The world rumbled as hundreds or even thousands of high level golems ran across the plain. The reason for their appearance quickly came into view as a massive figure rose out of the lake. The lava writhed around it like a cloak, and a titanic staff of obsidian came with it. It looked like a human, fifty feet tall and made out of pure lava. Sam scanned it, worried about the fight to come.
Magmatic Archon
Level 149
It was a peak F Rank monster, and it seemed to have abilities that revolved around buffing and controlling other monsters, rather than fighting by itself.
“Trespassers! Your pathetic lives end now!”
A booming voice emanated from the monster, sounding like the grinding of tectonic plates. It slammed the end of its staff into the lava, and a wave of heat and power erupted outwards, sweeping across the land. When it reached the army of golems, they started to speed up and grow. Sam pursed his lips, and began to use all of his buffing abilities. This was not the time to hold back.
As the others turned to face the horde, Sam rushed the Archon. This would be one of his hardest solo fights to date. A laugh that sounded like an earthquake erupted from the Archon’s mouth as it eyed him up.
“You overestimate your strength, human. How can an ant face a god?”
Sam did not bother responding, and instead teleported unexpectedly, appearing in front of the Archon’s face. A look of surprise crossed its features, before Sam’s hammer buried itself into its forehead. A charge of mana, Dao energy and elemental energy erupted in a dome of light, knocking the monster back.
Sam held out his left hand and summoned Sky Piercing Wrath, the lance of light and rock forming in the blink of an eye. As the Archon stumbled, Sam threw it. It pierced through the weakened flesh of the monster’s head, and detonated, blowing it apart. However, lava wormed its way up the sides of the monster’s body, reinforcing its battered flesh. Within a few seconds, it was as if nothing had happened.
Sam grimaced, and then began to draw upon his Dao as he fell. A small portal was sliced open beneath him, and he landed back on solid ground. His Dao exploded outwards, enforcing his will upon reality. However, to his surprise, another Seed rose to meet it. The power of the Archon revolved around the inexorable advance of magma, and it fought against Sam’s concept of revenge, trying to force it back. Sam eventually overpowered it, but the Archon had taken advantage of the space to attack. It swung its staff towards Sam, building up a massive amount of power and momentum within the obsidian weapon. Even without a build that revolved around physical attacks, such a strike would still be devastating.
Stolen novel; please report.
However, Sam was incredibly mobile for his level, and he simply teleported around the staff, and started to whale on the Archon’s legs. If he managed to cut off its connection to the lava for long enough, he could do lasting damage. He could only hope that his allies could handle the golem horde.
Because he could move faster than gravity, he would be able to destroy its connection and kill it if he worked fast enough. Obviously though, the monster would not go down that easily. Sam struck it again and again, but it simply laughed at him. It slammed its staff down, and a dome of energy exploded outwards, knocking Sam off his feet. He teleported away before the brunt of the damage could hit him,but it was still painful.
Sam looked up at the towering figure of the Archon, and began to concoct a plan to deal with it. His fighting abilities were a bit rusty against enemies of the same level, as he was used to either struggling against higher level foes, or steamrolling lower level ones. When it was a somewhat fair fight however, he tended to lose motivation if it dragged on too long. That was a problem that he needed to fix.
With a roar, he ran across the lava, using his superior speed to keep him above the rocky surface. If Rodney Kane had been able to run on water during the tournament, Sam could easily run on lava now. The Archon raised its free hand, and a ball of lava came into being above it, swirling in midair. It pointed its hand towards Sam, and the ball of lava descended. Sam teleported out of the way, but the attack had a degree of homing, imparted by the Dao of the Archon. Its Dao demanded that everything be subsumed by the infinite lava, and it had bound part of that concept to this attack, using Sam as the anchor point.
He teleported again and again, but the attack just kept coming. Eventually, he strafed the blast, and appeared behind the Archon, forcing the ball to impact its creator. Nothing happened, of course, but at least that attack was gone.
Meanwhile, Sam gathered up his power and created a set of his projectile skills. He threw them towards the monster’s ankles, and as they exploded, he drove his hammer into the small of its back. These body parts were highly generalized, but they were still visible enough.
As the monster’s legs exploded, Sam’s strike blasted it out of the lava, and onto dry land. The Archon pooled out over the stone, and reformed in an instant. However, its body began to dim as it lost contact with the heartblood of the earth. Sam rushed forwards, and began to drive the monster back, finding it far easier to land telling hits now. There was no more healing factor now that it was out of the lava. The monster still put up a fight, but it was greatly weakened.
Eventually, Sam shattered its staff with a mighty blow, and sundered its body apart with a mana infused strike. Essence rushed into him, enough for two entire levels. Then he rushed to help his compatriots finish off the golems.
Ten minutes later, the dungeon had been cleared, and a chest formed out of thin air in front of them. Everyone was battered and burnt, Lao most of all. The Dao master was not suited to prolonged close range fights, but he had still contributed greatly to the fight.