108: Blood in the Water, Part Twenty-Three

Blood in the Water, Part Twenty-Three

The battle opened with Isolnir closing the gap between him and Neve before the healer could even see that he was moving. 

[Shit!] 

Erin positioned herself between them, however, and blocked the overhead, downward thrust from his trident. 

Neve backed off then and swapped out that toy for {Sayran's Holy Blade} while Isolnir and Erin traded blows up ahead. 

The changes that Isolnir's body had undergone did not revert. 

[Good. So, just showing him that thing was enough.] 

The million-dollar question now was: 

Could he be damaged? 

Neve attempted to answer that question by strafing to the right and casting {Fireball} on him.

MP: 1090/1100

MP: 1080/1100

MP: 1070/1100

The spheres of flame launching out of her staff all went wide thanks to Neve's low Precision, but Neve kept throwing them out frantically. 

[All it takes is one, come on...] 

That request was granted when Neve reached 1040 mana. She threw out a {Fireball} just as Isolnir was rearing back to slam his trident down on Erin's head and the projectile connected with his hand. 

No barrier stopped it this time. 

[Yes!] 

The toy had done the trick. 

The fight had well and truly begun. 

As the {Fireball} crashed into the man's limb he turned as though he was going to run at Neve again, but Erin stepped between them once more to keep his attention on her. 

Neve cast {Field of Brilliance} first, and then began spamming both {Waterball} and {Iceball}. 

MP: 935/1100

MP: 925/1100

[It doesn't seem like he's got any elemental weaknesses, so I'll settle for just lowering his stats a little.] 

Neve continued to throw out those beginner-level spells, only to be stopped by a move she hadn't expected. 

As her spells peppered the man's back, in the middle of his tense exchanges with Erin, the man reared back and threw his trident at Neve like a spear. 

Neve's eyes widened. Her mind told her body to move but she was just too slow. 

"AGH!" 

The trident struck her abdomen, piercing it and throwing Neve across the room. 

She stopped just short of a few corpses, with the trident sticking out of her. Coughing, Neve quickly pulled the object out of her, gritting her teeth. Quickly, she cast {Great Healing Dart} over herself five times. 

MP: 875/1100

Taking deep breaths, as Neve got up and looked back at the ongoing battle she found that even without his weapon, the warrior was doing a decent job of keeping Erin at bay. Erin swung at him with her claws but her opponent dodged out of the way and then kicked her back, before extending his hand toward the trident he'd just thrown. The object flew through the air, returning to his hands on its own. 

[This guy's no joke. I'll need to do a better job of keeping him distracted long enough for Erin to get some hits in... Without getting myself killed in the process, of course.] 

Erin pulled back and used the {Dragon's Divine Breath} Technique. Flames poured out from her hands that the boss managed to avoid by conjuring a barrier between himself and the lamia, only, this time it was actually a spell that he was using to do so. 

Level 62

MP: 300/350

At the same time, Neve tried to get an angle on him and use more of her spells. First, she cast {Rorvan's Spirit}, just in case she got hurt again so that she could get some small value out of it. 

MP: 825/1100

As soon as that ability was cast, Neve went on the offensive herself, throwing out more {Iceballs} and {Waterballs}. Seeing so many of her spells miss definitely hurt, but she coped by telling herself that she'd get her missing Precision back later. 

Her mana was reduced further to 785 as her spells landed behind Isolnir, avoiding the barrier he'd conjured.

He turned, as Neve caught his attention, but that created an opening that Erin then took advantage of. 

Using Dragon's Divine Swipe, she cut a line on the man's back that went all the way from his shoulders to his waist. 

[Yes! We got some good damage in!] 

The warrior cried out, spinning and striking Erin with his trident only to find that the lamia wasn't there anymore. 

Neve resummoned her a short distance away. 

MP: 525/1100 (+25% regen)

"Keep it up," Neve told her. "I think we're doing pretty well." 

Nodding, Erin lunged forward, resuming her fight. 

As their weapons clashed, with Erin's claws parrying Isolnir's trident, Neve took stock of her options. 

[I'm already at half mana... I could either pour as much of my abilities on top of this guy as I can and hope we beat him in this cycle, or try to draw the fight out and wear him down...]

Up ahead, Erin leaned out of the way of a few thrusts, retaliating with a slash across the abdomen that just barely managed to graze the enemy, but the flame covering her claws made it so that this minor wound still applied some decent damage. 

Seeing that, Neve made her decision. 

[With my Arcane at 80, Erin's new claws, and my new sword, we should have the tools necessary to make this a short fight. Let's see if I can make that happen.] 

Isolnir got the better of Erin, slapping her hands away and clearing the way for a blow to the chest. Neve cast {Sacred Ground} under Erin to minimize the incoming damage, and then, as his trident pierced Erin's body, she cast {Great Healing Dart} three times. 

MP: 445/1100

Doing so inadvertently awakened her sword, as she'd cast the 10 Priestess-class spells necessary without even realizing it. 

Neve continued to use the same plan as before, moving around the enemy to throw some spells at him. 

As Neve wasn't the one on the receiving end of his strikes, she couldn't tell how much less precise he'd gotten, but she did see that he became noticeably slower. 

[... Maybe I was wrong about him not having any weaknesses. {Iceball} is affecting him badly.] 

Erin went for another Divine Dragon Technique, this time using the {Divine Dragon's Bite}. Placing her claws over his extended right arm, her hands briefly gave the image of a dragon's mouth biting down on her opponent. 

As soon as the move connected, the man pulled back. 

Erin went to attack him. 

"W-Wait!" Neve called out, as she guessed what was about to happen. 

Erin was just a little too fast for her own good this time, though. 

A blue, fiery aura exploded from the man's body and instantly incinerated the lamia, reducing her to ashes. Neve winced watching it. 

[Yeah... he's going into his second phase.] 

Once more, Neve summoned Erin next to her. 

[I'm probably not going to be able to summon her again for the rest of the fight. Rorvan's Spirit is good for regaining my mana, but this enemy's speed is on another level from most of what I've fought so far. It's not going to give me the same space the other enemies gave me.] 

MP: 145/1100 (+25% regen)

"... I will admit," Erin said quietly as she watched him transform. "I was a bit too eager." 

The man's body became bigger. Stronger. Naturally, as a change in physique wasn't enough, his trident was then covered in a dense, blue mist that slowly formed a coat of ice around the man's weapon. 

"Do as much as you can. I might have to finish this fight myself." 

"Understood." 

Heeding those words, Erin used {The Lamia's Hunt} to boost her speed just as Isolnir attacked once more.

They met at the center of the room, the fire and ice from their respective weapons covering the arena in fog as they met. 

[Not much mana. Need to make it count.] 

The best way to do so, as far as she could tell, was to wait for the right chance to use what was her highest damage ability. 

So, she stood there and waited. 

Erin circled around her opponent, bringing her claws in and slashing at the warrior multiple times, but each of her attacks was deflected. Neve's mana regenerated just a little, making it to 175, as Erin continued to try to land attacks, her frustration building up with each failed attempt.

Isolnir put one hand forward and a wave of air pushed Erin back. 

Level 62

MP: 275/350

He went to follow up with some more strikes, but Erin slithered back, trying to put distance between them. 

Pulling off a smooth bit of footwork, the man all but glided across the floor, dashing to Erin's right side. 

She reacted too slowly to block the thrust that followed, but Neve was glad she did. It was what she planned for. 

She marked them both. 

As the man's trident connected with her body, she activated {Equivalent Exchange}. 

MP: 165/1100

MP: 155/1100

MP: 145/1100

A haunting wail escaped the man's mouth, hidden behind the tentacles on his face, as the wound he had just applied onto Erin began fading from her body and appearing on his. Neve's mana was taken all the way down to 105.

Erin took advantage of the moment and lunged in, aiming for his neck. 

Seeing this, the opponent leaned out of the way, but as Erin used {Divine Dragon's Swipe}, the flames on her claws seared his skin regardless. 

Neve cast {Iceball} and {Waterball} on him over and over again, getting closer just to make sure her spells landed.

MP: 95/1100

MP: 85/1100

MP: 75/1100

MP: 65/1100

MP: 55/1100

MP: 45/1100

[Come on, come on... How much more will it take?] 

More than Erin had time to deliver, apparently, as Erin disappeared before the boss could be eliminated. 

His eyes locked with Neve's. 

Her own sapphire eyes widened. Neve felt chills go down her body. 

[Crap.] 

Neve cast one more spell, placing {Healing Ground} under her feet, just in case this went as badly as she felt it could, and she put her staff away, holding her awakened sword with both hands. 

[Don't be scared, but be respectful,] Neve told herself. [You reduced his Speed and his Precision, but he's still going to be faster than you, and he's still going to be a skilled fighter. If I have any advantage at all, it's probably the damage this thing deals. He *has* to be at low HP by now, right? If I fight around my limits, and I can just land one hit, this fight's probably over.] 

With all that said, the man ran at her. 

Neve's heart was all she could hear right now. It was a terrifying enough sight to make the girl's knees tremble, but she held her sword up and tried to defend herself. 

He went to slam his weapon down on her from above. His trident hit her blade and the bones in Neve's arms shook. Almost before she could even react, he followed up by pulling his trident back and going for a thrust. Neve didn't bother dodging or blocking it, instead taking a step back to get out of the attack's range. 

[Slow and steady. Slow and steady.] 

The time she'd spent training with Erin came back to her mind. Her opponent was obviously the better fighter, but as he was slowed down and badly wounded, Neve could see what he was doing. This was not a fair fight, and that was exactly the situation Neve had needed to create to come out on top. 

Roaring, the man went to attack again. Aiming his trident at her legs, he tried to sweep them but Neve raised her right foot up and backed off again, keeping the difference in speed between them in mind. 

The man followed after her, putting a hand up to use that wind ability he'd used on Erin but having witnessed it, Neve managed to sidestep the spell, feeling a gust of wind go by her left. 

Isolnir closed the gap again, at an impressive speed. 

Well, really, everything about the man had been impressive so far. The strength behind his attacks, the calculated nature of his movements, the skill with which he wielded this trident. If he had been this strong as a player during the Unity Trials as he was now as a boss, it was hard to imagine how regular monsters could have ever gotten the better of him. 

He wasn't fighting a regular monster, however. He was fighting a healer who had made it this far, in part, thanks to her ability to spot opportunities. 

And she spotted one right that moment. 

He raised his trident over his own head. It was an uncharacteristically wild move, one that he may have done out of frustration. Whatever the cause for it, though, it gave Neve the chance she needed. 

[Now!] 

Pushing in, she stuck her sword in the man's chest.  0

Divine light spread out from the wound she'd just made. 

"Ack-" 

The man froze. His hands did not bring that trident down as he'd likely intended to do. 

Instead, his hands let go of it. The weapon fell behind him as Neve tried to push her blade in as deep as it would go. 

Finally, he lost his strength and fell back on his own. 

An EXP message appeared over Neve's head. 

She'd won. 

[Holy shit,] she thought, hunching over and almost falling to her knees out of relief. [That was-]

And then, someone spoke. 

"Those were some cowardly tactics you used... I hate fighters like you." 

Neve's eyes widened.

She looked up. 

Isolnir's eyes were open, fixed on her, as he lay on the ground with blood pouring out from his chest. 

But they weren't blank anymore. 

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