Cinder didn’t want to be outperformed. Raising her right hand, she let out a barrage of flame from her fingertips, each bolt of fire aimed to incapacitate but not kill.
She waved her left hand in a wide arc to direct the flames as they arced through the air. The monsters screamed as their flesh sizzled, making them easy targets for Alister.
“Burn, but don’t perish just yet,” Cinder said, her eyes cold and distant.
A monstrous spider, its chitinous exoskeleton ablaze, writhed in agony, its movements slowed significantly.
Alister, with a burst of speed, charged forward, his clawed gauntlets ripping through the softened, charred flesh of the monsters Cinder had burned.
With his claws he executed swift, efficient strikes, each swipe ending the creatures’ suffering and covering him in their multicolored blood.
“Keep them coming!” Alister commanded, continuing to charge forward.
Terra stood back, waving her arms strangely in the air. As she did, two golden stone crests radiating mana appeared on both of her hands and one looking like an eye on her forehead.
The earth responded to her command, vibrating violently before suddenly heaving upwards, propelling fleeing monsters back towards the group.
The three of them looked in awe as the monsters were propelled into the air. Cinder and Darven looked particularly more surprised, turning to look at Terra behind them as they charged. Their dragon eyes made it clearly visible to them the smug look she had on her face, causing both of them to feel that they had to do even better.
As the monsters rained from the sky, Darven and Cinder readied their attacks, but before they could act, massive spikes of stone erupted from the ground, piercing the beasts but leaving them alive enough for Alister to finish off. Their blood sprayed in the air, covering the floor below in both blood and their entrails.
“Well done, Terra!” Alister called out.
‘I aim to please, my lord,’ she said in his thoughts, knowing she was too far away for her voice to reach him.
As the spikes retracted back into the earth, the monsters fell to the ground, writhing in pain but still alive. Alister leaped forward, swinging his clawed gauntlets as they gleamed under the moonlight.
The sounds of pained screeches, roars, and hisses could be heard as he ended them one by one, their blood splattering across his black gear. His claws dripped with blood as he placed his leg on top of the quivering body of a dead monster, using his left claw to adjust his black scarf slightly, revealing his mouth as he let out a steamy breath with a cold and distant expression on his face.
Darven watched Terra from a distance, a competitive spark crackling in his eyes. With a thought, his helmet materialized on his head, the obsidian armor encasing him completely.
“I will not be outdone by an Archi-Void,” he said, his voice echoing.
He burst into motion, his speed doubling in an instant. The ground buckled under his feet, and gusts of wind swirled around him as he moved.
His eyes crackled with lightning, sending out streaks of electricity that paralyzed any monster that dared come near.
Darven’s body practically became a whirlwind as he moved, his massive black sword flashing as he swung it with even greater force and speed. He cut through the legs of the monsters, each strike accompanied by a burst of lightning that left the creatures convulsing on the ground.
He swung his greatsword in a wide arc, the blade leaving a sizzling trail of purple lightning in its wake. The attack caught a group of three hulking beasts in its path, bisecting one clean down the middle and shearing the legs off of the other two. Their innards spilled out in a mess, and their death cries were cut short by choked gurgles.
Darven spun on his heel, his eyes locking onto a massive monstrous reptilian creature that was attempting to flee. With a burst of incredible speed, he closed the distance in an instant.
He raised his greatsword high above his head, the runes on its surface glowing brighter. Then, with a mighty roar, he brought the blade crashing down in a devastating vertical strike.
The force of the blow split the creature in two from head to tail, the stench of burnt flesh filling the air.
Charging forward again, Darven incapacitated a particularly large beast, he sent out a burst of lightning that crackled through the air, paralyzing a group of smaller creatures nearby. “My Lord, over here!” he called out, his voice cutting through the chaos.
Alister narrowed his gaze. He was starting to sense a sort of rivalry among his dragons, but he thought perhaps he was overthinking. They were all loyal, so what could they be fighting for? Alister let out a sigh as he surveyed the destruction Darven caused. “Darven, you are supposed to incapacitate them, not end them. Didn’t you listen to my orders?”
Darven’s expression beneath his helmet suddenly paled. He immediately charged back, returned to Alister’s side, and got down on one knee, his hand above the other, his sword beside him as he bowed his head. “Forgive me, my lord. I got carried away.”
Alister let out a sigh, tapping his shoulder as he slowly walked past him. “It’s alright as long as you do better next time. Now hurry along, we still have a long night ahead of us.”
“Understood.”
Darven charged back into the fray, his movements a blur of lightning and steel. With each swing of his greatsword, he left monsters incapacitated, creating perfect opportunities for Alister to finish them off.
Alister moved swiftly, his clawed gauntlets slicing through the weakened flesh of the monsters. He ducked under a massive claw swipe of a crippled monster, then plunged his gauntlets into the creature’s throat, ending its life in a spray of blood.
As Alister finished off another monster, a sudden movement caught Terra’s attention. On a distant building, a creature with a back covered in metallic green spikes crouched menacingly. Terra’s eyes widened as she sensed its murderous intent.
She was about to attack when the monster leaned forward, its gaze locking onto Alister. Without warning, it launched its spikes, which whistled through the air at inhuman speed, aimed directly at Alister.
“My lord, look out!” Terra screamed.
In her mind, her thoughts raced as she calculated, ‘The spikes are moving too fast. At this velocity, they’ll reach him in less than a second. My earth wall won’t rise in time. Even if it did, the density and speed of the spikes would allow them to easily break through. There is not enough time to strengthen the earth with my mana, and there are too many for him to be able to survive a hit from them. The angle… they’re all aimed directly at his vital points. There’s no way he can dodge them all in time.’
Boom.
The spikes landed, creating a huge dust cloud. For a heart-stopping moment, Terra feared the
worst. She began running towards him, her heart pounding.
“My lord!” she shouted, her voice strained with worry.
As the dust began to settle, a silhouette emerged.
Alister stood firm, his left arm extended and covered in glinting black and white dragon scales. His arm crackled with golden lightning, and in his grasp were all the spikes that had
been aimed at him. The spikes clanged loudly as he dropped them to the floor, their metallic echo ringing through the wasteland.
“Seems the monsters are starting to get intelligent,” Alister said nonchalantly, his eyes crackling with golden lightning.