Losing his left wing again was so distracting that Charlemagne failed to properly follow through on his claw strike. The reptile whose eye he’d destroyed reeled in pain, raising its head just enough to expose its vulnerable throat. Instead of attacking, the rooster stared dumbly at his appendage lying on the floor, wondering what he’d done wrong. While he was frozen in thought, the second reptile crouched like a feline and sprang forward, its webbed forelimb scoring a glancing blow against Charlemagne’s body. Bulwark prevented any serious damage, but the rooster was slapped out of position and tumbled end over end until he got his feet underneath him again.
The injured reptile attempted to capitalize on the situation. One of the disgusting growths that mottled its skin collapsed entirely. A muffled squelching sound emanated from the creature’s throat, which expanded dangerously as the reptile raised itself to its full height. Then it spat a huge glob of sickly-green fluid right at Charlemagne. Unfortunately for the rooster, the enormous blob did not register as edible to his Special Ability, which meant it would probably injure him severely. With no time to dodge, Charlemagne did the next best thing: he constructed several mana shields that knocked the projectile off course. The globule slammed into the far wall and stuck there, emitting a sizzling sound.
The rooster moved as soon as the attack had gone past him, dodging the much slower swipe of the uninjured foe and getting inside the guard of the much larger creature. The cunning beast immediately dropped to the ground, attempting to crush Charlemagne with its bulk, but that was its final mistake. The rooster’s mana-powered peck destroyed the reptile’s throat and spinal cord, crippling it instantly. The paralyzed body still fell on Charlemagne, but he was able to push his way out, kicking the reptile’s teeth out and emerging out from its ruined mouth. For some reason, this drove the other monster into a rage.
The reptile’s body seemed to deflate as all the gross pustules studding its body inverted at the same time. Its throat stretched dangerously as it ballooned beyond all reasonable size. Charlemagne, noticing that his feathers were starting to melt just from the brief contact with the creature’s corrosive saliva, somehow understood that there was no way he’d be able to survive the full force of the attack. And, this time, it wasn’t likely to be as easy as creating a few mana barriers. The rooster looked around for cover before realizing that there was only one option available to him.
Using his mana liberally to jump-start his acceleration, Charlemagne quickly put the other reptile between him and his opponent. It was at that moment that the disabled creature finally expired, causing its body to disappear. The rooster’s eyes grew wide as a distended throat once again filled his vision. Then the remaining reptile unleashed its attack. A bubbling stream of highly corrosive liquid streamed out of its mouth, slamming directly into the hastily erected mana barrier that Charlemagne had thrown up. Sizzling drops flew high into the air and splattered everywhere. The rooster’s feathers were insufficient protection, and the sticky drops soon ate through them and landed on the vulnerable skin beneath. But Charlemagne’s skin was not his final layer of protection. The deadly substance still had to contend with his Veins of Lava before it could penetrate further. Whatever it was that the reptile was shooting everywhere, it was causing an exothermic reaction and generating immense amounts of heat. When the corrosive liquid hit Charlemagne’s bloodstream, there was a short tug of war between the substance and the rooster’s Skill for control of the energy produced. The Skill won.
Feeling pinpricks of power rush into him whenever the fluid penetrated his skin, Charlemagne decided to go for broke. He didn’t have sufficient energy to constantly rebuild the mana shield that stood between him and the corrosive spray. So, he braced himself before dropping the shield entirely. He was immediately blown away by the sheer force of the liquid jet, slamming moments later into the far wall but taking no damage due to his absurd Durability and natural defenses.
Everything that was not protected by blood vessels was immediately melted: his remaining feathers, his outer beak, parts of his wattle, his spurs, the cornified scales on his feet, and the top layers of his skin. Thankfully, one of his eyes was protected by his monocle, and, on top of that, his natural reflexes had forced his eyes shut just before the stream hit, saving his eyesight so long as he kept his lids shut tightly. The highly corrosive spray stung worse than a thousand Assassinadder bites as Charlemagne’s exposed nerve endings were ravaged across his body. The force from the spray kept him pinned against the wall, a jet of agony that seemed like it would never relent.
After what seemed like an eternity, the attack ended, allowing the rooster to slide to the floor, his frayed nerve endings screaming in protest as his tenderized flesh rasped against the stone wall. The reptile hissed with what seemed like satisfaction, causing Charlemagne to open his eyes and look at his remaining opponent. It was much smaller than before but seemed to have retained its strength. In fact, if anything, the opponent seemed more dangerous now than it had before, moving with a grace that it hadn’t exhibited until now.
Still in a daze, Charlemagne pushed himself up to his feet, feeling the loss of his claws with every painful movement. But he also felt something else…a sort of buzzing energy that emanated from his exposed blood vessels and surrounded his body. Moments later, he was covered from head to toe in a warm field that flickered with hints of yellow but did not obstruct his vision. The rooster began to rapidly regenerate, starting with his skin, claws, and comb. Once the follicles had finished regrowing, his feathers took form once again. The only thing that didn’t recover was the rooster’s vest. After several months of continuously wearing the garment, Charlemagne keenly felt its absence. Even losing his feathers hadn’t made him feel so denuded. He still had his top hat on, which provided further evidence of its indestructible nature, and his monocle had also been unaffected by the powerful corrosive substance. But these simply were not enough to make him feel prepared to face the world.
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Pushing his useless thoughts and emotions aside, Charlemagne refocused on the battle at hand. The now-slender reptile blurred forward and swiped at him. The intrepid rooster dodged the forelimb, punishing the enormous creature with his beak as it attempted to reset its stance. He caught it in the shoulder, crippling its left forelimb entirely. The reptile was still extraordinarily agile on three legs, but before it could adjust to having only three working legs, it was down to two. Charlemagne, having discovered the joy of disabling his opponents one leg at a time, took out each leg in turn.
Once the giant creature had been completely crippled, Charlemagne took the time to refill his mana before lining up a final shot, pulling mana from his Ember Core to fashion a beak extension similar to what he had used on the asteroid. His beak attack struck just behind the reptile’s armpit, punching deep through layers of skin, fat, and muscle. The blood that struck Charlemagne sizzled, sending small clouds of dark steam into the air, but failed to penetrate the magical protection that covered the rooster’s body. A few seconds later, the monster disappeared entirely, signaling victory for the rooster.
Checking his Ember Core and finding that it was still over eighty percent full, Charlemagne decided on a different strategy. He would end each fight as quickly as possible rather than engage in melee with the higher-level waves. It would save him mana in the long run. Still, he didn’t begrudge having fought the reptiles toe to toe, and he felt that the Squiggles would reward him well for how the fight had turned out.
With that decision made, the rooster quickly cleared waves thirty-two to thirty-nine, spending as little of his reserves as he could manage while using the short breaks between fights to recover as much ambient mana as possible.
Charlemagne once again checked his mana reserves and found that he was almost two-thirds full. More than enough, the rooster assumed, for the next Boss fight.
As the break ended, a torrent of mana once again enveloped the chamber, coalescing in the center into what appeared to be a dark-skinned human-like creature with an enormous head. The hairless being was garbed in a strange outfit, sporting a purple robe with a long, flowing golden garment underneath it. Three glittering stones slowly orbited its forehead. One hand held a long, thin stick tipped with a shining crystal. The other held a strange rectangle that was covered in strange symbols that were difficult to look at.
“I am Ehuud, Arch Arcanist, the Siege Breaker, Conqueror of the Planes, Keeper of the Seven Hearthstones, Lord of Dungeons, and Master of Magics. I would know your name, you who are worthy of my personal attention.”
“Bawk!” Charlemagne cried out as he began to charge up a full-powered mana ball attack.
“What manner of creature are you?” the Boss cried as it took a few steps back and threw up a mana shield so dense that Charlemagne’s senses were immediately overloaded.
The rooster’s answer was not verbal. Instead, he continued to pour mana from his Ember Core into his attack, filtering it through his Veins of Lava before allowing it to condense just in front of his open beak. He squeezed the glowing ball of energy tighter and tighter as more energy packed into the ball: he was going to need as compact of an attack as possible in order to break through the Boss’ shield.
The Boss seemed unconcerned by the rooster’s actions, however. Without dispelling its shield, it gave Charlemagne a closer look, confusion evident on its human-like face.
“You are not some sort of mutated cockatrice, it seems. And yet I can’t seem to get a steady read on your combat potential…it keeps going up slowly. Well, no matter, get on with it. Fire your puny attack so I can put an end to this farce.”
Charlemagne obliged.
Pouring all of his rage, his homesickness, and his desire to dominate into the blazing blue-white ball of pure energy, the rooster unleashed his strongest attack.
“Buck-kawk!”
The ball slammed into the Boss’ shield and detonated, blinding Charlemagne temporarily and filling the room with a dense blanket of mana particles. It took a few seconds for the rooster’s eyesight to return, but he somehow already knew the result.
The mana shield had held.
“Hmm, that wasn’t as weak of an attack as I had surmised. Perhaps you do hold some promise after all,” it said with a grin. “But unfortunately, I’m not here to teach…I’m here to win.”
As the Boss raised its wand, the temperature within the chamber dropped precipitously. Great white clouds of frozen vapor began to swirl around the crystal tip, mixing with dense mana that moved sluggishly, yet inexorably, in a circular pattern.
“You possess a strong fire affinity, I see. Then, this should settle things nicely, I think. Endless Blizzard!”
Howling winds ripped through the room, stripping Charlemagne of his new layer of magical protection before neutralizing his Veins of Lava. In just a few seconds, the rooster was flash frozen. The last thing he recalled was the haunting beauty of an ice storm that seemed to stretch on into infinity.
