Touch of Fate 229 Deciding Factor

Brenden couldn't help but flinch as a spray of dirt rained down on him. He wasn't even entirely sure what had caused the small explosion, which had left a crater a few meters in diameter in the ground, but he could only assume it was yet more collateral damage caused by the fight going on in front of him.

The ongoing struggle between Mike and the newly shaped monster was hazardous to everyone and everything in their vicinity. Not only the plain itself, but even parts of the wall had been caught up in the confrontation, and had been severely damaged as a result. So far, it had been a furious and devastating battle, although you couldn't tell by looking at the participants.

The monster appeared to be much the same as when it had reformed, save for its skin, which had taken on an almost scaly, almost reptilian appearance. Mike's mix of damaging spells and weapon attacks hadn't left any appreciable injuries, as the creature's regeneration proved to be even more potent than in its previous shape.

The man himself was still uninjured, since his natural evasiveness coupled with his own regeneration managed to mitigate and then heal any wounds he'd suffered. However, he'd been forced to use excessive amounts of magic just to keep up with the monster, and Brenden was sure that he couldn't maintain this level of combat for long.

He tried to imagine going up against the three meter tall creature himself, and shuddered at the thought. Not only was it moving and attacking at speeds that would be hard for him to match, but the sheer bulk of its form lent an incredible amount of force to every blow. To add to that, it had the disturbing tendency to reform portions of itself into a variety of deadly-looking weapons and add them into its attack routine every now and then.

Thankfully, it still moved with the awkwardness of an amateur combatant, and it was therefore not impossible to evade its furious flailing. Yet, judging from the way it had been learning and improving of the course of the battle, he wasn't sure how much longer that would be true.

"So, what's the plan?" He asked Tal once they were in position behind a low stone fence that ran along a small secondary road. From this location, they could observe the ongoing fight that was taking place roughly thirty meters away with a reasonable amount safety. Any closer would have brought them into the crossfire.

The elf briefly opened her eyes and glanced at him with a blank expression on her face. "Give moment."

She had her right hand placed against her chest, and it appeared like she was concentrating on something.

Despite traveling together for awhile now, Brenden still had trouble understanding her. Not that he really blamed himself for that, since it was really difficult to get a read on someone who completely lacked the ability to express emotion or even speak coherently. It was something that he and Sera had talked about on occasion, but they hadn't been able to find a decent solution for the issue.

[One of these days, I'm going to need to have a conversation with Mike about how he does it.] He thought to himself, slightly jealous of the way the other man had always been able to easy interpret Tal's meaning with just a few emotionless words. There had to be some kind of trick to it.

At a loss for what to do, he glanced around, and almost cursed out loud when he noticed Lily was still standing upright, not even bothering to crouch behind the wall.

"Get down, will ya? We don't want to draw that thing's attention." He said while pulling her down.

"Why? I don't think it cares about us right now." She replied calmly while complying with his demand.

"We don't know that for certain, and it doesn't hurt to be cautious." He said, while poking his head over the wall for a moment to get an idea of what was going on.

He was just in time to catch a glimpse of Mike hammering the creature's torso with a magically enhanced kick, filling the air with an audible thud. So intense was the blow that, even though it was just for a moment, he could see the ripples of force pass through the monster's flesh in a manner that reminded him of the waves that were created when someone dropped a rock in a still pond.

However, this same phenomenon had the effect of diluting and weakening the resulting impact, and it accomplished little more than pushing the monster back. Clearly, this kind of attack was largely ineffective, but then again, Mike seemed to understand that.

While the creature was still off balance, he stabbed into the back of its left knee with his spear, driving his weapon almost all the way through the meaty appendage before withdrawing it quickly. Unfortunately, this also appeared to be ineffective.

"It's only mimicking a humanoid form." Sera commented grimly from his right. "It doesn't have the same anatomy, or any of the weaknesses that anatomy provides."

Brenden was forced to agree as he watched the creature shrug off the injury and spin in place in an attempt to squish the nuisance that was dancing around its feet. At the same time, sickle shaped protrusions of hardened flesh emerged from its calves and began swinging wildly in wide circles around its legs.

He grimaced at the bizarre display. "Then what are we supposed to do? I hate to say it, but this monster is beyond our capacity to deal with it. Maybe its even beyond Mike's."

A strange look entered Sera's eyes, and for a moment she carried the air of someone far more mature than her scant decade and a half of life should have allowed. Flashing him a thin smile, she said, "Every enemy has some kind of weakness. Something that can be taken advantage. Its just a matter of finding it."

"You make it sound simple, but isn't that what we've been trying to do this whole time?"

"Tal's got a method that should open things up for us. Once she acts, we just need to figure out where to attack." She tapped her temple. "Ever since my class changed, my eyes have the ability to do just that."

He paused to consider the implications. "Did you have some kind of vision? Do you know how to stop it?"

The Oracle shook her head. "Unfortunately, its not that simple. My new skill lets me see moments of opportunity. While it can eventually allow me to deliver a lethal blow in a fight, on more difficult opponents, I typically have to go through a number of steps to even have a chance of doing so. Against this monster, I haven't been able to see much of anything at all.."

Brenden frowned, "So then, what good is it?"

"Even if I can't see the path to victory at the moment, it doesn't mean that one doesn't exist. My ability is telling me that much. Assuming Tal's plan works, it should show me exactly what we need to do."

He took a moment to study her, and realized that she was very pale, and there was a pinched nature to her expression the suggested extreme fatigue. Whatever this ability of hers was, it obviously took something out of her to use it. He wondered if he should say something, but eventually decided not to. They didn't really have the luxury of avoiding a particular method simply because it was taxing. Besides, he didn't want to discount her efforts.

"Almost ready." Tal intoned to the group.

"Wait, what? What am I supposed to do?" He asked while Lily and Sera stood up.

Lily gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, nearly knocking him over in the process. "You're the coy."

"...Come again?"

"She means decoy. We need someone to keep its attention off Mike for a little while. There's no one better suited for the job than you." Sera answered.

"Are you kidding? That thing will murder me!"

"Only minute. Be fine." Tal replied heartlessly.

Brenden looked at the other two, hoping to find some level of sympathy, or perhaps mercy in their gazes. Alas, there was none.

"...You're still angry at me for leaving, aren't you?" He found himself asking, already resigning himself to becoming bait.

Sera shook her head in an exaggerated manner, while asking him sarcastically, "What? Do you think we're angry about the way you selfishly walked out on the group without saying anything, leaving us to wonder if you were dead in ditch somewhere? How could we be?"

He sighed, "Whatever, lets just get this over with."

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Mike jumped back desperately, narrowly avoiding the creature's meaty fist. It was starting to get faster and more accurate, and if not for some timely rank improvements to his own skills, it would have been very difficult to keep up with it. As it was, he would need to start enhancing his Agility in the near future, or risk a debilitating injury that would leave him vulnerable.

He'd nearly given up on actually killing the thing, since virtually all the methods he could use to attack it had proven largely ineffective. At this point, he could only hope that there was some kind of limit to its endurance.

[Alright, lets see how Ice Magic works on this thing.] He thought to himself while gathering his mana once more. With an effort of will, he directed it towards the creature, forcing the temperature of its tissue to drop rapidly.

Despite being a product of freecasting, he was rewarded for his efforts by a thick layer of frost that formed on the creature's skin, starting on its legs before spreading upwards. It began to slow, and eventually stopped moving entirely. Just to be on the safe side, he kept feeding mana to the spell until he was certain that it had affected the monster's entire body.

He took a moment to catch his breath as he watched the ice covered creature, wondering if this might have been the solution all along. From what little he recalled about biology, he was fairly certain that freezing live cells caused them to burst. Maybe all he needed to do was ensure that not a single cell survived.

He was still contemplating possible methods of doing just that, when the creature began to disintegrate. For a moment, he could only look on in confusion as the frozen beast was quickly reduced to a pile of icy dust.

[Did that do it? Is it finally dead?] He thought before he had a chance to stop himself. Cursing his uncontrollable tendency to raise flags, he was not surprised with the dust melted into a pool of liquid before rapidly returning to its bipedal shape.

He was resignedly preparing himself to start fighting it once more, when a brown blur swept past the partially reformed creature, severing its legs from its torso in the process. The blur stopped just long enough for him to recognize a transformed Brenden, before he lept back into the fight, cutting at the monster with his sword in a frenzied manner.

"Mike! Over here!" A voice called.

Sera was waving from behind a small mound of displaced dirt, beckoning him to come over. He could see Lily and Tal as well. The elf had her eyes closed, and it looked like she was concentrating on something. The other woman was watching the battle between Brenden and the monster with a concerning level of interest. Based on his previous experiences with her, Mike guessed that she would soon join the fight, regardless of whether or not it was a good idea.

Slightly annoyed at their presence here, he jogged over and hunkered down next to them.

"What are you doing?" He asked, a little more forcefully than he intended.

"We're here to help." Sera answered simply, not taking her eyes off of the monster. "You can't beat this thing with your usual methods."

[Okay...fair point.]
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"Are you saying that you can defeat it?"

She shook her head. "I'm saying that, together, we can defeat it. Tal believes she has a method that can stop its regeneration long enough for us to target its core, but we'll need you provide a decent opportunity for her to make use of it."

Mike felt a flutter of hope. "What do you need me to do?"

"You can make sound with Air Magic, right?"

He nodded.

"How loud can you make it?"

Chapter end