Chloe flashes her light for a moment, revealing a mass of slimy tendrils taking the shape of some sort of eldritch hydra. One long, serpentine body that constantly writhes about, new, pulsing masses of flesh appearing and then being absorbed just as quickly. It alternates between one and three long whips for tails, usually settling on two at a time. And it has three appendages that can pass for heads by this description, although not for a moment do I assume those things are actually heads, or that any of the points that look like vital points actually are.
“Ugh…” Chloe sends through our bond. And yeah, it’s so slimy and… yeah, I’m as uncomfortable with the idea of fighting this thing, I’m sure Chloe is feeling even more skittish about it.
There is one other thing that stands out about this creature lurching toward us, menacingly, almost as though it’s inviting us to make the first move. It’s covered in a matte black cloak, darker than the night sky, and with none of the stars, nebulae, or galactic glow that usually typifies it. And the cloak is an artifact of some sort as well; I’d love to analyze it, but now’s not the time.
I take the point position; unlike before, Chloe is absolutely not messing around, and Nicholas is making no attempts to stop the two of us from using our full slate of protective and enhancement Skills and spells. Chloe’s [Saintess’s Blessing] and [Saintess’s Cloister] cover us all, then Nicholas hits us both with [Strategist’s Gambit]. I activate the [Speed] enhancement on the Skill right away, not wanting to get hit by our friend’s attacks and absolutely not wanting to be grappled, pinned, or otherwise.
Then I follow up with an [Angel’s Grace] upon Chloe and a [Etheric Armor] upon both Nicholas and Chloe.
Meanwhile, the eldritch abomination roars, flaring its aura about and attempting to crush us all under a confluence of absolute terror and cosmic madness. My [Indomitable Will] activates, shielding me from all effects automatically. Nicholas is also able to withstand the attack, though not without gritted teeth. Chloe winces, briefly cowering from whatever grotesque vision she must’ve seen.
And the horror uses the opening to strike. Three serpentine appendages whip out with blinding speed, all aimed straight for Chloe. I intercept, stabbing at one of them with Filia’s pointed blade. But, to my shock and horror, my attack is completely ineffective. Undeterred, however, I fire off a [Fire]-aligned [Elemental Ether Blast], figuring that even if that fails to do any damage, the sheer kinetic energy being imparted should be enough to blast the appendage off course and away from Chloe.
In that regard, I am successful. The attack doesn’t do a lot of damage, but a few boils of melted flesh briefly appear on the abomination before being healed by the undulating slime surrounding it. Chloe is able to regain her mental focus just in time to dodge one of the other two flesh limbs, and Nicholas bats the last one away, though not without a fair bit of muscle strain.
“How uncouth,” Nicholas says. “It was as though I was trying to push through a vat of solid gold, one with a mind of its own and which resisted my every attempt to veer it off its chosen course. We should assume that our enemy has some sort of physical resistance.”
“It was barely singed by my [Ether Strike] as well,” I say. “I think the cloak has something to do with it. There’s definitely something about it that’s off; I just don’t know what.”
Nicholas and I split apart, each dodging an attack in opposite directions, while Chloe takes to the air. Nicholas is by far the least mobile of the three of us, and the only one of us who can’t fly. The abyss-spawn— I can think of no better name— seems to have realized as much, and is now targeting him with everything it has. Even with [Speed] enhancement on his own Skill stacking with Chloe’s [Saintess’s Blessing], he’s only barely keeping pace while fighting defensively.
I join in, helping to beat back some of the attacks. With the two of us working together in tandem, his analysis and my information gathering and sensory processing, we’re able to push out of the defensive struggle the major had been in a few seconds before. But we’re not able to push for an advantage. Every time I try to attack it, my attacks are rebuffed with next to nothing actually accomplished.
“Let me give it a try!” Chloe shouts from high above. “It almost did unspeakable things to me, and now I need to return the favor!”
Dazzling golden light surrounds her body, concentrating in her dual outstretched palms. Her breaths are heavy, her teeth clenched, veins popping out along her forehead from the strain she’s putting herself under. A part of me wants to ask her to stop, to conserve her energy, to wait while we try to come up with a strategy. But through our bond, and from the brief glimpse I catch of her focused, narrowed eyes, I know it will be a fruitless entreatment. She is pissed, and she intends to make her displeasure known in full.
Her [Scouring Light] rends the entire arena. The ground rumbles as a glowing energy beam of brilliant white cuts through the air above us, vaporizing every speck of dust and tiny mite unfortunate enough to get caught in the blast. Even the monster before us seems to be taking cover, hiding behind the cloak that twists and contorts unnaturally to shield our enemy from Chloe’s strike.
The attack failed to hit home, but it had a very noticeable effect. The cloak, previously black, is now bright white, shimmering against the abyssal beast’s undulating, fetid-black body. It screams, again attempting to disorient us. The creature’s attempt is less effective than last, however, as even Chloe shakes the mind-distorting properties aside with ease.
She is a bit winded, but I’m not too concerned. She’ll be able to rest a bit from up high— our enemy’s attacks have thus far not been too widely-encompassing. Strange, though. I’m surprised it hasn’t tried any less obvious methods of attack.
It strikes again, a simple jabbing thrust aimed right at me. I step out of the way, only to be flung to the ground. [Saintess’s Cloister] absorbs nearly three thousand damage from the impact, leaving me unharmed. But this still shocks me. I know with certainty that I dodged the attack. Why and how did I take damage?
“How pernicious,” Nicholas says, spitting. “Of course a beast like this has a few tricks up its sleeve. Ms. Mortensen. Don’t trust your eyes; it’s distorting our visual perception of its attacks somehow.
I relay the information to Chloe, who’s back in the fight after about ten seconds. She’s using weaker [Piercing Beams] to conserve her [Ether] at this point, but the attacks aren’t any more effective than they were before. In fact, they seem to be even worse; my magic wasn’t particularly damaging before, but it was at least doing something. But now it seems like her spells are sloughing off the creature’s skin like droplets of water off a well-waxed automobile.
“Ms. Mortensen!” Nicholas shouts. “Try a physical attack!”
“But–”
I still my tongue. Nicholas wouldn’t make a suggestion like that haphazardly, nor would he willingly endanger us. And his Skills might be giving him a hint on how to beat this boss.
“I agree,”
Filia whispers into my mind. “This creature is unlikely to be this highly resistant both to magic and to physical attacks. And if physical attacks aren’t working, try a different element. It will have some weakness, and we can use it.”I nod, moving in to strike. It’s a pain in the ass closing the distance. Not only do I have to keep an eye on where the creature appears to be in physical space, but because of its mastery of bending space as a weapon, I have to also take into consideration a range of possible distortions that it might be projecting. But I am making progress. Slowly, too slowly.
My [Ether] is starting to tick down from flying around so quickly, and my breath is catching from so much physical exertion, my [Vitality] only doing so much to assist me in the wide variety of acrobatic maneuvers and twisting turns I’m having to perform to match speed and constantly recalculate my movement patterns. This also means I have to be extra judicious about everything that looks like it might be an opening, probing it in real-time to make sure it’s not just a ruse that’ll close in on me when I’m at my most vulnerable.
Finally, though, I find an opening. Based on its movement patterns, I’m confident this will be a direct hit. Chloe and I are both nervous about this working. I charge in, flying forward at top speed, thrusting my lance… Only to find the cloak again moving in to intercept my attack.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Chloe shouts. Another [Scouring Light], this one even larger than the first, drops down onto all of us with the force of a cannon. I thought I was scary with my [Glyphcasting], but between [Strategist’s Gambit] and [Angel’s Grace] strengthened by [Angelic Bond], she’s got to be pushing past 500 [Mind]. And considering how violently the Ether around her is warping in the wake of her attack, I believe it.
Finally, our combination attack manages to deal a considerable chunk of damage. Not enough to finish off the horror, but enough to tear a huge hole in the center of its body and elicit vibrato inhuman screams of pain.
Even before I’ve finished assessing the situation, it’s hard at work, regenerating its wounds, masses of tentacles wiring about to stitch up the hole in its body. Though I’m angered that it can so easily heal itself when I cannot, I do notice that it’s drawing on other parts of its body to do so, shrinking in the process. It’s also a bit weaker in terms of the [Ether] contained within its form, and the previously distorted air about it has calmed a bit.
“Just like that,” Nicholas says. “Unfortunately, I sense that Ms. Jacobs is nearing her limits, so the two of us will need to finish off this beast. And preferably before it has finished healing itself. I have no offensive magic, so you will need to take that role this time around.”
I nod in agreement. Chloe’s done her best, but between all of the enhancement spells she’s cast and those two powerful [Scouring Lights], her body must be feeling the effects of [Ether] Strain.
This time, Nicholas takes the lead. With his enhancement set to [Speed], he’s able to more easily dodge the attacks than he was before, and I’m able to back him up with a couple of well-placed spear thrusts and parries as he tries to close the gap. I suffer a couple more pummeling blows that I’m able to tank with the effect of [Saintess’s Cloister], but the effect has almost been fully expired. The next attack will crush through it for sure.
Which is exactly what happens. Just as Nicholas steps into position, drawing his weapon— a steel-tipped, double-headed quarterstaff— I suffer a blow that darts in and around my [Wyvernscale Buckler]. It hits home, gashing my arm and drawing a thick, oozy trail of blood that streams down my right hand.
Thanks to a combination of my [Vitality] and the passive, hidden effect of [Indomitable Will] though, I’m able to blunt the majority of the pain and concentrate my [Ether] into Filia’s tip. Nicholas charges, hitting at the creature with a relentless stream of heavy attacks, each seamlessly hitting into the next and then the next like so much flowing water. It’s poetry in motion how effortlessly all the attacks line up and breach the alien creature’s defenses. Right up until the damn cloak appears like a veil, blocking the last pair of attacks.
And that’s my cue. I fire one final [Light]-aligned [Elemental Ether Strike] with all the strength I have. With the cloak no longer shielding it from the other side, I’m able to deal a severe amount of damage, absolutely eviscerating the creature’s core and most of its appendages.
A few scattered remnants of the creature are still alive— for some value of alive, at least. In either case, they’re moving, flittering about, trying to reconstitute themselves together. And a couple of them do. But there’s so little mass left and they’re all so weak individually that the three of us are able to stomp them out before they can form a threat.
It takes three minutes of scouring the room for every last remnant before we finally get that System notification letting us know that we’ve slain the creature.
[You have slain an [It that Lurches in the Eclipse (Level 65)]. You have gained a boosted 499,500 Experience.]
I’ve gained a level for sure, but first, I need to ask Chloe to heal this arm before I bleed out.