My Welcoming committee was that of multiple explosions as Brenden and Dad immediately set to work blasting away at the NightWalker, who, upon my entrance to the battle, had its back to us.
With several well-placed shots into the back of its legs, the monster dropped to its knees and howled in pain before whipping around and glaring at us newcomers with rage spilling over through its six eyes.
(BREAK!) Taking a sharp breath, I stiffly raised my left arm and launched a barrage of Geo-Spikes, all of which connected with the monster’s back, rocking it forward and right into an uppercut from my ready in the waiting brother.
As an agile offensive tank, Brenden was always on the move, looking to get himself in the most optimal positions. The instant the NightWalker lurched forward from my attack, he was waiting, and with a loud crack, his Talent Boosted fist connected with such force that for a split second, I half believed him to have snapped the monster’s neck.
It’s a shame things are never that easy because even with its head facing skyward, the NightWalker was close enough and large enough to take a swipe at Brenden easily.
But there was already a counter in the waiting; multiple Compressed blasts slammed into the monster’s arm, stopping it dead in its tracks as a wave of multi-elemental attacks crashed down upon it, flattening the NightWalker like a pancake.
Using Xilia as a crutch, I manipulated my arm to the best of my ability and made a grabbing motion at the air before thrusting upward, generating a massive Geo-Spike that pierced the monster through the abdomen and raised it off the ground several feet.
Between the combined upward force of my attack and the immense weight of the NightWalker, my attack was barely able to pierce through its body. With the initial puncture wound, the spike was able to force its way toward the monster’s back, where the once-taught skin stretched like elastic as the spike attempted to finish the penetration.
Unfortunately, since my attack had lost what little momentum it had upon rising off the ground and losing its point, it was unable to finish the job, allowing the NightWalker to thrash about in agony.
"GAOOO, GAOOOO!!" It roared as it struggled for a moment before sudden clarity breached its walnut-sized brain.
’Shit’
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(EVERYONE EXCEPT ZAP ATTACK IT NOW!) Fighting through the pain and stiffness in my body, I let go of Xilia and jumped forward, causing my body to ache and creak like rusty metal, then unleashed multiple Geomancy attacks from every angle.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM BOOM
Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, Air, all five main elements were present as they rained down on the piked monster from every side, almost as if Mother Nature Herself refused to allow the NightWalker to continue existing in this plane of reality; however, it wasn’t enough.
Even with the combined effort of nearly a hundred people, the monster simply ate the attacks and carried on with its half baked plan.
Reaching its long arms down, it gripped the spike, and without caring about injuring itself further, since it didn’t bleed, it forced itself upward and, with a single movement, ripped its body off the spike and kicked upward…the NightWalker was free once again.
’Something’s off about this thing; I destroyed all the Homunculus fragments earlier and removed its Energy Core; there is no way it should still be able to move like this.’ With each movement I made, my body screamed in pain; however, I was also beginning to loosen up as the combination of Adrenaline and a high pain threshold took over.
(PHYS INTERCEPT!) I ordered while rushing forward, using my Dust Manipulation to work the braces on my limbs like an exo-suit. Apart from causing more strain and worsening my injuries in doing so, it also was distracting, as I needed to work each of the three braces in tandem with how the human body usually moves.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to move at all, given how they were made of stone and all.
’Damn it; this would be so much easier if I didn’t have to worry about canceling my Nexus Alias; I could just one tap the damn thing with Actuate 60 no 75%. Instead, I have to get creative and abuse my body differently.’ Staying on the move and laying a trap by scattering particle dirt with every step I took, my eyes flicked to the eight bulky members of the Phys-squad as they appeared in front of the Enraged NightWalker and assaulted it with a flurry of physical attacks.
Punches, kicks, and weapons such as staves, hammers, and swords flashed around as the eight people, plus my father, assaulted the NightWalker. But as expected, the only attacks that actually affected it were the ones launched by Dad.
(Switch, Fire, you’re up!) at my command, the nine people attacking jumped back and swapped places with those from Fire-Squad as a literal hell descended onto the NightWalker.
Fireballs, blasts, bolts, waves, walls, every skill type was present and descending on the NightWalker from every angle; there was even a massive firebird that dropped from the sky onto the NightWalker’s head, yet through it all, the monster stayed standing, albeit in agony and screaming bloody murder as it was roasted alive.
Noticing the slight spasms running through its body, I knew the NightWalker wanted to make a break for it, so the next swap out was a tag team.
(It wants to run! Vector: you need to change its trajectory by targeting its center of gravity and legs. Marek and Jaxx will be your guides. Follow their attacks, and Ice, you need to trail it and hammer its legs with frost to slow it down; this thing is getting stronger the longer we fight, so we need to deal with it while we can!)
Had we not been on the platform, which is only a little larger than a football field, we could have gone for a similar approach to what we did with the Undead Horde; however, if we tried, unless we iced the entire mountain side, the NightWalker wouldn’t have much problem avoiding the trap considering each of its strides was enough to carry it a 1/5th of the platform in a single step if it so wished.