"I have a bad feeling about this..." Richen muttered.
"It's just a Beginner-rank Lord, he's gonna die even quicker by facing all of us together." Phina grinned.
"That's what scares me...it's a Lord! It shouldn't be this stupid." Richen's eyes never left the Earth Spirit Scorpion. "I'm the only veteran on this team...if I can contribute anything, it's advice. Don't let your guards down."
"Whatev-"
Phina was cut short as she barely heard a voice speak to her smugly.
"Dodge if you can."
SWISH!!
STAB!!
A large spike rushed from out of the ground, piercing Phina in the stomach.
"SHIRA!!" Spear yelled.
"IT'S A DOMAIN SKILL!! RETREAT! RETREAT!!!" Richen barked out orders as he grabbed Phina and started running.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Mayo cursed in horror as he saw the Earth Spirit Scorpion rush the party.
"You're not getting away that easily." Gargo smirked as his eight legs moved quickly.
"Motherfucker..." Phina grit her teeth as she glared at Gargo. She got out of Richen's grip and stared down the mighty Lord. Domain type Skills were very feared, no matter who wielded the Skill. Even an Advanced-rank fighter with a Domain type Skill would cause a headache for Law-rankers. The reason being that you don't know their range. They could be fooling you and letting you cross half their range, just so you can retreat and let your guard down before they strike once more.
"What are you doing, Shira?! This is not a game, move your ass!!" Richen yelled out. When he saw the unmoving Phina, he grit his teeth as he stood in front of her. "Spear! Mayo! Change of plans! We're taking this thing down!"
"How very foolish of you." Gargo chuckled as he was only a few meters away from them.
BOOM!!!
Gargo slammed into Richen's shield, sending the Human flying.
"You're not getting off that easily!" Gargo said coldly. A wall of earth rose up behind Richen, causing him to slam into it. The wall then rushed to Gargo, causing Richen to be pushed towards the unmerciful Lord.
Into the Earth!!
BAM!!
Gargo punched out, drilling Richen's body directly inside the ground.
"I'm over here, asshole!" Phina appeared behind the Scorpion. She dug her dagger into his back.
Holy Devastation!!!
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Gargo screamed in pain as Phina absorbed most of his Life Energy.
Solitary Earth!!
The ground rose around the Lord, Phina quickly retreating from its area. The earth than pushed out, sending everyone around the Beast away.
"Gargo..." Filch sobbed. He then turned down to the other two in determination. "We have save Gargo."
"Me agree." Rifia responded.
"But Gargo say we stay." Sandun said with worry.
"No need listen to Gargo. Gargo want to protect us. We no need protection when we dead." Filch spoke with no emotion in his voice. "We go now."
All three slowly approached. They were waiting for their leader's best Skill, Back to the Dirt.
"DAMN YOU!!" Gargo glared at Phina weakly. Spikes started to madly extend from the area around Gargo. Every one of those spikes carried some Life Energy.
Earthen Hedgehog!!
"Don't block, dodge it!" Richen instructed as he saw the approaching spikes. As soon as he prepared to dodge, he noticed Phina wobbling.
'Shit...why didn't my wound heal? I'm pretty sure I hit him with Holy Devastation...I should've stolen his Life Energy.' Phina thought weakly as she held her wound.
'Damn it!' Richen rushed in front of Phina raising his shield up high. He yelled at Phina. "BACK ME UP WITH WORLD ENERGY!!"
Unbreakable Wall!
Richen's entire body started glowing a blue hue. The moment the spikes hit his shield, they broke through it, destroying his shield. 'SHIT!!'
Stab!
The spike pierced his arm, stopping a few centimeters away from his chest. He then turned to Phina with rage. "Shira!! What are you doing?! I said back me up!"
"I...who's Shira?" Phina asked as her entire face paled. 'I'm...losing too much blood. Am I...going to die here?'
"Oh Leo, help me..." Richen grit his teeth as he pushed some of his Life Energy into Phina.
"T-Thanks." Phina groaned as she healed her wound. She then covered for Richen from the occasional spike as they retreated. After reaching a certain distance, the spikes stopped. Gargo fell to the ground as he clutched his back.
"Looks like we're out of his range." Richen barely managed to speak. He then pulled out a Life Energy pill and ate it. He stood there for a while, focusing. After about a minute, his wounds healed as he sighed. "Looks like we're truly safe."
He looked at the Lord they tried to fight, who was just glaring at them, more specifically at him. Gargo glared hatefully at Richen. 'That bastard must be their leader, his instincts are too good. I doubt I can take him by surprise. I guess I'll just have to go for you!'
He then smirked.
Stab.
A single spike pierced through Mayo's back, right through his heart.
Thud.
His body fell to the ground.
"Now!" Filch rushed forward, he got into Gargo's range and broke his own neck. His fellow Stone Golems doing the same.
Gargo didn't notice as he grinned. Richen felt a chill as he watched Gargo's grin. "Shira! Absorb Mayo!"
"Wh-"
"NOW!!!"
Phina then rushed to Mayo with confusion and stabbed her dagger into his body.
Holy Devastation.
Back to the Dirt!
His body disappeared as the ground beneath him turned completely black. Phina's reserved refilled completely.
Gargo tried activating his Skill, but he was too late...yet...his Skill still gave him a bunch of Life and World Energy. "What the...?"
He turned around and saw his three fellow Beasts on the ground...dead. "No...no...no. No. No. NO. NO. NO! NO! NO!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Gargo's tears fell from his eyes as he felt himself reach the Intermediate-rank. Unlike Humanoids, Beasts instinctually knew how to use both Life and World Energy. Their criteria for reaching ranks below Advanced was actually to just eat and absorb as much World Energy as possible.
Gargo looked up with unending rage in his bloodshot eyes. "I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!!!"