Max didn't have the time to think or strategise a method of attack. The Dreadweaver lashed out…
Max barely had time to dodge as he glimpsed two more heads flying free of their bodies.
In the end, their mighty gang was down to Dimitria, Slavia, him and one of the lizard men.
Dimitria made a sound between a gasp and a scream. For the first time, Max seemed to see fear spelled across her face. Nevertheless, she stood strong, a firm resolve taking over her previous terror.
"Attack!"
The three of them struck as one, with the lizard man striking first. He had a whip chain with a wickedly sharp blade at its point. With a flick of his wrist, the weapon lashed out, arcs of blue lightning flashing across its entire length.
He somehow managed to dodge all of the Dreadweaver's attacks with speedy reflexes, and when he came close enough, he swung his whipchain in an arc and it wrapped around the creature's form.
Its screams filled the air as waves of lightning cackled across the chain, sizzling its smoky skin.
Slavia struck next, chanting in some foreign language Max didn't understand. A ball of blue fire erupted in her palms and she pressed the fire magic on her glaive, coating it in blue flames.
She leapt with a war cry, cutting and slashing at the creature's thrashing tendrils with incredible speed. The creature whined and thrashed as tentacle parts littered the ground where it floated.
Dimitrius was already charging, her long sword pointed at the creature's core. Her weapons seemed to throb with crimson energy as she closed down the Dreadweaver. For a moment, Max thought they might win. Even as he stood there still bound in black chains.
That core was a weak spot. If she managed to land that strike, this might be the end…
But of course, the universe had a way of jinxing even his thoughts. Max imagined it telling him, "Sike! You thought you were gonna win, didn't ya?"
Amidst the screaming and thrashing, the Dreadweaver's red eyes shone with red light and it's circular mouth opened.
A direct blast of shadow energy came at Dimitria. Her eyes widened, but she managed to sidestep the attack, even though the shadowy blast still scraped at her side and flung her so far back Max couldn't see where she landed.
You could say Dimitria was lucky, because the lizard man didn't even stand a chance.
The creature unleashed a circular blast of dark energy that broke through his chains, and vaporised him to nothingness. Slavia managed to quickly conjure a blue shield. Since her magic seemed to rely on her words, she rapped so fast that even Eminem would be put to shame.
The shield took the brunt of the damage, but just like Dimitria, the impact sent Slavia flying to the heavens.
Max didn't even have time to see where she landed, because the Dreadweaver came for him next.
And judging from its larger, upgraded form, and of course, the wailing which seemed to be louder than Sally's screams when his dad died, Max could tell that this time, the Dreadweaver meant business.
Max peered at the creature's form, focusing on the golden specks of light. Some new stats seemed to appear.
[Uploading Dreadweaver abilities.]
[Shadow Blast]
[Shadow Flare]
[Invisibility Shroud]
[Flight]
[Insane Recovery: Host should note that the Dreadweaver can quickly recover from attacks that do not deal significant damage to it]
Well no shit…
That must have been how the monster easily broke through the gang's coordinated attack.
Max focused at the stat that hovered above the Dreadweaver's form.
"9950 HP"
The performance his shadow gang had put up earlier didn't even scratch it.
Of course, the weak spots were still the same, but Max didn't know how to close in on those areas, especially when the creature was flying towards him with deathly intent.
The black chains that bound him didn't help matters at all. Why didn't they untie him before throwing themselves at their demise?
"Uhm. Thea? How do you expect me to kill this thing?" Max asked as he dove to the side, narrowly avoiding a swipe from the Dreadweaver's tentacle.
"Solar Flare: 100 Damage Points." The words hung in his vision like a mocking taunt as Max had a look at his stat details.
"This isn't even a fair fight," he muttered, gritting his teeth as he dodged a slashing tendril that hissed through the air. It sliced a jagged line into the ground where he had just been standing, leaving a trail of smoking ash.
"I know, but I can't reward you with something entirely new if the situation doesn't call for it."
"So the fact that we're about to die again doesn't call for it."
"Light feeds off noble qualities, like bravery, kindness, or good fighting skills. Either way, you're going to have to do something to get an upgrade."
Max interpreted all she said as "we're screwed." Apparently, his light magic seemed to want him to be goody-two-shoes, and he didn't have time for that. Not when he was fighting for his life.
"But I guarantee you. If you can defeat this thing. The rewards will be insane. It has so much dark energy that can be converted to light essence, and of course, a legendary item, although I can't tell exactly what it is."
Max examined his inventory. To defeat this thing, he would have to be creative in some type of way.
"All I've got is a pebble against a mountain. If I don't find an angle, I'm finished." He pushed back the rising fear, focusing his mind. The key had to be in finding the creature's weakness.
Taking a steadying breath, he activated Lucid Gaze again, his vision narrowing to every shadow and flicker in the creature's form. Deep within its smoky mass, he spotted an irregular rhythm—a subtle flicker and pulse emanating from what seemed like its heart. It glowed faintly with every strike it lashed out, and the tendrils seemed to briefly lose their solidity after each attack, just for a second.
"There," he whispered, eyes widening with a glint of hope. The creature's core was vulnerable, but only for a moment after it attacked.
He took a few cautious steps backward, raising his voice as he half-laughed at the impossibility of his situation. "So you've got a soft spot, huh? Guess I'm not the only one with weak points."
The Dreadweaver's tendrils responded, spiraling out toward him, and he ducked, narrowly avoiding their slicing tips. But as he moved, he lifted both arms in the air, and the Dreadweaver's razor sharp tentacles cut through the black chains.
Finally he was free, and the strategy came together in his mind: he'd wait for the flicker, then strike with everything he had.
But Solar Flare was hardly going to dent its core even if he hit directly. He needed a way to charge it up, to make it mean something.