A mass of monsters was coming. The first to investigate the noise was a pack of wolves, and Mark was sure they wouldn't be the only ones. He and his teammates prepared to defend Leah while she continued the process of unlocking the tunnel.
"Protect me," she said. "The buttons will click back upwards after a while, and will reset the entire thing if left alone for too long." Her cousin Andrew remained with her, tightly clutching his sword. A new spark had appeared in his eyes after he arrived here.
Mark took a note of this. A flurry of Magic Missiles assailed the wolves alongside a burst of Black Rays. Meanwhile, the rest of his team bided their time. His undead lizard carved out trenches, while the orc mage carried large rocks to form makeshift barricades.
Dead bodies continued to stack upwards as more monsters emerged from the two tunnels behind them. Once they pushed past his volume of spellfire, Elise, Annabelle, and Samara began sending out their own attacks as well. The tide paused for a moment before another large wave arrived. Hector and Victor dealt with a few stragglers, warming up their muscles for the big fight.
A deafening roar rumbled down the tunnel and a familiar bear emerged. Light struck the makeshift barricades, damaging them. It charged through the mass of wolves and engaged his lizard in direct combat. Three swipes almost tore his minion's venom skull apart before a flurry of arrows riddled its hide. Then they were able to drag the monster off his lizard, giving it time to counterattack.
In this wild melee, Mark no longer cared about preserving any bodies. Spells were fired en masse, and attacks were aimed to cause the maximum amount of damage possible. Fire erupted everywhere, and both the bear alongside its supporting mass of wolves fell to the deluge of magic.
His orc mage returned, heavily damaged. To make sure it had enough mana, Mark had ordered it to de-prioritize using its Magic Armor. After all, he could heal it, but he couldn't restore its mana without wasting precious mana potions.
Such damage meant he would no longer be able to continue using the orc mage after this battle. But it was a necessary sacrifice. He needed it to unleash as many Flame Novas as it could while holding off the beast tide.
Another wave came. Wolves charged with monkeys, flies flew with bats, and a new, white-skinned salamander creature appeared. Mist drifted to the ground from its mouth and pores.
Fire magic slid off their skin like water, causing these salamanders no harm. Three of them managed to make it through. His lizard blocked one, his orc mage another, while Hector and Victor joined forces to hold down the third.
Meanwhile, the tunnel's opening had reached a halfway point. Leah was exhausted at this point, and while Elise was there to grant her more stamina, this slowed her down from casting attack spells. Mark and his skeleton mage had to aim their spells carefully in order to cause any real damage to the salamanders.
A thundering noise emerged from the caverns in front. It was slow, and lumbering, but it was also the last thing they needed to fight. The remaining animals, seemingly sensing something, tried to turn back around. They struggled with all their might to crawl out of the caves before the noise arrived.
"What could be worse than a bear?" Victor muttered, his body trembling. Though he was brave on the outside, he had still been a college student when the apocalypse struck. Nineteen years old.
Hector patted the boy on his shoulder. "Don't know, but believe in boss. He can handle it."
After the deaths of the salamanders, Mark tried his best to repair his orc and his lizard but a few strands of flesh and bone were still hanging loose. The damage was too much for both of them. Still, they could serve him well against this final enemy. Though the mana cores remained sequestered away in his pocket plane, the orc's bladestaff contained hints of fire magic.
"I can blow up my orc mage if needed. Watch out for that."
The source of the noise finally revealed itself. Twice the size of the bear and with four times the heads, a creature from myth and legend emerged from the darkness, hissing. Its short, stubby legs contrasted heavily with its long, serpentine necks dripping with poison.
Lesser Hydra - Level 35
"A hydra," muttered Hector. "What in the world?"
"We need to use fire," Mark said. He turned to face Hector, who nodded in understanding.
"Target its heads, then back off!" he said to Victor behind him. "Mark will blow up his orc mage when at least two of its heads are gone."
"I get it," the boy said, trying to keep hope on his face. "Boss sure is smart."
Annabelle muttered curses under her breath as she prepared a few flaming arrows by her side. As an Elemental Mage, she had acquired the ability to charge up her spells, keeping them from firing early. This enabled her to summon a total of four massive arrows before the hydra could reach their location, ready for a powerful strike whenever needed.
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Once he smelled the monster's foul breath, Mark ordered the attack. His orc mage charged in first and deflected the first snake head's lunge. Then it sliced away at the scales, but failed to break the skin. Hector had to close in to cut open a larger wound.
They both retreated when the four mouths spat out a caustic substance. It landed on the orc's back and burned at its flesh, but as an undead, it cared not for damage. The orc mage continued to carve away at the gash on the base of the neck, delaying regeneration.
Annabelle unleashed her first barrage of arrows. They pierced through the gap created and separated the first head from its body. As the remaining flesh burned, it stopped regenerating.
But flames could burn out. Unless they killed all the other heads at the same time, the head would eventually return. Such was the power of a hydra.
The monster was even immune to his undead lizard's venom. Only its flaming head stood a chance, so Mark took extra care to ensure it stayed out of the fight. Having a large body became counter-productive when the enemy was so large.
They treated each head like it was just another salamander, only faster, stronger, and more aggressive. And they needed to keep moving backwards or the monster's body would crush them underneath. Samara became their primary means of opening up wounds on the hydra, then Annabelle's arrows widened them further.
Once the orc mage's body was hanging on by a thread, its bladestaff roared with flame. Mark ordered it to pour all its remaining magic into the weapon. In the seconds before its explosion, the orc mage threw away all caution and sliced down onto the second injured head.
As the hydra writhed, it hurled Hector and Victor away. His undead lizard rushed forwards and clamped down on its body. Denied a surge of strength, the hydra failed to stop the orc mage from landing between its other two heads, and took the full brunt of the explosion head-on. A roaring pillar of flame struck the ceiling, splashing motes of fire onto the hydra's wounds. It wheezed.
Two of its neck stumps were charred black, and the other two heads were barely hanging on. Annabelle unleashed another storm of charged Fire Arrows, finishing off a third head. The beast attempted to escape back into the cavern. But Hector wasn't done yet.
The man sprinted in, dodging a final lunge with ease, his weapon glowing with a mystical light. His next strike cut open a deep wound, spilling acidic blood, sizzling on his skin. Yet he still circled the monster without making a sound, as if he ignored pain.
Mark and his skeleton mage finished reanimating a pair of Eyeless Wolves. While Hector continued slashing away, they ran into the hydra's mouth, plugging it.
The death throes of the Lesser Hydra almost came close to pulverizing every bone in Hector's body. He always managed to dodge at the last second. There was no trace of panic or fear on his face as his body moved seamlessly. The beast was about to die.
As Annabelle charged up one last Fire Arrow barrage, someone shifted behind her. Mark's eyes shot open and he wanted to cry out. But another being got there first.
His skeleton mage had picked up Victor's fallen sword and was already moving when Andrew suddenly walked up behind Annabelle. It struck first and stabbed the blade deep through the archer's side.
Andrew's eyes widened. His lifeless body fell to the floor, along with the ringing of metal. Leah screamed, "No!" But the deed was done. She collapsed onto her cousin's corpse, the tunnel wide open.
Dark magic erupted around his undead mage. It was still called a Skeleton Mage, but it had reached Level 25. The death of a traitor had pushed it over the edge.
A new spell formed almost instantaneously inside its hands. A jagged spike of necromantic magic struck the hydra's last head, in full force and unimpeded by any scales. Flesh around the stump withered rapidly and the beast fell to the floor, dead. The spell erupted out the other side and splintered into pieces on the wall.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 34. +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +3 Free Stat Points
Mark Winters - Level 34 (F)
Class: Necromancer (Uncommon)
Stats:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 5
Endurance: 11
Vitality: 15
Intelligence: 95
Wisdom: 40
Silence lingered for a long time. Then Hector collapsed.
"The poison!" Mark ran to Samara's side, hands wandering through her bags for herbal concoctions. With a hoarse cough, she pulled out one of her small pouches and let it fall to the floor. He picked it up and ran back to Hector's body.
Mark uncapped the bottle and poured it into Hector's gaping mouth. Suddenly, Leah was beside him, helping. Her hands glowed with a mystical shade of green as her improved stats went to healing Hector up.
"Thank you," he whispered.
She nodded. Her eyes still looked sad, but she finished the job and started studying the tunnel's entrance while they rested. Meanwhile, Mark gave Hector and Victor some more of Samara's restorative concoctions. Slowly but surely, their wounds patched up.
A few hours passed before they awoke from the unconscious. Hector tried to force himself to his feet. He groaned with pain, but Mark gently pushed him back down.
"Rest," he commanded. "Or you'll tear open those wounds and waste Samara's potions."
"Yes, boss." The man lay there with his gaze on the ceiling. "Did we do good?"
"You were the best."
A low rumble came from Hector's chest. Then, his eyes closed as the man drifted away again. Beside him lay Victor, also sleeping.
"It's time to cut up these bodies," Mark said, focusing on the task at hand. He still had a goblin warrior to attend to, in addition to Char's corpse. "We'll move out in a few more hours."
While everyone else shuffled around, Mark walked over to Leah and awkwardly stood beside her to stare into the open tunnel.