We hunt monsters 14, p.57
We Hunt Monsters 14, page 57
The weapon slammed into his wrist, sending pain flaring up to his elbow, knocking his arm askew. While it managed to somehow slide through his physical armor, the active skill kept it from doing much more than cutting the outer layer of his skin, drawing some blood and inflicting a small amount of damage, thanks to the massive armor boost he’d gotten.
Keith’s fist crashed into the side of the masked face, blasting the Spirit away from him. Jokeer’s body tore a swath of destruction through the subterranean forest, shattering trees and limbs as he flew, finally stopping as his back smashed into the rune-covered wall, which he bounced off of. The loud crack of the Spirit breaking the sound barrier echoed an instant later, followed by the roaring of cannons as Selena unloaded on the airborne target.
Keith watched the blast as it happened, Selena’s feet widening and hooking into the ground, her entire upper body vanishing in a flash of red and violet as everything went off at once. Multiple beams twisted together into a single, massive one, rotating so quickly that all he could see were flashes of red and purple. The beam was as thick as a tree trunk, and despite Selena’s preparations, she still slid back across the ground.
Merry, not to be outdone – though she clearly was in this case – used her Penultimate, unloading half her available reserves into a single shot that thundered across the intervening distance, slamming into the visible spot the Spirit of Chaos inhabited before he was swallowed by both beams.
Keith noticed the problem almost immediately, frowning at the lack of notifications. Looking down at his wrist, he could still see blood, though it was drying quickly. He checked his health, but it was full, and even the brief pain he’d felt was already gone.
Light still roared across the intervening space when he saw another figure step from nowhere, appearing behind Selena, cane pulled back and ready to strike. Keith wasn’t close enough to reach in the normal way, but he did have other ways of striking opponents at a distance.
He used Extender and punched using Armageddon Spear, the skill searing across the intervening distance and slamming into the figure, who raised his cane and caught the skill on the silver head, deflecting it off to one side. In the same motion, he drove his shiny black shoe forward, right into Selena’s back.
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Selena vanished from view for a moment, Keith’s eyes flicking to follow the blur of motion as she slammed into the ceiling on the opposite side of the subterranean forest. The cannons mounted across her body were twisted and shattered, the light in her eyes dark. It was obvious she’d been deactivated with that one attack, but Chaos wasn’t done just yet.
Even as Keith pulled his eyes back, his body launching into action as he used Lightswap, Jokeer was already on top of Merry. Keith slammed into the Spirit bodily, tackling him to the ground, only for the body he’d smashed to explode into ink, spattering his face and somehow blocking his vision. It burned against his exposed skin, despite his armor, and his health began ticking down.
He used Heatstance, and the power of his new belt clip had him surrounded by a raging inferno instead of a mere layer of dense heat, burning away the inky substance that had been clinging to his skin. But by then, it was too late. Merry was gone, having been deactivated just like Selena.
“Now you have no allies,” Chaos said.
Keith spun, finding the Spirit standing some twenty feet away and up in the air amidst the wreckage of the trees he’d believed to have punched him through. His health was still full, though both his Stamina and mana had clearly been used.
“Whatever will you do now?” the Spirit asked, cocking his head to one side.
Chaos appeared in front of him, swinging his cane down. Keith blocked it on his bracer, then drove his fist, now clad in Field Leveler, into his gut. Chaos twisted, taking a glancing blow, but once again, no damage notification appeared.
Keith felt something sharp stab into his back, his body reacting on its own to the attempted sneak-attack by twisting in place and throwing a backfist into the cane, knocking it aside. His other hand came up in a hook, borrowing the momentum to club the man in the masked jaw.
Ink exploded everywhere as his fist went through the man, but Heatstance burned it away before it could reach his skin.
“How’s he doing this?” Keith asked, as Chaos reappeared where he’d been standing before the attack.
“No idea, bro,” Tac said. “But I think he’s just feeling you out. Do you want to bring either of the automatons back?”
“Not yet,” Keith said. “Not when he’s shown he can take them out so easily.”
“So, you gonna use Imminent Domain?”
“Not until I’m sure I’ve got him,” Keith said.
He’d already played one big card, and he was now on a timer. Of course, the Spirit of Chaos didn’t know Keith could recharge item effects as well as his own skills. That was if he even knew what his current item’s effects were.
Jokeer came again, flashing from nowhere and striking at the backs of his knees. Keith’s leg came up in a back-kick, Ancient’s Fury obliterating him and the trees behind him. The power being tripled meant the explosive force was significantly higher, levelling another section of forest. Keith didn’t bother blocking as Jokeer’s cane drove towards his ribs, timing his own counter to land just as the Spirit’s did.
This time, something different happened. Jokeer backed off, pulling his blow at the last second, though he allowed Keith’s punch to land, his body exploding again into a fountain of burning ink.
“So, that skill of yours won’t work if I manage to hit you while you or some part of you is making physical contact with me at the time,” Keith said, as Jokeer reappeared in his previous spot.
“Think you’re clever, do you?” Jokeer said, the condescension clear in his voice. “I’d think again!”
The man flashed forward, reappearing at Keith’s side, cane jabbing toward his ribs, except, when Keith went to counter, the cane slammed into his left instead of his right. He actually felt this impact, unlike the previous ones, though his leg still came up, snapping through the space the Spirit had occupied. Jokeer reappeared in his previous spot again, only this time, he slashed his cane through the air, and a blade of ink drove down from the sky on his head. Keith used Shard Sponge, but the ink passed straight through him, doing nothing at all.
Keith whirled once again, his body countering a blade of ink from behind by throwing up a Tough Shield, which the ink pierced through, slamming into his upraised arm instead and driving him back with surprising force. His automatic counter came in the form of Shattering Snowflare, the widespread attack blasting apart more of the forest, and fire and ice ripped it to shreds.
Jokeer was still moving, the Spirit appearing to his left, then right, then right in his face, before leaping back and kicking him in the side of his knee somehow. Keith grimaced as he used Unconquerable Aura and blazed brighter, then leaped into the air. He was getting nowhere, and while none of the attacks were hurting him per se, it was burning a lot of his time.
“Anything?” Keith asked.
“I feel like you were onto something with that first theory of yours,” Tac said. “Definitely something going on with those attack patterns. He’s either making clones of himself or has such mastery over space that he can hit from wherever he wants. Or he does both, making clones and using mastery of space. The whole ink thing keeps throwing me, though. I also feel like he should be hurting you more, but his attacks aren’t all that hard.”
Keith watched Jokeer leap through space again, his eyes flicking around as they tried to track him, and his Sage-ranked sense spread out in a web as he tried to feel anything.
“That’s the inherent nature of chaos, isn’t it?” Jokeer said, appearing right in his face.
Keith turned and drove Field Leveler into the air behind him. At the same time, he used Stone Chucker to blast the air to his left and right, swung up with a summoned hammer, and kicked down using Shattering Snowflare. It wasn’t easy using skills like this in combination and put a huge strain on both his body and mind, but with this, he effectively covered every possible angle the Spirit could use in his approach.
There was a hiss, followed by a jarring impact to his head. Keith barely felt it as he spun, seeing Jokeer some fifty feet away, standing in midair, a hand placed over the left side of his chest where Keith’s fist had finally made contact. The damage notification was there as proof.
-122,400
It was a blow struck with Field Leveler, but despite the massive damage it should have done, the Spirit’s armor seemed to have absorbed the brunt of it. That, or he’d managed to disengage in time.
“I think I’ve had quite enough of these games,” Jokeer said, gripping his cane in both hands, the eyeholes in his mask blazing brighter as the air around him warped. “I believe it’s time for you to see the true might of a higher being!”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Keith said, then he triggered Imminent Domain.
Gold light washed out around them, blanketing the sky and shoving back the aura of chaos that had been surrounding them, empowering the Spirit and hiding his abilities from Tac.
“Phew! It feels good to be able to think again!” Tac cheered as the aura around the Spirit vanished entirely, Jokeer seeming genuinely shocked by the change of circumstance.
Keith didn’t let that opening slip, leaping through space and reappearing in front of the Spirit, Sartori’s hammer blasting into the man’s side, the hammer head compressing for an instant before it blew the Spirit to pieces.
“Nope, just ink again,” Tac said, as the fleshy bits turned black and then splattered across the treetops. “Finally figured it out, though. He’s using a combination of skills. Ink Clone, Transmigrate, Spatial Mastery, and a touch of his own Spiritual power. The second you hit him, he switches places with a clone he’s already placed somewhere else, transferring all the damage to said clone. It’s a lot more complicated than it looks. Honestly, I’m impressed.”
“How do I hit him then?” Keith asked.
“Make the attacks big enough that they can’t be avoided, like you did last time,” Tac said. “Though I do have to warn you that now that we’ve figured it out, he’s probably going to take a more aggressive, offensive stance. That cane of his is trouble. I’m sure you realized it can transform into basically any form he wants it to, but he hasn’t really used any of its effects yet.”
Keith spun, lashing out with Ancient’s Fury and roasting the air before him. Ink sizzled and hissed as the clone vanished in a blast of condensed fire, turning to vapor an instant later. Keith turned again, blasting Ancient’s Fury for a second time and doing the same.
The Spirit of Chaos appeared right before him, and Keith threw another blast, only this time, Jokeer caught it with the tip of his cane, which opened into an umbrella, dispersing the flames around him. The Spirit released the cane, closing and throwing a hard punch into Keith’s abdomen. He blocked, feeling solid contact and returned with a counter of his own. The cane got in the way of his fist, deflecting it, and Chaos’ gloved fist drilled into the side of his face.
Inky blackness enveloped him, as pain flared through his face.
You have been Cursed: You are blinded.
Calculating for Spiritual Resistance…
You are blinded for 18 seconds.
Keith erupted in a storm of blazing fire, forcing Jokeer back from whatever attack he’d been planning. His regular vision was gone, but he had other options, which meant that despite the curse, he could still ‘see.’
Jokeer moved in behind, a blur of multicolored madness to his aura vision. Keith held his attack back, waiting for the Spirit to be right on top of him, then he triggered another effect of his M-tagged Legendary+ item. Spatial Compression hit Jokeer like a freight train, the Spirit slamming into an invisible wall. He rebounded off of it and tried to flee in the opposite direction, only for another wall to crop up.
Keith sensed him trying to run, but the skill held him in place. The Spirit threw a punch, only for his fist to rebound and slam into his own face.
“Quite the nasty little surprise you’ve got here,” Jokeer said. “How about I show you one of my own?”
The World Item hovering near the Spirit glowed, and the invisible walls blocking him shattered like glass. Keith winced as he felt immense pain flare in his mind as pressure began to build on both sides of his body.
“Oh, poop,” Tac said. “So that’s what it does.”
Keith was about to try summoning a gate when Tac yelled for him to stop.
“Bro, he just turned your own item effect against you!” Tac exclaimed. “If you try and use a spell like Gate, who knows what will happen!”
Keith felt his blood run a little cold as he realized what this meant. Tenor, the Spirit of War, had had a way to nullify all skills and items for the span of 12 hours. Jokeer’s World Item had given him a plethora of effects. For something as powerful as what Jokeer was wielding, he suspected that this wasn’t the only effect this World Item had. It was too dependent on an opponent’s items and effects, which meant that things could only get worse from here.
Keith’s vision cleared up as he pressed against one of the invisible walls, feeling pressure on his face as he pushed.
Jokeer was standing several feet away, his cane tracing lines in the air as runes on the man’s clothes began glowing ominously.
“How long until I can get out of here?” Keith asked.
“Not long enough,” Tac replied. “That’s going to hit you. On the plus side, at least it won’t rip your head off or anything.”
That wasn’t much of a consolation as Jokeer struck, an inky blade the size of a miniature skyscraper swinging down from above and driving him into the ground in an explosion of force, rubble, and debris.
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-1,380,229 damage
You have been Cursed: Turtle’s Speed
Calculating for Spiritual Resistance…
You have been inflicted with Turtle’s Speed for 11 seconds.
Keith tried to get up. His body throbbed with pain, but he was moving so agonizingly slowly. Something hit him, and he tried to react, but he simply couldn’t. He was driven back into the ground, another damage notification flashing before his eyes. It wasn’t as large as the last one, but it was still there all the same.
Two more blows slammed into him, driving him further into the ground until he felt something smooth and slippery up against his armor, preventing him from sliding any deeper. That didn’t slow the attacks down though, the blows raining down on his exposed back as he tried in vain to react to the onslaught. Then, all at once, the world sped back up, and Keith’s mind snapped back into action.
He used Shard Sponge and heard a growl as something blasted away from him. Keith leaped to his feet, restoring himself to full health and clearing his fuzzy head.
“Man, that Turtle curse was a doozy,” Tac said. “Even gave me a headache. On the plus side, it looks like you’re free.”
Jokeer reappeared in the center of the wreckage of a bunch of trees. His health had gone down again, and this time, Keith went on the attack. He was sick and tired of playing defense.
“Try and get a read on him,” he said, as he slammed into the Spirit, only for the body to explode into stinging ink which burned away under the intensity of his resummoned Heatstance.
“Up and to your left,” Tac said, and Keith spun, hurling the obliterator hammer using Hammerrang in that direction.
“Behind to your left. No wait, your right. No…your left again…Geez, this guy’s tougher to pin down than a frog during dissection day!” Tac complained as Jokeer reappeared, his left hand tracing the air as his right punched forward, slamming into Keith’s upraised arm.
He used Shard Sponge, but instead of Jokeer rebounding and suffering damage, the Spirit’s punch seemed to double in power. Keith winced as he was shoved back, throwing Ancient’s Fury to cover himself.
“No, darn it!” Tac exclaimed as the blazing flames reversed themselves and were suddenly coming for him.
Keith grimaced as the realization hit him. It wasn’t only item skills that cane could affect, it was all of his skills. Any skill-based attack he threw at the Spirit, that cane could spit right back at him. Keith tried using Shard Sponge, but for some reason, the skill didn’t even register an attack as the blazing flames ripped the forest apart and drove him into the far cavern wall.
“Okay, no more attack skills,” Tac said as Keith pulled himself off the wall.
He hadn’t suffered any damage thanks to his own resistances, but this was a problem, especially as a gigantic blade of ink drove down from above. He Lightswapped away, avoiding the attack and reappearing near the Spirit. Instead of attacking, he dove through a gate, coming out an inch closer to the Spirit.
He saw the glowing eyes widen for an instant before his fist slammed into the mask, making solid contact. It lasted for all of a second before the body – now made of ink – slammed into the ground and exploded. Still, he saw the damage notification. Jokeer had been in the middle of another attack, which told him that if the Spirit was using a different skill, he couldn’t split his focus enough to pull his damage mitigation and clone-switching trick. At least, to a point.
Keith spun in the air, catching his earlier thrown hammer, and gripped the Plasma hammer in his gauntleted hand. He threw a hammer, one clutched in his other hand, then swapped with it to close with the Spirit. Jokeer didn’t seem to move, but Keith already knew that didn’t matter. The Spirit was as slippery as an eel and even harder to pin down.
He closed, leaped through a gate, then used Lightswap, throwing himself an inch to the left and spinning into a kick. He jumped through another gate partway through the motion, opening it as his momentum carried him forward and reappeared again to the Spirit’s left, his leg slamming into the man.
