The roar of their battlecry ended as the army guided by the Bulwark charged forward, slashing and hacking at the massive creature. Ineffectual strikes battered the lower half of the golem as the Soldier Fae swarmed like ants against an invading force. Whatever cuts they were able to make sealed back up, the creature’s own undead regeneration too powerful for non-magical attacks. They were giving it their all, and they would die trying to protect their home from the unrelenting force of death, just like Snips had been willing to die.
Secret Skill Activated!
Brave Sacrifice
Do not mourn their sacrifice. Honor it!
Requirements: A creature with Brave in their title dies honorably.
Effect: All creatures willing to die for the same cause gain 50% raise to ATK and DEF
With the golden glow of Snips’ final blessing, the soldiers began to strike harder, digging their blades in deep enough for the thick rotting ichor to spill out of the wounds. They did not flinch or retreat as the creature’s remaining arm raised up, nor did they care as half their company was crushed in a single attack. They would rather die today, than live to see tomorrow as cowards.
Joining them in that glow was Arabella, her magic swirling around her as she drew everything that she had. She was still a new magic user, and not nearly intellect focused due to her soldier background. So she needed the time that her brothers were offering to empower her Glass Storm skill. She had no formal training, and the Mage added to her captain title only gave her battle strategies that would work best with her magic. She figured that if she simply attempted to use the skill but not finish it multiple times, she would be able to make it stronger. As the creature reared up to crush the remainder of her brothers and Glut, she finally released her theorized attack.
Warning! Insufficient Mana!
Would you like to pull from physical source?
Yes No
Arabella had no idea what the window meant, but she didn’t have the time to think about the repercussions of her actions. “Dammit just do it! I don’t have time!” She screamed as she slammed her pointer finger into the yes button. The box disappeared as her entire body locked up, as if rigor mortis had taken it. She stared at the finger that was outstretched, watching as it began to flake and disintegrate into tiny particles of glass. The agony of it was unrelenting, feeling her body being used up and dissolved into glass dust to fuel her spell. She forced her mouth open to scream only for a glittering plume of the powder to escape her mouth as her lungs turned.
Physical source required for [Epic] Spell: 99%
Source has acceptable parameters.
Beginning Casting
Glassnado
Death by a trillion cuts
A massive swirling vortex of glass particulates appears around the target. All structures and creatures within the vortex will be slowly shredded to nothing.
Lasts: 5 minutes
The duration of the spell was the last thing Arabella saw before her eyes blew away, being taken into the forming storm like sand off of a dune. She was gone within a few seconds, and the leadership bonuses disappeared with her as the storm began to kick up. Since Arabella was only using her [Glass] affinity with the storm, there was no actual wind involved in the vortex as it formed at the base of the creature and expanded upwards. This allowed the fairies to continue raining down their pitiable attacks down their target.
Instantly the flesh of the monster began to redden with tiny fragments of glass scouring it like a pressure washer seeking to rip grime from concrete. The only downside to this powerful spell was that it did not know friend or foe, and the remainder of Arabella’s company were the first to be ripped to shreds by it. The screams from them only led to internal lacerations with glass filling their lungs, eyes rendered to pulp within seconds if not promptly closed. The swirling miasma of glass turned red with the blood of allies before the golem lost a single drop. The low tier common soldiers had no way to combat the damages.
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The Flesh Golem once again roared, not quite so reliant on lungs as it was the need to continue its mission of destroying the dungeon and all who inhabited it. Its meaty fist came down where it knew the remainder of the ground forces stood, absorbing the dead flesh to restore its own body. The spirit within it gave a dark rasping laugh as it began to push forward, trying to exit the spell so that it might continue on now that the greater forces of the dungeon were ruined. It did not care of the crustaceans weathering the storm with their chitinous shells, instead only hungering for the mana of a dungeon core to feast on. The spirit wanted to become real, to become a Lich by swallowing the magically condensed mana at the heart of the dungeon. It would do anything to get to that point, but even as it marched forward, something squashed beneath its flat foot.
It suddenly stumbled, falling to the side as it found that its footing was compromised by a slime being trodden upon. With a resounding crash and the shaking of the dungeon, the creature fell forward with half of its body still within the Glassnado. It shrieked with rage as it dug bony claws into the ground to try and drag itself forward. If it was able to escape the entirety of the spell, then it still had a fighting chance. But as the spirit believed in that thought, a slimy hook extended from the cloud of glass and slammed into the top of the torso. The hook dove into the leathery flesh of the monster, sending gouts of blood out despite the minimal damage done to it.
With all his willpower and the gift of Snips, Glut was holding on as he tried to keep the monster within the storm. Dozens of holes had already formed in his membrane, demonic juices spilling out like a skewered barrel. The holes healed only fast enough for new ones to be made, agony through his form as he was sand blasted by Arabella’s storm. He pulled with all his might, dragging the golem back in a few inches at a time. Slowly but surely the purple slime man was steadily shrinking, but he was not alone in this effort. At the face of the golem the were lobsters and gemcraw, all that remained of the bombardment force, continued cutting into the flesh while the fairies tossed their spells. That was when the [Holy] squads finally charged in for their attacks. Empowered claw slashes and beams of radiant magic chewed burning holes into the flesh of the beast. This battle was a war of attrition, and at this juncture it was still anyone’s place to win. The golem was massive, and had successfully saw the end to three of the dungeon’s leadership early on in the fight. It however was getting weaker, the loss of its arm a great disadvantage when it came to crawling away from a Glassnado.
Flesh was getting stripped from bone within the vortex, each individual fragment of glass gleaming in red hue as the entire whirlwind continued to bite at the form. The numerous tendons and muscular tissue slowly loosing tension as they were plucked like errant threads. The left leg went limp just as the slimy chain gained slack, the golem surging forward out of the storm and crushing any of the [Holy] crawdads that remained on the ground. The few holy fairies flew up and continued their magical assault; the small bolts of holy energy still cut smoking wounds into the golem’s flesh.
Descending from on high was Lotus, her face a mask of sadness at the fact that everyone had died because of her. They would all come back from it if she won this fight, but each and every member of her dungeon was dying because of her overconfidence. Because she was the one who decided that this battle was easy, and that their foe was weak. To say she was humbled was an understatement, the Princess of Poison now understanding the weight of her words and how they must be carefully used.
The golem tilted its torso up as it felt the presence of another [Epic] level creature, looking at her with what few baleful eyes it had stolen from the [Holy] crawdads it crushed. Its panting mouth opened wide and the bulbous tongue shot out to grab at Lotus’ waist, intending to pull her in and consume her mana for power. Instead, a swift hand grabbed hold of the squirming tip of the beast. Lotus was not even surprised to find that instead of saliva, the Flesh Golem had rivulets of fresh blood coating the tongue.
“This is my kingdom. Those were my subjects. Their lives are not a price I am willing to pay to the likes of you. I have already failed them once today, but not again.” She said as she activated her Poisonous Touch ability. It was true that the majority of poisons did nothing to undead, since poison itself was meant to simply kill multicellular organisms. But there were poisons and venoms that caused decay to skyrocket, necrosis to rot away flesh as if it were nothing. The Princess raised her hand, and all of the poison from the plants and the alchemical oak were drawn from them, pooling above her in a massive oily multicolored orb above her head.
New Skill!
Poison Control
Flow like water, sting like a bee.
Effect: All poison with a radius based on the user’s mana level can be manipulated magically.
New Skill!
Necrosis Wave
The unrelenting tides of death come for us all.
Effect: All poison within the user’s control causes flesh to rot and melt away in a matter of moments.
Her eyes did not flash red with the power of the Rally, instead they glowed crimson, shining a light down on the beast as she felt the tongue beginning to rot against her fingertips. She roared like a beast, only for the monster below her to roar back as the tidal wave of poison reduced it, the crawdads, and a number of fairies in the splash radius into nothing but necrotic goo.
Lotus, Princess of Poison, floated above the battlefield that was covered in glass, blood, flesh, and the horrible skeletons of foe and friend alike. Tears began to fall, streaming down her cheeks and bringing ripples to the pool below like rain. As she cried, another figure materialized in the sky, bringing his arms around her and gently tucking her head against his shoulder. “It’s alright. It’s over now.” Red said softly as he tried to soothe his minion, holding her like a father would a child.