And (N)one Shall Remain

“Oof!”

 

A swing from the great beast’s clawed wing-arm struck Ethan directly, though he managed to shift himself so that the blow landed on the shield he kept strapped against his arm instead. Even so, the force of the blow was vicious enough to have sent him – well over two fifty pounds of man and equipment – flying straight at one of the smaller stalagmites hard enough to break it in half.

 

“Shit! Ethan!” Alissa blurted out before she desperately angled her shield to catch the beast’s other arm at an angle, deflecting the blow along her shield’s slight curve and causing it to only strike the rock floor next to her feet. Even then, the blow still caused chips of stone to bounce off her boots and caused a small crater where it landed.

 

Bronwen was too busy getting out of the strike’s way – it came from her right side, opposite her shield arm – to strike back at the beast, but the Fifth Princess stepped in and swung her greatsword at the extended arm. The single-edged, slightly curved blade of the weapon struck the beast’s arm and carved a small wound before it expended its entire momentum.

 

Just as she landed her blow, another arrow and a bolt came from the back where Gregorius and Moira pitched in with their share to the fight. Both of the projectiles landed against the slender torso of the beast, but failed to do little more than pierce the skin before they fell off. Alissa’s own haphazard stab did little better, only scoring a slight line on the creature’s leg.

 

What the blows did was to enrage the beast as it swung its long wing-arms in wide arcs, attempting to cleave the intruders to its home apart. The Fifth Princess leapt back to safety, only barely avoiding the beast’s arm, while Bronwen had to take a step back just from catching the flapping remnants of the membrane-like wing of the beast on her shield.

 

The beast’s other arm sent Alissa tumbling in the same direction Ethan did, the blow hitting her chest before she could react and tossed her end over end. It was only instinct and ingrained reflexes that allowed her to roll as she fell on the floor and stop on a kneeling position. Beside her she could see Ethan stirring from where he had been thrown off.

 

“You all right, man?” Alissa asked as she struggled to get back to her feet. Her armor did what the old smith told her it would. It took the hefty blow for her, without even a noticeable dent, but the force behind the blow still made her feel as if some football-playing jock had just tackled her shoulder-to-chest and then landed on top of her the same way.

 

Her ribs ached as she breathed, and she couldn’t tell if any of them were broken or not, and there’s definitely some serious bruising beneath her armor with the aches she felt creeping in even then. Ethan looked like he was in relatively similar conditions, though he kept wincing when he tried to move his left arm. The blow must have gotten him good there.

 

“Sort of. I think. Maybe,” mumbled Ethan as he rose to a sitting position. He seemed slightly muddled until he shook his head to clear his mind. Ethan took a moment longer to gather himself and assess the situation they were in, before he looked back to Alissa and said his piece. “Looks like we might be needing those skills for this one, huh?”

 

“Wished we could save it for the boss, but if we’re already struggling with this one so much, I’m not heading for that boss without some more leveling first,” said Alissa with a nod of agreement. The battle had gone messier for their party, the beast charging through Bronwen and the Fifth Princess before it headed for the three in the back. “[Divine Blessing]!”

 

Class Skill [Divine Blessing] has leveled up to level 2!

Cooldown reduced to 12 hours!
Duration increased to 6 minutes!

 

“[Raging Bellow]! [Taunting Cry]!” said Ethan as he followed up on Alissa’s skill. Both of them were still close enough to the rest of their party that the effects of the skill would include them as well, and they immediately felt the effects. The dull pain that throbbed in Alissa’s chest vanished in a heartbeat, and she felt as if her whole body thrummed with power.

 

A good bit more power than when she or Ethan used their skills on its own, rather than together. Alissa’s [Divine Blessing] gave a more comprehensive buff to all their stats at the same time, while Ethan’s [Raging Bellow] was more focused on the Body stat with greater effects. The effects from the separate buffs stacked together, and worked on the rest as well.

 

Together they rushed back at the [Winged Scavenger Patriarch] as fast as their legs could take them. The buff to their physical stats meant that they were faster and stronger, while being in perfect control of their bodies regardless, rather than fumbling around like a drunk cow. They arrived back at the battle just on time, too.

 

Ethan tackled the great beast from its side while he drove the long spike at the tip of his weapon into its side and sent it stumbling to the side. On the other hand, Alissa used her shield to forcefully deflect a swing that would have eviscerated Moira otherwise. The creature’s claw missed thanks to her intervention and only scratched the forehead of the young guardswoman rather than split her skull.

 

“Hit it, now!” yelled Alissa as she flipped around the way she gripped her spear and viciously stabbed down at the Winged Scavenger’s claw-tipped wing-arm. The stab went through the creature’s slender arm, out the other side, and pinned the limb into the bedrock below, even as Alissa stomped down on the creature’s claws with one heavy boot.

 

While they were slightly surprised by the sudden turn of the situation, most of the party reacted quickly. The Fifth Princess slashed at the creature’s other side and left a bloody wound with her greatsword. Bronwen lanced her spear into the same wound and deepened it shortly afterwards, eliciting another screech of pain from the beast.

 

Both Moira and Gregorius had dropped their bow and crossbow, as they pulled their melee weapons from their backs. Gregorius pierced the creature’s palm – just above where Alissa’s spear pinned it to the ground – with his whole body weight behind the blow and secured the creature’s struggling limb to the bedrock, while Moira unlimbered the glaive on her back and slashed at the beast’s snout.

 

Even Joshua reacted after a brief pause of surprise and turned around – he looked like he was about to bolt and make his escape for a while there – as he speedily worked his magic while the creature was pinned in place. Three bolts of lightning connected his fingers to the creature a moment later, and they persisted for a good second or two even as the [Winged Scavenger Patriarch] convulsed and screeched loudly.

 

None of that was enough to take down the beast.

 

Instead the beast raged from the pain, it wrenched its pinned arm out, snapping Gregorius’ spear in the process while Alissa’s remained stuck on the limb. The beast wildly struck around itself with its long wing-arms, and sent Ethan flying away once more, though he got back to his feet and charged back into the fray a mere moment later.

 

Its other wing-arm struck the Fifth Princess across her abdomen and sent her tumbling head over feet until she stopped a distance away. Like Ethan, she stood back up, though she stopped briefly as she coughed into her hand. The skills that buffed her stats allowed her to feel no pain, but even so she still felt the difficulty in breathing as she coughed out some blood from her injured lungs.

 

Another swing from the beast’s arm struck Gregorius who took it with his shield, sending him flying into Joshua and causing them both to fall into a tangled pile. Its other wing-arm struck Alissa though she managed to brace herself this time and received it with her shield. Even so the blow still lifted her off her feet and threw her against a nearby stalagmite.

 

While Alissa did not feel any pain thanks to Ethan’s [Raging Bellow] the blow still drove the breath from her lungs.

 

The creature was about to lunge her way next, but fortunately Moira distracted it with a swipe from her glaive. That earned her a nasty welt on her cheek as she avoided the creature’s wing-arm only to be struck on the face by the shaft of Alissa’s spear that was still embedded in the limb. Her actions bought time for Ethan to return to the fray, however.

 

He had unlimbered the shield strapped to his left arm and held it in his hand by then, and struck against the side of the beast’s knee with the rim. The blow was powerful, but did not seem to be enough to give the beast more than a stumble in its step. It was only when Ethan sunk his short sword to the hilt in the beast’s guts that he drew its attention for real.

 

Apparently his [Taunting Cry] was still too weak to affect the creature, but at least it also boosted his endurance, so using it had not been in vain.

 

When the beast swept Ethan off his feet for the third time, he managed to get his hand onto the shaft of his pollaxe and grabbed it so that the weapon was pulled out from the beast’s flesh along with him. The long spike at its top was slightly bent, but the rest of the weapon was still in good shape. The stab wound it left behind also started to bleed foul-smelling blood.

 

Thanks to the distraction, Alissa had the time to regain her footing and unsheathe her falchion as she rushed in close to the beast, where its long wing-arms would not be able to reach her properly. She used the distraction caused by the Fifth Princess and Bronwen’s return to the fray from its other side to dive in close and lash out at the dangling bits between the beast’s short legs with her blade.

 

Needless to say, the [WInged Scavenger Patriarch] screeched louder than ever before as it went mad with pain.

 

The shrill screech pounded on Alissa’s ears and temples, and made her sight blur even if she did not feel the pain this time around. She kept close to the beast’s torso, suffering its horrific stench in order to avoid its clawing wing arms, and stabbed at its abdomen several times more. Her stabs left shallow wounds that nevertheless bled some, and caused more pain for the beast.

 

While it was distracted with Alissa pressing in close and stabbing it repeatedly, Ethan came from behind as he swung the hammerhead end of his pollaxe with both hands, almost like he was swinging a baseball bat. The blow landed directly between the beast’s legs, at the bloody mess Alissa’s cut had made, and the metal hammerhead pulverized what was left there.

 

For the first time since the fight started, the beast paused in its steps, its senses overwhelmed by the horrific pain that assaulted its most precious parts.

 

Joshua launched a fireball that enveloped the beast’s head for a moment in that opening, while Ethan, the Fifth Princess, and Bronwen assailed its back with their respective weapons. Gregorius and Moira struck it from the sides as well, landing good hits that drew blood this time. They all also made sure to avoid hitting Alissa who was at point blank range with the creature.

 

As for her own part, Alissa noticed how her stabs had failed to do much to the beast, then caught sight of the hilt of Ethan’s short sword, which was still embedded to the hilt in the creature’s side. That gave her an idea as she grabbed the sword’s hilt with both of her hands, having dropped her own weapon in the process, and dragged the blade to the side with her whole body weight.

 

At first there was strong resistance from the creature’s flesh, but then the sharp blade bit into it, and Alissa’s effort bore fruit as she dragged the embedded blade from the side all the way to the middle of the creature’s front before the steel failed on her. When the blade snapped, she fell on her back in front of the creature, but fortunately it was far too occupied and in pain to strike down at her in that moment of weakness.

 

Instead, the creature fell to its knees as it futilely tried to cradle the intestines and pieces of other organs that spilled out from the large wound Alissa had made. It whimpered weakly, shuddered, then its large body toppled over to one side as it breathed it last.

 

Next to it, Alissa saw the notification that arrived at last.

 

You have defeated [Winged Scavenger Patriarch Lvl35]!

You have gained bonus experience for defeating an enemy of a higher tier than yourself!

You gain less experience for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

You have leveled to level 13! +1 Free Major stat point gained! +1 Willpower Gained, +1 Intuition Gained, +1 Sanity Gained!

You have leveled to level 14! +1 Free Major stat point gained! +1 Strength Gained, +1 Dexterity Gained, +1 Constitution Gained!

You have leveled to level 15! +1 Free Major stat point gained! +1 Intelligence Gained, +1 Perception Gained, +1 Wisdom Gained!