“Jasper, am I seeing things, or are those golems actively recovering?”
“...M”
“Oh, great, I’m not schizophrenic! Side bar, FUuu~uuuBBERNUCK! COME ON! “
The cracks in the most damaged Golem mend within short order as they advance, each and every marking left by the two of us erased in the span of seconds.
“Alright, new plan!”
“Mm?”
“We get the HELL out of here! We are not fighting three stalling regenerating tanks on two minutes of gas, that’s a lose lose situation!”
“Uhhhhh-”
“WHAT SCREECH?”
“I was keeping it to myself because I thought you probably didn’t want to be distracted but ever since those golems got up there’s been a new magical influence at work? It hasn’t been doing anything to directly affect-”
“THE SHORT OF IT!”
“It hasn’t been affecting the golems so I didn’t say anything but there’s kind of some magic around the teleport gates?”
“...Surely not.”
“I’m pretty sure!”
“No-I get that-”
Preemptively stepping to the side, I cleanly weave out of the way of the first of the three as it goes flying past me, bringing my staff around in a spinning flourish to swat the second one out of the air-22!-and away from me. Using the counter force from the impact, I completely kill the staff’s momentum and let go of it with one hand in order to change my grip, taking hold of the other side as I drive it straight upwards, smacking into the bottom of the third golem-17!-throwing it up and away from me.
“-I’m saying surely not because I’m praying to RN-Juh-HESUS that it is not somehow blocking these teleportation gates!”
“I’m pretty sure it is.”
“F-No, no… how can you tell?” I ask, trying my absolute hardest to stave off a crashout as I take a step away from the golems I’d fended off, spinning back around to face the three of them as they recover once more.
“Well I guess I can’t say for certain or anything but the way the mana is being concentrated through whatever spell this is is really reminiscent of a really interesting kind of magic that technically counts as elemental magic.”
Dipping under another leaping attack, I mentally grunt out “and WHAT is that?” as I swat another attempt out of the air-14!-gritting my teeth as my lungs practically shrivel under the strain.
“Well using wind magic I can actually turn air into a solid barrier but it takes a lot of MP and isn’t really that practical. However to me it looks like there’s a massive amount of ambient mana flowing around us right now all coalescing directly in front of what I assume to be the ‘teleport gates’ in that exact fashion.”
“SON OF A FUCKING BITCH!”
25!
Bringing the staff down like a whip over the third as it flies towards me, I smash it into the ground with as much force as I can muster. Slamming it into the floor, its misshapen body tumbles for a moment as it lands on its back. Just to make sure I’ve got a moment here, I whip around shortly afterwards to ensure the other two aren’t too close, and would ‘ya look at that! A single instance of good news in this shitshow!
[Summon!!]
Even as Jasper and Jerry appear, I don’t relent for a moment and keep swinging, even landing another shot on the toppled golem-20!-before Jasper can manage to [Hunter’s Mark] it.
50!
To his credit, Jerry also starts attacking without prompting-14!-so good on him! As he should, piling on those extra stacks of damage might just be the difference maker here. There’s only two or three seconds at best before the other two golems recover and come party crashing on in.
But for those two and or possibly three seconds…
17!
27!
25!
23!
30!
32!
29!
28!
34!
33!
32!
Countable blows rain down on the golem from all sides, it chips, fractures, parts of it break away, yet it doesn’t so much as attempt to strike back, instead merely covering its right hand as best it can. Following a hunch, I raise my staff as high as I can, swinging downwards with as much force as I can muster, aiming dead center at the golems hands.
46!
…Now, I know Echoing Pursuit is inflicted at near or max stacks, but that’s only a fifty percent damage increase. And I’m hitting in the twenties by default.
Give me your core you sack of shit-
Before I can wind up for another attack though, the hairs on the back of my neck rise as tremors rock their way through the ground again, a clear indicator of the other two golems leaping.
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I try to whirl out of the way, but… I definitely overextended on this assault. I’ve been avoiding and countering these three not based off reaction speed, but prediction and intuition. So…
124!
“KUHAK!”
Were this real life, I do indeed believe I would have become a foldable lawn chair. Instead, I’m spared the fate of being permanently paralyzed, and instead dealt the one of being launched across the room spinning like a beyblade from the kinetic force transferred into my spinal cord.
WHAM!
15!
Plastered against the wall, I nearly stick to the damn thing before sliding down it as I gasp for air.
[R]-[Recall..]...
Huh… whaddya… whaddya know? There is a barrier in front of the teleport gate we came through… that’s just… that’s just great… Oooooooowwwwww….
1/140
I lived on one health? God damn… Hup…!
With no time for theatrics, I conjure a health potion into reality and empty the contents as quickly as I can. The very faint silver lining here is that these golems actually let me get away with that, but that’s only because the other two that weren’t damaged are instead now standing by their brethren which took a beating. Speaking of that, I call… UTTER… BULLSHIT… that it’s not dead, but whatever.
The potion takes effect, and I find myself sitting at a much more comfortable 76/140. But, given that I just took a hundred and thirty nine damage in one hit (bruh) I pop another potion.
Alright… still not getting jumped, that’s cool, yeah, just stare me down as one of you assholes heals off three hundred damage in like, ten seconds. That’s awesome…
What’s my stamina…?
29/140
Uuuuuuuuugh, FUCK me!
Alright, we’ve… got about a minute left before the lights go off… and everything turns to shit. There’s no possible escape, we can’t out damage their regeneration, and I’ve only got one, plausible, maybe just maybe might work out theory.
“...Screech, is there anything off about these golems? Any… magical trivia you can scrounge up for me?”
“Uh… maybe… it’s getting a little bit difficult to think… to be honest? Maintaining this fire is a bit difficult but if you want I can try!”
“Welp… it’s about our only option at this point. Anything… at all? Like, maybe some points where their… mana converges, or something…?”
“Let’s… see…” she mumbles, proverbially blinking the exhaustion out of her voice. “Concentration… drawing in mana… looks like it?”
The damaged golem rises back to its feet as I properly sit up, breathing heavily as I attempt to regain even a single point of stamina before the conflict reengages.
“...Well?”
“Actually… yes?”
“Holy shit really?”
There actually is a weak point? DAMMIT! Why didn’t I think of that from the start? They’re golems no shit!
“There’s a single point in each of their bodies where their mana continually surges in and out of…? At least that’s what it looks like? It’s a little bit difficult to see…”
“Okay, and let’s just say theoretically, that these golems didn’t have access to that thingamabob anymore?”
“Well… it looks like the one that was damaged is repairing itself through the use of the mana it's drawing in so… it would probably negatively affect them in… some… way?”
…Okay, now, the lesser man, may cut his losses, [Recall] Screech and gracefully accept his defeat. Once upon a time. I may or may not have been that lesser man, but that was only done in shock. No… this time? There’s a shot. If I can just break their cores… maybe, just maybe, Jasper will be able to burst them down within the time limit…? If I can get all three of them within thirty seconds, then…
“Urk…”
Clutching at my side as I shamble back up to my feet, I breathe in even as it feels like doing so will rend my body asunder. God-why is pain reduction not affecting this!? Doesn’t this violate CONVENTIONS!? UGH!
“...Is there any way for you to pinpoint where those cores are for me?”
“No. No… not at all… Not with how little stamina I have. Keeping this… light… aflame… is the absolute most I can do… and even now… I don’t think I can do it… for much… longer…?”
Fuck me fuck fuck me fuck me fuck me-
“Ignoring how little stamina you have… how much stamina would you need to use magic to pinpoint it for me?”
“...Fifteen more for a few seconds,” she says with absolute certainty. The certainty she brings to the table when she’s right. When she’s always right.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
The lesser man would give up, the lesser man would give up, the lesser man would give up, the lesser man would give up, the lesser man would give up…
“Do it.”
[Fable Bringer].