Inyis stared at Marco with wide panicking eyes, unsure of what to do.
The Black Widow Matriarch lifted her right leg back up and was about to strike again, but was rebuffed as Blair swung her axe up to block the attack and send the leg back up.
Before Inyis could try and think of what to do Mercer yelled out, “Danny, pull Marco back here! Artem, you know what to do. Blair, back him up. Avery and Roman, continue channeling mana and get those spells out. Same to the rest of you!”
“Got it!” Artem, Avery, Blair and Roman communicated back.
Artem slammed his right foot down and let out a thundering roar causing the Black Widow Matriarch to turn away from Blair and focus on him. She went to strike at him but was parried with his shield allowing him to swing his mace at her face.
The Black Widow Matriarch swung with her other leg, but was pushed up as Blair’s axe swung upwards close to the tip of the leg redirecting the trajectory over Artem’s head. Each strike, block, and parry these two made caused the giant spider to step back, allowing some room between the creature and Marco.
Danny quickly rushed over to Marco who was on his back after getting struck. He gripped his arms under Marco’s armpits from behind and dragged him back towards Mercer.
Lector and Nidy froze and stared at them. Their bodies jerked as Mercer yelled out, “Lector and Nidy what are you guys waiting for?! Start channeling any mana you have and use your spells!” He then turned to Lapis and stated, “You too, don’t just stand there. Get to work!”
Lapis snapped out of her shock, glared at Mercer and started channeling her mana.
“Wha…What can I do to help?” Inyis questioned as she approached the three.
Mercer turned to look at her and replied, “Tell me what his health is at.”
“Huh?” Inyis asked with a confused look.
“His health. What is his health at? How much is left?” Mercer tried again, this time with a bit more snap in his voice.
Danny’s eyes narrowed at Mercer after hearing his tone of voice.
“Oh,” Inyis said as she looked at his bars. “He’s got fifteen health points left.”
“God damn. Any sign of poison?” Mercer inquired.
“None,” Inyis responded quickly.
“Well, that’s one saving grace,” Mercer muttered to himself. He then nodded before looking at her and instructed, “Alright, get back to fighting. Start channeling some of your mana and use some of your plant magical spells. Anything that can pierce that creature.”
“But I can…,” Inyis started to say, but was cut off.
“I’ll take care of the healing. You focus on attacking and paying attention to those bars. We need verbal communication when people’s stamina, mana, and health are getting low. You got it?” Mercer stated as he pulled his violin out and started playing a heartwarming song.
Inyis stared at him for a few seconds. She watched as a white with light green colored aura pulsed out from Mercer as he played his song.
Is that another form of healing? Inyis thought as she stared dumbfounded.
She snapped out of her amazement at this new thing she saw, came to a conclusion, and nodded her head before turning back around.
Mercer turned his attention to Danny who was standing there staring at him.
“Do you think my words harsh?” Mercer asked as he continued to play. “If you do, then you have yourselves to blame for not properly letting her grow and truly understand all that is going on. As her bodyguards you must not just coddle her nor do everything for her. She needs to learn and grow. If she doesn’t then she will die.”
Danny was about to say something until Marco cut in with a cough, “We know that. We want her to grow and get stronger, but…”
Mercer let out a sigh. “Let me guess, you want her to be free and grow on her own, but at the same time you want to not let it get too hard for her?”
Marco slowly sat up and turned his gaze on Mercer who was still healing him. He could feel each pulse that waved out from the Tiefling and wash over him. It was as warm and soothing as the song he was playing.
"Before you ask, yes I know all too well how that can go,” Mercer started back up. “As grateful as she is, it will only hinder her. If you truly want her to grow and learn to really lead. Let her experience the hardships and struggles. I’m not saying let her do it to the point where it might kill you. If you know what she is doing wrong, call her out. Show, explain to her why it was the wrong choice. That’s how you will help her really grow.”
Marco looked to the ground for a moment, looking like he was thinking something over. He then looked at his twin and nodded at him.
Danny understood what he was thinking and nodded as well before they both turned to Mercer and said in unison, “Thank you. Please, during the rest of this fight, continue to be as harsh as you can to help her grow.”
Mercer stopped playing his instrument and placed it back in his inventory. He then pulled out a Weak Blueberry Mana Potion, and said, “You can count on me. For now, drink a health and stamina potion to get the last bit you need to replenish and get back out there. Your lady needs your strength.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jude and Aranis turned their heads to look behind them after hearing Ariyana call out Liam’s name.
They both watched him sliding backwards and rolling on his sides before coming to a stop.
His warning saved everyone else from getting hit from the random rubble that had shot out, but it looked like he wasn’t able to dodge it.
“Amateur mistake,” Jude grumbled before getting back to his feet. He then turned to look at a female elf wearing a pure white robe that ran down to her knees and ordered, “Lacy, go heal Liam then get back here.”
“Okay!” Lacy replied as she and Ariyana ran towards Liam.
After the two women started running, Aranis looked back at the Spider Tailed Horned Viper.
The giant snake was still being held down by the shadowy tendrils that Liam had called upon. A giant flame flickered over the snake’s head as it jerked and thrashed to get itself free.
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“I hate to admit it, but that was some great thinking, using shadow magic to hold it down and throwing that liquid on it before using that fire bomb thing,” Aranis stated.
“Not only that but using ice and that girl’s plant magic to get some extra damage on it too was very helpful,” Rez said, looking appreciative at the results. “It did about eight hundred damage and is still ticking thanks to the damage over time the burn debuff is giving it.”
“I told you not to underestimate him,” Jude stated with a stern look. “He’ll come up with some things we wouldn’t bother thinking of.”
Aranis nodded, slowly understanding what Jude was saying. He stared at the tendrils and thought to himself, I didn’t think Shadow Magic would be this helpful. I thought it would be more…dark. Utilizing magic in a way to hold down opponents so more powerful magic can strike is something I should probably try thinking about more. Maybe I should just accept it.
After thinking that he turned to Rez and questioned, “How long do you think those tendrils will last?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure. I thought that fire explosion would have burnt them away, but the flames just washed over them like they were nothing,” Rez responded. “Why do you ask?”
Aranis glanced at Jude.
Jude gave him a wide grin as he stated, “Let’s tear off that fucking tail.”
After Jude said that, both he and Aranis raced towards the tail. The spider shaped tail was wiggling around. The spikes that would easily pass as legs flailed about trying to ward off any enemies from attacking it.
Aranis and Jude looked for the spot where the tail and the hard rock-like scales connected and were happy to see the tendrils didn’t block it.
Aranis was closer to it and swiftly lifted his katana up into the air and chopped down as hard as he could. He felt it connect, but the sword didn’t dig in as far as he would have liked it to go. As soon as he lifted his sword out, one of Jude’s tomahawk looking axes was already swinging down.
The Spider Tailed Horned Viper let out a loud hiss of pain as it felt the sharp weapons strike it.
Both men took turns trying to hack the tail off the best they could. However, no matter how hard they swung down, their weapons were only able to sink in a little bit. Small amounts of liquid started to form and trickle out from the wound.
“What the hell,” Jude complained as he tried to keep in sync with Aranis. “This was far easier back on the third floor.”
“I know what you mean,” Aranis huffed. “It just goes to show how much weaker it was back then.”
As Aranis and Jude focused on severing the tail, the rest of their teammates focused on attacking the rest of the body.
Rez shot Ice Orbs at the left side of the Spider Tailed Horned Viper’s body while Mia fired arrows at the creature’s eyes. Her arrows missed their mark and either sunk into the flesh around head or bounced off as the snake jerked its head around, still trying to break free from its restraints.
Theodore slammed his axe down as hard as he could while standing on the right side of the creature as Henry pierced his daggers in between the scales. Mica kept her eyes on each of her member’s stamina and mana bars, making sure they didn’t run out.
Bernard swung his war hammer vertically and horizontally, chipping away at the rock-like scales that covered the giant snake. Joshua fired off a few Fire orbs at the spots Rez had hit, trying to get in that extra damage. The female elf wearing the white robe with green lining from Aranis’ group watched and waited for orders to heal.
Aranis stopped attacking the tail as he panted heavily.
“Why’d you stop?” Jude asked as he panted as well, trying to gasp in as much air as he could.
“This is getting us nowhere,” Aranis answered while wiping away some sweat from his forehead. “We can keep hacking away and the Viper will be free before we can cut this damn thing off.”
“So, what do we do?” Jude questioned as irritation started to swell inside him.
“I think there should be enough running for me to cast a spell,” Aranis stated. “Not only that, but since there’s probably some poison or venom or whatever this thing has it should be enough.”
“Enough running? Enough of what?” Jude questioned as he gave him a confused look. “And what does poison, or venom have to do with anything?”
Aranis looked at Jude and realized he hasn’t seen him cast this spell before. He was trying to keep it hidden from the other groups, but it looked like he wasn’t going to be able to. He knew they all had their own secrets they were hiding, but this fight was slowly revealing each of their aces.
He remembered, before Liam was called over, watching Jude call shadows forth towards his axes. He didn’t try striking the creature, but instead swung at the air, shooting shadowy bladed trajectories at the Snake. Then Liam came over and used Shadow magic to pin the massive creature down.
He didn’t know many who could use Shadow magic and since there weren’t many, he figured it had to be something only select few individuals could get. Since they were willing to reveal those secrets then who was he to hold back.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Aranis replied. “For now, back up. You’re not going to want any of this to land on you when I cast this.”
Jude let out a huff before taking a few steps back. He watched as Aranis started to channel mana. He then listened as Aranis chanted, “Blood, pure and essential, mix with the poison that is vital. Skip the alchemic process and transform. Melt that which you touch, corrode the armor which protects, and boil away any defense. Acidic Blood.”
Jude’s eyes widened as he watched the blood that was slowly pooling out from the wound they both had made start to sizzle and smoke.
The Spider Tailed Horned Viper let out a loud and ear piercing shriek as pain raced through it.
“What the hell did you do?” Jude questioned.
“I just made things a lot more uncomfortable for it,” Aranis smiled. “Although it wont be enough to melt it away at a fast pace, its health will drop over time till it is dead.”
Jude eyed the elf swordsman with a cautious look. “Did you have this ability when we fought before?”
Aranis shook his head. “No. I got it after.”
“And you wont tell me how you got it?” Jude asked.
Aranis gave him a wicked grin. “Nope.”
Jude crossed his arms as he let out a grunt. “Figures.”
Rez stopped casting and drank a weak mana potion to replenish his mana. As he did this, he felt something off. He glanced at Mica and noticed she felt it too.
After looking at Rez to see if he felt it, Mica narrowed her eyes to look closer at the snake.
Both she and Rez noticed something disappear around the Viper’s mouth. It was elusive at first. However, after whisps of the thing that caught their attention started to build up, they were able to recognize what it was. It was a poisonous gas.
“Shit! Everyone get away from the Viper!” Rez shouted.
“Right now!” Mica yelled.
Everyone heard the shouts and started to sprint away from the massive snake. As soon as they turned and started to book it, the Spider Tailed Horner Viper snapped the tendril that was holding its head down, lifted its head up while opening its massive mouth as wide as it could, then pushed out a dark purple gas as it swung its head from right to left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liam felt his consciousness come back to him as he slowly opened his eyes. He felt a warm wave wash over his body as a white light mixed with some light green pierced his sight.
With a groan, Liam slowly lifted himself to a sitting position and tried to look around.
“What happened?” Liam asked as he looked around.
“You took a hit from some rubble after the Implosive heatwave went off,” Ariyana replied. “I thought you were out for good after you went flying and skidded like a rock.”
“I must admit,” a sweet angelic sounding voice started. “You were hit pretty hard. I don’t know how much damage you took, but judging by how much mana I have used so far, you were probably close to being dead.”
Liam turned his attention to the voice and saw the female elf looking at him. She gave him a warm smile that could have entranced many men or women if they stared at her long enough. Her long green hair waved around her head as she continued to use her healing magic to replenish Liam’s health. Her opal eyes were just as mesmerizing as her smile was.
“Thank you…,” Liam started but realized he didn’t know her name.
“Lacy,” the female elf helped out. She stopped casting her healing spell and took out a Weak Mana Potion and drank it. After she finished, she grimaced from the taste.
“You know there are better tasting potions right?” Liam inquired as he looked at her.
“I know, but I still have a few of these left and figured I might as well finish these off now,” Lacy replied.
“Understandable. Thank you for the heal,” Liam stated.
“You are quite welcome,” Lacy smiled.
Liam turned his attention to Ariyana and asked, “What have I missed?”
Ariyana looked back at the group fighting the snake and answered, “Not much. Jude and Aranis are trying to cut the tail off while the others are trying to attack it. It looked like Marco got hit pretty hard over there, but it looks like Mercer is already on it.”
“Good,” Liam said as he let out a sigh of relief. “Not going to lie, I was iffy about leaving that Inyis girl in charge, but if things are looking okay then that’s fine.”
Ariyana nodded her agreement.
Liam was about to stand back up, but then noticed something happening above them.
He stared at the sickly green orbs. He almost forgot about them, but now that he was staring at them he noticed they were acting weird. He scanned his eyes around to see what it was. He wasn’t able to see it at first, but then noticed four orbs making their way through the barrier and were floating towards the four crystals sitting on the pillars around the raised platform the Lich was standing on. As his eyes followed the orbs down, he then noticed something that shocked him.
The Lich was engulfed in rich and thick mana.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Liam swore.