"YOU!!!"
With an echoing roar, Halmut rocketed forward with reckless abandon. Halmut showed no hesitation as he spat out his multicolored flames, readied his bladed scepter.
"Done…" Jack quickly vanished from where he stood the moment the transfer was complete, taking back his armband and card. "Now, please leave us, Wollice. I've got some discipline to dish out."
Nodding, Wollice led his teammate forward as Jack threw spectral flares at Halmut and his party members. However, all were either canceled out or evaded as Halmut charged for Jack yet again and Tralbok warded off the spectral flares with time-reversal magic. Allowing Halmut to take the lead role in attacking meant that Tralbok could play support, adding to Halmut's speed with wind buffs and giving Halmut more openings to attack with aid of time magic.
"Too bad Tralbok is so spineless…" Jack sighed, evading Halmut yet again with teleportation. "If not, he'd actually be worth offering my help and support…"
"Shut up and die!" Halmut began to chase Jack around the corridor, nearly catching Jack each time.
The hero was amazed at Halmut's newfound speed, finding it too much of a coincidence. There was no way Halmut was pulling that off naturally or he would've been using that speed in encounters against Moranti in the past. That was when Jack noticed something new on Halmut's usual garb. Halmut wasn't playing around, wearing his complete set of holy armor with something new attached. One of the shoulder plates was mismatched and off-colored, the only piece of Halmut's armor that Jack had never seen before.
"Wow… To rely on such equipment… You've really embraced your lack of size, haven't you?"
"HOW DARE YOU?!?! YOU--"
"Who needs armor? A true man can fight without false strength!" Jack boasted, storing away everything on his person. "Do you dare face me like a man--"
Halmut's attitude was unaltered and unswayed as he continued to chase after Jack, getting closer and closer to landing a blow on the now-n.a.k.e.d hero.
Without even clothes to cover himself, Jack laughed as he evaded again and again. The two Flood Dragons were unable to keep up with either Jack or Halmut while they watched in shock at Jack's antics. Tralbok shuttered as he poured more mana into his buffs around Halmut.
"GOTCHA!!!" Halmut roared, finally snatching Jack out of the air with his jaws. The dragon mumbled through his teeth as he clamped down on Jack's body, "Ho dah you!"
But Jack's body quickly vanished, letting his illusory double vanish within Halmut's teeth.
"How long do you want to keep playing?" Jack asked with a laugh. "I'm enjoying this a lot more than I should. To think that the Sun God would need to use items from beyond Kartonia to deal with a n.a.k.e.d and unarmed man levels below you… How you've fallen, Halmut…"
"SHUT UP!!!"
"Sorry, but I've got something to do… Maybe next time…"
ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!!
Fuming, Halmut pounded his claws into the roxite walls, not even leaving a scratch.
"Your excellency…" Tralbok sighed, trying to think of what could possibly calm Halmut down. "Aren't we getting close?"
Taking deep breaths, Halmut nodded and glared at Tralbok. "Not a word… remember?"
"Yes… Sorry, your excellency."
Halmut glanced at where Wollice had fled but soon turned a different direction. He said nothing as he dropped his surrounding energy but retained his hybrid form. The Sun Dragon angrily charged ahead as the Flood Dragons struggled to keep up.
Curious, Jack decided to follow Halmut. Given how Halmut was the one Oli nearly disqualified for using a two-star item, Jack was sure Halmut was up to something and he had more resources than Jack or Daruun had ever assumed.
'I'm following Halmut's team now.'
'You found him?' Rynheart asked, surprised. 'Shall we--'
'Patience, Rynheart. You know we need her for this, unless you want to ruin everything.'
'Sorry… I suppose I can wait a bit longer…'
'I need help.'
Lunara's call surprised the party and interrupted Jack's and Rynheart's conversation, but they didn't mind at all.
'I've found Torian, he's with Alcahain, Tyres, and Kylon.'
'Rynheart, can you--'
'I'm there now.'
Without the need for Jack's insistence, Rynheart locked onto Lunara's location and teleported away, abandoning his open prey from earlier. He appeared at Lunara's backside, finding her surrounded.
'They formed a speed group… smart,' commented Rynheart, recognizing the four people surrounding Kylon. "Torian, this team was your idea?"
"No… Apart from Kylon's addition, Halmut placed us together," replied the Thundering God, amused that the anonymous swordsman was so talkative. "Otherwise, there are a rare few that I prefer not to work with."
"I thought you and were on good terms?" Rynheart added, baffling the legendary gods slightly. In that moment of questioning, Rynheart teleported and charged at both Torian and Tyres on one side. "How about I help you? A common enemy may give you two something to share after all…"
Tyres shouted and parried the helmed swordsman's attacks. "Don't think you can--"
Before Tyres could finish that statement, he was stupefied as the rapier suddenly changed directions and no longer followed the attack pattern of their last fight. It was as if the first strike was an illusion all along and the true attack was about to pierce Tyres's neck.
But a lightning-fast tail appeared and swatted the rapier aside. "Don't get c.o.c.ky! It only makes you weaker!"
The Thundering God in hybrid form lashed out against the swordsman, who surprisingly didn't teleport away. Instead, the helmed man either parried the many tail and claw attacks or precisely matched them with his upgraded rapier, all the while dancing through Tyres sword strikes.
Rynheart was putting on a show as he stalled and stayed the two fastest legendary gods, leaving Lunara to the slower of the speedy team, Alcahain and Kylon.
"Kylon… You know I treat you like family, like a mother…" Lunara stated, entering her full hydra form. "I won't take it easy on you but know that I will never forget that, no matter what."
"Thank you, Luna. The feeling is mutual…" sighed Kylon, shifting into her hybrid form.
Once both women were ready and had said their encouraging words, Alcahain was the first to strike. "Don't forget about me!"