"He's movements are predetermined!" Keno shouted, "Whoever controls him, he can't tap into Arad's full potential!"
Jogan smiled, "Then we just overwhelm him with multiple decisions at the same time," CLAP! Putting his hands together, "Let's hit him with everything we got. One solid wound, and he will wake up!"
[Eldritch Burst] With one word, four beams of concentrated magic rushed out of Jogan's hands.
CLACK! Keno lunged forth, swinging at Arad's chest while both Gura and Gug went into a bloody rage, lunging forth with reckless swings, only aiming to tear Arad apart.
"Fuck it!" Meimei growled, [Hold Person]. CRACK! The spell shattered. ^Not a human? What? Damn it^ [Hold Monster]
Arad's body froze for a split second, and Amolis lifted his hand toward the ceiling, "I call a divine punishment. A holy beam!" [Divine blast] A ray of light fell over Arad's head as all the attacks approached simultaneously.
CRACK! The hold monster spell shattered as quickly as it took hold. Arad kicked up, deflecting Keno's blade while his hands blocked Gura and Gug's attacks.
Jogan smiled, expecting his spell to hit alongside Amolis's holy magic, but that smile quickly got wiped from his face.
As the bolts of force rushed toward Arad, he jerked his hips to the side, deflecting one of the four bolts while getting hit with the other tree on his back. And Amolis's divine blast got a clean hit.
"The hell was that? He deflected it?" Everyone stared at Arad, shocked at the strange move, but only Meimei and Amolis thought of something else. One was horrified, and the other hopeful.
Meimei stared at Arad, sweating, ^That move just now as if he tried to hit the spells with something that didn't exist on his back, a tail? My Hold person didn't work, but the hold monster did. He isn't a human, but a monster? Or is the spell reacting to his controller's nature?^ And she was right. At that moment, Arad was trying to use his tail, but alas, that wasn't out yet.
Amolis smiled, seeing Arad's skin burn with his holy magic. ^Meimei said a necrotic spell is controlling him. My holy magic seems to be affecting him nicely.^
"He's weak to holy magic! Probably because of the control spell, but the reason doesn't matter! Take those!" Amolis pulled several bottles of holy water from his pouch and threw them.
Keno caught one of the bottles and poured it on his katana, "Finally, something we can rely on,"
Gura and Gug just smashed the bottle with their weapons to slither them with holy water.
"Big, strong, and tough," Gura grunted, "Gura likes that," She took a step forward, ripping her leather armor off, only leaving the hide shirt she wore beneath.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Gura's heart started pounding like an engine. The magic shard stuck in her heart absorbed mana from the air and burned it, engulfing her in raging flames.
CRACK! Gura stomped forth, taking a deep breath as flames got sucked into her lungs.
BAM! Arad lunged forth, swinging his blade at her.
Keno tried to interfere, but the sheer heat released from Gura's chest kept him at bay.
ROAR! With a loud roar, she swung her axe at Arad's sword. CLAN! As the two steels clashed, sparks flashed, illuminating the room with a blinding light.
CRACK! Gura's axe shattered, the wooden shaft burning into embers under volatile magic released from the shard stuck in her chest.
"I always forget, she's also a monster," Keno smiled, "That magic she absorbs doesn't only go to healing, in her rage, she can release it for a short time burst of energy as heat,"
Thud! With one step forward, Gura's foot dug into the ground and she flung a left at Arad's face. CRACK! Her fist smacked into his face, caving his right cheek.
As Arad's head recoiled back, Gura shifted her hips, sending a right toward his liver. CRACK! She could feel something crack, she got one of his ribs. In a fit of rage, She released several more punches, leaving tens of burned dents on Arad's torso and face, finishing with one last hit to the throat, twisting Arad's body backward.
As Arad's body bent backward with a smile on his face, his right foot lifted up, hitting Gura in the chest with a powerful kick, sending her flying toward the wall.
CRACK! Gura fell on her face, puking blood as she felt her organs rip apart from Arad's kick, she stared at him, blood pouring out of her nose and ears as her flames flickered, "Undominatable power, as heavy as a bull," She growled.
CLAP! Jogan clapped his hands, [Spawn Darkness] [Hungry Demons]
Half of the room was consumed by darkness, hundreds of mouths armed with razor-sharp teeth emerged in the middle of the dark, biting Arad from every direction.
Jogan glared at the others. ^Prepare for a coordinated attack while he isn't seeing us,^ Sent a telepathic message to Meimei.
VROOM! Out of the darkness, Arad lunged out directly at Jogan, ^Wait? How could he see me, no, how did he get away from those teeth without a scratch?^
It was simple, razor-sharp isn't enough to pierce a dragon's scales, let alone Arad's body that's protected by his void.
SWOSH! Arad swung his fist down, aiming to divorce Jogan's head from his neck.
CLING! Keno lunged his, his katana dripping with holy water, [Action surge] [Adrenaline rush]
CLICK! CLACK! CLANG! In the blink of an eye, Keno forced his old bones beyond their limit. In a desperate attempt to save his old friend's life, that body of his pushed for a power that it didn't have.
At that moment, he could only think of his rival, Alcott. With each millisecond passing, his cells lamented his lack of power. If he only was like him, if only he wasn't lacking, it wouldn't have gotten to this point.
Filled with regret, fear, and desperation his cells forget their desire for survival and only focus on clearing those feelings, pushing over their limit like a sad man overworking himself to feel better.
Keno's max speed was eight attacks a second before, and with his skills, it usually reached a maximum of thirty-two attacks. (8*2[Action surge]*2 [Adrenaline rush]=32)
But now, he could step into a realm that he could only dream of, if only for the blink of an eye. His body forced almost twice what he could before, reaching a base of sixteen attacks a second. (16*2[Action surge]*2 [Adrenaline rush]=64) Forty-six slashes fell upon Arad's body.
Arms, legs, torso and stomach, neck, face, and eyes, Keno's slashes decimated Arad's body, albeit failing to slice through his bones. The increased speed came at the cost of his regular raw power.
As Arad's body fell in a pool of his own blood, Keno fell on his knees against his will. His arms, legs, and chest muscles were ripped apart from the stress. His Katana shattered. His body had reached its limit. But Keno giggled against the sharp pain in his chest.
"See, Alcott. I managed to step into your league," He smiled, falling on his face.
"KENO!" Jogan shouted.
Meimei stared around, "Amolis, that attack should have awoken Arad. Heal him first. He might be our last chance at beating whoever is after this. I will keep Keno alive with healing potions,"
"Got It!" Amolis shouted, rushing to heal Arad as everyone sat to take a breather.
"Damn it, old man!" Jogan shouted, "Don't die on us!"
Keno giggled on his own, "Alcott, I finally reached you."
"Let him be," Meimei sighed, "He's half unconscious, he will be fine after getting healed." She looked toward Amolis healing Arad.
"What a beast," She then turned toward Gura who was lying on the ground, exhausted. "Let me stabilize your shard, we don't want it blowing up,"
As the A-ranks looked for rest, Gug started at them, "No time to rest, must save Gojo,"
"We won't move until we get Arad on his feet," Meimei stared at her, "There is no telling if we can handle whoever is ahead on our own,"
"Gojo stronger, he's better," Gug replied.
"Doesn't matter if we can't save him since we lack power. We need Arad to save the Gojo you're talking about,"
"You lot! Stop fighting!" Amolis said with an annoyed face, "I'm trying to focus,"
Meimei stared at him, "You always..." She froze in place.
CRACK! A claw rushed into Amolis's chest, ripping his heart out with one move. He gasped, blood gushing from his mouth as he turned to look at Arad.
Arad's eyes glow purple as his wings, tail, horns, and claws emerge, entering his half-dragon form.
"He's still controlled!" Meimei cried.
CLAP! With one swing from his wing, Arad sent Amolis crashing into the wall as blood splashed everywhere.
"This fucker had a second phase?!!?!" Jogan screamed.
BAM! Gug lunged at Arad from the side, swinging her axe. "DIE!"
Arad's tail whipped at supersonic speed, slapping her in the face and sending her flying at the wall. Void crackling between his scales.
As Amolis bled on the wall, heartless. Black lightning started crackling from his wounds.
Meimei gasped, sensing two lumps of magic rushing toward their location. An oppressive lump of divine magic and a vampiric curse lathered with draconic magic. And as well, her eyes turned toward Amolis's body, "Devil's curse magic,"