Night overtook the day while Agate was relaxing in his temporary house with a bottle of wine Old Crimson had given him. The area around the house had been quietly and secretly evacuated under Urist's orders, so this section of the village was completely silent.
Wind mages, supported by Bishop’s formations, set up a sound barrier that allowed the Earth mages to move away the surrounding houses and create a wall of earth to set the stage and block any watchful eyes.
Within minutes the area was ready and all the heavy hitters came out to play, slowly surrounding the house Agate was in.
Urist stood with an expressionless face, his spear leaning against his shoulder.
“You all know why you're here. We’ll be killing a demon dressed in dwarven skin. He plans to tear down the delicate peace we’ve built with care, for he does not cherish the lives of his fellow countryman. He’s a danger to us all, and has already caused irrefutable damage. We must end him before anything worse happens. Preferable, we will capture him alive, extract his knowledge, and kill him quickly. However,if you are in any danger do not hesitate to kill him. Stick with the plan and we’ll be done quickly.”
Urist whispered as a wind mage relayed his message to the rest of the group, who nodded or gestured to show their acknowledgment.
“Since you all understand, let's begin the operation.”
Bishop activated his formations without a word, instantly locking down the house before them. As he worked, Ice mage Acar, and water mages Aqua, and Vesi began chanting, sending mana into the sky to create a massive ice lance above the house, intent on smashing it apart.
The stronger fighters, Urist, Valkus, and Snorri, stood alone while the weaker fighters teamed up in twos or threes with Reaver’s animals filling in the gaps between groups.
With the preparation done, Urist waved his hand and gave the signal.
The ice lance instantly dropped from the sky and smashed into the house with a thunderous sound. Wood and stone shot out from the place of impact, harmlessly bouncing off of a barrier before littering the ground. Most of the house had been reduced to mere rubble. yet the foundation, although fractured and shaking as if it could fall apart at any moment, could still be seen.
“Isn’t that overkill if we want him alive?” Zen asked as he turned to Bishop, who merely shook his head with a grim expression.
“That isn’t enough to kill him. It’ll wound him, sure, but we’re far from done with this fight.”
The ice lance, having stood motionless for a few moments, abruptly began to crack at the top before half of it exploded into chunks.
Bloody and with a broken arm Agate roared in fury, surrounded by shattered ice. Instead of his bejeweled robe, Agate wore a jewel covered armor that shone with a mixture of lights.
“WHO DARES ATTACK ME?! I SHALL FLAY YOUR SKIN FOR TEN DAYS AND TEN NIGHTS!”
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Agate scanned the area like a wild beast until he noticed that he had been surrounded. Instead of panicking, he gave off an evil chuckle.
“So you shit stains actually have a backbone? Huh. I wonder what shape it’ll be when I pull it out.”
“Phase Two.”
Urist motioned, and like clockwork, the melee wielders began to move. The magicians cast their spells, covering the moving dwarfs in shields of ice and water as Urist enveloped them in a layer of origin fire as an added form of protection.
Snorri took the lead and activated her Slayer art. Her tear tattoos flowed along her body, running down her arms and legs. As they moved their color changed from black to cyan and the ink gathered together to shroud her body spots.
“Slayer art - Speed.”
Her long brown hair spread erratically as she launched herself forward and up like a bullet.
“Slayer art - Iron.”
When she was right above Agate her tattoos changed once again, this time turning gray and transforming into triangles. The shocked Agate opened his eyes wide as Snorri sent an axe kick down right on the top of his head.
Despite trying to shield himself with his gems Agate was smashed down into the remaining base of the ice lance, causing it to crack and shatter from the impact.
“Slayer art - Speed.”
Without hesitation, Snorri changed modes and kicked off the air.
As the melee combatants charged in, Urist looked slightly dazed for a moment before he shook his head.
Damn, was she going easy on me when we first met?
“I’LL SKEWER YOU AL— GAH!”
Agate screeched as Snorri interrupted him with another kick, sending him flying straight towards the far off earthen wall. However before he came anywhere near the wall the Champion Quake smashed forth with his axe, smacking Agate towards the right.
“Urk! WHY ISN’T MY MAGIC WORKING?! YOU ALL SHOULD BE DEAD!”
Quake whistled as Zen the Brawler gave Agate a fierce uppercut towards where Helga's summoned creature was waiting to bat him away.
“Bishop wasn’t kidding, that’s some armor we have to crack. I wonder how many hits it’ll take. I’ll have to get him a drink for shutting down that annoying magic too. Fucking mages and their projectiles.”
Unfortunately, Agate didn’t hear Quake, and a strange game of ‘ball’ took place as the dwarfs batted the helpless Agate, who had no way to counterattack with his magic sealed, around.
“IF YOU DON’T STOP THIS NOW I'LL BLOW UP THOSE CORES! I HAVE THE ACTIVATORS RIGHT HERE! YOU THINK I’D BE A DUMB FUCK AND NOT KEEP THEM?!”
Agate expected that the dwarfs attacking him would stop after hearing his shocking words, but instead, they kept hitting him around like a toy, with each hit cracking both his bones and armor.
Agate's bloody expression grew dark under his helmet.
“Fine. Burn, you fuckers.”
Agate pulled the gems out of his armor in mid-flight and laughed evilly.
“If only I could see the expressions on those fucker’s faces as they’re being blown up. You have no one but yourselves to blame for this!”
Agate sent his magic power through the gems, causing them to glow brightly before he crushed them into powder.
Smiling from ear to ear, he waited for the explosion to come only to receive a kick, then an axe, and then a greatsword to the face.
Nothing changed but the attacks continued breaking his armor.
“WHAT? IMPOSSIBLE, WHERE IS THE EXPLOSION?! GAH!”
While he was bewildered by everything he tried failing him, Snorri once again smashed Agate into the ground. Finally, after hundreds of attacks, Agate’s armor broke apart.
Urist grimly gave the order, “Phase 3.”