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  “Kyrian, fry him.”

  Tiny marbles made of pure electrical mana filled the room. The air vibrated with latent power, all that potential power waiting to be released. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and static electricity caused the Samsoogook’s hair to stand on end like a porcupine-plush-wig. The monster stood still, its two sets of eyes on two different faces darting back and forth, trying to look for a way out.

  Kyrian answered with definitive prejudice.

  He pointed towards the monster with his staff. “Strike.”

  ?Kyrian Tricilan casts [Lightning Rain] ?

  ?Kyrian Tricilan casts [Lightning Rod] ?

  While holding the [Lightning Rain] spell so that the electric missiles were hovering mid-air, Kyrian casted a second spell. A spell that would guide the countless arrows of death straight towards the monster. Holding one hand up in the air, Kyrian waved his staff and a tiny needle-like projectile flitted out and embedded itself into the monster’s chest.

  And then it rained lightning.

  Usually, the lightning-infused spells were accompanied by sporadic flashes of light followed by the crack of thunder that sounded like the sky was being torn apart. But this was different.

  Lightning fell like fine mist.

  They didn’t streak across the empty space between Kyrian and the Samsoogook like laser beams. They drifted slowly like snowfall, soft-blurry currents lighting up the place with a soft-glow, coloring it with pastel-like quality. The Samsoogook lurched to the side, trying to throw itself away from the spell but there was nowhere to go. In an enclosed space like this, Kyrian had modified his spell so that it was unavoidable…

  And when the electric beands touched the Samsoogook’s skin, they didn’t just crackle and pop.

  They seared through its skin.

  Skin, muscle, sinew, bone and then marrow.

  They melted straight through it and the Samsoogook screamed in agony.

  Kyrian never casted spells like this. He usually casts them one after another. Holding one prepared and launching the other was a feat that was a sign of proficiency, coined with the term [Dual Casting]. Only with a high enough [Mental] stat, combined with sub-stats like [Mana] and [Spellcasting] was this possible.

  When the hell did he have time to practice this? It seems that I wasn’t the only one who came prepared to this hunt with new moves. Kyrian, whom I often thought of as the weakest member of our party, had just single-handedly proven me wrong. I was thoroughly impressed.

  And tightened the grip around my sword, renewing the [Aura] around it as the monster stood back up.

  Half of its middle face had been melted off, leaving its jaw exposed to the jaw-hinge, resembling a villain from a certain superhero comic dressed like a bat. But that was the pretty part –the two faces on either face had been completely sloughed off like one of those radiation victims. Eyeballs, nose, anything that protruded from the face had been melted into one flat wax candle potpourri on a kindergartener’s make-your-own-crayon night.

  It began to regenerate.

  Not just the damage from Kyrian’s spells, the two arms that I had amputated were growing back as well.

  “It, it’s healing!” Stole cried out, her crossbow momentarily stopping.

  “It’s not healing! It’s a rewind!” There was no point in following up with an explanation, I simply hefted my sword and felt the world shift suddenly, surprised by my newly found speed from the recent buffs, as I sped up towards the creature.

  One of the Samsoogook’s passive abilities, [Karmic Return].

  It’s not a regeneration-type ability. It’s a total rewind.

  If a monster is in its third-phase and it uses a regeneration ability, it’s still stuck in the third phase. You know the patterns and you know how much mana it has left. [Karmic Return] on the other hand…

  It resets all its HP and MP to how it was, returning back to a state in time.

  Including its cooldowns.

  And if we were unlucky, it could possibly recover all its health and mp again. Which meant that we’d have to start this raid all over.

  “Don’t stop firing, Stole! It’s just you and me!” The corner of my eye and subconsciousness picked up the bundle of armor that was Aurora struggling in the corner, Skaris trying to help her somehow.

  And I immediately pushed away any thought of rushing towards the two and helping.

  Because if I didn’t stop this, this raid could go downhill real fast.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Stole wasn’t doing any damage really and Kyrian was tapped out from his impressive display.

  I watched as the Samsoogook, completely recovered, faced me once more. The only consolation was that only two of the faces were smiling.

  And slowly, the third face’s crying expression began to turn upside down into a smile.

  Shit.

  “Stole!” I yelled out, throwing myself in front of the monster, my blade already in motion.

  And the Samsoogook recast its signature ability.

  ?Samsoogook casts [Divine Ornament] ?

  Once more, six portals opened up above its head.

  [Divine Ornament] has a very interesting effect when used by Samsoogook. When it’s used by one of us as a Core ability, it requires us to deposit a weapon for safekeeping. It’s actually a pretty shitty ability as a Core unless you have a build that requires the use of a lot of different weapons. It’s kind of like a Dimensional Pocket that can’t be stolen like the Dimensional Rings.

  When used by the Samsoogook, however, it pulls out weapons of random rarities.

  Common, Rare, Unique and then Artifact or Legendary.

  Of course, the chances are abysmal. 25% for Common, 45% for Rare, 25% for Unique and a 5% for an Artifact or Legendary.

  And this time the Samsoogook pulled a Spear of [Legendary] class. Not just a normal [Legendary] either, it’s part of a [Plurality] set.

  I recognized it immediately. The long black wooden handle that shone like well-oiled furniture, a piece of decorative cloth that hung between the blade and the haft, wrapped tight. The spear-tip itself seemed to be made out of polished ivory, with a blade that stuck out at three different angles. Almost like a maple leaf, except smoother and leaner.

  [Strange Antler].

  An item, on the same level as my [Lunar Shield] which is also a [Legendary] and [Plurality].

  I threw myself to the side as the monster stabbed out with the [Strange Antler].

  The [Strange Antler] stabbed the space where I had been a second ago…

  …and a pair of wicked antlers made of pure mana exploded with the force of a moose’s charge from the space where the spear head was, inheriting its momentum and strength. The antlers expanded the attack zone from a narrow zone into something that would have skewered my entire body had I not dodged in time.

  That’s only the inherent active skill.

  It comes with a load of other passives. The ability to inflict [Bleed] as well as a flat 50% increase against heavy armors. And the passive which makes this end-game gear for most spear builds: 300% boost to all damage against beings of a different race.

  Not against Dragons. Not against Humanoid Monsters. Not against Boss-class monsters either.

  Beings of a different race.

  Meaning that if I wielded it, I’d get a flat 300% boost damage to everything that wasn’t human.

  And right now, the Samsoogook was wielding it.

  Desperation urged my feet to move faster and I leapt to the side again, my [Lunar Shield] levitating into place to automatically counter another strike from the Samsoogook. But when the spear tip met my shield I saw how useless it would be, the Magical Antlers were summoned forth and rammed forward, created from the mixture of the Samsoogook’s Mana and the Weapon’s innate ability. The antlers crowded around the edges of my shield, threatening to bloody my arms and legs.

  “Sssslaveborn! Vetilian! Her armor!”

  There was no chance to look in that direction but my heart sank another inch. An image of Aurora’s armor crumpling near her chest and shoulder flashed before my eyes as I dodged another strike. Her armor must have been crushed and concave into her chest cavity or back. And Skaris wasn’t a healer or skilled in that sort of thing, he had no idea what to do except have the sense not to tear the armor off of her without being careful. For all we knew, she could be bleeding inside.

  “Mister!”

  Frustrated by my lack of a counterattack, the Samsoogook ducked and weaved, forcing me to dance backwards with another stab of his spear which created another supernatural manifestation of antlers attempting to leave me crucifixed to the wall. One silver lining was that the third face had never quite recovered, [Karmic Return] had only managed to return the thing to Phase Two. I saw the eyes on the sub-face flicker towards Kyrian who was chanting and its legs bent, ready to leap towards our party’s mage.

  It all comes down to choices.

  I could see it now, Skaris pouring healing potion after healing potion into the crevice of Aurora’s armor, keeping her barely breathing. But that was just stalling, she needed a healer. Skaris couldn’t keep her alive and rip the armor off, I needed to get there. Fast.

  But if I left, our backline would be exposed. The Samsoogook would tear into Stole and Kyrian and with [Strange Antler]’s reach and AOE effect, it wouldn’t even be a fight.

  Only just sixty seconds ago, I had been feeling smug with that stunt of mine. Using Darkness to blind the Samsoogook while I tore into him. But the monster was smart enough that it wouldn’t work again without the support of my party members. Shit, it’s always like this. Always. Thinking I’ve won, only for the monster to get lucky or pull out its trump card.

  Had I not prepared enough?

  No, I had.

  What had happened to Aurora… it could have happened to anyone. Me, Skaris, Kyrian, Stole... we all knew the risks. Even I fall unconscious during battle sometimes.

  An adventurer’s death isn’t always glorious. Sometimes, it’s just bad luck. A bad slip on the ice. Tripping over a rock. Even blinking at the wrong time. Sometimes…

  Shit happens and that’s the way it goes.

  ‘Enough, make a decision.’

  Decision.

  I had to make a decision.

  Which path would lead to the best outcome.

  Which path would lead to the most lives saved.

  …

  At the end of the day, I’m the party leader.

  I make the shots. I make the calls.

  And if something bad happens, that’s on me.

  I’m ready to accept that.

  I never expected the mantle of Leadership to be all glory and respect. I was ready for others to blame me and point fingers at me from Day 1.

  So I made my choice.

  “Skaris! Get the fuck over here right now!”

  For the fraction of a second, I could sense the disbelief hang in the air like a guillotine. Another fraction of a second later, it turned to panic.

  “Ssslaveborn, what do you-”

  “Lock! I can go to Aurora!”

  “But sis is-”

  “Everyone shut the fuck up!” I cried out and a burst of anger sharpened my focus. I saw an opening and maneuvered my body between the antlers and landed a stab, very deep, into the monster’s thigh. Already wary of me, it backpedaled giving me precious few seconds.

  “Skaris get over here! Right now! Stole! Supressing fire! Kyrian, prepare the spells!”

  “But Aurora-”

  “I’ll take complete responsibility, now fucking do as I say!” My feet never stopped moving as I gave my orders, rushing the hateful monster. It was abusing the shield with frustrating cunningness –it knew that [Strange Antler] was fucking busted. It kept using the Legendary Spear to keep me at bay, knowing that my sword could never reach it.

  “And Darwin, get the fuck over to Aurora and heal her! Right now!”

  Choices.

  I made the choice to trust.

  Not in Darwin, the mentally disabled teenager Priest.

  No.

  I chose to trust in Stole, the kindest member of my party. That her heart had touched Darwin somehow, that he could see how much Stole cared for Aurora.

  And that he would know what to do.

  And now, I had to focus on the monster.

  “RAAAAAHHHHH!”

  Skaris rushed in from the side, his spear blazing with white fire. The Samsoogook was still entangled with me and the multitude of its limbs couldn’t keep up with the coordination required to control all of them. Skaris struck again and again, and his last move slammed at the monster’s feet resulting in a huge explosion of blue-white flame that resembled a blooming flower.

  ?Skaris Deepeater casts [Blooming Conflagration] ?

  This was a different type of heat than Kyrian’s carefully controlled spell. Skaris’ fire was hot passion and fury, an explosion of rage towards the monster. Skaris’ history hated any type of tyrant, and this monster was just that. A tyrant monster who used his strength to prey on the weak dwarves, specifically singling out helpless innocent children.

  And the monster went fucking livid.

  It screamed and began running around the place, blue flame clinging to its body due to Skaris’ passive; [Sticky Flames]. It rolled on the ground, got up to its feet and stomping and banging its head into the walls. A sour scent filled my overly sensitive nose as the monster soiled itself from the pain of being burnt alive.

  “Shit it’s getting near Aurora! Lock!”

  “Skaris! With me!”

  Lightning flashed as Kyrian cast his spell. Flames exploded as Skaris used his Core ability again and again. And I neared the monster, escaping death by a hair, as I cut into it again and again.

  “Get her out! Get her out, goddamit!” I cried out to Darwin, seeing him hesitate near Aurora, struggling to get his hands to glow green.

  It was chaos.

  But as the Grade-5 Boss-class monster rampaged, I saw my shot and took it.

  Bouncing off of the wall, I finally reached the monster’s goddamned neck at its 10-feet tall height and cut its head clean off. It’s [Defense] stat be damned, I couldn’t even count how many [Attack] buffs I had received.

  Crunch

  A sickening crunch.

  “NO!”

  “Sis!”

  A cry filled with regret. A tearful sob.

  I turned and looked.

  Right before it died, in its pain-fueled rampage, the monster had stomped numerous times on two people.

  The fragile Darwin and the already injured Aurora.

  Blood pooled the area. Guts squeezed out from openings like toothpaste held too tight.

  Darwin’s eyes rolled back.

  Aurora’s body stopped convulsing.

  Everything in slow motion.

  My brain stalling as the adrenaline and blood drained out of my face.

  Choices.