Carthino hissed and outstretched a palm. Catching Hairn's fist she threw him into the ground and went to stomp on his head. Rolling aside Hairn barely managed to save his hair from the violent action.
Now enraged Carthino's stats were greater than their own. With the Rot having basically destroyed their equipment they suffered a further reduction in stats. If not for Noen's active buffs they could've been wiped out already!
A bear trap leapt from the ground and dug its teeth into Carthino's leg. Ripping her leg free she shattered its metal frame with ease. Leaping across the ground she charged directly towards Nime. Arms raised in front of her the chase seemed like some sort of sprinter zombie. The sudden change in genre would've made many players panic. Yet Nime took a step back and a net sprung from the dirt.
Shredding it apart Carthino grabbed ahold of Nime and began to tear at Nime's skin with her nails. Ninn tossed a few daggers forward and they embedded themselves directly into her joints. With the pause in attacks Nime scrambled back and allowed the others to take action. A bolt of lightning shot forward and scorched Carthino.
With a feral sound Carthino turned her attention towards Noen. Sprinting towards him he coughed in surprise, "She's gone feral!"
Naturally Noen had basic sorcerer spells. Excluding the fact that he only became a Chronomage long after the launch of A World's Legacy, Chronomage was lacking in offensive power.
Ninn frowned as she saw Carthino's mindless rampage. Tossing a side glance at Noen she immediately took action. Flinging a fan of knives forward she landed a few onto Carthino but several landed in a pattern on the ground. Raising two fingers Ninn murmured something under her breath.
Several thin ropes manifested and connected to the ropes. They tightened and entrapped Carthino within them. Yet despite this Carthino still did not even glance at Ninn. Hairn sprinted towards the restrained Carthino and raised a hand. From his bag rose another dagger, an old one he hadn't yet sold.
Stabbing the back of Carthino's head he quickly released a flurry of stabs at her back. Utilizing the various bonuses when it came to backstabs related to his stealth-based class. With one more and final stab his dagger burst to pieces from the rot. Additionally the ropes formed by Ninn started to split. With a growl Carthino ripped them apart and clawed towards Hairn's face.
Jerking backwards Hairn managed to get away with only a scratch on his face. Taking a few steps back Hairn kited Carthino away and directly into several of Nime's traps! They activated one after the other, slowly but surely slowing Carthino down. Several knives decorated Carthino's back and she shuddered as her sprint came to a crawl.
Dong~!
< [Chrono Control: 2nd Hour] is taking effect! >
< [Chrono Control: 2nd Hour] decreases enemy speed by 30%! >
As the knives fell apart from the rot Nime leapt onto Carthino's back and restrained the undead. Hairn took the opportunity and delivered a flurry of punches. His damage was sorely lacking. Being a class centered around daggers and stealth, unarmed punching was far out of his specialty. Regardless this desperate attempt was not fruitless! Despite the low damage it was slowly building up!
Carthino twitched and lurched about to free herself from the numerous traps. Nime tried desperately to continue to restrain her but she couldn't compete with the strength of an enraged boss. Freeing herself Carthino ripped Nime free and tossed her about. Slamming her again and again into the dirt.
Raising Nime up Carthino inspected her victim. Seemingly satisfied she threw Nime aside. Tumbling across the dirt Nime could only mutter, "I'm the first to go?"
Nime had fallen! Without a healer she couldn't sustain the constant damage Carthino was dealing. Without being part of a Guild she lacked a Guild Flag to respawn in. Meaning she was out of the raid!
Now without her traps to slow Carthino, the rest were forced to change their tactics. Noen opened his palm and frost lingered out of it. With a wince he looked at his palm. Mana barely swirled around and only a few icicles manifested. Shaking them away he opted for a different spell. Yet was startled to find Carthino sprinting towards him.
Ninn broke into a chase and threw several of her knives. Although they all found their mark Carthino continued to ignore the damage Ninn dealt. Noen wanted to cry, he barely did that much in terms of damage so where was all this aggro coming from?
Pointing towards Carthino a dialog stopwatch appeared at the tip of his finger. One of its buttons clicked and the stopwatch began to tick forward. Ninn slid to a stop. Pulling out several daggers she laid them across the floor and began to mumble a chant.
Oddly impressed by Ninn's insight Noen stopped the stopwatch. The opposite button was clicked and the numbers began to reverse rapidly.
[Chrono Control: Re-Watch]!
Carthino's actions started to reverse. Running backwards until she stopped right at Ninn's pattern. The analog stopwatch faded away and Carthino returned to running forward. Yet she slammed directly into a barrier and all her momentum came to an abrupt stop. Ninn tossed a few knives into the air and they began to spin. Raising above Carthino they pointed their business ends towards her and circled above like crows.
Clasping her palms together Ninn finished her chant and the knives descended upon Carthino. Yet she made a feral sound and leapt upwards. Swinging violently Carthino shattered several of the knives. Landing on the ground she looked towards Ninn. The stare of hatred made Ninn come to a startling realization.
She wasn't being ignored at all! Carthino was ignoring her for the sole purpose of leaving Ninn last to survive! Being the one who triggered Carthino's berserk state she had a huge target on her back, but Carthino was ridding of the obstacles first!
The rot caused the rest of the knives to fall apart and Carthino returned to a full sprint towards Noen. Hairn attempted to block Carthino's charge but was swiftly knocked to the dirt. Noen felt his hands tighten to fists as he stood his ground.
The analog clock underneath him could only continue if he remained in its radius. If he were to leave the analog clock the effects of the 0th, 1st, and 2nd Hour would be removed and the timer would have to be restarted. Giving up such powerful buffs would certainly spell their doom in due time.
Upon seeing Noen refuse to move, Hairn and Ninn came to roughly the same conclusion. Their experience with Skills and their conditions made them understand that Noen could not retreat. Thus they could only somehow stop Carthino's rush!
Yet they lacked the tools necessary!
Ice fragments formed in his palm and Noen cringed, "She makes this looks so easy!"
Shaking the ice fragments away Noen tried a chant. His voice steadily grew higher in pitch and gained a frantic tone the closer Carthino got. He could not finish the chant in time before Carthino stabbed through his stomach. Her forearm easily piercing through his body.
Without armor, or even a decent amount of HP, Noen was helpless to the damage. Without a proper staff to complete his spells the only ones he could pull off reliably where those under [Chrono Control].
Retracting her hand Carthino raised a fist and delivered a heavy blow. Noen crumpled and rolled through the dirt. He couldn't stand back on his feet before Carthino sent a kick into his ribs. Being tossed to the edge of the analog clock onto the ground he coughed violently. He was incapable of surviving another blow. Already the hefty blows he took put his HP into the critical zone, and the violent attacks had made him suffer a number of debuffs.
Dong~!
< [Chrono Control: 3rd Hour] is taking effect! >
< [Chrono Control: 3rd Hour] allows for [Moment in Time] to be activated! >
Tick-tick-tick-tick
The sound of a clock ticking began to sound about. Their pace rapidly building up. Carthino raised a leg to stomp downwards. Yet her actions came to a freeze just as she began to perform the stomp.
< [Moment in Time] has been activated! >
< All enemies within its radius will be frozen in time! >
"Go!! It can only hold for a few seconds!", Noen shouted.
Covering his wound Noen focused on staying alive for a moment longer. Unlike the timestop ability he utilized in the Professional Competition [Moment in Time] only affected enemies. In return its duration was significantly shorter and he required the 3rd Hour to be triggered. Yet the debuffs were taking hold, and his severe wound was draining his HP. Noen feared that he wouldn't be able to stay alive long enough to complete the entire duration of [Moment in Time].
Ninn knew her knives wouldn't do nearly enough damage. That much was proved throughout this entire fight. Instead she reached into her bag and pulled out a vicious looking ritual dagger. Flinging it towards Hairn she called, "Use this!"
Hairn caught it was ease and booked it towards the still Carthino. Activating various Skills he planned to do an explosive burst of damage! Plunging the dagger into Carthino's back he triggered the requirements of his Skills and the damage skyrocketed. Upon seeing their values Hairn wondered just what dagger he was gifted but didn't allow the thought to slow him!
Turning to a blur Hairn proceeded to unleash a flurry of stabs, cuts, lacerations, and carves to Carthino. Under normal circumstances she would've acted and counter-attacked by now. Yet thanks to this moment frozen in time Hairn essentially had a dummy willingly accepting the damage!
Chewing through his MP Hairn triggered every potential Skill he had that could increase the damage he was dealing. Occasionally a knife would fly through the air and embed itself into Carthino doing a bit of damage. The values weren't high enough to be praised, but every little bit counted!
Just as another Skill went off cooldown Noen thrust the dagger forward. The ticking of the clock could be heard again, their pace going from fast to slow. Carthino's foot descended and gently tapped Noen.
Carthino fell forward and collapsed. Eyeing her unmoving body Hairn rose an eyebrow, "I did that much damage?"
Noen grinned, "Great job. . ."
He could not hold on any longer as his HP dropped to 0 and he too fell dead. Hairn looked at the fallen bodies and then to the dagger in his palm. Noticing a strange heat from it he looked towards Ninn, who had already closed the distance between them.
Holding out a hand she gestured for him to return the dagger, "It's meant for a ritual. A life for a life kind. In exchange for the damage you sacrifice your own life. Along with a penalty to your respawn punishment."
"You gave this to me why?"
"No other dagger would've done it.", Ninn stared at him with a knowing gaze.
Nodding Hairn handed it back to her and sat on the ground. Watching his HP he felt startled to see the value drop so quickly. With a faint laugh he said, "It was actually quite fun. Akiol has to invite us more often."
Storing the dagger back into her bag Ninn nodded, "The entirety of Six Lights usually gets wrapped up in crazy stuff."
Hairn did not get to comment further, for he too fell with 0 HP remaining.
Despite their losses, it could be considered a victory. Carthino had fallen!