Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Cave assault (II)

The attackers surrounded the cave, and were careful not to expose themselves. Although from their side it looked like solid stone, they knew that some of those artifacts allowed one to see through the illusion from the other side. Only when everyone was ready did they launch their attack.

The two mages, the centipede-men, gathered mana together to cast a powerful spell. It was somewhat slow to prepare, which wasn't a problem in that situation.

Their hands were facing each other, and creating a sphere of energy outside the field of vision inside the cave. Nonetheless, a Bat and a goshawk were watching closely.

When they were ready, the two ran in front of the cave and released the sphere. It rushed towards the illusion and the barrier that protected the cave, which were shattered to smithereens.

"I hope they don't break my Rock Shield," Gjaki worried.

Not that the artifact was extremely valuable, nor that she used it often. In fact, it had been stored in her inventory for the last twenty years. However, that they broke her things annoyed her.

In the past, one of her schoolmates had broken her favorite pen to annoy her. He thought that the goth girl was an easy prey, someone he could pick on without consequence. After all, she had no friends. She was just a strange and weak lonely girl.

Never again had anyone dared to bother her directly. It had meant a week of expulsion for her. To him, several stitches, a black eye, a broken nose, several dislocated fingers and a sprained wrist, as well as many bruises and bites. Luckily for him, she wasn't a vampiress in that world.

The lamias and arachnes entered immediately. They were wielding their weapons, ready to reduce their prey. They hoped the attack hadn't killed them, though it was a lesser evil if it had. The raiders preferred them alive, but they weren't willing to take chances.

The energy sphere obliterated everything in its path, collided with the wall, and emitted a dazzling light. They were prepared, but not their preys. They were confident that, between the surprise factor, the attack itself and being dazzled, they would find no resistance.

What they didn't expect was to find nothing. Apart from them, the place was empty

"Has the Lethal Sphere vaporized them?" an Arachne asked, stunned.

"It can't be... Where're their weapons? They can't have been vaporized as well," a lamia was surprised, without being able to react.

"Aaaaauuugghh!!"

Screams were heard from outside. It took them only a moment to recognize them.

"Manyfeet!? Allfeet!?" one of the arachnes called them nervously.

"Shit! It's a trap! Get out here!" another of the attackers exclaimed.

The two mages were taking a breather after the high mana consumption of their attack. They were on the lookout for any trouble that might come from the cave, so they had erected a barrier in front of them. It wouldn't be the first time a missed attack gave them a scare. What they didn't expect was an attack from behind.

Gjaki had moved with Eldi and the lynx, cloaked in Darkness, until they were behind them. She had accurately attacked both of the centipede-man's hearts at once. The one that resided in his chest, and the one that was located in one of the sections of his long body.

Thanks to Weak Spot, she had been able to pinpoint them, and had attacked with Backstab to break through his defenses. On top of that, she had used Disrupt.

Normally, the ability alters the blood and caused confusion, but casting it directly inside the heart was far more deadly. Added to that, of course, were the blessings from Eldi, or Bloody Touch on the weapons.

How can a mage, without armor, withstand a surprise attack with such lethality and precision? That is a difficult question and, on this occasion, there was no answer. He died instantly.

The other mage was attacked at the same time by Eldi and the lynx. The battlemage pierced through one of the sections, one that contained a pair of legs, right where Gjaki had pointed.

Tearing Sting was a powerful but slow attack that normally didn't have much of a chance to hit, as it was easy to avoid. However, he had stepped out of the shadows, so his enemy hadn't even noticed him until he was impaled from side to side, heart included.

With his physical strength, the help of the skill, the high quality of the weapon, and Overload, the mage's body was unable to resist it. The last skill might have damaged the spear itself, but he had several, and he could easily repair them.

For her part, the lynx attacked the neck, as it was usual with her. Maybe, her enemy still had an extra heart left, but he wouldn't be able to get blood to the brain if the jugular was severed.

Even so, he had the option of splitting his body. If one of the two parts survived, he could fully regenerate, since all of his knowledge was duplicated in his insect half. That half could hide underground while he recovered, thus saving his life. That, of course, if someone hadn't pierced the heart of that half.

Upon hearing the agony screams of the centipede-man, the lamias and the arachnes wanted to get out in a hurry, but, how could it be so easy? The three companions hadn't placed traps to prevent them from being activated and warn their enemies, but there was a net of resistant adamantine threads.

Gjaki had promised that she would use skills and equipment on par with her companions, but that was only under normal circumstances. It couldn't be considered as such being attacked by a group of criminals that surpassed them in number and level, at least, they surpassed her companions.

The raiders soon panicked. They were trapped by the threads that had been lifted from the ground by Live Thread. It was somewhat ironic to see the arachnes trapped in that tangle of threads, since they used to be the ones that trapped their prey with their cobwebs.

The threads were extremely sharp thanks to Lethal Thread, which obviously made them quite dangerous. Due to that, two lamias had died with their necks half-cut. They had panicked, and had frantically tried to escape. The effect had been precisely the opposite. They had been entangled in them more and more, and their bonds had tightened, until their lives had finally been claimed. They had suffered numerous cuts, and one of them had been fatal.

After seeing them die, the other three had remained completely still, terrified. They looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Some threads were embedded in their bodies, cutting them, making them bleed.

It didn't take long for several figures to appear, which they immediately recognized. No doubt, they had made a big mistake in believing that these prey were harmless.