CRACKLE!
Powered by magic, the dark clouds form out of thin air at a ridiculous speed. It won’t be long before the lightning starts to rain. Fortunately, this time, I came prepared.
Rushing from their hiding places come Isaac and his crew, each wielding metal spears they’ve diligently been practising throwing for the last few hours. Like a hunting party of angry tribesmen, they loft the spears over their shoulders as they run, and hurl them high into the air with mighty roars. The weapons arc gracefully through the sky before they thud into the dirt, standing tall and upright as convenient lightning rods.
The storm churns and I can almost feel the Ka’armodo’s agitation as it stares down at a small field of newly sprouted metal poles. At this sort of distance, you can’t control the lightning too precisely, can you, Mr. Lizard? No, no, you have to use this big overhead mess of a spell, and although you might get through to me eventually, how much time do you think you have?
My pets persist on aggressively battering their respective targets, but it’s me who draws the ire of the lightning. By circling and tormenting my target, Biomass A, I appear to have angered the Wizard Lizard deeply. Which means Tiny and Crinis are able to torment their own victims in lightning-free peace.
BOOM! BOOM!
Lightning stabs down from the sky, and thanks to the spears, things are made more difficult for the Ka’armodo. Sometimes, the lightning falls close to me, but other times, it jags toward the spears and discharges all that energy straight into the ground.
I continue to run circles around the mage, ripping and tearing at its barrier with my minds and even chomping on it to test its strength. The entire engagement has only taken a minute up to this point, and things are rapidly coming to a head.
This is a smash and grab tactic. We’re here for a good time, not a long time.
C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon!
Target me! Fire at me!
It’s only a matter of time!
Another five seconds pass before Crinis’ voice rings in my mind.
[Master!]
Nice!
I turn and sprint away from the fight, the lightning bolts falling around me. Jump left! Roll right! Stop for a second! My concentration is pushed to the limit avoiding the furious barrage from the skies whilst putting distance between myself and the fight.
After all, I’m the distraction in this fight, and it appears my plan has worked perfectly!
[Are you ready, Crinis?] I yell back to my pet.
[Ready!] she declares, holding her prize high, wrapped in her tentacles.
Gravity Mana floods into my mandibles from my Gravitational Magic Gland and causes them to glow with purple energy.
[Now, Crinis!]
On my signal, Crinis opens her tentacles to reveal the Setsulah mage servant she’s successfully dug out of the ground, still encased in its light shield. We’d suspected, and later confirmed, the shield roots the mages to the ground somehow, but with sufficient arm, or in this case, tentacle power, we figured they could be dug up. We just hadn’t tried it yet.
And now that they were airborne, they could be pulled.
Focusing on my Gravity mandibles, I reach out with the energy, latch onto the shield and pull.
YOINK! COME HERE!
114. Level 40
I’m not sure how the slave mage feels soaring through the sky and into my waiting mandibles, but it can’t be pleasant. I try not to dwell on it. I’ve already had to defeat human opponents in the defence of my family. Taking down the Setsulah shouldn’t weigh on my conscience any more than that did.
CRUNCH!
I bring my mandibles down hard on the shield that protects my bag of experience. The spell isn’t so weak as to break as of yet, but my mandibles sink into it with a satisfying crackle. With the mage safely trapped within my jaws, there is only one thing to do. Flee!
Thunder crackles overhead as I push my tired legs and Dash to freedom carrying my prize!
[Get out of there, guys! Tiny, pick up Crinis and run for it!]
Even if I thought I was going to draw the majority of the fire, it was necessary for them to get out of there as fast as possible. Tiny might be able to take a few shots of lightning, but I don’t want to put his tolerance to the test.
Nor mine, for that matter! Lightning continues to crash down in my wake, fleeing the scene of the heist. The Ka’armodo must be furious! Having to watch as I escape with one of its precious servants.
Gwehehehehe.
Starting to regret coming for my colony yet, you stupid lizard?
I run as far and as fast as I can, leaving the range at which the Ka’armodo can threaten me. It seems as if the lizard isn’t willing to risk more of its servants trying to retrieve this one, which leaves it in an unfortunate situation indeed.
I won’t go into the details of what comes next. It’s a little unfortunate. I was able to crack the shell and… end the mage.
[Severing Bite has reached Level 19.]
[You have defeated a Level 48 Setsulah Bonded Mage Attendant.]
[You have gained XP.]
[You have reached Level 40. One Skill Point awarded.]
[You have reached the maximum Level for your Tier. Evolution Menu is available.]
At last… AT. LAST!
I’ve done it!
Not caring if the Ka’armodo is scrying from above, I throw myself onto the ground and wiggle with sheer joy, my legs kicking ecstatically in the air. Finally ready to evolve to the fifth tier after all this time. My Levelling speed has been severely knocked back by having to fight against lower tier monsters, but I’ve done it. And just in time!
Suddenly recalling that I don’t have the time to sit around wiggling, I right myself and reach out to my pets.
[Are you guys close?]
[Nearly there, Master.]
[I’ll come and meet you. We need to make our way back to the colony as quickly as possible!]
[S-So you’ve finally reached it?]
[I have indeed, Crinis! It’s time for this mighty one to reach an even greater height!]
[That’s fantastic, Master!]
Crinis is overflowing with happiness and congratulations. All I can feel from Tiny is a grudging jealousy.
[Aww, not to worry, Tiny. You’ll get your chance to evolve soon,] I tease.
[Grrrr!] he rumbles back.
It doesn’t take long to meet up with my pets and we begin our trek around the horde toward the colony. We make sure to back off a good distance, though. I’m sure the Ka’armodo is mad as heck about losing another servant, and I’m not especially keen on dodging lightning bolts from on high the entire way back.
After a short while we run into Isaac and his team, who managed a successful retreat.
[Ho there, Isaac. Made it out alright, I see.]
[Nothin’ to it,] the former guard says, grinning. [You look like you got what you wanted out of it.]
[Sure did,] I happily admit. [It’s time to get back to the colony and prepare for the final battle. What are you going to do?]
Isaac strokes the scraggly beard developing on his chin. [I think it might be time to regroup. We’ve got, what, less than a day? My group needs a chance to rest and I want to ogle—I mean, talk to Morrelia once before the battle.]
[Right you are then. Pass on my thanks to your group. They’ve been more helpful than I expected.]
[That seems unnecessarily harsh,] Isaac mutters, but turns to speak to his squad.