I felt the shifting winds and couldn't help but smile. The poison was still spreading from the fang's earlier cut but was had really shaken me was the fall from when the Lurker had pushed me off its back. I could feel that some of my ribs were broken. Every breath felt like a stab in the chest.
My vision was spun slightly, the world seemed overturned for a moment.
'Shit. I have a concussion' I thought as I looked forward.
The Lurker still seemed to be suffering from my attacks earlier which was a good thing. I could take a breather for a couple of more seconds.
'The Lurker wouldn't be able to move of a wh-'
The thought was cut off. The Lurker exploded forth with a speed that shouldn't have been possible with the injuries the Lurker had in the head.
So why...was it standing before me now? And why was it biting towards my head before I could do anything?
This was too much. The Lurker's sudden appearance felt as though I had been ambushed while I was being blindfolded. It just wasn't fair.
The pungent acidic smell filled my nostrils.
Life flashed before my eyes. This time the scent of death was so close that I could feel the reaper standing directly behind me.
Staring. Waiting in anticipation.
Was this how it would end? Just like that never to see my mother again?
Her face flashed in my mind. That sweet loving smile. Those radiant brown eyes that were a replica of my own. That beautiful middle aged face that had been in my life for 14 years already.
Now that I think of it wasn't my birthday next month? The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. Would I die before even reaching 16 years old? If only the apocalypse hadn't happened what would have life been like?
I closed my eyes. Hopefully Jordan would take care of her after this.
Still I would have loved to give her a future were she didn't have to work for the rest of her life.
'Maybe it was never meant to be' I resigned myself to my fate
However the blade of the reaper's scythe never came. I felt was a subtle shift of mana and then a drop of something warm and wet splashed on my cheek. I opened my eyes and to my surprise coming from the Lurker's mouth was a fountain of green fluid.
At first I thought it was poison but a split second later I dropped the thought from my head.
'Its blood!?' I furrowed my brows in shock. 'What how...?'
Then it hit me. That subtle shift of mana. I had assumed it hadnot come from the Lurker but after careful consideration, it had actually come from the ground, beneath the Lurker.
My eyes drifted down before my gaze landed on the pillar of earth that had run through the Lurker's body. The moment I saw the earth construct though a slight smile formed at the corner of my lips.
Jordan had a treasure that he rarely if he ever used. It was a ring hidden on a finger beneath his gauntlets
The [Earthen ring]. It was a common grade treasure. Usually it wouldn't be worth much especially in a battle of this scale but it seemed that even what someone can discard as less valuable always has its use.
The [Earthen ring] was a treasure that had a simple function. Produce pillars of earth from the ground with sharp pointed ends. At a cost of 10 mana and had a 30 second cooldown.
Simple treasure. And yet it had put even the Lurker in a precarious situation. And with that came...
'An opening!' my mind flashed and I immediately took action.
I opened my left palm. Mana and heat began to gather. I jumped back and shot my palm forward.
"[Sun god's palm]!" I chanted.
A lance of flames shot forth. Superheating the air and unleashing all hell...well it was probably hell to the Lurker anyway.
Flames landed on upon the Lurker's eyes. It screeched as the flames seared its eyes. It was blinded completely and it was in pain.
"ARGH!" Jordan appeared on its side his fist smashing directly against the side of the Lurker's head with so much force that the pillar of earth that ran through its body directly broke off.
The Lurker swayed to the side. Blood still spilling from its abdomen.
I raised my sword and prepared to strike, the shadows below my feet seemed to come alive as the rose and wrapped themselves around my blade..
[Shadow slash]
I released a downward slash, a crescent shaped arc of darkness cutting shot forward landing directly in the center of its head.
The strike landed directly but it couldn't penetrate the Lurker's defenses. All it could do was leave a faint mark. Its chitinous shell was too tough.
Jordan appeared to my side.
"Its armor is too thick I don't think I can cut through it the normal way" I said
"You got a plan?" Jordan asked.
I nodded. "I need to get close enough to cut through its joints, those are the only weak points in its armor that and probably the abdomen"
"Got it then I'll distract it long enough for you to strike you just focus on your task" Jordan smashed his fists together.
I took a breath. That was probably the only feasible plan right now however distracting the Lurker meant that Jordan would have to face the beast head-on while I snuck in a few critical strikes. It was difficult as it was dangerous and yet Jordan didn't even hesitate to take it upon himself.
At this point there was no holding back.
As though reading my mind Jordan's aura shifted. The purple aura that surrounded his body before shifted to a fiery red. The air around him seemed to become wilder and more imposing, giving him a fiendish presence.
Jordan's stats rose. His strength pushed past 400; Stamina and Magic pushed through 300; and Agility and Mana pushed past 200.
The lurker took a step back its massive body swaying slightly. Its hair-like follicles vibrated, its remaining seven legs dug into the ground as though massive rakes. It was as though it too was feeling the change in the air.
This would no doubt be the final battle. It was all or nothing
I could feel it, Jordan was stronger than i currently was and i was relying on the boost from
...
[Name: Huey Coleman
Level: Level 19
Special trait: Anti-magic
Stats:
Strength: 174(+20)(30)>>>294
Stamina: 109(30)>>>180
Agility: 184(30)>>>288
Mana: 185(30)>>>289
Magic: 154(30)>>>415
Health: 188(30)>>>293
Shadow Art{UNIQUE}: 25(30)>>>65
]
...
In the distance a familiar greatsword stood pierced into the ground. I reached out using [Metal control] and pulled the blade towards me. As the sword had a mind of its own it rose from the ground and flew towards me.
I directed the sword towards Jordan and directed it to stop just before his eyes hilt pointing downwards and its wide blade pointing up.
Even now the blade was longer than Jordan's height as it was more than 2 meters long and 30 centimeters wide.
"Jordan use that" I said pointing towards the sword. There was no way I'd let Jordan fight the Lurker head on with nothing but his fists that would be suicidal.
Jordan looked at the weapon for a moment and then he reached out a grin forming on his face as his fingers wrapped around the hilt. Then with a casual movement he rested the weapon on his right shoulder.
For a moment we just stood still watching as the Lurker primed itself for what could only be a final assault.
"I got your back" Jordan suddenly said.
"And I got yours" I replied a faint smile forming at the corner of my lips. "Watch out for poison"
"I know"
That was it. No more talking. No more planning. Only action
Standing over 20 meters away The Lurker's eyes glinted with a murderous intent. It had also finished preparing itself. The hole that was at the center of its abdomen, stopped bleeding but the hole was still very much there.
For a spilt moment everything fell still.
Then in a burst of violence the Lurker charged. The ground beneath its feet cracking and dust flying behind it.
Jordan was the first to respond rushing forward with his newly acquired Agility, he too kicking up dust to his back- though it was less than that of the Lurker. I fell in step behind him, feet tapping on the ground rather rapidly until we were running side by side.
The 20 meter distance was closed in what felt like a blink of an eye, the Lurker now less than 6 meters and approaching fast.
Its fangs parted before a sickening ball of green poison shot forward heading towards us.
I reacted quickly and in a heartbeat overtook Jordan. To an outsider's perspective it seemed as though I directly threw myself in the line of fire however it wasn't like that at all. Placing both hands on my sword, I lowered the blade to my side, its tip pointing towards the ground at my right hip.
The ball of poison approached rapidly and yet there was no panic in my heart only calm. Thanks to [Charged Mind] my thoughts flowed rather smoothly akin to a stream going downhill.
Mana stirred within me, travelling throughout my body and flowing into my heart and as I invoked the skill [Break] the mana changed form. I couldn't feel it before but I definitely felt it now. A cold sensation travelled through my arms and into my sword causing a slight fog to radiate from my blade and then in a fluid motion my right foot rooted infront while my left foot shifted behind.
My hips pivoted and my sword soared into the air in a single swing. It cut directly through the center of the ball of poison as though it were a solid boulder and not the liquid that it was. It was split in half, two sides flying in opposite directions and creating a clear path in the middle.
As the cold sensation fading from my body, the Lurker was already bearing down its fangs on me. If i had been fighting alone then this certainly would have been the end. However...
Jordan wrapped around me as he placed both hands on the hilt of [Stonecrusher] and then from his shoulder he swung down with his might. The Lurker had been too focused on me to react in time and it certainly did not expect the kind of strength that Jordan came with.
To put into context the average stat for a grown male according to the system was 20 and currently Jordan held the strength of over 20 men. The large blade of the greatsword struck the Lurker right in the center of its head and the weight of the weapon plus the strength of Jordan's two-handed strike was enough to bring the Lurker down to the ground.
With an explosive thud, the ground quaked and dipped beneath the weight of both the Lurker and the strike. For the moment the creature seemed disoriented and it would remain so for a few more seconds.
In that time it took for Jordan's strike to land I was already circling around the creature, I calculated the outcome somewhat and even if the Lurker didn't sink beneath the weight of the strike, it would have been disoriented nonetheless buying me a couple of seconds and in battles like these a couple of seconds could be devastating.
I approached the beast's left leg- the one closest to the abdomen. The Lurker's legs were double jointed to allow free movement and right now as the Lurker was sprawled on the ground, it bent its legs- in an attempt to get back up on its feet, leaving the gaps in its joints exposed.
I wasted no time and in one downward strike, the blade slipped through that gap and sliced through flesh as though it were a hot knife through butter.
Hot green blood flew in all directions, half of the Lurker's leg fell to the ground and the Lurker released an agonizing sound that was grating to the ears.
The Lurker in pain and enraged turned its head in my direction somehow and released a ball of poison at me. Caught somewhat off guard I couldn't counter with my sword and use [Break] like before so I rolled to the right feeling the poison ball swiftly brush the air right next to me.
Before I could be too happy with myself another ball of poison was already coming towards me. Without any other choice I could only roll again. However it seemed that the Lurker was more enraged with me than I thought because poison ball after poison ball was hurled in my direction.
I didn't even have a chance to breath let alone stand.
I could only roll again and again and again. To the left, to the right and to the left again.
It wasn't until the Lurker sensed Jordan's incoming strike to the abdomen that it finally stopped and back off, trying to put some distance between me and Jordan and it.
Jordan's eyes locked with mine for a split second.
'We can't give it a chance to breath!'
As though reading each other's minds were charged. I could still feel my lungs burn slightly but that I pushed down that uncomfortable feeling. I attacked from the left while Jordan struck at the beast's right.
Having lost not just a front leg but also a hind leg the Lurker's balance was completely compromised. It couldn't stand properly on its remaining legs and it certainly couldn't use them to attack like it had done previously so as I swung my blade in a horizontal slash and Jordan brought down his weapon in an downward overhead strike, it jumped into the air.
My attack hit nothing but air while Jordan's sword struck the ground breaking it beneath him.
"Tch"
I shifted my feet and released a [Shadow slash] upwards.
The Lurker might have evaded our strikes but it was currently in the air with its underside completely exposed and...it couldn't dodged mid-air.
The dark crescent shaped shadow attack travelled through the air like curved arrow and struck the Lurker right underneath. Flesh was severed and blood was spilt but it wasn't enough to end the cursed beast. Wounded, the Lurker landed heavily on the ground. Its legs were weak and wobbly.
Seeing the beast like this a well of confidence bloomed within my heart.
'We can win this!'
I shot forward and just as I was about to close in on the injured creature it released an indignant screech while a dense green fog exploded outwards. The force behind the fog's released was strong enough to push me back a few paces slowing down my approach.
Jordan on the other hand powered through.
"Jordan wait!"
It was too late. He broke through the poisonous fog. He could feel the poison begin to eat away at his skin but he didn't slow his charge on bit. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth as the poison actively assaulted his internal organs. Jordan arrived right in front of the Lurker's head and struck with all his might.
[Stonecrusher] descended but the Lurker was already turning around. Jordan's strike missed its head but it severed two more of its legs.
The Lurker didn't seem to care about this at all. It was already running in the opposite direction heading straight for the Woodlands Forest.