Black tendrils quickly shot out from both parts of the giant chainling, stitching it whole again. Simultaneously, an explosion of shards erupted from its shoulder, flying in the direction of the vortex guardians. The duo quickly cast a series of aether barriers, while dozens of wasps flew over in an attempt to provide additional protection. Even so, one of the twins was struck, his life total decreasing by another three percent.
Just three percent? Dallion thought.
The shard was the size that could destroy a castle in the real world. He’d seen crossbows capable of less damage, and still, it had only decreased the guardian’s health by a minuscule amount.
What to do? The gears in his mind were already turning.
He knew that he couldn’t get out of the vortex without defeating the guardians. Yet even taking advantage of the chainling’s interference, he stood no chance of winning; none of his group did. Back when he was young and naïve, he might have taken them on just for the heck of it, believing he’d get lucky. He’d thought he could take on March during his guild admission trial, after all. Now, he was more experienced and knowledgeable, and it was that which provided a potential solution. It was still a gamble, but the only chance he had.
“Harp, get ready,” he said. “Di, Nil, I’ll need you as well.”
“What’s your plan?” Adzorg asked, ignoring the manner in which he had been addressed.
“We go for the weaker twin,” Dallion said. “After we’re done, I’ll absorb him and take on the other.” There was a moment of hesitation. “If everything else fails, I’ll use the Moonstone to defeat him.”
“You’re assuming we can win against the weaker one.” The old man stroke his chin.
“That’s our only chance.”
“Why not just wait for them to exhaust each other?” The fury asked. In the distance, giant eyes and mouths had covered the chainling rendering it grotesque as well as menacing. “That way you’ll just take on one.”
“He’s playing the odds,” the old mage explained. “If the weaker twin dies, he won’t be able to absorb it. That way he’ll remain at his current level even if there’s only one guardian to face.”
Dallion nodded.
“How do we get there?” Diroh wasn’t convinced. “We’ll have to fight through all that...”
“I’ll take care of it.” Dallion gripped the hilt of his harpsisword. “Just be ready to go.”
Water covered his harpsisword, causing the weapon to double in size.
“Astreza, Berannah, Centor, Dararr, Emion, Felygn,” Dallion recited beneath his breath. “Lux, let’s go!”
Blue wings of fire erupted as the firebird emerged, engulfing its owner in flames.
Music and spark attack, Dallion thought as his familiar propelled him forward.
The harpsisword vibrated—not merely its strings, but the entire watery surface, sending out strands of light in all directions. A sense of pressure ran through Dallion’s arm, though not nearly as intense as before. This time, the nymph guardian was doing her best to alleviate the burden; Dallion’s recently boosted magic trait did the rest.
Similar to the chainling, Dallion’s attack pierced creatures in the dozens. The spark had the same effect on chainlings as it did on aether wasps, creating a safe area around him.
“Keep up!” he shouted as he swung his harpsisword once more.
The second attack was as destructive as the first, causing the vortex to react. One of the twins looked in Dallion’s direction, then at the chainling.
Come on. Dallion held his breath. Be logical.
That was a phrase he had used a lot during his gaming days back on Earth. It was also the one that irritated him the most. The one certainty in gaming was that if there were human opponents, there was a way for them to mess everything up. Countless times he’d seen strategies fail because someone was too stupid to see an obviously good move and charge wildly doing utter nonsense. That never brought them victory, but it messed Dallion’s strategy to the point that he lost as well. The hope was that the vortex would be less chaotic, and a lot more reasonable.
Since Dallion had already presented himself as a serious threat that was beyond mere minions, the logical next step was for one of the guardians to intervene. And here lay the problem. If they determined him to be a greater threat than the chainling, the stronger twin would go to face him.
That was the last thing Dallion wanted. So, just to make sure, he followed the popular saying: pick or be picked.
“Lux, get me there!” He pointed at the weaker guardian as he split into a hundred instances.
The firebird propelled him through the air like a bullet. By the time he did his third music attack, Agenelin Murser was already in range.
A moment of doubt passed through Dallion as the strands shot out in all directions. The guardian had been human once—in a manner of speaking he still was—banished to protect the world from anything that could harm it. Killing him was no easy task, yet in order to escape, Dallion didn’t have any choice.
Part of the chainling was also pierced by the attack, although for him, they were little more than needles… red hot needles. Annoyed, the creature severed them with a series of tentacles that emerged from its mass. The guardian, on the other hand, reacted in a very different fashion.
Having the needed speed and perception, it summoned a tower shield of aether just before the moment of impact. Dozens of threads bounced off, causing negligible damage in the process.
Unwilling to let it end here, Dallion did another attack.
CRITICAL HIT
Damage dealt is increased by 200%
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
DAZED EFFECT
AETHERFLY FAMILIAR has been dazed
AETHERFLY FAMILIAR’s actions will be performed at 50% speed for the next ten seconds.
Two purple rectangles appeared as the cluster of glowing strands managed to drill a few holes within the shield.
That was a familiar? Dallion asked.
You have shields, they have shields, the armadil shield said.
A split second later, the vortex guardan’s shield sprouted wings, transforming into a massive shardfly. Dallion reacted on instinct. Gripping both swords, he spun in the air. One sword did a line infused spark attack while the other left several black hole pearls in its wake.
The guardian, in turn, countered with a line attack of its own. Thunder rippled the air as both attacks negated each other.
Meanwhile, the chainling also attempted to take advantage of the situation. A giant arm emerged from its mass, reaching for Dallion and the weaker twin. Before it could get close, the pearls that Dallion had left falling to the ground changed direction, piercing its hand like bullets. While not as potent against any aether creations, the orbs of purple still sucked in large amounts of void, then exploded, causing purple blisters to pop all over the black surface.
“I thought I was the careless one!” Diroh shouted from behind, launching several clusters of unadulterated ice at the chainling in an effort to attract more wasps there.
Dallion smiled faintly, then performed two three-sixty line attacks. To his surprise, the guardian did the same, but not aiming at him, but rather at the chainling’s arm.
Moderately strong individually, the attacks stacked on, causing a large chunk of the mass to fall off. A music attack took care of the rest, disintegrating the void matter to dust.
“We shouldn’t be fighting,” the guardian said, his voice was calm and high pitched, with a certain allure to it.
Quite a reasonable request. Given the situation, most would even be tempted to agree. However, they wouldn’t be able to see the music threads attempting to influence the listeners.
“I didn’t see you having music.” Dallion countered the effects with his own music skills. “Hidden abilities?”
“Magic.” The other slashed at him, while the large shardfly directed a torrent of wind slashes at Dallion’s torso.
Of course, Dallion parried with his harpsisword. Always magic—the eternal exception and explanation for everything.
The water on his weapon expanded, taking on the attacks like a shield, then shot them back. Slivers of water split the air, faster than Dallion could keep up.
FATAL STRIKE
Damage dealt is increased by 500%
FATAL STRIKE
Damage dealt is increased by 500%
Clusters of purple rectangles appeared in the air, stacking up near the vortex guardian’s familiar. Several of its wings cracked and shattered under the pressure. Harp had quickly made it clear that the time for games was over.
Once again, Dallion was glad that she was on his side.
“You’re fighting the wrong enemy,” the guarding twin continued flying towards Dallion with a series of arc slashes. “The more void enters the world, the more chaos it will cause for everyone.”
MODERATE WOUND
Your health has been reduced by 20%
Seeing the red rectangle made Dallion almost feel nostalgic. It had been a while since opponents had been able to hit him this easily. It also reminded him how vulnerable he was. Lux would be able to deal with twenty percent quickly, but if the guardian managed to put five hits in, Dallion was all but done for. The issue was that with his speed and technique, five successive hits didn’t seem impossible.
“Will you let us out if we help you kill the chainling?” Dallion responded with several attacks of his own. The trail of spells the aura sword left behind was purely for distraction purposes; and since they caused next to no damage—completely ignored by the guardian who kept pressing on.
“I can’t,” the twin replied. Several of his pieces of armor were shattered due to Harp’s ferocity, but each time an aura segment was smashed, a new one emerged to take its place. “There’s void inside you.”
“Yes, there’s void in all of us.” Dallion mentally told Nox to pull back and increase the distance between them.
“No.” The guardian followed. “Just you. If I let you go, you’ll cause as much chaos as the void, maybe more.”
“You think I’m the Star? I killed the Star!” Dallion gritted his teeth. “I work for the Archbishop of the Seven Moons!”
“The most exalted has given you a chance to repent. I’ll obey his command and cleanse your soul so you might emerge again unblemished.”
“By absorbing me?!”
“You’ll join my strength and become part of the shield that protects this world from the void. Can there be any better reward?”
There was too much wrong in that for Dallion to answer. Sadly, he had to admit that he was outclassed. His skills, gear, and especially Harp provided a huge advantage, but even so, the difference in magic level was noticeable. Traits gave Dallion an advantage almost everywhere else, but magic was too overpowered for the situation.
“If you kill me, colossi will return to the world.”
The comment made the guardian pause for a fraction of a second. It wasn’t much, but enough to tell Dallion that it was aware of the creatures and the danger they posed.
“You’re lying.”
MODERATE WOUND
Your health has been reduced by 20%
MODERATE WOUND
Your health has been reduced by 20%
The intensity of the attacks increased.
“Someone is building a device that could break the barriers between worlds,” Dallion said. “With it, he can bring back many things to the world, even the void.” Naturally, there was no point in telling that the person in question was the other mage of Dallion’s group.
“Only the Moons can move people between worlds.”
“Kill me and you’ll see how wrong you were,” Dallion shouted. “I know you can tell I’m not lying. Do you think I just made that up?”
Suddenly, the harpsisword moved on its own accord. Guiding Dallion’s hand, it struck the guardian in the breastplate, but instead of smashing it as before, the layer of water flowed along him, surrounding the twin like in a cage. Streams of purple ran all over its surface, as if the magic was dissolving.
Strike! Harp said.
As she did, a targeting marker emerged right on the side of the guardian’s chest.