Bab 230: Horrors of the dungeon (5), intermission
And boy has this deception done a number on us. Cliveʼs rapier clashes against the barrier and the flame cone disperses upon impact. The barrier holds and essentially blocks Cliveʼs path forward leaving him trapped in the pangolin kins' range of attack.
Both monsters are already halfway through their swings and with Clive not moving, the metal orbs at the tips of the pangolin kin' weapons reach him in an instant. With a sickening crunch, Clive is hit by both swings and slammed against the barrier.
The pangolin kins pull back their weapons for another attack but the moment Clive feels the orbs move away from his back, he pushes off the ground with all his strength and sails backward through the air like a small missile.
He lands a few steps ahead of where I stand and staggers upon touching the ground. One of his shoulders looks completely crushed by one of the swings while the other left a visible dent in his lower back.
Unfortunately, or perhaps by design, the shoulder that has been heavily damaged belongs to the side of Clive's dominant hand. The hand he usually wields his rapier in.
He is now holding his rapier in his non-dominant hand. This, in addition to his other injuries, reduces his combat ability by quite a bit. Especially when taking into consideration that Larissa, our healer, is currently out of commission.
"Savi, Ponto, we could really use some help over here."
I call out to our two blade dancers but there is no response. This is weird beyond measure. Even if they were busy with something else they should still respond in some way or another.
I turn around to see what's going on back there and see a horrifying sight. One of the coffins by the wall has opened up and released a bunch of black ribbons.
Savi and Ponto are held up in the air with ribbons attempting to force their limbs closer to their bodies by wrapping around them and continuously tightening. A good number of those ribbons are also trying to shove themselves into their mouths to drown any kind of sound they could make. And one ribbon is wrapped around their necks trying to asphyxiate them.
They must have been caught by surprise and have been immobilized before they could react. With the ribbons tightening around their necks they are in grave danger now.
"Terry, get those two out of there. I'll help Clive stall those monsters."
"Brigitte! You can't leave me here! What if something attacks me?"
"You had to snatch those bracelets and put them on without any measures of safety in place. If Clive gets overwhelmed or we lose Savi and Ponto you'll die all the same."
Brigitte leaves Larissaʼs side and goes to help Clive. With that, I can concentrate on saving Savi and Ponto.
I throw a dozen shuriken at the ribbons binding Savi while running toward Ponto. A few ribbons are cut by the shuriken and the coffin suddenly shudders violently. The few ribbons that still hold onto Savi begin to loosen against her struggles, then, they abruptly detach and rush over to Ponto.
Before I can reach him, the sheer number of ribbons fully bundles him up and pulls him into the coffin that slams shut with a bang. That is bad!
I can't attack the coffin with everything I have because I might hurt Ponto in the process but opening that coffin is definitely not going to be easy.
I look over to Savi for help but see that she isn't doing well herself. The ribbons may have detached themselves from her but they left quite a bit of themselves wrapped around her. Savi has already freed her hands and is now desperately trying to undo the ribbons wrapped tightly around her weapons to cut the ribbon around her neck.
I rush over and help her cut all the ribbons finally allowing her to take a deep breath. One saved but the other...
Suddenly a silhouette charges over from the side of the hallway we are facing and kicks the coffin. The kick was expertly placed and the lid of the coffin is blown off revealing a completely bundled-up Ponto inside.
The silhouette snaps his fingers and an insanely bright source of light appears in its hand. I'm blinded by the light as I quickly take off the night vision goggles. Without them, I see that Pontoʼs savior is a middle-aged man holding a glowing blade he uses to cut those ribbons.
I can only think of one person who fits this description. Dawn blade!
His name isn't known so he is referred to by his class. He's an adventurer above level 300 and an idol to many.
After he has cut the ribbons holding Ponto captive, Dawn blade throws his glowing weapon at the fox kin. The barrier mage already has a strong barrier protecting itself but the blade pierces through it like a hot knife through butter and directly kills the fox kin.
Next, the man rushes past me with a blade of light appearing in each of his hands. He leaps over Clive and Brigitte and slashes both pangolin kins cleanly in half. That's a legend for you.
The blades disappear and darkness returns. I remount my goggles and help Ponto walk over to where Larissa is still kneeling on the ground. That coffin really did a number on him. All over his skin, there are marks of where the ribbons had squeezed against his skin. Guess that's the downside of wearing little to no protective clothing.
"Are you the Dawn blade?"
"That's what they call me."
"Thank you for saving us!"
As I arrive with Ponto and Savi in tow Clive is already chatting with Dawn blade. I'm thankful too but first, we need to free Larissa. Dawn blade seems to harbor similar thoughts as he approaches the kneeling woman.
"Your mage or healer I suppose?"
"Healer. Can you help us free her?"
"I'm afraid you need a specialist to take these off. However, I know a few tricks that might help."
Dawn blade kneels in front of Larissa and slowly rotates the bracelets inward. As they are being rotated, the bracelets slowly move toward one another and then snap together with a clang.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone