Oskar’s group closed rank with Erik and Penny on his right, Myelome just behind, and the two Kobolds on his left. The remaining four creatures moved quickly to stand between Oskar’s group and the two threats, and Oskar had to admit he was catching a dangerous vibe from the two, and not just because they were C-Rank.

  He’d known there was something worse than normal coming, but the only reason he’d killed the last Drakon he’d faced, Krellum, who’d sat solidly in C Rank as well, was due to him being immobile and Oskar being vastly underestimated.

  Or maybe properly estimated and lucky. I’ll take it, though. But I’m not sure this is gonna be that simple, though. That ability to stun thing was more of an accident than anything, and even I’m not totally immune to the effects of it, so I’m not sure I want to rely on an ability like that regularly.

  Plus, as another Marine saying goes: “Luck is a crappy plan.”

  Even if I could still use it to disable or stun a non-shadow enemy like that big fella there, I’m gonna have to get close to get it done. And who knows what that asp is capable of.

  Calculating that it was momentarily safe enough to cut in, the PUB offered a few likely scenarios.

  // If I had to make an educated guess… projectile poison or rot. Increased strength and mobility are likely as well. Armor or some type of ability-based defense is possible as well. Obviously, be ready for anything, but those are at the top of the ‘likely’ list. //

  I think I like your no-nonsense battle personality.

  // Lies. You’d be so bored. //

  True. Thanks. I mean that. You’ve literally saved our lives more than once.

  // Oh… thanks. //

  The brief lull in the fighting was over. Black Robe and Snake were on the move, and it appeared as if their lackeys were abandoning defense to get as close as possible. Most likely for the explosion skill that had almost killed Erik and himself. Oskar trapped the front creature in the sand and was working on slowing the others when Touwon threw a kurang at the legs of the one closest to him, a Hyena-woman with an overlarge Croc tail that was attached upside down and was coming out at an awful angle from her left shoulder.

  Is it helping her walk? What the hell is up with these things?

  Oskar quickly extended his Resonant Ward aura further, just catching the lead enemy’s leg in range as the weapon hit, taking the leg off above the knee. The Drakon cackled, knowing the creature was likely close enough for an explosion to cause injury. Everyone scrambled back, except for Erik, who did something unexpected.

  The explosion went off at the growled command of the Drakon above, but a shield appeared around both the wounded creature and the one Oskar had trapped. The results were… hilarious.

  Barely a sound escaped the shield, which had only lasted a heartbeat. Inside, though, was utter devastation. No sign of the creatures remained- only molten, discolored glass and sand.

  With a frustrated yell, the Drakon waved his hand, and the other two creatures dissolved into nothingness.

  Now, that was interesting. Why dissolve the creatures unless they had a cost? The next question was… did it cost Capacity or something else? Maybe attention?

  He dropped the question when the Asp abruptly dove beneath the sand. Oskar tried to follow its movement, not even breathing as he used every sense of perception he could to keep up with the creature. For a few meters, it was visibly displacing the sand as it made its way towards the group. Oskar’s heartbeat spiked as he pushed his Resonant Ward outward as far as possible, giving up some potential defense for the possibility of forewarning.

  // I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect that one at all. Put “Recreational Sand Swimming” at the top of the list of potential skills. Okay, going back into battle mode. I’ll try to give you all the information I can get. Erik’s PUB is annoyingly good at this and feeding me the information, and it won’t tell me how it’s doing it. //

  The trajectory was clear, and the creature was luckily moving much slower than Penny could, but Oskar picked up on what he was looking at pretty quickly.

  Erik’s PUB isn’t looking for the Asp, it’s still looking at the sand, I think. Probably much harder to do, but since we can’t really lock onto the shadow creatures, it at least works.

  // Oh, of course, I should have considered that. What a butt-wad. //

  I’ve been saying that the whole time!

  Oskar’s vision sharpened again, and now that Oskar’s own PUB could track its progress, it was much easier to pinpoint the Asp under the ground. Oskar cursed as something invisible burned sharply into his forearm, breaking his concentration. If he hadn’t been moving, based on the direction it seemed to come from, it might have gone straight through his stomach.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Ouch! What the fresh hell is that?!

  It burned, so it was most likely a light or fire attack of some kind, and Oskar called out to warn the team.

  “Stay moving. He’s using something invisible. Probably UV light… or uh, invisible light,” he clarified. “Either way, it burns, but it looks like it takes a second or two to cast!” Oskar needed to get the attention of the Drakon off the group, and hoped he might get a shot at the dark-robed figure, so he took to the air using Sora.

  The tactic worked. The Drakon turned his attention to the sky and pulled the sleeves of his robe back as he began spitting words out in a guttural language Oskar could barely hear over the wind. Unfortunately, Penny finally gave into her instincts and her hatred for Asps and finally dove into the sand after it.

  Oskar’s plan to harry the Drakon immediately changed when he saw the Asp’s trajectory switch from the general direction of the group to directly toward Penny. In response, Oskar immediately turned his dive into a climb. He heard the Drakon curse again as whatever it had just cast apparently missed, but this time the attack was close enough that Oskar felt his Ward react. Oskar had no idea what the Drakon was trying to do, but he caught a quick whiff of ozone on his way down, and realized staying in the air might not be the play after all.

  If I can dive fast enough, I might strike deep into the sand to damage the Asp. I hope Erik’s ready to keep me alive afterwards, though, because if that thing explodes, it’s gonna be a doozie.

  A dark smile spread across Oskar’s face as another thought occurred.

  At least if I die, there’ll already be a hole to bury what’s left.

  Oskar pushed himself with Sora, and already wrapped tight in Talau and Rakiyu, he was moving fast.

  A few seconds before impact, though, the Asp turned its attention upward and breached the sand, its fanged mouth nightmarishly wide. Oskar had less than a second to change direction and just barely did so, using his Momentum Transfer to absorb the massive impact. Sand exploded outward and immediately saw a shield flash inches in front of him, courtesy of Erik, of course.

  Trying to calm the spike of adrenaline, he watched the terrifying creature reach the apex of its leap, turn, and dive back into the sand. The Drakon called out from the top of the ridge, “Valla claimed you were dangerous, but before me, I see a hatchling playing at being a Dragon.”

  Oskar was too frustrated to remind him that Drakon sure as hell weren’t Dragons, either.

  The Drakon sent a thin stream of fire toward Touwon, who dodged and tried to get an angle to launch a kurang back at the creature.

  Oskar saw elements of Sora in the attack, but didn’t have time to pick through the weaves to make sense of it.

  We got nothing out of that. Just wasted time. And now my window to attack this arrogant prick is gone, the Asp is trying to eat us from below, and Erik can’t attack anything because we need his shield. What the hell do I do?

  Fox and Touwon were sticking close for Erik’s sake, so at least he didn’t have to spread his attention too thin. In Oskar’s hesitation, he saw another shield pop up around Fox, and he clenched his jaw.

  Erik can’t do this forever, no matter how stubborn he is… and where in the hot hell did Myelome go?!

  With no time to look for the old Kobold, he felt out for Penny instead. Their bond was stronger than ever; he could feel not just where she was, but exactly what she was doing. He gave her instructions and sent his PUB a quick note to let him know if Myelome’s shady ass showed back up.

  I can’t do two things at once. I’ve gotta get the Asp away from the group, and we can’t leave the Drakon alone either! Maybe I’ll try to close in on the Drakon and hope Penny can get the Asp away from everyone safely.

  Just as before, the Asp took off after Penny, and Oskar launched himself upward again with Sora. He made his movements more unpredictable, relying on the currents to change course. The Drakon clearly grew increasingly frustrated, yelling angrily as he struggled to aim his attacks.

  The scent of ozone reached Oskar’s nose once more, but this time, it was faint and fleeting. Penny was worryingly making her way straight to the Drakon, and the Asp switched direction to follow. A small rope of fire shot past him in an arc, and Oskar rolled out of the way, and with a grimace, dove to warn Penny off and keep her from killing herself by attacking the Drakon alone.

  Fox must have seen the problem herself, because she disappeared as Oskar closed in on the Asp and Drakon from above, preparing this time to dodge if the Asp switched focus to breach for him again.

  The Drakon growled and swirled fire around himself. Oskar was equal parts fascinated and alarmed by the Drakon’s use of magic, but taking a page out of Erik’s book, Oskar closed a tight circle of Sora around the Drakon, and then… let it dissolve. The air around Black Robe exploded, and he staggered off balance, taking a step backwards.

  And then, Fox… brilliant Fox… appeared from nowhere and Sparta booted the big, off balanced Drakon a few steps back in the Oskar’s direction, directly in the path of the giant, nightmarishly wide maw of the Asp, rising from the sand after the Druid.

  A desperate scream split the air as Oskar threw himself to the side and out of danger.

  Even though Oskar wasn’t moving as fast as the last time, the cloud of sand from his Transfer obscured his vision enough that he had to move to watch the rest with morbid fascination. A grin split Oskar’s face when the shadow Asp crested its breach, and from the dark opening, a Drakon claw desperately clawed at the air as the cry died out. The Shadow Asp paused briefly in the air with its maw still disgustingly wide and then turned to dive back into the sand below.

  One down, one to g-

  Everything around Oskar shifted as a massive amount of Talau being used sent Oskar’s heart into overdrive, thinking they were under attack. Suddenly, though, spikes of sand shot upward to impale the snake from a dozen directions, and Oskar’s PUB told him their potential allies had finally arrived.

  Setting his face back to neutral, he turned to see a tall, wiry, white-haired Kobold holding a long staff into the air that was made of what looked like quartz.

  Benedictus?

  Behind the wiry, old Kobold, and in the company of two more scrawny, arrogant-looking Kobolds, stood the familiar face of Myelome. Benedictus’ face was neutral, but curious, but Myelome’s self-importance was on full display, and her two companions mirrored her perfectly.

  “You’re welcome,” she said, looking quite pleased with herself.

  // Hey, Oskar. I found Myelome. You’re welcome. //

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