章節 48: Spells and spiders

Finn quickly got up and continued his escape. He heard an incantation faintly behind him so he started running in a zigzag motion.

"Sizzle!" An acid orb almost hit him as the second summoner joined the fight from one side. Now it was two on one. Finn ran frantically towards where Jess was hiding.

Seeing Jess make a signal with her hands before she disappeared again, Finn decided to run past where she waited.

"Sizzle!" Another orb of acid splashed near Finn. A searing pain shot through his arm as some landed on him. It had burned a few holes in his armor and was now dissolving his skin. Thankfully the spell was only a low tier one and ended after a couple seconds.

Finn's speed got earned him a breather as he waited on the roof after where Jess was. Loading both crossbows he aimed the larger one at the approaching summoner, as the necromancer was further behind.

Repeating his sniping process, he scored a hit with the heavy crossbow but waited with the smaller one until the enemies drew closer.

The summoner took a bolt to the leg and immediately halted his chase. Casting the basic mage armor spell, he proceeded to summon three basketball sized bats.

The bats flew up and dived towards Finn while screeching, their sharp fangs glistening. Jumping to the side, Finn dodged while firing his hand crossbow.

"Thwack!" One down, the bat tumbled onto the roof lifelessly before dissolving into mana.

The other two managed to get catch up to their retreating enemy and latch onto him. Digging their fangs into him they began to suck his blood.

Grabbing his daggers, Finn struggled a little before he stabbing them both until they returned to mana. Slightly out of breath and wounded, Finn looked up to see where his enemies were.

A wizard was a deadly enemy to fight at a distance, so their best bet was to force the fight to be a melee. Seeing that summoner arrive at the roof above where Jess hid, Finn knew it was time to take a risk.

The summoner was surprised to see Finn turn and charge towards him. Backpedaling as he prepared a spell, he was relieved to see the necromancer would also soon arrive.

Finn jumped back over the alley to where the summoner was, only to hear him finish his spell.

"Aranea telam!" A white glow had gathered on his wand before it shot out towards Finn. Still mid air, the glow exploded into a mass of sticky webbing that covered the roof and trapped Finn.

"Got you!" The summoner yelled triumphantly, only for a shining sword to slash him from behind. His quick reaction saved his life, but his right arm along with his wand was lost.

Jess had sneaked up the stairs unnoticed and struck at the opportune moment. Filling her sword with mana, it glowed with magical power.

As Finn struggled to free himself, the necromancer finally joined the fight. Summoning a swarm of poisonous spiders on the giant web the necromancer started preparing another spell.

Imbuing her sword with mana again, Jess slashed out against the retreating magician. The arcane strike sliced right through the wizard's mage armor spell causing a deep cut along his chest.

Before she could land the final blow, a green beam shot out from the necromancer's gnarled finger hitting Jess in the back.

"Infirmo!" The necromancer's croaking voice echoed creepily.

Jess immediately felt like her muscles were burning as a sudden weakness threatened to overwhelm her. She felt like she was a child again trying to swing her fathers sword, it's weight too great to hold with one hand. Jess grunted, using both hands, she swung her sword with full strength. The slash hit the wizard at his waist, only for it to bounce harmlessly off his mage armor and causing her to take a few steps back from the rebound force.

The summoner was still propelled by the force of the blow. Making use of the opportunity, he scurried over to the necromancer and fished out a potion from his robe. This health potion was his insurance, it would stop the bleeding and restore some of his lost vitality.

Finn, still trapped in the web, was helpless during all this. He slashed and struggled with his daggers, but couldn't escape. The swarm of spiders attacked and bit him numerous times, injecting their poison into his bloodstream. Oddly enough, the poison's paralytic effect didn't seem to be working. Finn was still lashing out violently, even managing to slash and stab a few spiders now and then.

Seeing her prey escape, and Finn's precarious situation, things were looking dire. If there was any time to use 'that' spell it was now! Jess sheathed her sword and quickly started drawing a rune with both hands.

The necromancer, momentarily distracted by Finn's yelling and struggling didn't notice her start. By the time they turned around again, there was no time to cast a counter-spell. Gathering mana into the shape of a crude shield, the necromancer braces for impact.

The summoner had just uncorked their healing potion and raised it to their mouth when Jess's spell was complete.

A glowing red rune was absorbed into her hands before she pointed her palms at the evil wizards.

"Ardenti Manus!"

Pure red flames shot out from Jess's hands, spreading out the further it got from her in a cone shaped burst. It knocked the potion out of the summoners hands and ignited his robe. The poor wizard screamed in pain a little before falling in a crumpled heap.

The giant web caught fire as its threads burned like hair, fast and smelly. The spiders all screeched as their hairs and legs caught fire, before dropping dead and dissolving into mana. Finn, being caught in the web, also experienced the burn. Dropping and rolling, his quick reflexes put out the flames before they destroyed what he was wearing. His hair was a little singed and his face felt sunburned.

The only one relatively unharmed was the necromancer, whose quick mana shield barely stopped the rampaging flame. Only their cloak was damaged and the hood fell off revealing the necromancer's disfigured face.

Almost as quick as it had swept through the battleground, the spell ended. The clothing on the summoner's corpse was the only thing still smoldering, though it too soon extinguished.

"SKKREEEEECH!" The necromancer let out another wail, causing both Finn and Jess to lose their balance and fall over.

The necromancer, still puzzled by how Finn had survived the spiders, began casting another spell. "Don't look at me!" She yelled as Jess vomited due to nausea.

Finn was also nauseated, his sense of balance was totally messed up and causing him to feel like the world was spinning. Fighting his senses, he caught a glimpse of the necromancer before she finished her spell.

One hand and half her face was smooth like a beautiful maiden, something which contrasted extremely to the other half of her body. The skin and flesh on her other hand and half her face seemed to have started decaying. Patches had fallen off, revealing the bone beneath as black tears leaked from a crazed red eye.

The ritual had backfired when Finn disrupted it, and the damage it caused to the necromancer was horrible. She looked young, and was probably considered a beauty, but now all that was gone.

The necromancer's spell, whose incantation Finn couldn't hear due his ears still ringing, caused the dead summoner's flesh to dissolve. The bones started to move as a blue flame burned with revenge in the skull's eyes.

Jess stood up slowly, holding her short sword and buckler in a defensive stance. As soon as the skeleton was formed, it looked at her and charged at the one who killed it.

Meanwhile, the necromancer had started another spell. A dark rune was forming on top of her staff as she waved her drew line after line with her fingers.

"Stop her!" Jess yelled at Finn, she was still suffering from the curse of enfeeblement as well as a slight drop in dexterity due to poor balance. The skeleton, though mindless in its attack's were enough to tie her down.

Finn charged in the necromancer's direction but shuddered when he saw her creepy grin. She had already finished the rune, holding a lump of coal and something else Finn couldn't recognize, she dissolved them into the rune before speaking.

"Tenebrae!"

Everything went dark.