The snow jaguar leapt and dashed forward through the fog while turning ethereal. Tier could still not believe the fact that he had fully tamed the beast. He had rechecked the new passive buff that now affects his entire team, shown by the little jaguar eye icon under his status bar.
The status named ‘Spirit Jaguar’s Watchful Eyes’ gave the entire team additional critical strike rate and damage. It was definitely the sign he had truly tamed the special beast.
Galung was the name Tier had given to it in the spur of the moment before Lyra managed to land another attack. Victory, as its name meant, perhaps was something Tier himself had longed. Not just any victory, but a glorious emergence after defeating the chains that he put himself in.
Now, in order to achieve that, he needed to make sure they could get out of this place. And with both Rushvatte and Zackhs gone, they would need Manna’s presence the most to tank hits and break the line of the opposing team. Even if by doing so meant he had to sacrifice Flick, it can’t be denied that in such a condition that Manna posed a greater value than the rogue. And by getting her back to the line would mean that Tier had some chance to help Flick.
That was the cold blooded decision that Tier knew he had to take. One without further hesitation.
Nevertheless, there was one thing that disturbed Tier. Even with or without fog, Mal’esh would pose too much of a threat to them if he was left alone. That elven hunter might not be as good as other fighters here, but by simply having Predator’s Tactics path alone would make him an annoying threat that would further enable Lyra.
And if Tier’s prediction was correct, considering the path taken by Mal’esh, that elven hunter would definitely go for ones currently having the most trouble.
“Two birds, one stone,” Tier mumbled to himself. “This is why we survivalist hunters are deemed bad, this guy is just too predictable.”
“Now, don’t rush,” He said again to himself while crouching and snapped his fingers towards a direction for Galung to check. Then he observed his map for a moment.
Nubram had opened a portal around the direction of four o’clock from Tier. While also avoiding Slicer, the wizard had moved towards Grok who was fighting at five, but slowly dragged the fight towards six. It was not clear if Grok was doing it on purpose, but he seemed to try to steer both Zullvic and DeusVult away from the portal.
Macepaw and Esferta had died, at least the latter really brought Mark down with her. Meanwhile, Arkengrad was stranded in the middle of nowhere. Tier could really question what’s with female paladins and their lack of sense in directions.
And the last one, Manna was busy holding off Ikillyou and Xildur right at his 3, or on his east.
Mal’esh had disappeared from the map, which means the [Mimic: Orca] he had used to share the location of Tier’s teammates had disappeared. Thus, both Tier and Arkengrad are free to move without being noticed by other players except Mal’esh. And for that, he needed to make only Arkengrad’s movement visible to the opposing hunter.
He reached his cheekbone and spoke, “Arkengrad, I need you to turn 120 degrees left and go towards that direction. I will change [Mimic] and try to hunt down Mal’esh.”
[120 what? English, do you speak it?]
“At your 8, or look at your map where Manna is and go towards that direction. You have five seconds to figure out the direction.”
[Darn, who told you to be the leader again?]
“Blame someone else,” Tier sighed, “Five, four, three, two, one, [Mimic Switch: Crocodile.]”
The sound of a crocodile accompanied Tier’s reduced awareness of his surroundings. His vision blurred and turned grey-ish as if there was an additional membrane being put before his eyes. At the same time, Galung returned to him after failing to find anything during its scouting.
The two then moved quickly towards northeast, Tier believed that Mal’esh would definitely attack from Manna’s northern side since that would be the most safe and the closest from where the elven hunter was before he disappeared from the map. Taking his time to go to Manna’s western or southern side would waste too much time for someone eager to take the kill.
Tier himself would rather trade the time for a better position, yet he didn’t believe Mal’esh would have a similar thinking process with him. Although both of them were taking Predator’s Tactics, Tier believed Mal’esh was more of a glory hound compared to him.
When he almost reached the location, he stopped and gave Galung a soft scratch on its head. Then he pointed northeast, snapped his fingers, and ordered, “Galung, [Spirit Prowl], set stance: aggressive, command: patrol area.”
Galung answered with a soft growl then walked towards the direction. Its body quickly turned ethereal then disappeared completely without even leaving a trace on the white snow.
Tier closed his eyes and tried to focus on his hearing. He could faintly hear the clashing of blades from Manna’s position as well as the frantic clashing coming from Lyra and Flick from his west. Then, not long after, he heard a roar from Galung.
“[Eagle Aim].”
Tier drew his bow. He aimed towards where he had heard Galung’s roar. A deep breath was drawn, then he held it as the noise of a target being locked rang in his ears. He couldn't see clearly through the fog, but the target sign had marked something there. He chose to trust it and release his arrow.
Slither Drag activated: Komodo’s Bite.
“Galung, [Silent Break]!”
There was a brief silence before a loud crash and screaming was heard from Mal’esh’s direction. Tier quickly rushed towards Mal’esh. He pointed at Galung and snapped his fingers. “Galung, command: encircle, set stance: defensive.”
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Then, through the fog, he could barely see Galung let go of Mal’esh and disappear into the clouds. Mal’esh’s HP was down to 14 thousand from 18 thousand, Tier knew most of the damage was definitely done by Galung in such a short moment.
However, the large feline type beast does deal extra damage during several moments during and after the first strike was done. Though their constant damage after that was still powerful, it was definitely lower than the initial strike. Further, those kinds of beasts are not tanky enough to take many hits. They did have better evasion, it was just that any poison Mal’esh could dispatch would be severely damaging to Galung. Telling Galung to back off and prepare for another attack later would be the best usage of the beast.
Now, he just needs to bait another melee combatant to help deal with Mal’esh. Tier pointed at the opposing hunter and casted, “[Mark of Prey], [Mimic Switch: Orca], [Hunting Pods]!”
“There you are, you bastard!”
Tier knew Arkengrad was close, but he didn’t expect the paladin could turn into lightform and dash right at the pointed target that fast. She broke through the smoke and slashed through the elven hunter before continuing with relentless attacks with her twin swords.
Seeing the changing circumstances, Tier quickly changed his command, “Galung, set stance: aggressive, lock target: Mal’esh.”
He then turned towards Manna’s direction. He left and entrusted both his companion beast and Arkengrad to deal with Mal’esh. There was a slight worry in his heart that they might let the elven hunter go. Yet, it was the exact worry that he needed to face and ignore if he wanted to change.
Also, he couldn’t waste any more moments to help Manna. That way, others could be saved as well, especially Flick.
Led by his senses, instinct, and prediction, Tier unleashed [Insularis’ Assault] on where he thought Xildur would be. Some of the attacks were avoided. Yet, the ones that hit managed to reduce the svannire’s speed significantly enough and enabled Manna to strike him hard with her pollaxe.
Before Tier was able to unleash another attack, he felt a murderous lust that lunged from behind. Tier quickly rolled forward while Manna threw her [Stardust Lancer] at Ikillyou, the person who tried to attack Tier. However, the act had made Xildur able to shake off Manna and flee.
Without any exchange of words, Tier and Manna focused their attacks on Ikillyou. Tier was more focused in unleashing shots that restrict the movement of the rogue while Manna dealt more damage.
Not long after, there was a thunder heard coming from Flick’s direction.
There was a shiver running down Tier’s spine as he realised the attack was probably something Lyra had done to finish off Flick. The rakhs rogue had disappeared from his map, leaving Lyra alone on their previous battlefield. Tier felt a pang of regret as he wondered if he should have helped Flick.
However, there was at least another good sign coming from nearby. Arkengrad had managed to finish Mal’esh. However, Tier didn’t know if it was a fair trade. Flick’s capability to prolong a fight was definitely useful and Tier had just realised that he could’ve just used Flick to deal with Mal’esh later.
Also, Flick’s death meant something else. Lyra was far greater than what Tier had expected.
[I’ll deal with her!]
Arkengrad shouted and ran towards Lyra without hesitation. On the other hand, Galung dashed towards Tier as its target had fallen.
Another unexpected thing also happened as Grok suddenly gave a warning to Nubram.
[Bro, Nubram, you get out from here. Let me hold these two!]
[Chill, Grok, I have no intention to die with you.]
[Now, that’s a wizard. I like your style, bro.]
“Watch out! Xildur is coming towards you two!” Tier roared at the two when he realised Xildur’s movement was not towards Lyra.
Distracted, he almost got slashed by Ikillyou if it weren’t for Manna’s and Galung’s intervention.
Tier quickly shot [Insularis’ Assault] to limit and trap Ikillyou’s movement after the rogue just managed to avoid Manna’s [Sanctity Edge].
Then, with [Silent Break], Galung managed to pounce at Ikillyou. The snow jaguar rolled with its victim on the ground then held it, giving Tier ample opportunities to let his arrows loose.
Slither Drag activated: Python’s Grasp.
The silhouette of a giant python appeared around Ikillyou, stunning the rogue in place mere moments after he managed to push Galung away. Seeing the opportunity, Manna leaped high and slammed her [Justice Wrath] to end the rogue.
Tier fell to his knee, catching his breath. His muscles were hot due to the brief bloodlust status he just gained because of his reckless assault at Ikillyou. Along with that, [Mimic: Orca] also disappeared. Unlike other paths, Predator’s Tactics really wouldn’t go well with bloodlust status. The effects were more negative for those who took this path other than also locking the hunter from a wide array of the abilities during the status.
Then, Tier was stunned when a hand suddenly patted his head.
“I… always believe you would make it,” said Manna, smiling ever so gently at Tier.
Then she turned around and tied her hair in ponytail fashion. She quickly took command and ordered her allies to gather.
Tier could only sigh at the gesture. Galung approached him and licked his cheeks as a gesture of worry. The hunter could only smile at the creature and patted it in return as the bloodlust dissipated away.
[Grok, here, I’ll warp you out!]
[Nah, bro, let me take down one or two of these buffoons so you guys could have the number advantage.]
Right after his refusal, and Nubram warping away, Grok suddenly let out a deafening roar that reverberated throughout the valley. The force of the shout was strong enough to push away all the remaining smoke from Macepaw’s [Smokesteam]. Even both Arkengrad and Lyra were pushed back despite not being that near to him.
Grok, with his severely low HP now stood tall between the portal to Grandar and his three opponents. Under his feet was the lifeless body of Zullvic.
“[End Him Rightly]!”
Without warning, Grok took off the pommel from his sword and smacked it at DeusVult, who was also severely low in HP. It was a clear hit right on the face, stunning the male paladin. Then, with a swift step, Grok lunged and thrusted his sword through DeusVult’s chest.
Nubram tried to help by unleashing [Disturbance] and [Shutdown] to stop Xildur and Slicer from casting a spell and hindering Grok. However, Tier sensed another danger.
He shouted, “Grok, step away!”
It was too late. Lyra managed to throw her axe that stabbed right at Grok’s shoulder. There was a weird static lightning formed around the axe.
Grok, as if knowing his demise was clear, just smiled and raised his hand in a metal sign. “Keep on rocking, bro,” He said mere moments before a giant lightning bolt fried him.
“Arkengrad, run!”
This time Manna called for the other female paladin to run. Tier realised there was still some lingering lightning at the axe on Grok’s lifeless body.
“[Stardust Lancer]!”
“Too late!”
Lyra circled Arkengrad to avoid Manna’s light pollaxe. While sprinting to gain momentum, she shouted, “This is the price for betrayal! [Static Induction]!”
The shaman smacked her axe at Arkengrad with a force enough to push her flying towards Grok’s body. Then, when Arkengrad's body was right on top of Grok’s body, another giant lightning bolt struck the earth. The female paladin fell to the ground with her HP almost gone. However, it doesn’t matter much as Lyra and Slicer quickly dispatched her despite being bombarded by Tier and Nubram.
Both sides were now down to three members each. Lyra had the advantage of experience and equipment while standing much nearer to the portal. Time was ticking, and Tier felt despair starting to creep up his spine.