Chương 70: [1.70] Unleashed (Part 1)

What in the giant scuffing monster is that?! The beast that appeared in front of Gelic, towering out of the geyser hole, couldn't even be compared to every other Malignant she'd seen before. They were mere pests to be swatted. This was the real deal, a Lv. 189 Malignant. Even the number sounded unreal. As far as describing it, the closest thing she could liken it to was an eel, a really, really, really big, skyscraper-sized eel.

Its head had gone shooting past them out of the ground, and was now up so high she could barely even see its mouth, eclipsed by its voluminous chin. Did eels have chins? The curve at the bottom of its face, whatever that was called, it was humongous, just like the rest. It was so honking big, in fact, that part of it was still in the hole. Who knew how far down the eel monster's body went. Unlike an eel, though, its skin wasn't sleek with slime.

Rather, it was rocky, and what looked like hair, or maybe seaweed, or coral, was growing out of the cracks. Dotted along its body were chunks of large crystals, assumedly Runestone, which at least proved the existence of the mine. So at least that part hadn't been undersold. And the last thing worth noting was that running down the sides of its body were two large, but relatively skinny, fins. And at the tips of those were huge claws, kind of like a mole's, making it perfect for its subterranean life.

"Go, Eliah. Sic 'em, girl!" With the seal undone, the Ghoul burst from her box at Sperado's behest. And frankly, the Demon was a bit too humanoid for Gelic's comfort. Roughly the same size and build as Angelica the human, but hunched over, with a bulky spine that protruded out of her skin. And that skin was also a touch… off. That definitely set her apart, making it impossible to mistake as anything but a supernatural fiend. Her complexion was a plum purple that didn't seem to like the sunlight.

Or, really, none of her did, since as soon as the rays hit her, Eliah began to let out a monstrous screech, as if she was being burned, but pushed through as she rushed toward her target. Her thin, ashen hair and dress listed in the wind. Err, was it a dress? There were long leathery straps dangling down her torso and legs, a ravaged semblance of something to cover her body. Gelic didn't know if it was ratty clothing or just genuinely a part of her flesh. Am I going to look like this when I'm a Ghoul?

Her worries now dabbled into the more superficial, a minor distraction from the great titan looming just ahead. Angelica had honestly come to love her Puffball self, and to go from the cute, adorable, marketable plush-like existence to something that was undoubtedly the spark of inspiration for so many horror movie monsters, that was something she'd dread for some time to come. Now she understood why Eliah and other Ghouls tended to not be very social.

There was one part of her sister from another Demon's look that she found really cool, though: bones. There was a row of bones protruding out the backs of each arm. It was very stylish, and they honestly looked well-kept and polished, treated like a proper accessory. Heck, ya, girl, flaunt them bones. Maybe her powers involved them, somehow. The Ghoul was damned fast, too. It didn't look like she was using any sort of Skill, just raw speed and anger.

When she got close to the Malignant, Eliah jumped into the sky with a mighty leap that even the bouncing Imp couldn't help but admire. She latched onto the rocky layer of the eel and began hacking and slashing at its skin with her clawed fingertips.

"Erm… she's not doing any damage," Gelic couldn't help but comment after a few good seconds of assault went by, watching the monster's Health the entire time with Scrying Eye. It was still at a steady 100%.

"Ehp ehp, just give her a minute, she's feeling it out," Sperado did his best to placate his doubts, but still took that as a sign to take command.

"Alright, Eliah, enough fooling around! Hit it with a Bone Injection!" That made the Ghoul turn and hiss at her master, as if she was asking, "are you scuffing serious?!" But, the Demon did it, obeying her Order. Eliah crawled up a bit higher and jammed her fingertips into the nearest gap between rocky flesh. Then, across the Malignant's entire body, giant bones popped up like porcelain weeds everywhere there was a divot, their ribs embedding in each and every fold.

Eliah let out one final scream with such vigor that all those around had to cover their ears. Fortunately for Gelic, Divining Ear lessened the effects, so she could stand it and kept watching. The cool bones on the Ghoul's arms dove into her own flesh, then those pinned into the Malignant did the same, as if she just drove hundreds of boney nails into the Malignant all at once. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. [Malignant Lv. 189 | Health 81%] Oh damn, now that's a lotta damage! Maybe Eliah really could solo this thing. Except, uhh, the Ghoul wasn't looking so hot. The fabricated bones vanished, and her body went limp, barely clinging onto the Malignant, as if a light breeze would make her collapse. And she was walloped with something significantly stronger. One of the eel fins swiped at her.

The monster had likely thought her nothing more than a little pest at first, but now that it had given her a proper bite, it batted the Ghoul away with a slapping swat. Eliah went flying, and Gelic couldn't help but worry, because it looked like she'd crash somewhere in the woods miles away. Could even a Ghoul survive such a devastating splat, especially when she was so weakened? She had to guess that Bone Injection scaled the MP cost with the amount of bones created, or maybe the size of the opponent.

In which case, she'd probably been drained dry. Did she even have enough leftover to perform any sort of Skill that could save her skin? Gelic knew it was probably pointless, but she made a starter bounce of a chain, wanting to see if she could make it in time to either catch or somehow slow her companion's descent. She'd have to shed her ice armor, but that was fine. Except it did turn out to be pointless, but not in the way she anticipated, never needing to take any more action.

Xinder swooped across the sky, plucking the Ghoul out of the air. He then carried her back to the Zenmoon squad as Vystal came running up, her eyes widening after properly seeing what they were up against. As soon as Eliah hit the ground, she immediately used what strength she had left to skitter back over to her box and hopped inside, closing the lid behind her. She was done. The Ghoul's Summoner had a bit of a problem with that, however, so he tried to rouse her again.

"I know that must have used up a lot of mana, Eliah, but the thing isn't dead yet, so we still need your help! Here, I'll even give you every drop of mana I have." She wasn't taking the bait, though. Even when Sperado tried to pry open the box, she'd just reach out and pull it shut again. It was like watching one of those useless machine things that would automatically flip its own power switch to turn itself off as soon as someone turned it on. Their heaviest hitter was down for the count now.

She'd done a ton on her own, but would it be enough for the rest to pick up the slack? They'd need everyone there, all the Sects to come together and… and… oh, they were actually doing it. In moments, the treeline was packed once more. Summoners and their Demons surrounded the Malignant on all sides, unleashing their strongest attacks. Rastille and Himpo performed another Hammer Rain. Vystal pulled out both of her wands and started blasting while Xinder flew up and let loose a volley of stoney feathers.

Sperado even got back to it, taking up perch once more, returning to his sniper duties. All around the circle, there was a vast array of flashing lights and blasts, pelting the eel with an array of all sorts of magic that Gelic had never seen before. It was honestly way too much that there was no way to really understand all the powers at play. Any Summoner or Demon at their levels caught in that crossfire would die instantly. It was an impressive bombardment.

Yes, with their powers combined, they'd bring down this behemoth in no time! [Malignant Lv. 189 | Health 80%] This is going to take foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Would their collective pool of mana even hold up that long? It would be genuine hours at this rate. And that was with the Malignant being nice, sitting there as an unmoving target. Was it stuck? The rest of its body keeping it pinned to the mine? Or maybe it didn't know that it should be fighting back yet, or fleeing.

Looking at the eel's massive face, it did look a bit groggy, as if it hadn't come to terms with its existence yet, slower than the rest of the smaller monsters to fully wake up properly. Well, they should definitely take advantage of that. I should take advantage of that! Gelic thought to herself, trying to rouse herself to action. But what could she do? Even her Order was hesitating, knowing she had no business fighting that thing, having told herself to play it safe.

She had no long-ranged attacks, and if she tried to fight it head-on, that was just asking to be pelted by friendly fire. Though, what if she went where the fighting wasn't? The highest attacks only went about halfway up the Malignant's body, meaning the top half should be relatively safe. Multi-Bounce! Up, up, and away! Gelic cleared the tallest tree in seconds as she soared toward what she vaguely considered the neck of the creature. Well, it was sort of all neck, but the upper bit.

She readied her rapiers, hoping to embed both them and her Coat of Arms onto the Malignant for continuous poisoning, really playing the role of a toxic barb. What she didn't expect was for one of the eel's eyes to swirl in her direction mere moments before impact. She must have flown too close to the sun, err, eel head, and got caught in its peripheral vision. Instantly, one of the Malignant's fins swatted at her.

Gelic activated Jump Good to divert herself away from the brunt of the hit, but it ended up being one of the worst things she could do. Instead of being batted by a flappy fin, she was sliced by the mole-like claws at the ends. Her ice armor shattered instantly, and she was sent careening back toward the trees in a direct, speeding arc toward the ground. She caught a glimpse of Xinder who made an attempt to save her as he'd done for the Ghoul, but she was going too fast.

And Gelic's eyes returned to the enemy, making a slight smirk overshadow her otherwise pained face. The Malignant's fin must have been nicked by one of her ice spikes, because now it was poisoned.