Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 73

Now restored, K-792 charged to the opposite end of the arena, knocking Mr Softee over in the process. Unfortunately, he landed on the edge of the crevasse he'd created. It crumbled beneath him and dropped him right into his own lava pool.

He went up in flames. He did not survive.

Valipn4ifw had been in the middle of a cast, with snowflakes forming in the air around him. He was building something big. But sadly, he chose to do so in the middle of the Boss's newly chosen path. It was like he thought he could somehow stop or slow it down, which was entirely silly considering how successful Mr Softee had been with that plan.

Valipn4ifw got turned into a pancake. He didn't survive, either.

K-792 spun to face Severance and Jack Coyote. Horrified, Severance only had one thought: this thing had to be stopped.

He started running, even as the tank barreled toward them. "Sky Dance!"

He was faster than Jack, so he cut a diagonal line across its path. It was a long shot, but he had to try something, anything.

"Suppress!"

He dove out of the way, sure that his skill at least clipped the robot tank as it flew past him. He rolled into a low somersault, regained his footing, and when he turned, he saw K-792 at the edge of the arena. A few blue sparks danced on a small corner of its frame and Jack Coyote was somehow still alive.

Severance was relieved, but he didn't know if his skill had done anything.

K-792 casually rolled back into the center. "Time for fleshbag barbeque."

Both the front and back flamethrower barrels began to glow. It only took a single glance for Severance to realize one set was facing him. And he was near the arena's edge, in the widest part of the soon-to-be roasted section.

He sprinted for his life. Blue torrents of fire leapt out at him.

"Earth Dance! Ward!" He desperately shouted. The bubble snapped shut and held for exactly a half second. Then it burst and blue fire caressed him as sweetly and gently as a grenade detonating in one's face would.

+1 Fortitude

A moment later, he burst through into open air that was gloriously fire-free. There was an odd feeling of numbness creeping along his skin, and one look at his bare arm almost made him puke. It was no wonder he didn't feel anything. There was no way nerve-endings had survived in that.

"Mend," he gasped.

Three more names had gone black in the party list: Morning Glory, Awesome Dude, and Mr Snowman. The rest had taken significant damage. And as a bonus, YellowThere had finally quit that horrible singing.

At least one thing's going right, Severance groused to himself. Mostly healed now, he brushed his blood-covered hands down the front of his coat, only to have parts of it disintegrate into ash.

He was going to have to change clothes, but now was not the time for that. Jack Coyote was doing what he could to hold K-792's attention. In order to buy some time for him to Revive Morning Glory, Severance needed to get Jack's health up to a safe level.

He threw everything he had at the tank: Ward, Radiant Dome, Mend.

The robot tank refused to cooperate with this plan.

"Become educated, fleshbags." A little door flipped open on the top of K-792's hatch. A little rocket launched into the sky. Severance followed it with his gaze, dread coiling in his belly. This was new.