not as much as I’d like, but we’ll make do,” Feyj was semi-disappointed with the results. “Alright everyone, listen up! Even with Tize’s help, my perception is only a fraction of what it normally is, but it still far exceeds the average person, so I’ll be examining the battlefield closely. Listen to my commands, act immediately on the information I give you, and we’ll survive this. No, not just that, we’ll beat her, even if we’re weaker, even as humans!”
“Now group up!” All the Fiends did as instructed, standing shoulder to shoulder, forming a tight knit unit. The Lessers and Mallea all returned to the fold, taking their spots. “Long range in the middle, defenders and interceptors on the outside.” Only Itsy didn’t return, sticking with her vehicle, but she still stayed close, now doing laps around the others in a circle of protection.
Together they moved as one group, a single step at a time towards the three Rathes that were almost finished forming on the other side of the vast room. It was an agonizingly slow pace, since none of them dared step out of line, dare leave a gap, nothing that would allow Rathe to sneak her way in and get the jump on them while they were weakened.
And she only raised the pressure. Wave after wave of clones spawned and charged the group. They were left to those on the edge, with Feyj calling out every single one as they got close. “Three to the left, four to the right, one closing in from behind, six just spawned at the front.”
“Gatrim, no more than two bursts away!” The Royal then suddenly instructed, since he started getting a bit too bold, moving too far from the pack, almost having his return to safety cut off.
But not every form of Rathe tried to swipe at them, some held their distance, holding out their hands and literally firing their clawed fingertips at the group. Those became the responsibility of anyone with reach, most relying on guns or their battlesuits, but not everyone.
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“Damn, it feels like I’m firing a mawhging pellet gun,” Xard was still stubbornly trying to use his Curse, shooting holes into a far-off minion. Though his energy capacity hadn’t been reduced, nor the amount that he could pull from his rings, his body could barely handle any of the transfer, meaning the amount that he could actually use was infinitesimal compared to the massive attack he’d pulled off earlier. Still, his results were greater than he let on, reaching power that roughly exceeded that of a high-caliber handgun.
Only three attempted to attack the Rathes forming at the end of the room and slow their progress, since they were the only ones with the range and firepower to make a difference. The first was Roque in his mini-tank, blasting away steadily. Since he had already summoned it and Thievius, they were there to stay, but using any of his other contracts while they were active would be too taxing.
Second was Kada, firing just about every ball she had stored in her purse. While melting a bunch of objects and controlling them was a bit out of her wheelhouse currently, unmelting things barely required any energy. So she’d fire the balls out of her anchor and pop them back to their original form, trying to see what would work—anvils, electrostatic clouds, a few poison grenades Alk had made for her, and even some leftover explosives back from the days that the Central Peace would bomb the compound.
And lastly was Rishaki. After rummaging through her chest for a while, a now arduous task since none of the items she called wanted to come to her, she eventually managed to retrieve the biggest bit of firepower from her arsenal: a bespoke rocket launcher dazzled with rare gemstones. Clearly it was meant for display rather than use, but it still packed a punch and fired explosives with silver dust mixed in, for a more ritzy and glittering blast of destruction. Though since she hadn’t used it often, she barely managed to stay standing with every shot.
“Watch your step, enemies on the floor!” A few of them looked down, a bunch of small enemies, what could really only be called gremlins, appeared by their feet and started trying to slice their ankles. Given the tight crowd, it was near impossible for anyone to swing their weapons properly down at them, and a few tried to stomp out the little buggers, which turned out to be rather ineffective. Chorus tried to kill a few with their rocket-powered heels, only to find them getting stuck in the floor from too much force.
“I’ll get them!” Laurim suddenly popped out of an egg, back to her human form. Up till then she’d been prancing around as a Freer, limited by the options she could transform into thanks to their oppressive burden—nothing too big, but not outright stopped. She’d been pulling rocky clones in with her long tongue and headbutting them with her antlers so they shattered—an effective mid-range tactic that many of the others lacked.
“Transform: Sealsnake!” After another quick moment of incubation, the girl hatched into a slithering serpent with a bit of a chubby and blubbery belly. While a bit bigger of a creature for the task she needed, she could still manage to serpentine through everyone’s feet. And that form had the one real advantage she needed, a digestive system that could stomach eating rocks.
The girl quickly swept through the area, her jaw perpetually unhinged, swallowing each of the miniscule Rathes whole. She then stayed in that form for a while, moving with the pack, allowing enough time to pass as that monster so that when she turned back, her stomach wouldn’t immediately feel like it was about to burst. Still, she’d have a horrible tummy ache for the rest of the day.
“Above!” Feyj suddenly called out, drawing attention to the ceiling that no one else had been paying attention to. Rathe had chosen the same trick from before with stalagtites, but instead of firing the rocky spikes at them, she was going to let gravity rain the stone down upon them. “Take what cover you can!”
Most of the group held up their weapons, offering what little protection they could. Phon raised her shields. Roque grabbed Ahvra and pulled her into his tank before closing the hatch, since she was close by and the smallest, so she’d actually manage to fit in the cockpit that should only seat one. Itsy zoomed over, quickly hopped out of her truck and started to hoist it over her head. Several more joined her, helping her support the weight, eager because it would provide safety.
“Help me get up!” Kada was having trouble climbing to the top of the group, but a few hoisted her, understanding her intention. Xard then blasted up on his own, and the two stood atop the crowd, using their raised weapons as footholds. Then as the spikes began to fall, he reluctantly followed The Mermaid's lead, and both of them began jumping around and spinning with their arms wide.
The spikes that hit Kada melted instantly, raining the rocky goop down on the others. She couldn’t start a chain reaction like she normally would, but did have some range to melt a few more closest to her that she’d otherwise miss. Xard, meanwhile, had to be more direct. The spikes had to touch his body in some form or fashion for him to absorb the energy of their fall, but when they did, they limped lifelessly to the ground, no longer a threat to anyone.
Those beneath them did the best to ward away the stragglers. It wasn’t without incident. There were scrapes and scratches, a few deep cuts that would leave scars, and one or two gashes that caused a lot of bleeding. But Valen and Alk did what they could, the former to help the blood coagulate, and the latter to ease the pain.
“Wait, it’s a trap!” Feyj called. “She’s trying to entomb us!” While everyone’s attention had been focused skyward, and since they’d all been tightly grouped up, Rathe had begun raising a circle of rock around them slowly, barely an inch out of the ground before The Royal had noticed. And now that she’d been found out, the spire suddenly shot upward with more speed.
“Zjik, if she traps us in here, I won’t be able to get us all out,” Phon relayed with genuine panic. She began teleporting members outside of the rising rock as fast as she could, limited to one at a time—starting with those who were less athletic and capable, without means to save themselves. While also selecting a few who were competent enough in a fight, knowing they’d be ambushed by more rocky monsters as soon as they were in the open
But a few managed to escape on their own. Xard was able to blast out, and those in battlesuits could use the installed thrusters to fly up just enough. Nachi also made a springboard with her polearm, helping people jump their way up and over the ever-rising lip.
“Everyone move to one side and get ready to swim, I’ve got this!” Niloy amped herself up. Though she’d have trouble altering the properties of any water she produced, its generation wasn’t an issue. The tech in her water guns still held up, along with the virtually infinite reservoir they contained thanks to Pak.
The Flesheater pointed both pistols at the ground, and used the force to initially propel herself out of the rising spire. But she didn’t jump down like the rest, and instead hung with her stomach perched on the edge, aiming back into the stone cylinder. Then she unleashed a torrent of water, quickly filling what was essentially a giant cup. The woman tried to stick to spraying one side, becoming a rushing faucet, so that those beneath wouldn’t get constantly soaked in their faces.
It didn’t take long for the water levels to rise, floating the Fiends upward like bobbing apples. And soon, the spire overflowed and everyone inside it slipped out. Just in time, right before the rock sealed against the ceiling, completing the cylinder.
Down at the bottom, everyone regrouped, those at the edge of the circle protected those in the middle while they got recomposed, many ringing out their soaked clothes. But it didn’t take them long to get back into fighting form. They were close now, ready for the final push to battle the three colossi.