Chương 30: Joy

The heat made Joel take a step back. A torrent of flames poured over the sphere. Through the fire, the pressing face twisted into an insidious smile. The smile warped strangely as Alis began melting through bronze like candlewax. She let out a rasping, hateful scream while unleashing fire from her wand. Now alit, the taunting face was terrifying. Dripping bronze made it appear as if it was crying happy tears.

Just as Alis' flames looked like they were going to burn through the last layer of bronze, Joel noticed something move at his feet. In fact, it was still moving. The floor was covered in flowing, liquid bronze that came off of a layer of the wall behind. It traveled under the sphere, coalescing there. Chunks of the metal flew upward, propelled by the swirling miasma, to reach the elemental. From there, it reapplied another sheen of smooth bronze.

For each layer that Alis burned away, more bronze ripped from the floor to mend the membrane.

"It's reinforcing!" He tried kicking some of the liquid metal away, but it darted away like a scattering school of fish. It felt pointless to try and stop it. With sheets sloughing off the walls, the bronze was without limit. The unbridled rage in Alis' emerald eyes gave way to a more focused fury. Her wand's spray of fire erupted even more powerfully, enveloping the strange sac. He saw the beads of sweat form on her brow.

"Alis, don't burn yourself out—""I won't!" she yelled over the roar of her magic.

"Get ready!" Get ready?

"For what?!" He crouched into a sword guard, unsure what else to do.

"More fire." Alis raised her free hand. She nodded to his cutlass.

"Once the shell's melted, finish it off." Extending two fingers, she fired another fiery flume forward. The extra burst of flame crashed into the sphere, blanketing it so completely that all one could see was an enormous fireball. Jaw clenched, Alis kept pouring fire from her wand. Her nose twisted in defiance to keep her magic going. The walls crashed behind them, stripping down into oozing metal. Swaths of the swarming bronze simply melted while floating to reinforce the sagani.

Joel glanced toward Alis, waiting for her cue. She didn't yet appear overtaxed by her magical output, just fixated on piling on more heat. Tilting forward, he got ready to dash.

"Now!" she yelled once her wand hand wavered. Her spell faded as she bent over, gasping as she steadied herself. He bolted forward, charging at the still flaming sphere. Hurling his weight into the strike, he aimed a thrust directly at the face's center. The Seahorn's steel clashed with a thunderous crack. He felt the sword dig deep, scraping into the metal membrane. It was the cleanest stab he'd ever landed. Already melted, the bronze ruptured with a fissure.

The tear spread into thousands of cracks, slowly travelling around the face until completely fracturing apart like broken hot glass. He stood there, relieved, as brittle chunks of the metal rained down to his feet. Still holding the piercing sword, he gave it a tug, worried it'd get stuck under piling lumps of bronze. It was too late as the sword didn't give. He might have to dig it out later. For good measure, he gave it another fruitless yank.

"Joel, the Sanctum still stands!" Alis warned hoarsely. He stopped cold. There hadn't been a notification for the sagani's defeat either. Without another moment's thought, he let go of his sword and threw himself back. No reason to wait for an attack to land. Taking a few extra steps back, he kept his hands up in a tight guard. He stood there, hands raised like a boxer. Nothing happened; his cutlass sat there, stuck in a pile of scrap metal.

He'd started to feel foolish until the bits of bronze began to rattle — a chorus of clinks and clanks. Each shard started to collide and stack together, clicking in place. A sucking vortex sounded underneath, pulling miasma into the bronze. The cracks between the pieces smoothed over, globbing together like an ooze. What formed was the shape of a man. Just like the face, the bronze body was featureless. The metal that Joel's sword had stabbed into formed into a smooth hand, now grasping the blade.

With a flick of its wrist, the faceless figure sent the cutlass hurtling at Alis. Joel's hand darted out and caught the ivory hilt. He spun with the momentum of the throw, turning to face the strange creature. His own instincts surprised him.

"It's been too long," the man-shaped bronze said. It was the same goading voice, smooth and sweet, though there was no mouth it spoke from. The creature looked at its hand, clenching it into a fist.

"I'd forgotten how wonderful this place felt." It outstretched its metallic arms.

"So utterly wonderful." Another flush of miasma seeped into its form. More dull bronze followed from the floor, latching itself and coating the figure in a layer. As it solidified, the creature was still faceless but was now donning a breastplate. This process repeated again and again. More alloys dissolved from the walls and opened the space around them. More liquid bronze melded with miasma to enrich the strange creature. Every new veneer added more intricacies to the creature's form. Bracers, tassets, greaves.

Each piece of armor was etched with esoteric designs and runic symbols. A helm with curved horns formed around its faceless head.

"Now I feel more like myself." The figure massaged its neck and turned to them.

"I think I'll stay here for a while." Joel inched back; he didn't like how it was casually sauntering forward. He'd been so focused on the creature that he almost jumped when Alis whispered into his ear.

"You must delay it."

"For the others to arrive?" His mind wandered to Al and Siv, but most importantly, Wirbald. Even in his limited state, the older mage was the most powerful and experienced among them.

"That, and I need time to imbue one of my spells. One that might be strong enough to end this." Joel's mind was racing, trying to formulate possible back up plans.

"What about the conduit for the Sanctum? Doesn't destroying that work?"

"Trying to search for it with this thing here is dooming ourselves." She carefully pressed two fingers into the tip of her wand. Her words trailed off into an indiscernible incantation. A tiny ball of flame lit between her finger and the wand, pulsing like a beating heart.

"Keep it occupied, talking, anything."

"How long?" he asked out of the side of his mouth. Another coating carved three gemstones, all in the same bronze, into the visor of the creature's horned helm. The figure raised a hand, running its fingers across the gems and letting out a satisfied groan. Please stop. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Her voice had become feeble.

"As long as you can provide." Those weren't the words he wanted to hear from her. Biting the inside of his lip, he kept his eyes glued forward. Alis was likely reaching her limits, looking at her would make him argue against this plan — their only plan. Something simple then.

"Who are you?" Joel shouted past his barrier helmet, hoping the figure wouldn't continue ignoring him. The creature's head jerked over to Joel's direction, as if the question alerted it to his presence.

"There you are." It paused and examined him.

"You are unworthy of knowing my name."

"Whoa, whoa," Joel said in mock offense.

"I'm plenty interesting, okay?" The metallic creature didn't respond. It just stood there as more bronze fused with the miasma and covered the figure. Whatever this was, it didn't care about him. Joel needed to catch its attention. Attacking it would definitely do that, but instinct was telling him to avoid that option for as long as possible.

"You know what?" he shouted while puffing up his chest.

"You're unworthy of knowing my name, jackass!" With a theatrical flourish, he pointed his cutlass towards the bronze man.

"Fear me, sagani!" The words stopped the armored figure in its tracks.

"Sagani?" the soothing voice scoffed. It looked upon its own hand once again.

"I suppose that is my form, as much as the bitch continues to deny me." The helmed head turned back to Joel.

"I am so much more. Allow me to enlighten you, worthless worm." The kick came in like a cannonball, Joel only barely intercepting the blow with the flat of his blade. Sheer force sent him crashing against the Sanctum's invisible wall. Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself back to his feet swiftly. He held the Seahorn sword out, ready for the next strike. His eyes went to his HP, which had fallen to 51%. He felt sick. Even blocking the blow wasn't enough. To make matters worse, he didn't have a single EXP to spend.

Nothing that could immediately improve himself. He'd have to be even more careful. A bronze fist came straight at his skull. Joel slipped underneath, feeling the blow graze his helm. Briefly, he spotted an opening for a counterstrike but the risk felt too great. He ran a good way past the creature before turning to face it again. Just delay, delay, delay.

"Not bad, but like I said, you're the unworthy one. Be afraid," he said with mustered bravado. The sweat dripping down his back threatened to expose otherwise. At least his sword arm wasn't trembling. It growled back while facing him.

"I will break your body and feel your blood upon my newborn hands." Joel's sword arm still wasn't trembling.

"Then I shall cast you down into the abyss, where my brethren shall feast upon what entrails remain." The bronze figure spoke flatly, as if its words were an immutable fact. Joel's sword arm was now trembling. He gulped while taking a peek towards Alis. Still charging, her small fireball continued to throb while she muttered under her breath. Thankfully, the armored statue of a man hadn't noticed, fixated on Joel instead. Most of the obscuring miasma had dispersed, largely due to being vacuumed into the creature.

If anything, that'd allowed clearer visibility. A tiny disadvantage erased to his benefit. He risked a look over his shoulder. The bronze walls — once only ten feet away — could hardly be seen anymore. But he knew the walls were continuing to dissolve down as an endless supply of metal still slid across the floor to reinforce the elemental. His grip tightened around the cutlass' ivory hilt. It seemed like the bronze bastard was charging up in his own manner. Who knew what it'd do?

He had to stop giving it space to fortify itself. He hesitated after taking a step. Any sort of exchange here meant he was going to get hurt. And that was the best case scenario. Hurt no matter what, huh? He broke into a charge while tabbing through his class features. It didn't take long to find what he needed. Mid-rush, he activated the Barbarian's [Berserk] feature. A burgeoning rage blossomed from within the pit of his stomach. The emotion bubbled over as he roared like a feral animal.

Fury swept away any notion of tactical obstruction. He'd kill this thing. Nothing else mattered. The armored figure crashed into him, meeting his charge halfway with its shoulder. The force barreled him to the bronzed floor. Pain hardly registering, Joel sprang back to his feet and immediately launched himself into another attack. This time he instinctively sidestepped the collision, getting behind the figure and giving a slash at the back of the ankle.

It wasn't deep but the Seahorn steel nicked through the dense bronze, enough to drop it to a knee. Still fueled by fury, he spun his weight into a full roundhouse kick. His shin's impact morphed the creature's face concave before snapping its head back. He didn't pause to admire the strike, relentlessly chasing after the staggered figure. Swiping an inward slash, he scratched its smooth breastplate. He followed that with a short backhand blow, the cutlass' pommel colliding into its cheek. More. Again. More.

Even in his berserking state, he knew he couldn't yield a second to the elemental. It wasn't about making the most elegant strike or even landing a decisive blow — he simply threw any attacks his battle-fogged mind chained together. Kill, save, kill, save. The onslaught wouldn't end, couldn't end. Joel didn't want it to. Digging his heels in, he drove a downward chop at its neck. This time the bronze figure caught the slash, stopping the blade with the palm of its hand.

He tugged the sword back for another attack, only for his hand to slip off the ivory hilt on the wind-up. Somewhere, through the red mist of wrath, the back of his mind was warning him against what he was about to do. It lasted for a half-second, then rage silenced the voice of reason and urged him onward. His swept hand curled into a fist and smashed across the figure's jaw. The right hook was enough to send the armored man reeling back. [Berserk] dulled the pain but he felt one of his fingers break.

Combined with his weariness, the shooting pain dropped him to his knees.

"Hah!" the bronze figure laughed derisively as it held its warped jaw. Another wave of bronze reinforced around the creature, reforming the jaw to its correct place. Excitement crept into the smooth voice.

"Perhaps even a worm knows how to truly live!" The haze of the Barbarian feature faded away. It only lasted as long as he kept fighting or for one minute, whichever came first. He didn't know which it had been, his mind still piecing itself back together. As clarity came, crippling pain followed. Joel pursed his lips to keep himself from screaming as he snapped the mangled finger back in place. He glanced towards the translucent screen. His HP sat at 44%.

Whether it was more or less than he'd anticipated, he couldn't say. If only he still had [Second Wind] or extra EXP. Anything, really. The clank of his sword being tossed aside brought his focus back to the fight. The statuesque man punched its knuckles together eagerly.

"There's nothing better, is there? To feel your hands pummel the life out of another. The purity of hand-to-hand combat, what a precious joy." It was a bad joke to call this hand-to-hand combat. Now that he could think, Joel knew getting into a punching match was unwise. He wouldn't be able to put enough pop into his punches without breaking more of the tiny bones in his hands. His eyes darted to Alis, still channeling several paces away. The small fireball she was nurturing had begun pulsing rapidly.

Her brow was drenched wet, sweat dripping down her cheek. Yet, her eyes were alive with determination. She still needed more time. If the elemental decided to go after her, he wouldn't be able to stop it. That meant more charades. Joel took a deep breath, slowly clenching his fist to test the ache. Shadowboxing the puffs of miasma that remained, he bounced on the balls of his feet. Stay light.

"You want some more of that joy?" Joel kissed his bruised knuckles, ignoring the pain. He held his fist out.

"I got some right here!" The horned helm hid most of the figure's face. A hint of a smile creased its smooth bronze. Horrifying. Joel gulped, holding his arms in a tight guard. Elbows in, hands up. However, the real defense would be moving his feet. Stick and move. Before he had time to ponder anything else, the armored figure rushed at him. His punch cracked the ground as Joel dodged to the side. The follow up kick narrowly missed him as he ducked.

Instead, the brutal blow splintered a nearby stalagmite into a thousand shards. The creature was strong and agile. There was no denying that. However, without the aid of the dense smog, all of the bronze being's attacks were surprisingly easy to read. With the way it cocked back the shoulder or adjusted at the hips, its strikes were completely telegraphed. Not only that, it seemed intent on smashing him in one blow, rather than relying on weaker, quicker jabs. No, there was more than that.

The armored man was fast enough to pulverize him. It was something else. The way its body jerked before each attack, as if its metallic body couldn't keep up with its intentions. Blocking was nearly suicidal, so Joel disengaged completely. He ignored the exhaustion weighing down his legs as he backpedaled. Luckily, the dissolved walls opened up their battle ground, allowing plenty of space to play around in. Play. That's how he had to treat all of this.