Chapter 457 (1/2)
“Fuck, everyone pull back together! NOW! Someone’s using a Skill on the Death Cultists… all of them at once.”
Thea grunted, more to herself than anyone else, because no one could hear the noise over the sound of her hammer crushing in the skull of one of the weird pseudo-humans that populated the Dungeon. Had it been a few weeks ago, before she had really grown into this Skill, her Dance of the Ghostbear, Thea didn’t think she could manage it.
Not in terms of pure combat skills, although it was true that she was so much stronger than she had been before coming here. But in terms of mentality. There was a certain… numbness in the heat that infused her when she used the Skill, and it was easy to lose herself in that, letting the fury take care of moral quandaries. Mostly, it dealt with them by flat out annihilating them, leaving nothing but a strange, addictive passion in its wake.
Still, if something was going wrong in such a way that Rose was losing her cool…
Thea whistled and began sprinting back towards the main group, which were about 30 meters behind her. Some of their group stayed towards the center, to keep track of the huge clash of bodies going on around them. While the Death Cultists were protecting their back, the Raid Dungeon crew had been rapidly ripping through the Dintan people, burning their Stamina and Mana to do it.
Even though they hadn’t held anything back, it had been hard. These were tough, strong opponents, with high-level Skills and a Class. But that Class was recently obtained, so after focusing concentrated fire on them, they would swiftly crack and break, falling away.
But that took time, and with the absolute tide of monsters screaming for their blood, there was something of a deadline.
Meanwhile, Ace and Alana, two of their best close combat specialists, were tied up keeping Gemma and Rhaidon under control. Just when it seemed that they would overpower them, Rhaidon would display a burst of strength, covering for Gemma, who was somewhat uninspired in her battle strategies; she basically hacked at you until you died. Against Alana, this was almost child’s play to handle.
It was an unwelcome reminder to Thea of the girl that Gemma had been, before… before she had been taken here against her will, and…
“Slow and Wither Skills! From the Death Cultists, targeting US. No longer friendlies.” Rose’s scream sounded, and that gave Thea some pause, as she rushed back towards the group. The Death Cultists were targeting them…?
“Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning! Chain Lightning!” Clarissa’s hands were those of a conductor, controlling the lightning, almost 8 bolts at once, moving back and forth, crisscrossing through the monsters between them and the Death Cultists. While the group hadn’t been paying attention, it appeared that the Death Cultists had allowed the monsters through and had planned on attacking them from behind.
If Rose’s Skill didn’t detect it…
Through the hole, Chrysanthemum charged, a huge train based upon the amount of force contained in her body. Thea grinned; truly, she loved to see her partner moving at her top speed, it filled her with a wonderful admiration for the world, and for nature’s natural genius.
Annie leaped forward, arrows blurring and curving, seemingly just bolts of pure energy, snapping over Chrysanthemum’s head, smashing aside any monsters that noticed what was happening, and moved to stop it. There were only a few, based on the speed at which the Raid Party reacted. They hadn’t necessarily been training to work together in perfect concert while they were here, but each of them had a System boosted Intelligence and had seen their fellows Skills dozens of times.
Honestly, if they hadn’t picked up each other’s timing, it would be almost insane.
But then the Death Cultist, led by a red-eyed, Grey Death Cultist finished their spell, and Chrysanthemum groaned, her speed slowing immensely. Through their bond, Thea could feel the drain on Chrysanthemum’s life force, and her fury reached a fever pitch. Roaring, she charged forward, to exact vengeance on these Death Cultists, but Annie was much closer.
When that woman moved, she fucking moved, and covered half the distance in a second, launching herself high in the air. Behind, Thea heard a shout from Gemma, “Like I’ll let you!” and then Alana’s calm short, and didn’t even bother to turn around, just rushing forward, her eyes following Annie arc up into the air.
By the time Thea had reached the grouping of Rose, Ptolemy, and Drake, Annie was an incandescent sun in the sky. But when she spoke, her words echoed, as if the very light she was producing carried the noise outward in a circle. “Winter’s Dream.”
At first, there was nothing, and then from Annie spiraled outward several snowflake petals, that split into several hundred orbs, that split into several thousand arrows. They fell like the driven snow, thick and blinding and heavy, smashing into the middle of the mass of Death Cultists, where their grey leaders stood.