We Can Be Heroes ...?

45

Where once there were horns upon the flesh creature's head, there now stood a crown upon the king. Where once there were cleavers attached to the beast's arms, the king now held a sword in one hand and sceptre in the other. The twisted abomination had fought with fury and anger, but the only expression upon the face of the king was one of pain and torment.

The ghostly, regal figure hovered above the ground, with black tendrils flowing from its back. Five of them, falling back into the glowing chasm of the Well of Forever. Attaching the king to the Well, the tendrils pulsed and throbbed, feeding the king's fears and agony and terror into the pool of light that pulsed in time with the those of the tendrils.

"It's a two-stage boss! I fucking hate two-stage bosses!" Mila swept her hand to the side, keeping her eyes on the king. His head lifting to glare at those before him. "Spread out. Watch for the signs he's about to attack and dodge as best you can. Take turns to catch his attention."

Shion moved to step further away, as Jova and Dave did, but Mila held her back while, at the same time, lifting her hand to summon her magical parchment. A few movements of her fingers and she soon held the Scourge of the Dead in one hand, her staff remaining in the other.

"Do you think that will work?" Shion knew the Scourge had only freed passive ghosts up to now. "I should make distance between us, too, shouldn't I?"

"No, you stay central, so you can move to heal anyone who needs it. Fire your staff only while we are hitting it. Don't let it focus on you. We need your healing more than your attacks." She rubbed her thumb over the Scourge and then glanced at Shion. "We were given the Scourge for a reason. This must be it. Get ready! Here it comes!"

The king's first attack blasted outward from the sceptre, pointing toward the first opponent he saw. A widening beam of crimson light that struck the ground before Mila and then raced toward her. Mila pushed Shion backward, a rough shove that sent Shion stumbling several feet back, and then began to roll backward. She wasn't fast enough, though, as the magical, wide beam caught her leg and Mila's health bar plummeted.

Shion healed Mila with a touch and saw Jova move, rushing toward the king and hitting him with her jumping attack. The attack landed with a thunderous crack, faint ripples of flame rolling outward, but it made little difference to the king's health. Jova followed up with her knock-back attack, but it failed to move the king.

The king swung his spectral sword toward Jova and it appeared to move so slow, Shion expected Jova to avoid it with ease, but a wave of magical energy moved before the actual blade, catching Jova in the shoulder and sending her spinning away. Shion ran her way, sending out her ranged healing before using her touch to heal the twin even more. The pool of magic within her had already dropped low, she could feel it, but she had to wait until someone attacked before she used her staff to replenish her reserves.

That task fell to Dave and he launched himself through the air, looking for all his worth like an acrobat without a circus, landing and slashing both blades at the ghostly king. Shion's magic rippled from her staff as she moved, trying to reach the other side of Mila before Dave suffered a killing blow, feeling the staff draw precious magical energy from the apparition of the king. As she did so, Dave jumped up, spinning in the air, his knives striking the king several times as he spun.

The sceptre slammed into the ground before Dave and he fell to one knee, held by some magic Shion had never seen before, his health slowly draining away. Before Shion could reach him, Dave gathered all his strength, rising to his feet and shaking off the magic and then, immediately, striking out with his 'Merciful blade' attack. It didn't do as much damage as it would were the king below a quarter of his health, but it was enough to allow Dave's health to tick up above where it had started to blink, showing his impending death.