Dodge is level 55!
...
Dodge is level 63!
Unfettered Volition is level 60!
...
Unfettered Volition is level 64!
Corrosive Strike!
Wild Threnody!
Acid drenched scale met flame bright metal like two tractor trailers crashing. A wave of concussive force swept outward, scattering bits of stone and crystal that surrounded them.
"You're done!" the Archon howled. His golden body flashed with new yellow-red sigils that appeared in sweeping lines. The pressure of his Spirit and Strength nearly doubled. Felix grit his teeth, shifted his fist, and gripped the Archon's hands with his long, ebon claws. He tore into them.
"I haven't even started!" Felix shouted, and forced his arms up and back.
Mantle of the Infinite Revolution!
Cardinal Flame!
The bestial Arcid howled, its strange fur and metal flesh parting beneath Evie's chain. It tore at the bladed weapon, furious, more animal than thinking creature. Evie was thankful for that. She'd have been dead twice over if its reasoning matched its Strength and Agility. As it was, she was still hard pressed.
Bindings of the White Waste!
Chains of frost burst upward, snagging the Archid by the arms and legs. It resembled nothing so much as a Hoarhound mixed with a Frost Giant, then armored a little like an Arcid, and it responded to her restraint by tearing at its own flesh.
Bindings of the White Waste is level 62!
"Disgusting," she hissed. Her chain was twisting, spinning for momentum while she manipulated the mass of it with her Born Trait. With a final flick, she brought it down. "Die!"
Its shoulder snapped beneath the blow, almost shearing off completely. Which should have impaired the monster, but it only freed it from her Bindings. It lunged at Evie, metal jaws agape.
A dark shape slammed into it from the side, bringing it hard into the sludge at their feet.
"A'zek," Evie panted, wiping at the blood in her eyes. "Kind of you to join in."
The massive harnoq tore the bestial Arcid's throat out with a single, savage heave. Dark ichor poured into the sludge, fouling it further, and the chimera spat. "Vile things, these creatures. They taste of unclean promises."
"Huh," Evie pulled her chain, letting it coil about her arm and shoulder. "Gross."
A huge noise came from up above, and the timbers at the side of the cliff trembled. The sound of combat stilled for a brief moment, before it resumed with even more of a rush.
"Felix's still fighting," Evie said with relief. "I had worried"
"Come, Chain Maiden, we've allies to aid." The harnoq bounded off, toward the furious conflict at the other end of the encampment. Evie was right behind it, muttering.
"I'll 'chain maiden' you."
Still, she ran even faster than the chimera, skimming over the surface of the muck and unspooling her chain as she went. Harn and that Kylar guy were fighting the Arcid of Blades, while Vess and Wyvora were caught up against the poison one. As she ran, she saw more Tier I beasts emerge from the forest, all of them looking to hit Harn first before sweeping over the rest of them. She didn't know where A'zek was going, but it wasn't a choice for Evie. She veered off, toward the horde.
Felix! The explosion up above sent a thrill of joy through Vess' Spirit, and she was too tired to mask it.
"You hear that, creature? Your master fights for his life at this very moment." Wyvora circled the Poison Arcid before Vess, the both of them with spears at the ready. The Henaari spat at the gelatinous creature. "You will die here, at the base of this cliff, in the mud."
In response, the Poison Arcid simply lashed outward with barbed tendrils of its vile green. Vess leaped up and over the attack, kicking off the cliff and running along its face for several long strides.
Wall Run is level 62!
As she did, Vess summoned another set of silver Spears from her Skill. Air Mana streamed from her sore channels, congealing with a touch of metal Mana.
Spear of Tribulations is level 74!
She leaped from the vertical face of the cliff, arcing through the air, and sent three Spears speeding downward. They struck, just as Wyvora severed the vile green whip.
"Seven Tribulations!"
They exploded, blasting chunks of the Arcids body outward and splattering it against the muck. "Now, Wyvora!"
The Farhunter's hooked spear glowed with brilliant green-gold light, life and light Mana woven tightly together, until another spear tip laid atop the old. She thrust, stabbing deep into its revealed chest. The Archid screamed, a sound like a boiling tea kettle.
We can finish this!
Harn bashed the Arcid's blades from the air, trying and failing to sever the chains that secured them. His own enchanted axes weren't enough, and Raze was being deflected somehow.
"Damn thing is usin' my metal Mana against me," Harn groused. "Kid! You still alive?"
The Apprentice Tier swordsman gasped in response, his narrow blades a thin defense against the legions that had emerged from the woods. Ghostfire Simians, Prismatic Wretches, even some Hoarhounds, all coming in for the kill. They had emerged from the only approach, which narrowed their advance but the swordsman had been their only opponent for at least five minutes. Harn was impressed he was still alive at all.
"I can't hold them much longer!"
"Bindings of the White Waste!"
The advancing horde froze in place as chains of purple-white light speared up from the mud.
"Breaking Wheel!"
A rigid circle of spiked metal dropped from above, crashing into the front lines and smearing their bodies into the earth. Gore and mud fountained beneath it's weight, and Evie descended from the air above. She skidded to a stop before the stymied horde, grabbing her chain back. More monsters appeared from the woods, more than they could hold just the three of them.
"Don't just stand there, swordboy! Kill!"
Harn would have laughed, had the Arcid not used his distraction to attempt a backstab. Harn's armor deflected the blow, but it still hurt.
Descent of the Barbarian is level 76!