63: The Hall of the Luminous, Part Twenty-Eight

The Hall of the Luminous, Part Twenty-Eight

{Wave 21}

[So, let's see,] Neve thought. [We had one set of beginner monsters, one set of dragon types, one set of cave types, and one set of eldritch horrors from who-knows-where. What will the last one be?] 

Without having to be told, Erin slid across the stone floor and took her usual position between Neve and the three enemies manifesting up ahead. 

Neve's tense hands wrapped nervously around her staff. She was already sweating. Her heart began beating faster, up to the moment when she actually saw what they'd be facing. 

As soon as she saw the enemies, she understood that this set of opponents would test her and Erin on an entirely different level.

Three level 63 enemies appeared. 

Two undead knights, and a sorcerer with blank eyes. 

"This is it?" Erin asked with tangible confidence in her words. "After all of the nightmares we've encountered, I find myself feeling disappointed."

"Don't be fooled," Neve replied. "These are the most dangerous kinds of enemies out there."

Neve wasn't just saying this for the sake of keeping Erin focused. She fully meant this. 

The reason for that was that undead humans were generally not mindless beasts who would merely attempt to overpower the duo through strength and brute force. No, these enemies would use skills and tactics to take players down, all while packing a similar strength and speed to that of a rabid monster. 

Due to that, Neve tried to focus as hard as she could. She'd need to outsmart and outmaneuver these creatures if she was going to win. 

Erin, however, was still skeptical, it seemed. 

She moved forward, her blades held out, ready to strike. 

Instantly, the undead sorcerer reacted by casting a spell that conjured a dark rune under its soldiers. Their bodies were wrapped in a black aura. 

Neve quickly did the same, casting {Sacred Ground} just a small distance ahead of Erin, where she guessed the lamia and the knights would trade blows. 

MP: 850/900

Erin, understanding what this spell did, made sure to remain on top of it as she met her opponents. 

Their blades clashed. 

Instantly, Erin's mood changed. 

She traded slashes with them a few times, their blades clanging off each other as Neve stepped to the left, looking for an angle to use her offensive spells.

After just one exchange, Erin backed off, and from the side, Neve saw that her confidence had been shaken. The lamia didn't say anything so, Neve couldn't tell if it was their skill with their swords or the power behind their blows, or both, that made Erin's attitude shift like this. She was happy to see it, though. Some caution would do them well here. 

Neve cast {Waterball} four times at the knights. One of them dodged both spells but the other, the one closest to Erin, did not, and both spheres of water crashed into it. 

MP: 810/900

"That guy should be a little less precise with his strikes now, take him out first." 

"Understood," Erin replied. 

As the sorcerer saw this happen, Neve watched as it turned its attention to her, accepting Neve as its enemy. 

Quickly, it launched a giant sphere of flames at the healer. Neve ran back and Erin ran forward, engaging the knights once again. 

The fiery projectile chased the healer. 

[That's annoying,] she thought, as she ran from one side of the room to another until the attack finally hit the ground and disappeared. 

Turning back to see how Erin was doing, Neve watched as the lamia managed to lean and dodge an attack from the opponent Neve had hit with {Waterball}, and followed up by stabbing both her blades into the opponent's neck, between his helmet and his chest plate. 

The knight fell. It was not quite dead, but it was far from being able to fight. 

Its ally, however, capitalized on the moment and the other knight managed to stab Erin through the chest with a lunge that Neve knew the instant she watched it happen that she would not have been able to react to. 

Erin disappeared and Neve watched as the two opponents still standing shifted their attention onto her. 

[Yeah... This is going to be dangerous. Extremely dangerous. I won't last a second if I let that knight close the gap with me. I need Erin to be out in the field pretty much at all times if I'm going to make it through these five waves.] 

On that note, she resummoned Erin, bringing her back just a couple of steps to the side. 

"So, what do you think?" Neve asked as the unharmed knight began ominously walking toward them. The sorcerer behind it just waited, its eyes still fixed on Neve though Erin had reappeared. 

"They are strong," Erin stated. "Blocking their attacks made the bones in my arms shake. But, I should still be able to outmatch them in terms of skill," she said. 

[For now,] Neve added. [This is only the first of the five waves.] 

"Can you cast that water spell on this enemy as well?" Erin asked. "It would help."

"I'll try." 

With that plan in mind, Erin slithered forward. 

Neve walked with her, their eyes set on the knight still standing. 

The sorcerer must have felt insulted by that, as it then raised its staff and cast a spell that made both Neve and Erin stop, shocked. 

Three giant rocks resembling meteorites appeared over its head, and the sorcerer launched them at the duo. 

Erin ran toward the knight to avoid them, moving beneath the incoming projectiles. Neve dodged backward, watching the rocks crash into the ground as these did not follow her like the last attack. 

The lamia began trading blows with this knight. Neve could tell she was making an effort not to block, choosing instead to dodge the incoming strikes. 

Neve ran forward again, trying to get in range to land {Waterball} before the mage could cast another spell. The injured knight was still laid out on the ground, bleeding. 

The sorcerer, watching Neve try this, cast the same spell, sending all three meteorites in Neve's direction. 

She rolled forward, the magical boulders crashing behind her, and she aimed her staff at the knight. Her attacks found its back and the knight half-turned, briefly distracted by the healer. 

Erin took the opportunity then and used {Rorvan's Flurry} on the opponent who had taken its eyes off her. 

One slash after another pounded away at the confused knight, Erin's swords bouncing off its armor and echoing in the temple. She got a fairly good amount of strikes in before the knight backed off. 

Instantly, Erin followed up with {Freezing Gaze}, paralyzing the opponent and giving her an opportunity to go in for the kill. 

As she moved forward, the sorcerer shifted its attention to her, raising its staff to cast the flame spell it had used earlier. Neve, however, looked back and forth between Erin and the sorcerer and had an idea. 

"Don't mind the spell, just kill that knight!" Neve ordered. 

Automatically, Erin resumed her movements and stabbed the frozen knight straight through its head. Unlike the previous opponent, the knight died then and there. 

All the while, the sphere of flames, a miniature sun hurdling toward Erin, was about to reach her. 

[My timing needs to be perfect.] 

Neve used {Equivalent Exchange}, marking Erin and then marking the sorcerer, who did not notice her movements. 

As soon as the spell reached the lamia, Neve activated the ability. 

Erin was set on fire. But, at the same time, so was the sorcerer.  2

[Hold out, hold out, hold out,] Neve begged Erin in her mind as she kept her staff aimed at the sorcerer. 

Her mana rapidly decreased, as she kept the spell activated for at least six seconds before, finally, Erin stopped burning. 

The sorcerer, however, did not, as Erin's residual wounds continued to transfer over to it. It gave ghostly, deathly screams, flailing until eventually, it fell to the ground, dead. 

Neve collapsed, falling to her knees. 

Having a spell drain her mana like this was a new experience. She was shocked at how exhausting it was. 

[I feel like I just ran 10 laps around this city,] Neve thought, breathing heavily. 

Erin, who had just been burning alive, didn't even look at Neve. Instead, breathing heavily and glaring hard, she slithered toward the body of the nearby knight who was still alive. Thanks to this guy, the wave hadn't ended yet. 

"D-Don't kill it," Neve spoke up quickly. "I need to regenerate my mana."

"I know," Erin replied through gritted teeth. "I am just... surprised," she muttered. "These enemies are nothing to be scoffed at." 

She then disappeared, and Neve looked down at the stone. 

[Bit of a rough start, but don't worry,] Neve told herself. [More than anything else, human-type enemies always test how good your fundamentals are. That's what you've been priding yourself in all this time, isn't it? You've got this. You've got this!] 

The knight that was still alive tried to stand up then, getting on its knees. Its arms failed it, however, and it ended up falling on its face. 

Neve chuckled, smiling down at it. 

"Rough day?" She asked. "Yeah, I know what it's like." 

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