Deep in the heart of the unknown northern mountains. Screams of desperation diffused by the winds raging and cold whispering. A boy was now faced with something that one would call fate.
He has been in this helpless situation before; he fell into a trance, deeper and deeper. He held his sword firmly in his hands. He started hearing the blades whipping.
Simon then stood in his position steadily, he was firm and his determination shone through. The attack was faster than that of the normal walkers, given the Mutated Walker was in a more powered-up state.
As soon as the tail blades were in range, Simon began moving in reaction. It was just a horizontal sword swing, but it created a swirling motion of air. He felt his swing become heavier and heavier; the tails were getting swept with his swing. Everything was in slow motion.
The tails were literally sucked into the circle that Simon created, twisting and breaking one of the tails. The Mutated Walker was surprised as its body began leaving the ground. When the slash finished the Walker flew away on one side of the cavern.
But...
“Simon!!! Paramour, Simon is poisoned!!!” Percival screamed; he was the first one to recover his eyes in the dark.
The one tail blade Simon tore hit him in the shoulder. Simon immediately removed it, but the poison was already there.
The boy knelt down, and he immediately found the remaining stamina potion that was in his belly bag. He gulped it down in one go.
“I’m still okay! Paramour, we have to finish this!!!” the boy’s eyes glimmered fiercely.
It was dark, but Percival could tell through the smell; that the wound was infested with poison.
Their time was now limited.
“GaaaaaaaaAAAARGHHHH!!!” the Mutated Spike screamed in anger, pain, and rage.
It had to end now, or they would probably lose Simon. The more he moved, the more the poison moved.
“Damn…” Paramour was furious. He shouldn’t have done the dance immediately. It was out of his expectations… Raphael...
He took out a small magic stone. Rather than for use, it was actually a remembrance of how Raphael and Paramour created the Spear Flare combo, and they have been using it ever since the accident in the Weeping Mines.
It was a wind stone. He accidentally hit it with his level 2 magic edge during one of their adventures, and the Spear Flare was created.
The Mutated Walker immediately understood his surroundings; the hero was coming to him. It had to happen now. The walker ran into an attacking frenzy, claws and tail blades. He has to bring down the boy, now that he was poisoned it must be much easier.
It seemed that the stamina potion given to him by the Black Hood was doing the trick. Percival and the Black Hood ran to Simon to help the boy but they knew that they won’t make it. The Black Hood though began buffing the party, he just needed to see them and he could apply it.
The boy was aware that his moves were now limited, he had to choose wisely, not only that he was being targeted “I’m going to do it again!!!” Simon screamed. As the tail blades hit him, he did the same spinning move he used earlier, changing the angle of his sword, tilting it a bit upwards.
The slashes from his 6x Walker Sword flung the monster upwards.
“Retreat!!!” Percival commanded. The three followed. The Spear Flare created using the Wind Stone is not the same as the Spear Flare of Raphael and the Hero.
Paramour threw the wind stone to the Mutated Walker in the air, who helplessly tried to correct his posture, but it was too late.
“DIE!!!” then the hero of the era threw his spear, which was with a level 2 magic edge. Instead of the usual laser-like effect of the Spear Flare, it was an orb-type effect. The whole cavern flashed in a while and the magic it produced obliterated the Mutated Walker in just a few seconds, it never had the chance to struggle.
In a few moments, parts of its torn body dropped to the ground.
<--->
Back in the Northern Walls
“The subjugation was successful.” That was the message. The princess and Gallo received it. Instantly, the Spike started retreating—or rather, the ‘flooding had’ started. Gallo, who read the message, was grieving, but the most terrifying was that even the Walkers started retreating too...
Gallo almost fell off the plank he was standing on as he screamed!
“Don't let them retreat unscathed! Empty the cannons!!! All archers fire at will!!!” It was his command.
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The gate took time to open but as soon as it did the raging army below did deliver. Everyone was informed, they all knew of the plan and the risk the elite party was taking. They have to lessen it somehow.
“Boy, what is happening?” the Owl asked.
“It’s the flooding. After their leader is defeated, the spikes would pinpoint and try to eradicate the one that killed their leader… it's some kind of mechanism,” Gallo explained.
“Maricela!!! My favorite tune, please!!!” Regrin the Owl called for his wife. Maricela jumped down the tower; she then threw a roped claw onto the balcony of the tower, and she safely landed.
“Ma’am we have lad…” Gallo was going to say that the tower had a ladder but the Owl put his hands on his mouth.
“She loves the theatrics let her be,” the Regrin said. She was carrying the upgraded Mega Phone that one of the engineers installed on a stand. It didn’t look good, but it was working.
“Well, well! You placed marks on the field… you are good,” Regrin said. He started off by putting magic edge on his bow. Gallo could tell that it was a level 2 magic edge since the bow was flowing with wind magic.
Maricela started her performance.
The wind on Regrin’s bow started to become intense. “Here we go!” Regrin said as he began rapid-firing the special arrows in his quill.
The onlookers were quite surprised; they didn’t know that arrows could be fired that quickly. There was actually a bad stigma for the archery skill and was just considered a side skill, but Regrin, known by the name the Owl, was showing that it's not the case.
“The farther it flies, the stronger and the wider it penetrates,” Regrin said. His skill with the bow was impeccable, draw the arrow, pull, and release in one fluid motion. It only took a few minutes before he emptied his quill.
It was true; Gallo was confirming it with his scope. His arrows were literally creating large holes in the populated movements of the spikes that were retreating.
“Please be safe,” Gallo muttered.
<--->
Back into the deep roads.
The flooding has started. Paramour clenched his hands over his spear; he had no wound, but the continuous battle of hack and slash was wearing him out. The Black Hood handed over a potion; it was not a healing potion but a stamina potion.
“It's coming,” Simon groaned. He was still moving and perpetually in pain.
The Black Hood tied a tight rope on his shoulder to at least slow down the spread of the poison. He even gave him an antidote, but it was just doing nothing… the cleanse potion, however, erased some of the poison from his veins, but it was not enough. It was just buying time. They can see through the Umbra Eyes; the veins on Simon’s shoulders were turning violet.
The kid was really helpful, not to mention the walkers he slew. The kid was amazing; the three adults thought so. The weird thing is that even though in that state, his moves were just getting sharper, his battle instinct getting polished throughout the battle.
They were still fighting against the flooding spikes. They made their stand at the crosspaths; they had their escape way behind them, back into the descending tunnel that leads into the northern wall well.
They were waiting for Percival to break down the tunnel.
But… Simon felt it; even the hero… something was coming out there.
“Prepare to retreat!! PERCIVAL!!!” Without hesitation, the hero screamed; he launched a fireball on the path that he was defending. Percival was on the path that leads into the abyss, the path deeper into the underground tunnel.
He was safe, but he was frustrated. He ran back to the crossed path; they could tell that there were also spikes coming behind him. “There’s so much of them! I can’t collapse it; I didn’t have time to search for a collapsible area!!!”
The hero glared at the spikes. The four started their retreat.
They quickly entered back into the ruins to track the same path where they came from. Paramour would blindly fire a fire spell behind them, and they would smell the stench of the burning spikes. They immediately used the snowboards with magic edges to travel again.
Time passed…
If not a fireball from Paramour, Percival would launch his Cleaving Earth. Each moment that passed, Simon’s poison was getting worse… The Black Hood could tell that they were tired but still able to fight, he was ready to cast the rebuffs anytime.
“Something is here,” Simon said to them.
It was annoying but after coming this far, the whole party of four knew of his gut feeling; it was not a joke, and he was facing forward where they had to retreat, where they were heading. It was probably the smell… even the magic sense that the Black Hood was maintaining didn't register anything. He drank a magic potion; it was the 2nd to the last of it, but the Black Hood just had to make sure.
“It's sad... so sad.” It was a scrambled word, a voice that was not from any of them.
“It knows how to speak?” the Black Hood said.
“I want to be... friends but the urge... it will not let me... prepare.” a scrambled voice again.
“Oh shit... don't tell me it has been waiting for us in here,” Percival exclaimed.
Flooding behind their back, another walker that spoke in front of them. The hero did not waste any time and charged, he jumped off his snowboard. Simon anticipated the timing, and the others too. They have been fighting in life-and-death situations; this much was a given.
Their battle resumed again. Finally, they had a good look at what they were fighting; it was a slime-like creature, but it had the form of a walker.
“You… be my brother… mother’s womb!!” the Slime Walker spoke, but it sounded more like bubbly sounds.
Paramour could tell that this one was much more powerful. The battle resumed the Slime Walker attacked with its slime-like tails.
Rather than tail blades, Percival was blocking powerful slime tentacle blows. The Slime Walker was fighting like a walker too. The hero kept on parrying and attacking with his level 2 magic blade, effectively cutting the slime-like tentacles.
The problem was Simon; the poison was getting in the way of his fight. Simon flew as he was hit by a slime tentacle. “Kid, go behind me!!!” Percival called out to Simon. Simon quickly rolled over them.
He drank another Stamina Potion given to him by the Black Hood before. “Drink this too…” the Black Hood gave him another kind of potion; it’s a cleansing potion. It erased some of the poison again, but its effect was clearly diminished.
“Simon… we could cut your arms…” the Black Hood suggested. “No… how am I going to fight that way?” Simon said in a sarcastic tone.
The hero was still fighting on. “I will push him away, and we break for it!!!” it was his plan. They will make the escape now; the smell and the sound of the flooding spikes were already permeating and resounding behind them.
“Release,” the hero said, and a burst of magic flashed. Spears of Flame sprouted on his back. He grabbed the sprouting fire and threw it to the Slime Walker.
It's been a long time since Simon felt that kind of magic. It was an Armas; the peak of combat and magic fused together to its totality. The tunnel glowed from the hero’s Armas.
“Screech!!!!” It totally dealt damage to it since it couldn’t verbally express its pain.
The party immediately rode back on the board. The hero then throws another one, but the Slime Walker dodged it this time, already wary of it.
“Seal,” Paramour said, and the fire on his back disappeared.