Bells chimed constantly around us, serving as an instrumental to the enemy vocalists' unending concert. Albeit her tunes were admittedly pleasant to listen to, the constant magical redirection of my attacks via the massive wind-powered area of effect skills they brought had left me with a sour impression on her songs. The bells were no better, traveling to different points and releasing their own sound-induced air skills from wildly differing angles. That bell-caster had an uncanny ability to almost never miss her counter strikes, though none of her 'strikes' ever really did damage. It just kept Cassi and I from landing anything at all on their singer, whom their tank referred to as Karella after I'd hit her with a Lightning Bolt to her chest. Meaning this bell-caster, the one their assassin called out to as 'Leria' before getting ripped in half by Karella's verbal tornado skill, has to go. Otherwise we'll never be able to help Lonni take out their damage repulsing tank.
If memory serves me, I believe Karella referred to him as 'Maarus', a name I hoped to forget about sooner than later. Every time I was able to sneak in a stab between Karella and Leria's magical defenses, Maarus' chest would illuminate and emit a bright amber smoke from his body-vents before releasing a burst of concussive force in all directions. Now, I've resolved myself to chase down these casters in hopes one of Korbin's stray fireballs hits them before me.
"Aethra's Unbreaking Word!" Their vocalist belted, her voice rising several octaves higher than her usual pitch. Cassi's bo staff bounced off the vocalist's skull, creating a small blast of conflicting mana's at the point of impact. The blast made Karella's head whip to the side, however not nearly as violently as it ought to have considering how hard Cass had just hit her. Seeing Leria the Bell-Caster also momentarily stunned by the scene, Lightning Strike threw all my momentum into a strike aimed at her neck. Just like Cassi's staff, the edge of my blade bounced off her body with a bright blue and white flash. Frustrated, my rear leg crashed into her ribcage before I could even think. This time the blow caused visible damage, Leria hunching over before sending several chime-waves my way. The spiraling concussive force nearly threw me off my feet as I slid across the translucent crystalline foliage.
"A Mothers Loving Wor-"
*BANG*
Karella's latest magical lyrics were cut short by the thunderous crash of another fireball at her side, courtesy of Korbin who was taking his time closing the gap with the enemy casters. The blast launched her aloft, Leria's wrist flicking toward her launching several of her bells in her direction. They chimed and clanged a soft song as Karella's momentum slowed to a halt just before slamming onto a jagged rotten tree stump. Seeing most of her bells were gone, I shuffled toward Leria's weak side unleashing a flurry of feints. She directed every nearby bell to one side, leaving the other wide open for a Flow Strike launching a kick to her shoulder. The bell-caster spun in place, allowing me to wrap my chain under her chin. This time I didn't bother slinging her over my shoulder, instead channeling as much lightning mana through my chains as possible, the surge rapidly draining a chunk of mana from my dwindling reserves. Leria's body convulsed violently, smoke rising from her neck wafting the familiar stench of burning flesh under my pallet. Part of me wished to chomp down on her skin then and there, and rip away every shred of warmth she possessed in a rush of innate rage.
The burst of energy translated within my grasps as a final flair of lightning crackled. Then, my hands suddenly flew across my body as Leria's charred neck crumbled between the chains. A heavy hand pressed on the back of my head, only to disappear following a loud thunk. Turning around, Maarus angrily yanked at his arm trying to free it of Lonni's Flail buried deep into the back of his elbow. Cassi leapt up onto his shoulders, wrapping the back of her knee around his massive neck. The giant man took a long exhale through the vents in his ribcage, then let out a concussive force that launched Cassi from his shoulders. Kota clung onto Lonni's leg as he flew past, falling off just as the burst of energy subsided. Firing my grappling hook around the tanks knee, I yanked myself toward him readying a flourish of blows.
"Heretics Repulse!" Karella vocalized, letting out a powerful horizontal gust straight to my chest. The force pressed me back, but the hook remained tightly secured around Maarus' leg. Spinning around like a flag held by one corner, I barely managed to locate the ground before bouncing off the tank's broad, glowing chest.
"Aethra's Undying Sto-" Karella's silver-white hair began to levitate and she sang, only for another fireball to blast into Maarus sending a torrent of flames exploding in her direction.
"A Mothers Loving Word." She sang through a scratchy voice. Immediately, her posture straightened as her movement sharpened from the sluggish jog she'd slowly devolved into.
"Keep healing, this is fun!" Korbin hollered to her from behind the group, charging another fireball. He'd finally made his way with just 15 meters of the actual battlefield, though he'd appeared to have stopped advancing altogether and opted to remain our ranged support instead. Maarus let out a guttural, primal roar toward the orange double-sunned sky as the amber vein pulsating across his chest rapidly expanded. Lonni bashed his shield into the vein, only to be blasted backward by a stream of amber light. The hulking tank nearly dropped to his knees, wobbling angrily trying to fend off Cassi's constant pressure. Clearly he's capable of taking damage, considering the sheer amount of open wounds scattered across his open chest, neck and legs. Yet he never actually bled, in fact none of them had.
"ENOUGH!" Maarus screeched, charging after Korbin wildly after taking yet another fireball to the chest. Along the way, his foot froze behind him mid-stride. A series of fiery limbs wrapped tight around his ankle, trapping the giant in place. In an instant, Lonni, Cassi, and Kota all jumped on him, stabbing, bashing and slamming their weapons into the tank. Just as another pulse of Amber light flickered from his massive chest vein, crackling blue lightning burned through his skin as my blade plunged into his body. More specifically the vein, which immediately blew open releasing a massive shimmering cloud. Then, my second blade slid into Maarus' neck, causing his eyes that burned with hatred to roll back into his skull before collapsing to the ground. A final burst of glowing amber energy washed over me, though it was little more than a strong gust of wind.
*ding*
"MAARUS!" Karella screamed, though her dual-toned voice still managed to sound as angelic as ever, even in her grief.
"No, no, NO!" She continued angrily, her rage once more translating into a perfect pitch. She took in a long inhale, just as Cassi and I both began our approach to finally end this fight.
"…AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Karella screeched, her voice piercing my already ringing ears like two swords digging to meet at the center of my brain. I dropped both my blades, slamming my palms over my ears as my balance began to falter. She screamed and screamed, her voice finally cracking into a terrible shriek before finally running out of breath after what felt like hours. After several heavy breaths, she managed to whimper out another phrase with relative tonal clarity.
"…Aethra's Undying Storm." Just as the words escaped her lips, a massive beam of white light hummed through the vents in her throat, each beam releasing a different tone creating a chorus of constant vocalizations in unison. Loud wooden creeks and snapping branches crescendoed all around us, as a giant twister slowly surrounded the battle-torn rotten forest. I stabbed a blade into the glowing crystalline floor, just as I felt my feet being yanked out from under me by a terribly powerful wind. The torrents whirled relentlessly, my hands quickly slipping from my blade grips. Peering about, Cassi and Kota dangled clutching onto both Lonni's legs, his bloodied fist buried into the crystalline dirt. I couldn't see Korbin behind me through the shimmering translucent shards spiraling at our backs, though a dim orange bubble glowed faintly in the distance. I tried channeling the remainder of my mana into activating Spirit Of The Storm, hoping to counter this woman's trump card skill with my own. Instead, the sharp pain of looming mana exhaustion jabbed at my side. I could try to force it, but I risk losing too much strength to hang on along the way.
Damnit, come on Tom think, fucking THINK!
"Ergh…" Lonni let out a rising grunt, his voice so deep it even cut through the sharp spiraling winds slowly vacuuming us away. His shaking arm rose up from the other side of him, the ball of his flail whipping through the ferocious wind behind him. My blade slid through the crystalline floor, jutting me closer toward the ground encroaching the twister's edge. My eyes shot up toward Karella, my mind racing trying to find a solution.
"…RAH!" Lonni's powerful voice roared over the winds once more as I felt my blade sliding out of the floor. Karella sang on judging her mannerisms, though it was completely muted. Her tearful eyes finally opened in reaction to Lonni's grunt, the only detail I made out before the spiked metal ball cracked through her nasal cavity, snapping the vocalist's head back just as my blade slipped fully from the ground. I felt as my foot ripped clean off of the ankle in a blink, the pain almost immediate before my vision melted around me. Then, the world imploded all at once, throwing me into complete darkness.
…
*ding*
A jarring rush of light,colors and my own self awareness flooded in at once, finding myself standing in the same sky-less plane our team met in before the last round. Speaking of, all 4 of my teammates stood in the exact same place they had when we left. Thankfully at that, as for a moment I thought being teleported into darkness meant I got eliminated. I glanced up at Lonni who stood at Cassi's side, realizing what had happened at the sight of his beaming grin.
"Woah, did we lose?" Korbin quickly asked, quickly patting his chest and arms. Based on how far back he'd hung around during that last fight, he must've been closer to that twister's outer wrath than any of us.
"YES!" Lonni yelled toward the nothingness above, pumping his fist up to the abyss looming overhead.
"…no, this message says we definitely won." I said, reading the notification I'd heard go off before waking up here.
"N-well, yes we did. I meant that it worked, this thing's amazing?!" Lonni said, holding his flail out like he'd just uncovered some treasure. As he did, the image of his spiked extension pierced the beautifully powerful vocalist's skull.
"Tom's right, we're headed to the final round in 15 minutes and counting." Cassi added, earning a nod from Korbin and prompting me to check where exactly she'd seen that detail. Of course, a timer was located at the very bottom of the message, long after it mentioned our victory.
"Right, whatever. Lonni, did you really fuckin' hit that shot on the first try?! How the hell did you line it up?" I pressed the giant excitedly, his eyes lighting up with glee as he began explaining what had to be the luckiest judgement of ungodly winds I've ever heard of. Especially from a prone position.
"Honeslty? I just threw this thing as hard as I could. Embarrassingly enough, I didn't even think about the wi-"
"Guys, I'm sorry but, there's no time for this right now." Cassi coldly interrupted, stepping between us with a stern look. Lonni and I locked eyes before rolling them in annoyance.
"What, why the hell not? Surely we could afford a minute before preparing for…what was their name again uh, 'Frostroot'?" I asked, recalling the confidence the others had in their being our final opponents. Mainly because they were tied to our faction, where both sides suffered 0 casualties throughout the event thus far.
"No. They're out." Korbin said bluntly, before turning to speak with Cassi.
"Wait what do you mean 'out'? I thought these guys were the real deal?" I asked, stepping around Korbin hoping to catch his eye. He glanced over, furrowing his brow spotting me.
"They are, and I mean they're out. As in eliminated." Korbin replied over his shoulder. I checked my notifications and, sure enough, he wasn't lying.
*Congratulations!*
You've defeated The Hollow Verse Of Caelithra. Prepare to face the final opposing faction; The Magmarred Magistry.
"Amazing! Their queen had such a powerful energy to her, I would've figured she could vanquish most any opposition until our inevitable clash." Kota stated, projecting his voice proudly yet wearing a look of genuine disappointment. I glanced over at Cassi, whose wide-eyed stare looked no different than Lonni's beside her.
"Right, quite the disappointment indeed, Kota." Korbin said through a chuckle, flashing a dull smile his way that quickly faded into contemplation.
"Okay, so they lost to a team full of mages. That's fine, I can't imagine they're going to be keen on hand to hand combat. So…I guess we just have to close the distance and avoid big attacks?" I proposed to the group. Korbin's eyes lit up for a second, as if intrigued.
"Wait a minute…are you attempting to make a plan right now?" Korbin said, killing my excitement at some genuine feedback.
"For once, and maybe just this once, I agree with Tom, or at least his intentions. We should be utilizing this time to properly lay out a plan of attack. From what I've gleaned during my interactions with Frostroots Queen, these Magmarred Magistry won't be a squad of pushovers by any means, and we can't afford to bank on just being better than them." Cassi cut in, abruptly killing Korbin's buzz. All that was left was Kota but, I don't envy the hammer trying to crack that fucking nutcase. Almost immediately, Korbin and Cassi plunged into tactical speak, using terminology that flew over my head like 'coup de main's and 'bases of fire'. I was able to follow enough however to determine the gist of their agreed upon plan; push hard, fast, and don't let them breathe the moment you're spotted. Honestly, it took them around 10 minutes to agree to essentially the same exact thing we did last fight. I guess now we'll have structure as well though, keeping Cassi, Kota and I at the front with Lonni and Korbin hanging back a few paces. Enough to get us under Korbin's defensive skills while still giving him room to cast his own ranged attacks.
"You're not planning on bailing in pursuit of some vantage point again, are you?" I teased Korbin, recalling his absence for half our last battle.
"No, not unless I totally missed another mini-pylon hidden out there. Though a flank could be convenient, I doubt a team full of ranger casters would allow that. Not unless they've been living off of raw power." Korbin very seriously answered. Shortly after, the system's unfittingly soft voice gave a 5 minute warning. As time trickled down, everyone's rather tense energy appeared to relax a little, especially with a semi-coherent plan of attack.
"Hey Kota, you wouldn't happen to have any ranged attacks, would you?" I asked, hoping he'd have some redeeming skill in this circumstance other than sponging damage. The over enthusiastic spaz fixed his lips to say something, letting out a loud breathy sigh after a pause instead.
"Hm…such a skill would serve excellent utility! One I'm certain to uncover the secrets to unlocking, so long as my discipline remains undying." He proclaimed, clenching his fist tightly while glaring into the distance.
"…is saying 'no' that hard for you?" I asked him, fully letting the thin veil of kindness fall. Before he could reply however, reality itself stretched all around my vision as the system teleported us to our next destination. One that, as the interim numbness and total darkness subsided, I found surprisingly pleasant.
"Woah, not exactly what I was expecting." Lonni said, staring at the white water rushing at our sides. Countless networks of raging rivers rushed past, crossing and washing up on the thin strips of greenery that peppered our surroundings.
"It's…actually quite nice." Cassi added, scooting past Lonni to get to the front of the group. Kota wiggled behind her, showing a surprising amount of care to not bump into Lonni.
"Oh, my bad Kota." Lonni said, scooting away and nearly stepping into the rocky rapids at his backside. Korbin reached up and snagged his shoulder, more so as an indication to stop more than support the man's gigantic frame.
"This is amazing, I can feel the mana wafting off these streams." I said excitedly, rushing along the edge of our incredibly green isthmus. The trees here were much more lively earthen upon first glance, though the 'bark' was hairy and squishy to the touch. There was a constant mixture of pine and rain fluctuating in the air, both scents I welcomed with an open pallet. Then there was the water mana, or rather the incredible abundance of it actively flowing all at once. It'd been since my first meeting with Phanthu's simulation that I was anywhere near a water mana source this potent, though it was admittedly less concentrated. No doubt due to how small Phanthu's mana manipulation training room was compared to the vastness of this seemingly endless web of raging rivers.
"Oh wow, the water dorks like moving water, who could've guessed." Korbin sarcastically said, shaking his head mockingly as he spoke. I walked beside him, hoping to get a feel for why he's gotten so damn grumpy.
"Right yeah, I guess pointing out possible tactical advantages is pretty stupid, silly me." I mocked back through a sly grin. He let out a gust of air through his nose as we both continued forward, my eyes darting across the mist-filled forestry. There was no sign of the enemy faction yet, though there weren't any until it was too late last time. I really would prefer not having to sneak around with Lonni's clunky-ass clanking behind me either.
"Okay fine, nice call out. I'll be sure to remind the amphibious teammate I keep in my storage space he's good to go here. Otherwise I'm not sure either you or Cassi can channel all that mana yet, or am I mistaken?" Korbin shot back, the twitching at the corner of his mouth threatening to become a full blown smile.
"Well technically, if I can escape or hide out and hit a heavy Meditation, I'm pretty sure I could recoup a decent amount in time." I counter offered, only half-jokingly.
"Sure, and I'll recharge my fire powers by digging to the hells and taking a magma-bath." Korbin replied with a scoff.
"Well now you're just being ridiculous." I replied, hurrying my pace to pass him.
"Cassi, I'm putting you on Tom duty from now on." Korbin said. I glanced behind me awaiting her inevitably sassy input, only to spot her several yards back still standing crouched beside Lonni and Kota while glaring across the rivers.
"Hey!" I hollered, slapping Korbin's heavily armored shoulder. Following her gaze, 5 glowing orange spheres could be seen just above the treeline several raging rapids across the way.
"Shit, eyes on." I said, separating my blades and letting lightning mana naturally channel across the chains connecting them at the pommels.
"Wait, let's regroup with the othe-" Korbin began as he started to walk past, when a loud whistling sounded over the forest, interrupting his plea.
"LIGHTNING DEVILS!" A voice screamed from somewhere across a nearby river.
"Fuck, go!" Korbin commanded, activating his boosting skill as flames engulfed his form. Then, he sprinted and leapt across the river, flying like fiery artillery before landing on the strip of grass across the way. Aiming at the thick tree branches beside him, my grapple hook latched around its limb as I too leapt across the river. That's when I noticed the 5 glowing orbs spiraling around one another vertically, their speed quickly accelerating until their afterimages created a full fiery circle. My hook had just released from the branches when the center of said circle emitted a blinding orange light. In a blink the flaming manifestation expanded high over Korbin and I, towering like a tsunami of wriggling fire.
"Oh sh-" Korbin said, before the burning rush of every fiber of my being melted in a blink, leaving only a dull ringing for a mere second. Then, after the familiar brief numb period of complete darkness, my eyes fluttered back open to find myself right back in the waiting area our team teleported from no more than 5 minutes ago. Realizing why, a wave of frustration washed over my mind at getting eliminated in such a sudden and careless manner. I'd wandered off with Korbin, feeling we had at least some time to get his morale a little higher. Instead I got myself killed, losing my first life while leaving the other four to deal with a number disadvantage. Though I suppose so long as they're still alive given how strong our team's gotten, our faction has more than a fair chance at pulling this off.
"Of course. Of fucking COURSE!" Korbin's frustrated jeering echoed from behind me. I looked around, realizing we were the only ones in here this time. I glared at my friend confusedly, trying to piece together why the hell he was here until it dawned on me.
"…I mean you were supposed to be behind me."