Chapter 385: Groundwork
When the Hellhound suddenly twisted backwards, canceling its biting charge at the last possible second, its momentum sent a wall of scorching fire cascading forward. The hexagonal tile it shared with its target brightened with heat while the flames that cloaked its body threatened to smother its opponent.
Coop shifted ever so slightly, unflinching as the demon rose to its full height, setting up for a more devastating attack by pushing itself upright in an intimidating fashion. He completely ignored the fire, concentrating on the monster as it transferred its prodigious weight to its hindlegs. The aggressive display of the enormous Hellhound left him unfazed. His steadfast grip on the hilt of a narrow two-handed longsword held it steady and he used the subtly glowing ethereal blade to split the wave of flames, partially reducing the impact as the real clash drew closer.
The remaining blaze licked his skin, the proximity enough to cause every exposed portion of his body to immediately redden while the burning damage chipped at his health. The scent of sulfur wafted across the arena behind the fire, stinging his nostrils and threatening to make his eyes water, weakening him before the monster committed itself for the kill. For a moment, the demon loomed over Coop and his sword, like a grizzly bear preparing to fall into a pounce on a vulnerable target.
As Coop approached the battle, he had taken a firm grip on his wandering thoughts in order to concentrate and step into the zone. He recognized that he couldn’t be complacent against the fully unleashed forces of mana, especially after he struggled so much with the first representative of his enemies. He entered the Lucid Dream as the necessary focus bubbled up from within, preceding the exchange of a single blow with his opponent. When he took control of his mind and body, the Principle of Calm empowered him so that he could perform at his absolute physical peak, before desperation limited his options.
The hound’s breathing was like a massive bellows pumping an infernal furnace. The atmosphere pushed and pulled along with the monster. He could feel the vibrations of every step made by the monsters through the soles of his sandals. The thud of the hound’s feet followed by the scraping of its claws and the chugging of its breath made it seem like Coop was standing on the train tracks of a steam engine.
But his heartbeat was slow, his own breath was unwavering, and his focus completely unbreakable, eyes locked on the flaring red embers beneath his opponent’s brow. Coop felt like he had ice running through his veins to counter the fires as he drew upon his accumulated internal power in order to properly prove himself against a powerful enemy.
He didn’t move backwards when the hound charged. Instead he shifted partially to the outside on his left, already anticipating the monster’s feint because of where it terminated its previous leaping bound. He declined to avoid the bite unless it was fully committed, and it was clear before it was in range that the teeth wouldn’t quite reach his flesh before it was forced to leap a second time. If he was wrong he would have a split second to react, but he hadn’t been wrong.
Next, he expected a delayed swipe from the right claw of the monster after it reared backwards. His subtle movement had already partially countered such an attack by essentially jamming the hitter. After the swipe, the hound would execute a quick leaping retreat to cap off the entire quick attack combo. From there the fiery demon could either reset the battle, utilizing the space created for another empowering howl to bolster its flames, follow up with an aggressive tackle and bite combination if the swipe debilitated its target’s defense, or transition into one of the various powerful tail swipes to keep whittling away at Coop’s health. The Hellhound was an open book when presented with the totality of his experience after seeing them in action a single time.
Instead of matching the blows, strength for strength, Coop matched the hesitation in the assault, conceding his relative standing compared to the demon and stepping to its rhythm as much as he could. He slid beneath the massive flaming nails after moving slightly beneath the elbow, limiting the danger zone of the claws and weakening the anticipated blow by preventing a full drawing motion of the arm. He used his dodge to push his weight forward, planting a foot to precisely guide his blade upwards at the exact moment the monster committed to its attack. The edge of the glowing longsword intercepted the swipe on the inside, combining the power of both contenders into a cleaving chop straight through the limb.
Before the Hellhound hit the ground at Coop’s side and leapt backwards to complete its combination of attacks, it lost the end of its foreleg. The massive scorched stone claw scraped across the hexagonal platform before slipping off the side of the tower with a trail of black smoke. The stump of the severed limb exploded with liquid fire, and when it was planted into the ground to brace for the jump it failed to provide the leverage necessary for the next movement of the monster’s tactical plan, exposing the Hellhound to follow up attacks. Instead of leaping backwards, it partially stumbled maybe half the distance it had hoped.
Coop kept up with the half-committed escape, lunging forward while expertly slashing his sword like he was a veteran gladiator in a show match as he claimed the advantage. Each attack extended his blade with raw energy, expanding on the momentum of the previous strike with an increasingly potent glow of mana, adding a bit of magic for the absent audience. Every cut carved deeper strips across the monster’s torso as Coop turned the assault into a flowing dance. The Hellhound flinched backwards, desperate to avoid the increasingly devastating blows.
At the same time, a phantasm appeared on the opposite side, leaping from a burst of mists and surprising the large Hellhound as it focused on the pressure being applied by its primary target. Its scrambling retreat exposed several openings and Coop wasn’t above exploiting any minor advantage with his active skills when they were fighting to the death. Why should he let the enemy reset and try to utilize its many advantages all over again?