novelraw Chapter 59: The First Point
Chapter 59: The First Point
"You really have a weird naming sense." Xavier muttered, his eyes shifting from the towering, deathly figure of the skeleton back to Verso.
Verso didn’t even bother to look at him. He just stood there, his gaze fixed on the pitch black surface of the lake at the center of the cavern.
’If you guys had seen him before you would have called him Little Bone too!’
He ignored the group’s baffled expressions and focused into his summoning space.
With a sharp mental command, he manifested his Stone Gargoyle but instead of summoning the winged beast he summoned it in its spear form. Now just like all of his teammates, he was also equipped with a weapon.
"What are you guys waiting for? Let’s go in!" Moon shouted from the front.
He did not bother waiting for the group as he gestured his hand towards the lake. His red eyed bat that was hover just slightly away from him, shot forward like an arrow.
It dived toward the center of the lake, its wings moving in a frantic rhythm over the still water.
’He’s using it as bait?’ Verso realized, watching Moon’s face.
The clan boy did not look concerned about his mutant summon at all, instead he looked rather hungry as his eyes scanning the surface of the lake like a hawk.
He was waiting for the Siren to reveal its position by sacrificing his summon.
’Will it really fall for that-’
Exactly the second the thought crossed Verso’s mind, the lake exploded.
A massive splash of black water erupted as a creature leaped from the depths with terrifying speed and in a single violent swoop, the Siren’s tooth filled maw clamped down on the bat’s head.
There was a sickening crunch of bone and leather before the creature dragged the summon back under the surface. The entire exchange lasted less than a seconds, leaving only ripples on the body of water.
The group stood frozen for a heartbeat their eyes completely wide. The speed of an elite rank creature was far beyond than what they had expected.
"Go after it!" Han’s voice boomed, shattering the silence in the cavern.
The team instantly sprang into action. Xavier dived toward the left side of the lake, his lightning spear crackling with electricity, while Lua circled to the right with her blood red rapier held low.
They moved with the perfect synchronization, attempting to flank the lake from all angles, almost as if they had practiced this countless times before.
"I don’t think it plans on coming back out!" Xavier shouted, his eyes darting across the now still water.
’As if I’ll let it hide.’
Verso stepped toward the water’s edge, bringing his hand forward. He tapped into the secondary talent that he had acquired from the Land of Atlantis.
Water Manipulation
He closed his eyes, extending his mana into the lake like a sonar radar. The water felt thick and lifeless but after a moment of intense focus, he felt a massive cold presence resting on the rocky floor near the center.
"There it is!"
Verso did not waste this opportunity as he pulled his arm back with every ounce of strength he possessed, hurling the spear into the lake.
As the weapon pierced the surface, he manipulated the surrounding water, creating a high pressure jet that propelled the spear downward with double its original velocity.
"No way that’s going to work, scum!" Moon shouted from the front, scolding Verso for throwing away his primary weapon into the dark depths of the lake.
But before Moon could finish his insult, a cluster of air bubbles broke the surface exactly where the spear had struck.
A moment later, the lake erupted again.
The Siren, which looked like a disgusting fusion of a woman and a deep sea predator, leaped out of the water.
Its target was not the spear or the summons surrounding the lake, it dived straight toward Verso, its long claws extended to shred the person who had given away its position.
Verso’s heart hammered against his ribs, but his mind remained cold, this was exactly the same thing that happened during his fight against the Sea Serpent.
As the tooth filled face lunged toward him, he did not try to run. He flicked his hand, opening a massive summoning rift directly between himself and the beast.
A massive stone golem appeared in a flash of light and just as the Siren’s claws screeched against rocks on the summons chest, Verso gave another command.
"Detonate!" He roared.
He threw himself backward to dodge the impact as a blinding yellow light expanded from the golem’s runes.
BOOM.
The explosion was deafening as it made the entire cavern shake, sending rocks crashing down from the roof into the lake.
The shockwave hit Verso mid air, throwing him several meters back across the sand.
He hit the ground hard, the air leaving his lungs, but he quickly rolled onto his stomach to look back at the creature.
The Siren had been thrown across the cavern, slamming into the far rocky wall.
Because it had been caught in the blast while outside of the water, the lethality of the explosion was significantly higher. The creature slammed to the ground, its right arm charred and mangled and its tail twitching weakly.
"Don’t let this opportunity slip!" Han shouted.
The team instantly descended on the beast like a pack of wolves.
Han leveled his golden revolver, firing mana bullets that streaked through the air, punching holes into the Siren’s scaled hide.
While, Xavier pulled back his lightning spear, the electricity at the tip expanding into a blinding bolt that he launched directly at the creature’s face.
But before the summons could reach the creature to land a strike, Moon dived through the air. He gripped his massive two-handed greatsword with both hands, his muscles bulging as he brought the blade down in a vertical arc.
The heavy steel buried itself deep into the Siren’s toothy face, splitting the skull with a wet thud.
The creature gave one final, gurgling shriek before its body went limp.
’It worked...’ Verso thought, lying on his back and trying to catch his breath.
A shadow unexpected fell over him.
He looked up, expecting to see Lua checking on him but instead, he saw the hollow flaming eyes of Little Bone.
The massive skeleton was leaning over him, its head tilted in a way that looked suspiciously like it was laughing at Verso’s disheveled state on the ground.
Verso’s eye twitched as he stared back at his own summon.
’I’m the one who pays the mana for your existence... wipe that look off your face.’