The plumes of fire surrounding Arthur reflected through his sword as he charged toward the large monsters ahead of him–They were still in the first phase, and much weaker than the one that Arthur had fought alone.

Because of this, he had the chance to quickly take care of them before they transformed into their bipedal and more battle-proficient forms.

The Arc shield that the tank of their party had conjured was slowly breaking as cracks formed in the place where the monsters recklessly made their assault.

After reaching one of the many familiars the witch had summoned, Arthur took the closest one on, narrowly avoiding many of the attacks it threw at him, and threw it off balance by parrying the monster’s strikes with his blade and slowly he started chipping away at its health.

As soon as the effect of his title kicked in, the fight was a breeze and the monster he faced was vanquished under his sword from a blow heading to its neck.

It didn’t take long for him and his party to slay all the familiars summoned on the platform.

The plumes of fire surrounding them burned hotter and formed a wall they could no longer see any gaps in, it slowly closed in on them and reduced the little space they already had.

The shield’s light dimmed and faded away, the caster’s face was drenched in sweat and he was on his knees panting from exhaustion. He might not be able to cast it again if the situation called for it.

Arthur and Alex glanced at the witch chanting behind her fortifications and thought of how to get past the barrier. But, they had no idea how, it was the first time they went up against a witch, let alone something that could use magic.

So they went for the simplest method they could think of; To brute-force it.

Arthur’s sword bounced off of the magic barrier conjured in front of the witch and it hummed with each hit as it repaired the tiny cracks that formed in the place where his sword had hit.

‘Damn it’ He had run out of ideas about what to do, his sword’s attacks affected the shield but it wasn’t enough since the shield automatically repaired itself, it was rather exhausting to try as well because the witch herself wasn’t just idling around waiting for them to get to her.

Fiery projectiles launched from the witch’s staff and Arthur narrowly dodged one but was hit by another that redirected from its course to Alex.

-5 HP

[Health: 24/29]

“Ugh, that's hot!” Arthur gritted his teeth and patted at the scorched marks the fireball left on his arm.

Arthur retreated to the back and planned his next plan of action. Before he could devise a plan, light radiated from the staff of their party’s mage and sharp arrow-like projectiles shot out, shattering the witch’s shields.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The witch’s eyes widened in surprise and she stumbled on her feet, “W-What?! You have a mage!? So that is why they weren’t doing anything until now!” She snickered and retreated as Arthur and Alex got closer.

Another familiar formed from her shadow but as it lunged toward Arthur, its neck was pierced by the witch’s long bony finger and was grotesquely absorbed by her.

Her head threw back and she stared up at the sky in a trance-like state with a euphoric breath coming from her lips.

She laughed and her skin started bubbling and her limbs twitched awkwardly, she grew taller and long sharp bones emerged in the form of a tough exoskeleton with blades protruding from her arms and legs. Blood dripped from every orifice of her body and burned the floor beneath them.

“I don’t quite like this form because it’s rather inelegant but it’ll do.” The witch said, feeling unamused as she looked at herself.

The tank of Arthur’s party carelessly walked towards her, “Aren’t witches only supposed to use mag–”

Blood gushed from his body and an arm flew up into the sky.

“Aaaagh!!” Tears streamed down his horrified face from the intense pain he felt from the missing limb.

Arthur and Alex stepped back with a horrified expression as well.

They didn’t see the attack, or rather… they couldn’t.

It was too fast. Her figure blurred for only a moment and then she appeared before the man who was now hunched over desperately clutching at the deadly wound inflicted on him, his hand slipped from the blood.

He let out one final scream before his body became limp and he collapsed onto the side.

“Hm, he was a rather soft fellow was he not?” The witch prodded at the lifeless body below, her face twisted into a sly, crooked smile.

The others were terrified as they looked at the scene unfolding in front of them as she picked him up and started eating his corpse.

Blood dripped down from her lips and she finished her meal, her body developed even further and the bones that made up the armour on her back grew longer, making spikes to fend off any incoming attacks.

The two support players at the back lost their will to fight. The healer fell on her knees and despaired as her mind started crumbling from the stress.

“Is that going to happen to me too?!”

“Oh yes, it will darling~” The witch mocked and appeared before her in the blink of an eye.

The girl sobbing on the ground looked up at the grotesque witch in horror and stumbled on her feet as she panicked while trying to escape. But, it was of no use.

A long-bladed arm pierced her through the centre of her chest and her body was lifted in the air, the witch displayed it to them with an eerie smile.

Stumbling on his feet, the mage backed away from her and tripped. Small sparks shot out from his staff but no spell was conjured, “Is something wrong? Why won't something come out hmmm?” The witch asked him in a false worried tone as she got closer.

“S-Stay back!” He waved his staff frantically in the air and struggled on his feet as he tried to get up.

The wind whistled for a split second and the mage stopped in his place, the fear was firmly ingrained on his face that split apart and the top of his head slid off. His staff perfectly split apart from the swift cut and fell on the ground with a thud.

It was all smooth sailing for them from the beginning, they weren’t ready for the sudden change in difficulty.

The most important individuals of their party were annihilated within seconds. They had no more support against physical attacks that the tank helped with, they could no longer counter magic now that they had lost their mage. Worst of all, they could no longer heal the wounds they received now that the healer of the party was killed.

That was when it finally dawned on Arthur.

This is a raid.