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For a necromancer, Bigger was certainly one of the most mobile entities Sariel had faced so far.
Black wisps expelled themselves from his body, coating the crater with Darkness. Sariel and the mysterious white-haired man, Butterfly, leapt forward to intercept the stationary Bigger, but his body dissolved into the ground and reappeared a ways away, moving through the desecrated soil to emerge from a glowing circle. Butterfly swapped his Omni into a rifle and began aiming down to fire a few shots coated in blue energy; undoubtedly an Aspect ability. Sariel attempted to follow suit and form a rifle, but the appearance of more glowing circles below him caused him to leap backwards, swapping his Omni to a greatsword to cleave away the skeletons emerging and approaching.
The constant summoning portals appearing underneath the two Dreamers forced them to alter their strategy. Sariel and Butterfly charged towards the necromancer, the latter swapping his Omni to a submachine gun. As they drew closer, the necromancer raised his hand, and a horde of skeletons rose from the ground, blocking their path.
Sariel fought back best he could, cleaving through each skeleton which was made with the durability of a stuffed bear. Butterfly sent constant sprays of bullets, slowing down every skeleton hit to a crawl. But as they made progress towards the necromancer, he summoned more skeletons from below them, forcing them to step back and fight off the new threat.
The skeletons continued to rise, their bony hands grasping at the duo. Sariel and Butterfly fought on, their weapons flashing in the fading light as they cut through the undead horde. Sariel sent a multitude of chains to each skeleton, ripping them back and sending each fragile cage of cartilage onto the ground.
Despite their best efforts, they could not reach the necromancer. The commander's dark magic kept summoning wave after wave of skeletons, forcing Sariel and Butterfly to constantly fight off new enemies. Sariel looked at his back, hoping for the entrance of the other Dreamers. They were slowly approaching, Maxi being the fastest with her teleports; Sariel attempted to signal them to loop around, and Maxi nodded in understanding. Three of the other six dreamers moved to the side, attempting to loop around and encase Bigger.
With a grim determination, Sariel and Butterfly continued to push forward, inching closer to the necromancer with each passing moment. But the commander was relentless, his dark magic summoning skeletons faster than the duo could defeat them. The skeletons changed their strategy; no longer did they crawl slowly. Instead, they leapt over each other, landing minor scratches with each body that fell.
At last, the duo was forced to step back, their breaths ragged from the intense battle. They looked at each other, a silent understanding between them formed.
Butterfly spoke up, his voice ringing out through the din of battle. "We can't keep fighting like this. We need a new strategy."
Sariel nodded in agreement, his mind racing as he considered their options. The heat of the laser continued to tax his energy. 'There's nothing much we can do but wait for the other Dreamers,' he panted. 'If we don't keep his attention, he could run.'
Butterfly scoffed. "It'll be a while, then. Frontline for me. I'll stay at the backline."
Sariel frowned, but silently agreed by jumping forward once more and sending even more chains onto the field. Infuse after infuse after infuse kept Sariel at health parity whilst Butterfly swapped his weapon to a longer range rifle to eliminate as many skeletons as possible.
As they neared the edge of the horde, they prepared for a decisive finisher. The necromancer tried to summon more skeletons to block their path, but Sariel and Butterfly were too quick. Butterfly called out, 'Down!'
Sariel kneeled down on the ground, and Butterfly sprinted forward and jumped on his back, leaping into the air to deliver a decisive shot on the necromancer. It blasted him backwards, but he stood tall and recovered, albeit a little slower. Butterfly dropped down to the ground, picking off as many nearby skeletons on his way down. 'I forgot. He's still unfairly tanky. This damned Abyss...'
Maxi finally arrived, teleporting in the middle of the duo. 'James, Raven and Sylvie are wrapping around. The other two should be with me soon. What's the plan?'
The necromancer tried to raise more skeletons, but they were no longer very useful. Maxi sent precise shots into their skulls, sending them into the ground. Dark wisps animating each undead fell to the ground, useless. 'The necromancer is incredibly tanky. We're going to need to burst him. Someone needs to eliminate the skeletons whilst we focus on delivering the punishment.' Sariel looked at Maxi. 'Your group can deal with that.'
Maxi sent a glare at Butterfly. 'And this guy, using a D.E.M.? Without warning? Do you have any concept of consequences?'
Butterfly sighed. 'Everyone who doesn't know how to recognize the signs of a Deus Ex Machina deserves to be incinerated. Now, let's focus on the objective.'
Maxi bristled with rage, but sighed and resolved to resolve the conflict after the fight. 'Got it. We'll pierce the skeletons. You eliminate the commander.'
Sariel and Butterfly charged towards the necromancer, their swords and spells at the ready. But as they neared him, the commander disappeared in a flash of black energy, reappearing several feet away. Teleportation was the ability the commander had opened up the fight with, and it had been the least of the duos worries at the time, but now it seemed it would be the most annoying aspect.
They would have to keep their wits about them and be ready to react quickly to the necromancer's movements. Luckily, there was a very obvious mark left on the ground whenever Bigger teleported, and they could easily react to his movement in this way. It was a little difficult with the skeleton summoning portals being an identical colour; it would be a requirement to memorize the portals on the ground and identify the one that props up when he activates his teleport sequence.
The necromancer raised his hands, and a forcefield shimmered into existence, crackling with dark energy. Sariel and Butterfly attacked, their swords and spells striking the forcefield with fierce intensity, but it held fast.
The necromancer laughed, his voice echoing across the battlefield. "You think you can defeat me? I am a servant of death, and you are nothing but insects before me."
Butterfly narrowed his eyes and swapped his Omni to a submachine gun, letting loose a barrage of bullets. Bigger realized his mistake too late, being inflicted with a countless amount of slow effects. 'Shackles of Rosbane!'
The blue aura around Bigger that slowed him down dragged itself out of his body before materializing into a heavy metal ball, chaining itself to the commander's foot. He attempted to move, but was significantly impaired by the presence of the weight.
He raised his hand to attempted to summon more skeletons, but the swift shots from the Dreamers on the perimeter sent them down constantly. The skeletons crumbled under the weight of the new assault, their numbers dwindling with each passing moment. Sariel and Butterfly fought on, their swords, bullets and spells striking true as they cut through the remaining skeletons.
But even as the skeletons fell, the necromancer remained a formidable foe. His dark magic crackled through the air, striking at Sariel and Butterfly with unrelenting force. Whips of dark lightning streaked through the air; Butterfly caught two bolts on his leg, letting out a groan, whilst Sariel used his chains to drag himself between skeletons and avoid the flashes.
The necromancer dropped his onslaught, seeming exhausted. Sariel and Butterfly took their chance; Sariel acted once again as the stalwart frontline and dragged himself by the chain to Bigger whilst Butterfly hit more and more bullets onto the commander. After a barrage of six bullets, he once again chanted, and a new metal ball attached itself to the necromancer. Sariel moved quickly and deftly, dodging the necromancer's attacks after he regained his focus and sent forth more shadowy bullets.
With a sudden burst of fervour, the necromancer summoned a horde of skeletons to block Sariel and Butterfly's path. Yet again they were culled, giving Sariel the first opportunity to land a perfect series of strikes with his greatsword. Each meaningful blow knocked the commander back, and he stumbled and tripped over the metal spheres on the floor.
He sank into the floor, dissolving into darkness. 'There!' came the call from Butterfly, and all six of the Dreamers on the border redirected their focus and rained hell onto the necromancer. Sariel threw his claymore, and it sunk into the chest of Bigger as he materialized once again.
Bigger desperately pulled up shields and forcefields, but he quickly ran out of energy, and was left defenceless to take the direct battering of every Dreamer present. The power of coordinated Aspects was nothing to scoff at, and as Sariel moved forward one last time, he fell to the ground after Sariel reclaimed his greatsword from the commander's chest, leaving only a dark cavity in its wake.
| Sariel | Transcendence | 11 -> 12 |
Three yellow Aspect Gems poured out of the corpse as it was reclaimed by the Abyss. A plethora of Omni Orbs dropped as well, much to the joy of Sariel.
As the battle came to an end, the sun began to set over the battlefield, casting a golden glow over the world. Sariel and Butterfly paused for a moment, watching as the sky turned shades of orange, pink, and purple, like a canvas painted by the hands of a master artist. And in fact, it was. The Abyss had a lesser influence on Otherside as compared to its own influence in itself, but it painted the sky above to hide the secrets of what lay above Otherside. But nobody could deny it was beautiful. The clouds above were tinged with gold and crimson, and the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the landscape. The air was filled with a sense of calm and serenity, a welcome respite after the intensity of battle.
Sariel and Butterfly stood together, watching as the sun finally disappeared below the horizon, leaving behind a world bathed in the soft light of evening. It was a reminder of the beauty that exists in the world, even in the midst of chaos and destruction.
But more importantly than all that...
Sariel threw a chain into Butterfly's chest, dragging him backwards and leaping towards the gems. Butterfly blocked by swapping his Omni to a shield and leapt forward himself, grabbing a single Aspect Gem before dashing back. Maxi quickly flashed in his way to attempt to block him, but he deftly sidestepped before running into the fields. Sariel clicked his tongue, but shrugged and sighed. It was what it was.
Not every Dreamer co-operated on Otherside. It wasn't very efficient to make enemies, but some did choose their own paths. Still, Sariel looked towards the pile of resources. Indeed incredible.
The remaining skeletons crumbled into dust while Maxi flashed in front of Sariel. The black ashes fell into the ground, sinking down and being absorbed.
Sariel glanced at Maxi. 'I'm taking an Aspect Gem and fifteen Omni Orbs. You lot can have the rest.' Maxi nodded in thought, and responded with a counter offer. 'You can have everything here if you join our Coalition.'
This sent Sariel into thought. It wasn't a bad deal; after all, it was not difficult to leave a Coalition at all, and there wasn't a way to bind someone to it. It was essentially just a verbal agreement, and if there was really a reason to leave, it wouldn't be hard to do it. Furthermore, it was a new Coalition, and that meant that if it collapsed, he wouldn't be bound by any agreements.
His Omni was drastically under levelled currently, and thirty Omni Orbs would certainly alleviate this issue. Importantly, Maxi seemed like a capable Dreamer, or at least a capable leader with her style of minimal speech.
'Sure. But I'll need your help to search for this person. Black hair, golden eyes, he would look like me but a year older...'
