Chapter 58: Killing the Corrupted Eldritch Dragon.
"Keep your focus on the monster, Bruce!" Eris placed her hand over her shoulder and performed [Heal] on herself after she had been swatted by a stray tendril.
Sure, she was strong, and as far as the heroes went she was the most durable both from her healing abilities as well as her training with Idria which was all about getting hurt and healing it to raise her pain tolerance as well as lessen her mental fatigue in stressful situations, but in comparison to her fellow heroes in terms of pure strength she was not that strong at all, what she had where they all packed was tenacity.
[Heal!]
Eris slapped her palm against Bruce's back as he turned curing his fatigue in an instant as he took a breath. "Right, thanks!" Bruce summoned another shield after his first was broken and began charging toward the distracted dragon again.
"Lyra!" Ikaris set her arms in a punting gesture and gave Lyra a platform to jump on, throwing her hands upward and sending Lyra skyborne with a huff before using her divinity to leap to the same height.
"The gross tentacle things on its back do not grow back when destroyed, and right now they are preventing us from doing any substantial damage, so like we discussed!" Ikaris summoned her swords as her and Lyra's bodies were engulfed in white mana being drawn from their surrounding while they ascended.
"They're going for it, let's keep up!" Han clenched his teeth and went into a stance again while Usami in the far back summoned a spear and aimed it diagonally in the ground toward the dragon.
[Weapon creation limit reached; spears ×30, exceeded amounts will cause mana strain]
She saw a window pop up before her and clicked her tongue. "This is my limit, I'm ready!" Usami called to Dina who was in the air carefully hovering with Arla who was spamming fireballs from every direction to keep the creature annoyed and distracted.
"Let's go!" Han took off with electricity surging from his body, and right before him was Bruce and Kris, tanking a majority of the tendrils coming his way while the dragon started preparing to fire off another ball of corrupted fore from its throat.
"Okay," Usami stood behind the spears and pointed toward the dragon's chest where the flames were being brewed, closing one eye and aiming for it.
[Spear manipulation: growth]
[Spear manipulation: control]
The spears from all around the dragon suddenly hummed with golden mana around them and rapidly began stretching and swelling in size, striking the dragon all at once and trapping its movements before it even had the chance to dodge or deflect.
"Come on!" Usami held her hands outward when the dragon started to struggle, it was no shock that none of them had pierced it, but luckily, its body was not whole and several of the spears had managed to go through the holes in its body, trapping it for the time being.
"I can't hold it any longer!" Usami grit her teeth as the corrupted eldritch dragon roared and began thrashing its tail and flailing the tendrils above itself.
Its black eyes searched the burning forest frantically and it teeth gnashed in annoyance, even as a corrupted beast this dragon retained its sentience, so as soon as it caught glimpse of Han's flashy approach it took the first step forward, thanks to several of the spears going through the holes in its chest the flame attack it was preparing earlier was cancelled, but now that it was immobile and Arla had stopped shooting it in the face with fireballs it could see everyone again.
"The impudence of these lowly creatures!" It thought to itself. "I am an all-powerful eldritch being, none has ever laid a scratch on me!" It thought as it roared toward Han as more electricity built up around him to the point where he was glowing with overcharged mana particles.
"Dina!" Usami's arms trembled, and blood dripped from her nose as windows popped up across her field of view constantly warning her.
"Just a bit longer, Usami!" Dina shouted as she tried remaining focused from above them.
[Mana: 400/9000-]
[320/19,000]
[120/19,000]
[20/19,000]
[Mana depleted, you are overwhelmed]
[Skill manipulation is still active, you have no mana, calculating consequences]
"Usami that is enough!" Morn saw her eyes water and her heard her breathing become haphazard. "Let go!"
"Just a bit more!" Usami ground her teeth as her legs started shaking and sweat poured from her skin. "I can do this!"
"Don't force yourself when you've reached your limits, you will die!"
"I won't!" Usami breathed heavily and fell to one knee. "I can't, not yet!"
"Let g-" Morn approached her intent on stopping her, but a white [healing Arrow] landed right at his feet as Idria came running over and coming to a halt right next to Usami.
"Keep it still, from that range, if you let it go... Han, Bruce, and Kris will immediately die!" She placed her hand on Usami's back. [Recovery heal]
[Mana transfer]
Usami felt her strength return like a well being filled.
[*You levelled up!]
[Mana: 12,000/12,000 (+1000)]
[Level 98: (new Spear manipulation available!)]
"Thank you!" Usami stood again and clasped her fists together. "This is exactly what I needed!"
[Spear manipulation: caged bird]
From the air around the corrupted eldritch dragon another dozen spears appeared crashing diagonally around it and holding it firmly by the legs and tail.
"It's ready!" Han called to the two who were both bloodied and exhausted from blocking the attacks while he prepared his skill.
"Let's go!" Kris and Bruce nodded to each other and threw their shields over their backs, facing each other with their eyes on the eldritch that was now above them staring down in irritation and roaring as it was unable to strike.
[Combined skill: Mountain splitter]
"URAAAAH!!"
The two tanks swung their greatswords simultaneously, creating a pair of thin mana arcs that fed from each other as they quickly grew to the size of the monster, crashing against its face and sending it's head upward with a snap.
[Sword Dance: Form 3-]
Han's mana erupted from inside of him creating a massive humanoid bull made of lightning and mana. "Taurus!" Han screamed as the creature of lightning raced forward pass Bruce and Han and crashed into the eldritch fiend, grabbing it by the head and further bending it's head in a chokehold and dropping it like a wrestler with a roar to the skies.
"That's my queue," Ikaris who was floating with her divinity at a safe distance out of the range of the eldritch with Lyra holding on to her began descending.
"It is unfortunate that I am unable to utilize more powerful magic, as soon as I have time I will fix this flaw!" Ikaris ground her teeth as she began releasing her mana.
[Mana 88/93k]
[Combined skill: Cross Impact]
She put all of her Arkadian mana into the attack, unleashing it with a roar while Lyra on her back activated her skill.
[Special Skill: Mana Multiplication]
Ikaris watched as her [cross impact] multiplied from one to a dozen and grew significantly larger.
"Here it comes!" Bruce and Kris grabbed Han who was unable to move after his [Taurus] and started running as fast as they could, needless to say; they still weren't far enough by the time the attacks collided into the back of the dragon, the incineration that it created as that ball of white fire erupted into the air like a nuke and sent everyone flying with second and third degree burns, including Ikaris and Lyra who were directly above it.
But then a moment later, despite the burns they were all suddenly suspended in the air next to Sol who was watching from behind Arla and the others in the back.
"Master!" Ikaris looked up at Sol who was smiling proudly at her before he snapped his fingers and they all fell to the ground.
"It's about to be over," Sol extended his hand to Ikaris while Eris rushed over to everyone and began healing the burns.
"Sir," Sara appeared from Sol's shadows just as Ikaris stood and looked around at the final act of their coordinated attacks which was all a decoy to buy time for Dina. "You truly did not raise a finger,"
[Arcane beam active]
[Radiation beam active]
[Cosmic mana has accumulated]
[Conditions have been met, you have set foot amongst the cosmos once more]
[Magic combination:]
Dina made a pyramid with her fingers staring through the middle and locking her sights on the corrupted eldritch dragon as it roared in pain after having its skin burnt and it's tendrils all incinerated by Ikaris and Lyra's attack.
"I will admit it, that is a praise-worthy skill, even amongst the heavens," Ikaris stared at Dina's magical fluctuations as she saw the divine skill manifest as Sol had described it before. "If that is the power that has surpassed my present self, I feel no shame."
[Mana: 80/82k]
The winds quieted, and Dina was captured in a brilliant light as her skill was unleashed.
"Pulsar!"
Mana: 12/82k]
The forest before them completely vanished, and with it the entirety of the [corrupted eldritch dragon] was vapourised leaving a ten mile long canyon of molten ground, it happened in a flash, but the light itself could be seen from the moons of Arkadia, and the gods all watched this display with awe, such was the power of the mage hero, now the strongest of the heroes, and the most powerful mage on Arkadia.
"Well done," Ikaris snapped her fingers, and Dina's fall to the ground slowed down as she was encompassed in a cocoon of white mana.