Every participant was ready for the incoming action. A mysterious fog had started to cover the area, becoming cold and wet as if it was telling them to turn back in fear, but that was neither an option nor the will of the combatants.
Although most of the graves were clean and aligned in proper order, the lack of noise made it seem like a corpse could jump out of any of them at any moment, but even then, only those who fought against small fry were bothered by it while the frontliners persisted with only the current shared objective in mind.
As the group walked further closer to the center, whispers emerge from the many withered flowers scattered around, senseless and without any meaning in their words.
One step further and finally, a scream of anger and hatred echoes from every corner one could except, even from above and below their feet.
The shield bearers, startled, initiated their formation and the remaining hid behind them.
From the ground below their feet, a white flame rose to the sky, forming a veil of energy just before molding its features into that of a mature, well endowed, red-eyed woman with ghostly white hair, skin as pale as marble and beautiful as the night.
Fog as eerie as the surroundings encircles the top of the enemy's head, forming a mass of white smoke that soon transforms into a crown, the mark that identifies a Domain Ruler.
The banshee spreads her arms, wielding fingers as sharp as sickles, only to scream from the top of her lungs. Be it a warning or a threat, that didn't matter for those that had already chosen to fight.
"She will attack with her claws first, wait until then for a counterattack!"
Pak Sangwook exclaimed, proudly presenting his shield to the enemy.
As she waited, Cho Jae-Hwa decided to analyze the enemy.
—DOMAIN RULER——————————
ENEMY NAME: Medea, the Lovesick Banshee
ENEMY HEALTH: 200/200
SKILL:
The banshee had more health than even the previous Ruler and her attacks were most likely more dangerous. It was as if the monster was showing off the meaning of its title as its claws descended on the shield line at front.
The floor trembled upon impact, sweat already running down the defenders' faces as the attack felt even heavier than what it should.
"Isn't it stronger than normal!?"
"It doesn't matter! Charge!" The leader of the operation shouted.
Jae-Hwa's right foot goes forward, launching her body to the enemy dexterously enough by not slipping on the fine gravel even once.
Medea looks like a
—TITLE: Giant Slayer—————————
+125% DAMAGE against
The halberdier jumped to the sky, using one of the gravestones as a foothold, to slash at the enemy hovering over her.
Strangely enough, the cutting sensation didn't feel right and made her remember the gelatin-like substance of the slimes.
With capable fighters, the survival expectancy was greater than last time she fought a Domain Ruler, but not only it wasn't an accurate probability, something deep within her senses caused her to tremble. In one way or another, she could feel something far more threatening than Terazus's crushing power.
With a swift inhumane turn in the middle of the air, followed by another attack just before reaching the ground, the gears in Jae-Hwa's body had started to turn and the primal instinct she had before was returning in tiny portions.
The trembling of her fingers, uncontrollable like a junkie, had become noticeable enough for her to retreat and leave the attack to others.
"Is it because I'm fighting a Ruler? I feel more wild than usual... This is bad. I'm supposed to be at the very least be controlled, not go on a rampage followed by my instinct like in the first domain."
In the very first minute she was starting to lose control of her instincts. It worked in the Voltaic Sludge because the enemies were quite simple when compared, but if she were to lose it in the future where enemies become trickier to defeat, her movements will become more simple and reckless, causing the risk of her death to increase.
She knew this very well, so as a countermeasure, the halberdier chose to stay put as a countermeasure.
First I have to get used to the fight. I can't let my emotions take over.
Even against a rare monster, the battle was on a whole other level, be it due to the number of people fighting or the difference in power presented by the ruler.
On the sidelines, fencers slashed at the ghost woman and when it was nearly about to attack, a defender put their shield in front to block the attack.
Just before it could retreat, the backline of archers fired their arrows to stagger its movements.
Jae-Hwa's blood boiled in excitement, watching the battle unfold like in an action movie, growling in pain of having to suppress such burst of emotion.
"This is harder than I thought..." She muttered to herself, holding on to her arm for support.
"The banshee is going there, Jae-Hwa!"
Dong-Sun shouts, momentarily snapping the halberdier out of her trance to take her armament in her hands and direct the blades to the ground.
Calm down and think properly, Cho. There is no one else near me and I don't have time to run away. Her arm is in front, so Medea will definitely use her claws... Against an enemy in a berserk-like state, the best course of action is...!
Exhaling nearly all the air in her lungs, she closes her eyes to feel the wind with more accuracy. Normally something like this would not be possible, but the speed the enemy is traveling makes it so a blast of wind reaches a small area in front of it before her attack.
Her focus was kept on that one point and as a result, the voices around her eventually faded into mere whispers.
The caress of wind brushed her cheek after five seconds, opening her eyes immediately to reveal the world moving slower than usual. The fingernails moved together, cackling as they hit each other, but her body still moved faster somehow. Adrenaline had started to invade her veins.
Where it was her will to survive or instincts, it didn't matter as all she needed was to move forward and keep on using her mind to not succumb to the exhilarating sensation that is being sent to her nerves.
Her right leg spread out as far as her body allowed, her torso accompanying the movement to slip away from the enemy's grasp.
Finally, upon having a nice angle in her body, Jae-Hwa shifted all of her weight into the silver-colored halberd in her hands to cut into the banshee like a circular saw.
"Crescent... Cleaver!"
At the moment her words had finished from a faint whisper towards a shout that everyone managed to overhear, the gray light engulfing her weapon had left a trail of energy and her body was elegantly doing a somersault in the middle of the air, something she never thought possible with her body.
By the time she had touched the gravel from a somewhat bad landing, Medea had lost part of her arm, chopped away by the halberdier.
"Gosh, that hurt way more than I expected..."
To everyone's surprise, the lone girl had survived and the Domain Ruler was spewing weird black goo from its hand. However, it wasn't over yet as the main target had shifted from the shield bearers to the one that severed its hand.
"Crap, it's not enough. Tank! Someone!"
In reality, the monster would not stop, even less after having one of its weapon taken. Perhaps losing a limb was enough to dwindle its health, especially since something akin to bleeding out was happening, but in the end, that was not the case.
"Get back!"
One of the shielders throws himself towards the defenseless halberdier, running away for her life, only to be thrown away upon impact.
With no defenses nearby and not much space for its prey to run away to, Medea's hand reaches its chest and simultaneously forces its eyes to glow with a far more vibrant red hue. From the top of its lungs, a mystical and almost ethereal song comes out, reaching new heights until it becomes deafening.
As the graves tremble, light surges and a multitude of weapons emerge from under the gravel and dirt, hovering around in the air like they were possessed.
—ENEMY———————————————
ENEMY NAME: Poltergeist
ENEMY HEALTH: 100/100
Not only they had a life of their own, the weapons moved as one would expect when wielded by an experienced fighter, thrusting or slashing in the most cunning of ways.
It called for minions at this point in the battle!?
The amount of thoughts the enemies permitted were limited as one misstep would mean a sword cutting her or at the very least, a knife grazing her skin.
Naturally, she was also not allowed to stop running as the attention was currently focused on her, but her eyes could still move. To her right was Sangwook cautiously looking for an answer while protecting those behind him.
Seeing him rounding up the shielders was the trigger in her mind, the solution to her problems.
"Sangwook! Be ready to block!"
The three frontliners flinched with surprise at her shout, until only moments later they understood the plan.
A young woman, one of the supporters that were behind them, extended her arm, letting Jae-Hwa grab it as she jumped to the group, spinning around in the air until she finally hit the ground, somewhat dizzy.
However, before her mental wanders, she is still able to sound her commands.
"Brace yourselves, there's only one chance!"
They had some distance between me, so even if they slow down, it won't be enough to stop before hitting the shields. No matter what happens... They will collide!
As the sharp tip of the supernatural weapons graze the defense line at top speed, an explosion struck the metal and pushes back the three men in front, causing sparks to fly and eyes to widen.
Be it out of surprise or because their consciousness was not quite enough to process what had just happened, the Poltergeists were unmovable, swimming in the air, defenseless.
"Hold on a little longer body, because it's now or never!"
As she cursed herself for the dormant pain in her limbs, Cho Jae-Hwa forcefully leaps upwards in direction to the enemy, holding her weapon with both hands as a metallic light slowly covered its blades.
She grits her teeth, bleeding the lips to erase fatigue from her mind and with a complex turn that was almost becoming a fracture in her spine, Jae-Hwa swung her weapon under the influence of her skill.
All it could be heard were her grunts wishing that it would end any time soon, the gasps of amazement from those who saw the action and the multiple feeble blades being shattered to smithereens by her attack.
Once she had landed on the ground once again, her legs trembled and let weakness drag her down for a moment.
"Ahh, I'm jumping around too much! My legs hurt!" Despite the battle having started not too long ago, the fatigue was progressively getting to her mind to escape through words.
Thanks to her daily routine, she is able to catch her breath and return to an active state fairly quick, but even then, dealing with a flying target was straining her body faster than usual.
The halberdier's eyes wander around, searching for the monster responsible for all of this battle to even be necessary.
"Hey, it's—!"
A mumbling chaos surged, terrified faces all around looking at the scene unfolding in a totally unexpected way.
Medea stood close enough to the ground for the graves to be seen through her ghostly dress, hovering in place as waves of energy caused the surroundings to move along with a false wind around her.
"What the hell? She never did anything like this!"
"I knew she was different! We have to regroup!"
The stronger members quarrel with each other, barking orders without a proper sense of direction while none of them took the time to see and understand the situation.
There was no need to run as there was also not a need to hide. Medea would not attack, but it also would not remain quiet waiting for its own demise.
The Domain Ruler stretched its arms to its front in a straight line and looked up to the sky in a pained expression. The cut off limb that shouldn't even be able to be stretched was rebuild anew from a translucent material, as if it was never gone.
"You're joking, right?"
Cho Jae-Hwa's eyes widened, her breath lessening as short nervous giggling escaped the corners of her mouth. She looked to Hyeong Hae, holding on to her husband's arm in fear.
Be it slightly different or not, none could move or even hope to attack.
Medea's deep red eyes glow as dark clouds form in the sky and only the shine of its body remains. Water begins to form around the corners of its vision, not because of rain, but because of an unknown emotion that caused a monster to tear.
As its mouth opened with a smile of relief, a single droplet fell down to the gravel. The moment it collided with the fine stone was obnoxiously loud and at the same time silent as everyone witnessed with awe the destroyed limb restore back to a solid reattached state, considering what is solid for a ghost.
Such moment was a hidden fear of the halberdier, as soon as she had seen the enemy's skills.
Frustration arises as she takes a careful look to the status window.
—DOMAIN RULER——————————
ENEMY NAME: Medea, the Lovesick Banshee
ENEMY HEALTH: 200/200
"She... She healed!?"
—CURRENT STATS——————————
PLAYER NAME: CHO JAE-HWA
LEVEL: 8 <296/360 EXP>
BLESSING: Phantasmagoria
TITLE: Giant Slayer
HEALTH: 156/180
DAMAGE: 49 (+28) // DEFENSE: 41 (+15) // ENERGY: 25/55
WEAPON: Ceremonial Nanite Halberd
ARMOR: Reinforced Hunter's Garb
ACTIVE SKILLS:
PASSIVE SKILLS:
CREDITS: 245