They had planned to start another fight with fireballs. Sadly, it was ruined.
Just as they had approved the fireball plan, four spikes of ice shot out from the blizzard. The team reacted in time and they were able to jump back, dodging the spikes, but were still caught by surprise when the spikes impacted the ground and exploded, sending shards all over the place.
In the end, the shards didn't do much damage and peppered against shields or armor, leaving small scuffs behind. However, it was obvious that the wererabbits would not allow the team to do whatever they wanted. And seeing as no one had sensed them inside the blizzard, they had the upper hand.
On the other hand, the wererabbits couldn't leave the blizzard since it would expose them to the party. So, the party moved away from the entrance to the other expanse. Out of sight from the wererabbits, the team tried again for the fireball option. They had to take the blizzard out of the equation as it gave the rabbits an edge.
This time around, they were able to build up the spells without issue.
Running up to the entrance, the party was ready for combat. Up front was Rose, her shield up and ready. Alyx and Lili were behind her, their two spells ready, and then behind them were Tesilim and Drex, with Jasmine pulling up the rear.
The moment Rose appeared in the entranceway, the wererabbits unleashed more ice spikes; however, the redhead was ready. Knowing they had to launch the fireballs, she couldn’t summon her normal shield wall; instead, she had it emerge from her shield, covering their sides and extending a bit over their heads. The golden shield wall managed to block the ice spikes, which shattered against it, but the after blasts of their explosions managed to also shatter the wall. Not like it mattered since it had done its job and two orbs of fire flew over the shield wall and into the snowstorm cave.
BOOM!
The cave shook once again as the two explosive spells went off. This time the team wasn’t hit by a wave of heat but more of a slightly chilly breeze. It didn’t take long for the snowstorm to clear as the winds died, and a lot of the snow stopped falling from the ceiling.
More importantly, however, the subsiding storm revealed nine wererabbits standing around, looking a bit shocked. They were all near the cave entrance, meaning none had been damaged by the fireballs.
Four of them had short wands and stood on the rocks that blocked further sight into the expanse. It was immediately clear to the team, not just by their wands but by their slither frames, that those four were casters. Meanwhile, the other five rabbits leaned against the rocks and were much bulkier, with one standing a bit taller and being more well-muscled than the rest.
Both groups spent a few seconds in silence. One was shocked that their blizzard had been shut down, and the other did not expect so many enemy forces to be at the entrance.
The first to react was Tesilim’s party, specifically Lili.
“Alright, everyone. The four casters are Mid D Rank, and so are the four bulkier ones on the ground, with the taller one in High D Rank.” The party heard Lili say in their heads, and then the fight began.
As a unit, the whole team jumped back, putting some distance between the rabbits and them. Their movement finally shocked the rabbits out of their stunned expressions, and the five bulkier ones rushed forward. Meanwhile, the four caster’s wands began to glow a bright blue clearly showing they were prepping for another barrage of ice spikes.
“Tesilim, keep those casters distracted. Tell Drex to help Lili and Rose. Jasmine join them.” Alyx’s voice rang in their mind, giving them direct instructions. The gnome knew what was going through Lili’s head. She had to take care of the High Ranker.
Lili had already spent a good chunk of her mana so far, and she was down to around half. Which would make this fight a bit too close for comfort. She knew that he was always watching but calling him in would have her answering some questions that might put Tesilim off. And she needed the chaos elf to stick around. She could always have him kidnapped and just drain him. That's what the old her would have done. The thought came suddenly to her mind, and she quickly fought it off. No, that wasn’t her anymore; she needed to focus.
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The high-ranked wererabbit knew she was the strongest and was rushing straight at her with one of its lackeys. Smiling, she switched from her usual body enhancement to her destructive one as some of her Innate Magic of Destruction seeped into it. As the magic began to do its thing, she gained a dark aura around her, much like Arelion’s. Except hers crackled and burned with black and lilac lightning fire. Every time she struck or was struck, the destruction elements would damage the enemy. It was yet another way to wear down an enemy. More importantly, however, it would boost any of her attacks involving the destruction concept.
Responding to Alyx’s words and now joining Lili, who was sprinting forward, Rose and Jasmine began to move. Rose glowed brighter, lighting the place in golden light as she pumped more mana into her enhancement. The redhead felt the burn; she knew it wasn’t as bad as it would have been without her adrenaline. And so far in the cave exploration, she had barely spent mana, and it was time to pull her weight.
For her part, Jasmine dismissed her shield as she began her body enhancement for once, using Luxana’s mana to power it further. Much like Rose, she began to glow but with silver-white light, almost like the bunnies, except it gave off completely different energy. As soon as this energy filled her body, Jasmine felt the intruding cold and corruption of fey mana dissolve. Now, with the goddess's mana, her enhancements began to cleanse her while also slightly burning enemies that touched her. Jasmine knew it was a good ability, but for some reason, she was a bit put off by it and only used it when she had to, an aspect of her that had to change.
Alyx noted that things weren’t looking good so far. Those casters were going to be a huge pain. The gnome saw Tesilim throw his dagger at them and knew the elf was about to teleport. However, not before they got those blasts off. Sure enough, the ice spikes shot off as Tesilim’s dagger struck one of the rabbits in the leg.
Knowing he had to buy his melee fighters time, Alyx extended his presence, his will following soon after. Then he detached his shield, moving it forward with a threat and splitting it into four different sections. The act took all of his power, and he had to tap into his two deities mana to help him through it. One gave his mind more power, while the other stabilized his magic. Alyx felt the burn more than he should have, but he was pushing things further than usual. He could have intercepted the missiles with his own but that would not help him grow in power. So, he watched as four separate shields popped into existence in front of the flying ice spikes, and more of his mana was absorbed to block them. Then, as soon as he saw them explode, he returned the shield to himself, reabsorbing his presence and will as he gasped for air.
Tesilim appeared in front of one of the rabbit casters and stabbed forward with his other hand. Taken by surprise, the rabbit couldn’t defend itself in time, and all of a sudden had a dagger growing out of its head. Sadly, Tesilim had forgotten for a slight second that there were three other casters, and he was struck by a beam of bright sky-blue light. He stumbled a bit and hastily teleported with his spell, dodging two other beams.
He hadn’t paid attention to his teleport and found himself falling a few feet towards the ground. In a panic, he teleported again to a nearby rock and hastily switched his enhancement to his shield in order to buy some time.
Rose took the rabbit's hit against her shield and slashed at it, but using its two stronger back legs, the rabbit jumped and landed behind her. She had committed to the slash and was not expecting it to do that. Turning around as fast as she could, she was met by the same two legs as they struck her chest, making her stumble and fall backward.
Lili dodged the hit from the boss rabbit, grabbed its arm, and pulled it behind her as she swirled by in a single move, easily stabbing its lackey, who hadn’t been expecting the move. Then, with her dagger in its stomach, she unleashed one of her techniques, though quietly.
“Unbound Destruction.”
She felt a good bit of mana drain but quickly turned, leaving her dagger inside the rabbit, who quickly moved to grab it. Turning around, she did what Tesilim would consider a matrix doge as she dodged the boss bunny who had launched itself at her, his powerful feet leading. Now, all she had to do was focus on the boss since its lackey was done for. That particular technique consumed a good bit of her mana, but she channeled the attack to the tip of her blade, which, upon contact, would unleash a wave of destructive force—this time around, she had waited for the dagger to enter the bunny before unleashing it. So, after dodging the boss, she felt a splash against her, knowing the bunny had just been torn apart.
From Jasmine’s position, she saw how one of the bunnies Lili had just stabbed exploded from the inside. Thankfully, the bunny she was fighting stood between her and the explosion, blocking much of the blood from splashing on her. Her aura burning away the bits that did make it to her. She and her opponent were going back and forth, trading blows. They had yet to actually land any actual hits since they both dodged or parried the various incoming blows.
She noticed that the rabbit had a bit of gleam in its eyes as it was enjoying the fight. Of course, that changed when it felt the blood on its back. It dashed backward, leaving some room between them, and quickly glanced back. Seeing its mate's head lying on the ground, its gleam of enjoyment changed to anger, and its front paws began to glow silver.