Chapter 386: The Fated Hero
Coop stepped through the mists, disappearing from the physical plane and reappearing a moment later in a completely different place to flank a new golem variant. He had already categorized the new type as the Molten variety, giving them a nickname based on their outer characteristics.
He pierced its heart with his trusty spear as he exited the world of mists, identifying the core of its structure by observing the flow of energy across its exposed veins of lava, a conclusion inspired by his experience with Scavenging. Unlike the previous Boxing Golems, the Molten Golem was more balanced, relying on mana-infused punches instead of raw power. Its sturdy legs were less vulnerable, forcing Coop to target different weak points.
The earthen creature vibrated as it gave up on the bout, experiencing yet another critical blow after already being marred by half a dozen other wounds that disrupted its flow of power. It was unable to contend with Coop’s abuse of the mists. Even though it wasn’t as top heavy as the other Boxing Golems, it was still unable to match the Revenant’s speed. It opted to sacrifice itself in order to destroy its target rather than be whittled down any further. Any more damage and it might be unable to trigger a reaction at all.
Superheated energy built up, chunks tearing from the surface of the monster as a whirl of mana rose beyond its form. The gaps in its rock covering revealed beams of volatile red energy that shot through the mists like crimson spotlights, burning portions of the spectral domain away. It overcharged its mana and created a catastrophic failure of unstable energy.
Coop activated his vaporform, drifting far away through the mists as the golem erupted in a fiery explosion. Rock and flame were sent beyond the edge of the tower, finally dissipating only after they were part of the way across the gap toward the sealed compartments on the inner ring.
It was a huge explosion thanks to the massive amount of fuel provided by the golem, but none of the other demons were even partially affected. They naturally had high resistance to fire, just as their stoneflesh made them physically robust. The explosion swept through the mists, dissipating all the phantasms that were too close while the demons embraced the fire and were even boosted by it.
As the smoke cleared, the battlefield was essentially the same as before. The compartments that formed the tower and the external rings were reinforced by the broader construction. They were effectively invulnerable as far as Coop could tell, but the bridges could be overloaded, with individual cells temporarily collapsing before returning to their positions after recovering their energy. That meant that Coop, Lyriel, and all of their enemies could safely go all out while they fought on the tower, but it also prevented one of Coop’s suggested shortcuts in wrecking the cells before they could release more forces of mana. Instead, they had to crush whatever monsters got in their way after they were already awakened.
Coop took solace in the fact that every enemy they defeated was one less respawning monster on the surface of the planet. He might not be directly defending his island, but he was still contributing so long as he could distract the forces of mana with his presence inside the Ark. In that sense, he welcomed more challengers.
As soon as Coop stepped out of the surviving mists, he threw his spear at one of the smaller Scorching Imps that were hovering above the fray, catching it by surprise with his sudden reappearance on the opposite edge of the battlefield. If they thought he was dead just from an explosion, of course they would be mistaken.
The spear penetrated through the fat Imp’s chest and it screeched, abandoning the fireballs it was forming in each palm as it gripped the offending weapon with claws on both hands and both feet. The weapon was larger than any of its limbs, so the strike was a devastating blow, much more significant than if it had been applied to another golem.
The Imp suddenly lost its grip as Coop emerged from the Fog of War that still blanketed the tower, slowly reforming over the section where the explosion of fire chased it away. Coop had mistjumped to the spear, then quickswapped instead of retrieving it from the monster’s stone flesh, sending the imp’s claws through a cloud of disappearing vapors where the shaft had been. The weapon reemerged from the mists as a war fork, stabbing the imp again as they both fell back into the layer of fog.
The Imp burst into a fiery wave when they landed, destroying three more of the phantasms that happened to be nearby while also burning Coop’s arms. Coop was completely indifferent to the pain that bloomed from his injuries, slowly redeveloping the mana pathways his Reaper titles had carved out as he bathed in the amplified mana of the defeated demons. A little injury actually helped him improve his capacity to manipulate his internal mana. It was practice. Everything was practice.