Book 5: Chapter 23 — Arachleon Hunter (1) |
The Arachleon's eight eyes fixed on Noah as he emerged from the semi-protected cubby they’d taken shelter in. Or, rather, each of its eyes individually tracked one of his spectres. Then it charged in a blur of fur and legs, crossing halfway to Noah in a single rush between one heartbeat and the next.
Noah felt Tony flow through his body, shifting his general physical enhancements into a more focused form.
Agility increased by 100%.
At this point, with the boost pushing him to well over 5000 agility, Noah almost felt his adversary was moving normally, only slightly faster than him. Thanks to his week of practice in the arena, he was no longer tripping over his own feet even though he was moving at an unprecedented speed. Abyssal Inferno blazed around him in an aura of black and red.
For a moment he ran straight at the monster, then at the last moment an Arcane Step carried him out of its path and he reappeared above the creature, momentum carrying him straight into it. His spear manifested in one hand as he grinned and slammed down.
His strike drove deep into its back before the creature could react. Blood sprayed, dark and viscous, sizzling into nothing where it hit Noah’s destructive aura.
[Wyrm’s Curse] applied to [Darkstalker Arachleon]
[Spear of Crimson End] has inflicted [Crimson Rot-IV] on [Darkstalker Arachleon]
[Spear of Crimson End] has applied [Bleed-IV] to [Darkstalker Arachleon]
Noah barely dodged the swiping claws, so close he felt the wind of their passage ruffle his hair as he leaped free of the creature and resummoned his spear to his hand.
His spectres were a half second slower, not having Tony to help them, but they still reached the monster before it could retaliate. Eight different weapons slashed through the air, following Noah’s attack with a flurry from all sides that should have torn the monster into pieces.
Instead of dying under the swarm of attacks, the arachleon shimmered into ghostly translucence and leaped clear, passing straight through Noah’s two nearest spectres in the process.
It landed on the wall and growled at them, then let out something between a shriek and a hiss that echoed out from the cavern in visible waves of sound.
“That can’t be good.” Noah and five of his spectres ran to the entrance just in time to block another four of the creatures from rushing them from behind. The other three spectres teleported after the original monster, harassing it to the point where it couldn’t phase back into reality without being hit.
The ones at the entrance weren’t so easily locked down. Noah's strike passed halfway through its body before meeting resistance, only dealing a fraction of the expected damage.
“It’s your unlucky day,” Noah informed the monsters as he and his accompanying spectres grouped up. All six activated Void Annihilation. “We’ve already fought someone who uses that trick.”
The rippling void energy caught the incoming arachleons mid-phase.The monsters screamed in pain and confusion as their ability failed to protect them.
Three of the creatures escaped mostly unscathed, jumping away in time before they could be more severely hurt, but the spider-lion Noah and another of his spectres both hit at the same time crashed to the ground. It screeched in pained fury as it thrashed in a blur of movement Noah could barely track, phasing in and out in a desperate attempt to escape the afflictions tearing at its insides.
Dark blood sprayed from its wound. Noah could see the corruption still spreading through its flesh, but it wasn't done for yet. Injured it may be, but something this strong didn’t die easily. The creature's eight eyes blazed with desperate rage as it righted itself—
Bun Bun will handle this wounded one, Bun Bun announced as he blurred into the fight. Bun Bun will ensure it does not rejoin the fight.
Bun Bun's jaws clamped down on the lion's wounded shoulder, and acid-green liquid erupted from his teeth. The creature shrieked as corrosive venom began eating through flesh that was already struggling to regenerate.
[Acidic Bite] has applied [Corrosion] to [Darkstalker Arachleon].
Bun Bun shook his head from side to side, tearing a deep gouge into its furry flank with a triumphant growl.
Noah left him to it and spun back to the remaining adversaries. The ones where two or three spectres were able to team up on them were pretty well locked down, even if they were stubbornly refusing to die so easily. Some were putting up a better fight than others, but Noah’s ability suite was a pretty hard counter to shadow-phase type adversaries. Between teleporting and tearing into reality on multiple layers at once, there was nowhere they could escape him.
This many copies all with Void Annihilation active at once were rapidly draining his mana at a dangerous pace, but he’d rather hit hard and clear out as many of them as possible before collapsing back to just him.
Three more monsters came into the edges of his perception, drawn by the chaos, including one significantly larger than the others. Where most of the monsters were only a foot or two taller than Noah, the largest one was almost half again as big. Its mane crackled with visible energy, crystal-black spines running down its back.
“Let’s get these cleared out ASAP,” he called to his spectres, and joined the hunt as the first arachleon finally collapsed in a tangle of furry legs and bloody gashes. At least one or two of his spectres were channelling Life Siphon, judging by the steady flow of health into their collective.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Then the other arachleons rounded the corner of the cavern, skittering into view. Two more of the same, and the larger one.
[Darkstalker Arachleon Hunter (Rare) - lvl 425]
For a moment it met Noah’s eyes with its eight crimson ones, a brief frozen heartbeat where neither of them paid any heed to the chaos around them.
Then it opened its maw and roared. The sound hit Noah physically, a wave of vibration that tried to freeze his muscles and disrupt his control over his abilities.
You’ve been inflicted by [Dissonance-II]
You’ve been inflicted by [Paralysis-II]
Cosmic Wyrmblood negates Paralysis
Greater Spirit Resistance negates Dissonance
All afflictions have been resisted.
“Nice try.” After what he’d been dealing with a couple days ago, this attack was almost laughable.
He ignored it without slowing and punched the arachleon hunter in the face. Noah's left arm, obsidian-black muscle corded with void energy, shifted mid-strike into his dragon form. His claws punched through the monster’s shoulder, void energy detonating inside the wound as his infernal aura burned it from the outside.
[Wyrm's Curse] applied to [Darkstalker Arachleon Hunter]
Noah growled, shifting into his dragon form. His aura surged outward, meeting the lion-spider's chaotic energy with draconic authority. The creature actually hesitated, confusion flickering across its eight eyes as it encountered another apex predator that refused to submit, faltering as its instincts screamed that it was facing a dragon.
Noah let out a roar as he tore free two of its legs, an actual animalistic sound that surprised even him, feeding his Dragon Fear to new heights.
All the lesser Arachleons whimpered and backed up a step, many attempting to phase away, one outright turning and fleeing out the entrance before it was so much as injured, but the hunter wasn’t so easily cowed.
Rage overrode fear, and it charged anyway in a blur of shadow and way too many legs.
Noah met it head-on. His blade clashed against its claws, the impact sending shockwaves through his arms.
The creature pressed forward, overwhelming Noah with sheer physical power despite its debuffs. One claw got through his guard and raked across his side—
"You're going to have to do better than that," Noah snarled and counterattacked. His wounds were already closing as the stolen life force augmented his own. "You're not the only predator here." He Arcane Stepped through the creature's next attack, appearing behind it. His claws raked across its flank, leaving deep furrows that immediately began festering with void energy. The lion spun to face him, but he was already gone, Arcane Stepping again to appear at its other side.
Strike and move. Strike and move. He fell into a devastating rhythm. The second one finally recovered from its paralyzing fear and sprang at him, but that only made it a quicker casualty. He was in flow now, moving faster and faster.
He distantly tracked his spectres dispersing one by one as his mana reserves got too low to sustain them, but Aurelia had come to join the fight at some point and between her and Bun Bun they were dealing with the cowed lesser arachleons just fine without him.
The spider-lion hunter was getting angry now, unable to gain any ground against him. Its movements became much less calculated, more instinctive. Powerful, but Noah could predict its attacks before they came.All he had to do was wait for one overextended lunge—
There.
Chains of Binding erupted from his left hand, wrapping around the creature's legs mid-leap. The chains anchored to the ground and glowed, locking the monster in place.
[Chains of Binding] has immobilized [Darkstalker Arachleon Hunter]!
The lion thrashed, but the Chains of Binding held, more than held. Noah Arcane Stepped directly above the chained creature, wings folding as he dove. Tony flowed into Power Form, transforming his entire left arm into a weapon.
Agility has returned to baseline -5%.
Power increased by 100%.
Noah’s claws sliced straight through the Arachleon's skull and tore into its brain, annihilating it entirely. The creature spasmed once, twice… and then went still.
You have killed [Darkstalker Arachleon Hunter (Rare) - lvl 425]!
Wyrmblood Guardian has reached level 344.
Runebody Arcanist has reached level 337.
Abyssal Predator has reached level 338.
Noah turned to check on the others.
Aurelia had her last opponent pinned beneath a column of fire, burning it to ash. Her Sunlight Warrior abilities were devastating despite the level gap, which made him smile proudly.
"You okay?" Noah called out.
"Fine," Aurelia said, her voice steady.
Bun Bun was... Bun Bun was being Bun Bun.
The familiar had reduced the wounded lion to a twitching mess, his acidic bite having eaten through most of its neck while his claws had shredded everything else. The creature was still technically alive, but only because Bun Bun seemed to be enjoying watching it suffer.
Bun Bun has claimed this kill, Bun Bun announced proudly, standing atop his prey. This predator dared to hunt our pack. Bun Bun has taught it the error of this decision.
Noah let his Dragon Shift fade, scales retracting, wings folding away. He kept Abyssal Awareness running just in case any more were going to come, but he hadn’t seen any in a while. Which was good, since he’d gotten carried away with the momentum of the fight.
Mana: 3%
He definitely wouldn’t be ready to do that again for at least a half hour, even at the insane pace mana recovered here. But he didn’t regret his choices. Hitting hard and fast had been the right call, even if it left him drained for the moment. Besides, they had Zax. If anything really went wrong, he’d probably step in.
Or… maybe? Noah frowned as he considered that. He wasn’t quite sure where Zax’s lines were.
Either way, he was satisfied with the fight’s outcome.
Then, before he could even think about looting them, the bodies began to dissolve. Dark wisps rose from them, dissipating into the ambient mana of the Valley. Within minutes, there was nothing left. No bones, nor even splatters of blood as evidence that the creatures had ever existed.
“Huh, that’s new.”
"They do not truly die," Zax said, walking over to where Noah stood. "The creatures here reform from the ambient death energy. You can kill them, but they will return. Only in the deepest part of the valley around the Reaper’s Gate do things die permanently."
So that’s what he meant about them forgetting how to die. "Does that mean we're basically going to be fighting the same monsters over and over?"
"Until you reach the heart of the Valley, yes. Consider it... practice."
"Sounds boring. These didn’t seem to be much of a threat."
“We are at the outermost fringe. These are the dregs, the weaklings and outcasts who couldn’t survive any deeper in. And this particular group was a small scouting contingent. The main nest is another two shelves down.” Zax grinned concerningly and Noah suddenly had a bad feeling about what would be coming next. “If you think they’re so easy, try clearing them out of their home territory. If you do it fast enough, you might even manage to finish before these ones report back with your fighting styles.”
Noah grimaced. “How long do we have?”
Zax tilted his head and took in a slow breath, tasting the air. “Perhaps twenty minutes if you start now.”
“I’ll only have half my mana by then.”
“Then the choice is yours. Catch them by surprise when you’re underprepared, or face them with both of you at full strength. Either way, we look forward to seeing what you do.”