Chương 72

-0-0-0-0-0- Tear's Arena, The Seventh Floor, The Dungeon -0-0-0-0-0- Tear stared down at the guilders as they fought to reach the final tier, where he stood. They were already halfway across the second tier; more than four dozen corpses and shattered golems lay in their wake.

"They're skilled; I'll give them that. Their strength is almost overwhelming," Tear told the earth spirit looming over him. Tear appreciated his company; Sonum was quiet, preferring silence to meaningless chatter. A far cry from the hustle and bustle of the village these days. In this case, he received a feeling of mild agreement and a burst of anticipation rather than words.

"Eager, huh? I don't get it, but this is a first for us both." Sonum sent a feeling of confusion.

"Oh, you know," Tear continued.

"This is to be our first clash with invaders, our first real taste of combat." He flexed his fists around the shaft of his enormous warhammer and chuckled lightly.

"Got the idea for this thing from Totanam, you know? He told me about the sword that guilder man is using, that one there." He gestured to the armored man as he brought the longsword down in a vicious slash.

"I figured it'd be ironic to use their own tricks against them. We'll just have to see how it goes." The spirit sent back a feeling of amusement. Clearly, he agreed. Tear watched the battle below carefully, noting how his people were faring against the guilders. The answer? Decently. It'd been fourish hours since the battle began, and it showed. The guilders were slowing, while the drake-kin they fought were fresh and ready.

The humans were getting sloppy, and each bore at least one new cut on otherwise flawless skin. The armored human had yet to spill a single drop, but the dents in his armor proved that he was also tiring. Despite their exhaustion and sloppiness, they still pushed through the drake-kin and stone golems, if slower than they had initially. It had once taken less than a minute to kill three monsters, but now it took at least three to kill a single one.

They also took advantage of their strengths and the monster's weaknesses wherever they could. The melee fighters, the armored man and robed woman, could easily smash and destroy the golems in their way and, in fact, moved to counter any that showed themselves. Not all the statues positioned in the alcoves in the wall were golems, which did well to keep the element of surprise. The archer and water mage were better suited for precision attacks, which let them take advantage of the gaps in a drake-kin's armor.

Tear noted those gaps and idly began thinking about minimizing or covering them. It wasn't long after that the guilders finally made it up to the actual arena. Tear had positioned himself at the far side while Sonum loomed over him in the largest form the spirit could support. The arena was circular, made up of alternating rings of rough stone and polished iron. The stone sections were carved with decorative runes; each inlaid with moonsilver.

Tear could 'activate' the runes easily by putting some mana into them, the conductive material needing little mana to glow as intended. They did little else. While it was likely The Creator could make the runes activate an enchantment, right now, they were there as a decoy. A distraction. A trick. A Ruse! Tear shook his head to clear it, then stared levelly at the humans.

"Well done," he drawled sarcastically.

"You've slaughtered your way through my people to reach me. You must know by now that it accomplishes little. They'll be back with all their knowledge and skills." He lowered the weight of his hammer further and began to spin it. With each revolution, it got faster. At its current weight, it would do little to harm them, but as intimidation, it did its job exceptionally well.

"As will I. As will all the monsters and manabeings you've killed. You've accomplished nothing." The armored guilder stepped forward with his longsword pointed up and held in both hands.

"You all know the plan. Go!" At his declaration, the other three humans burst into motion. They moved sideways, spreading out to surround the Boss Monster and Spirit. Tear stopped spinning the hammer abruptly and slammed the hilt against the ground. At the moment he did, Tear let some mana leak out of his feet and into the runes he stood upon. The runes began glowing faintly, spreading out from where he was standing and prompting the guilders to beat a hasty retreat.

"What is this!?" the armored one exclaimed. Tear and Sonum didn't give them time to confer. They went on the attack immediately, hoping to disrupt the guilders and ruin whatever plan they'd been working on. Sonum moved left, intercepting the water mage and archer. From previous observation, he should be largely immune to their attacks and could keep them busy. After all, piercing arrows and water whips wouldn't do much but chip stone.

Tear approached the robed woman and armored man, beginning to swing his hammer around, never moving at more than a slow walk as he did. By the time he reached them, they were tense and preparing to dodge. The hammer moved at a decent clip, and Tear swung at the man when the time was right. The guilder tensed and dodged backward. Having anticipated this, Tear stopped the swing just as it passed the man, and he thrust it forward. The moment before impact, he increased the weight dramatically.

Having kept its velocity, but with a now increased weight... The man was thrown backward off the edge of the tier, falling head over heels down the staircase. Tear lowered the weight and swung left, increasing it again when the woman's warhammer impacted it. She was shocked when her weapon was the one flung back, Tear's hammer having far more momentum and mass behind it. He turned to face her properly and smirked at the curses he could hear from the man still falling down the stairs.

The fight was going well, and, for once, he understood Mushu. This was fun. -0-0-0-0-0- Tear's Arena, The Seventh Floor, The Dungeon -0-0-0-0-0- Auora faced down the Guardian, Tear. Alone. Hallmark had been tricked and unceremoniously thrown down the very same staircase they'd fought so long to climb. She could see Xerat and Chana dodging the huge Earth Manabeing, their attacks doing only minor damage.

Auora and Hallmark would have fared much better against the being, as per their plan, but she supposed this was the Guardian's plan.

"You are far more intelligent than Hallmark claims, right?" she asked as they began circling each other. The Guardian snorted with amusement.

"Only just catching on, are you? I've heard of his opinions," the Guardian sneered at the last word.

"We are more than mere puppets. The Creator guides us, certainly, but we can think and plan all on our own." At the final word, he lunged. Wary of his ability to halt and redirect his hammer's momentum, Auora kept on her toes, never leaving the ground entirely. To do so was to remove her ability to dodge completely, and would only lead to being struck. Their intricate dance continued for a little more than a minute. Tear swung, and Auora dodged. Auora swung, and Tear countered.

Neither could land a blow, the Guardian no longer having the advantage of surprise. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. This balance was broken when Hallmark returned to the fight. Auora had carefully maneuvered the Guardian to face away from the edge throughout their battle to give the knight an opening. One he took advantage of at the first opportunity he found.

The man sprinted up the stairs, leaping off the final one with his sword falling in an overhead strike. Auora saw the runes along its length glowing as the enchantment kicked in. The slight noise he made as he ran must have been enough for the Guardian to hear since he spun like a top, the runes on his enormous hammer glowing just as Hallmark's sword did. When they impacted, edge-on-face...

Man and monster were thrown away by the force of the impact, their weapons ripped from their grips and flung across the room in opposite directions. Auora ducked as the hammer flew over her head at speed, crashing into the ground and leaving a short gouge in the stone. Hallmark's sword had sheathed itself in the rock after leaving three thin slashes in its wake. Hallmark and the Guardian glared at each other and, almost in sync, turned to rush for their respective weapons.

Auora intercepted Tear as he approached, swinging her hammer at the monster's knees. He jumped, and Auora grinned in triumph. She continued the swing, gaining momentum, and when it came back around, her hammer hit the Guardian with full force on its arm, which it had raised. She heard the sickening crack as it landed and saw the wince the monster gave. She was sure she'd just broken its arm. At least. With Auora intercepting the monster, Hallmark was the first to reach his weapon.

He pulled the sword from the stone with a grunt of effort and turned to face the Guardian. Tear lashed out with his uninjured arm, and Auora was unprepared for how fast he did it. She was only thrown back a few yards, but it was enough for the monster to push past her to pick up his weapon. He grabbed it and turned, already swinging, to intercept Hallmark's diagonal slash. The man had rushed the Guardian in the moments since reacquiring his weapon. Tear was a second too slow, and Hallmark severed his hands.

The Guardian's hammer fell to the ground with a clatter, his hands still clenched tightly around the shaft. The monster was frozen, staring at his stumps when Hallmark's second swing intercepted his neck. It didn't go all the way through, getting stuck on the monster's neck. The force of the swing pushed him over, and Hallmark fell with him. Hallmark removed his sword, then brought it down on the partially-severed neck again. And again.

Only when the head was disconnected entirely did he stop, breathing heavily and with his shoulders heaving. He stood, removed his sword from where it had become lodged in the stone from his final strike, and took a deep breath, wincing. He put a hand to his heavily dented chestplate for a moment, then stood and rolled his neck "Oh, I enjoyed that." He reached down, picked up the helmed head, and shoved it unceremoniously into one of his pouches.

"Take that, you sanctimonious piece of shit." He ran a gauntleted hand through his hair and turned to face Auora.

"Time to finish this. Go help Chana and Xerat. I'll join you in a minute." He ordered, and Auora backed away slowly before turning to aid her party members. The look in Hallmark's eyes... She was reminded at that moment why he was the most dangerous person in the group. It wasn't his strength, speed, or skill. It was the madness that lurked beneath his genial façade. It didn't help that the hand he'd run through his hair was covered in blood and gore.

After an attempt to lift the monster's incredible hammer, which refused to even budge for her, Auora walked away. She heard the sound of steel on flesh, and she didn't turn to look back. Hallmark was right about one thing... Xerat and Chana were faring poorly. She winced as she saw Chana thrown back by a limb that swung faster than expected, impacting the woman's chest. Yes, they definitely needed her aid. -0-0-0-0-0- The Eighth Floor, The Dungeon, Medea Island.

-0-0-0-0-0- Pyry roosted above The First Peak, gazing down at the path leading from the cavern's wall. It was there that four humans stopped and, after a brief moment to assess their surroundings, began trudging up the mountain. She narrowed her eyes at them and felt sparks jump between the tips of her feathers in agitation. If they were here, they'd made it past Tear. She'd heard of their plan to exhaust the guilders to better their chances. That they'd lost was... disappointing.

She supposed she couldn't blame the Drake-kin or the manabeings. These humans were of a different caliber. Pyry raised her wings and launched herself off her stone perch with a piercing cry, which she enhanced with air mana even as she used another burst of mana to provide more lift. As she passed the guilders, they ducked underneath a nearby overhang. Objectively, the correct response to a flying predator. In this case? Foolish.

Another cry, with a flex of will, and a bolt of lightning struck the overhang, causing a small avalanche that buried them in snow. She knew there'd be a space with air inside, but it should take them hours to dig themselves out, further slowing their progress. Pyry hoped they would turn back entirely, but if not... She was prepared to make their trek to her nest a lengthy, Painful experience. She flew off to Icicle Village, the snowbold village on the second peak.

She dove, fearlessly, towards a solid-looking rock face. She passed through the illusion without a sound and found herself within the cavern. She spread her wings wide and all but halted her momentum with another burst of air mana. She landed gently on the perch the villagers had designed for her. Within a minute, a harried-looking snowbold pushed through the growing crowd. She was one of the few shamans in the village, as testified by her staff and bevy of charms.

After she reached the raised platform that would bring her to Pyry's eye level, the Thunderhawk felt the tentative mental probing. Pyry judged it a better attempt than the last attempt the shaman made, and reached out with her own mental probe. She'd been granted a lesson in the ability by the Fire Court's Queen as she'd passed through Pyry's domain. The difference in the strength of Pyry's probe compared to the snowbold's displayed the benefit she'd gained from that encounter.

"Shaman Sluice. You've improved." Pyry complimented.

"Thank you, and welcome to our Village, Pyry. What news do you bring?" The shaman asked, sounding apprehensive. She must have known what news the Boss would deliver and feared the answer she'd be given. Unlike the drake-kin, who had many Respawn Crystals, the snowbolds had a much smaller amount. Only enough for two small squads per village. They weren't ready to fight the humans as the Drake-kin had.

"Tear has fallen, and the humans have breached the Eighth. Prepare, but do not panic. I am unsure if they are going to attempt to push through the eighth now or if they will retreat. The intelligent thing to do would be to retreat, regroup, and return more prepared..." She trailed off, but she felt that the shaman understood what she meant,"However, we can't predict the motivations of guilders. I understand, great Pyry. Our thanks for the news. You wish us to spread it to the other villages?"

"Indeed. If they do press on, I will harry the humans as much as possible. If they do not, I will return to my nest within the day."

"I'll send the messengers immediately. Be careful, Pyry." The snowbold answered. Pyry raised her head and wings, prompting the shaman to step back.

"Of course," Pyry replied,"I'm me, after all." The boss monster flapped her wings and launched herself into the air again, quickly gaining speed as she passed through the illusionary wall. Once more soaring through the skies around her mountains, Pyry performed a full lap of the floor. She first checked where she trapped the humans and saw them digging themselves out of their snowy prison. She would admit to a brief feeling of disappointment when they returned to the entrance rather than pushing on.

She let out one final mocking cry before they passed through the doorway and laughed to herself when they moved faster. While she was here, Pyry let her gaze pass over the rest of the floor. The wide path the Manabeings had left as they passed through had already been entirely covered, one of the side benefits of the blizzards every second day. Any paths forged through the snow were quickly erased, which would be even more helpful when the guilders made it here more regularly.

And Pyry knew they'd make it here eventually. It was inevitable. The long rope bridge was swinging gently in the breeze, for now. Pyry could make the valley the bridge spanned gust whenever she wished, causing the bridge to twist and lurch. She eyed the avalanche trap and couldn't wait to watch it come rumbling down on top of some deserving guilders. There were numerous other traps scattered across the Peaks. Traps that dropped rocks on narrow paths, ledges that collapsed as you passed over them, and so on.

Pyry's favorite was the deceptively deep snowdrifts designed to drop hapless humans into a bevy of thin crevasses they'd need to escape. She noted that there were roaming patrols of Ice Foxes and Snowbolds across all three mountains and remembered that she'd have to let them know the humans had left... After a few hours. It would do them good to be on alert like this for a while. Pyry returned to her empty nest and sighed. She did wish The Creator had found a male Hawk so she could have a mate. She lived in hope.

-0-0-0-0-0- © Max Porteous, 2023