Touch of Fate

Chapter 255: The I in Team

[He must have some resistance skills, judging from the way he was able to shrug off dragon's breath and that boulder. Perhaps a piercing attack would work better?] Mike thought as he began strafing around the Skull Lord, looking for a vulnerability. He sent a mental message to Red, telling him to keep his distance for now.

Kultanis was calmly watching him, apparently waiting for him to make the first move. Not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, Mike quickly chanted his modified version of the Stone Javelin spell, and sent a trio of the humming projectiles at the undead creature.

The Skull Lord responded by quickly creating a shield composed of interlocking skeletal figures. The macabre barrier resisted the initial strike, but quickly crumbled as all three of the javelins exploded from the force of the impact.

[Interesting. If he didn't want to take that blow head on, then maybe he's vulnerable to physical attacks that specialize in piercing defenses.]

As soon as the bone dust from Kultanis's destroyed shield dispersed, the lich sprung into action, creating a coruscating wave of grey and black energy that streamed towards Mike.

He wasn't sure what the intent of this spell was, but judging from the way it seemed to absorb the light in its path, he decided he didn't want any part of it.

Jumping into the air, he quickly flexed his will, causing four spears of darkness to stab up from the shadows around his opponent's feet. Rather than impale the undead, like he'd hoped, they merely skittered off his armor, barely scratching the armor. He didn't bother to invest the mana necessary to keep them in place, so they quickly faded from existence after failing to achieve their intended purpose.

[Hm, so Dark Magic is insufficient, but my Stone Javelins are worth defending against? Or is it some kind of play to limit my options?] Mike thought quickly while avoiding the dark energy that surged past him, already planning his next move. If his normal spells were unable to punch through that armor, then he would need to resort to more complex methods.

As he was falling back towards ground, Kultanis raised his hand once more and created a grey cloud of choking smoke which quickly expanding to cover their surroundings. Concerned about the effects it would have on the living, Mike quickly created an Air Shield around himself and then altered the chant to have the swirling air currents push outwards in every direction.

This quickly cleared the area of smoke, but he realized that Kultanis had vanished in the intervening time. In desperation, he invested mana into his Willpower and activated his Aerosense. Although momentarily disoriented by the sudden wash of sensory input, he understood enough of his surroundings to detect the massive figure standing behind him, poised to strike.

As the gauntleted fist came down, wreathed in a spectral fire, Mike fell forward into a roll. He barely avoided the blow, but still got caught up in the resulting shock wave. As the ground split open under the intense impact, he was tossed head-over-heels nearly 3 meters before colliding with a small group of zombies, which were promptly destroyed. He spent a few seconds recovering, since the concussive force had done a number on his organs, but had to move quickly once more as the earth around him sprouted dozens of skeletal hands which tried to grab at him.

Thanks to his quick reflexes, he was able to escape the area of effect with a blast of Air Magic, but by the time he was regained his balance, he was already under attack once more. A barrage of bone-like shards was flying at him from the front, and he had just enough time to throw up a quick earthen wall before they impacted.

Sensing that he needed to stay on the move or risk becoming a target, Mike swiftly dodged to his right and readied his mana for his next counter attack. It was good that he did, since his wall was quickly shattered by the Skull Lord's massive armored form. He narrowly avoided one reaching arm before the lich was past him, back exposed.

Not wanting to miss out on the rare opportunity, Mike focused a large amount of mana into one hand, converting it into a tightly concentrated ball of fire. He closed the distance between them and placed that hand on Kultanis's back. With a thought he unleashed the flame, punching a hole through the lich's chest.

Any feelings of success were quickly crushed by a sudden explosion of grey colored energy which simultaneously forced him back and sapped his strength and stamina. Retreating to a safe distance, he quickly circulated a wave of Healing Magic and prepared for the follow-up, which didn't come.

The Skull Lord, although facing towards his opponent, was idly inspecting the hole in his armor. Thanks the angle of the attack, the exit wound was on his upper chest, practically at the level of his shoulders. After a few seconds, the undead wreathed his fist in a grey energy and pressed it against himself. With a sinking sensation, Mike watched the hole close in an almost organic fashion.

[Is his armor part of him, or could it actually be some kind of undead creature, too? It looks metallic, but I suppose that doesn't really mean anything.]

"I have to admit, I did not think there were any Tier 3 Elemental Mages that were capable of bypassing my resistances." Kultanis commented dryly, apparently in the mood to talk once more. "You must have a truly monstrous amount of mana. Are you naturally so talented, or did your order develop some new techniques?"

[So he's got a resistance skill, or several from the sounds of it. That would explain a few things. I wonder if I can get him to explain it.]

Feeling a little better after his magic had recovered his stamina, Mike gave the undead a cocky grin, "You can't expect me to give away my secrets that easily. After all, its not like my mana is helping that much. Everything I've thrown at you so far has been unsuccessful. It's practically a cheat."

As soon as he said it, Mike realized the irony of his statement, but did his best to keep a straight face.

The Skull Lord gave Mike a speculative look, or at least appeared to do so. It was difficult to tell through the full-faced helm. "I suppose I could hardly call this a sporting contest if I did not, at least, give some kind kf handicap. I cannot make it too easy for you, but there's little to lose providing you a hint, so let me say this. As an Elemental Mage, you will be hard pressed to do anything at all to me unless you try particularly hard."

Mike frowned in thought, trying to read through the underlying subtext. [Is he trying to say that Elemental Magic barely effects him? I suppose that's not far off, based on what I've seen, but its not exactly useless either.]

Kultanis watched him for a few moments, as if trying to gauge the impact of his words, before bringing the brief stand off to an end. "That should be long enough for you to catch your breath. It has been a very long time since I was trapped in a living body, but I can recall at least that much."

More of the dark grey energy began to spill out from the cracks in his armor, forming a menacing cloud that began to wreathe his entire form. "Let us bring an end to this, Dragonknight. I have much left to do today, and I cannot afford to spend all of it playing with you."

So saying, he blurred forward, moving much faster than before. As he approached, the energy on his arms seemed to harden, taking the form of massive, sickle-shaped blades. Mike barely had time to respond before the lich was on him.

Bringing his spear around, he blocked one overhand swing, and was shocked when the strength behind the blow forced him down onto one knee. He had just begun channeling mana into his limbs in an effort to enhance his strength, when an armored boot slammed into his right side.

Mike's vision blurred and pain wracked his body as he was sent careening across the battlefield, skipping off the ground a few times before slamming into a scorched wagon, breaking it in two. He spent the next few seconds trying to figure out how to breath again, before sending a wave of Healing Magic through himself in order to speed up the recovery process. An ordinary human would have been instantly killed by that kind of impact, but his enhanced endurance coupled with his regeneration meant that he was merely incapacitated for a short while. Unfortunately, his opponent seemed to have no inclination to give him enough time.

As Mike was shakily pulling himself out of the broken wreckage of the wagon, he caught sight of a dark shape approaching rapidly, and reflexively brought his spear up to block. In doing so, he was able to avoid being bisected by the sickle-shaped blade. Despite the successful maneuver, the strength behind the attack once again launched him into the air, this time in a slightly more controlled manner.

With a few quick application of Air Magic, he was able to right himself and land on his feet, skidding to a halt after a few meters. All the while Mike's eyes were focused on the armored giant, who was approaching all too rapidly.

[It looks like some kind of enhancement magic the specifically improves his speed and strength.] He thought to himself as he finished channeling mana into his limbs. A nimbus of fire wreathed his arms, as a small whirlwind surrounded him. This time when Kultanis attacked with one of his arm blades, Mike moved forward to meet him.

Blocking the first blow with the Fang of the Primal, he let the blade slide off towards the ground before surging forward to deliver a counter attack. He aimed for the gap between Kultanis's helm and his breastplate, fully intending to drive his weapon into the crack, but the centuries old undead was too canny He leaned back at the last second so that the spear merely slid across his visor.

Dodging beneath the Skull Lord's counterattack, Mike began exchanging blows with him at a furious pace. So far, they were evenly matched, but he was having trouble landing a definitive strike thanks to the undead's preternatural skill and durable armor.

More as a means of exploring his options than as a serious attempt to inflict damage, he threw a point blank wind blade modified with oscillation. Unsurprisingly, it merely impacted on Kultanis's armor before breaking apart, having left no discernible damage.

[Definitely going to have to change things up here soon.] He thought while considering his options. Unfortunately, the majority of his most effective combat techniques either relied on Elemental Magic or sword skills. He still had a few options, not the least of which was his enhanced stone javelin spell, but it was swiftly becoming apparent that this was a bad match up for him.

Nimbly avoiding the Skull Lord's counter attack, he realized that he needed another combatant in the mix to take the pressure off of him and give him a chance to line up a finishing blow. He initially thought of Red, but quickly dismissed the idea. Although powerful in his own way, the dragon would be hard pressed to avoid some of the undead's more potent abilities, and probably wouldn't last that long in a direct confrontation.

[Maybe I should summon something?]

As he was seriously debating that option, his thoughts were interrupted by a woman shouting something incomprehensible from behind him. "DRAMATIC ENNNNTRRRYYY NUMBER 2!"

Before he had a chance to even glance backwards, the speaker arrive in a burst of light, swinging a golden, luminescent sword at Kultanis, who blocked with both of his arm blades. Amazingly, the newcomer's weapon cut straight through the grey energy and bit deeply into his arms, throwing him back nearly a meter under the force of the blow.

The owner of the sword stepped up beside Mike, a golden, winged shield held in front of her. Despite her obvious success, the blonde woman was wearing a frown. She muttered, "Hm...that should have cut him in half. How did he block that?"

Not really sure if he was supposed to respond or not, Mike couldn't help but add, "Well, you did kind of draw attention to yourself by yelling. Is it really that surprising that he could defend against your attack with some forewarning?"

She glanced at him with a look of sudden realization. "Ah! You're right! This should have been a Sneak Attack rather than a Dramatic Entry." Frowning in thought, she stared at him a little more intensely. "You seem familiar...Do I know you?"

"I can safely say that we have never met before, since I'm pretty sure I would remember. But, that's not important right now. Why don't we focus on the task at hand?"

"Hm? What's that?" The woman asked innocently.

Mike stared at her for a few seconds, feeling a sudden reluctance to rely on this person. Finally, he pointed at Kultanis, who by this point had healed the injuries to his arms and was giving the pair of them a speculative look. "The undead mage that you attacked just a second ago, remember?"

"Oh, right. That one. Nearly forgot."

With a sense of trepidation, Mike got into a combat stance. [Well, let's see where this takes us.]