The first Sylvan rushing at Ray had him dodging backwards as fast as possible. His opponent was fast. Probably pretty strong too.
“I’ve got these assholes,” Ray shouted at his companions. “You guys take care of the monster.”
He didn’t wait for their reply, continuing to dodge instead. The Sylvans were coming after him. Almost single-mindedly so. He had to lead them away from Gritty and Marcus so they could focus on the dungeon boss.
“Try not to skip and dance too far,” the leading Sylvan said, drawing two curved swords. “I cannot cut you when you stay out of range.”
Range wasn’t going to be a problem for him for long. Even as Ray retreated, the Sylvan used Growth Mana. Sharp, spiralling projections wrapped around his swords, extending their length and width by several magnitudes.
Ray didn’t keep moving just to stay out of those larger sword’s range too. The other Sylvans had even greater range. Well, the one with the bow sure did.
A Growth-Mana-empowered arrow shot at Ray, but he managed to barely evade it. Shit. These Sylvans were going to give him no breathing room at all. Even worse, they looked like they had good practice working together as a well-drilled team. Covering each other’s bases and whatnot.
That left the third Sylvan to figure out. During a brief respite from the two Sylvans, Ray took a look.
The Sylvan was just… standing there. Although, not just standing there. He was gathering strength. Growth Mana rippled under his skin and made his whole body glow with rising power. He was preparing for something.
Ray would have given up a whole-ass treasure just to be able to use Primordial Gauge effectively and determine his opponents’ exact capabilities.
Through the corner of his eye, he caught Gritty and Marcus engaging with the huge serpentine monster. It had chromatic scales artfully drawn all across its body. But at the very top, instead of sporting a normal snake head, it had what looked like a jellyfish. A dozen tendrils swung about like feelers around a central, spike-filled maw.
Ray: Do either of you guys have any identification abilities?
If they didn’t, then he would need to find a way to use Primordial Gauge and let them know what the monster was really capable of. This was the first time he was fighting an enemy who allowed him to use Primordial Gauge. He had to make use of it.
Sure, the Painted Guardians wouldn’t have prevented him either, but they were small fry. This thing was the big fish they needed to catch.
Marcus: I’ve got one.
Gritty replied too, but Ray didn’t get to see her message. For the moment, he was busy dodging another salvo of attacks from the Sylvans.
Looked like they weren’t just going to attack him haphazardly. They had a specific formation to maintain. One that was meant to hem Ray in and close off avenues for escape, drawing him deeper and deeper into their trap.
The leading Sylvan once more rushed him with the enlarged swords. Those were easy enough to evade. Ray even shot off a few Soulstrikes, but the Sylvan dodged or deflected the counters without much trouble.
Not that Ray had much of an opportunity to counter. As soon as he dodged the sword-wielding Sylvan, the one with the bow fired from a distance. Shot after shot flew in, relentless in their pursuit, determined to slowly but surely exhaust Ray and his supply of Mana. He cursed. Had he even seen a Sylvan using a bow before? He couldn’t recall.
The bow-wielding Sylvan had some specific tricks as well. One ability had him sending one arrow towards the ceiling instead of straight at Ray. Apparently, it flew in a parabola, then split into dozens of clone arrows that all fell in a thunderous rain.
They covered such a wide area that Ray wouldn’t have been able to dodge out of the way in time. So instead, he used his spells.
Lifeblood Soulform created the Duskshell’s Impenetrable Shell above him. It had no support at first, so even if it blocked the arrows just fine, the shell itself would end up crushing Ray.
Which was why he cast Soulstrike next. Two True Mana arms burst into being, rising high to hold up the shell like a shield against the onslaught of arrows.
It wasn’t going to last long. The damn arrows were powerful. Ray didn’t need to see the impacts to know that even Impenetrable Shield was cracking under the firepower.
But it still gave him just enough time to use Primal Spiritcraft. Two draconic skulls wrapped over his hands. The blade-wielder might have fended off his Soulstrikes, but how was he going to like this?
Just as Ray was about to fire, he froze. No way. That fucker.
With a shit-eating grin, the Sylvan had repositioned himself. He was standing such that if Ray missed, the blasts from his Windbane heads would shoot at his allies. They would cause chaos where Gritty and Marcus were weaving between the gigantic serpent. Ray cursed.
It was just then that he felt how much the chamber was shaking thanks to the motion of the dungeon boss. The final room was large, easily accommodating them all there, giving Ray the space to engage with the Sylvans while avoiding the fight against the boss.
And yet, the battle was making everything quake. He was dreadfully curious just how powerful that monster was supposed to be.
The shift in stance on the sword-wielding Sylvan reminded Ray that he was in a fight. That, and the fact that more arrows were shooting at him once again.
He cast Mottling Spiritguard this time. There. That jerk could shoot at his chaos spheres instead. Plus, they’d help when the shots split apart into dozens of arrows too. Giving Ray the opportunity to actually get to—
The Sylvan he was hoping to target was already acting. His sword swung in, sending a wave of Growth Mana roiling across the ground towards Ray.
Cursing again, Ray used Soaring Wings to dodge fast. The Sylvan slashed in at him directly. He quickly slammed down the shell shield from overhead in response, but his opponent swerved around it. Though, the Sylvan was blocked from advancing further thanks to Ray’s Soulstrike arms forming natural barricades.
But any thoughts about retaliating were wiped out. The third Sylvan, who had essentially been powering up all this time, now rushed straight at Ray with a furious ability.
He was wreathed in spiking Growth Mana, his body moving blindingly fast. Ray was more than certain that dodging wasn’t going to work. His reaction to fire off a draconic, lasering breath was on instinct.
Following it up with Spectral Step was almost too slow. Ray was pretty sure he felt his robes singe and his skin spark with an itch as the third Sylvan smashed in.
Missing him by less than an inch.
Ray breathed hard. At least that bastard wasn’t following him. Looked like his ability was a one-and-done kind of charge. Not something he could keep up indefinitely.
Better yet, Ray finally had some room to act. All this while, he had been forced to remain on the defensive thanks to the Sylvans’ relentless assault. But they hadn’t counted on him teleporting away that fast.
Still, they were fast at rounding around to locate him again. Fast at resuming their aggression too.
But not quick enough to stop Ray casting enough spells to take the fight to them. Lifeblood Soulform after Lifeblood Soulform created construct after construct to even the odds.
A Scouring Eyeball rose straight up to keep an eye on everything. Two Windbane maws shot towards the bow-wielding Sylvan on their own wings. The Imitator construct took on Ray’s form and rushed to the sword-wielding one. That left the third Sylvan. The most dangerous one, in Ray’s estimation. The one he had to take down personally as fast as possible.
Ray cast Soullife Cloak, then rocketed towards the third Sylvan as fast as his wings could carry him. He really should have used Spiritscourge Chain on the trio before this whole fight had begun. Ah, well.
The third Sylvan charged at Ray with his burgeoning power. He once again turned into that comet, speeding in with so much momentum that it was almost impossible to see.
Ray had a counter ready this time. Pushing in a chunk of extra True Mana with his Mana Infuser ring, he summoned up the Impenetrable Shell just in time. The third Sylvan crashed into it with meteoric force and fury.
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Then broke through the shell.
Not ideal, but not something Ray hadn’t anticipated. Impenetrable Shell had done its job. As the Sylvan with monstrous strength burst through, albeit with greatly-reduced force, Ray aimed one arm forward and fired off a lasering breath from a Windbane maw.
His target tanked it and continued surging at Ray. The Sylvan was concentrating his Growth Mana enough to make it act like a shield. Smartass.
Lifeblood Soulform created the bees, which flew behind the onrushing Sylvan in record time. Ray used Spectral Step.
The perfect combination followed. With the sudden disappearance of Ray and the laser breath, the Sylvan now surged forward with uncontrolled momentum. In turn, as Ray reappeared, he had a clear shot at the undefended back of his target.
He didn’t even run out of True Mana as his free hand was crushing a shard to keep himself topped up.
Unfortunately, the lasering blast wasn’t enough. The Scouring Eyeball sent out a warning that Ray himself was being targeted. So, even though his attack on the third Sylvan did connect, he couldn’t maintain it for long.
Another Spectral Step was necessary to dodge away from the bow-wielding Sylvan’s rapid-fire.
Ray cursed as he reappeared beside the floating eyeball. He was already falling, unable to maintain that elevation for long. But it was at least a little reprieve to reassess his situation.
The other constructs had already died. Not only had the bow-wielder taken care of both flying Windbane maws without great difficulty, but he had also gone on to assist the sword-wielder to kill the Imitator construct in no time as well.
Which had allowed them to revert their focus back onto Ray himself.
The third Sylvan had been somewhat injured after the last exchange, but it didn’t last. Ray’s lips curled as he watched what had to be some sort of healing ability repairing the chaotic damage the laser breath had left on the body.
Essentially, it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t beating the trio of Sylvans on his own that easily.
It wouldn’t have been too difficult one-on-one. He would have been able to overwhelm them with his abilities. But now, he was forced to spread himself thin.
Plus, they were already attacking again. It had taken only a few seconds for them to locate him again.
More arrows shot in his direction, more taunts and blasts of Growth Mana from the sword-wielder. In the time Ray had been considering, he had also used Mimic Mana to camouflage the eyeball. At least they wouldn’t target his construct the way they were targeting him.
Ray went temporarily into full defence mode while he tried to figure out how to deal with the trio. Several casts of Mottling Spiritguard ensured that he was defended well. Plus, they moved with him, so he could continue evading while still having them around.
Marcus: You still alive?
Ray: Why? You got something?
Gritty: This monster’s one tough cookie. Tough enough to maybe crack the walnuts you’ve been struggling with.
Ray: What? You got something in mind?
Gritty: Just get them in position, wingman.
Ray was terribly surprised—and impressed with himself, somewhat egotistically—that he was even able to have such a conversation while fighting for his life. And it was nice to see that his companions hadn’t forgotten about him either.
Gritty was leading the gigantic serpentine monster toward Ray’s battle against the Sylvans. They had to time things right. Too early, and the Sylvans would avoid it. Too late, and… Ray wasn’t sure what would happen then, but he was pretty certain it was going to be bad. Coordination. Clear judgment. Those were key.
Several Spiritguard orbs were obliterated by another salvo from the bow-wielder. The sword-wielder was bull rushing through them to get to Ray too.
For now, they were content to ignore the dungeon boss, even though they must have heard it getting closer.
Ray’s best bet was not to evade the next few exchanges. It was the only way he could draw them in. He summoned up Impenetrable Shell as soon as the sword-wielding Sylvan was close enough, letting the construct take the blows. The Sylvan cursed from behind the shell, but he was stymied for now.
Allowing Ray to deal with his annoying, arrow-peppering comrade. He cast Mottling Spiritguard multiple times again. His time, he made his defensive orbs turn into curved shields to coalesce in a defensive barricade around him.
The arrows fired in again, but they had little effect. Ray had made sure to layer in a lot of Spiritguard orbs.
Frustrated, the ranger Sylvan had to work his way around the barricade to get a clearer shot at Ray. Bringing him closer to the battle, as well as directly in the path of the onrushing dungeon boss.
It was the last Sylvan, the one who was clearly the team’s strongest damage-dealer, that Ray couldn’t deal with directly. But there was a relatively simple way of manipulating him into position too.
All Ray had to do was allow himself to become trapped in one spot. He let the other two Sylvans, with their rain of arrows and unending sabre slashes, hem him in. That was what his third enemy was waiting for. A clear shot at Ray, one from which he couldn’t escape again.
It worked. Another roar burst out of the third Sylvan. Growth Mana compressed in and on him, shrouding him with incredible power.
Then he charged at Ray with blistering force.
There was so much power hurtling at him meteorically that the sword-wielder dashed back at a little so as not to be hit. Ray was too busy to note it much, only hoping that the bastard would remain within his range when it was time for his trap to activate.
His first priority was stopping the Sylvan monstrously rushing at him. A wall of Impenetrable Shells didn’t work. The Sylvan just crushed his way through them. Though, like before, his momentum slowed down by a margin with every shell he was forced to burst through. And then he was faced with Ray blasting him with the laser breaths.
The compressed chaos itself didn’t harm him. Despite their furious potency, the lasers couldn’t get past the Growth Mana armour.
But that was fine. Ray had also been careful about not letting the compressed chaos beams meet each other either, or they would explode. That wouldn’t do. He needed their counter-momentum to halt the brakes on the Sylvan’s charge.
And that finally worked. The power behind Ray’s Spiritcraft Windbane maws was enough to slow down the Sylvan.
Just enough for—
Gritty: Now, wingman!
There. Ray cast Lifeblood Soulform again, this time drawing on the power of his Imitator construct. The Mimic came to life in an instant, black-red body swirling and growing in less than a breath. It enlarged beyond Ray’s size, because he hadn’t directed it to form a copy of himself like before.
What the Imitator instead became was the head of the monster that was nearly upon them.
Ray himself didn’t possess any spells or other abilities that could lock his opponents down in one place. Spiritscourge Chain wouldn’t do it, and he had toyed with the idea of using Anima Charybdis, but that wouldn’t function that way either really.
But why go to those lengths when he had a much easier solution on hand? The monster the others were fighting already had a mechanism for grabbing onto and holding foes in place.
The Imitator turned into the tentacle-wreathed head of the dungeon boss. Immediately, it lashed out, the tendrils shooting at the surprised Sylvans and wrapping around them.
Ray had to curse as the bow-wielding Sylvan had still ended up too far away for the tendrils to reach him in time. He was able to dodge away. Whatever. Ray’s gambit had caught the other two pests, and there was no time for other manoeuvres.
“Get away!” Gritty shouted.
Ray didn’t need to be told twice. The monster was looming over them all, right as it was about to crash down. Up close, it was even huger than he had thought at first.
With the Mimic holding his enemies down, Ray could shift the focus of his abilities. He brought around the Windbane maw on his right arm and fired it off. Just as the monster crashed down with a screeching, gurgling roar, Ray disappeared with a quick Spectral Step.
When he reappeared a second later, he turned around to see that the monster had sunk down on the Sylvans and had basically gobbled them up.
The sight made him blink. He hadn’t realized the huge serpent’s skin was translucent. The murky, horrified faces of the Sylvans and their frozen bodies stood out from within the monster’s head like action figures sinking in scummy water.
“Job’s not done,” Gritty said, voice still raised. “I can only hold this bastard for so long. Kill it.”
Ray caught what she was doing. Some kind of locking ability. The exact sort of thing Ray himself lacked.
Glowing blood had come off her, striking the monster all over. Her target petrified, locked in place, but so was she. The glowing blood formed a connection that held them both in one location.
Though, the monster was struggling, clearly. Every time a part of its body jerked in an attempt to escape, a similar section of Gritty’s body moved too. Violently. Skin split, bones cracked and poked through flesh and skin, more blood burst out. Shit. She was right. They couldn’t let her go on like that.
“We got this!” Marcus shouted. “Let’s go.”
Ray nodded, joined the battle. He was wary of the Sylvan that had escaped, but there was no time. First, they had to take down the beast they had come to kill.
Several casts of Lifeblood Soulform brought up a small horde of the flying Windbane maws. They’d help to take down the dungeon boss, and more importantly, they could then immediately round on the Sylvan.
But as Ray fired them all at the locked-in-place monster, Marcus fired the ability he had been preparing too.
A huge glowing, sunlike orb had formed at the end of his cut-off arm. When he unleashed it to fire at the monster, it streaked through the air and seemed to warp space itself. A part of Ray was pretty certain that massive, burning orb was even stronger than the combination of laser blasts he had just fired.
The resulting detonation of their powers colliding killed the monster. It was literally ripped apart under the explosive stress, as were the Sylvans caught inside its painted form.
Ray ignored the rain of debris, chaotic fire, and other energy to glance at the notification.
[Enemy Defeated]
Crescent Culler [Tier 4] Sylvan: [Level 53] x1
Surge Enigmatist [Tier 4] Sylvan: [Level 55] x1
Tier 25 Monster: Painted Behemoth [Level 65] x1
Essence: +37,850
Knowledge: +9
True Mana Restored: +1,730
Essence to Level 50: 116,160/221,200
Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,536/3,500
He dismissed it quickly. The other Sylvan had jumped straight into the blast as soon as the destruction was mostly over.
Ray cursed. Asshole was trying to make a getaway. He was about to rush after the Sylvan, but then he spotted Marcus headed in a different direction. Towards Gritty. She had collapsed. That brought another curse.
“Can your healing get her back to full health?” Ray asked as soon as he reached where Marcus was kneeling next to Gritty, holding his hand over her to spew soft, golden light.
“I think so.” Marcus didn’t take his eyes off Gritty. “Her injuries don’t look too severe.”
Ray stared where a piece of bone was jutting out of her shoulder. It wasn’t the only place that had that kind of a rather horrid wound. “Really?”
“Yeah. You probably know better than me, but her blood is weird, man. Believe it or not, she hasn’t lost much at all. It’s actually circulating almost perfectly despite these… wounds. I just need to heal her injuries and she should be fine.”
Ray was still a mite concerned, especially since he couldn’t recall seeing Gritty basically collapse and lose consciousness like that. Maybe she had just exhausted herself a great deal. He did recall that she had a perk that allowed her to use blood in place of Mana.
“You going to get the treasure?” Marcus asked.
“Oh, yeah.”
Ray headed over to where the monster’s body was slowly dissolving to runny paint. And within that mess, something glowed to life. Something that had to be the treasure they were supposed to get.