The leader made a series of whining, wheezing sounds, and the other Ashfire Wolves tensed, moving away.
“See if you can distract it. Get it to attack,” Vir said, unsure if the wolf understood his meaning.
Four wolves scaled the nearby buildings, climbing onto perches surrounding the Phantomblade. The leader stuck next to Vir.
“Alright then,” Vir said, cracking his neck as he sunk into his shadow. “Let’s take this thing out.”
39PHANTOMBLADE REDUX
Watching from the Shadow Realm, Vir let the wolves make the first move. There were several good reasons for doing so. For one, the wolves had far more experience fighting monsters in this realm. They’d know the Phantomblade’s strengths and weaknesses and would use optimal strategies to defeat it.
At least, they were likely to be better than anything Vir could come up with blind.
With Vir’s arms and legs extending outside the shadows, time passed at half its normal pace. He wondered if the pack leader would wonder where he’d gone, but the wolf simply took up position next to his disembodied limbs, without even the slightest discomfort at the bizarre sight.
Be a little surprised! Neel would’ve run around in shock, Vir thought, missing his dear friend. But this was no time for distracting thoughts. He cleared his mind and refocused on the battle.
Ashani’s Ashfire Wolves didn’t attack immediately. They surrounded their prey, but not evenly. One approached from the front. The rest positioned themselves at its flank and rear.
Of course, Vir thought. It only has eyes up front. Its back must be a blind spot. Still, I bet it has a way of detecting enemies behind it.
It’d be too great a weakness otherwise.
The wolves pounced, Blinking toward the Phantomblade. Had time not been moving so slow, Vir would have lost sight of them. Even as it was, he struggled to monitor all four. Struggled, but still managed.
Despite the slowed time, Vir heard the dozen Phantomblade spikes before he saw them. Only the wolves’ sudden dodges clued him in, and he only spotted the spikes when they impacted the nearby buildings, clanging against invulnerable Imperium creation.
Vir watched as the wolves swiped at the Phantomblade with their claws, darting erratically to avoid its devastating spikes.
So that’s its defense, Vir thought, observing the absolute barrage of spikes being shot in every direction. And that’s their strategy.
The spikes regenerated nearly as quickly as they fired. Nearly, but not quite. The wolves were whittling down its reserve of ammunition.
A dangerous game, with the sheer number of spikes the Phantomblade possessed. The black Ashfire that burned off the wolves grew even more pronounced as they sucked prana into themselves at an astonishing rate. No matter how close the spikes got, they avoided them all.
Vir would be unable to do the same. Whatever sixth sense the wolves used to keep themselves safe, he didn’t have.
He had to make a decision. Should he wait until the wolves successfully depleted the Phantomblade’s ammunition? Even then, the beast could generate more. It’d just be less of a barrage and more of a rain—hardly better.
The Phantomblade suddenly turned, facing the wolves who’d attacked it with impunity. They reacted, but not fast enough.
Spikes dug through their Prana Armor, and some—the glancing blows—bounced harmlessly off. Not all were so lucky.
Two wolves took blades to their chest and flank, gouging into their hides.
The beasts whimpered, retreating from battle, and the leader that had been standing next to Vir sprung into action.
The wolf Blinked toward the Phantomblade, taking a swipe at the one place that wasn’t covered in deadly spikes—its head. The approach was so deadly, few beasts would dare; hundreds of spikes pointed forward, impaling the few fools who tried.
That one’s got some guts, Vir reflected. He’s also going to die.
That was, of course, only if Vir did nothing. The question was—what?
Back in the Human Realm, Vir had fired his Prana Blade at the Phantomblade’s belly, ripping it open. This beast had no such weakness. A single glance through its own shadow showed that its underside was also covered in spikes.
The spikes acted both as a hard natural armor and an offensive weapon. Even if Vir found a way to keep himself safe from the projectiles, he worried Prana Blade might not get through, even with its recent upgrades.
He’d need Blade Launch, and to safely channel the energy for that Talent, Vir would have to put a good portion of his body outside the shadow. His upper half, at least.
There wasn’t nearly enough space. Even if there was, doing so could very well earn him a barrage of spikes to the face.
Vir resurfaced out of a shadow closer to the fight, though not close enough that he couldn’t escape. The tall buildings’ dark shadows afforded many exits to flee from.
As much as he only wanted to surface half his body, he was forced to emerge entirely. His body lacked the prana to sustain multiple Blade Launch activations, which meant he’d be forced to rely on the ground. And right now, the only place he could pull prana from without destroying his Prana Armor layer was through the soles of his feet.
With the Phantomblade’s attention occupied on the wolf, Vir let loose a Katar Launch, feeling the prana rush into—and out of him.
The black blade ripped through the air. The Phantomblade turned at the last moment, sensing impending danger.
That was a mistake. The wolf leader bit into its head—through its Prana Armor. The Phantomblade roared.
Vir’s strike landed, blasting hundreds of spikes off of the beast. They weren’t cracked or shattered—merely dislodged. It was enough to get the beast’s attention.
The wolf leader backed away, dodging a handful of spikes, but the Phantomblade’s attention was on Vir. The wolf Blinked to safety.
Vir followed up with a second Katar Launch, then a third.
Each time, hundreds of spikes were blown away, only for hundreds more to reform in their place.
All this time, the Ash Beast had never stopped firing at the other two Ash Wolves. Now, it fired at Vir.
Lacking time to enter the shadows, he was forced to Blink away.
Vir was fast, but the sheer number of projectiles favored the Phantomblade. Deadly spikes glanced off his Prana Armor, eating away at the layer of energy protecting him.
Better the armor than my skin, Vir thought, taking cover behind an Imperium balcony as the other wolves distracted the enemy. We need a better strategy.
Vir thought about nabbing some rubble while the Phantomblade was distracted, but he couldn’t get close enough without putting himself in danger of the beast, let alone rummage around for something suitable. And, because the building that would normally have cast a long shadow had crumbled, there were no shadow exits on the rubble itself.
The Phantomblade was incredibly defensible. Even the wolf leader’s attack had only annoyed the beast.
Vir peeked around the balcony to see all five wolves running around the Phantomblade to tire it. He couldn’t even tell which wolves had been injured by the earlier attack.
They can heal themselves? Vir thought. Wait…
Vir sunk into the shadow, observing the fight. The wolves weren’t simply distracting the enemy. They were luring it.
Onto the mound of rubble that had once been the Imperium building.