Chapter 279: Bloody Weaving
———Lynda———
<8: 57 AM>
Those strings of light that came out of the stump then flew towards the limb that was laying there on the ground, connecting it to her body and quickly reattaching it.
“What the hell?” Someone next to me muttered in confusion and dread.
*Prick* *Stich*
“Hmph.” Emmie let out a sound of annoyance after more threads emerged and reconnected the arm, seemingly fully healing it with no clear deformity, as if earlier it wasn’t brutally ripped off.
*Dim* *Crackle* *FYOOM* *Crash* *Crumble*
“Uagh!?” Suddenly her power seems to increase multiple times over for a second and she releases a massive amount of pressure that sends everyone flying, and also causes all the nearby buildings to completely shatter and crumble.
Just simply flexing her power forced everyone back by what looks almost like a mile. It’s crazy just how much power can exist inside just one individual.
“What the hell was that?” Histon said in shock and confusion. I honestly didn’t spot him up until just now. The chaos of the battle is really getting to us. Right now twelve people have been eliminated. I can’t really check who they were in the current situation.
“I must admit. All of you have been fighting with way less disharmony than I would’ve expected. I suppose I should have been more serious to start off with.” So that’s why she doesn’t start off with using that technique to begin with. Not that I was expecting her to pull off her strongest moves right off the bat.
“Shut it with that condescending villain monologue of yours!” Evalyn yelled out as she walked forward with that chainsaw in hand. Thansa also showed up silently with her dual batons. A fox and a wolf teaming up. I suppose that’s quite a fitting duo.
**Dash** *Clash* *Parry* *Block* *Evade*
The two of them ran straight towards Emmie who didn't look pressed at all as she exchanged blows against the two simultaneously.
I can’t really stand around idly either. Unfortunately I have lost sight of Glery and others. I’m not sure who else will be assisting me and be on the same page.
*Clash* *Clang* *Block* *Parry*
The three continue the exchange with Emmie’s smaller frame making it feel quite weird seeing that the two taller figures are the one on the backfoot despite fighting her together.
I don’t really have a game plan with how quickly everything is unfolding, but one thing I have in mind now is this. Powering up and jumping in at just the right moment. The two of them still managed to keep Emmie busy and making sure she won’t divide her attention to the rest of us.
*Swing* *Block*
Evalyn swung down her chainsaw only to be interrupted not by the massive scythe Emmie had been using with only one arm, but her left arm that is now covered in the mystical silks that she can conjure without much trouble. Its properties seem to be easily tinkered with to be soft or hard, thick or thin. It can be used as a backbone for multiple types of spells. It looks simple but deadly. Worst of all, the mana conversion rate is obscene.
Let’s see how it’ll stand up against this!
*BLAST* *SPLASH*
I throw out a massive spell that blasts out a torrent of water like it’s coming out of the depth of the ocean.
*Weave* *BLOCK*
“Tch!” Is she seriously attempting to block that without even running away!? The other two seem to have run away in time, but she chose to stand there and take a charged spell like that?
*SPLASH* *CRASH*
“Haaa… Haaa…” Damn. I wasn’t expecting her to conjure a barrier against it so quickly. That damn ability of hers is much more terrifying than what its name would suggest.
*Dash* *Clash* *Clang* *Parry*
“Ugh!?” She quickly changed her focus from those two to only me. Talk about terrible! Not only did that massive attack do nothing aside from expending a tiny bit of her massive mana pool, but I was gonna need a while to recoup the loss from conjuring such a large spell. Please tell me those two didn’t actually ditch me!
*Swing* *Evade*
“Hey, asshole!” Evalyn yelled out after creating some distance between the two of us by jumping Emmie and interrupting her assault.
*Swing* *Clash*
She quickly took over for me while I also saw Thansa jumping back in as well. These two will help me regain some mana and stamina lost from that failed attempt.
*Clang* *Clash* *Bash* *Crash*
Their fight continued on and they were moving erratically in all directions, running across the streets, ramming into buildings, jumping around and being hard to follow.
I need to keep following them with others also doing their best to not miss the fight happening. If they could jump her once another critical blow is landed, then we might be able to win this. Hopefully destroying her limbs instead of just separating it.
*Clash* *Clang* *Crash* *Crumble*
The fight continued and they crashed straight through another building like it’s nothing. Like they don’t even register it.
*Dash* *Strike*
Suddenly Emmie got hit in the back while she was still preoccupied with the two. It’s Jeff.
*Strike* *Slash* *Smash*
A string of combo was put on display as the stun from the surprise attack allowed the three to continue pummeling her for a good while. It’s probably for the best to not jump in right now and let them sync up and continue the punishment.
There is a bit of a problem though. While they were hitting her, and hitting her a lot, they weren’t really hitting any vital areas that would’ve greatly debilitated her as she can still move around and try to avoid those potentially lethal blows. Even if she can’t quite make the distance to avoid being hit altogether, she just wasn’t being hit hard enough and in the right places to show progress. Her durability is off the charts even without the elephant in the room. It just shows how absurd those weapons were to be able to hurt her like that, even if it was by surprise.
*Whip* *Trip* *Strike*
All three of them were suddenly pushed away by the storm of threads that emerged out of her left hand and swung towards them, completely stopping their momentum.
“That damn ability.” I can’t help but say that out loud. One would think her scythe is the most dangerous part of her kit, but those silks or threads or whatever you want to call them are way more deadly and versatile.
Innate Trait. Innate Ability. Special Trait. Whatever you wanna call it. Something special and exclusive to a person. Like a special perk assigned to a character to make them play differently from the rest.
Damage reduction, faster movement, regeneration, reduced mana cost, or even special version of a common ability. It all made sense to have something like that in a game to differentiate each character from each other.
It makes zero sense to have this in reality. It’s not a biological trait. There’s nothing based in reality, the natural world, for there to be this sort of system. It’s more than just great attunement to mana. More than proficiency in combat. It’s an exception to the rule. The rule that should govern everyone with an iron fist.
I barely know anything about it aside from giving people an exception. Modifying cause and effect. Making the outcome illogical. Even something that seems innocuous, if it’s something so hard-coded in someone, there’s probably something sinister about it.
*Dash* *Clash*
“Grah!” She then chose to run towards me while the other three were still trying to find an opening.
*Wrap* *Throw* *Crash*
“Guagh!” She tied me up in those threads and threw me right into a building at who-knows-where! Damn. I crashed straight through the tough concrete wall. Getting hit in the back of the head hurts like hell.
Despite its mundane name. [Weaving] is far from mundane. Producing seemingly endless amounts of silks with nearly miniscule mana cost seems like it wouldn’t be good for combat at all, but that’s just its most barebone function.
Its property can be so easily manipulated and change form so easily that describing it as ‘producing silks’ seems extremely and deceptively reductive. Those silks are more like molds that need something to fill it. Could be something flexible, or something deadly.
It could emerge out of anywhere within her vicinity, there’s no limit to how much silks she can conjure up, and with how cost-effective those silks are even when enchanted to work like armors or weapons, there is no real counter to it outside of overwhelming her before she could create more offensive and defensive threats. It can move around like it’s part of her body, and no one seems to know the limit of its application. Its sole weakness is that unless the silks are attached to something, it loses its ability to be tinkered and manipulated.
*Leap*
I doubt what she was doing was even close to its maximum capabilities, probably not even close to half. The best thing we could do is make sure she even gets a chance to show any of that off. It looks like the longer this goes on, the more likely she’ll skip to the chase.
*Clash* *Clang* *Strike*
More people are joining in and putting the pressure on Emmie, making sure she doesn’t get the chance to try anything funny and wipe out more people. The casualty amount is still the same after these few minutes, but we really can’t afford to let our numbers go down.
I really have no room to join in with so many people bombarding her with attacks, either from the ground or on the rooftops. Things are way too chaotic for even me to join in.
She is being pushed around once more, and the area gradually being worn down by all the attacks and spells raining down causing the roads to sink and buildings to collapse, there are now more rooms than ever for more people to join in and contribute even a little bit.
*Slash* *Strike*
Qyunda rushed in with a few attacks hitting Emmie and pushing her back more and more, but even now she still doesn’t have any visible wounds on her body. Looking pristine as if earlier her arm wasn’t torn off. The fact that she can reattach it and even heals it completely using her Innate Ability as the basis for it is simply absurd.
“Do you need any healing?” A voice came out from behind me.
“Nah. I’m fine for now. You really ought to stay a few steps further back.” I said to Seni before walking forward.
Right now I don’t really have a game plan or even if I’m confident I can contribute right now, and my last ranged attack didn’t really do the trick…
Perhaps I should use something a bit more subtle, a bit smaller in scope. I don’t think I made myself look very tactically sound with an attack that could end up with a nasty case of friendly fire, but this thing might do the trick, not that I know how to really use it.
*Slash* *Clash* *Clang* *Parry* *Blast*
Unfortunately the chaos of the battle means even this might not go through. Everyone is moving way too fast for my liking and I can only rely on my instinct. The pace of the battle growing faster and faster means trying to predict anything is a fool’s errand.
I need to line this up perfectly. I don’t know how it’ll go, but at least I have six rounds to go through. Maybe even one of them would be enough.
*Clang* *Parry* *Clash*
She’s locking her weapon with someone! Now this is my chance!
*BANG* *Crash* *Shatter*
One clean hit and she was sent flying. Her dress broke after substituting too much damage from its wearer, dissipating into thin air.
That… works better than I thought.
*Shine*
Before I could feel even remotely more optimistic, suddenly I felt a sense of dread that would make my stomach churn.
“Look out!” Someone shouted as several ropes of light were swung our way.