The beast roared loudly, the power of its voice shaking the very air as it moved forward on its already regenerated legs. Ethan had ordered his soldiers into position just behind the dwarves, some of them still carrying the throwing spear from his practice which were launched with impressive speed, the large target making it quite easy to actually hit something. Ethan watched as they sailed over his head and the moment he noticed that the aim was true he accelerated the spears with his magic. They pierced deeply into the beast’s body but before he could use them as an anchor point to infiltrate the mole’s body with his magic they melted away rapidly. Boiling hot blood dripped from the beast’s wounds and the scolding hot liquid pooled around the monster’s legs.
The beast screamed and threw its head around from the pain it must have felt, even though the wounds were already closing from its regeneration. Ethan shuddered, while the elk was tough it didn’t have such a strong regeneration, it seems this beast was infected with a different sickness which only looked similar but acted in very different ways or it was because the mole was another species altogether. In some ways the sickness looked almost the same as those from Ethan’s old class but it seemed more versatile and not just made to kill the target but also transform it. A quick inspection revealed this mole also had the ‘plagued’ tag.
Ethan took a deep breath, that was all he had time for before the beast reached them. Its mutated body was faster and stronger, the tail was split in half giving it double the weapon and to make it worse covered in massive bone spikes. When stopped moving after the last pain of its injuries vanished the black fur seemed to leak as drops of a green liquid that got flung on the dwarves and their armor, the hissing they could hear shortly after was the telltale sign of acid. While it was strong it didn’t manage to penetrate the metal armor of the dwarves completely. While the dwarves tried and managed to tank the spiked tail with their shields Ethan worked on his own attack.
Learning from his past mistakes he stood back and took an overwatch approach to have the entire battlefield in view. His first order of business was to activate his aura. Like a heatwave the air seemed to flimmer for a moment with countless eyes appearing around the mole, all of them opening simultaneously. The white orbs followed closely, forming a net around the monster. With the elk the effects were diminished with it being also able to control ice but the mole was hit a lot harder while it had superior regeneration it couldn’t hide from his oppressive aura. When the beast tried to shake off the effects of his aura it slammed its tail into the glowing eyes and orbs, which only froze parts of it as the watchful winter retaliated, everything he destroyed just reappeared in a different position. With its wild attacks large parts of the mole were frozen. It had to stop for a second with the aura proving something it couldn’t just kill.
Ethan didn’t hesitate and used the moment that presented itself in front of him. His chains erupted from the ground and the soldiers ran towards the mole. They all had his new favorite weapon in their ice cold hands, he called it the blood reaper halberd. The tip had an impressive amount of barbs covering it, the axe blade was serrated and also had barbs on the side to rip apart the flesh it got driven into when pulling it out after each attack. The other side of the halberd was formed into a large serrated spike to penetrate armor or in this case tough skin when the halberd was swung in wide arches.
Seconds before they reached the mole Ethan casted [Arctic Reinforcement] on his soldiers, they would need it with the acid and the boiling blood of the mole. He positioned them around the moles' neck and head which was already covered in thick ice chains. Hooks covered the entire beast and Ethan was already running on fumes, his aura the only thing he could keep active at this point. Still with the fleeing dwarves being still close he couldn’t let the beast escape. The soldiers, once in position, started to hack away at the mole's neck.
The dwarves on the other hand had managed to repel the tail attack, two of them were wounded as spikes had literally punched a hole through their shields, but after the tail lost its momentum the dwarves held it down while a group of them equipped with large axes hacked away at it, trusting in their comrades to keep the deadly weapon contained. While it was tough to destroy the bone spikes protecting it, especially with the ongoing regeneration, they managed to layer their axe strikes so close together the next followed when the one before was done. While it still regenerated it was a negligible amount.
Like that they managed to actually cut the tail of the mole off which was gushing with blood. The red boiling liquid quickly covered the cavern ground which forced the small stout men to retreat. Those dwarves that still had throwing weapons on their person used them to further increase the damage the mole had to heal, still the overpowered regeneration was already beginning to regrow the lost tail.
With the mole's attention split as it was assaulted on two sides it had a hard time defending itself, while the dwarves had worked on the tail, most of its focus was on Ethan and his soldiers. The large claws and the massive maw thrashed around, trying to crush or bite the attackers apart into tiny pieces but with Ethan having an overview he could command his soldiers around when he noticed the mole attack. His newly invested points into perception were doing some heavy lifting in this encounter. While it was by no means perfect or coordinated he managed to keep his soldiers alive, boosted by arctic reinforcement small mistakes were healed. Still his mana was constantly bottomed out and he had to finish the fight. For once he wondered if everybody had to face such challenges, constantly running low with their mana because they had to use all of it in big fights.
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On the bright side his blood reaper halberd worked perfectly. The serrated blades managed to penetrate the fur and skin with enough effort, the spike on top and back drove deep into the moles flesh and ripped pieces from the monster with gruesome efficiency. While the fight continued, the dwarves cut the tail when it regrow while Ethan tried to remove the head from the beast which was even worse as the beast didn’t die while most of its neck was ripped away. In the end they had to burn every bit of energy out of the moles system for it to finally approach death.
The finisher was something Ethan was surprised he didn’t try before, with the mole weak and struggling he summoned a thin sheet of ice and moved it upwards, the sheet hovered over the mole's neck. Its bones were visible but his soldier couldn’t break them, so without hesitation he pulled the sheet straight down angling it so that it would penetrate between two segments. When it made contact with the mole his eternal ice held and slammed into the mole’s neck, decapitating its grotesque head in one attack, the ice sheet even managing to crack the cavern floor.
Ethan looked at the notification and sighed, relieved that the mole was actually dead.
[You killed Plagued Starnose Burrower - Level 32 | You gained experience!]
But when he looked closely at the notification he saw that the mole was thirty levels lower than before. Maybe that was its true level or it literally burned its own levels as energy to keep going. The latter was a scary thought that he quickly banished to the back of his mind. Ethan would talk with Andrew about it but for now he had other priorities.
Because he and the dwarves were spent, half his soldiers got destroyed, even his iron sand infused one. They grabbed what remained usable, but many weapons got destroyed and would only become dead weight on their way back. Ethan wiped some sweat from his forehead, not even his natural cold was working properly with him being so drained. This was a pure fight of attrition with nothing of value gained, only some experience which didn’t even provide a level up because there were so many people involved.
The next hours the dwarves and Ethan walked through the cavern, even as victors they didn’t feel like they actually won. They walked in silence only the groans of wounded dwarves could be heard sometimes. Ethan tried to convey confidence, walking at the front but even he looked drained from the fight. He knew this couldn’t continue and something had to change but how, he had no proper answer for that simple question. For now he could only walk back, a shameful victor of a savage battle. Was he truly someone that could lead and protect people, what if more of those beasts attacked at the same time after all.
Andrew stood at the gate, his arms crossed as he looked over the open ground of the cavern. For hours he waited, sometimes he had to talk with people needing help or advice, he even hammered out the details between him and Marshal who asked if he could join with his group. Of course Andrew accepted and was glad he gained them as new allies but now he was worried about the warriors and Ethan.
After a time that felt like eternity he saw movement in the distance, he shouted at one of the scouts keeping watch. “Hey! You! Tell me who is approaching and be quick, if it’s an attack we have to move quickly.” The scout gave a sloppy salute and focused on the movement in the distance.
Before he could answer a horn sounded out from the open plain and Andrew sighed, he now knew that those were his people and the worry that held his heart in a vice-like grip slowly let go as he took a few deep breaths. But when he saw the battered and wounded soldiers he instantly called for assistance and rushed towards the group. Taking the wounded soldier from a man's shoulder and carrying him to the fortress, the healers and their assistants were already rushing towards them. Women followed after the healers, they carried hot water and fresh bandages for the lightly wounded that could hold out until they got patched up with healing skills.
When Andrew was sure the dwarf he had carried was taken care of he looked for Ethan, in a group of dwarves it wasn’t a challenge to find him because he towered over all of them with ease. He walked over and grabbed the man’s arm. “Ethan, what happened? Did you defeat the monster or is it on its way towards us?” Andrew asked and looked Ethan up and down, worried in his eyes and voice.
“No…we defeated it but it wasn't a real fight, we had to exhaust its massive energy pool because it had such a monstrous regeneration. We didn’t lose anyone but it wasn’t a fight you would be proud of. We were powerless to actually kill the thing and without our combined force the monster would still be roaming the cavern or worse, come here to the fortress. For now we’re safe but I think we have to grow our group quickly so that we can defend the fort properly.”
Andrew nodded and furrowed his brows. “We will discuss everything but for now…just let me say this. I’m glad you made it back.” The dwarf smiled, pulling Ethan along back towards the fortress.
