Balor roared as it was overcome by another wave of magical attacks, and an archer managed to lodge an arrow into its soft palate. It's lower part where it bore all those spiked membranes were now torn apart with blood flowing in rivers from them as the adventurers continued to push it away to the edge of the crevice it had come out of. The Moira sands were nothing more than a wrecked state at this point, nothing like the Guild records said it usually was.
But Balor could not deal with all of these nuisances at once no matter how much it swiped with its giant limbs, because while Riveria's team was attacking from afar and Finn was pressing forwards an attack alongside Tsubaki as best as they could, as the monster rex was being dive-bombed from above with both magical attacks and physical ones from just one source alone.
It had been a strange thing for everyone there the moment Lyze took up his Demon Form. The air became filled with the aura of evil, almost to the point where weaker people were choking on the emptiness of the atmosphere around him. As much as Lyze controlled the miasma he emitted, he could not help the feelings he induced in other people when he used this dark power. And he'd become a completely different fighter as well the moment he took this up.
As the crowds part for him, he blasted off faster than most of their senses could react to, the only way they knew he'd passed them being him bringing that cold aura with him, it also passing them by as their hairs stood on end before going down again as he cleared them and leapt to the monster rex. Lyze withdrew both Excalibur and Geranos as he filled both with Darkness and they became blades that were engulfed in void-like shadows that emitted purple wisps of dark corruptive magic as tendrils of Darkness burst out of his body.
Dark wings burst out of his back and gave him a further speed boost as he blitzed towards the monster rex and all the adventurers saw was a flurry of slashes before black scales from the monster's skin began raining down on them along with streams of blood as Balor howled in more pain than they had dealt it in the whole time they'd been fighting him. And like that, Lyze kept it distracted as he pushed more and more Darkness into his attacks, pushing the very limits of his conductive abilities as well as the limits of his weapons.
Geranos absorbed more Darkness than Excalibur in terms of ratio because the spirits inside the holy sword did not wish to be fully touched by the Darkness. Even though he was an ambidextrous fighter, Lyze switched Geranos to his right hand and Excalibur to his left and began using the blessed dagger as the primary weapon. And with each stroke of the small blade against Balor, it dealt worse damage, though that progress was really slow as despite being attacked on all fronts, Balor was still a very powerful monster.
Lyze flew out of its snapping jaws before flying underneath and upwards, slamming a full powered punch into its chin with as many buffs as he could put on at that moment. A shockwave blasted out of the impact with almost crushed the weaker adventurers on the ground as Balor's head was knocked back, stunned for a moment. Lyze flew around and grabbed the handle of Gareth's axe which was still stuck in its skull and pulled the monster's head backwards and then downwards so Balor's back was arched, exposing its throat and its chest.
Tsubaki saw her chance and jumped on one of its spikes before leaping towards its throat with her naginata in hand. But unfortunately, before she could spear it, a lucky swipe of Balor's flailing hand as it panicked at being pulled back so far smashed her back into the ground with such force that blood burst out of her mouth while pain flared across her back. That same arm swiped towards the ground in continuation from smacking the half-dwarf away as Balor realised he'd made contact with something and he also managed to catch a few adventurers with a back hand as they all went flying away across the 49th Floor, probably into the monsters that were waiting on the fringes of the boss battle.
That included Ais as one of the spikes caught onto her clothes and she was naturally pulled off and thrown away. Lyze sensed this with his Chaos Vision and looked at her in alarm as she gripped Desperate...well, desperately in preparation of falling into a battle between the lower adventurers who were trying to keep the lesser monsters from interfering in the boss fight.
"Ais!" He called out before gritting his teeth as a surge of anger went through him, prompting to activate {Cratus} involuntarily while he channelled as much HellFlame as he could possibly conjure into Gareth's axe.
There was an explosion of black fire above Balor's head as the monster was stunned again, swaying about a bit with black fire licking across its head and its neck. Lyze flew out out of the explosion cloud with Gareth's axe and swung the large weapon around with his arms that had been infused by the strength his skill provided him, which was further aggravated by his extreme anger at Ais being in danger.
The axe collided with Balor's face with an impact that created another shockwave so powerful that it blasted most monsters and adventurers away, and created cracks in the floor and the ceiling as Balor's large body went flying a little before rolling to the edge of the crevice it had crawled out of. There it stilled for a moment as the laws of physics decided which way to distribute weight across Balor's body. Unfortunately for the monster, it was towards the part of his body that was hanging over the edge and he went tumbling back in where he came from.
Lyze didn't care about that though as he filled Gareth's axe with as much dense Darkness as he could and hurled it towards the area Ais was due to land in. It flew faster than the little girl fell, spinning furiously as dark lightning spewed out of it from the amount of demonic power Lyze had packed into it before colliding with the ground in front monsters that were awaiting Ais. As the blade of the axe made contact with the ground, the Darkness that was packed inside exploded outwards towards the monsters and immediately petrified them, making their skin become ashen grey as the Darkness completely destroyed all the life essence inside their cores, before black flames burnt them to cinders, not even giving them a chance to explode into monster dust as they usually did.
Lyze teleported to Ais and dropped out of his Demon form before catching her in a princess carry while she held onto his neck, her Ariel still active and accidentally grazing him with her blade. But all the same, he didn't care because she was alright. They held each other's gaze for a moment as the sounds of battle paused for a moment, giving everyone a chance for a breather and to take things in, mainly what had just happened.
Lyze had sent the monster back into the hole it crawled out of with even more strength than Gareth had shown, and even now the boy could feel the heat of the {Cratus} skill burning inside him as the seconds ticked by. Eventually though, the main attack force began cheering for the momentary reprieve as Balor had taken a lot out of them with how strong it had been. He smirked into the girl's face as she became red from the awkward situation.
"Well you are a princess on sorts...eh Sword Princess?" He said to her as he emphasised the way he was carrying her by shaking her a little.
She pouted in cute annoyance as she beat her clenched fist into his chest, while he just laughed. The rest of the adventurers just shook their heads in small laughter before they all noticed the wave of lesser monsters about to descend on them now that the monster rex was temporarily out. And they knew it to be temporary because they could hear loud thumps and noises coming from the bottom of the crevice where it had fallen, followed by guttural growls that vibrated the area.
The kids nodded at each other before they descended to the ground and brandished their weapons as they were attacked by the monsters, while their Familia members pushed this wave back alongside them. They were both attacked by a Barbarian each and Ais took several slashes where she had to cut at the same place again and again while dodging the monster's hands in order to kill it. Using {Tempest}, she plunged her sword deep into its heart before it exploded into dust.
Ais looked to the side and saw Lyze dodge a cudgel before drawing Geranos into backwards stab and drove the weapon into the monster's hip. But it was with such power that that tiny blade was able to blow out the monsters abdomen completely, splitting it in two as black fire covered the monster who a moment later exploded into dust as well. One attack was all that was needed and Lyze was easily a victor against a monster she'd needed multiple slashes, even while boosted by Lyze's blessing, to kill.
This did not irk or stay her hand though, not as her new skill (still unknown to her) glowed with her admiration and love for him and his strength, and the skill {Lionors} filled her with steel firm determination to catch up to him and be at his side at his level of strength. A row of monsters exploded outwards with what sounded like thunderclap as Gareth emerged holding two monsters by the throats as he heaved angrily.
"Oi you stinking dwarf." Riveria grumbled. "Where the hell have you been?"
"I'd like to see you get up right away after being tossed like a pebble that hard by a monster rex." The dwarf said as he crushed the throats of the monsters in his hand and rubbed the back of his head. "If it hadn't been for the lad's boost, I'd have been an omelette by now."
"Well we're glad you're up boy." Dain snorted. "You look...great!"
"Yeah right." Gareth huffed as he cracked his knuckles while clicking his neck. "I'm a mess."
And indeed he was. The dwarf's right eye was completely swollen black with bruising all around and blood coming down from his hair where there was a nasty cut. Judging by how badly shattered his armour was as well, they assumed that the helmet must have cracked and given him that gash when he collided with the wall. His lower lip was completely busted to the point where flesh was bulging out and there was a limp in his right leg as he refused to bend the knee while walking.
"I can't believe it." Raul said. "You fought through from all the way over there, past all those monsters, in that condition?"
"Don't count me out so quickly yet." Gareth squashed one nostril and blew out blood from the other. "There's still some fight in this old dog."
"You're still in your 40's Gareth." Lyze shook his head. "For a dwarf, you're not even out of your prime."
"And it still looks like you have a lot to offer before you get to yours." Gareth said. "Now where's my axe?"
"It's right...over...there..." Lyze trailed off as they all looked at the axe. Aside from the blade being completely wrecked before Lyze even threw it due to the fact he'd smashed it into Balor's face, the axe was still alight with black flames and had melted almost entirely into a red hot puddle.
Everyone stayed quiet for a moment with the only sound being Bara tearing a monsters head off but even she was looking at the lost weapon dumbfounded. Lyze kissed his teeth in annoyance before face-palming.
"That was one of my best pieces." Tsubaki said as she rubbed her temple. Usually she was the most lax about Lyze's tendencies but even she was a bit ticked off at this. "And you just melted it like that in a few seconds."
"...Sorry?" Lyze offered meekly while Ais giggled a bit next to him, making him look away embarrassed. Everyone else just shook their heads.
"Well at least you managed to put Balor down for a few moments with it before it gave out to your crazy powers." Noir shrugged his shoulder while offering a small smile. "That was a really good blow you landed by the way. I felt it all the way in my stomach."
"I think I'm owed a new staff." One of the mages said as he held up a wooden stave that was hanging on by splinters. "That shockwave drove it into the mouth of a Garou and now it's a mess."
"Why are you bringing a wooden stave this far deep anyway you moron?" Kalos said disappointed.
"Let's not drop our guards people." Finn said as he held up his hand, and Lyze could see that the thumb of that hand was actually vibrating. "My thumb is seriously throbbing right now, it hurts."
Everybody tensed as they took in the implications of what was said and they looked towards where Balor had fallen into the crevice. Everyone's hairs began to stand as they felt a very large build up of magic gathering, the same way it happened when Lyze charged his abilities to the max. But it was most certainly not coming from the boy this time as they could see.
Alarm began to build amongst their ranks, especially when they saw all the monsters that had been pressing them suddenly begin to cower away with their ears laid back and their eyes full of fear. The creatures took a few steps back before hightailing it out of the area as quick as their legs could take them. Seeing this, Lyze expanded his Chaos vision to a full omnidirectional view and focused particularly in the direction of where he'd flung Balor.
As his gaze penetrated the rocky ground to the bottom of the crevice where Balor was located, and he saw the beast reared back as red magic spewing red and black lightning gathered in its mouth, charging up a magical beam. It threw its head forward as it fired a giant beam of burning magic straight at the place where they were located.
"It's attacking through the ground!" Lyze said as he flung a hand out, knowing that nobody would be able to dodge in time. "{PERFECT CUBE!}
Lyze invoked the extremely popular protective spell that pulled from dark magic faster than Riveria could chant. Immediately a translucent purple cube appeared around the entirety of the adventurers' gathering just as Balor's blast collided with the construct and began dispersing in all directions as Balor continued to fire its blast at them. Lyze held on to the spell as he tried to hold it off, the entire area shaking viciously as adventurers struggled to stay on their feet as the blast connecting with the cube rattled the ground beneath them.
Lyze grit his teeth as he looked behind himself at the people around him. It was clear that the adventurers were on their last legs, covered in injuries that had been delivered to them by both the monster rex and the other monsters. As much as they tried to stand strong, it was clear they wouldn't be like that forever without being overwhelmed. And it was all because of the monsters and how much stronger they were than usual as he'd constantly heard over and over again.
Loud thumps could be heard as Balor crawled his way up to them through the small canyon he'd made with his breath attack. A few more seconds went by before the breath attack stopped and the cube shattered into fragments as Lyze and the adventurers took a deep breath.
"It broke the cube." Lyze muttered. "That breath attack must have the same power as an Indura or at least close enough."
But it was not over yet as Balor stood to its full height and roared at them all with an ear-splitting screech. A better look at its face now revealed all the skin and flesh having been torn away from the left side of its jaws, revealing cracked bone and missing teeth underneath as Lyze's damage using Gareth's axe revealed the extent of its effects. They could sense cold malice radiating from the monster as it fixed its eyes on the boy with such hatred, if looks could kill than Balor would not have needed his breath attack to scorch the area and kill them all.
"READY!" Finn said as he was about to give the order to attack when he saw that Balor had suddenly lifted its arms. "BRACE YOURSELVES!"
The monster rex slammed its hands down on the grown and black-red lightning rained down in ten times the amount of torrents it had come in before, and smothered the adventurers in its petrifying effect. Lyze and the other adventurers were shocked still as their flesh was singed, bathing them all in pure agony as even Lyze was not quick enough to stop this from happening with a cube again. Lyze grit his teeth and tried to refocus as Balor drew in a breath and sent another howl their way, one meant to tear their flesh apart.
Tightening his fingers around Geranos and Excalibur, he forcibly moved his arms to act just as the howl reached them.
"{Full Counter}!" He yelled as he tried to deflect it and a sharp ping of a bell sounded. Lyze had only managed to execute the move in part as his movement had been impeded by the lightning attacks. A portion of the howl at a fraction of its original strength still hit them and carried them all away across the 48th Floor as they all tried as best as they could to grab onto something, while the part of the howl that was reflected back at the monster sent it sliding on its back.
Lyze's nerves were still numb with pain enough that he didn't even feel himself colliding harshly with a wall and sliding to the ground barely conscious. But as he didn't use his real eyes, vision was restored to him quick enough to see that his teammates were all lying around him in various forms of injured from barely holding themselves up by their hands to fully unconscious and quite possibly with concussion.
Lyze saw Ais next to him, Desperate having clattered a good deal away from here while she lay there with her eyes closed, barely breathing and with singe marks on her skin. His heart lurched as he reached out for her but groaned as just that act sent fiery hot pain up his arm. He barely had any real strength left in this fight, the long journeys and the constant fighting having worn him down even more than the 38th Floor. And holding up the Perfect Cube had strained his magic enough that he couldn't activate {Disaster}. All of a sudden, the tiredness that he'd kept at bay came crashing back down on him as he suddenly gained the urge to just fall asleep.
But he couldn't...not while they were still in danger. With screaming agony flooding his body, he persevered and pushed himself into a seating position as he looked around. His friends were mostly lying ahead in front of him. The smaller people were the ones who were lying closest to the walls and that included him, Ais and all the other people out of the vanguard. Their carts and their wagons were complete wrecks, spilling out supplies, treasures, cores and drop items as they'd been carried away by the howl too.
A moment later, he saw Dain groan and pull himself up too, albeit with heavily grit teeth. And the fact that Lyze could see his mouth now behind that hairy beard due to how fiercely Dain was clenching his teeth spoke volumes on the pain that the dwarf was feeling.
"Bastard." The dwarf muttered. "The beast was hiding its real power all along. It was just goading us."
"Yeah." Finn choked out as he regained consciousness nearby. "It was gauging our own powers and wearing us down, waiting for the moment we'd be tired."
"Since when were they this smart?" Tsubaki said. "They all seem to have become geniuses since we came down here."
"I don't know." Noir said as he picked out burnt tufts from his beard. "But if we don't do something now, he's going to come after us. Look, there he is, on his way."
Those still awake looked to where the monster rex was now crawling towards them with its arms, one after another. It stalked towards, them, low predatory growls emerging from its throat as its lips stretched from side to side. The adventurers would have sworn that it was smiling at them with how vicious it looked at the moment, like it was done playing with its food and was now just going in for the kill.
Adrenaline started to kick in and people began trying to push themselves to their hands and knees as they desperately tried to get a move on, determined not to become monster chow. But it was pointless as they'd been struck so hard with magic that their limbs groaned and refused to obey them. Some tried incantations but to no avail as they could not focus properly due to their pain. Lyze began feeling a real sense of despair as he too felt tapped out of strength. It was only then did he realise what he'd done.
When he'd smashed the axe into Balor's face, through the {Cratus} skill, he'd sacrificed a large portion of his stamina and his magic in favour of strength to create that especially strong blow which would usually be above his limit. And as of now, its effects were beginning to kick in. He barely had any power to protect himself let alone anyone else.
"Lyze." Ais murmured and he looked to her in alarm as her eyes opened. "Help."
.
.
.
And that was the moment his life changed completely as he made a decision that would set off a chain of events which would forever be stamped in his story. Seeing such a large threat crawling towards them all, bringing impending doom and death to them, made him realize in that moment that he cared more about his friends than even he'd estimated. With his comrades out for the count against a foe they'd still underestimated even with all their preparations, there was no one who could put up a solid fight against Balor now.
And with the monster in question so close, charging up magic once again, he'd only had a few seconds to make that decision.
He shoved himself to his feet, wobbling in place for a moment before gripping his knees as he steadied himself. Flexing his hand, he grabbed at Geranos as the adventurers looked to him, seeing what he would do.
"Lyze?" Finn questioned.
"What are you doing?" Riveria followed.
"...I'm done running." Lyze said as he straightened his back, and looked directly into the hateful gaze of the monster rex. "I'm done hiding."
"What are you on about kid?" Bara said. "You can't take that thing on your own."
"I can." Lyze said as he reached up a hand to his blindfolds. "I'm the only one that can take him on. I can take anyone on, monster, mortal or god. I'm through with being afraid...I'm through with monsters. From now on..." He ripped off the pieces of fabric from his eyes as everybody regained consciousness and looked at him. "...I'm playing it my way."
.
.
.
And with that, he opened his eyes.
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