121: Knives in the Dark, Part Ten

Knives in the Dark, Part Ten

Lia fought with a new ferocity after that. It still didn't seem like she was taking the fight seriously, but her bloodlust had visibly increased. 

She closed the gap so fast that Neve felt if she had gotten hit by her next attack, her head would have gone flying. 

Erin managed to sneak an attack in as Neve dodged away from it, but Lia arched her back and Erin's claws narrowly missed their mark. 

The summon disappeared as her minute ran out. 

Neve moved to resummon her as quickly as she could.

MP: 710/1100

Just as the lamia reappeared, Lia dashed in and tried to stick those daggers in her body. 

[Shit!] 

Neve scurried back, feeling like those blades were hovering over her the entire time. Like she could just barely feel their cold metal on the back of her neck. 

Erin finally managed to force the enemy to leave Neve alone for a moment through {Dragon's Divine Breath}, creating a bed of flames that cut her off. 

"ERGH!" She groaned, frustrated, as she finally set her sights on Erin. "You are becoming increasingly annoying." 

"I'm glad you think so," Erin replied before Lia lunged at her, and the two began their first proper fight since the battle had started. 

Taking a few deep breaths as they traded blows, Neve went into her inventory. 

[This is the best chance I'm gonna get.] 

She grabbed one of those Potions of Swift Feet she'd mentioned earlier, ripped the cap off, and gulped its contents down like a woman who'd been stranded at sea for 3 years. Her speed was increased to 45,  gaining half of its regular amount. Even then, she doubted this would be enough to contend with Lia in that category. 

[As long as she can't take my head off, though, that's all that matters.]

Lia battling Erin almost looked like a choreographed dance was taking place. Erin threw her claws at Lia's body and neck, but only hit the air as Lia would bend and lean out of the way of each blow. Lia, in turn, would try to bury her daggers in the lamia's gut and head, only for Erin to slap her knives away with her hands. 

Spectating this, Neve waited until she felt she had a clear shot and then cast {Waterball} again, 3 times. 

MP: 680/1100

The first cast missed, flying past Lia. The second saw liquid soaking Lia's right shoulder. The third would have reached her, but as Lia was struck by the previous {Waterball}, she turned toward Neve and a wall made of skeletons appeared between them, cutting the spell off. 

Level 68

MP: 150/200

[A barrier?] 

Neve ran to the right, unable to see what was happening. She did so just in time to watch as Erin went for a swipe aimed at Lia's head, which the enemy bent over backward to avoid. At the same time, she moved in and ran one of her daggers along Erin's abdomen. 

Erin's entrails spilled out. Lia pulled her dagger up and licked it clean again as Erin disappeared behind her. 

Lia grinned at Neve. The healer quickly summoned Erin once more, bringing her mana down to 380. 

"You insist on having this girl around, but, personally, I'm more of the monogamous type~" Lia said, tilting her head.

Erin whispered to Neve:

"That wench isn't just fast, she's skilled." Erin brought out the potion of Bestial Rage that Neve had given to her earlier and drank it. Lia just watched on, amused. "Can you give me that other elixir?" 

"Here." 

Neve passed the other Potion of Swift Feet over to her which Erin gulped down as well. 

"I take it you are attempting to augment your body in some way?" Lia asked. "Yes, my people did that too, many times. Hehehe, some saw me and believed that, maybe, drinking the blood of monsters would bring them great power. And, they were right. Still, it never helped them take me out, though."

"Try to see how much the gap in speed has closed between you two," Neve whispered. "Don't bother trying to kill her, cause it probably won't work right now. Just get as much damage in as you can." 

"Understood." Erin used {The Lamia's Hunt}, which along with the Potion of Swift Feet brought the lamia up to 65 Speed. She dashed at Lia and Neve watched her eyes widen. The smile on her face deepened right before she started fighting Erin again. 

From what Neve could see, Lia was *still* faster than Erin, but only just slightly now. 

[I'm guessing Lia's Speed is somewhere around 70. Maybe 75. At level 68, she should have around 190 Attribute Points or something like that. If over 70 of them are invested into her Speed and 20 of them are invested into her Arcane, judging by that 200 mana, that means just around 100 more Attribute Points to be spread between her Endurance, Strength, and Precision. That last move she pulled shows her Precision is probably pretty high, so, if she had to give up on one specific Attribute, which is it? Her Endurance or her Strength?] 

Neve narrowed her eyes, trying to work her mind so hard it gave her a headache. 

[... That last move killed Erin in one slash. Erin's Endurance is 40. Even with high Precision, to kill her with one hit would be hard to do, which means...] 

Neve nodded to herself, strafing to the right. 

[She's a glass cannon!] 

Her strategy changed. 

Spamming {Iceball}, Neve tried desperately to get her Speed to match Erin's. If she could do so, then perhaps all it would take was one good hit to kill her. 

Especially since Erin had been stacking up her damage with the {Divine Dragon Techniques}, using them at any point that she could. 

The Technique's description did not say that Erin had to land the abilities in order to get the damage buff. Meaning that, by the end of the current minute that Erin was using up, her damage would be buffered by 100% for a few seconds. 

[If she can just land one solid blow in that time, we can win!] 

She cast {Iceball} repeatedly. 

MP: 300/1100

Many of her spells went wide thanks to her awful Precision, many of them missed because Lia dodged out of the way at the last second. It didn't matter. Only a few of them needed to hit for Erin to stand a chance. 

Seeing what Neve was doing, Erin helped out by using {Dragon's Divine Breath} and pouring flames out onto Lia that pushed her back. At the same time, Neve cast {Iceball} and a couple of her spells crashed into the woman's body. 

MP: 270/1100

"UGH!" Lia grunted as she turned and threw her daggers at Neve. 

She watched her life flash before her eyes, unable to dodge out of the way. Both daggers, however, embedded themselves in her shoulders, as opposed to anywhere lethal. 

Lia's Precision had been lowered a little. 

At this moment, Neve's previous theory that most of Lia's remaining 100 points were spread between her Precision and Strength received further confirmation, as the daggers threw Neve back upon impact. 

She crashed into the statue, crying out. 

Neve reached up to remove the blades, but she ended up not having to. They tore themselves out from her shoulders and returned to Lia on their own. 

"Aggh!"

Level 68

MP: 100/200

Breathing heavily, Neve cast {Great Healing Dart} over her body twice, repairing herself. 

MP: 250/11000

Her own status didn't concern her much, though. What really worried her was the fact that Erin's minute was probably over halfway done. 

[She should have the damage buff fully stacked soon. We need to get at least one hit in!] 

Thinking of a plan, not many options popped up in her mind, until she made the conscious decision of throwing caution to the wind. 

It was one of those moments where Neve knew that she would have to risk everything to see this done, as not doing it meant she'd likely die anyway. 

[... Lia has a personality. A real one. The System didn't remove it for the purposes of this boss fight. I need to use that against her. But, how?] 

One of the potential answers became obvious to her as soon as she thought about this. 

And it hurt just to think about it. 

[You've been through worse, though. You could definitely pull it off. Just have to hope that she doesn't finish you off then and there.] 

It was the best move she could think of though, with the clock ticking before Erin was set to disappear. 

[Fuck it. Just do it.] 

Breathing in, Neve calmed her nerves. Up ahead, Erin swung at Lia, to no avail. Neve nodded to herself, swallowed, and ran forward. 

Her footsteps echoed in her ears the entire way there. She felt cold. 

Casting {Sacred Ground} behind Lia brought Neve's mana to 200. That was likely how much she'd have throughout the remainder of this battle, as Lia was too fast to just allow her to regen mana like Neve usually did. 

She needed that spell there, though, so that her plan stood a chance of working. 

She ran up. 

Lia saw her and turned away from Erin. 

The woman casually thrust her daggers forward, just as Neve stepped onto {Sacred Ground's} white rune, expecting the healer to dodge out of the way. 

She didn't. 

Lia's daggers sunk inside Neve's abdomen. Lia's eyes widened. 

Neve gritted her teeth. The pain was horrible, but, unfortunately, she'd been through worse. She could handle it. 

Dropping her staff and Sayran's Holy Blade, she reached up and grabbed Lia by her shoulders, holding her in place.

Lia just couldn't quite process what was happening right now. No one had likely ever run into her daggers willingly like this. 

"... What?" She asked quietly before Erin ran one of her claws down Lia's back. "AAAAGH!" 

Lia screamed. 

It was just one hit, but it was solid, and its damage was fully buffed. It was what they needed. 

Erin disappeared. Lia pulled her daggers out and took a couple of steps back, falling to her knees. Neve did the same. 

[How much damage did that do?] Neve wondered. [Is the fight...?] 

They were so close that Lia's hot breath was hitting Neve's neck. The two opponents stared into each other's eyes, with Neve wondering if the battle was over, while Lia was probably wondering just how far Neve would go to win this fight. 

Neve pulled back, though, as she saw something. 

[Oh... Fuck.] 

"... I like you," Lia said, giggling as her yellow eyes turned red. "I like you so much. No, is this what love feels like? Hehe..." 

Her black knives were covered in red flames. The flames spread throughout Lia's body, burning away the cloth she wore. Blood slid down from the corners of Lia's grinning lips. 

[Of course,] Neve sighed. [She has a second phase.] 

Lia stood up and kicked Neve's staff toward her. 

It bounced off Neve's knees. The enemy pulled Neve up to her feet and the mage looked up at Lia, confused. 

"Go ahead, healer. Fix yourself up. That burning desire to live... Show me more." 

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