Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Reinforcements (II)

The Hellhound made a beeline for Merlin, for there were no trees and no hiding places between them. The mage stood still, as he watched his enemy with his feline eyes. It wasn't the first time he had fought against such a powerful being, but it wasn't something usual either. He knew that if he let it get close, it would be dangerous.

It was ten meters away when the first Fireballs surrounding the feline mage began to move. They accelerated in an instant at breakneck speed, and slammed into the blood canid one after the other.

"Hmm. They can stop and push it back, but they don't do much damage. Let's see the earth... Or maybe ice is better?"

The fire projectiles continued to hit his enemy. They had managed to stop it, and even push it back. On more than one occasion, they had pierced part of its body, but soon after the blood being had recomposed itself.

Soon, the Fireballs gave way to rock spikes created by the Stalactite spell. Along with them, Ice Icicles also hit his enemy.

"The earth holds it better, and the ice does a little more damage. I don't know if it'll be enough. My mana isn't infinite, and I need to maintain the barrier," the mage worried.

The Hellhound pounced on the barbarian woman, and was cut in two halves. She smiled satisfied and somewhat disappointed at how easy it had been, but she soon realized her mistake. Her enemy was soon back together.

"Oh, it looks funnier than I thought," Skullsmash told herself.

She used Thousand Axes again to cut her enemy into small pieces before it could recompose itself. It fell to the ground in a huge pool of blood. To her surprise, the Hellhound's form began to rise again from the blood.

"What a curious bug. I wonder how many times I'll have to cut it. Crushy! How're you doing with yours?"

"It becomes a purée every time I hit it, but it arises again. They're somewhat cumbersome. Strike!"

His Hellhound had jumped on him again, and he had hit him again with Strike. It is a curious hammer skill that hits with the weapon as if it were a baseball bat.

The fourth being tried to attack the feline. However, although fast on the ground, it was unable to follow her when she climbed a tree, or jumped between them. The lynx wanted to attack, but she knew that her level was insufficient.

So was Goldmi's, but she could help from a distance. After watching their enemies being torn apart a few times, she tried shooting Light Arrows into a newly created pool of blood.

"Oh! It's effective! You're Goldmi, right? I don't know where you are, but could you shoot more arrows? As many as you can. We'll throw these bugs against them. Can you tell your little cat to bring the other one?" Smashy asked.

The lynx growled to herself. It made Goldmi smile, as the goshawk wondered what had caused that reaction. The feline jumped from the tree, and headed towards the siblings. She passed between the two. When her pursuer tried to do the same, it was crushed by a hammer blow.

"Stupid brother! Throw it over the arrows!" Smashy scolded him.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll send it now," he apologized.

Before the feline arrived, more than twenty Light Arrows had been shot. Although of a much lower level, they were gradually dissolving the pools of blood that were thrown over them.

Interestingly, even though the arrows were crushed, they still held the power, which spared Bonescrusher a good scold. Goldmi wasn't sure if she had enough mana to finish them off, but she certainly helped weaken them. In fact, every time they were cut or crushed they were weakened, albeit slowly.

Krovledi jumped to the side, away from the silver-haired vampiress. She knew from their previous fight that her enemy wouldn't let her breath, and also that she could use dangerous threads. Because of this, she had learned a kind of mana shield that had been active from the start of the fight. Even though her enemy's attacks could easily break it, the rest of the shield would still contain them.

Thanks to that, the adamantine threads couldn't catch her. Also, right after starting the fight, she had summoned a Blood Cloud to control their location.

Gjaki had prepared the threads, but since she couldn't use them as a surprise factor, she used them to restrict the movement of her enemy. They created a kind of cage that neither of them could escape from. Well, actually, if she wanted to, she could pull the threads away.

Gjaki attacked with Thousand Lashes only to see how her enemy responded, as she was planning her next move. What she didn't expect was that, instead of defending herself, Krovledi rushed towards her. She received the lashes, while throwing some dangerous poisoned darts.

During these past ten years, she had been planning how to deal with Gjaki, and this was one of the tactics she had developed. The poison from the darts was especially dangerous against vampires, and she didn't think her enemy could get away unscathed. She much less expected that Gjaki could dodge them.

Perhaps, the attack was quick and hard to see, but Gjaki had activated Premonition. Thanks to it, she had managed to dodge most of them, block one with the handle of her whip, and even grab a second with her hand, just inches from her stomach.

Without hesitation, she used Fleeting Dagger to return the dart to its rightful owner. The skill worked despite not being a dagger, although the speed was somewhat lower. She felt that with a little training, it could be improved. Nonetheless, now it wasn't the time to think about it.

Krovledi raised a Blood Shield to block whatever could come, and was lucky to block the dart. However, she wasn't happy about it. Instead, she gritted her teeth in anger and frustration. Krovledi couldn't understand how her enemy had avoided the attack. However, she had no time to think about it.

Gjaki had thrown herself to the ground, and her leg extended to strike her enemy's ankle, below the Blood Shield. Krovledi barely managed to dodge the attack for an instant, but she didn't have time to relax. Although her wounds were healing, that had just begun.