B4 Chapter 500: Nightscale, Finale

Porkchop roared as the nightscale broke into the open square. Bulwark’s Challenge hit the creature like a physical blow, yanking at its head so it had eyes only for the demon-faced creature of orichalchum that stood sentinel.

Mana whirled through his body, and flesh simmered and popped. Handspan by handspan, Porkchop swelled in size and might as the ghost of antlers sprouted just behind the horns of his helm. Normally, he was just over a stride taller than Kaius at the shoulder. Now, with his natural size-controlling magic relaxed, and empowered by his Skill, he stood a titan of twelve.

He charged, flagstones rippling like water beneath his feet.

The very sight of Porkchop’s furious momentum set Kaius’s heart blazing. With the link between their souls, his bloodsong was amplified by his brother’s own.

Blade held in a high-guard, he ran left. Porkchop’s Gladespirit was draining, but the strength it granted was prodigious — more than worthy of being the capstone skill of his first class. Kaius had full confidence the nightscale would have its hands full. It was a perfect chance for him to tear into its flank.

Even with a leaden limb, he felt like he was flying through his wide arc. He watched the nightscale like a hawk as it raged, glowing claws and snapping teeth wailing on his brother’s titanic form. Heavy plate clanked and bones creaked, but the flesh held — and punishment was responded to in kind. Jadecrash, Warden’s Maw, and the simple ferocity of orichalchum claws and teeth raked their enemy.

A limb bound in metallic crystal smashed the nightscales jaw with a crack, lurching its head to the side.

Away from Kaius.

It was the moment he was waiting for. Digging deep within himself, he flew into a full, wild, sprint.

Only for him to hear a ragged gasp of shock at the edge of the square far to his left.

A delving team — five men strong. It was obvious: they bore no banner or tabard of the guard, only the motley collection of shining artefacts that had been chosen by utility first. Those very same creations were ragged and battleworn, streaked with grime and blood, scuffed and torn, dented and scratched.

Kaius locked onto the leader. His bronze breastplate was dented, and the chain on his arm was torn and bloodsoaked. Brown hair had darkened to black, tainted through the night of chaos they had fought through. Kaius vaguely remembered his face. A Steel team, maybe.

Each and every one of them was staring at the clash with open awe. In the space between heartbeats, he watched the leader flick between the clash, and Kaius’s own charge. The man’s jaw clenched, and his fingers tightened around the haft of his mace.

Kaius’s eyes narrowed. Bloody bastard was not thinking of trying to create a distraction to give them an opening, was he?

The reveal of Honours to the guild had made it obvious why he and his team were so unusually strong, but Kaius feared it might have led to some unrealistic expectations. In a fight like this, a single grievous wound was rarely a decisive factor.

He needed them gone. Before they made the fight even more chaotic.

“Back!” He screamed, frantically waving away the far off delvers. “Rieker’s already coming!”

At his sudden cry, one of the nightscales black eyes snapped to him. Great. The game had been given away.

It tensed, readying itself to strike as it saw him mere strides away. He gave the beast his full attention, refusing to leave himself open.

A flash of shadowy purple slashed for his throat. He couldn’t pull back, not so heavily committed.

A Father’s Gift arced through the air. Hastened by Mercurial Reversal, he caught the blow. Stolen force gleamed at the tip of his sword as a deep clang resonated through his weapon. It wasn’t enough. Not quite.

His neck was saved, but shadow-wrapped claws ripped into his side. A deluge of wet heat flowed as Kaius felt the familiar kiss of stinging agony. His armour was tough, second-tier scalemail, but it only blunted the strike — barely saving him from total evisceration.

It was still a grievous wound, a full slab of meat and gristle removed from his already boiling flesh. It barely slowed him.

Kaius dashed in, the initial deluge of blood already slowing to a trickle as his health went to work. The pool dropped notably, but he could handle dozens of wounds like that before he went dry.

Blue light banished the grim darkness of night. Lightning arced from his hand, wrapped in a firm grip. Once a bare thread, now it was a rope as thick as his wrist. The benefit of evolving Drakthar and having so much Intelligence.

Porkchop moved in conjunction with him, all but throwing himself into the nightscale with skill after skill. Shocked by the sudden ferocity, the creature wrapped its massive jaws around Porkchop and squeezed.

Orichalcum groaned. Porkchop did not; only raking his claws across the creature’s throat — splitting its scales.

A welcoming opening, Kaius thought.

Stormlash snapped once, winding its way around the throat of the nightscale. The spell pulsed, seizing the creature’s body.

Kaius dived in, blade trained on the scratch Porkchop had torn through the scales on its neck. A bloody aura of war and violence bloomed within the sword’s smokey crystal edge — Hellblade Investiture fueling his viciousness.

That red reflected in the shining black of the nightscales eyes.. It tried to rip its head back; to writhe and yank as it extracted its jaws from around Porkchop. His brother had none of it, heavy arms wrapping around the lizard’s neck as he cinched it in tight.

“Now! I’ve got him.”

A hair before Kaius ripped through its neck, it flicked, turning into a smokey shadow. Porkchop fell through its form, unable to maintain his grip as the nightscale went incorporeal.

Kaius plunged his blade into the shadowy mass anyway. He felt its flesh — that heavy drag of tough, wooden flesh against the edge of his blade. Waves of smoke wafted from the passage of his blade, a stride deep into the creature’s neck.

His sword’s enchantment, Ghost of Severance, cared not one whit for its Skill.

A broad smile split his face as the nightscale screamed, bellowing its agony to the night.

Freed from Porkchop’s grasp, it ripped itself backward. A shallow flicker snapped it back to physicality, quickly followed by a bright flash of mana.

Shadows clung to its form, granting the lizard a sinuous burst of speed.

Yet the creature’s shock did not last for long. A high Silver always had pride, even if it was bestial. Fury twisted its features, and it lunged forward, raking the air with three of its limbs. Each claw cut a ragged gash in reality. Rifts of purple shadows hung in space, hovering a moment before blade-like beams of energy shot towards Kaius and Porkchop.

They were a storm. Dense and heavy, he knew it would be impossible to dodge — Sergeant’s Intuition and Moment of Flow made that plenty clear.

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Leaping to the side, Kaius heard the air sizzle as one beam cut past him. Three more hemmed him in. Trusting in his blade, he cut.

Ephemeral magic shattered against his blade. A wash of thinner energy blew over his torso, sparking against his armour and tearing at the skin and muscle beneath.

Porkchop fared worse. Unable to dispel the skill, dense blades slammed into his armour. They seemed to sink straight through the barrier, gushes of blood welling from between the plates.

He let out a roar of pain. “Armour penetrating! Went straight through.”

Kaius could only grit his teeth, enduring his own wounds as he ran out of the remnant clouds of mana.

Kenva’s voice crackled in his ear. “Need help? I doubt it’ll be able to keep that up with a few holes in its back.”

“No!” Kaius replied quickly. “It’s got an incorporeality skill — if it’s aware of you, we might never get a chance at a deciding wound.”

Kenva let out a concerned grumble. He ignored her. They could handle this themselves.

“Push it! We can’t give it room!”

A wall of shining blades separated them from their target — they charged all the same. It was reckless, but it wasn’t like they had any other options.

Burning mana washed over him again and again, every stride they moved hard won under fire. Before they could make it half way, a sudden crack stabbed him sharply. Porkchop staggered to the side in the same instant, wheezing.

A sinuous tail snapped away, gone before they could punish the sudden attack.

This wasn’t working — they were taking too much of a beating.

Unless…

Kaius grinned. It’s incorporeality! He had never seen the creature use it in conjunction with another skill. At its level, such a skill had to take immense concentration — it would give them an opening. A small one, but a moment was all they would need to get back in its face.