Chapter 76: Clearing the Streets (1/2)
After bouncing around the cavern for a while, Mike ended up simply raising the sphere of force up into the air and falling back down repeatedly on the prone form the ritual caster.
He'd learned very quickly that, although the Salvation Stone protected him from harm, it also prevented him from influencing anything outside of the sphere. He couldn't figure out any way to cancel the effect. Even his magic was blocked by the ball of force, so he had to rely on simple physics to do the work for him.
Thus, Mike made the most of the time the Salvation Stone was active, crushing the ritual caster repeatedly with the sphere. Huzan had been reduced to little more than a limp sack, not even able to defend himself from the constant punishment.
When the stone's effect finally wore off, Mike was left standing over the crater that had formed under the repeated impacts. The mage had been forced into a vaguely humanoid shaped hole at the bottom of the impact site, and was lying still, looking dead to the world.
Not wanting to take any chances, Mike drove the point of his blade into the mage's midsection. It slid through the white robes like a knife through tissue paper, and easily sunk into the ground underneath him.
”Huzan is surprised. Huzan didn't think you could make your magic even sadder, but you did. Huzan weeps for your magic.”
A steady flow of mana arose from the caster's body, and sensing danger, Mike jumped back. Unseen blades of force whipped the surrounding area, creating deep fissures in the sides of the crater. One of them caught Mike on the leg, laying it open to the bone and flinging him away with its force. He slid to a halt after traveling about 10 meters.
He sent some mana to the injury to speed up the healing process, already feeling a little light-headed from the blood loss, and turned to face the mage.
Huzan was flying again, slowly rising out of the crater. The caster was surrounded with a crackling aura of purple lightning. No blood flowed from the gaping hole in his torso, and the reason why soon became apparent.
The mage's white mask, already cracked from the violence of the last few minutes, finally broke. The falling shards revealed Huzan's face, or at least what should have been his face.
The mage's head was composed of dozens of giant, squirming leeches. Their sharp toothed, circular mouths occasionally showing through the press of their black, bulbous, glistening bodies.
Mike watched in horrified fascination as the caster spoke by vibrating some of the worms in the area that should have been a mouth. Without his mask, the voice was hollow and buzzing, a bit like when someone talked through an electric fan.
”Huzan apologizes for Huzan's appearance. Huzan knows it's upsetting to you sad flesh bags. Don't worry, Huzan will make it better.” As the creature spoke, one of its component leeches fell onto its chest, before slowly inching its way back up to the robe's neckline.
The mage spread its arms wide, and six bizarrely twisted magic circles formed in the air around him.
”Huzan hopes that your death will be a quick one.”
From each of the circles, sinuous forms emerged. Easily two meters wide, they emerged from the formations like the feelers of some horrible sea creature.
Fanged mouths covered much of the creatures' lengths. They were vaguely reminiscent of the tentacle demon Mike had fought earlier. Each of the six eel-like appendages terminated in an elongated, almost crocodilian, set of jaws.
As one, the creatures shot forward towards Mike, forcing him to jump back as hard as he could to evade.
Huzan floated forward bringing the circles with him, and started laughing manically.
”Huzan loves it when the run! Run! Run, little mouse. Give Huzan a good chase.”
[Weapons don't seem to work on this guy, so I will have to use magic to finish him off. I need to lure him away from the altar so I can blast him.]
Dodging and weaving through the stalagmites, Mike succeeded in buying some time and distance from the altar, but the increasing whine of power in the air suggested that he needed to find a quicker solution. Distracted by this he let himself be worked into a corner, unable to evade everyone of the coming attacks.
Mike blocked one of the mouths with his sword, jamming the flat of the blade against its upper jaw while allowing the force of the blow to move him. Although he managed to avoid being bitten, he underestimated the creature's strength, and therefore wasn't ready when the monster pushed him into the air, throwing clear to one end of the cavern.
”S***!” Mike yelled while quickly trying to slow his flight with Air Magic. He still impacted the cavern wall with bone jarring force.
Coughing, he reevaluated his situation. Seeing the laughing spell caster floating towards him with the eels in tow, he figured he'd succeeded in the first of his objectives.
[Now I just need a way to land a solid blow. I'm pretty sure a good fireball with do the trick, but if he uses that force shield thing again, I'm going to be in trouble. I need a distraction.]
Mike held his ground, trying to think of a way to bypass the mage's defenses.
[I guess I'll just try it and hope for the best…..how does that chant go again?]
Relying on his admittedly faulty memory, Mike started chanting under his breath. ”I let thee free. Dance in thy fleeting luminescence…”
”No longer feeling like running? Huzan understands. Huzan would also give up in your situation.” The cluster of leeches that served as the caster's head nodded sagely.
”Huzan will take your life now,” and with a gesture he sent all six eels charging towards Mike, encircling him and giving him no route of escape, save one.
”…your eternal fury, [Fireball]!” Mike poured as much mana as he could into the spell as he sprinted forward narrowly avoiding the thrashing jaws of the eel monsters. Holding tight to the watermelon sized ball of flame, he moved till he was directly underneath the mage.
”Huzan questions your intelligence,” the leech monster said while raising its right hand to once again summon the shield of force. ”Huzan feels sorry for your magic, it is so...eh? ”
The caster's right arm flopped to the ground, its component leeches screeching a death cry.
Not sure what happened, but not wanting to waste the opportunity, Mike unleashed his spell, willing it upwards with all of his mental might.