He got a burst of acknowledgements but kept his focus on the fight, battering his way through foes that seemed to grow and grow, and a demon that suddenly seemed to be focused on him more than anyone else.
"You won't be killing me today," he snarled, throwing out his arms, casting a spell of repulsion that drove everyone around him away, following that with a burst of aggro to force the demon to focus on him to the exclusion of all else.
After that, with everyone out of his way, the fight was easy.This wasn't like his first fight, or the one with Maleagant's sisters.This was a monster, pure and simple, and its only purpose was to slow him down.
Easy.
It was still pouring down rain, which gave him an advantage no one else could beat, not when it wasn't Galehaut and Lancelot couldn't risk killing him.
The demon dropped into a steep dive.Lancelot held his ground, and at the last moment threw his shield and torrents of water, sending the demon tumbling off course to slam into a nearby wall that was all that remained of the castle curtain.
Before it could pick itself up, he ran for it and thrust his sword right through its left eye all the way to the brain.
Yanking his sword out again, he flicked the blood off it and turned to face his next challenge—and froze as he realized that none of his friends were around.Not even Guinevere.
Fuck.He was stupid.The demon hadn't been slowing him.It had beendistractinghim.
"Fish boy!"
Relief washed over him at the sound of Dred's voice, and he turned and watched as they came racing across the field toward him."You're still here, thank fuck."
"What happened?I was fighting off one of those demon things and then everyone was gone."
Everyoneeveryone, even the other players.Maleagant had completely isolated them.
"Shadows," Dred said."Took them all one by one, then all the players.I think our swords are helping us."
Wouldn't be the first time.They couldn't protect against the full weight of Maleagant's shadow magic, but something like this?Yeah.If he was going soft and subtle, it wouldn't stand against the great swords.
"Help!Someone help me!"
A woman came tumbling-running-stumbling from behind the rocks, chased by a figure that looked like the classic idea of a ghost but entirely purple-black.Dred threw out a hand, fire shooting forward to consume the shadow as Lancelot grabbed the woman and pulled her between them.
"Arthur," he said quietly.
The woman frowned."What?Who's Arthur?My name is Henry."
"Of course it is," Dred said."Give it to him."
Lancelot pulled Excalibur from his storage, as they'd decided he was the best to carry it, and handed it to her."Take that.You're going to need it very shortly."
"I hope," Dred said."Please be less stubborn than Gwen about waking up."
"Is this part of the ga—"
Her words were drowned out by the deafening, echoing roar of the many headed dragon as the clouds were seared away into nothing and it descended from on high.It's scales were dark gray with a metallic rainbow sheen."Fuck."
"Water and flame," Dred said.
Lancelot didn't bother to voice agreement, simply stripped off his clothes, held Arondight tight, and let the water have him.
Scales, elongated fingers ending in claws, kelp-strewn hair—his usual form, a child of the waters who had first been born of the earth.What many people had mistaken for a mermaid, though he was nothing like them, far deadlier and nastier.
This time, though, he kept pushing, screaming as bones snapped and muscle tore, blood spilling as his body reshaped and remolded—and grew.
In what felt like a mere moment and an eternity, he rose up transformed, a great serpent of fangs and spines and venom.
Nearby, causing the rain to hiss and steam, was an enormous black gryphon with wings of fire, its enormous claws raking up the earth.
