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Stallionrage

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As the King stumbled about and shook off the man's corpse, Luna took the opportunity to shift her spear into her right hand and took aim at several marauders, firing a single ascension bolt from her wrist-crossbow at each of them. The projectiles easily pierced the creature's skulls, killing them instantly. At the same time, the surviving soldiers charged the other marauders, lashing out at them with lance and scimitar. Vitus retreated to Luna's side and began unleashing his water magic, sending out massive surges with enough torrential force to completely encompass a marauder and knock it off its feet.

The ground beneath them rumbled again, and more marauders poured out through the hole that the King had made. Two guardian kalphites burst through shortly after, making their own holes that quickly began to refill with sand. And if that wasn't enough, Luna heard skittering and screeching coming from the connecting tunnels, as five sentinel kalphites scurried in, three of them clinging to the ceiling.

"Percy!" Luna ordered, as the steel titan finally shimmered back into existence, "Distract the King while we take care of the soldiers!"

"As you command, my lady!" Percy roared his acknowledgment, and charged towards the King, who was now fully recovered and glaring at the approaching hulk of metal. The King let out another screech and charged at Percy, who met crouched down and braced for his charge. The King slammed into him with enough force to drive him back a few inches, and the two began to wrestle for control.

Luna winced in pain as she felt a slight pain on her left leg. Looking down, she saw a diminutive worker kalphite attempting to gnaw through her armor. She kicked it off in annoyance, and then crushed it with a swift stomp.

Even the workers are attacking? Something is extremely wrong here!

30-Oct-2017 21:40:22 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 21:56:45 by Stallionrage

Stallionrage

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One of the guardian kalphites took notice of her, and began to charge. A few marauders echoed its cry, and focused their fire bolts onto Luna. Her armor, however, had incredibly high resistance to magic, and combined with her natural durability, she felt literally nothing as the attacks splashed off her.

Luna nimbly side-stepped out of the way of the guardian's charge, rebounding and thrusting her chaotic spear into its side as it passed her. It screeched and shook itself wildly, but was not immediately killed. Luna pulled her spear back and held out her left palm, the one with the spellcaster's glove. She drew upon the magic without effort, and unleashed a powerful fireball upon the guardian, who had turned to start another charge. The flame hit the creature in the face, scorching it badly and blinding it. It screeched and collapsed to the ground, flailing, unable to support itself. Luna readied her spear with a twirl and charged forward, thrusting it right through the creature's head and finally putting it out of its misery.

She heard Percy's voice echo in her head again.

Agh...! My lady, this King is far stronger than the others before!

Luna fired two more ascension bolts into a pair of marauders that hadn't let up their pointless assault on her, and then wheeled around to check on Percy's progress, reloading her spent bolt rack all the while.

...it didn't look good. He was losing ground, having been turned around and being slowly forced back until he was almost touching the nursery wall. Percy held the King back with one arm, while repeatedly slamming his heavy fist into the King's head with the other.

Understood, she replied. Play defensive, do what you can.

30-Oct-2017 21:40:26 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 21:57:15 by Stallionrage

Stallionrage

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Luna glanced back and forth, quickly surveying the environment. They were getting a handle on the soldiers, but another man had fallen, his body marked with scorch marks and burns. Vitus released a trio of powerful blasts onto one of the remaining guardians, his attack containing enough power to flip it backwards.

"Vitus!" She commanded. "You and the men handle any other soldiers, watch my back. I'm moving on the King! Join in if you can, but only from a distance! This one is different!"

"Yeah, got it! Be careful!"

Luna rushed over towards Percy and the King, holding her spear behind her back. A sentinel took notice of her and let out a chitter as it rattled its scales, launching one of them at her. She could tell that the projectile wouldn't come anywhere near her, so calmly stopped and silenced the offender with a shot from her crossbow, continuing her approach to the King. The sentinel fell from the ceiling and landed heavily on its back, its short legs wriggling and writhing in the air before falling still.

And then she heard a metallic grinding and a big crunch. The King had finally won his wrestling match, his mandibles having finally secured a place around Percy's waist as he began to crush him. Percy's metal body groaned and resisted stubbornly, but was starting to buckle under the pressure.

My lady...I have vastly underestimated this foe, Percy lamented. I have failed you. Please, be safe!

The King finished his vicegrip, cleanly bisecting the steel titan. It took a step back and screeched in triumph as the two halves of Percy shimmered an ethereal blue, the same kind as the dust that summoned him, and vanished.

30-Oct-2017 21:40:31 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 21:57:32 by Stallionrage

Stallionrage

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Luna knew that Percy wasn't dead - it wasn't the first time he had fallen in battle alongside her. The King had only destroyed his physical form. It would require another summoning, but she could call him back. And while Luna could sustain Percy's need for energy for three days and three nights, the initial summoning itself required a pouch full of specific material, and she had used the only one she had.

Luna fired a few bolts at the King while it still had its back to her. Aiming for a soft spot in the armor, where the wings connected to the body, the King screeched in pain and staggered forward, before whirling around in a rage.

It was a duel between them, now.

Another fire bolt from a marauder splashed off her, and she paid it no mind, launching a pair of fireballs at the King. The King made no effort to dodge, and simply took the powerful magic head-on as it charged at Luna. It hurt it, certainly, but this King seemed to possess a degree of natural resistance to magic, and was not deterred by the damage.

Luna waited, allowing the King to close the gap. This was a clever adversary - it would slow its charge and adjust its course if she rolled too early. Her overload potion giving her excellent clarity, Luna carefully tracked the King's movements, and finally lunged out of the way at exactly the right time. She felt a whoosh of air from the King's movement as it passed her, and heard him kick up sand and pebbles as he planted his feet and ground to a halt. The King pivoted around and picked up momentum, coming at her again with another charge.

30-Oct-2017 21:40:34 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 21:42:21 by Stallionrage

Stallionrage

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Luna used her crossbow this time, placing several bolts between the creature's large, purple eyes. One bolt pierced between its jaw, drawing Luna's attention to how the new King's mouth looked like a permanent, vicious grin. The creature flinched and shook its head, but again, its charge was not deterred, and the King faced her head on. Luna waited even longer to evade this time, and went a different direction. She fired bolts into the King's side as he passed, and switched to blasts of magic when she used up the remaining ammunition in her bolt rack.

The King whirled about again, even angrier than before. A green ichor was leaking out from its wounds, dripping out and staining the sand. The King reared back and lifted its head, letting out another horribly loud screech and vibrating its wings. The awful frequency of the sound forced Luna to crouch down and clutch her head, covering hear ears.

And just as the soldiers finished off the last of the soldier kalphites, the King's battle cry was echoed throughout the hive, and another wave of marauders burst forward from the ground, shortly accompanied by some two-dozen standard soldiers.

"This is insane!" Vitus complained loudly.

Luna took advantaged of the King making himself an easy target, taking the opportunity to safely reload. She noticed, however, that the King's chitin had slightly changed color - his deep red shell was now less red, and was blended with an olive green.

Again, the King ignored her attacks, despite the damage. But this time, it did not charge her. It lowered its head, almost to the point where it was dragging it along the ground, and raised its back.

Ah, shit!

30-Oct-2017 21:40:37 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 21:58:16 by Stallionrage

Stallionrage

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The King screeched, and several of the spiky protrusions on its backside shot forward. A single one Luna could have easily dodged, as the King seemed to share the inaccuracy of the sentinels. Unfortunately, there were a half-dozen of them, and they were traveling quite a lot faster than sentinel scales. Luna dove to the side as quickly as she could, but one of the spikes hit her, embedding itself between her left shoulder and breast. Even through her armor and the pain resistance provided by overload, she felt the pain spike throughout her system, and grunted as she awkwardly tumbled along the ground. She rolled over once and lay flat on her back, pulling the blood-covered spike out in one clean motion and gasping in pain.

But there was no time to treat it, as the King was preparing to launch another volley. She leaned back, and vaulted herself upwards and back onto her feet, just in time to get a glimpse of another half-dozen spikes flying towards her.

Not this time!

Luna called upon her magic - teleportation magic, this time - and instantly accelerated herself in a line slightly off from the King's line of fire, moving to his flank in the blink of an eye. She coughed and forced herself not to wheeze - telekinetically surging oneself was extremely harsh on the body - and spun around, thrusting her spear deep into the side of the very confused King. It screeched in pain and its entire body convulsed, and Luna pulled back and stabbed it twice more.

The King charged forward - away from Luna - and dove into the ground, quickly burrowing itself a new tunnel and hiding beneath the sand.

"It's running away?!" One of the Menaphite soldiers cried.

"No!" Luna corrected. "The Kings never run away! It's going to attack from below again, everyone spread out!"

30-Oct-2017 21:40:41 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 21:58:37 by Stallionrage

Stallionrage

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Vitus and the remaining soldiers complied with her command, scattering about the nursery floor while continuing to fend off the remaining kalphites. Luna used her crossbow to finish off the remaining marauders, while the Menaphite soldiers had a fairly simple time of dealing with the standard soldier kalphites.

Luna calmly paced around in a circle as she waited for the telltale rumbling of the King's digging. It didn't take long - and she felt it right beneath her. The King had a grudge against her, now. That was good - it meant he would probably ignore the other soldiers.

Luna deftly leapt backwards as the rumbling intensified, and the King burst out of the sands. It wasted no time in searching for her, and immediately began charging at her again. Luna noticed that the king's coloration had returned to his original deep red.

She waited for the King to close the distance again, firing more blasts of fire at him. But this time, the King slowed his charge well before he even got to Luna, spreading his sharp mandibles wide. He wasn't going to try to trample her anymore, he was going to cut her in half!

Damn bug is clever!

Luna tossed her spear to the side and performed a backwards roll, diagonally away from the King, as he closed the remaining distance and snapped at her. His jaws clamped together with a sickening crunch, impacting against each other. She tossed another surge of fire magic at the King as he adjusted his positioning, and made to charge her again.

Knowing that he would be much harder to avoid when he was trying to bite her, Luna decided to try a maneuver she had come up with when fighting previous Kings. She had never actually used it, but she needed to get away from those mandibles...

I'll have to try it.

She stepped back and repeatedly slammed her fist against her chest.

"Come on, you overgrown beetle!" She taunted, provoking the monster's wrath. "Come and get me!"

30-Oct-2017 21:40:44 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 21:59:07 by Stallionrage

Stallionrage

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The King screeched at her. Satisfied that he would charge her again, Luna dashed to a new position, putting herself between the King and one of the nursery walls...

The King began his charge. There would be no attempt to roll out of the way of this one.

The King was accelerating quickly, he was nearly upon her!

...now!

Luna turned around to face the wall, and ran at it. She jumped forward, reaching out with her legs, and kicked back against the wall, launching herself back towards the King. The King, thoroughly confused, tried to slow down, but had been going too fast, and slammed into the wall as Luna landed on top of him.

The King immediately started bucking and thrashing in an attempt to throw her off. Grabbing hold of his wings to maintain her position, Luna held on firmly and waited for him to tire himself out.

...but the King wasn't letting up. He let out his loudest screech yet, and given how close she was, it was enough to make her ears ring, temporarily deafening her. The King flailed and shook himself for some fifteen more seconds, but it felt like a lifetime to Luna, who was now seriously having to hold back her nausea and disorientation.

Just how much stamina does this thing have?!

But finally, the King's movements slowed down, and he crumpled forward slightly, heaving up and down. Luna took his exhaustion as an opportunity to unsheathe her Keris dagger, and adjusted herself on his back. She raised the dagger high, and plunged it deep into the back of the King's head, in the weaker joints of his shell armor where the body met the head.

The King shrieked and swung itself back and forth again to throw her off, but Luna's grip was too strong, and the King too exhausted from his thrashing. Luna raised her dagger again and stabbed him, over and over, until the King let out a mewling cry and collapsed onto his side, exposing his vulnerable underbelly, which lacked armor.

30-Oct-2017 21:43:35 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 21:59:23 by Stallionrage

Stallionrage

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"Now!" Luna shouted to the soldiers, vaulting off the King and sheathing her dagger. "Strike his underbelly!"

The Menaphite soldiers had finally finished off their kalphite adversaries, and echoed a war cry as they charged at the King, jabbing at him repeatedly with their lances. The surviving Kharidian soldiers focused on keeping the remaining marauders occupied, being instructed by Vitus.

Luna, dizzy and disoriented after being so throughly shaken about, had to take a moment to get her bearings. She reached for her toolbelt and took the small vial full of yellow liquid - Saradomin's brew, a healing potion - in her hand and quaffed the contents, tossing the spent vial aside. She took a single step towards the King, but then remembered that she had cast her spear aside. She dashed towards its location in the sand, planting one foot in the sand and pivoting around as she bent down to pick it up.

One good strike to the back of the head should finish this...!

Luna started making her way back to the King, but stopped immediately, for she could see something that the Menaphite soldiers could not - the King had changed colors again! Not only was his shell now tinged with a deep blue, his wings were glowing, crackling with some kind of arcane energy.

"Get back!" She shouted. "He's doing something!"

The soldiers complied immediately, a testament to their skill and training. The King, having somehow recovered his energy, flipped himself upright again. He arched his back, raised his head, and spread his wings wide as the soldiers desperately tried to create distance between them.

And then the area around the King pulsed fiercely, crackling with potent blue magic. As far as Luna could tell, it didn't seem elemental - it was blue, slightly tinged with orange, and looked like electricity. Acted like electricity, too, given how two of the soldiers were unable to escape the radius and seized up as the magic shook their bodies.

30-Oct-2017 21:43:39 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 22:00:29 by Stallionrage

Stallionrage

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The magic detonated.

The blue streaks of lightning exploded, mutilating the two men and knocking their bodies a good distance away. Luna, despite being a good distance away and having extremely good magical resistance, felt the power of the magic ripple through her and knock her off balance.

"What manner of devil possesses this creature?!" one of the Menaphite soldiers cried, his voice suffused with hopelessness. "It refuses to die!"

It was true. Previous Kings would have died by this point. The King was heaving back and forth, bleeding ichor from dozens of holes created by Luna's crossbow bolts, blasted by a dozen fireballs, and was stabbed repeatedly in its weakest points, but it was still standing! More than that, it had turned green again - it was going to shoot more spikes!

"This is absurd! Just die already!"

The King hesitated a bit, limping as it turned itself around to give its spikes a proper angle of attack.

Signs of weakness, finally! It's getting sluggish.

Luna tightened her grip on her spear and prepared herself, making no effort to move. She knew what she had to do. It was risky, but there was a strong chance she could finally end this fight with one solid blow.

"Going to need to measure this perfectly," Luna mumbled to herself.

Finally, as the King began to arch his back and lower his head, Luna charged forward, spear held with both hands.

The King began to rattle, the spikes in his back quivering with excitement. His head was bent all the way down to the ground, his mandibles brushing up against the sand.

There! Now!

Luna telekinetically surged herself forward once again, and with a mighty shout, thrust her spear into the base of the King's skull with all of her might. Her aim was true - the spear slipped right between his armor, puncturing all the way through to his vulnerable parts. The King screeched once, convulsed, and collapsed onto the ground, too weak to support itself any longer.

30-Oct-2017 21:43:42 - Last edited on 30-Oct-2017 22:01:29 by Stallionrage

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