The best part of the next few minutes was that no one was watching. It was just me, and this so-called "hero's party".
"Kill him!" [Ulgar]
I can see that his command had all four of them attacking. The burly man swung his sword, seeing that his shield was ripped to pieces. The archer flung an arrow or two, the mage shot off several icicles, and the spearman lunged at me.
"|Revolving Shell Arts|." [Solace]
I redirected it off to the side and used it to deflect both the arrows and icicles fired at me. I then spun my body to narrowly evade the spearman's thrust. Afterwards, I did some kind of kick/punch where I hit both their vanguards aside and rushed at the mage.
"|Wise Step|." [Solace]
Closing the distance, I winded up a punch.
"|Hexa Barrier|!" [Mage]
Some kind of transparent dome pieced itself together around the mage. Its structure was that of several hexagons attached to one another, kind of like a honeycomb. Either way, it wasn't much of a problem.
"|Piercing Blow|." [Solace]
I slammed my fist into the barrier, sending the force of my punch straight through.
"Agh!" [Mage]
I hit her so hard that she flew back and broke her barrier before rolling. I also noticed that the mage has some crazy grip strength considering that she was still holding onto her staff after that. …Did I mention she had a wooden staff?
"Layla!" [Archer]
I'm guessing that's the mage's name.
"Ulgar, help me pressure him!" [Spearman]
"I've been trying! Bella, try cornering him!" [Ulgar]
Judging by how the archer was suddenly taking action, I'll assume that's her name.
"|Falling Root|!" [Bella]
She fired off three arrows into the air, which then split apart to form a giant net.
("Wow, a non-lethal skill used against me? That's new.") [Solace]
I got rid of the net by firing a |Flame Cannon| at it. Within an instant, it was ash.
"|Heavy Cut|!" [Ulgar]
"|Holy Boost|!" [Spearman]
The burly guy caught up to me, whereas the spearman was a bit of a ways off. I could see that because of the distance, the spearman decided to buff Ulgar as he tried to split my skull.
"|Doppelganger|." [Solace]
Appearing next to me, Doppel caught Ulgar's blade for me.
"What?!" [Ulgar]
"A second one?!" [Spearman]
Amidst their surprise, I could see the mage picking herself up out of the corner of my eyes.
"|Rock Blast|!" [Layla]
She launched a literal boulder at me.
"|Explosion Arts|." [Solace]
I blew it up with a single punch.
"H… How…?" [Layla]
"Doppel, handle the big guy for me will ya?" [Solace]
Doppel's nod was all I needed to see.
"Then first up, the mage." [Solace]
"Edwill! Stop him!" [Ulgar]
I think I finally got bingo because that was probably the spearman's name.
"Halt, demon scum!" [Edwill]
("Demon?") [Solace]
I had forgotten I had my disguise on. I also forgot to mention that I'm rocking a purple plated armor set due to the fact I'm part of the Royal Guard. These guys better be seeing the fit.
"|Wise Walk|." [Solace]
I've been abusing the shit out of that skill. Anyway, I skedaddled over to the mage with it.
"|Burning-!" [Layla]
"Nuh uh." [Solace]
I snatched the staff out of her hands and snapped it in half. Then I tossed the broken bits to her feet.
"Whoops. Clumsy me." [Solace]
"You-" [Layla]
"I cast: Sleep." [Solace]
I punched her in the gut. …What? You thought it was a spell?
"|Trace|!" [Bella]
She flung two arrows at me, but something seemed a little different about them.
("I'll just deflect them.") [Solace]
I smacked them to the side.
("Huh?") [Solace]
To my surprise, the arrows caught themselves in the air and flew back at me.
("Oh… That's what "Trace" meant.") [Solace]
They were homing arrows.
("This is a simple fix.") [Solace]
I raised my hand, intending to catch the arrows between my fingers.
"|Divine Prisoner|!" [Edwill]
Interrupting my plans, the spearman summoned golden chains that wrapped around me.
"Ah." [Solace]
This binded my arms close, rendering me unable to intercept the arrows. Well, that's what they thought.
"|Item Box|." [Solace]
I opened up my hidden space, allowing it to capture the arrows flung at me.
"That's…!" [Bella]
"Impossible?" [Solace]
I casted |Explosion Arts| on myself, shattering the golden chains and suffering minor to negligible damage.
("The archer is annoying as hell. I should remove her next.") [Solace]
"|Wise Walk|." [Solace]
I moved over to her, but she was ready. I found myself at the end of an arrow within an instant.
"Perish, demon!" [Bella]
She let the arrow loose, which I caught between my teeth out of reflex.
("That was close.") [Solace]
I have to say, the arrow was tasteless.
"Stay away from Bella!" [Edwill]
Strangely, the spearman seemed to have sped up. Within a moment, he was behind me.
"|Threefold|!" [Edwill]
At first I thought it was a skill that increased his speed. That was until I saw three speartips coming at me.
("Ah… "Three" in "Threefolds", huh.") [Solace]
I managed to evade two within that short timeframe, but I ended up taking a strike within a gap of my armor.
"Ow." [Solace]
It was the opening between my torso and my hip. Thanks to my sturdy body, the spear didn't get very far in.
"Such… Toughness!" [Edwill]
"Something like this won't be enough to hurt me." [Solace]
"|Echo|!" [Edwill]
Then it hit me.
"Urgh!" [Solace]
It felt like his spear started to vibrate at high speeds, allowing it to push further into my skin.
"You little-" [Solace]
I underestimated him. The spear released some kind of high pitch ringing sound which also disrupted my senses. It felt like my eardrums blew or someone dropped an anvil on my head. Maybe both at the same time.
"Now!" [Edwill]
I couldn't really hear what he said, but I could read his lips. Once I saw the command, I felt something hit me in the back.
"Ack!" [Solace]
I could barely turn to look. From what I saw, it was three arrows that pierced my armor.
("That damn archer!") [Solace]
I wanted to take out the archer first. However, I couldn't really do that with a spear in my abdomen.
"|Heavy Transmutation|." [Bella]
I immediately felt a weight on my back. Turns out, the arrows lodged there turned into chains attached to steel balls.
("Are they trying to slow me down?!") [Solace]
If I wanted to be rid of this, then I needed to get rid of the spearman first. I grabbed his spear, which led to me eating a knuckle sandwich.
"This is for Layla!" [Edwill]
He seemed to grow stronger the more we fought. I was lowkey starting to struggle until Doppel kicked the spearman out of the way.
"Agh!" [Edwill]
"...Doppel?" [Solace]
Doppel gave me a nod as he pulled out Edwill's spear.
"Urgh!" [Solace]
The wound was deeper than I thought. Plus, it's not like I can heal it because of its curse or whatever.
("What an annoying gimmick.") [Solace]
I peered over to Ulgar to find that he was knocked out cold. Matter of fact, all of his armor was blown to bits. What did Doppel do to that guy?
"Doppel, you mind handling the archer? I'll deal with the spearman." [Solace]
Seeing an exact copy of me nod was somehow very reassuring.
"|Thunderbolt Lance|." [Solace]
I whipped out my spear, unwilling to underestimate my opponents any further. There's also the part where I just didn't let Edwill pick up his spear either. So yeah, I'm attacking an unarmed man.
"|Hero's Gambit|!" [Edwill]
First of all, now we know who's the hero of the group. Second of all, I don't know what that did. He turned shiny is all I know. Third of all, I closed in on him anyways.
"|Earthen Shield|." [Solace]
I caused a mound of dirt to strike him from below like I did with Nakros.
"Ugh!" [Edwill]
He took the hit to the gut as expected. I then struck the mound with my spear.
"|Piercing Blow|!" [Solace]
I also added the skill to my speartip, hoping it would achieve the effect I wanted. Luckily, it did.
"Ack!" [Edwill]
He stumbled back a bit. The hero looked in pain, but I wasn't done yet. I chased after him, unleashing a flurry of slashes and stabs.
"|Temple Defense Arts|!" [Edwill]
Judging by his reaction, the hero was barely able to keep up with my speed. He sacrificed a few hits to me in exchange for perfectly avoiding lethal blows. Well, he was still getting cut up.
"|Ashen Arrow|." [Solace]
In the midst of my onslaught, I shot an arrow into his thigh.
"Ngh!" [Edwill]
He took the knee, giving me a huge opportunity to land a decisive blow.
"|Grygand|!" [Solace]
I wasn't too sure if killing a hero was going to leave me with some terrible consequences, so I aimed for his arm.
"|Enduring-" [Edwill]
I blasted his right arm off. The view of seeing it fly and a hero clutching his shoulder in agony was a bit strange. Edwill dropped to his knees as his eyes teared up and he screamed his head off.
"Do you yield?" [Solace]
As I placed my spear next to his head, Edwill grinned.
"|Hero's Gambit: Conclusion|." [Edwill]
I saw the light surrounding him vanish.
("What is he-") [Solace]
Immense pain suddenly struck me. It was so sudden that I dropped to one knee and grew short of breath.
("What did he do?!") [Solace]
I was bleeding from all over the place, from cuts I don't remember receiving. The weirdest part was that I felt like my torso was unbalanced.
("I need to get up quickly…!") [Solace]
Being this vulnerable was a bad idea. I tried to support myself and stand, but found myself falling when trying to prop myself up.
("...Huh?") [Solace]
Looking to my right, I noticed my right arm was gone.
("When did I lose it…?") [Solace]
Realization came across me as I took a look at Edwill. The injuries I gave him were nowhere to be seen, the only thing there was a small wound near his abdomen.
("We… traded injuries?!") [Solace]
Edwill walked past me and picked up his spear. Then, as if to mock me, he placed his spear by my head.
"Do you yield?" [Edwill]