The elf aged rapidly, yet his aura grew just as quickly, as he quickly breached into what could easily be called the S-rank.
A mere swing from the whip left a deep mark in the ground.
There was clearly no longer any intent to hide in those now insane eyes.
Cracking his whip, he screeched. "Die heretics!"
Bang!
The whip came at us, and I immediately reacted, unwilling to take risks, summoning the spear.
The spear withstood the blow without issue, but the feedback of the blow still effected me, the shock traveling from the vines, down to me.
Ugh.
The elf cackled.
"You're just full of treasures turtle! I'll enjoy scraping your shell out for the rest!"
The whip came down once more.
I quickly shifted to elven form, and dodging, before moving to engage the fanatic in combat.
[Earl]: If you have any life-saving tricks, now's the time to use them!
[Philly]: I know! I'll take a while though! The kobold responded, as he tended to his teammates.
As we fought, I quickly began to fall behind in the fight.
My skill was A-rank, but this body was not my old body. Not only was it merely a C-rank body, but it was an untrained one, lacking the instinctive reactions of the old body
I wasn't the only one who noticed this, as the elf laughed triumphantly.
"You're good faker. But your body can't keep up! It's a shame really. Perhaps under different conditions and with a little more time. Alas, there are no ifs." He said gloatingly, confident of his victory.
At this point, my body was being worn down by his strength.
It was no longer a life sapping whip, but instead it had turned its wielder into a monster, at the cost of the user's lifespan.
No point in considering his lifespan, when I have to consider preserving my own first.
Philly had joined in, only to be quickly pushed back. He was a blacksmith first and foremost, and someone who relied on the efforts of his comrades to bolster his power. When the enemy was still an A-rank, he could use his team and his variety of items as well as relying upon me to keep up, but now we were being pushed back with ease.
Seeing no other choice, I activated the ability of the gifted hammer, erecting its forcefield, blanketing me and the kobold's party in its defensive rays.
This did not stop the elf from going ham on the shield.
The shield was holding on at first glance, yet wielding the hammer, I could feel that the forcefield was taking far more damage than it actually appeared to be.
The elf laughed. "Retreated into your shell have you!? You really are like a turtle! I guess you're a turtle monster after all! I guess I'll find out once I kill you, since shapeshifting tends to deactivate upon death!"
Ignoring him, I turn to the kobold. "How much longer?" I asked him urgently, and he looked unsure.
"He should be here any moment now." The kobold said gruffly, yet could not hide the anxiety in his eyes.
" He?" I asked, realizing I misunderstood the nature of his lifesaving card.
The kobold explained. "Brok and Sindri gifted me an alarm that would signal any strong dwarven heroes nearby to help under their banner." He said, revealing a simple button, yet radiated the aura of a God.
"I heard from my subordinates-" he said, looking at the three kobolds "-that one in particular was here. He should be here so-"
Boom!
The sound of a wall collapsing caused everyone to look for the source of the explosion, as the elf's expression turned grim.
These should be the reinforcements the lizard was mentioning.
Nigel did not know how it had come into contact with dwarven gods, but matter, it did not.
He was still an S-rank now after all.
The elf could barely react before the hammer came flying at him in the air, as he barely dodged to the side.
"Shame. Was hoping to wrap this up quickly. I have other things to tend to." Came a gruff voice full of complaint, a familiar one no less.
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A large serpent came into view, one he had seen once at the beginning of this whole ordeal, but this time covered in plated armor, and a sattle mounted upon it, the beast clearly equipped for war.
On its back was a familiar dwarf, who recognized me as well.
Dudley the bartender, and his familiar Steinnwurm.
"Why am I not surprised to see you here elf?" He complained, though he did not seem all too upset.
Nodding in my direction, he looked at the kobold in surprise.
"Looks a little weird, but still dwarf under all those scales." Dudley commented, before commanding us both. "Get moving, I'll hold the knife eared bastard off." He commented, before pulling out another hammer. Without hesitation, we began moving quickly, as the kobold lugged two of his friends, ad cheese steak holding the smallest one as we ran.
The elf was furious, watching us flee, attempted to use his whip, only to find the intercepting tail of a serpent.
Dudley snorted, clearly eyeing the whip.
"Ignoring me, are we? That whip there looks mighty valuable. I'm sure we can make something better out of it." He taunted, sparking the rogue's anger, completely drawing his focus from the fleeing group.
"You dare covet the blessings of the great one!" He said with crazed eyes.
"Dare! Boy, I do more than dare." He taunted with a wild grin, before rushing into battle.
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We quickly began running as the dwarf had told us to.
The screams of rage and denial could be heard as we ran forth, as the elf fanatic fought in anger.
Despite the dwarf not being strong enough alone, his teamwork with the serpent allowed him to keep up with the elf in the moment.
I'm not sure if the drain of the whip is a continuous drain, or if he had already been drained in one large drain, but either way that battle is unlikely to last the long term.
He's probably got mere moments to live.
That sounds to our benefit, but on the contrary, that makes him a ticking time bomb. It's hard to hold an A-rank, and when you can?
You never know what an insane A-rank will do with nothing to lose.
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Dudley could feel the elf fading rapidly. For even in this moment his skin withered, and the flesh died, for the whip exacted a strong cost on its user. As expected of a strange weapon.
Yet there was no fear in his eyes, merely the look of a rabid beast, something that did not care for its own life or death, which caused him to regard the elf warily.
He had seen plenty of their kind before. As an adventurer of his rank, one does not get to where he is by merely hunting beasts.
The elf paused, and did something unusual
"Guess this is my limit." Muttered Vertigo, seemingly retaining his rationality for a moment.
He pulled out a communication crystal and activated it. The dwarf stopped, merely eyeing the elf, ready for any sudden moves.
"Commander?" Came the voice of his aide Nigel.
"Destroy the building.They've seized the root."
"Understood commander. " The aide did not hesitate, as he simply hung up the call.
Lowering the crystal, there was a feeling of acceptance about the elf, as the alarms went off in the dwarf's head as the serpent quickly coiled around its comrade, and without hesitation, Nigel crushed the crystal, causing a massive explosion that reverberated throughout the basement.
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We were nearing the entrance of the basement, when we heard the loud explosion in the basement, but rushed forward, knowing that whatever is going on down there, we could not interfere and could only get out of the way.
So close was the entrance of the mansion, but then a sense of danger overcame us.
The sense of death.
Before we could react, a loud explosion came from above, they couldn't even react.
I could only recoil in fear at what I sensed.
Boom!
3 S-ranks.
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Outside the fight was in the middle of a stalemate, the elves and the residents of Skip village unable to gain any ground against one another.
At least, on the surface.
It was clear to the A-ranks there that the S-rank wasn't giving it his all, merely choosing to delay them.
There was clearly something they greatly valued in the basement, but even knowing that meant nothing if they could not bypass the S-rank.
The S-rank had a clear look of indifference on his face.
If the elven rogue were to be here at this moment, he would recognize his aide, much to his surprise.
He had ignored the escaping slaves, because it didn't really matter what happened to them since they were now planning to abandon this route.
In fact, everything was going as planned for the most part.
And then he took out a communication crystal, yet the calm expression remained.
This changed quickly as a different expression appeared on his face, a twitch of annoyance.
"Understood" He said simply.
The S-rank aide reacted quickly, and without hesitation as he quickly shot a bot of lightning, clearly aiming to destroy the building, acting so fast that no one had any time to react.
The loud Boom! signified the collapsing of the mansion amidst the explosion of, much to the worry of the elven guards Lenore and Servante.
They didn't understand why the elf had made no move to prevent her escape, but made such efforts to stop Earl from escaping. But they knew he was in danger.
Yet as the dust cleared, the mansion remained standing, and instead, two new beings appeared in front of the mansion, their presence causing everyone in the field taking in a deep breath.
The first thing they saw was a wall of green scales, as a giant beast the size of a house emerged from the aftermath. A horrid beast, a blend of dile and hippo, a beast familiar to most, the thing of legends, one that inspired fear wherever they appeared.
The heart eater.
Ammit.
It was the spitting image of the beast, save for the lack of divinity.
He was accompanied by another familiar figure.
A jackal like creature, adorned in gold-plated armor, holding a scale in one hand, and the other a flail.
Not Anubis, but it may as well have been.
An Anubian, an S-class creature who represented Anubis' divine will. Creatures like them were regarded as holy things, holy beasts to be exact. Beings like them were highly revered, not only within the church, but the whole of the empire. No one dared stand against them, lest the wrath of the Gods be upon them.
The elf looked down in surprise, while the others looked on in surprise and hope. Had help come from above?
"I did not expect Anubis to be paying such close attention to us elves." The aide said politely. "Or is someone down there so important in his eyes that he'd send one of his own to protect them?"
"Do you dare ask after the great sin that you have just committed?"
"I can hardly be judged for a crime I am not aware of." He joked, yet his face hardly twitched as he made his poor jeer.
The jackal headed monster coldly stared at the elf as the child of Ammit yawned, showing off rows of teeth, and the endless abyss that was its gaping maw..
"Careful elf. Do you think we stand on equal ground?" It responded bluntly, clearly looking down on the elf.
The aide smiled coldly. "All are equal before true power." He said simply, causing the Anubian to narrow his eyes.
"Then let me show you the power of the Romana empire." It stated calmly, raising the scale in its hands and the aura of death overflowed the air, announcing the arrival of judgement time.