Chapter 370: 370. Echo Combat

COMBAT INITIATED

Just as the armadil shield had suspected, there was nothing that Dallion could say to convince the final sword guardian to surrender the crown. Logic, pleading, even music had hit a brick wall. There was no changing Izgrev’s mind on the matter. The only way forward was to win.

In an instant, both Izgrev and Vihrogon charged forward, bursting into echoes as they did. It was no longer one person fighting another, but rather two squads clashing.

Dallion concentrated, focusing on each individual dryad. The speed of their attack made it difficult, though no longer impossible. It was like watching layers of a battle. Each side had a specific plan in mind, working in perfect unison like a single organism.

So, this is what is Nil meant, Dallion thought.

The echo had often talked about a single awakened acting like an army. At the time, Dallion thought it to be a metaphor, but now he saw that it was the real thing. In order to create so many echoes, each of the dryads had to have their mind in the fifties, at least, not to mention decades of training. Advanced strategies were involved. Dallion was able to recognize several attack and defense patterns, though there were many more he was completely unaware of. Every second, several echoes completed their combat sequence, using the benefits of the skill to the benefit of the entire squad. Everything was planned to the last detail.

“Do they look equally matched?” Dallion asked.

“No,” Gleam replied. “Your dryad is stronger, but he’s restricted to his current level.”

“In that case, let’s help him win my battle for me,” Dallion drew his harpsisword. “Gleam, be my shield.”

The shardfly returned to her normal form, then started flying around Dallion at tremendous speed, creating a belt of flying razors around him. Her speed wasn’t much greater than that of the echoes fighting, but it was enough to make anyone nearby cautious. Blue flames burst around Dallion. Lux had done his best to keep them hidden until now, hiding under Dallion’s clothes. Now that the fight had begun, the firebird extended its wings from the Dallion’s back granting him the ability to fly once more.

“Nox, can you split?” Dallion asked.

The crackling yawned demonstratively, as if the question was an insult to his abilities, then lazily burst into four cublings— the same number as his level. Each of the new cublings looked at Nox in a slightly different fashion. It wasn’t much, but Lux was impressed beyond belief, to the point that Dallion could feel eagerness pulsing through the firebird’s very being. It was clear that Dallion would have to find a way to level up his other familiars as well, and the sooner the better.

“Okay…” Dallion played a few chords of the harp, each infusing him and his familiars with the sensation of speed and freedom. “Let’s join in.”

It was quite the loss that Nil couldn’t take part in the fight. The old echo would have no doubt been able to provide quite a lot of invaluable advice. Thankfully, a lot of the teaching had remained, telling Dallion how to best act. Since he had no chance of winning against an opponent of such a level, he would do the next best thing: locate the echo that was key to Izgrev’s tactic and kill it. While a single echo could easily be replaced, taking out the right one could cause the entire squad tactic to crumble, allowing the armadil shield to push on to victory.

Focus, Dallion thought. Pain was starting to creep in, pressing against Dallion’s temples. Ignoring it, Dallion looked closer at the battle taking place. The first thing he was able to see was the full set of motions of every echo. That done, he pulled back, trying to see them as a group. It didn’t take long for a specific pattern to emerge. The pattern was very different from the guild raids or battles that Dallion had participated in back on Earth. The principle, however, was the same. The strategy of both sides was clear: the temple guardian was on the attack, aiming to defeat the armadil shield, who in turn focused on standing his ground.

“That one,” Dallion whispered, then rushed forward at one of the echoes on the periphery of the combat action.

At first glance, the target seemed irrelevant, just an echo with no specific role. However, if Dallion had read the situation correctly, that was the lynchpin of the entire attack. While not involved directly with anything crucial, the position of the echo kept two of Vihrogon’s own in check, causing them to fight at a fraction of their efficiency. If Dallion could eliminate the link, a domino effect would follow, giving his armadil shield an overwhelming advantage.

Summoning his dartbolt, Dallion shot a bolt in the general direction of the echo, then let go of the weapon, summoning his harpsisword once more. The echo in question evaded the bolt without issue, starting moving so as to complete a guard skill sequence. That was precisely what Dallion was counting on. After spending so much time using guard himself, he knew most of the patterns by heart. Seeing the one his target used, he quickly stepped to intercept.

The harpsisword split the air along a diagonal arc. While fast, the attack was by no means a threat for the dryad echo who simply evaded it without even bothering to parry. In doing so, though, he allowed Dallion to stop closer.

“Gleam!” Dallion ordered.

The butterfly darter forward, like a star of twisting razors. This propted the guardian to react. Roots burst from the ground, forming a wall between the shardfly and the targeted echo. Several of them were instantly cut through as Gleam continued forward, but for every layer her wings sliced, two more appeared.

“Lux!” Dallion shouted while he jumped off the ground and right on time to avoid a new set of roots that emerged beneath him. That was too close for comfort. Apparently, dryads thought alike: when facing one not of their race, they couldn’t help but use roots and vines.

And just as one set of vines emerged, so did a second, tangling into them. Pretty much whatever the temple guardian could do, Vihrogon could as well.

“Nox, it’s you!” Dallion shouted. “Lux take me close.”

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The crackling was the first to act. All four copies of it leapt through and on the roots like a cat would. Vines shot out of the roots, shooting at Nox, but the cat avoided them by a series of merges and splits. It was like water running through a room.

Under normal circumstances, the attack would have a marginal chance of success at best. Taken in isolation, none of Dallion’s actions were able to do any damage whatsoever. However, when in combination, they were just enough to get the echo off balance. Having to deal with Dallion and Vihrogon’s echoes simultaneously was a straining process, ripe for Dallion to take advantage.

Using his acrobatic skills to swirl in the air, Dallion made a series of piercing strikes at the dryad.

A shield of leaves appeared on the echo’s arm just in time to block the strikes, although Dallion’s momentum forced it to take a step back. Taking advantage, Nox leapt, fangs bared, at the dryad’s side. The presence of a crackling caused a sudden surge of animosity between the guardian and all his echoes. Without mercy, the echo near Nox turned around, slashing at the cracklings with a rapier. Two of Nox’s copies were instantly sliced out of existence along with red rectangles indicating that the familiar’s health had been reduced by fifty percent. One of the other Noxes, though, managed to claw at the weapon. Two claws were enough to snap it in two.

Confusion turned to concern. The dryad echo reached out to summon another weapon, and that proved to be a mistake. The shardfly, which had been all but forgotten until now in the illusionary guise of a root fragment, emerged inches from the echo’s chest, then thrust forward. The moment her razor-sharp wings sliced through the echo’s clothes, it disappeared in a cloud of dust.

“Nox, get out of here!” Dallion ordered. Deep inside, he was overjoyed. He had managed to defeat an echo of the final guardian. Some would call the task unimpressive, trivial even, but for Dallion, it meant a lot. It wasn’t just that he had managed to defeat a far more skilled opponent, the real reason was because that single echo was going to turn the tide of the fight in his favor.

Already Vihrogon’s echoes changed tactic, shifting to an attack pattern. No longer flanked by the enemy, two of the shield’s echoes on the periphery focused all of their attention on other opponents.

As Dallion had predicted, the temple guardian’s attackers started falling one by one. Each echo that fell made it more difficult for those that remained. Within seconds, the ratio shifted in Dallion’s favor. By all accounts a victory was imminent. It was then that the temple guardian changed strategy. A thicket of roots and vines emerged from the ground, all aimed at Dallion.

“Lux!” Dallion shouted.

The firebird thrust Dallion up, barely faster than the vines. Several leaves shot off, flying towards Dallion like daggers. Immediately he split into instances, though even that failed to avoid all hits.

MODERATE WOUND

Your health has been decreased by 20%

“Damn it!” Dallion said beneath his breath. He was hoping he would be able to get through this without getting any wounds. Still, the important thing now was not to get any more.

“I can’t keep this up,” Gleam said, slicing up vines that came dangerously close to Dallion.

This was Dallion’s cue to summon a standard shield. Moments later, a second set of roots burst from the ground—Vihrogon had done the necessary to protect his owner yet again. Sadly, it was at this point that the pain in Dallion’s head exceeded his ability to withstand it. No longer capable of following events in the area, Dallion closed his eyes. From here on he could only rely on his guardians and familiars.

Just one, Dallion sighed mentally. He had spent so much effort on just one echo. The guardian had created dozens. It was a good start, but still nowhere near to what Dallion needed to be if he were to face the Star, or even a chainling, for that matter. Out in the real world, he wouldn’t have anyone to help him. That was why he could only hope that the skills of the twi-crown would give him the edge he needed.

More and more sounds could be heard below Dallion. The details were difficult to make out, but he could tell that the fight was intensifying. Hopefully, that meant that Vihrogon was winning, otherwise it was going to be a very short expedition.

“Hey!” Glitter’s voice almost drilled Dallion’s left ear. “Don’t fall asleep!”

Dallion cracked an eye open.

“Look at the temple!”

“What about the temple?” Dallion looked down. Lux had raised him far above the city to the point that he could see everything up to the gate. At this point, the danger of being reached by a root was fairly minimal, even if the temple guardian continued to throw leaves in his direction. Thankfully, Vihrogon and Gleam were enough to counter them before they hit their target.

Ignoring the last phase of the fight, Dallion looked at what the shardfly was saying. At first, he didn’t see anything in particular—the temple was just another building, only made of stone. Moments later, however, he saw it: a giant carving on the roof itself, made in such a way that only the Moons—or someone with the ability to fly—would see.

The carving was a large depiction of the sky, focusing on the Moons themselves. However, instead of the Seven Moons, there were eight. Even more curious, judging by the size of the various satellites, the eighth Moon that was in the center, surrounded by all the rest.

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