“What?” Ariyana quickly asked, panic filling her after hearing Liam swear.
“The Lich is making his move now,” Liam replied as he stood up.
“What do you mean?” Ariyana questioned as she turned her attention towards the paled skin male. Her eyes widened as she activated Mana Sight and saw the intense bright color of his mana flare out.
“He’s pulling four orbs at a time towards those crystals,” Liam stated as he pointed to the next four that made their way down towards the crystals.
“Why only four at a time?” Lacy asked, her brows scrunched.
“I don’t know,” Liam answered as he shrugged his shoulders. “But if it’s only four at a time then we have some time to try and stop it. The only issue is the barrier that is surrounding him. We need to find a way to break it.”
“But how are we supposed to break it?” Lacy questioned. “Jude tried to and he wasn’t able to put a dent on it.”
Liam started working his brain trying to come up with a way, but nothing he thought of was helping.
He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as he heard Rez and Mica shout something.
He turned his attention to the group fighting the Spider Tailed Horned Viper and saw a thick dark purple cloud roll out from its mouth and cover the entire area it was in with the gas. The entire body was engulfed within the cloud, blocking everyone’s sight of it.
Isn’t that the Noxious Fog it tried to cover me in right when I killed it last time? Liam thought as he stared at the purple cloud.
A loud yell tore Liam’s attention from the poison covered snake to see Marco rush towards the Black Widow Matriarch and slam right into it.
As Liam watched this, gears started turning in his mind. He looked back at the poisonous fog and then back at Marco.
Covered…rushing… Liam began to think. Another thing that popped into his mind was the rock-like scales that covered the Spider Tailed Horned Viper.
Rock covering…ramming….
Liam looked at the barrier and then it clicked.
“That just might work,” Liam muttered to himself.
“What might work?” Ariyana and Lacy questioned.
Liam turned his eyes on Lacy and asked, “Are any of your members a Taurus Zodiac?”
Lacy’s brows scrunched as she thought it over. She then shook her head while replying, “No, I don’t think so.”
“Damn…maybe one of Aranis’ group members is,” Liam said.
“Why does that matter…Ooooh,” Ariyana stated as she understood what he wanted to do. She looked at the barrier and then back at Liam and asked, “Do you think that would work?”
“It’s a gamble, but with the force made and how big and heavy their bodies are there’s a good chance it could work,” Liam answered as he sprinted over to Rez.
“What’s going on?” Lacy asked as she jogged next to Ariyana. “Why does he need someone who is a Taurus Zodiac?”
Ariyana gave her a smile as she vaguely said, “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Rez!” Liam shouted as he ran up to him.
Rez turned his head to see Liam. “Good to see you’re back up.”
“Thanks. Is anyone in your group a Taurus Zodiac?” Liam asked.
Taken aback a bit by the question, Rez responded, “Maybe. Hold on let me think.” After thinking for a few seconds, he nodded as if he confirmed something and said, “I believe Bernard is a Taurus.”
“Okay thank you,” Liam said before yelling out, “Bernard! Come over here please.”
Bernard, Aranis, and Jude turned to see Liam standing over by Rez. Bernard looked at Aranis who nodded and followed him over.
“I see you’re back on your feet,” Jude stated.
“Don’t remind me. That fucking hurt,” Liam responded as he rubbed his stomach. He then looked at Bernard and asked, “You’re a Taurus Zodiac right?”
Hesitant at first, Bernard nodded.
“Good, I have a plan that might work on destroying the barrier, but I’m going to need yours, Mica’s, and Rez’s help,” Liam started.
Liam explained his idea. After explaining it all, Aranis asked with some skepticism, “How sure are you that it’ll work?”
“Hm. About eighty percent,” Liam responded.
“Only eighty?” Aranis repeated with a brow raised.
Jude let out a laugh. “I like it. It might be a little reckless, but if it works then it’ll be one great sight to see.”
Aranis scrunched his brows as he contemplated something. “Why do it though? Wont it go down if we defeat both the creatures?”
“There’s no guarantee it will and besides, we’re on a timer,” Liam said as he gave him a serious look. “The Lich is making his move. He’s pulling the four orbs at a time towards the four crystals. We need to stop him before he finishes.”
Rez’s brows shot up as he stated, “He’s fueling the summoning circle.”
Liam nodded. “That’s what I am thinking. So, we need to stop him and what better way than to do it like this.”
Aranis stared at Liam. After a moment he said, “Alright, I am onboard. We’ll pass the plan along to the others. Are you going to relay it to the other groups?”
“Yup,” Liam said. He was about to add something else, until he heard Lector shout something that made everyone turn to look over at the other groups with a concern and confused look.
“There’s some butt action going on over here!” Lector yelled with a slightly panicked voice.
As Liam turned to look over, he watched as the Black Widow Matriarch shot a web up to the ceiling. After it stuck, she pulled herself up and turned upside down.
“That doesn’t look good,” Jude stated.
Liquid started drooling out from the spider’s mouth moments after it latched its legs onto the ceiling. A second after that, she started spitting clumps of greenish-purple liquid towards the ground where people stood.
“Scatter!” Inyis yelled.
“That definitely doesn’t look good,” Jude repeated before loud snapping sounds echoed out from the fog of poison that was in front of them.
“Neither does that,” Liam said. “Alright, get that cloud gone with wind magic if any of you have it. I’ll go help out over there and get things in motion. Once when we’re set I’ll call out when to start.”
“Sounds good,” Aranis said as he turned his attention towards the cloud of poison and readied himself. The sound of snapping stopped abruptly leaving an eerie silence within the cloud.
As soon as Liam and Ariyana started running, the Spider Tailed Horned Viper shot out straight for Liam. A trail of purplish colored fog escaped out of its massive mouth.
Bernard let out a deep rumbling roar making the massive creature turn its head towards him.
It took a deep breath and heavily breathed a clump of fog towards him.
Liam watched as Bernard and the others split to get out of the way before turning his attention back to the scene before him.
Liam turned his head to Ariyana and asked, “Do you think you can fire your Dancing Lights spell that high?”
Ariyana stared at the Spider that was slowly crawling around upside down, spitting globs of poison at the fleeing people below it. She thought it over in her head before saying, “I’m not sure. I might be able to, but I’ve never tried throwing it that far.”
Liam nodded. “Well, we’re going to try today. Once when we get there try and do it.”
Ariyana nodded. Nervousness filled her as she tried to center herself.
“Remember, it’s okay if you fail. If you do then we’ll try something else. Our goal is to try and redirect its attention while we regroup,” Liam encouraged.
Ariyana looked at him. Her nervousness was still there, but less than what it was a moment ago. “Got it.”
Liam and Ariyana ran as fast as they could towards the others, but as they got closer Liam saw Nidy, who was running along the side of the wall with Lector right behind her looking up at the spider, trip over something. This caused her to fall face first onto the ground with Lector tripping over her.
“Nidy! Lector!” Inyis yelled.
The Black Widow Matriarch turned her head towards them and shot out a giant glob of poison in their direction.
Before they were able to get back up, the liquid splattered over their bodies and along the side of the wall and ground.
“Shit,” Liam cursed under his breath. “Ariyana get that spell out now. Lapis wash the poison off of them now!”
Lapis’ scowling face turned towards Liam. She looked like she was going to say something, but then swallowed it before channeling mana. As she started chanting a spell, Ariyana finished chanting hers.
Three different colored orbs winked into existence and danced around her wand. She narrowed her eyes at the Spider that was slowly skittering on the ceiling, brought her wand back behind her head, aimed, and whipped her arm out, fling the orbs towards the spider.
Ariyana and Liam stared at it. The orbs were flying with some speed, but then started slowly as it approached the spider. Right as the speed dropped to a crawl, Ariyana grew anxious.
“Its not going to make it,” Ariyana said. However, before she could say anything else, the orbs stopped right above the spider’s head like a halo and started spinning.
The Black Widow Matriarch saw the orbs and tried swatting them with one of her legs. Each swipe and strike went right through the orbs. Getting a bit irritated at them, the spider tried spitting poison at them. Again, the liquid missed.
Instead of landing on them, the globs of liquid shot towards the ground pooling together right underneath where the spider was.
As this was going on, Lapis shot a water orb big enough to wash the poison off of Nidy and Lector. The two slowly got up and made their way over to the others.
“God job, Ariyana,” Liam yelled out.
“Come over here you two and I’ll Detox you,” Artem called out.
“Hold up on that Artem,” Liam started.
“What do you mean hold up on that?” Lapis glared. “Do you want them to die to poison?”
“No, depending on their situation there might be time to cleanse them after we take care of something really important,” Liam continued. Before Lapis could say anything, Liam turned to Inyis and asked, “Inyis what are Nidy’s and Lector’s health at?”
“They are still over three quarters full,” Inyis answered, feeling both confused and irritated at Liam.
“Ok, and how much are they losing each second?” Liam questioned.
“About ten health every five seconds,” Inyis answered.
Liam brought a hand to his chin and quickly thought it over. “Ok we should make it in time.”
“What do you mean?” Lapis started back up. “We need to…”
“We need to get that spider down from the ceiling and close to the barrier as soon as we can,” Liam cut her off. With a strict and stern tone of voice he added, “That takes precedence before we heal everyone.”
“Why?” Inyis questioned.
“Ariyana, fill everyone in on what’s going on,” Liam instructed. He then turned to Mercer and ordered, “Mercer, we need to try and kite that creature over to the barrier. Aim for the cracks on its abdomen.”
Mercer nodded.
He looked at Blair and stated, “Once when I give the signal we are going to use Gravitational Force Increase to bring that spider back down.”
Blair gave him a grin.
Liam turned to Lapis and said with an even stricter tone, “Lapis, if you have a spell that can wash away the pools of poison out there then I need you to do it. Don’t worry about using up all your mana, you will get it back quickly.”
Ignoring Lapis’ argument, Liam turned to Artem and said, “Replenish any and all missing stamina and mana. After we pull off what I’m trying to do we’re going to need you to do what you do best…besides cooking.” He then looked at Roman and added, “Same with you. You are one of the two key pieces in this plan.”
Not questioning what Liam was saying, Artem and Roman quickly pulled out their stamina and mana potions and started drinking.
“Are you listening?!” Lapis yelled.
“Not now Lapis. Get going on your task. If you don’t then this will be harder for what we need to do,” Liam scolded before running away from the group.
Inyis watched as he pulled out two bone daggers that had a purplish glow radiating from them.
What is he planning and what is up with those daggers? Inyis thought.
“My lady, we can’t let this madman continue to take charge,” Lapis started. “I urge you to take command and order that healer to Detox Nidy and Lector before it is too late.”
Inyis turned to look at her. The survival of her teammates was her highest priority. She, too, was unsure of what was going on in Liam’s head, but there was something in the way he ordered everyone and what he had said that told her he had a plan that would make sure they would get the treatment they needed before it was too late.
She was indecisive on what to do. She was torn on whether she should make Lapis do her job like Liam had instructed or do what she believed was right for her team.
Before she could think on it more, Avery stated, “Could you please get your head out of your ass already.”
“Excuse me?” Lapis stated with shock and frustration as she turned towards Avery.
“You heard me,” Avery shot back. “You need to see the bigger picture here. You think they are the only ones who are suffering from poison?”
“What do you mean?” Lapis questioned.
Avery pointed to Aranis’ and Jude’s group.
The others looked over to see a purplish fog roll over someone who was trying to run away from it. Another was on their knees coughing.
“They have casualties going on over there as well, yet they are still going through with whatever plan Liam has cooked up,” Avery stated with a glare sharper than the one Lapis had.
“Why don’t they use Detox on them?” Lapis countered. “And what is so urgent that we must ignore the wellbeing of our teammates?”
“I can enlighten you on that,” Ariyana said, bringing everyone’s attention to her.
She explained the situation she and Liam had seen as well as the plan he had.
“That’s utterly insane. How do we know it will work?” Lapis stated, full of incredulity.
Blair, Avery, and Artem let out a long and loud laugh.
“What is so funny?” Lapis questioned as she glared at them.
“It sounds just like Liam. Not entirely sure if it will work, but still wants to try it,” Roman stated.
“Right?” Artem agreed. “However, no matter what the likelihood of it working or not. I‘ll choose to follow through with it. I figured he had something up his sleeve, but I didn’t think it would be that.”
Inyis stayed silent after listening to them. She then turned her attention to Liam.
He was jumping around the puddles of poison as he threw his weird looking daggers at the spider. His accuracy was impressive as the daggers crashed right into the cracked areas of the abdomen. She also saw arrows that Mercer was shooting, hitting the spots where the daggers sunk into right after Liam pulled the daggers back with his mana manipulation.
The timing and synchronization they displayed was impressive to her. The trust they showed that they wouldn’t get in each other’s way made her feel envious. She was also impressed with Liam as he dodged any incoming poisonous attacks that the spider shot at him. The three dancing orbs Ariyana had thrown had disappeared while she explained everything.
Coming to a conclusion, Inyis turned to Artem and asked, “Are you truly capable of taking care of your role?”
Artem looked at her. He didn’t say anything at first, but instead stared right into her eyes. After a moment had passed, he nodded and said, “If it is something he assigned me to do then I will do it with everything I have.”
Inyis took in his confidence. What he said was what she wanted to hear. She nodded then looked at Lapis and said, “Lapis do what was told of you.”
Lapis whirled to look at Inyis. She was shocked and upset at what her leader said. “But…”
“No buts. Do it…now!” Inyis ordered with finality in her voice. She then looked at Avery and added, “I will put faith into his plan, but if this fails I will take control of both groups.”
“I don’t think it will come to that, but it’s about time you look your part,” Avery stated as she turned to look at Liam.
Liam and Mercer backed up after each strike they inflicted. The Black Widow Matriarch was slowly chasing after them. She was slowly closing in on the barrier with every step she took.
Liam felt his back touch the barrier right after jumping back from a blob of poison aiming for him while pulling his daggers out. Right as this happened he heard Lapis finish chanting, “Jet Stream!”
Liam jumped to his right and back out of the way of a powerful stream of water shot towards each pool of poison. After a few seconds of blasting the water over each area, the poison flung away like a power pressure trying to get oil off of the ground.
The Black Widow Matriarch, now right in front of the barrier, started to turn around. As she did, Liam yelled out as he started channeling his mana, “Blair now!”
Blair channeled in as much mana as she could do as quickly as she could before chanting, “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Become heavier and stronger. Bring the Force down upon my enemy slowing and hindering its movements. Gravitational Force Increase!”
Both she and Liam finished chanting the spell and focused it on the Black Widow Matriarch.
The Black Widow Matriarch’s body suddenly glowed briefly. After the spell took hold of her, she desperately tried to dig her sharp clawed feet into the ceiling but failed to hold on. Her body grew heavy, too heavy to keep her up, causing her to slip off and fall to the ground, hard.
After the spider crashed next to the barrier, Liam glanced behind him to see Aranis and Jude had the Spider Tailed Horned Viper on the opposite side of the barrier. Feeling like this was the best they could do for right now, he shouted, “Trap them now!”
As he shouted this; Rez, Mica, and Liam started channeling mana.
Here we go. It’s do or die now. Liam thought right before the three of them started chanting.
“What?” Ariyana quickly asked, panic filling her after hearing Liam swear.
“The Lich is making his move now,” Liam replied as he stood up.
“What do you mean?” Ariyana questioned as she turned her attention towards the paled skin male. Her eyes widened as she activated Mana Sight and saw the intense bright color of his mana flare out.
“He’s pulling four orbs at a time towards those crystals,” Liam stated as he pointed to the next four that made their way down towards the crystals.
“Why only four at a time?” Lacy asked, her brows scrunched.
“I don’t know,” Liam answered as he shrugged his shoulders. “But if it’s only four at a time then we have some time to try and stop it. The only issue is the barrier that is surrounding him. We need to find a way to break it.”
“But how are we supposed to break it?” Lacy questioned. “Jude tried to and he wasn’t able to put a dent on it.”
Liam started working his brain trying to come up with a way, but nothing he thought of was helping.
He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as he heard Rez and Mica shout something.
He turned his attention to the group fighting the Spider Tailed Horned Viper and saw a thick dark purple cloud roll out from its mouth and cover the entire area it was in with the gas. The entire body was engulfed within the cloud, blocking everyone’s sight of it.
Isn’t that the Noxious Fog it tried to cover me in right when I killed it last time? Liam thought as he stared at the purple cloud.
A loud yell tore Liam’s attention from the poison covered snake to see Marco rush towards the Black Widow Matriarch and slam right into it.
As Liam watched this, gears started turning in his mind. He looked back at the poisonous fog and then back at Marco.
Covered…rushing… Liam began to think. Another thing that popped into his mind was the rock-like scales that covered the Spider Tailed Horned Viper.
Rock covering…ramming….
Liam looked at the barrier and then it clicked.
“That just might work,” Liam muttered to himself.
“What might work?” Ariyana and Lacy questioned.
Liam turned his eyes on Lacy and asked, “Are any of your members a Taurus Zodiac?”
Lacy’s brows scrunched as she thought it over. She then shook her head while replying, “No, I don’t think so.”
“Damn…maybe one of Aranis’ group members is,” Liam said.
“Why does that matter…Ooooh,” Ariyana stated as she understood what he wanted to do. She looked at the barrier and then back at Liam and asked, “Do you think that would work?”
“It’s a gamble, but with the force made and how big and heavy their bodies are there’s a good chance it could work,” Liam answered as he sprinted over to Rez.
“What’s going on?” Lacy asked as she jogged next to Ariyana. “Why does he need someone who is a Taurus Zodiac?”
Ariyana gave her a smile as she vaguely said, “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Rez!” Liam shouted as he ran up to him.
Rez turned his head to see Liam. “Good to see you’re back up.”
“Thanks. Is anyone in your group a Taurus Zodiac?” Liam asked.
Taken aback a bit by the question, Rez responded, “Maybe. Hold on let me think.” After thinking for a few seconds, he nodded as if he confirmed something and said, “I believe Bernard is a Taurus.”
“Okay thank you,” Liam said before yelling out, “Bernard! Come over here please.”
Bernard, Aranis, and Jude turned to see Liam standing over by Rez. Bernard looked at Aranis who nodded and followed him over.
“I see you’re back on your feet,” Jude stated.
“Don’t remind me. That fucking hurt,” Liam responded as he rubbed his stomach. He then looked at Bernard and asked, “You’re a Taurus Zodiac right?”
Hesitant at first, Bernard nodded.
“Good, I have a plan that might work on destroying the barrier, but I’m going to need yours, Mica’s, and Rez’s help,” Liam started.
Liam explained his idea. After explaining it all, Aranis asked with some skepticism, “How sure are you that it’ll work?”
“Hm. About eighty percent,” Liam responded.
“Only eighty?” Aranis repeated with a brow raised.
Jude let out a laugh. “I like it. It might be a little reckless, but if it works then it’ll be one great sight to see.”
Aranis scrunched his brows as he contemplated something. “Why do it though? Wont it go down if we defeat both the creatures?”
“There’s no guarantee it will and besides, we’re on a timer,” Liam said as he gave him a serious look. “The Lich is making his move. He’s pulling the four orbs at a time towards the four crystals. We need to stop him before he finishes.”
Rez’s brows shot up as he stated, “He’s fueling the summoning circle.”
Liam nodded. “That’s what I am thinking. So, we need to stop him and what better way than to do it like this.”
Aranis stared at Liam. After a moment he said, “Alright, I am onboard. We’ll pass the plan along to the others. Are you going to relay it to the other groups?”
“Yup,” Liam said. He was about to add something else, until he heard Lector shout something that made everyone turn to look over at the other groups with a concern and confused look.
“There’s some butt action going on over here!” Lector yelled with a slightly panicked voice.
As Liam turned to look over, he watched as the Black Widow Matriarch shot a web up to the ceiling. After it stuck, she pulled herself up and turned upside down.
“That doesn’t look good,” Jude stated.
Liquid started drooling out from the spider’s mouth moments after it latched its legs onto the ceiling. A second after that, she started spitting clumps of greenish-purple liquid towards the ground where people stood.
“Scatter!” Inyis yelled.
“That definitely doesn’t look good,” Jude repeated before loud snapping sounds echoed out from the fog of poison that was in front of them.
“Neither does that,” Liam said. “Alright, get that cloud gone with wind magic if any of you have it. I’ll go help out over there and get things in motion. Once when we’re set I’ll call out when to start.”
“Sounds good,” Aranis said as he turned his attention towards the cloud of poison and readied himself. The sound of snapping stopped abruptly leaving an eerie silence within the cloud.
As soon as Liam and Ariyana started running, the Spider Tailed Horned Viper shot out straight for Liam. A trail of purplish colored fog escaped out of its massive mouth.
Bernard let out a deep rumbling roar making the massive creature turn its head towards him.
It took a deep breath and heavily breathed a clump of fog towards him.
Liam watched as Bernard and the others split to get out of the way before turning his attention back to the scene before him.
Liam turned his head to Ariyana and asked, “Do you think you can fire your Dancing Lights spell that high?”
Ariyana stared at the Spider that was slowly crawling around upside down, spitting globs of poison at the fleeing people below it. She thought it over in her head before saying, “I’m not sure. I might be able to, but I’ve never tried throwing it that far.”
Liam nodded. “Well, we’re going to try today. Once when we get there try and do it.”
Ariyana nodded. Nervousness filled her as she tried to center herself.
“Remember, it’s okay if you fail. If you do then we’ll try something else. Our goal is to try and redirect its attention while we regroup,” Liam encouraged.
Ariyana looked at him. Her nervousness was still there, but less than what it was a moment ago. “Got it.”
Liam and Ariyana ran as fast as they could towards the others, but as they got closer Liam saw Nidy, who was running along the side of the wall with Lector right behind her looking up at the spider, trip over something. This caused her to fall face first onto the ground with Lector tripping over her.
“Nidy! Lector!” Inyis yelled.
The Black Widow Matriarch turned her head towards them and shot out a giant glob of poison in their direction.
Before they were able to get back up, the liquid splattered over their bodies and along the side of the wall and ground.
“Shit,” Liam cursed under his breath. “Ariyana get that spell out now. Lapis wash the poison off of them now!”
Lapis’ scowling face turned towards Liam. She looked like she was going to say something, but then swallowed it before channeling mana. As she started chanting a spell, Ariyana finished chanting hers.
Three different colored orbs winked into existence and danced around her wand. She narrowed her eyes at the Spider that was slowly skittering on the ceiling, brought her wand back behind her head, aimed, and whipped her arm out, fling the orbs towards the spider.
Ariyana and Liam stared at it. The orbs were flying with some speed, but then started slowly as it approached the spider. Right as the speed dropped to a crawl, Ariyana grew anxious.
“Its not going to make it,” Ariyana said. However, before she could say anything else, the orbs stopped right above the spider’s head like a halo and started spinning.
The Black Widow Matriarch saw the orbs and tried swatting them with one of her legs. Each swipe and strike went right through the orbs. Getting a bit irritated at them, the spider tried spitting poison at them. Again, the liquid missed.
Instead of landing on them, the globs of liquid shot towards the ground pooling together right underneath where the spider was.
As this was going on, Lapis shot a water orb big enough to wash the poison off of Nidy and Lector. The two slowly got up and made their way over to the others.
“God job, Ariyana,” Liam yelled out.
“Come over here you two and I’ll Detox you,” Artem called out.
“Hold up on that Artem,” Liam started.
“What do you mean hold up on that?” Lapis glared. “Do you want them to die to poison?”
“No, depending on their situation there might be time to cleanse them after we take care of something really important,” Liam continued. Before Lapis could say anything, Liam turned to Inyis and asked, “Inyis what are Nidy’s and Lector’s health at?”
“They are still over three quarters full,” Inyis answered, feeling both confused and irritated at Liam.
“Ok, and how much are they losing each second?” Liam questioned.
“About ten health every five seconds,” Inyis answered.
Liam brought a hand to his chin and quickly thought it over. “Ok we should make it in time.”
“What do you mean?” Lapis started back up. “We need to…”
“We need to get that spider down from the ceiling and close to the barrier as soon as we can,” Liam cut her off. With a strict and stern tone of voice he added, “That takes precedence before we heal everyone.”
“Why?” Inyis questioned.
“Ariyana, fill everyone in on what’s going on,” Liam instructed. He then turned to Mercer and ordered, “Mercer, we need to try and kite that creature over to the barrier. Aim for the cracks on its abdomen.”
Mercer nodded.
He looked at Blair and stated, “Once when I give the signal we are going to use Gravitational Force Increase to bring that spider back down.”
Blair gave him a grin.
Liam turned to Lapis and said with an even stricter tone, “Lapis, if you have a spell that can wash away the pools of poison out there then I need you to do it. Don’t worry about using up all your mana, you will get it back quickly.”
Ignoring Lapis’ argument, Liam turned to Artem and said, “Replenish any and all missing stamina and mana. After we pull off what I’m trying to do we’re going to need you to do what you do best…besides cooking.” He then looked at Roman and added, “Same with you. You are one of the two key pieces in this plan.”
Not questioning what Liam was saying, Artem and Roman quickly pulled out their stamina and mana potions and started drinking.
“Are you listening?!” Lapis yelled.
“Not now Lapis. Get going on your task. If you don’t then this will be harder for what we need to do,” Liam scolded before running away from the group.
Inyis watched as he pulled out two bone daggers that had a purplish glow radiating from them.
What is he planning and what is up with those daggers? Inyis thought.
“My lady, we can’t let this madman continue to take charge,” Lapis started. “I urge you to take command and order that healer to Detox Nidy and Lector before it is too late.”
Inyis turned to look at her. The survival of her teammates was her highest priority. She, too, was unsure of what was going on in Liam’s head, but there was something in the way he ordered everyone and what he had said that told her he had a plan that would make sure they would get the treatment they needed before it was too late.
She was indecisive on what to do. She was torn on whether she should make Lapis do her job like Liam had instructed or do what she believed was right for her team.
Before she could think on it more, Avery stated, “Could you please get your head out of your ass already.”
“Excuse me?” Lapis stated with shock and frustration as she turned towards Avery.
“You heard me,” Avery shot back. “You need to see the bigger picture here. You think they are the only ones who are suffering from poison?”
“What do you mean?” Lapis questioned.
Avery pointed to Aranis’ and Jude’s group.
The others looked over to see a purplish fog roll over someone who was trying to run away from it. Another was on their knees coughing.
“They have casualties going on over there as well, yet they are still going through with whatever plan Liam has cooked up,” Avery stated with a glare sharper than the one Lapis had.
“Why don’t they use Detox on them?” Lapis countered. “And what is so urgent that we must ignore the wellbeing of our teammates?”
“I can enlighten you on that,” Ariyana said, bringing everyone’s attention to her.
She explained the situation she and Liam had seen as well as the plan he had.
“That’s utterly insane. How do we know it will work?” Lapis stated, full of incredulity.
Blair, Avery, and Artem let out a long and loud laugh.
“What is so funny?” Lapis questioned as she glared at them.
“It sounds just like Liam. Not entirely sure if it will work, but still wants to try it,” Roman stated.
“Right?” Artem agreed. “However, no matter what the likelihood of it working or not. I‘ll choose to follow through with it. I figured he had something up his sleeve, but I didn’t think it would be that.”
Inyis stayed silent after listening to them. She then turned her attention to Liam.
He was jumping around the puddles of poison as he threw his weird looking daggers at the spider. His accuracy was impressive as the daggers crashed right into the cracked areas of the abdomen. She also saw arrows that Mercer was shooting, hitting the spots where the daggers sunk into right after Liam pulled the daggers back with his mana manipulation.
The timing and synchronization they displayed was impressive to her. The trust they showed that they wouldn’t get in each other’s way made her feel envious. She was also impressed with Liam as he dodged any incoming poisonous attacks that the spider shot at him. The three dancing orbs Ariyana had thrown had disappeared while she explained everything.
Coming to a conclusion, Inyis turned to Artem and asked, “Are you truly capable of taking care of your role?”
Artem looked at her. He didn’t say anything at first, but instead stared right into her eyes. After a moment had passed, he nodded and said, “If it is something he assigned me to do then I will do it with everything I have.”
Inyis took in his confidence. What he said was what she wanted to hear. She nodded then looked at Lapis and said, “Lapis do what was told of you.”
Lapis whirled to look at Inyis. She was shocked and upset at what her leader said. “But…”
“No buts. Do it…now!” Inyis ordered with finality in her voice. She then looked at Avery and added, “I will put faith into his plan, but if this fails I will take control of both groups.”
“I don’t think it will come to that, but it’s about time you look your part,” Avery stated as she turned to look at Liam.
Liam and Mercer backed up after each strike they inflicted. The Black Widow Matriarch was slowly chasing after them. She was slowly closing in on the barrier with every step she took.
Liam felt his back touch the barrier right after jumping back from a blob of poison aiming for him while pulling his daggers out. Right as this happened he heard Lapis finish chanting, “Jet Stream!”
Liam jumped to his right and back out of the way of a powerful stream of water shot towards each pool of poison. After a few seconds of blasting the water over each area, the poison flung away like a power pressure trying to get oil off of the ground.
The Black Widow Matriarch, now right in front of the barrier, started to turn around. As she did, Liam yelled out as he started channeling his mana, “Blair now!”
Blair channeled in as much mana as she could do as quickly as she could before chanting, “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Become heavier and stronger. Bring the Force down upon my enemy slowing and hindering its movements. Gravitational Force Increase!”
Both she and Liam finished chanting the spell and focused it on the Black Widow Matriarch.
The Black Widow Matriarch’s body suddenly glowed briefly. After the spell took hold of her, she desperately tried to dig her sharp clawed feet into the ceiling but failed to hold on. Her body grew heavy, too heavy to keep her up, causing her to slip off and fall to the ground, hard.
After the spider crashed next to the barrier, Liam glanced behind him to see Aranis and Jude had the Spider Tailed Horned Viper on the opposite side of the barrier. Feeling like this was the best they could do for right now, he shouted, “Trap them now!”
As he shouted this; Rez, Mica, and Liam started channeling mana.
Here we go. It’s do or die now. Liam thought right before the three of them started chanting.
