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Chapter 77: The Horntail
The 12 of us walked into a large, icy cavern. Just as I took the first step in, I sensed a powerful core of demonic energy right ahead. Ares nodded at me. "You feel it too? It's the Horntail." He said. I turned around and saw that the mages were grasping their staffs tightly. They were in tune with magic more than the rest of us, so the mere thought of this kind of magic would start them shivering. Roy's eyes were flickering about, alert as ever.
I gripped the bow in my hands tighter, then took one more step in. "Watch out for traps." Ares advised. I didn't need him to tell me that. I hovered across the ground, flapping my wings gently. Once I was confident that there were no traps, I motioned for the rest of the guild to follow. A gigantic door at the other end of the room was visible. I wondered if we would be able to push it open, but as we approached it, it swung open to reveal......
Everyone present except the Ares and me gulped.
The gargantuan body of the Horntail. It's 3 heads were all turned around, facing the 12 of us. It was expecting us! Ares didn't need to say another word. Everyone ran for cover as the Horntail started breathing massive gusts of wind, knocking a few of us off our feet, including me. The wings on my back provided a larger surface area for the wind to act on, so I was affected the most, being pinned down on the ground. "Sh*t!" I cursed, then relaxed my wings. They disappeared and I jumped to my feet, only to get knocked down again by another gust of wind. "Artemis!" I heard Ares call out. I quickly rolled aside, narrowly dodging a massive foot.
I reached into my weapons pocket, looking for something that would take little time to set up, but capable of doing good damage. I was forced to dodge gusts of wind and flames from the middle head while doing it. No such luck. I couldn't find what I was thinking of. A weapon used for castle siege, the only Ballistae I had. The others were already on higher ground and attacking the Horntail with everything they had. Ares was unleashing a flurry of elemental attacks on the left head while dodging all its attacks. Dray was sending Strafe after Strafe at the monster's body, I even heard the occasional 'whizz' of the skill unique to Crossbow Masters, the Snipe skill. Roy and Lightning were Triple Throwing their Hwabis at the right head, while the triplets were dealing with the center head. I quickly climbed up to higher ground and started twanging my bowstring repeatedly, at a speed faster than sound. The Hurricane skill wasn't doing the damage I wanted it to do. "Sh*t." I cursed, jumping over a flame jet. It seemed as if the Horntail was ignoring everyone else, and focusing on me. "Why?" I thought aloud.
The Horntail, being the highest ranked demon, would be an extremely cunning monster. Dispatching the healers and the higher leveled combatants first was one of its well-known tactics. Now, it was ignoring Jakito, Jullian and the Bishop, who were repeatedly muttering the word, "Heal!" and concentrating on me. If it was after the more skilled people, it should be going after Ares first. Why!? I leapt over a claw. Suddenly, the thought hit me. I started scanning the Horntail's body for the key's marks. I soon spotted the Reality Key's mark, glowing brightly on the right head. The Dimensional Key's mark was on the left wing. I knew it. It was after me, because I was the bearer of two keys, but there seemed to be some other reason. Had it sensed the Archangel's presence?
There had to be no other explanation. At this rate, I'd tire quickly and get hit by the gargantuan monster. "Ares! Cover me!" I yelled and dived behind a rock. A jet of flame hit the rock and started turning it into lava. There wasn't much time. I heard Ares yelling, "Over here!"
I closed my eyes and blocked out everything around me. The sounds of the battle faded away into silence, and the heat from the flame jet disappeared. I was transported into my mindspace. I could see a flowering garden, with a podium in the center. An incredibly beautiful naked female was sitting in the center of it. It had 10 angelic wings, pointed ears, skin as white as snow, and a horn reminiscent of a unicorn's on its head, along with silver hair. "It's not often you come back here." The Archangel smiled as I approached it. "I know. I need your power now." I said, willing my entire body to relax. She sighed. "If you die, I die with you, and that's unacceptable in my quest for world peace. Do I have a choice?" She got up. I walked onto the podium towards her, then turned my back to face her. She seemed to walk into my body, and I felt extremely relaxed, as if I was taking a hot bath.
I reopened my eyes, and found myself back in the real world. The rock I was hiding behind was almost completely gone, and the guild was having trouble. I felt heavenly power flowing through my veins, opening up areas of my mind that had never been used before, allowing me to think clearer. "It's time." I whispered. The 10 wings of the Archangel burst out of my back, replacing the old one. A unicorn's horn shot out of my forehead, and my ears became pointed. My skin became as white as snow, and my hair turned silver. I felt significantly stronger. I knew that I would change back after a few hours though. Hopefully we would be able to defeat the Horntail within this time.
I gently flapped my wings, and I was instantly in the air. My skin glowed white, in contrast to my black clothes. The marks of the two Keys glowed with immeasurable power, and I was sure that everyone would be able to see them now. I clasped my hands together and whispered a single word.
"Genesis."
Blinding rays of holy light shot down from the heavens, passing through the ceiling of the cavern and bathing the Horntail. It let out a roar of pain, then turned its middle head towards me. "So. The legendary Archangel is here after all." I heard it's voice in my head. Ignoring it, I swooped down, unclipping the throwing star on my back with my left hand and throwing it at the body, while dropping the Archaeion and unclipping my Buster Sword with my right hand. Accuracy wasn't a problem here, the monster was so big, I could hit it with my eyes closed. The throwing star flew forwards with such force, the wind nearly blew Ares off his feet. It was probably one of the few weapons I had capable of piercing through armoured hide. One of the blades pierced through the Horntail's hide, and I flew towards the middle head, bringing my sword down with both hands. The blow bounced off with a resonating 'ping', but it seemed to have done a little damage.
Ares was saying something. I read his lips. "We've got this Horntail in a pinch now." He had said. I chuckled, then headbutted the right eye of the middle head. The horn pierced right through the soft tissue of the eye, and it roared in pain. I quickly popped the other eye before I was thrown off. My throwing star was still stuck in the monster's body, but it would have to be retrieved later. The middle head was blinded now. Two more heads left. Two more......
"Right! Everyone go for the middle head!" Ares yelled. Everyone complied except me. I was too busy engaging the left head now. It was loosing gusts of wind every now and then, making it impossible for me to get close. The revolvers wouldn't work either, the wind was too strong. The split second opening between breaths wasn't enough for me to get close enough. Hold on. Since I was drawing my energy directly from the Archangel's reserves, I might be able to maintain the Key's powers longer.
I started concentrating on the Time Key's mark, willing myself to use it's powers. The mark shone brighter, and I waited for that split second. I flew in close to bait the head. As expected, it loosened another breath. The nanosecond after that breath, I engaged the Time Key's powers. The head was instantly trapped in a bubble of frozen time. I let out a battle roar and flew in, swinging my sword at the neck, coating it with fire to increase the penetration. I managed to slice the head clean off with one mighty swing. The head fell to the ground and moved no more. I chanced a look over at the middle head. It was falling fast, but now the tail was in action, creating earthquakes measuring about 3.1 on the Richter scale. I knew I had to stop it if the others were to continue.
The tail was a piece of cake. I already knew exactly where to strike, due to a full month spent researching the Horntail. The bone joint between the tail and the body was one of the weakest points in the Horntail's body. Again, I sliced it clean off. Purple blood spurted out of the wound, and the Horntail's body leered dangerously off balance. I acted in one swift move, immobilizing the entire body in a pool of frozen time, and cutting off the last head. It wasn't easy, simply slicing one off took about 30% of my power. By now I was down to 1% of my full power, having sliced two heads off and the tail, along with using the Time Key's power twice. It looked dead, but I knew otherwise. The rest of the body was capable of moving even without a mind or eyes to guide them. I descended, panting, to the right head. It was turning to stone.
The Reality Key's mark just sat on the forehead, waiting for it's new master. Or rather, mistress. I placed a hand on it, and I felt a curious euphoric sensation as the mark floated into the air. "You're mine now." I whispered, weak. The mark floated onto my forehead, then stuck itself there. The euphoric sensation lingered for a while, then stopped. I flapped my wings weakly, back up to where Ares was. "What happened?" He asked, as I collapsed, panting. I was still conscious though. I still had one more Key to retrieve. "I... feel...... weak..." I whispered. The arms of the Horntail were now swiping blindly, and Dray took a potshot at the right one. The triplets were exhausted, but still fighting. On the other hand, the thieves were still at it. Fury was moving back and forth beside the beast so fast, that we could only see the flash of his dagger. The Boomerang Step skill. Roy and Lightning were out of Summoning Rocks and were just Triple Throwing Soul Hwabis without the help of their Shadow Partners. Alexis was unleashing Shouts and Combos against the beast, and was smiling.
"You just practically soloed the entire monster." Ares breathed. "I can't... do anymore...... I'm exhausted......" I moaned. Ares sat down, placing my head on his lap. "It's fine. We've got him now." He said, looking at the remaining parts of the Horntail's body. I climbed to my feet slowly and flapped my wings slowly, lifting me off the ground. I still... had to retrieve the Dimension Key...... The left wing had petrified now, probably due to Dray's repeated Sniping. I quickly located the mark and placed my hand on it. Again, I experienced a euphoric sensation and the mark flew onto the nipple of my left breast. "All done......" I breathed, then my wings stopped flapping. I fell to the ground, but someone caught me before I hit the ground. I didn't see who it was though, my eyes were closing......
"It's time to sleep, young one."
"Artemis!" I heard Ares shout. I looked up and saw Artemis falling from the petrified left wing of the Horntail. Her wings were already disappearing, and the rest of her body had reverted back to normal. I put some spring into my legs and jumped. Narrowly making it, I caught Artemis before she hit the ground, and laid her down safely. The Horntail was completely dead now. Artemis was sleeping like a baby. I chuckled and wiped a droplet of sweat off her brow as a number of items came tumbling out of the Horntail's carcass. I managed to pick up a new, strange-looking sword before the others got it. Hooking it onto my belt, I joined in the looting, and found a chained sword in the very stomach of the beast. It was locked up so tight that I couldn't break the chains. I hooked it onto my belt, and picked up what appeared to be a crossbow larger than any I'd ever seen before. "Can I have that?" Dray appeared out of nowhere, pointing at the crossbow. "Sure." I tossed it at him. He threw away his old crossbow and embraced the new one. Whoa. Ares had now gotten down, and was now staring at Artemis. "Don't worry, she's just sleeping." I chuckled. "Thanks, Alexis." He breathed, then picked up a money bag.
To be continued.....
Proud Retired Jr. Master of Yellonde HiddenStreet
