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(Vol 7) Chapter 5: The Gauntlet Gamble
🕑 Added 2024-11-06 15:42:15 +0000 UTCNearly too quick to see, a blade flashed and knocked the dagger zipping for Azure’s back right out of the air to clatter on the floor. If not for the way the blade slid smoothly and more slowly back into its sheath at Azure’s belt, Sammy might not have ever caught what did it — who.
Almost as if her eyes on it were a trigger, Samantha suddenly felt the presence ‘brush’ some distance away — not quite across her. Distant. The rustle of a being in hidden spaces upon phantom brush. Just enough to be an echo, enough to make the barely-there, faded, and quickly fading-out impression and sound… of mocking laughter.
“Hahahahaha…” A sound to send a shiver through her. Intended to do so, probably.
Deathsting. Finally waking up, I see. Found her worthy? You’ll have her back when I fail to have it, will you? Good.
Interestingly, Azure did not seem aware of what happened, from her sheer lack of reaction.
Meanwhile, Mr. Scimitar finally delivered a vicious snarl of offense — or tried to. “Hrrrrrrnnn-” His otherwise sacrificial act of throwing the dagger had him especially well-grappled and squeezed, cutting off his utterance.
Wandy was slammed into the wall by the Fire Funnel spell, and found himself pinned there by an unabating force. He was spun like a top as he howled. Whether he could collect himself eventually, it wasn’t happening very imminently.
Noteworthy that the walls are solid to them here. I suppose that has been true for my allies too.
Briefly flicking her eyes across the entirety of the battle, she felt a hesitant satisfaction. She’d been well-trained at managing stubborn enemies so recently. It was nice to have more people around to help (and boss around).
Azure, grinning, was holding up the key as she ran back, still watery of eyes and squinting. “I’ve got the key! So, er-... now what?”
Stargazer, glancing over at the tangled-up Linguist with calm assessment, began moving toward Azure. “To this endeavor in cloudy skies, relinquish the solution to one who knows it well; who beholds in clarity what shines through.”
“Huh?”
“He’s telling you to give the key to him, Azure!” Sammy called.
“Oh.”
Yeesh. It’s not that hard, is it?
“Don’t worry over me!” Linguist called, punctuated with a grunt as he tumbled around and struggled and jerked side-to-side in the air with the two chain halves wrapped around him. “These are mere annoyances.”
“Got it,” Sammy replied. Her primary concern was screening for Stargazer, who was soon going to become the Target Numero Uno El Grande. There were three potential attackers which presented a problem. She wished she could use Dazzling Spectrum for the AoE with ally avoidance, but she suspected the wraiths were immune.
One target to protect, so… let’s just do that. A gauntlet to run, perhaps? A gamble? The bet is on!
Confident in relying on her boosted caster levels with a Protection spell, she cast Bubble Shield on Stargazer, enshrouding him in a translucent sphere of energy. To be safe, she spent the extra 25 MP to use [Tweak Spell: Intensify], as it qualified for a ‘physical only’ effect that mental effects bypassed. With that done, she refreshed her distributed autonomous phantasms, crowding the wraiths with a small horde of apparent summoned angels. She made her real casting appear rushed, as if she’d just conducted another Doubled spell, to add to the illusion. The angels moved in such a way as to help block the line of sight to the door.
She also used the big hand holding Mr. Scimitar — and she used his name loosely — to primarily just pull him away from any chance to intercept. With the wraith’s recent defensive sacrifices, this went off without a hitch. He was dragged aside, screaming all the while, almost entirely pinned.
Sammy moved closer to Azure as she did all of this, priming for her own charge to the door when necessary.
Stargazer momentarily grabbed the key from Azure and flew at high speed in a charge for the door, his ghostly robes billowing behind him, as seen through the glowing protective sphere of Samanthian magic.
Samanthian magic. Hehehehe. Never gets old.
Michael tried briefly to free his sword or jerk it to pull his opponent, but he quickly realized it wasn’t happening. Instead, he charged shield-first at Hook Guy when there was an opening. This was dodged easily, however.
Despite how occupied Hook Guy was with two opponents, he had eyes only for Stargazer now. His three free hooks went flying on arcs around his other enemies, dead at the wraith making a flying sprint for the door. Waytaker intercepted one of these with her staff as she moved in quickly under her enemy’s guard, trying to force him to defend himself or pay.
Unsurprisingly, he did not react, eyes burning in their focus once more. The hooks descended on Stargazer, who opted not to slow down.
It’s up to my shield, now. Sammy crossed her fingers.
The hooks bounced right off like they’d hit a wall, causing sharp cracks of impact as they struck hardened force energy. It held firm, though each strike weakened it.
Hell yeah! Duh nuh-nuh-nuh, nuh-nuh, nuh-nuh- can’t touch this!
Before Hook Guy could viciously snarl in offense, a staff jabbed him in the gut and then smashed him in the face as Waytaker delivered the cost for him ignoring her interruption. He went careening backward, bits of his brittle facial structure spraying explosively from the perfectly-connected impact.
“Oof!” Orswyth called. “That’ll leave a mark, eh, old boy?” He was casting something, his staff still and his hand making a rigid sign near his head. His eyes began to glow white. This was a little bit different than his usual castings and Sammy pretty much knew why. He was drawing on his newer spell Domain, the one he’d sacrificed [Mirrors] for — [Thought].
Perhaps an attempt at something disabling? Worth a shot, though I know they have levels on him. I did debuff him, at least, as did Stargazer with that AoE.
Unfortunately, it was not a quick casting. Even slowed down, Orb Dummy moved and acted at a functional speed, being rather quick to begin with. He tried to maneuver through the various Problem Angels blocking his line of sight and harrying him but was denied.
With a frustrated howl, he grabbed the orb on his staff, pulled it entirely off, and hurled it, which caused it to rapidly intensify in brightness.
Oh, that’s… somewhat concerning.
Despite her numerous options, with cold calculation, Sammy opted to conserve resources and eat it. She was ready for mitigation with [Alter Fate] if necessary, especially in regards to Stargazer.
Not just intuition told her to be confident in her shield… seldom would AoEs be stronger in intensity than single-target attacks, and while she was in the spirit world or a similar sub-realm, [Deific Pneumamancy] made her World Class in levels. Godly in truth. Those ancient sentinels in their own realm might’ve been close to that… but not quite. [The Unseen Animus] had already informed Sammy she owned his ass at contests.
My true foe is behind that door… if a foe is what he has to be, anyway. We’ll try to avoid it, but ‘shit hitting the fan’ and all that.
The orb exploded in a huge radius of searing light that covered all of them. Azure was ready this time, eyes turned away and body braced as her skin hardened into crystal. The energy that hit her was further mitigated by Sammy’s close presence absorbing some of the energy.
Everyone was bathed in scorching energy, including Orb Dummy’s wraith friends. It scorched them significantly, leaving their forms smoking. Linguist and Waytaker were dealt similar, grimacing with near-feral snarls, evidently minorly wounded by it.
Orswyth just ignored the blast, having a wound negation free to blow, and his vision wasn’t vulnerable right then either by whatever means, as his eyes never wavered and he cast his spell like a right badass who didn’t have time for explosions.
Azure did not have a wound negation apparently, which annoyed Sammy immensely as it showed she was being reckless and overconfident about her durability. Nonetheless, she took the blast with little more than a hiss, bared teeth, and clenched fists. Similar to the wraiths, her skin smoked and her clothing was singed, particularly her forearms which were braced in front of her protectively, in what was ultimately a very heroic pose.
And finally, there was Stargazer and the Bubble Shield. It held, protecting him absolutely, weakening slightly, yet preserving his bum rush for the door without so much as slowing him.
Orb Dummy only had time enough to look horrified at how little his attack did before Orswyth’s spell materialized. The hierophant’s head and eyes shone brighter and brighter until suddenly flashing clear. That glow then surrounded Orb Dummy’s head and flared from his eyes. Instantly, his expression went slack and his body limp, as his staff dropped to the floor. He drifted slightly in the air.
“Won’t last long,” Orswyth declared, though there was some satisfaction in his voice. “Hopefully we won’t need much longer.”
Stargazer, unimpeded to the door, barely slowed as he brandished the big key and shoved it into the keyhole at the end of a charge. “Readiness under a new moon!” He turned the key and the doors began to crack inward with the groan of ancient matter. A great glowing white fog began to spill out.
A transitional zone. Here we go.
Sammy called out, “Everyone needed, go through! Michael, keep any foe that gets free back!”
Waytaker, face still in a rictus as her body continued smoking, declared, “Under these stars I may remain not seeking beyond, last to decide, last to be decided. Go as you desire to your own; we may divide this tender path we blazed as one.”
“You’ll go last to help screen and can stay behind if needed — got it!”
Azure was mystified. “Seriously, how do you do that?”
“No time!” Grabbing the mostly recovered Azure by the waist with an arm, Sammy sped forward. Meanwhile, Wandy of course managed to cast something that exploded and knocked him free of the wall and the corkscrewing pressure of the spell, though he remained spinning and disoriented momentarily.
Waytaker exchanged a communicative glance with Michael as she left the vicinity of Hook Guy to welcome Wandy back into the mix properly. Michael nodded as he moved with determination in his winged ‘stance’ to face his stodgy foe one-on-one.
Azure frowned at Sammy as she was pulled along. She fidgeted. “I’m with the screening crew, Chestnut. Someone has to help Linguist. Besides, I can bypass anything to get to you.”
“Most things. Not anything, as we’ve discovered.”
“I’ll get in there, then. I sense that I can for whatever mysterious reason. The corresponding attunement there is facilitating. No way I’ll miss the shenanigans promised within, trust me. Hmm?”
Sammy met Azure’s eyes nearly nose-to-nose and deliberately suppressed her doubts. “Okay. You looked really hot taking that magical blast, by the way.”
“Not as hot as you looked grinning like a devil as you made a whole battle dance on your puppet strings.”
They shared small smiles briefly. Azure contorted in form as she channeled herself through Sammy to shortcut to a mirror near Linguist. The goddess picked up speed making for the door.
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