B3 Chapter 293: Hyythenal, Pt. 2

Kaius flew through the air, his heart desperately hammering in his chest as he stared at the ropey organs visible through the hole in Ianmus’s stomach.

The mage clutched the open wound with quickly paling hands, a twisted grimace on his face as he desperately tried and failed to hold his blood inside. The sight of it tore at Kaius from the inside, twisting at old fear and grief.

He couldn’t lose another — not Ianmus.

Then Ianmus’s eyes grew hard and focused, jaw clenching tight. A potion appeared in his hand, the vibrant red liquid being downed in moments as he snatched his staff out of the sand.

Bleeding off his excess speed with a secondary detonation of his Shunt, Kaius heard his brother let out a terrible roar—the sounds of stone and chitin clashing resounding from the centre of battle. It cut deep. He could feel Porkchop’s conviction and certainty, but even a greater meles could not fight this battle alone.

Hurrying as fast as he could, Kaius to a halt beside his wounded friend and watched as the mage cast a Ray of Tender Recovery directly into his intestines. The bleeding barely staunched.

There was a chance. There had to be a chance!

Kaius kept one his friend in the corner of his eye as he prepared to defend him from another spike — to take the blow for him, if he must. He could see the shattered remnants of Ianmus’s spine jutting from his back. Without a way to move, he would be fodder if another came.

Mana started to swirl around the half-elf as Ianmus constructed a freecast spell, one Kaius knew from exposure to Ianmus’s arts was more designed to regenerate wounds directly rather than top off missing health.

He could — would — survive! The mage just needed time, and safety. He could do that much, even if he felt helpless seeing his friend’s lifeblood gush.

“Hurry, friend — you can do this.”

Ianmus didn’t respond. A moment later, mana pulsed deep within the amulet on his neck. A thick shell of empowered granite rocketing out of the sand a moment later, sealing the mage within its confines.

Kaius only hoped it wouldn’t end up his friend’s tomb.

Kenva touched down, sliding to a halt next to him.

“Keep him safe,” Kaius said quickly, looking deep into the aen’s solid blue eyes.

She nodded, a genuine frown of fear and concern on her face as she drew an arrow and turned in a smooth motion to loose directly at the scorpion-beast who had injured their mage so severely.

More than anything, he wished he’d had the damned sense to inscribe a cast of War Haven before their battle. At the time, it had felt like an excessive expense, especially since they had managed to keep their backline safe in every other fight so far.

Now, his mind was filled with the image of the hole in his friend’s stomach, the blood that poured into the sand. All he could think of was that it might have been prevented if he’d just been a little less miserly with his mana!

Still, battle cared little for tragedy. Porkchop needed his help now. Kaius didn’t bother to wait around — the best thing he could do would be to join the front. They needed to kill that blasted scorpion as quickly as possible.

Every blow he could bait from it was one that couldn’t be directed at his backline.

Sprinting forward, he focused on the battle.

Porkchop was growling furiously, battering the beast with a continuous stream of slamming walls, floating fangs, and an arm encased in jagged crystal. Yellow ichor oozed from a dozen cracks in the scorpion’s carapace and a borehole that had been scorched black by the might of Ianmus’s opening spell, while one of the creature’s tails still hung limp from the arrow that Kenva had managed to slip through a join in its natural armour.

Yet, for all of his brother’s might and fortitude, for all of the scorpion’s wounds, Kaius could see that Porkchop was still flagging. With every lunging stab of the beast’s tail, and every slamming snap of its pincers, his brother was pushed back—grunting as his jade heavy-plate quickly grew chipped and pitted, and his blood seeped from the gaps in his armour.

Porkchop might have yet to take any truly severe wounds, but Kaius knew that was only a matter of time. His stomach clenched, fury and determination raging through his veins as a storm howled in his heart. No matter the creature’s strength, they could win—he would make it so.

Deep twangs resonated from behind Kaius as arrow after arrow sunk deep into the beast’s flesh and shattered like glass—Kenva unloading her bow into its open carapace with pinpoint precision in an effort to weaken it further with grievous internal wounds.

The beast chittered as ichor dripped slowly, Kaius’s senses sharp enough to hear every drop hit the ground as he flew forwards. The sound only heightened the Song that crooned within him, a violent harmony that urged his flight forwards.

Every step was a struggle, the soft sand giving away beneath the force of his steps—ruining his traction. Realising his advance was taking too long, he detonated another Shunt that sent a blast of sand flying behind him as he sailed towards his target.

Eyes wide with the thrill of his sudden movement, Kaius focused on the beast and analysed it.

Ruinbringer – Level 246:

Beast, Elite, Ambusher

He hissed as he saw that the creature was an elite—he knew that the fact they had travelled so far without seeing any depthsborn had to have a hidden cost. Rotten roots, it was just their gods’ scorned luck that the biome they entered was populated by elites, and ambushers at that.

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Thank the fates they had managed to sense the thing, because there was no doubt in their mind that they would have already lost someone if they hadn’t. Even the thought of it flushed his cheeks with scorching fury.

The beast let out another chittering roar as Porkchop blocked a sudden snap of its claws with his greatshield and lunged in to sink his fangs into the base of the natural weapon. Daggers of jade popped into existence a moment later, flanking his jaws before they shot forwards and cracked against chitin.

Natural armour held, only splintering under the force of the skill.

Kaius landed, touching the sand once again. Slashing a hand through the air, bright blue light flashed through the air in conjunction with the signature thunderous boom of his Stormlash. Lightning bound the scorpion, its body seizing.

Porkchop used the moment to hammer its still weakened claw again, while Kaius cast Slip Step and lurched forwards. Energy coated his blade, empowered by both his Rend and his Bladerite.

“Ianmus only needs five minutes!” Porkchop suddenly called in his mind, grunting as its tail struck him in a staccato flurry. Cracks resounded, his brother grunting as thin fissures spiderwebbed their way through the handspan thick jade plates that made up his armour.