This wasn’t a death sentence as much as it was a test of what I was able to do. The moment the debuff disappeared, releasing my legs, was perfectly synchronized with the beasts’ attacks. I was barely able to roll away from their sharp grasp, grabbing my spear as did so.
Up on my feet again, I raised my hand to the sky and triggered the skill I’d used most over the past couple of days, Divine Smite. The clouds above the dreamy beach—which had been only few and far apart—pressed against each other and darkened, creating booming sounds. Before the beasts had the chance to charge at me for a second time, two thunderbolts hit them.
Despite both of them being thrown to the ground, and immediately rolling up to a ball of stone, their HP bars didn’t drop much. The point where the lightning had struck their stone armor was black, but they were otherwise undamaged. It looked like these beasts had some kind of resistance to my lightning, meaning I’d have to re-evaluate how to fight them.
I ran a bit further away from them while they were still on the ground and shouted at the two beasts, simultaneously casting Intimidating Howl on them and then switching it to Roar of War. I felt the heightened vigor as the Roar of War buff appeared at the edge of my view. The Intimidating Howl debuff looked like it had only affected one of the two beasts as its movements became slightly sluggish.
I made note of the one whose Attack Speed was reduced and sidestepped so that only that one was facing me. I considered whether I should cast the Thrill of the Fight buff on myself but the decrease in running speed wouldn’t be worth the boost I would get in Attack Speed. After all, this battle wasn’t about hitting them fast but rather being precise and making every hit count. With that in mind, I toggled the Vandalier aura on, raising my Critical Damage.
I moved toward the slowed britur as it reached down to strike me, its movement making it very obvious which way it was going to attack. I crouched—its sharp talons missing me by less than an inch—and thrust my spear into its armpit, right at the gap between its protective plates.
As soon as the tip of the spear pierced its soft skin, I triggered my Mana Stunning Pierce skill.
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* * *
Name: Mana Stunning Pierce
Level: 4
Type: Active
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 85
Power: 1497
Range: 300 inches
Precondition: Only usable with spears, lances, and polearms.
Description: An incredibly powerful melee attack that charges the tip of the spear with an immense amount of concentrated mana. Upon contact, the mana is released at the target, knocking them back and stunning them for 5 seconds. Should the user wish it, this attack can be triggered from a distance, ignoring shield defense bonuses.
* * *
The beast was launched into the air and fell flat on its back, the thud of the stone landing on the soft sand echoing pleasantly in my ears. Moving around it to avoid the second britur that was charging me, I triggered Divine Smite again, and this time the lightning struck right between the plates of the stunned monster’s belly.
The attack was too much for the beast to handle and it immediately stopped moving. I could now focus on the second one. Despite its buddy having just been killed in front of it, the monster didn’t seem to falter at all while rushing toward me. It looked like the same strategy would probably work for this one as well.
However, I noticed that my Divine Smite skill was now on cooldown. I should have been able to cast it again at least one more time but it looked like some of my godly powers were being pulled away from me. This was no doubt Cronus’s doing, and he’d likely already been spreading misinformation to his priests who would in turn pass his lies down to my mortal followers.
The shitty thing about a god’s powers being connected to mortals was that if people were swayed to change their beliefs, certain skills might become less powerful or less effective. I could see no other possible explanation as to why the use of my divine skill was limited now.
Turning my attention back to the battle, I noticed that Aphrodite was no longer standing to the side, idly watching events unfold. Instead, she’d sent a blinding pink light at the dead britur, showering it and healing its multiple wounds. I ran away from the second beast that was charging toward me as I tried to make sense of this new development.
The monster that I’d just killed was now moving again. And its movements didn’t look like the sickly ones of a beast whose body had been claimed by necromantic powers. It looked like it was alive again.
This completely changed my attack plan. There was no point in killing the monsters if she was just going to bring them back. I had to remove her from the battle too, but I couldn’t see how I would be able to do that, given that she was holding all the cards.