Chapter 465 (2/2)
The Stagbat screeched again, and this time charged forward, aiming for Alana. With the eight grey lasers trained on her, she scrambled backward, away from Randidly, aiming to stay out of its effective range.
Randidly glanced sideways. Clarissa and Rose were in position, and Ptolemy’s crouched form over Ace would give him another anchor that he needed. Time to try this plan. Because even if he didn’t have any Mana remaining, he had plenty of Stamina and was regenerating a huge sum every minute.
He used Phantom Half-Step to teleport forward, passing the Stagbat by about 5 meters. But immediately upon landing, he launched himself forward, aiming for its back. It noticed, but simply swiveled three of its lasers to drive him away. Randidly grinned, and used Phantom Half-Step on Ptolemy, pulling himself to the side. Then he used it again on Alana, appearing almost directly over the Stagbat. His huge spear stabbed downward, aiming for the bat head on the stag’s back.
To Randidly’s surprise, the head twisted to the side, glaring up at him, its grey eye sparkling dangerously. Frowning in displeasure, Randidly drove his spear into its back, cutting deeply into its internal organs. Then, almost immediately, he activated Phantom Half-Step, avoiding the six beams that slashed towards him when he appeared over it.
With a small pat, Randidly landed on the ground, regarding the Stagbat. It was fast, and its attacks couldn’t be weathered. Also, the normal damage wouldn’t do anything to hurt it in the short term. If anything…
A ninth grey ball appeared above its antlers. Spinning slowly at first, it gradually darkened and condensed more fully.
...if anything, the danger would activate more of the Regalia’s power.
If you can buy me a minute or so, I think I can land something to hurt it seriously, Alana said through the party chat.
Nodding slowly, Randidly stepped forward. To his surprise, Thea came forward with him, and opposite them, Ace stood, cracking his neck, and walking towards the Stagbat’s back like he hadn’t just had his rib cage broken. Ptolemy, for his part, at least had the common decency to look exhausted.
Strangely, Randidly had an image suddenly of their portraits at the edge of a map, with the dubious pronouncement “here be monsters”. Grinning slightly, Randidly rushed forward, grabbing the Stagbat’s attention. One beam each went out to Thea and Ace, likely to keep them from moving too freely, leaving 7 to focus on Randidly. Again and again, he used Phantom Half-Step, practically teleporting around the Stagbat, slashing and attacking it as best he could, keeping it at bay, earning its ire.
Annie had taken to targeting its eyes, aiming to blind it, rather than just sinking more arrows into its soft flesh. This seemed to set something off in the Stagbat, and it began to move around more rapidly, often losing its balance when it landed, but gaining a huge amount of momentum when it leaped towards its target.
Randidly narrowed his eyes. With this mobility-
But just as Randidly thought it was getting to a dangerous level, Ace twirled around his beam, dodged first one, then two, then three more beams, seeming to pirouette midair, sliding through a small opening matrix style. After a quick landing, he rushed forward and delivered a dropkick to the Stagbat’s side, sending it stumbling.
In that small opening where its beams weakened and wandered, Randidly hefted his spear and threw it. His aim was true, and it hit the Stagbat’s right foreleg, severing the leg by cracking the bone so that it dangled from its limb only by the flesh.
The monster screeched in fury and fell to its knees. Above them, an Avatar of Alana, built on a 2x scale, descended like a hammer striking the Stagbat directly in the back, crushing the bat face and cracking its spine.