I grit my teeth as another explosion blows past me. Marcus can multiply the force of his attacks with Monism magic, but his Mana Capacity is very limited. Based on the magnitude of the explosions, he can only use that ability a few more times.
"Hydraulic Blast!" Marcus shouts as he swings his axe at the fast-approaching Gigalepus. The giant rabbit lowers its head as it braces for impact.
'Boom!'
Blood splatters everywhere as the Gigalepus is rent in two. Marcus flashes a triumphant smile while being dyed red.
"It looks like I was worried about nothing."
"What? You think I'm useless?!" Marcus cries as I land down in front of him.
"How could I not be nervous? This is the toughest opponent we've fought yet," I reply.
"I don't know about that." Marcus shrugs. "We beat some Wyverns that were tougher than these little things."
"Well, the Gigalepus is categorized within the same danger rank as Wyverns, so let's keep our heads on a swivel. There's still one running around out there."
"I'll just cut it half again!" Marcus brags.
"You know you got lucky with that one after I riddled it with arrows." Steven jumps down from a nearby tree to scold the bulky man.
"And I powered you up with a force multiplication spell," Jean adds.
"Awe, come on. Can't you just let me have this one?" Marcus complains. An unwanted smile slides up my face. As much as he pisses me off, Marcus has always been my most reliable friend. He was the first person I teamed up with all those years ago, and he hasn't changed a bit. Marcus walked up to me with that same toothy smile and asked if I wanted to go to the dungeon with him. He said he was scared to go by himself, but I know he was just saying that to give me an excuse to agree.
"No one's getting any credit until we make it back alive. Look sharp." I cut off the chatter and look around for the next enemy.
"Roger that, boss," Marcus replies sarcastically.
"Incoming!" Steven shouts while pointing behind us. A cloud of dust is rising in the distance, signaling the approach of another monstrous rabbit.
"Jean, hit me!"
"Got it. Mana Expansion!" my chest fills with energy as she shouts the name of her spell. The maximum amount of mana I can use doubles instantly. I chug a couple mana potions to fill my now-expanded vessel and turn around to face the beast.
"Hydraulic Blast!"
'Boom!'
Marcus swings his axe to intercept the Gigalepus. The two-ton beast hits with so much force that even fully braced with the anchoring skill and buffed by Jean's Monism magic, he still can't take a direct hit without being instantly killed. The axe flies back from the force of the impact, leaving a small wound on the Gigalepus's face. Marcus retracts his axe, but his arm hangs limply to the side.
"You idiot! I told you not to take a direct hit!"
"Hah, My bad. I misjudged its approach." Travis winces as he holds his shattered arm.
"Impact!" Steven shouts as an arrow bounces off the hindquarters of our prey. After a split second, the skill activates, and a force vector blows a small hole in its leg. "We're making progress, don't let up."
The Gigalepus turns back to face us. The most important thing to remember when fighting one is that they're so fast that they can't see while running. They fight by launching themselves over a short distance and then stopping to gauge their position and change direction. This means that they can be dodged as long as you properly judge the angle of approach.
"Explosion!" I unleash another attack just as the Gigalepus comes to a stop, and it's sent flying. The two-ton monster rolls across the ground before coming to a halt. "Keep up the pressure. We've got this."
The giant rabbit stumbles to its feet and tries to hop away.
"Not so fast!" Steven draws his bow as he prepares to land the fatal blow.
'Bang!'
A third Gigalepus appears out of nowhere and slams into Steven from the side. The left side of his body crumples under the force of the blow.
"Gah!" He lands on the ground and uses his one good arm to drag himself away from the monster.
"Shit, there's another one!" I turn to face the new threat when I hear Jean scream.
"AHHHH!" My stomach drops as I see a fourth Gigalepus standing over her body; her legs are so mangled that they look like jelly.
"Explooosion!" I blast both rabbits away to buy us some time. According to the report, there was only supposed to be one Gigalepus harassing merchants in the area. Even then, it was designated as a Mythril rank quest. With four of them, it should easily be ranked higher.
"Hydraulic Blast!" Marcus jumps in and lays into the rabbit that attacked Jean while still stunned by my attack.
"Everyone, bring it in! We need to stick close!" I shout to my teammates.
"Come on, Jean. I got you," Marcus says while pulling her in my direction. He holds her head away from her legs, so she doesn't pass out from shock.
"We can still do this. We just need to hold them back. We can outlast them." Steven jogs over with his bow in hand as if he was never injured in the first place.
"How are you walking?"
"I saved an elixir for an emergency. Fortunately, it hit my left side or else it would have destroyed the bottle." Steven smiles while holding up an empty bottle.
"I'm glad you're alright. Let's kill these things and get back as soon as possible. Retiring is starting to sound really appealing right about now." Steven chuckles at my joke as he notches an arrow.
"One thing at a time. I'll hold this side while you watch the other."
"Got–" Just as I speak, I see a Gigalepus flying in at Steven. It's moving so fast that I don't have time to react. Steven notices the look of horror on my face and turns just in time to learn his fate.
'Blam!'
Having already depleted his health points earlier in the fight, Steven bursts apart like a bag full of blood. Only a red mist hangs in the air where he is last standing.
"Hydraulic Burst!" Marcus' shout brings me back to reality. The Gigalepus that just killed Steven has turned and is now charging at me. I collect all the rage in my stomach and aim it at the charging rabbit.
"Inferno!" Bright blue flames expand outward from the palm of my hand and consume the area around the Gigalepus. The heat burns off the monster's flesh, and it slides past me in a smoldering heap. This spell normally depletes all my mana, but I still have some to spare after getting buffed by Jean. "Fucking Bastard."
I curse under my breath and spin around to help Marcus. He's holding off a Gigalepus with one arm while standing over Jean.
"Marcus, I'm on my way!" I pool mana at the bottom of my feet and prepare to take off in his direction.
"Jezzy, try to have fun without me," he says without looking my way.
"Wh-"
'Blang!'
The right side of his body is blown apart by a second Gigalepus attacking from the side. What's left of his corpse rolls over, and I notice a faint smile still hanging on his lips.
"Marcus…" I look down near his feet where Jean is lying down and see her head splattered against a rock, her brains still oozing out onto the ground. She was just alive a moment ago, so it must have been caused by the passing Gigalepus. So many of her bones are broken that her body looks like gelatin.
"Jean…" Empty. The only thing I can feel is emptiness. All my friends died while I was powerless to stop it. Everything I've been fighting for has been wiped away in an instant.
"Steven…" A spring of rage boils up to fill the empty space. White-hot hatred fills my limbs.
"AHHHH!" I can feel my vocal cords tearing themselves apart from the force of my scream. The burning rage overtakes me. I can see the three remaining Gigalepuses circling around me, waiting to attack.
"That's It, Everything Dies! Conflagration!" Boiling blue flames explode out from my body in every direction. Conflagration is the strongest spell I know, but it has some major drawbacks; the biggest one being that the caster takes the brunt of the attack.
Like a nuclear bomb, the inferno expands outward and consumes everything in sight. Even the Gigalepuses aren't fast enough to escape. My flesh burns away as I continue pouring mana into the attack. I don't care anymore. If I live or die, I don't care. I just want to burn everything away until there's nothing left.
"You have your friends and your sister to think about. Where does she fit into all this?"
Lucius' words echo through my mind, pulling me back from the edge of self-immolation. I stop pouring mana into the spell, and the flames begin to subside.
"Jezzy, try to have fun without me."
Marcus' last words soon follow. I look down at my hands which have been burned black. Most of my fingers have already burned off. The heat is so intense that it kills my nerves, taking away most of my senses.