Chapter Twenty
Fred directed the group towards the middle of the former safe zone. They did not get very far.
“We have company!” Melanie called, smoothly taking her bow from her shoulder. They did indeed, as Jackson saw demonic cobras—a grand total of four of them—slithering up to them.
“Careful. They spit out acid, and if you can't put it together yourself, they are poisonous.” Melanie rolled her eyes.
“Thanks for the heads up, captain obvious.” Jackson sighed and shook his head, pushing her tone out of his mind. Now was not the time. As the demon snakes grew closer, Jackson decided to try charming them. He wove together mass charm and tried to settle it on the snakes. The Judge unfurled a message in his mind:
You have failed to charm 4 Demonic Cobras at Level 22. These creatures are immune to mind weaves and skills.
Melanie knocked two arrows with practiced ease, and the projectiles sped forward with tremendous force, slamming into one of the noxious purple snakes. It hissed with fury and spat acid at her, but the archer smoothly rolled to the side with a predator's grace. Azlam slammed into the snake, knocking it a few feet forward. The barbarian threw his head back and roared, his muscles quivering, and he knocked his axe back and slammed it into the snake. Light purple blood spurted from it.
Fred had taken several steps back, observing. Whenever one of the snakes tried to strike or got too close, he would call out,
“Hey! To your right, it’s trying to flank you, lass.”
Melanie dodged the attack, creating distance, and fired an arrow into the snake. It hissed and backed up, spitting acid at her. The archer was simply too quick for it, however. Taking all of this into account within a second or two, Jackson decided that since he could not use mass charm, he would attempt to control the field. He wove blood binding, the crimson rope wrapping around one of the demon serpent's bodies. The serpent struggled, but could not move.
You have successfully bound the demon serpent. Initial binding is five seconds long; maintaining the weave for longer will cost mana. Note that the cost will increase significantly the longer the weave is active.
Jackson did not spend a whole lot of time thinking about it. He immediately formed blood lightning and slammed it into the creature's head. It burst apart like a thrown plum. Azlam was roaring with palpable rage and slamming his axe into one of the serpents, attempting to hack off its head. He was succeeding.
Your blood lightning has increased in level. It is now level 13. You have killed a demonic cobra at level 22. Congratulations, Jackson! You have gained a level! You are now at level 21.
That was two serpents down, and Melanie swiftly killed a third. The fourth was attempting to spit another glob of acid, but Jackson bound it with blood binding and threw off its aim; it sailed over their heads and crashed into a tent, disintegrating it. Melanie launched arrows at it at the same time as Jackson hit it with blood lightning, and Azlam slammed his axe into its neck.
Your blood lightning has increased! You have killed a level 22 demonic cobra.
Melanie slung her bow back over her shoulder. She eyed Jackson, and there was a weird look in her eye. It was like suspicion, but there was curiosity there as well.
“You no longer use that katana at your hip. Have you been hiding these abilities?” There was anger in her voice, encased in ice. Jackson shook his head.
“I have been through some things since we last met, Melanie. That’s all I will say.”
Melanie glared, and her gaze could strip paint.
“Just like a killer to keep secrets.”
Jackson bit back a biting retort. It wouldn’t help. Azlam also glared, and his chest rumbled with a growl, but he said nothing. Jackson was starting to get the idea that he did not speak much. Azlam apparently thought that a growl could communicate everything. Fred gestured for them to move on,
“The magic shop is this way; come on, we need to get moving.”
Lazarus did not add anything during the fight, but he did speak up here.
“You’re using that binding well, but be careful. There will likely be more enemies, and using it too often will deplete your mana. Do that, and you’ll either have to consume blood to replenish it, find a mana potion, or be useless.”
Jackson kept that in mind as they moved onward. People were still rushing past them, but eventually, they came to a large blue tent. A blue-robed elf was packing things into a case. He glanced up, his blue eyes wide with panic, which calmed as they took in the sight of the group. His blue eyes settled on Fred.
Stolen story; please report.
“Ah, Frederick. It is good to see you, old friend. Are you in need of something? As I hope you can see, we are under attack here, and I really must be going, as should you.”
Fred gestured as if to encompass everything.
“Hello, Daneal. I’ll cut to the chase, old friend. I was hoping you had a portal scroll. We need to save as many of these people as we can. They need our help.”
Daneal, the elf, glanced to the side, clearly uncertain. Finally, he sighed.
“I do have one. However, you know that Abaddon has threatened us against using such weaves or scrolls. Are you certain that you want to use it?”
Fred gestured at all of the people running.
“We have to, Daneal. If we didn’t help in situations like these, what kind of people would we be, old friend? We didn’t sign up to be attacked in a safe zone. Abaddon will simply have to accept that.”
Daneal grunted, his eyes flickering with fear as a massive roar rocked the air. He dug around in his case and pulled out a glimmering white scroll. He handed it to Fred.
“I hope you know what you are doing, my old friend. This scroll is an expert scroll; the portal will stay open for no more than five minutes. I am sorry; I wish I could do more.”
With that, the elf nodded, snapped his case closed, and was off with the rest of them. Jackson looked towards the roar, and there, standing above everything, was a large demonic monster. It was reminiscent of the goliath he had fought earlier. It was not exactly the same, as its skin was that same corrupted-looking purple all of the demons he had seen so far had. Its twisted and ugly face had one large great eye, total black except for the purple iris that a storm of madness, rage, and something else swirled in. What was that? Was that despair? Deciding it didn’t matter, Jackson came up with a very basic plan.
“Fred, you set up the portal here. Start directing people through it. Azlam, you stay and defend it in case any demon cobras attack. Melanie, you come with me. We need to take that thing down.”
Azlam growled and shook his head.
“I don’t trust you. Melanie can stay; I’ll go with you.”
Jackson let out a frustrated growl of his own and snapped,
“We are going to need to keep our distance when fighting that thing. You’re a close-range fighter, and that means you’ll just die if you try to fight it. I haven’t analyzed it yet, but I am willing to bet it’s a lot higher level than you are. Stay. Back.”
Azlam wanted to argue further, but Melanie shook her head, placing a hand on his chest. Azlam glared at her, but his growls subsided. She glanced at Jackson,
“Let’s go, monster.”
As Fred opened the scroll and weaves began to form, Melanie and Jackson rushed towards the roaring form of the demonic monster ahead.
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Jackson analyzed it as they went.
This is a level 50 Demonic Cyclops.
Your analyze skill has increased to level 10.
Level 30. Jackson swallowed. He had thought level 25 was a high level; this thing was twenty-five levels higher. Melanie must have analyzed it the same time he did because she cursed.
“That thing is insane. I don’t know if we can do this.”
Jackson shook his head.
“You can’t think that way. It isn’t helpful.”
She cast a scathing glance his way but said nothing in response. As they got into range, she unslung her bow, and Jackson wove lightning, flinging the crackling bolt at the cyclops's eyes. The bolt of crimson-destructive lightning rocketed into the demonic cyclops’s eye. It roared with pain and raised a hand to cover its eye. Two of Melanie’s arrows slammed into its hand. Roaring, the demon uncovered its eye, and Jackson was startled to see it was fine.
You have grazed the demon cyclops.
Grazed? Not even injured? Jackson's eyes narrowed. They widened instead when the cyclops spotted them and charged, mouth opening and toxic saliva pouring from its mouth. Jackson tried to bind it and was informed of his folly.
This creature's rank is too high for you to bind.
Jackson cursed and rolled out of the way. Which was lucky since the cyclops tried to grab him. Melanie, however, was not so lucky. Jackson had thought that the clearly dexterous ranger would have been able to dodge better than he could, but she must have misjudged the timing because the cyclops’s massive hand wrapped around her.
The cyclops raised Melanie up and roared, saliva splashing onto her face. Melanie flinched, and yet her eyes held no fear within them. Merely blazing determination as she remained firm. A flash of respect for the ranger coursed through Jackson. Respect wouldn’t help her, though, and the demon cyclops mouth opened wide.
The world seemed too slow. The demon was going to eat her. Chomp down on her like biting off the end of a carrot. Melanie’s expression finally began to twist into something different. Not one of fear, but rather of resignation. Jackson saw her eyes, in slow motion, glance towards him. She clearly did not expect him to help.
Jackson had only so much time to consider what to do. A second, maybe two. What could he do? What were his options? He glanced at Lazarus, but his gaze was steady. He clearly expected Jackson to do this on his own. He couldn’t charm the cyclops; even if it were of a lower rank, the demon was immune. He could not bind it, either. He could maybe throw lightning at it, but there was no guarantee that would work.
Obviously, going invisible would do nothing for Melanie. Which left blood mist. Maybe it would disorient the beast. Either way, obscuring its vision wasn’t a bad idea, and at least he could gain some kind of advantage. Jackson began weaving as fast as he was able, Melanie inching ever closer to her death. He finished in time, and thick crimson mist rolled out from him in waves, covering the cyclops and the surrounding area.
You have woven Blood Mist. Blood Mist has increased in level. It is now level 3. Note that using this weave costs a steady amount of mana to maintain.
The cyclops within the mist was indeed distracted, as it could not see anything. It looked around with its madness-filled gaze. That’s when Jackson threw bolts of blood lightning into its eye and hand that held Melanie. It roared with pain and anguish. Its grip slackened, but not enough to drop Melanie.
However, it was enough for Melanie to raise an arrow and slam it into the cyclops's hand. That did it. The demon dropped her, and when Melanie impacted the stone, she rolled and came up to her knees. She stood and tried to look through the thick mist. Of course, she could not see anything.
Jackson dispelled the mist. Melanie saw him, and her mouth twisted, her lips pursing. She moved until she was near him; her gaze on the cyclops hadn’t spotted them yet.
“I don’t know how we are going to win this,” she said grimly.
Jackson had an idea. Though it would require him to get close, which was ironic considering he had just told Azlam what a bad idea that would be. He looked at Melanie,
“I have a plan.”