novelslam Chapter 286: Heads of the Hydra
Chapter 286: Heads of the Hydra
I fucking hate snakes. Why is it always god damn snakes!
Eric shot between pools of darkness, slowly putting distance between himself and the three Territory Alphas pursuing him.
Seriously, whose fucking idea?
Eric had been investigating their surroundings for several miles; his Primal Night affinity allowed him to hide his aura so long as it was nighttime, which was perfect for sensing wide swaths of land without being detected in turn.
Or, it should have been the case, poking around inside a strange bit of terrain. A tunnel network that existed beneath the ground. Feeling confident in his ability to escape at a moment’s notice, Eric had gone on his merry way.
And then he’d stumbled upon them.
Fragment That Became Whole – Apophis Serpent Joshi
Level: 80**
Fragment That Became Whole – Apophis Serpent Chushi
Level: 80**
Fragment That Became Whole – Apophis Serpent Geshi
Level: 80**
A triplet of Territory Alphas that were in the middle of trashing and fighting one another, fangs snapping and auras blaring. One would almost assume that perhaps they were one of those ‘trio bosses that is actually equal to a single big boss,’ but no, they were each a territory alpha.
The other thing that instantly stuck out to Eric, and the prelude to things going south, was that he noticed that they were all Aphophis serpents.
Aphophis serpents, the same type of snake that had been able to sense him even when he should have been hidden.
Uh oh.
Turning and fleeing without waiting for what was obviously about to happen, Eric felt pretty damn smart, as moments later all three came slithering after him.
God fucking damn it, why snakes!
Juiced-up versions of the snake named Eia, Eric knew they would be trouble, regardless of whether they were as intelligent as her or whatnot.
Flying through the tunnels as fast as he could, Eric took advantage of every lurking pool of shadows, the serpents which would have been faster than him on foot, slowly losing ground to his ability to teleport between shadows.
That was until, as one, they used some form of magic or skill on him, and his movements were temporarily halted.
Ah fuck, I know this one!
It was the paralyzing toxin, just used through some form of wifi skill, like a paralyzing glare.
The effect held for only a few moments before he was freed; his exposure to the lesser Aphophis serpent’s toxin actually proved beneficial, as it was far easier to break free of the effect. Yet the paralysis was just enough that their auras managed to wash over him, as it felt like his insides were being torn up.
Christ almighty, aural toxin.
Aural toxins were a rare form of toxin that could destroy the very aura of another being, weakening them physically and shredding their internal magics. The downside was that it had a massively reduced effect on anything of near tier.
Which was fine and dandy, except he was still triple-dosed before he was back to escaping.
Putting everything he had into his escape, it wasn’t long before Eric saw their camp, latching hold of the feeling of his ‘allies’ and teleporting directly to them and appearing from a pool of shadows.
It was his biggest lead on the three territory alphas so far. Still, Eric had absolutely zero doubt that they weren’t about to give up and go home, not when he could still feel the pressure of their auras blanketing the area within moments.
“So, uh, problem,” Eric groaned, the Vanguard and the Architect, the two he’d locked onto. “Territory Alpha.”
The two shared a look, eyebrows raised.
Oh, the fuckers think it’s just one that has me running with my tail between my legs.
“Multiple,” Eric clarified.
“Oh,” The Vanguard closed her mouth, whatever she was about to say withering away. A moment later, Allison and Tom had appeared from their cottages, and Eric wouldn’t deny the relief at seeing the two of them, whom he counted as proper friends, unlike the Architect or even the Vanguard.
“What’s the situation?” Allison asked, eyes narrowed at Eric.
“Three Territory Alphas. Why three are cohabitating is beyond me, but they’re on their way here. They managed to get a chomp on me as I made my escape.”
“How did they even notice you?” Tom asked.
“Because they’re fucking snakes,” Eric grunted.
Because it’s always fucking snakes!
A moment later, the three guests of honor appeared, their oversized heads smashing through their walls as if they didn’t exist, looking to swallow them up.
Unfortunately for them, Eric was no longer alone.
The first snake, Joshi, was blocked as a tower shield slammed into its face, the Vanguard blocking its charge all on her own, armored up in an instant.
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The second snake and third snake, Chushi and Geshi, were halted in a group effort. Blood red crystal chains had erupted from the ground, ensnaring the giant snakes. Tom had taken up a defensive stance, a palm strike slowing Geshi while Allison was outright holding Chushi’s jaws from snapping shut like she was holding up the weight of the world.
“Oh, great, you guys got this,” Eric huffed. The effect of the triple-dose aural toxin left him feeling weak and sluggish. “I’m going to take a nap.”
And that was exactly what he proceeded to do, falling over and faceplanting in the ground.
“Watch yourselves!” Rory shouted as he watched the Rogue faceplant. The man’s aura had flagged suddenly after making it back, his flight or fight instinct wavering as soon as he’d reached relative safety.
Whatever he was hit by, it’s not as simple as anything Eia can do.
With Eric down for the count, it was four Founders versus three Territory Alphas. That wasn’t exactly the best, even given the strength of an individual Founder.
Alright, so X-Factor time.
The serpents were clearly based on Eia; Aphophis serpents weren’t exactly common.
So, how to best beat Eia?
Domain was thrown out of the equation; the nature of the Aphophis serpents’ aural toxins would disrupt his ability to establish one in the first place.
Alright, here is the real question: Do they have her energy form?
A smile tugging at the corners of his lips, Rory had an idea already beginning to form. Eia’s energy form allowed her to take on a form of, well, energy. In her energy form, she could directly assault an opponent’s aura and vital energies, and also gained a massive increase in speed. The downside was that she was highly vulnerable to energy-based attacks at the same time, as she quite literally shed her physical form to do so.
Flipping his hand, several droplets of blood raced outward, plinking into the necks of his fellow Founders, seeping in as Ghost Message relayed the plan. The Monk and the Spear gave a single tight nod, whereas Zoey did her signature frown as he relayed a plan that boiled down to ‘be bait.’
“Alright, all eyes on me!” Zoey shouted, her skin turning metal as she activated her taunt skill. At the same time, both the Spear and the Monk retreated. A moment later, Rory flickered over to each of them and vanished with them.
To the serpent triplets, it would have come across as a tactical retreat when faced against three superior foes.
It wasn’t, but they didn’t need to know that.
With only one target, the triplet serpents focused the entirety of their attention on Zoey, attempting to pile on their aural toxin effect, withering gazes landing upon her as whatever skill it was related to came off cooldown.
Except, Zey wasn’t nearly the soft target the Rogue was, shaking off the effect with a grin and a flipped middle finger. Snagging a gem and a brew from her own inventory, the woman knocked them back before pounding her armored fist on her shield and gesturing rudely once more.
The aphophis serpents lunged, their massive heads crashing into her and launching her, only to bat her back with their tails, the three territory alphas treating Zoey like a chew toy to smack around.
The intent was obviously to rip her apart, but even being launched about and slammed into, fangs clamping down on her, the immense bulwark of a woman brushed the attacks of three territory alphas aside, a vitality gem and a brew of mountain’s moment shoring her up. A vitality gem was self-explanatory, but the mountain’s moment brew was a brew that directly exhausted one’s vital energy in return for a massively boosted durability. Combined, one could multiply their overall durability by two or three times, with the downside that an antidote would be needed at some point for the mountain’s moment, or it would kill the consumer.
C’mon.
Rory and the other two had appeared far overhead, stood atop the floating G.S.A.C platform as they watched the serpents grow irritated that a single tier eight, level eighty, was withstanding their combined might.
C’mon, I know you’re growing annoyed. C’mon. Serpents have massive egos.
A ‘spotlight’ was beginning to slowly appear from the Goblin Mk. 3, a spotlight of black and white ‘glimmers’ or motes of energy.
Three shots, three targets, perfect.
The Null Glitter Lance normally wouldn’t be capable of firing off three times in rapid succession. Normally, that is, as Rory could cheat it a little by preparing his own singularity strike and turning it instead into ‘fuel’ for the Null Glitter Lance.
C’mon.
At last, the distracted serpents grew annoyed enough with Zoey that it happened; their scales shimmered as all three turned into snakes formed of pure energy.
“Go,” Rory said quietly.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” The Monk answered with a quick nod, before diving off the G.S.A.C platform, kicking off frozen air and crashing down within the three serpents in moments. His sudden reappearance took the serpents by surprise, but before they could act, Rory lashed his hand out.
“Enchain!”
At the same time, the Monk’s aura of frozen stillness exploded outward, a certain level of intensity that made it clear he was ‘exhausting’ the passive effect for a temporary increase in slowing power.
Between Enchain and the slowing power of the Monk’s aura, the triple serpents found themselves moving as if stuck in molasses, the paradoxical energies of the Null Glitter Lance now saturated enough that it was becoming noticeable.
The Spear, meanwhile, was rearing an arm back as she held a green and red spear marked by layers of inscriptions and inlaid gems. While Rory’s main focus of the last few years had been working toward the Sky Fortress project, that hadn’t meant he hadn’t found any time to whip up a few goodies for the other Founders.
Such as a new spear for the Spear. It was hardly his magnum opus, but it was still a well-made weapon if Rory said so himself.
And a ‘well-made’ weapon by Rory’s standards was damn close to a legendary treasure to the others.
Flashing through the air, the spear split into three carbon-copy images, each slightly phantasmal in appearance as it drew upon the Spear’s physics-defying aura to fuel the inscriptions laid upon it, an attempt at playing to her strengths.
The phantasmal spears had absolutely no concern that the serpent triplets were currently incorporeal or whatever, stabbing into them as blood spewed, and ear-shattering hisses rang out from the three.
So, that works. Good to know.
Having thrown the splitting spear, Allison had likewise leaped from the glider, toward Zoey, who had lunged forward, her hand glowing white as all traces of her indominable aura had vanished. One, two, three, she slapped the serpents upon their noses before staggering over and collapsing.
Allison had timed her jump perfectly, landing and snagging her sister before retreating in the same moment.
“Now please!” The Monk shouted, his freezing aura waning.
Good enough.
The plan was simple enough. Bait the serpents into their energy forms, then blow them up with oblivion energy when they are extra vulnerable.
But that alone probably wouldn’t have been enough.
So, he’d had Zoey shred their innate durability as well, with the particular skill she had for burning up her own durability to reduce an opponent’s durability by the same degree.
Allison’s spear, when fueled by her aura, could break physics, both regular physics and metaphysical physics, targeting their physical bodies and innate vitality at the same time.
Raising his hands, two gems began to rotate, and as they did, the Null Glitter Lance fired, a ray of null light reaching Geshi in an instant. Already, the second Null Glitter Lance was charging up, but rather than wait patiently, the gems Rory had been colliding exploded, the remnants of paradoxical concepts showering the area and accelerating the Null Glitter Lance's charge rate.
The second lance of oblivion energy fired off only moments later, spearing through Joshi’s head, erased as if it had never existed.
Rory wanted to fire a third ray, but Enchain and the Monk flagged at the same time. Holding three territory alphas bound in place within his frozen aura had been massively taxing on the Monk, even with the aid of Enchain.
Plus, the G.S.A.C warbled its warning blare of low energy.
Ah, shoot, I was hoping I could squeeze a third one out, but that little stunt to accelerate the charge rate on the second one overloaded it.
Flickering from atop the platform, Rory appeared next to the Monk who’d dropped to one knee, nose bleeding.
“I do not like their auras,” The Monk said with a frown.
“You and me both,” Rory said as he grabbed the man by the scruff and flickered away, tossing him on a pile with Eric the Rogue, and Zoey, who merely grunted at having the man dropped on her.
The bad news was that three of the five were out of commission, employing tactics that had been prohibitively costly regarding their ability to stay in the fight.
The good news was that, with only a single remaining territory alpha and two Founders still capable of fighting, the odds were looking good.
“Try not to get in my way too much,” The Spear said as she approached, standing next to Rory.
Oh, okay, cool, we’re playing with cliché lines, cool, cool, cool.
“How about we make it a game,” Rory said, feeling unnaturally competitive.
“Oh?” The Spear questioned, her eyebrows raising.
“Whoever does the most, gets the win.”
“And who will be the judge of that?”
In response, Rory merely raised his eyebrows as a pop-up appeared, visible to both of them.
Wager leveraged
Reward: Minor wagered favor
Inflict more damage to the Territory Alpha Chushi than the other.
Well, can’t say I don’t appreciate the hand, Eon.
“So, you in?” Rory asked, eyes pointedly looking at the Spear.
Mulling it over for a moment, she finally shrugged.
“I’m game.”