Good timing Glendel Regina said lightly Sweep through them
The spirits roared in acknowledgment And then they surged forward toward the two foes that stood in front of them Quickly responding the strange winged serpent spat out cobalt bolts from its mouth that careened toward the spirit creatures The brontosaurus surged forward absorbing the attacks with its body In a small area around where the bolts hit the brontosauruses body slowly began to freeze But because of its sheer size it continued rumbling forward
With a cry the Roc leapt up into the sky and began to circle rapidly above the winged serpent Underneath the cover of both of its companions the lobster skittered forward with gleaming claws
Shit fucking I canÆt believe I let my guard down The obsidian man muttered Then he grunted and the obsidian around his body pulsed Quickly some of that black armor on his torso flowed down to form a leg He straightened just in time to block an attack from the lobster Then his arms shifted into ax hands
Quickly the participants on the battlefield spread out giving themselves space to move Honestly they had to the strength of their collisions was enough to crack the ground and knock each other back several meters If they would stay close to each other it would be very possible to interfere with an ally without meaning to
The serpent held both the roc and the brontosaurus at bay with its breath attacks and quick body while the obsidian man squared off against the lobster and a very quickly recovered Regina However this time the obsidian man kept his arms long to make sure Regina could come close
To Ed it felt like he had been watching this fight for almost an hour But when the signal flare burst above his head and the bells began to ring he realized that it was probably more like ten seconds
From peaceful cafe to wartorn ground it had only taken ten seconds And from the look of things these battles wouldnÆt end
But just as Ed began to think that a huge shadow surged from the ground bounding toward the battlefield Blinking Ed was just able to recognize a giant wolf before it smashed into the obsidian man from the side sending hit rolling across the plaza
Shit LuÆelleth call for backup The obsidian man snarled as he tumbled and popped back onto his feet The wolf leapt forward again but the obsidian man cut wildly back and forth with his axes keeping it at bay
The serpent seemed to consider this The roc struck to pin its tail and it wiggled effortlessly out of the way of the strike Then the winged serpent nodded Understood It appears that your warnings about this Village were well founded Commencing teleportation
The spirit roc soared downward to strike again at the winged serpent but before it could do so there was a loud noise and a flash of light Abruptly the winged serpent was not where it should have been And in its place stood a flaming skeleton larger than any two of the spirit beasts put together Which was impressive because each of those was as large as a shed
This being was the size of a house
Chrysanthemum Regina mumbled taking a few steps back The skeleton bearÆs burning eyes slid sideways considering Regina Then almost casually its paw flashed out and cracked the spirit Roc like an egg Spectral energies dispersed in every direction as the apparition faltered and then ceased to exist
Silence fell over the square Then the giant flaming bear began to walk forward
Chapter 898
In a way the slow advance of the flaming bear was quite a bit less scary than the sudden appearance of the obsidian man This was a threat that Ed could see coming after all If he had a mind to he could turn and run with a reasonable expectation of escaping
In another way this was much scarier Whereas Ed didnÆt have time to move before now he had no idea what to do There wasnÆt even a single idea for how to handle this threat that came to his mind
The flaming bear raised a paw and swung toward the spectral lobster which was rapidly backing away Grimacing Regina stepped forward and conjured a barrier in front of the apparition But the shield only slowed the bearÆs swing by a split second Instead of being ripped in two the lobster simply lost one of its forelimbs Keening sadly it continued to retreat
Growling the burning bear took several steps toward Regina
I should help Ed thought idly Almost distantly like what was happening wasnÆt occurring feet away from him
But before he could move two figures cut across the square slamming into the flaming bear Surprisingly the bear reacted quickly it sent out two quick swipes of its paws The figures responded to this threat differently
The first hopped upward touching the top of the paw and then spinning up to the torso to inflict several long scratches against the flaming ribcage The second individual simply smashed into the paw taking the force on directly The impact was so strong that even Ed stumbled
Roaring the bear could only stagger backward several steps in order to regain its balance
Ohoho Truly sir how remarkable That you were only a hair slower than I A rather muscular man with elaborate gloves said to the other new arrival stroking a rather large mustache A very familiar mustache
Tut tut to think you would mistake my impeccable timing for lateness I suppose your lack of vision isnÆt your own fault but a result of deficient talent As a fellow owner of a cafe in this area I am concerned about the state of the neighborhood The other man replied as he hopped away from the burning bear and considered the surroundings using one of his long knives to stroke his entirely identical mustaches
The burning bear roared drawing the attention of both back to it Without a word both surged into motion For all that they were borrowing EdÆs mustache they certainly knew how to fight If Ed didnÆt know better it almost seemed like these two were even more powerful than the spectral beasts
When they struck bones cracked and shuddered underneath the assault Likely the burning bear could overpower them but the bear continued to try and protect the winged serpent which had appeared some distance away and was now rapidly drawing runes onto the ground
As those two steadily drove the giant bear backward Regina took that opening to close the distance to the obsidian man and land another short blow on his body Now that the winged serpent was distracted the wolf and the brontosaurus circled around him as well launching attacks at the obsidian man from several angles
Very quickly the entire square was covered in movements too quick for Ed to follow With a cry the brontosaurus that had been already slowed by the patches of ice on its body was struck down by the obsidian man Groaning the spirit collapsed and dispersed Ed took several steps backward and would have likely continued to retreat if not for the sudden hand on his shoulder
Ohoho is this perhaps a neighborhood association meeting for our Breakfast Quarter Æ Ed spun around and found his own mustache busily twitching on another personÆs face Mrs Hamilton winked at Ed To think I Mr Greene a founding member of such a quarter was not invited truly you new arrivals have no respect
Apologies Mr Greene The muscular man kicked sideways off the back of the flaming bear and landed next to the pair of Mrs Hamilton and Ed with an immaculate bow I donÆt believe we have been introduced I am Don White I use they/them pronouns
Of course Don White Mrs Hamilton flicked her hand and a bolt of something that Ed couldnÆt even recognize shot sideways and slammed into the bear Its roars had become decidedly less fierce under the combined assault of the two arrivals and Mrs HamiltonÆs interference pushed things over the edge
Damnit The obsidian man roared shooting out several spears toward Mrs Hamilton Then he brought both hands down in a hammer blow on the head of the wolf stunning it briefly To EdÆs surprise Mrs Hamilton simply plucked the spikes out of the air and returned fire with several sharp bolts of energy
Retreat The serpent asked as it summoned a wall of ice that separated the burning bear from the man with the long knives After a split second of hesitation the obsidian man nodded The serpent then began to wiggle strangely Step back Commencing transfer