Rangers Endgame

Chapter 89: Monsters of the Earth

Although their numbers weren't of much concern since they had two A-ranks with them, fighting so many in an enclosed space with two powerhouses would certainly do more harm. But if they held back, it could cost them.

"Kai, hold them back," Daichi ordered as he and Haruki stepped in front to protect the conjurer.

"On it!" Kai flicked his wand toward the wave of monsters.

Pushing radiance into his wand, motes of amber congregated and aligned themselves into a solid wall that cut the cavern in two. The earth devils slammed into his defenses, pounding and using their massive pinchers to rip their way through in a desperate effort to reach their prey.

Kai's face scrunched from the strain. Holes in the wall tore open as he repeatedly called upon more radiance to repair the damage. His efforts proved to only delay the inevitable.

"This isn't going to work," Kai gritted, looking over at the others grimly.

"Then open up a gap. We'll handle the rest." Daichi said as he and Haruki shifted to attack postures.

Kai nodded and waved his wand. Releasing a fraction of his concentration, he allowed a portion of the wall to fizzle and dissolve into a narrow slit down the center. The earth devils immediately capitalized on that opportunity, squeezing their bulk through the opening with chaotic impatience.

"Kid, protect Kai," Itsuki said as he joined Daichi and Haruki on the front lines.

Earth devils spilled from the gap, dashing towards their prey while the men infused their swords and charged them. Daichi and Haruki's swordsmanship was masterful, slashing through the seams in the earth devils' armor with expert precision. He noticed that they mostly targeted their necks as this was the most unprotected.

Since Itsuki wasn't too familiar with their way of fighting, his coordination with them was somewhat lacking but he made up for it with his own battle experience. Keeping his distance from the group to ensure they wouldn't get caught in his blade's path, he carved wide arcs through the air, his claymore completely shattering their armor upon contact. The wide cavern provided enough space for him to comfortably swing his broad blade, catching any stragglers that attempted to slip past them.

Although the earth devils struggled to push past them, Yakeru stayed on guard, his alert gaze scanning for any threats that wished to harm their conjurer. His eyes fell on an abnormal lump on a rocky wall illuminated by a floating red relic. As he narrowed his gaze, seams began to split along its surface as the mass bulged. Muscular arms made of stone pushed its earthen body from the wall, revealing a horned head.

The creature started for the vulnerable conjurer, its movement raw as it closed the distance. Yakeru snapped out of his daze and sprung into action as he drew his sword, his blade flashing with crimson light from the floating relics.

As it leapt toward Kai with its oversized hands reaching for his throat, a blur dashed across the cavern and severed its head from its body. Kai looked to where the blurred figure had ended up to see Yakeru standing there with a purple substance dripping from his sword, the radiance enveloping his lower half extinguishing.

"So much cooler in person." Kai gushed before returning his attention to his main responsibility.

Yakeru turned to the fallen earth devil, purple liquid pooling under it. He knew their necks were their likely weak point but he wasn't expecting his sword to cut through cleanly.

While distracted, an earth devil had peeled itself from another wall and galloped straight towards Kai. Again, he ignited Blitz Step and blinked across the cavern, removing its head from its shoulders just moments before it grabbed the conjurer.

Two more dislodged from the ceiling and crashed down behind Kai, startling him. Yakeru began to fend off the growing number of devils but their camouflaged forms enabled them to strike from unexpected angles.

He realized protecting Kai was going to be more problematic than he thought. It was impossible to predict where they'd attack from next as their hides provided them with a deadly advantage despite his enhanced speed.

After removing the heads of a couple more devils, he frantically scanned the area for any sign of disturbance on the walls and ceiling but the monsters were practically invisible. The red lighting from the relics didn't reveal any seams in the terrain that he could use as a way to find them either.

'The lighting...' he pondered, his eyes flicking from one relic to the next.

Amongst the white relics were a handful of red ones, and the ones that were once red turned white after their respective devil left their range.

Why?

Even when the beasts were completely motionless, the relics were still red. Relics that drifted occasionally fluctuated as they passed stationary objects as well.

'If they don't react to movement, but the mere presence of people and monsters can change their...' he trailed off as the revelation struck him like a bolt of lightning.

His head snapped to the nearest relic casting a red glow on an abnormal lump on the wall. To test his theory, he infused his sword and fired a low-powered arc towards the wall. Upon impact, the strange lump immediately shape-shifted into an earth devil, stunned as to how its prey saw through its disguise.

Yakeru Blitz Stepped towards it and drove his blade into its neck as it gurgled and dropped to the ground motionless. Prying his blade from the corpse and taking a step back, the relic then turned a soft white.

'My hunch was right,' he confirmed, looking back at the other red relics.

The relics weren't reacting to motion; they were revealing life forms. With this new information, he now knew exactly where the devils were hiding.

Turning back to the remaining red relics, he launched another arc to a chunk of rock illuminated by a crimson glow. As expected, the earth devil transformed back into its original form before Yakeru sliced through its neck with the added force of Blitz Step.

Kai watched as the boy repeated this process again and again until eventually the earth devils in hiding willingly released their camouflage as if they realized their disguise was no longer effective. The cavern quickly filled with these stone-like creatures as they began trampling over one another in a violent race to feast on the conjurer first.

Radiance once again coursed through Yakeru's legs, clinging to his muscle fibers and augmenting his movements. Dropping into a stance with his sword loaded, he launched himself forward, his blade whistling as it sliced through the dungeon's dry air.

Yakeru's training with Dash kicked in as he charted an optimal path to eliminate as many devils as possible. The afterimage of trailing golden light zipped from one devil to the next as his blade cut through the vulnerable areas. A collection of screeching metal and cracking rock filled the cavern as stone heads dropped to the floor one after another.

Turning back, he saw most of them still standing, the others collapsing to the ground. He gritted his teeth, frustrated with himself that he allowed some to get by him. He still wasn't accustomed to making such precise cuts while using Blitz Step. However, although he failed to kill some of them, unintentionally crashing his blade into their jaws and shoulders with such immense force and speed jarred them just enough to create another opening.

Igniting his legs again, he furrowed his brows in concentration, determined not to miss a second time. He blurred across the cavern towards one of the devils still standing but instead of letting Blitz Step carry his blade through its neck, he released his radiance and swung wide.

Purple blood sprayed as he sliced through its throat. Though the cut was too shallow for its head to fall, it was enough to send it into a fit of gurgled coughs, desperately grasping onto its neck before it collapsed like its brethren.

Wasting no time, Yakeru Blitz Stepped to the next and repeated the same strategy, extinguishing his legs to better focus on his target before executing a lethal slash. One by one, they all dropped and although this was a slower process, it ensured he wouldn't miss.

Looking back to check on Kai, his eyes widened when an earth devil had gotten within arm's reach of the conjurer. Having no choice, he activated Blitz Step and soared across the cavern. Just as the monster had almost wrapped its large rocky hand around Kai's head, Yakeru plunged his blade into its forearm, the tip of his blade barely exiting through the other side.

Though he managed to veer the beast's hand away, the devil barely flinched as he used its left hand to remove the nuisance. Thinking quick on his feet, Yakeru adjusted for a more firm and stable grip and poured radiance into his bottom half again and allowed it to catapult him away. The sheer abrupt force tore his blade free from its rocky appendage and shredded through its arm, severing it from the elbow down.

As the beast stared at its missing limb in shock, Yakeru Blitz Stepped just beneath its neck and swung, cleaving the exposed muscles and tendons. He allowed the creature to struggle before it succumbed to its injuries. By then, his body was approaching its limit, his strained legs trembling.

Since most of the earth devils had already been dealt with, he stopped to gather himself. Then, the white light behind him suddenly shifted red. Startled, he turned to face whoever was there only to find nothing but the rough stone that made up a wall. However, upon closer inspection, he could see that a section of the wall had abnormal lumps that the rest of the wall didn't have.

Suddenly, seams began to split the rock formation, forming arms, legs, and a horned head. The humanoid mass expanded, the seams between its armor becoming more apparent as it stepped toward the boy. 

Yakeru tried funneling radiance into his legs but his body tensed in protest. Although he ignored the pain the best he could, his radiance was too sluggish to infuse himself fast enough to dash away.

Yakeru watched, eyes growing ever wider as the creature lunged forward. Before its cold, oversized hands could reach his throat, an arc of radiance slashed through the beast's neck, sending the now headless devil tumbling before coming to a stop before the kid.

Dismissing the radiance in his legs, he looked over expecting Itsuki but instead, he found Daichi whipping the blood from his sword before returning it to its scabbard.

"Careful, Yakeru," he strode up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "We still need you."

"Thanks," Yakeru responded as he looked toward the others.

By then, Itsuki and Haruki were wrapping up the last of the earth devils. Yakeru leaned against a wall and slid down to rest. Kai dispelled the barrier and the deceased earth devils slouched against it flopped to the ground.

Itsuki holstered his claymore on his back and approached. "How about we stop here to recharge? We could get moving in about an hour."

They all nodded before retreating to different sections of the cavern. Daichi, Kai, and Haruki ate their rations on one side while Yakeru and Itsuki took the other. Again, Yakeru tuned out the background noise as he thought more about the earth devils they'd slain.

After discovering what the white and red coloration of the relics meant, he knew where the devils would strike from. However, it seemed like they caught on quickly as well and revealed themselves to attack them. Then they targeted the more exhausted ranger, perhaps an indication of their intelligence.

"Something on your mind?" Itsuki asked.

"Yeah," Yakeru replied before explaining his findings to him and the rest of the group.

As expected, they were too preoccupied at the time to realize. But now that they knew, they could take advantage of the floating relics on their way to the Crystal-fanged Weaver's lair.

After an hour of rest, they'd replenished some of their radiance and continued their march. Eliminating threats before they had the chance to ambush them made traversing the dungeon easier now that they didn't have to worry about where the monsters were hiding.

Daichi, Kai, and Haruki stood at the back, claiming they were watching their flank. Although their constant glancing over their shoulders reinforced that, it seemed more like they were keeping their distance from Itsuki and Yakeru. Itsuki picked up on this and made sure Yakeru was within his sights at all times.

After what seemed like hours of traversing the dungeon and silently picking off earth devils, Itsuki raised his fist to signal the others to stop and pointed.

"Do you see it?" Itsuki asked.

Yakeru squinted, trying to see what he was seeing. It was only when he looked from a different angle that he saw a thin thread catching the glint of the floating relics nearby.

"What is this?" Yakeru asked as he moved to another angle, the glint following him along the thread.

"This is the Weaver's doing. We're getting close." Itsuki confirmed.

Daichi approached from behind to take a look. "Don't touch it. It turns everything that's animate into crystal but it doesn't affect inanimate objects."

Daichi drew his sword and pricked his finger. A red bead formed on the top and he allowed it to fall on the thread. Upon making contact, the blood instantly hardened and crystallized before their eyes, the red droplet now glistening.

Yakeru stared as Kai pushed everyone aside. "Let me take care of this."

He lit his wand, forming a wall that filled the cavern and pushed. As the wall moved forward, producing fluttering sparks as it ground against stone, the threads were removed from their path. As they walked, Kai taking point, they eventually reached an entryway to what looked like the end of the dungeon, the boss's lair.

Kai dismissed the wall and the group approached cautiously. Walking into the entrance, they were greeted with a vast chamber. Relics hovering at intervals illuminated the jagged walls and high ceiling hidden behind a sheet of sheening web. Cocoons dotted the meticulous webbing woven along the walls and ceiling and at the center above them the web spiralled into a burrow, a nook...and inside was what Yakeru assumed was their target.

Resting inside its shelter was a massive creature with the top half bearing resemblance to a human and a spider-like bottom half. The shadows of its burrow made it difficult to gauge how big the beast was but it was certainly one of the larger monsters he'd seen.

He was expecting his nerves to protest as he prepared his mind for the imminent battle but he was surprisingly calm. Perhaps it was due to a combination of high-ranking rangers in his party and his...prior experience with large beasts.

"There she is." Itsuki stated.

"How do you want to proceed?" Yakeru asked for guidance.

"Well, although it's asleep, that's not much of an edge. It knows its territory better than us so we'll have to do a little thinking." He looked over at Yakeru. "We have numbers and high-ranks on our side but strategy should always be the foundation in battle, not strength. So tell me, how would you approach this?" He quizzed, briefly testing the boy's planning skills.

Yakeru's eyes drifted up to a corner of the webbed room in thought. "Fighting it on its terms would be a bad idea so I'd try to figure out how to get it down on our level somehow. Its webs are a hazard too so we'll have to steer clear of them."

His mentor nodded, pleased with his answer. "That's right." He looked back at the slumbering giant. "Here's what I had in mind. We'll launch long ranged attacks to get it crawling out of its hole. Then, Kai will cast panels over the walls and ceiling to deprive it access to its web and force it to the ground. Daichi and Haruki will draw its attention while I take out its legs. That should make it easier for you to deal the finishing blow to its head while it's immobilized."

"Understood." Yakeru nodded, looking back at the Weaver.

Itsuki turned back to consult with the others who'd been eerily quiet the moment they found the mouth to the Weaver's lair. Then, a light shone from behind him, growing in intensity by the second. Just as he was about to turn to see what it was, a strong hand gripped the back of his collar and yanked him back.

A radiant beam hurled into the ceiling above him with a deafening explosion. The roof collapsed and Yakeru instinctively dove out of the falling rubble's path. Debris crashed and spewed dust in every direction but Yakeru managed to escape the collapse.

Coughing out the dust from his lungs, he staggered to his feet, smoke obscuring his vision.

"Did you do it?" Haruki's voice sounded from the smoke.

When it cleared, he found the three rangers before him, Kai extinguishing his wand. Their faces dropped in disappointment when they saw the boy on their side of the rubble.

"You should've done a better job, Kai." Daichi scolded, his impassive gaze never leaving the boy. "But it's fine. You managed to separate the two."

Yakeru whipped his head around, his eyes frantically searching for Itsuki but he was nowhere to be found. "What have you—"

Light charged the tip of Kai's wand a second time and while the youth was distracted looking for his mentor, Yakeru was struck in the chest. The air rocketed out of his lungs as he was hurled back into the debris with a resounding crash. His consciousness flickered, threatening to plunge him into darkness as he helplessly watched the three's slow approach, their forms a blend of red and shadow.

"We were supposed to trap you on the other side while we killed Itsuki. But I suppose there's been a change of plans." Kai spoke, scratching his head with a sigh of disappointment.

"Did you know," Daichi started. "that a Weaver's crystals can be made to look identical to radiant gems?" His hollow gaze peered into him, the relics casting crimson over half his face, illuminating his unsettlingly calm smile, while darkness swallowed the other half. "When we're done, no one will be able to tell the difference between a radiant gem and you."