“Engage!” Mark’s roar, hoarse but authoritative, cut through the Queen’s screech from across the trench, rallying the battered squad.
Lestor reacted instantly, desperation overriding his fatigue. He unleashed a rapid barrage of fireballs, his hands moving in practiced, if slightly shaky, motions. The spells streaked across the chasm like angry comets, impacting the Queen’s massive carapace with satisfyingly loud explosions of flame and smoke. They left blackened scorch marks, eliciting an enraged hiss that vibrated deep in Luke’s chest, but the thick, emerald veined chitin seemed largely undamaged.
~ Lestor deals 85 Fire Damage ~
~ Lestor deals 92 Fire Damage ~
~ Lestor deals 78 Fire Damage ~
~ Formica Queen HP: 98% ~
“Her hide’s too thick!” Lestor yelled, frustration evident in his voice. He planted his staff, leaning on it heavily as he began weaving a more complex, slower casting spell, the air around him starting to shimmer with gathering heat.
The Queen, seemingly unfazed by the magical pinpricks, ignored the mage for the moment. Her multifaceted eyes, swirling with cold, calculating intelligence, locked onto the closest, most vulnerable threat – Luke, still alone on the central platform. One of her massive, razor sharp forelegs, thicker than Luke’s entire body, lashed out with blinding speed, a dark green blur aimed directly at him.
Luke reacted purely on instinct, honed by the few brutal lessons of the battlefield and countless near death experiences.. and actual death experiences he reminded himself. He threw himself into a desperate roll, the Basic Evasion skill kicking in, lending a fraction more speed to his clumsy maneuver. The stone platform cracked loudly where the leg slammed down, the impact sending tremors through the rock, mere inches from where his head had been. He scrambled back frantically, heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his ribs, his newly acquired Queen’s Analace Daggers held defensively before him. The isolation on the platform felt immense, terrifyingly exposed.
“Redwood! Draw her attention! Keep her focus off the kid!” Mark commanded from the relative safety of the far side.
The massive soldier needed no second urging. With a bellowing war cry that echoed his namesake, Redwood charged towards the edge of the trench directly opposite the Queen. He wasn’t trying to cross, but to provoke. He slammed his enormous axe against his heavy shield, creating a deafening, rhythmic CLANG... CLANG... CLANG that reverberated through the cavern. “Oi! Bug! Over here!” he roared, his voice easily cutting through the din. “Had enough of squishing rookies? Come get a taste of real Imperium steel!”
The Queen’s head, larger than a wagon wheel, swiveled slowly towards the source of the noise and challenge. Her mandibles clicked thoughtfully. The distraction, however brief, granted Luke precious seconds. He circled warily on the platform, eyes darting between the Queen’s immense form and the supportive but distant squad across the trench. He needed information, a weakness, an edge.
Truth Seeker. He pushed past the fear, focusing his will on the colossal insect, feeling the familiar drain on his mana. A pulse of faint purple energy, the signature of his Fate touched abilities, shimmered almost imperceptibly between him and the Queen. The feedback wasn’t a simple impression this time; it was a deluge, chaotic and overwhelming. Immense vitality… Chitin thickest on back, head… Leg joints softer, hinges vulnerable… Underbelly weakest point, difficult access… Antennae highly sensitive, nerve clusters… Abdomen sacs contain neurotoxin spray, limited charges… Egg chamber deep within nest complex… PRIMARY WEAKNESS… OVERLOAD… The stream of information fractured, cutting off abruptly before revealing the crucial detail, leaving Luke reeling with a stabbing headache and fragmented insights.
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~ Mana: 45/85 ~
He grit his teeth against the throb behind his eyes. Joints, underbelly, antennae. Those were his actionable targets. The overload suggested the Queen possessed significant mental defenses, making Truth Seeker risky or perhaps incomplete.
The Queen, apparently deciding Redwood’s challenge could wait, turned her attention back to the immediate annoyance on her platform. She lunged, moving with a speed that seemed impossible for her bulk, her razor edged mandibles snapping like giant shears aimed at Luke’s midsection. Luke activated Basic Evasion again, dropping low and dodging under the snapping jaws. As he came up, he simultaneously slashed upward with both Analace Daggers, aiming for the softer looking membrane connecting the mandibles to her head.
~ Damage Dealt: 21~
~ Damage Dealt: 19~
~ Formica Queen HP: 97% ~
A small victory! The poison icon flickered above the Queen’s immense health bar. She shrieked, a high pitched sound of pain and fury, rearing back slightly, her forelegs thrashing the air. Luke scrambled away, narrowly avoiding being crushed as she stomped down.
“Hark! Silva! Covering fire! Keep her off balance!” Mark yelled. From across the trench, the two shield bearers raised their heavy crossbows. Thick, fist sized bolts launched, thudding against the Queen’s carapace and legs. They didn’t penetrate the thick chitin, but the impacts clearly irritated her, causing her to hesitate, momentarily distracted from Luke.
This gave Lestor the time he needed. His chanting reached a crescendo. “Ignis Majoris!” he roared, thrusting his hands forward. A massive ball of white hot flame, easily five feet in diameter, erupted from his palms. It soared across the trench with terrifying speed, far larger and more intense than his earlier fireballs, and engulfed the Queen’s head and, crucially, her sensitive antennae.
~ Lestor deals 350 Fire Damage (Vulnerability Exploited - Antennae!) ~
~ Formica Queen HP: 92% ~
~ Status Effect: Burning (Minor) ~
The Queen screeched, a horrific, soul piercing sound of pure agony. She thrashed wildly, batting furiously at her head with her forelegs, trying to extinguish the flames engulfing her smoldering antennae. Thick, noxious black smoke billowed upwards, filling the cavern with the stench of burning chitin and cooked insect.
“Now, Luke! Hit the leg joints while she’s blind!” Mark bellowed, his voice filled with tactical urgency.
Luke didn’t need telling twice. This was his chance. While the Queen was disoriented and momentarily blinded by pain and smoke, he darted in, focusing on the joint where one of her massive forelegs connected to her thorax, a spot identified by Truth Seeker as softer. He leaped, driving both Analace Daggers deep into the hinge like joint with all his strength.
~ Damage Dealt: 24 ~
~ Damage Dealt: 26 ~
~ Formica Queen HP: 90% ~
Viscous green ichor sprayed as the blades sank deep into the softer chitin. The Queen roared again, a guttural sound mixed with pain and incandescent fury. She swiped blindly, wildly, with another undamaged leg. Luke tried to pull back, but he wasn’t fast enough this time. The blow caught him squarely across the chest and shoulder, the force immense. He felt ribs crack, heard the sickening crunch, and was flung across the platform like a discarded toy.
~ Damage Taken: 60 ~
~ HP: 5/100 ~
He slammed hard against the far edge of the stone platform, the impact jarring his spine, stopping him just inches short of the bubbling green moat. Pain exploded through his body, white hot and absolute. His vision swam, darkening at the edges. Critical HP. He fumbled weakly in his internal inventory awareness, desperately searching for a healing potion he knew wasn’t there, the System confirming his dread: Potion Cooldown Active: ~47 Hours Remaining. The Imperial Field Draught had been a lifesaver, but its prolonged cooldown was now a potential death sentence.
Through the haze of pain, he saw the Queen recovering from the fire blast, shaking her massive head, smoke still rising from her charred antennae. Ignoring the severe damage to her leg joint, she turned her multifaceted eyes, now burning with cold, murderous intent, towards the prone, helpless form of Luke. Her mandibles opened wide, dripping thick, yellowish venomous saliva. She was coming to finish him.