Duskbound-Chapter 151 - Book 2, 72
Velik hadn't seen the monster tamer guy's body get up and walk around, but he'd heard about it. He knew those two corpses were a threat, as was the man fully under an agent's control. That made it three on three, and both of Velik's teammates already had their hands full. That left him to deal with the shield-bearer.
The man—presumably Vudra, given his choice of equipment and the fact that he was still breathing—rushed forward to meet Velik in the center of the room. Velik's shoulder collided with the shield, and then he activated [Power Surge] at precisely that moment. Vudra was thrown backwards to sprawl out on the floor.
Velik had done a bit of experimenting while they were walking and determined that he could only draw on one piece of gear at a time. The obvious choice was one of his two weapons, but it also only took about thirty seconds to switch what he was pulling into himself, so he'd opted to start with a burst of physical, so much so that his total was briefly over 200, to dominate the opening exchange.
[Power Surge] would wear off in a few seconds, but in the time Velik had left, he lunged forward and sank his teeth into Vudra's leg. With a bite strong enough to pierce steel, he felt flesh tear and hot blood spill out of the wound. Snarling, Velik whipped his head around, shaking his prey like a rag doll and slamming him into the floor several more times.
Vudra wasn't a gold-ranked hunter for nothing, however, and with an agent of corruption controlling him, he was more than willing to take damage in exchange for dishing some out. His shield flashed across Velik's vision before slamming down on his skull, a feat that should have been impossible given the angles involved.
Some sort of skill, he thought in a daze as he struggled to focus his vision. He didn't even realize that Vudra had scrambled away until the shield-wielding hunter charged into his flank. Metal smashed into him, not enough to really do damage, but easily enough to knock Velik off balance. More worrisome, a thin sword dug deep, cutting through flesh and into muscle.
"What's this?" Vudra asked, peering at his blade, then back to Velik. His eyes narrowed in hatred, and abandoning all pretense at defense, he threw himself wildly onto the wolf. Velik moved like the wind, taking snapping bites at Vudra's arms and wrenching the sword away from him in exchange for allowing the monster to pummel him with repeated shield slams to his side.
[Dread Lance] blew Vudra backward, sending him skidding on his rear end across the ground. The hunter lost his grip on his sword, but kept hold of his shield, and even as Velik charged after him, he brought it to bear between them. A dazzling flash of light filled the room, showing everything in stark white for just an instant, and then a wave of sound rolled out in front of Vudra.
It washed over Velik, pounding in his ears and deep into his bones, and wracked him with pain. His vision went red with blood, and he staggered in place. Before he could regain his bearings, Vudra was on him again. They struggled with each other, Vudra trying and failing to win out against Velik's superior size and strength, and Velik himself still recovering from whatever skill it was the shieldman had used on him.
Then his spear snapped into place, and suddenly he was pulling mana from the bite he had on Vudra's arm. His wolf form's regeneration aspect kicked in hard, eager to convert the mana to healing, and Vudra couldn't get himself free no matter how hard he beat on Velik.
Velik sent another [Dread Lance] into Vudra's arm, this time not letting go. The man cried out, the first noise of pain he'd made in their fight despite his many injuries, and Velik assumed that was because the skill had injured the agent instead of just its host. Good. Feel some pain like the rest of us mortals.
[Mana Drinker] kept Velik in the fight, but he had to admit it would have been easier in his human form. Not only was he less practiced at fighting as a wolf, but [Aspect of the Wind Tamer] was doing nothing for him. Maybe he saw a bit of momentary speed increase from it, but he took too many hits for what used to be [Savage Rhythm] to build up to anything substantial.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
It was still a win, overall. The speed and strength—and regeneration from stealing Vudra's mana—more than offset the loss of his main offensive skill, but Velik couldn't help feeling clumsy and inept. He was sure that Torwin would judge him harshly for his brute force approach to combat.
Another thundercrack of light washed over Velik, but this time he was able to brace himself for it and shrugged off the worst of the effects. Or maybe it's just the mana helping me recover from it. Either way, that won't work on me again.
The truth of things was that Velik and Vudra had battled to a standstill. Both of them were too durable to go down easily, and neither of them had succumbed to the other's best attacks. The winner would likely be whoever's allies could back them up first, and they both knew it. Even if Velik drained Vudra of mana, he suspected it wouldn't actually slow the man down that much.
So who's winning on the other side of the room?
Velik circled to the left, causing Vudra to shift with him, and got a glance at how Torwin and Aria were doing. Things weren't necessarily bad, but Aria at least was obviously injured. She'd literally torn limbs off the corpse attacking her, but that hadn't slowed things down. Torwin was involved in some sort of high-speed running battle that ranged back and forth over the room as he tried to pin his opponent down with arrows while avoiding being run through with a wickedly tipped spear at the same time.
No help from either of them. I need to find a way to end this before I'm forced to shift back. By the time the transition ends, I'll already be dead.
"You're not getting away with this, you fucking gold blood traitor," Vudra spat out suddenly. He hooked a toe under his lost sword and flicked it up into his waiting hand, then pointed the weapon at Velik's face.
Velik focused on the sword for a moment. As Vudra had said, the blood staining the blade was gold. Huh. That probably means something important. Figure it out later.
Before they could crash into each other again, Velik's nose twitched. Something swept through the room, a scent he wasn't used to smelling in his wolf form. Rain? Underground? No, it can't be.
A blade of pure water sliced Vudra in half, spilling his guts across the ground as his severed legs flew backward and his torso dropped to the ground. The agent of chaos that had been tangled up in Vudra's organs hung loose, exposed to the open air now.
Velik didn't miss the chance. He pounced on the monster, tore it free, and killed it before it could even think of escaping.
[You have helped slay an agent of corruption (level 50).]
[You have been awarded 2 decarmas.]
Vudra was still alive, though not for much longer. He lay on his back, the bottom half of his body ripped away, and struggled to pull in a breath. Velik glanced back once at Lali, who was sagging against her restraints but had eyes full of wrath. A second water blade was forming above her, and without hesitation, she cut down the corpse menacing Aria. A straight slash bisecting its torso was all it took.
There was no more time to waste. Velik shifted to his human form over the next few seconds, then scrambled to pull out a healing potion. Vudra's gaze sharpened on it, and he croaked out, "No, don't waste it. It's too late for me. I die free."
"Don't be stupid," Velik snapped. "Drink the damn potion. We'll get you out of here, and a healer can fix you up."
[You have helped slay a human (level 48).]
[You have been awarded 1 decarma.]
Velik froze on the spot. Gods, why? We could have saved him. Why did she do that?
Spinning his place, he stalked over to where Torwin and the last corpse were still battling. Velik's spear lashed out, and the corpse parried with a twist of its own weapon. Its chase of Torwin was interrupted though, and Velik knew spear work. He could easily lock down the body long enough for Torwin to get a few clear shots at it.
Twenty seconds later, the agent of corruption inside the body was dead. That made three dead hunters, now.
"Why, Lali?" Torwin asked as he cut her free of the rack she'd been stretched on. freewёbnoνel.com
"No time left," she whispered. "Their job was to stall you while the leader got away with the dungeon core. You would have wasted… Better to let us die than to let the monsters escape."
"We could have—"
"No. I kept them from taking me with my water magic, but my strength is spent. Go now," the woman gasped out. Her voice broke, and with a last, gentle sigh, she sagged down into Torwin's arms. Velik heard the weak, flickering beat of her heart still, and he knew the truth.
Torwin laid her out on the ground and looked back up at Aria. "Dead," he said with a shake of his head. "Rest well. We'll avenge your sacrifice."
