Their steps get closer and I can hear a loud stomping noise. Thanks to my thermal vision I see the shield-bearer early on. He is charging at us with a speed that shouldn't be possible given the weight of his armor. There must be a buff mage in that group.
"Careful, the shield-bearer wants to charge us!"
Guy tries to warn me but seems to have forgotten that my vision has so far proven to be superior to his. I debate whether to snap at him but decide that the shield-bearer is a far better target for any anger I may have.
I slither towards the charging shield-bearer and prepare to wrap around his legs.
When the opportune moment comes I fling myself forward and wrap around his legs. The next moment I feel excruciating pain and hear a sickening ripping noise. Did I just get ripped apart by that guy?
I'm plunged into the void and my suspicion is confirmed, I got ripped apart, potentially stepped on, and died. Navi, revive me as soon as possible!
How was I supposed to know that he could tear me apart so easily? What kind of fucked up physics is this?
Are you ready yet? I doubt Guy is doing well out there.
From one second to the next I'm out of the void and back in my body. Everything is spinning around me and I'm grateful that I have no legs to stand on. I activate blood boost and the dizzyness instantly clears away. My body feels like it's bursting with energy and I'm ready to go.
I don't really have the time to listen to Navi's excited rambling. I round the corner where Guy came from before and try to quickly survey the situation.
It's certainly not as bad as I'd feared. The shield-bearer is still on the ground due to the weight of the armor. The mages are standing back with the thief guarding them while the two swordsmen are in a deadlock with Guy and five remaining goblins.
We can do this! I hurry to join Guy in fighting the swordsmen. He seems very passive as he only occasionally attacks with his daggers and mostly focuses on defending. Close quarter combat isn't his strong point.
I launch myself at the left swordman and swat his sword aside with a tail whip before sinks ng my fangs into his neck. He recovers his posture and forces me to back off with a short swing. The wound on his neck is bleeding profusely. My weak sanguine venom skill prevents the blood from clotting and stopping the bleeding.
He slashes at me and an energy sword appears. I dodge the real sword and counter the energy sword by using my energy fang skill to clash with it. This guy isn't the only one who can use this skill.
Still, why did he wait so long to start using it? Did he forget?!!
As if to prove my suspicion true the swordsmen both start to use an energy sword. As if that weren't enough, the thief detaches from the mages and stabs one of the goblins from behind.
Time to switch targets! While the thief is pulling back his dagger I dash for the mages. Their first reaction is to scream for help but no one will reach in time. One of the mages seems to realize this and with a crazed expression, he pushes the other one towards me before turning to run.
I ignore the fallen mage and wrap around the fleeing one. Mages are quite squishy so I easily kill him and move on to the other one who just lies on the ground, paralyzed by fear.
After finishing off the mages I rejoin the main fight. Despite his defensive tactics and the additional obstacle of the energy, swords Guy has managed to kill one swordsman at the expense of two more goblins. With Guy and myself sandwiching the last swordsman and the two remaining goblins taking down the thief all threats are cleared.
Only the struggling shield-bearer remains. Guy unceremoniously walks up to him and stabs him into the armpits until the poor guy breathes his last. That armor is quite impractical if you ask me. I wonder why all the shield-bearers we met wore them... Was there a sale?
Round two, huh.
Navi, what's going on? I can feel a vaguely threatening presence but can't pinpoint its location.
I feel a sort of invisible ripple go through me and my entire body shudders.
"Ack-"
Guy makes a choking noise so I turn my head only to see him grabbed by the neck by a rock gauntlet. The shield-bearer's armor is moving!
I hurtle forward and use my tail whip skill to hit the arm holding Guy. My tail smashes hard against the rock and leaves a few cracks but nothing substantial. On the bright side, the impact makes the armors grip weaken momentarily and allows Guy to wrench free his neck and create some distance between himself and the armor.
"Thanks for that, I didn't think that shitty armor would suddenly start moving again. How is this even possible?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."