Chapter 554 Showing Them Why
Jaxx hurriedly rejoined with the rest of the party, allowing them to form a somewhat loose circle formation. Phoenix took control of their formation, as Astaroth wandered off, as per his usual, and the battle became a lot easier for them.
After forming their loose circle, Phoenix ordered everyone to march forward. They had to get to a more open space, where they wouldn't have to worry about enemies falling on their heads from above.
Morpheus, who was still surveying the area from overhead, communicated to Astaroth an area where they could achieve this. So he relayed the message.
"Three streets to the north! There is a mostly destroyed market, with wide open space!"
Phoenix nodded her head, directing their formation in that direction, like a well-trained marching band. Only, there was no music, aside from the cries of battle and pain.
Their pace wasn't the quickest one, given they had to focus on fighting more than walking, but with Astaroth clearing many of the monsters in front of them, they made haste.
It took the group of twelve players, plus the summons, ten minutes to travel the three blocks of distance. In that period, Astaroth observed the Human fighter with a piercing gaze.
The man's actions disappointed him, as they could have cost them more than just a lost player. But he knew now wasn't the time to drop the hammer on him.
Jaxx's only saving grace, right now, was the Cleric's outstanding healing. The woman wasn't much of a combatant, contrary to Silent Light, who wore heavy armour and wielded a weapon.
Jeanne d'Arc spun around, wielding only with a long metal rod, on which Astaroth could faintly see twin snakes engraved along the shaft.
'A nice caduceus, all things considered,' he thought to himself.
She might not be a combatant, but she fulfilled her role in the party well. Contrary to Silent Light, who only healed when the party members reached under fifty percent of their health, Jeanne could keep everyone well topped off.
And even while doing so, her mana reserves were barely dwindling.
From this observation, Astaroth deduced Silent had picked a more battle healer role, and Jeanne d'Arc was a pure healer. From this alone, Astaroth knew she couldn't fight anything on her own.
Silent Light at least had some autonomy on the battlefield, which came in handy. But, then again, Silent was still a pure healer, if only a bit more versatile.
Astaroth watched as even from a hundred meters ahead of the group, heals came in on him when he took hits. The woman also kept tabs on his summons, healing them when needed, which impressed him.
Once the party settled in the center of the destroyed market, with half-broken carts and chunks of the nearby buildings on the surrounding ground, Phoenix nodded her head.
Twirling her hands, Phoenix conjured a ring of fire around the group, which she then expanded rapidly, the fire blazing in an almost white tint, as it incinerated every obstacle in its way, clearing the rubble away. When the ring extinguished, not a single obstacle blocked the party's view any longer.
"We can hold here, Astaroth! Do your thing!"
Astaroth grinned madly in response.
"With pleasure!" he shouted back.
Astaroth suddenly lifted off the rooftop he had been on, seemingly stepping on the air itself, reaching the same height as Morpheus in an instant. From there, he pulsed out a wave of mana, almost visible so it was thick, and focused on his magic sense.
As the wave crashed through everything in a five-hundred-meter radius from him, everything with a mana signature appeared in Astaroth's mind. And this showed him what he was looking for.
"Found you, you undead shit."
Astaroth shared the location of his findings mentally to all his summons, and moments after, the party was left to fend for itself, as Genie, Luna, White, and Morpheus suddenly bolted toward the East.
Jaxx almost panicked, as gaps appeared in their formation, where Genie and White had been moments ago.
"Wait! Why is he pulling away from us?! We need those wolves!" he cried out.
*Whack!*
Jeanne's metal rod smacked on the top of his head, a small damage number appearing. But Jaxx couldn't turn around to scold his sister, as he was busy beating back a ghoul.
"Just focus on yourself, you imbecile! Do you want us to look even worse in the guild's eyes?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Jeanne shouted from behind him.
Phoenix was already looking at Jaxx with disappointment. If they weren't in the middle of combat, she would have booted him out of the group already, for being so weak-willed.
"We don't need them," Phoenix said, from the air above them, her body erupting in flame.
"I had us come here so us officers can show you new people why we held on under siege. Violette. We're up!"
Jaxx knew Paragons had beat the odds in the siege of Bastion City. But he thought it was because of a lack of coordination between the sieging guilds.
He looked at the little girl behind him, who only smirked arrogantly at him, before stepping out of the circle formation.
A bubble of water appeared around her, lifting from the ground, with her at its center, before she vanished entirely inside the water. The next second, Jaxx's eyes, along with the entire party's eyes, went wide.
The water bubble ballooned in size, doubling, tripling, and then quadrupling in volume before changing shape.
The large glob of water grew appendages, and two spheres of black matter appeared on it.
Phoenix almost clapped proudly, as she watched Violette transform in this large water elemental, much more smoothly than previously.
Phoenix didn't want to let the little girl steal all the spotlight, so she went into her next gear, her flames growing hotter until they shifted from orange to bright blue.
"Time to let loose! As for you guys, try to survive and don't get in our way!"
After saying this to the group under her, Phoenix became a blue comet as she flew through the enemy ranks, turning anything she touched to cinders.
Violette also started her carnage, as waves of water engulfed another part of the battlefield, leaving little enemies unscathed. She even washed over groups of enemies, taking them within her watery body, and slowly drowning them inside herself.
The remaining nine players didn't know how to react.
'Monsters…' is what crossed all of their minds.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m