Chapter 16-421: Two Ways to Bring a Hammer Down (2/2)
Always happy to help the superhuman aerobatics display and shows of flexibility, grace, power, and control by two gorgeous winged Amazons with burning Swords, that’s me!
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The holy demoness and fallen angel Warlocks, looking very appropriate together, descended in tandem next to me, leaving the place strewn with unwhite fires under the starlight from above.
“Yeah, yeah, that would have looked even sexier with the fox tails,” I admitted to them both, holding out my fists and getting a bump from both of them.
“It won’t look nearly as good as Windwise,” Shvaughn bemoaned, flicking away Burn and letting all the accessory wings and horns burn to ash and cinders, Legion following suit. They both grabbed my Rod Spike, none of us having the least desire to speak with the Borea; ki flickered, wove magic, and we were gone on Teleport wings.
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Shvaughn sniffed as we arrived back in Detroit in a certain room in Heavenbound Hall, frowned, and Legion politely dosed her in Wrathflame, getting rid of the residual brimstone odor from wielding Hellfire. The gore had naturally burned away during the fighting and wasn’t an issue.
“That was a fine bit of entertainment!” Shvaughn laughed. “And there are so many more of those things, scattered among all the Packs, as I recall...” She gave me an expectant smile.
“You might be able to take on one of the Lesser Banes. Emphasis on might. Your self-healing is lacking, and they are all going to have 30 or higher Spell Resistance.”
She had Healing Edge on Burn, and Fast Healing from Hamadryad combined with Warshaper, and she knew I knew it. But Spell Resistance meant she had to get into Melee Range, and those things hit REALLY hard and fast.
There was no certainty she could avoid some lethal offensive magic, either.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t want to try. After hanging around with me and getting some massive upgrades to her offense, defense, and survivability, it was plain she wanted to have a go at them.
“Is there one you want to take on?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Lupus Diothr!” she answered firmly.
The double-headed Death Wolf Sealed in the Twin Tomb of Tungusken. His imprisonment was a high point of honor for the Borea, as his very presence drove werewolves mad and sapped them of strength if they fought him.
“Oh, thought you’d take Elkar the Forest Cancer.” We weren’t restricted to Borea’s Seal, after all. I wanted ALL those Banes cleared.
She pursed her lips at the mention, and her black and crimson eyes narrowed in thought. She abruptly realized she was showing the Hellsign when she glanced out my eyes, and nodded at the reminder from me.
“Plummage, Shreek, Emmagesk,” Legion offered, naming some of the historically weakest Banes, sifting them out of a few thousand years of accessible memories.
“They all make great Eleven Tests,” I pointed out. “You’ve got more than enough sisterhood/daughter/mother/lover/wife bonds to Legion that it should carry you right into Eleven if you can beat one.”
Just needed that +1 Attack Bonus inspiration to take her Melee Class up one more notch, and then everything could start advancing again.
She looked at Legion, who just inclined their head knowingly. Their base +17 Attack Bonus from Queen Rayetizvisha was no joke. Master Fred was taking Melee straight up, leaving it to the Cohort to take the Secondary Levels. If they were limited by him, then the solution was simply for him to improve, and they would all improve together.
They’d just butchered a Sealed Bane today. He was a Twelve and increasing steadily, while the Cohort was wildly playing catchup as he kept his advances firm and steady.
Also, paying off a lot of conflated Racial Levels. Popping a Bane like that had certainly helped, there was no doubt.
“Tying Plummage to the ground turns it into a straight Melee fight.” Her Hell-red eyes burned in anticipation. “Wingbind the thing if I can, Stillflight the area if I can’t, and let’s see if that feather-spraying chicken can get away!”
“We’ll dump killing the Sealed Banes onto the stuff to do.” Plink! Hundreds of Caerns Sealing up eldritch horrors largely born of the Shattered out of the Maze went onto The Map. A lot of Heads turned at the Turquoise to UV Ratings of the spots when they suddenly noticed them.
-Hey, I got rid of that Loci up in the U-P,- Sama promptly /piped up.
Shvaughn pursed her immaculate lips as she looked at the Indigo Rating there. -Bloody Forsaken Hag!- she /called back instantly, and Sama promptly /cackled back at her.
-Uh, I didn’t know these were Banes,- Briggs /added afterwards, and three Sapphire ratings in northern Canada, Greenland, and Iceland were crossed off.
I smirked. He’d done them as a Six. I caught impressions of wendigos, werewolves, yeti, and some ice Fey with attitudes, along with some Shattered Aspects and at least a few mutated ogres. None of them had really lived to talk about Endure doing what it was meant to do...