บท 784: Monarch's Full Power
It's been 12 days since they started this mission, and tension was rising. After hearing Hera's full explanation about the prison, Neria, Roan, and Skyler immediately agreed to help. They were disgusted by what the humans were doing and couldn't let this stand. Vash was a bit more conflicted. Not because he agreed with the humans but because he wasn't sure if his presence would help. Flint was still unsure if he would help. His reason was almost the same as Vash's but a bit more nuanced. He understood what the expectation placed on him, a crafter, for a mission like that would be. Before saying yes or no, he asked Hera to tell him more about what Eirik did during that first prison break, and he was currently using his free time to test his skills, making tools that could help a situation like that. Since Typhera did say she could wait for their reply, the group decided the deadline for their answer was the last day of this mission.
It was currently 3 A.M., and Hera was sleeping, just like most other members of the team. Her titled blades, however, were in a different place. They were outside the dungeon entrance, sitting on the ground to rest for a little while. They might be constructs, and their entire bodies were made out of mana, but they still could feel tired. Or, at least, some of them did.
"Are you all ready?" Livy was jumping from one foot to the other, her tail being used to give her a bit more height.
"We just sat down. Give us a minute," Nimbus grumbled. He could be the first titled blade, but the Leviathan's stats were much better than his. When she became part of the court, there were even a few attributes that had to be lowered, or Livy would have more total attribute points than Hera herself.
"Oh. My bad. I thought most of us were focused on endurance," Livy scratched the back of her head and sat down to rest with the others.
'We are, but yours is much higher than ours.' Lurize replied in their minds, his habit of not saying things out loud to avoid using the Z sound instead of the S still active even when he was among the titled blades.
"Right… my bad. I'm still not that used to things like this. Usually, Hera only calls me when things are about to go down or to hang out," Livy sighed.
"Don't worry about it. Lurize and I kept butting heads when we started working together," Nimbus patted the Leviathan's shoulder, even if he had to reach up to do it.
"Really?" Viper asked.
'Yeah. Nimbus was a bit of a prick,' Lurize replied.
"And were are an egocentric dick!" Nimbus scoffed.
'It's not my fault you couldn't see the truth.'
"Pah! Truth? You were just trying to give yourself more importance than you actually had."
"What did Lurize do?" Crimson asked, looking at the two blades like her older brothers were fighting.
"Lurize kept saying that he had been with Hera for longer than I had. So he should be the 'Senior Titled Blade,'" Nimbus crossed his arms.
'That is a fact. I was Hera's first blade,' Lurize nodded.
"The hell you were! Brute was her first. You were just the freebie that came with the legacy."
'She chose me during the trial!'
"And you can't even remember what happened during the trial! And even after that, you could barely talk properly for ages. You had the personality of a dry white wall."
'Oh, and what? Are you going to say that you remember what happened while you were just a cloud griffon? And do you want to talk about personality? Before joining the court, you were literally a cloud! You had the same substance of water vapor,' only Lurize and Nimbus were talking, but they weren't standing up. Instead, I had this small argument while sitting down and completely relaxed.
"Face it, you are not the senior here," Nimbus huffed.
'Neither are you; if anything, Daskka is the one who was with Hera for the longest since she is the legacy.'
"Yes, she is," Nimbus replied.
There was a pause, and both of them turned to each other, speaking at the same time, "Don't you dare tell her I said that…. I won't if you won't… Deal!"
They laughed and continued talking, sharing some of the stories from before Livy, Crimson, and Viper joined the titled blades. After a while, the group was rested enough to continue trying to get the drop from the Monarch of the Glen.
Walking inside the dungeon, they saw the painting-like forest that was so familiar to them. They were so comfortable with this place that they didn't stop; just continued walking toward the territory of the dungeon boss. Nimbus flew above the trees to both locate the monster and make sure the Mandala Fox wasn't roaming around. Usually, the general would be sitting on a rock or an open field. If that wasn't the case, the titled blades should be on the lookout for the creature to come after them. This happened a few times before, and none of them was particularly dangerous. However, they still had to worry about it, and there were a couple of combo moves between the Monarch and the fox that could cause problems.
Luckily, it didn't seem like this was the case on this run. The fox was sleeping on top of the large rock in the forest, basking in the sunlight. A couple of minutes later, they arrived at their destination. The territory of the Monarch of the Glen. Everyone turned into their weapons forms, with Nimbus guiding them from above as they approached the boss. Even while doing a [Royal Quest], they still had full control over their transformations, which was very helpful, especially in situations like this.
The large green stag was walking through a path, one of the many it would take as the dungeon started. Each step made ripples in the ground, but unlike the ones created by Hera or her court members, where the colors of the grass would become dull and gray as the ripple moved, the dungeon boss made its surroundings more vibrant. Each color seemed to be energized with each step it took, and that energy would spread around to the rest of the forest. The blades waited until the monster approached their hiding spot. Only then did Lurize ask.
'Everyone ready?' getting a confirmation from the other blades, he turned to the red dagger, 'You said you wanted to practice with your guardian form. Is that still the case?'
'Yeah… if that is ok. Our form seems to be the most suited for combat, and we wanted to get used to fighting while in it,' Crimson replied.
'I had a few more chances to use it, but Crim still feels embarrassed about her look. The idea is some exposure therapy with people she trusts," Viper added.
'You didn't have to say it,' Crimson grumbled.
'I'm just making sure everyone understands what we are doing,' Viper gently touched his sister's blade form with his pommel.
'Fine, just… don't do that again. It felt weird for some reason,' Crimson quickly cut him off and moved to a better position.
'Whenever you are ready. Try activating your Hidden Strike skill,' Lurize added as the two half-Nagas moved a bit closer but still waited. The stag would stop every now and then to eat or just admire its surroundings. In one of those moments, Viper and Crimson dashed forward, activating their [Hidden Frontal Screen] for just a few moments to guarantee a sneak attack.
They aimed at the back of the stag's leg, making large cuts on it. Unfortunately, they knew that this wouldn't stop the creature. The Monarch tried to kick them and missed by a hair. At the same time, Crimson and Viper joined, taking in the guardian form of Crimotra, where their upper body would be a mix of Crimson and the mantis part of Scryotra, and the lower belonged to Viper. With the two daggers now being part of her arms, Crimotra slashed at the monster again, pulling the blood from its first wound to create some extra [Bloody Claws]. The new attack cut the boss' side, letting some of the ink that was its blood drip to the floor. A heavy scent of paint started to cover the area.
After being hit, the Monarch jumped back, leaving behind a translucent copy of itself. A copy that now mirrored its every move. Crimotra tried to jump to the side and avoid the duplicate, but the boss was already preparing a new attack. Its horns glowed, and it just waved its head, sending out a large brush stroke-shaped wave at the Spymasters. Nimbus jumped into action, using his [Mana Shield] to slow the attack down while grabbing the twin's guardian form and jumping into the sky. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough. A large mandala appeared in front of them, blocking their escape. Livy appeared under the Sentinel and triggered her [Draconic Eruption], sending in a wave of herself to face off against the one created by the Monarch. It was water against paint, and it was hard to tell which one should win.
A few small green projectiles flew from the side of the forest. Lurize, still in his zweihander form, sent out a few Venom Needles. A version of the spell Hera used. The effect was essentially the same, with the only difference being the type of mana to create the magic. The first of the needles hit its target, but the next ones were all stopped by the mandalas, which were working as barriers to stop not just attacks but also their movements.
As soon as the waves fell back to the ground, having reached a stalemate, Livy jumped towards the boss, spinning her war axe and bringing it down with the [Leviathan's Torrent] coming out of one of the carved dragon mouths in her weapon. The high pressure managed to push through the mandala barrier and hit one of the legs of the Monarch. Livy groaned; the intention of the attack was to end this fight, but the stag moved enough in the last second to turn a sure kill hit into little more than a glancing blow.
The boss used the ink wave again, this time the spell coming from both him and the copy. At the same time, he slammed his hooves on Livy's chest a few times, pushing the Leviathan back. She tried grabbing its legs and holding on. Which worked for a moment, and that was all the rest of the court needed. Nimbus continued to hold back the duplicate, but Crimotra sidestepped and dashed towards the Monarch like a madwoman. With a jump, she made an X with her arms and cut down, aiming at the creature's neck. A golden blade suddenly pierced the side of the boss, as Lurize appeared in his [Rhinoceros Form], also known as Golden Beetle Form. His two-handed sword was empowered by a [Venom Attack], a skill that made his strikes filled with Venom mana.
The ink wave finally triggered, pushing everyone away from the Monarch. Having a moment to be free, the boss suddenly glowed with a golden light and jumped. It jumped much higher than the trees, becoming almost invisible in the middle of the large blue sky. Everyone continued looking up, trying to see where the two monsters would land, but the only one who was able to do that was Nimbus. He realized that the boss was going to fall a few meters behind them, but the copy was aiming at Crimotra directly.
The monster was dropping too fast, and there was no time to explain. Instead, the Sentinel tackled Crimotra, making her fall to the ground. There was a brief pause before the Spymaster in control of the body let out a desperate scream and pushed Nimbus away with all of her might. The Sentinel was too close, too close to her face. Embarrassed about letting him see her this close, Cimrotra pushed the Nimbus away. The sudden push caught him off guard, making him tumble back directly below where the duplicate would fall.
Nimbus tried to move away and jump, but he felt a mandala pressing him against the ground. It was a different one, and one that this boss never was able to learn. He only had enough time to glance to the side and see a fox staring down at him while a green stag surrounded by a purple and gold light came crashing down on the Sentinel's head. Killing Nimbus on the spot.
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