Bonded Summoner - Book 5. Chapter 18: Blood / Ophelia - Clash of Champions Pt. 3

Blood continued facing the swarm of reptiles, and it was like it never ended. They had torn off hundreds of parasites at this point, and landed many blows against the disgusting flea.

It was difficult because it healed from the parasites it controlled. The living dinosaurs with their auril energy made the monster nearly invulnerable.

They ended up having the saved dinosaurs flee, convincing them to not aid them in the battle. The dinosaurs became a detriment in facing the Loviatar Champion, and many of the parasites switched to an undead version.

It drained the life force from its allies as it filled them with pestilence, releasing even more of its terrible blight.

While they would have their own force of dinosaurs, it appeared the flea simply used even more of the creatures to meet with good dinosaurs in combat when Berri started countering with her censer.

Bree and The Garuda helped her keep the area somewhat clear of encroaching dinosaurs, but even they couldn’t get too close to the flea without being harmed by its disease aura.

Jake could invest more mana into the summon to push it through that area on the offensive, but with his focus split like this, the Garuda fought much more defensively.

Blood and Berri had both dumped their best abilities on the boss in the beginning, only to find that this was more of a marathon fight. It now ran from her with large jumps, and all she could do was to prevent it from heading toward one of her allies.

Where did that boar go, anyway? Checking their bond, it looked like it may have gone to help Fhesiah instead.

Berri was livid. “Grrr, leaving us with this gross bug! I’ll make them both pay!”

“How will you make them pay, dear sister?”

“O-Of course, they’ll play baseball with me!”

“So you finally admit that playing it is more or less punishment?”

They fought through the dinosaurs, swiping through parasites once more. She managed to blitz through the disease aura and smash into the stupid flea several more times. She tried to capture it with her tail, but each time she did, it would leap away and escape.

Bloodberri was able to follow thanks to her own leap and glide, but she was always playing catch up with the creature.

Blood shook her head. “It’s clearly baiting us or delaying us, sister. I just don’t see what we can do unless we can catch it.”

It had shrunk and weakened significantly now, but she was running low on Mana. Despite her technique being highly efficient and her attack highly effective, she had used too much of it.

Something shifted, and the runes on Bloodberri’s body lit up. They sensed that Fhesiah had won her battle, as a result of Bree aiding her.

Berri made a pleased sound. “Oh! They’re removing the stakes. That’ll help.”

Bree entered the clearing, and joined the fray with the Garuda once more. The flea was again on the retreat, but it appeared it was running out of parasites to draw from.

The sisters did their best to make the flea take damage before it escaped, but it felt like they were running on fumes at this point.

It was then that various powerful entities entered the clearing.

There were five undead beastkin filled with negative life energy, that they recently learned was called nethril. Then, there were several large dinosaurs using the same.

Berri groaned. “Why did they wait to bring those guys out? Now I have no energy left!”

Blood sighed. “I think you just illustrated why, dear sister. That, or maybe it requires more effort to drive or control these creatures.”

The final stake was destroyed, the runes on their armor lighting up to their normal level.

The Garuda and Bree both rushed the dinosaurs, leaving the beastkin for Bloodberri.

Thanks to the practice throughout this fight, Berri and Blood’s coordination was fantastic. The runes on their body left light and dark behind in their movements, weakening the nethril warriors.

Her snake body swayed and danced, as she cut into the creatures. The disease aura from the flea was released, which seemed to empower the nethril monsters. Her slashes and smashes knocked the undead beastkin back, but their energy prevented them from taking serious wounds.

It even protected the parasites on their backs, allowing the unliving creatures to heal themselves.

Despite one’s rib cage being crushed, it was like its body kept going. It didn’t require its organs as it was not alive, and it countered Berri’s smash with a thrust of its spear into her side.

The attack held a fair amount of power, but only bruised Bloodberri’s skin beneath her empowered armor.

The undead beastkin were at the auril hero level. They must have been seeped in the nethril area, raised from the dead and controlled by the parasite.

Individually, Blood didn’t think they were that strong. But enhanced by its disease aura, and since they were low on resources, she didn’t think this would be easy.

Berri was pissed. “This fucker! I’ll make this guy pay. Line them up for me, sis!”

Berri’s plan was strange, but Blood complied. The several nethril beastkin swarmed around her, but she swayed and swirled her tail around, knocking them back.

Blood floated their cannonball-like baseball with her [Telekinesis], and the runes on their body lit brightly.

Berri smacked it with her maul with all her strength–at the ugly flea.

With a giant crack, the ball smashed into the flea, the creature giving off a pained scream as it was knocked off its strange leaping legs and into a tree.

One after another, each ball joined the first, ignoring the annoying nethril warriors. Bloodberri’s body swayed in a dizzying array of spirals as they shifted around their holy light and dark mana, empowering their movements and restricting their enemy’s.

Floating the balls to the appropriate points, she was able to swing in between their movements.

The flea tried to leap away, but Berri continued to hit them with fervor, knocking the creature over as quickly as it could get up. Meanwhile, they moved ever closer, while dodging and restricting the enemies that tried to stop them just the same.

They had wanted to use this strategy before, but there were simply too many dinosaurs and trees in the area. Now that they were down to just a handful of enemies that they could manage, it was enough for them to go for the kill.

Blood and Berri surged for the flea, the two scrounging a little of their remaining mana for one more spell. Together, the two cast Jake’s Runic Shackles spell, tinted with Blood’s Holy Dark mana.

It sprung from beneath the creature, wrapping around its body.

The nethril warriors chased after her, but they were not strong or fast enough to stop her with her Technique infusing her strength. The flea released a final malevolent aura, but they pushed their [Purifying Flames] through their body as they flooded their runes with their mana.

Activating their final [Maul of Hestia-Echidna] attack, they smashed the resisting creature’s skull. The explosion of light and dark knocked the five nethril warriors away.

When the flea died, the parasites on the nethril warriors withered away, and the creatures stood in a daze. The fight left them.

Berri waved her hand in front of one of their faces. “Yoo hoo, you in there? You guys okay now?”

The five looked off into the distance. From Blood’s memory, it was the nearest location filled with nethril. They began walking toward it in the same daze. They looked at the undead dinosaurs for a moment, and seemed to form some sort of link to them.

The dinosaurs that had been turned to undead did the same, marching away from the Garuda and Bree.

Berri groaned. “Whatever! Now I really just wanna smash this last guy!”

***

The Greater Rift dumped Ophelia to the ground. A droning buzz filled her ears and shook her mind, making it a challenge to focus. But a warrior with four arms and two massive axes was barreling toward their party, along with a scorpion warrior.

Just as an archer was about to fire her bow, she spotted a javelin slam into an archer. The arrow went askew and instead of going for Jake, headed for Tanda.

While Ophelia knew Tanda was still harmed by the arrow, it was much more important Ophelia blocked this massive being’s vicious axe. Activating her [Ride of the Valkyries] and dashing on Valora toward him, she knew this enemy was powerful beyond all others.

When she did, several things happened at once. Hestia was summoned, sending a massive wave of flames upon her arrival.

The only enemy that allowed Hestia’s flames to wash over undaunted was the statuesque enemy. Activating her Valkyrie Champion ability, she grew to meet the massive dark warrior’s axe, but Valora couldn’t grow along with her.

The valkyrie guardian in her shield blazed toward the enemy, its body slamming into them.

Feeling the terrible energies in the blade, she had deflected the weapon at an angle away from her, rather than blocking. A wave of darkness continued on the swing’s trajectory, cutting into the ground behind her.

Despite her increased strength, she found it a challenge to hold the powerful warrior back. Her attack would have been bypassed by strength alone if she didn’t slam her guardian holding the shield into him.

But the Summoned Hestia arrived, sending a beam of blazing fire into his body. The statuesque man was pushed back only slightly, and Ophelia had to evaluate her plans.

Hestia said, “This isn’t good, Ophelia. This is an Enforcer. It should not be here, in a first Tier conflict.”

The warrior filled himself with a dark glow, and Ophelia tried to raise her strength with her runes as well, but her efforts were inhibited by something. Some sort of field was being generated in the area.

“And you shouldn’t be here. This Summoner manifesting you this way shows his power. I will slay him as many times as it takes and destroy his potential.”

At hearing this, the runes on Ophelia’s body blazed with intensity, even through the inhibiting field. Jake had long-since been mixing demonic runes in with their Nordic ones, just for the chance that something like this might happen.

Unfortunately, Valora would not be able to help her with this fight. “I need you to go help Jake. I may have to dispel you, every bit of mana is important.”

[We hear.]

Valora charged off in Jake’s general direction.

Activating her [Vajra Strike], she met his two-handed axe with her halberd. Righteous lightning met all-consuming terror, a black energy that exceeded the power of the Champions by a significant margin.

Despite blocking the attack, the remaining energy sliced into her shoulder. The lightning from her attack continued at an angle to reach the enemy as well.

Her lightning was mostly deflected by malevolence as it blasted into the warrior’s body, but he came with a second vicious swing of the same.

As her Guardian Hearth moved to block the attack, Ophelia was shocked. Hestia had entered her shield, merging with it. Valkyrie Hestia, shining in brilliant golden flames, deflected the Enforcer’s attack easily with her shield.

Hestia sent healing flames into Ophelia’s shoulder, as the small cut appeared to be weakening her body.

The goddess inhabiting the guardian flames smiled at her. [I had imagined it wouldn’t be until late in the second Tier until we fought this way. I may be limited, but I am honored to fight by your side, Champion Ophelia.]

Ophelia was filled with pride at Hestia’s proclamation, but focused her will as the enemy certainly didn’t wait for them to talk.

She pushed her Technique to the maximum as she continued the melee against the terrible foe. She slashed and stabbed, parried and thrust. Mixing in her auril attacks every attack she could, she did her best to conserve her mana for the long fight.

Hestia worked in tandem with her, blocking and countering the Enforcer’s attacks. Each time Ophelia or Hestia cut into him, it was like a small chunk of rock was chipped off. He possessed a sturdy physique, her blade skidding off like armor. She often had to use her pick part of her weapon to even pierce into his near-impervious exterior.

Then, the man was fast in spite of his size, launching himself through the air even when she took to the sky with her Technique.

The dark warrior was skilled, having perhaps thousands of years of fights under his belt. His strength was significant, and she couldn’t imagine herself landing a mark on the man’s body with her weapon, without Hestia’s help.

He went straight for debilitating blows with his superior defense and strength, and Ophelia found herself unable to dodge–only block or parry, and having to counter the superior energies clashing with her own.

Even Hestia’s beam of flame did little more than a flesh wound. He did not heal, but it was like his body was made of unlimited obsidian stone. The magical carvings or tattoos lit up on his body, as if he was empowered as the fight went on.

[That is correct, Ophelia–he becomes stronger as the fight goes on. As strong as he is now, the best time to wound him the most is right now. That will weaken his maximum for the end game. But if you expend too much, he will take the opening to finish you. Be careful.]

When she was ready to use her [Vajra Strike] again, it appeared the warrior was ready to use his ability too–where he would fill his body with malevolence and send additional darkness into his swings.

In Jake’s battle, he fought against a malevolent aura. Ophelia could only just barely spare shoving [Purifying Flames] through the connection.

It was at that moment that her runes shifted to the state of the Avenger. Flames entered her halberd’s blade, forming her own [Hearthblade], their power blazing in intensity as they found resonance in their strength.

He swung his axe in for the kill, but Hestia blitzed him from the side, sending flames and lightning out of her spear and slammed into the warrior from the side.

He shoved the shield away with a dark chuckle, as he leaped at Ophelia–who was now shieldless. She blurred in with her Technique, stabbing at the warrior instead with her attack.

Her attack was met with one axe, the bolt of righteous lightning passing through the obsidian warrior and causing little damage. But the bolt continued until it arrived at Hestia, where she built it up into a larger attack.

Ophelia swung her poleaxe head up to meet the warrior’s, but it wouldn’t make it in time. Activating a [Sacrificial Barrier] and activating her deathly shield with her will to merge with it, it skidded off as she changed her swing to pierce into the dark warrior’s chest.

The powerful [Hearthblade] cut deeply into his chest, the flames of her hearth blazing intensely into his body.

The lightning struck him in the back, and this one was empowered by Hestia’s flames. The integrity of his body’s markings shifted, and his power decreased as his body shrunk slightly to repair the damage done.

But he roared, sending Ophelia through the air with a wave of malicious energy. Catching herself with her Technique, she easily righted herself and blurred back into the melee with the Enforcer.

The fight went on, the back and forth continuing. Ophelia and Hestia working together to fight against the Enforcer, barely able to chip away at the enemy.

Ophelia had difficulty protecting against the Enforcer, but where she was put into trouble, Hestia covered her shortcoming with a well-timed block. She was starting to get used to the powerful combatant, and Hestia’s aid.

The enforcer backed off slightly, and shook his head. “One down, and the other will fall soon. Useless allies.” He looked over Ophelia. “You are a powerful warrior. You would be strong and stand above many others, should you continue to grow. But millions of warriors like you are born every day, only to be slain for food for Tartarus. You will be no different.”

Ophelia smiled. “But you’re here, aren’t you? You’re proof that you’re worried; that we will be more.”

The warrior charged once more, and Ophelia met him with her Hearthblade. The powerful resonance with [Retribution] appeared to enhance its effectiveness, increasing her reach and power she could bring about.

Even though the warrior had powered up, she felt like she could now keep up with him. He was fast and powerful, but Ophelia kept her movement’s minimal, Hestia covering for her.

Bursting forward at inopportune moments, she was able to score a few more cuts along his body.

It was like scraping a metal wall, but Hestia and her Hearth within her shield aided in her protection. Using [Vajra Strike] when it was available, the effect of the spell was far greater in the Avenger state.

Despite facing the terrible foe, Ophelia felt at peace. She felt a calm reassurance that Jake would win each battle and join them. That if she continued to defend against this enemy, he would never let her down.

She counted on her sister-wive’s strengths as well. Ophelia had confidence that Bloodberri, Tanda, and Fhesiah would win their battles too.

Jake and Tanda’s battle came to its conclusion, and the Enforcer roared. The scripts on his body lit up further, and he surged at Ophelia with terrible purpose. He swung his axes with fury, and she could tell that this time, it would not stop just after two attacks.

She pushed more flames into Hestia and fought back. The axes were deflected by Hestia or Ophelia one after the other, his assault frenzied. Despite the attacks malicious and driven by rage and fury, the skill in seeking a deadly blow was difficult to contain.

Ophelia shifted the trajectories with each attack, biding her time as she countered with her thrusts and slashes of her halberd, Hestia doing the same with her spear of golden flames and lightning.

The dark warrior was strong and fast for his size, but Ophelia was finding where she was faster. The problem was that he was speeding up, getting stronger.

A fiery golden arrow slammed into the warrior’s arm, a giant wolf’s bite taking a chunk of stone out of him. Tanda flew into the clearing, releasing shot after shot at the dark warrior. Ophelia pressed her attack, cutting into his body as Tanda released her arrows into him.

From behind the Enforcer, came a beam of fiery light from Jake–a [Scorching Ray]. It slammed and burned into the warrior, carving off many scripts at once. The warrior turned, and leaped at Jake.

Ophelia activated [Intervene], blitzing through the air in a near blur of light. She speared the dark warrior from behind with great momentum, shoving and causing him to sail past Jake and slam into a tree. The tree shattered as the warrior careened through the air, but two waves of axe blades were sent at Jake.

More arrows struck him before he even hit the ground, and Hestia blocked the axe waves heading for Jake with her shield.

The fight was looking good, though Ophelia was getting relatively low on energy. She had expended much to maintain her Valkyrie Champion ability, as it was the minimum requirement to face the enemy.

The enemy was looking a little smaller. When they carved off stone, it shrunk his body. However, there was a foreboding feeling that wouldn’t go away. This fight was not going as well as she thought.

Hestia’s spoke from within the shield. [That’s right. He hasn’t used his Divine Energy yet.]

The Enforcer chuckled darkly. “Figure it out yet? I wonder, have you noticed something else? Why didn’t you get any Divine Sparks when you slayed those Champions?”

Ophelia, Jake, and Tanda all blanched.

He continued, his voice beginning to twist in malevolence, “Defeating those weakling doesn’t matter, it was within the plan from the beginning. Because when there is an Enforcer present: Winner. Takes. All.”

A wrongness pervaded the clearing, the powerful malevolence wafting off the terrible Enforcer in waves. It twisted Ophelia’s stomach and even slammed into her mind, a mounting terror far above the Champions they had faced.

The Enforcer morphed and twisted, drawing upon his Divine Energy. He didn’t call on Tartarus, he became it. Where his body was made out of obsidian stone, he grew flesh of a darkened color. Arms grew out, making him have a total of six.

The axes grew in size, along with him. A terrifying face, with a large mouth with countless teeth opened within his chest, and his body was filled with a black energy. The same terrifying energy he would charge and attack with his arms filled his entire body, the scripts and runes covering him lighting up.

Hestia exited the shield, to float next to Jake. Raising his Champion’s staff, he sent his remaining Divine Energy to her, along with much of the girl’s overall reserves.

Hestia even drew some Divine Energy from them over [Energy Sharing]. They had been gathering the energy for a time, but were unable to call upon their Divine as they had not completed their Trial.

She noted that Hestia was still being conservative about this, likely saving enough for them to call on them–or, she was otherwise limited.

Tanda landed near, her [Cyclic Resonance] reaching its maximum. She prepared her final attack, ready to punish the wicked once more.

The runes on their armors all brightened, a result from Fhesiah finding more of the stakes.

Ophelia dumped as much mana, health, and stamina into generating another Hearth of Hestia and dropping it into her shield. Jake joined his copy along with hers.

The Enforcer’s mouth opened, charging a powerful attack. Evil energy surged through his body, as Hestia prepared a flame in her hand. The beam from the terrible monster’s mouth was released first.

Ophelia’s shield slammed into the beam first, filled with righteous flames. It formed a powerful sacrificial barrier, and Ophelia added as much to the construct as she could. Weakened, the barrier eventually gave way.

As the beam continued, Hestia blazed her own Scorching Ray. It met the beam and burned into it, sending waves of heat into the forest. Tanda pierced forward, her spear of golden light piercing through the flame and the beam in kind.

The two attacks coalesced together, piercing through the evil beam of energy. When the golden beam got close, the two axes wielded by six arms slammed into it. The massive monster was blasted back through the air, the beam of golden light only cutting into what would be his shoulder, removing two of his arms on one side.

Hestia looked over at Jake, Tanda and Ophelia with pride and confidence. “This is as far as I can continue. The Enforcer is alone, but you are together. Stay strong and you shall win.”

She turned into a flame and entered Jake’s Champion staff. Fhesiah or Dave removed the final stake, their runes finally brightening to their maximum.

Bloodberri now fought her final battle with the Garuda and Bree helping, and Jake’s party was now low on everything.

Thankfully, now that Tanda was stronger and raised her mastery with the ability, her attack did not completely weaken her. She could still fight, though she was definitely not at her maximum.

Jake called Fhesiah to their side using [Call Summon], making it four against one. She was absorbing some Qi energy crystals and even some which contained her bloodline energies.

The creature stood, and Ophelia thought it had become smaller. It had regrown its arms, but this had a cost. The Enforcer roared.

It was time for the final battle.