Seeing that this was an Eater that was tier two and saturated sent a chill down my spine. This was likely the strongest Eater I had ever seen, if we were not counting the one that I only saw in the distance coming out of the nest and possibly the one that gave me that strange vision, but that one was already dead.
I didn't have time to think about what was actually happening. The monster was already on top of us, and if we didn't fight together, everybody was going to die. I saw Astrid starting to charge at the creature, but thankfully, I was closer to the monster than she was. I put my staff on the ground to block her path and yelled, "Focus on long range. We don't know what that one can do."
It wasn't an order but a suggestion that everybody seemed to keep. Rixnala was upset with me for taking the lead. Then again, she had tried to sabotage us previously. She didn't want to tell us the types of Eaters they had seen before. It took one of the seasoned hunters to tell us about all the variations and this was not on the list. Astrid gave me an annoyed look, clearly annoyed by my suggestion, but she still followed along. Instead of attacking the creature again, or continuing her charge to attack the creature, she swiped her hand axe on the side, creating an {Emerging Glacier} that crashed underneath the beast.
Yet, the damage seemed to be minimal. The initial shards of ice were blocked by the Eater's armored, shielded legs, and the ice that was able to go underneath it only destroyed some of the tentacles that existed there. This might be the exact reason why the Eater had chosen to wrap itself around those tentacles. Now it could protect its own body while making sure that its weapons were always ready in case anything should happen.
The monster shifted towards the Huskcarver, but a few boulders slammed against its face, or where we were assuming its face to be, before it started moving. The Rodenti with Rixnala were attacking with everything they had. Michael also fired a few arrows enveloped in the silk trap that Riley made. But instead of the silk being able to wrap around the creature and pin it to the ground, it only covered the beast in some of the strands before most of them were broken as the creature just moved without even seeming to care about this attempt at restraining it. But that was only the first appearance. I could see that the silk was now still on top of its body, stopping some of the tentacles from breaking free.
I saw Rex together with a couple of the other mages raising a massive chunk of rock from the ground, but it was pretty obvious they were struggling to move it. So instead, I reached out with my staff and said, "Let me help. Make a hole around it."
The
I opened the hole, put my staff inside, and used {Compression} to make the entire boulder smaller, making sure to keep that opening the same size.
"Can you just keep it floating?" I asked.
"Yes!" Rex shouted.
Now that I was doing something, they just nodded and didn't try to argue against my plan. Once I felt the rock was small enough, which changed something that was bigger than a house to about the size of a basketball, I started to spin while I used {Compression} one more time to lengthen my staff as much as I could with the rock still stuck to the tip of my weapon.
"Angle that a bit up," Michael shouted, and I did just that.
Going on a parabolic arc around myself, spinning as fast as I could. The rock was massive, and even if Rex was holding it up above the ground, it still felt heavy. But all of a sudden, I felt my foot catching something, almost as if I was stepping over something alive. But before I could recognize what it was, a message popped in front of me.
Michael: I'm trying to use my skills to help you aim it. Let go when I say so.
Cassandra: Okay.
I quickly replied, 'Sys. Let Michael dictate when we drop {Compression}
[Acknowledged.]
I gave a couple more spins and Michael sent a message. Before the display even showed the full message, {Compression} had been deactivated again. The rock shifted, opening up but not returning to its full 10 meter [32.8 ft] tall size, now just about 3 meters [9.8 ft] in height, just the size of the Eater itself. The giant boulder crashed on top of the monster. It might have noticed the projectile and figured it was too weak to be a problem, or maybe because it was a mineral it couldn't see it coming. After all, the Eater didn't have eyes. One way or another, the creature didn't attempt to dodge.
The giant rock landed square on the creature. The added compression also helped it become less brittle, so most of its weight just collapsed on top of the Eater. Together with the velocity of the launch, it caused some serious damage. Many of the tentacles around its back broke and sheared away, and even some of the shields around its legs had splintered or cracked under the weight of the rock. The Guardian Eater was now seemingly wide open as it struggled to regain control over its body and tried to recover from the impact of the boulder. We all could see some cracks and the white blood of the Eater dripping from parts of the creature's body, at least the side that was facing us.
With a roar, the Rodenti started to charge at the monster, realizing that it really could bleed, which also meant that it was possible for us to defeat it. Astrid and I did the same while some arrows and spells flew overhead. It felt like the best chance we would get to kill this creature, and no one wanted to waste it.
Out of the 20 or so people that were fighting this creature, 15 went into melee range with the monster, using everything they had. I could feel the countless skills and particles being flung around, the well-practiced strikes being delivered by seasoned hunters that were by my side. Astrid and I were not far from that either. I was using {Formless Swipe} as much as possible in order to destroy parts of the creature or at least expose some more vital parts, with Astrid doing the same with her {Frost Chop}, allowing us to finish the job sooner. But after a couple of seconds, I realized something else. Or more specifically what I was unable to see, the things that, despite our best efforts, were not showing.
Wounds.
No matter how many hits landed or how many attacks that seemed to be successful, the Eater wasn't budging. After the initial rock, there wasn't a single new injury. It wasn't recoiling or doing anything that made it seem like it was actually being hurt. And that could mean only one thing. The Eater was playing with us, or at least it was preparing a bigger attack and using this opportunity to lure us to get close.
As soon as I noticed that, I activated {Mind of Possibility} in hopes of being able to respond to whatever was about to come. I saw myself using {Clash of Nature} directly into the creature's mouth, but to no avail. Then I hit it from underneath using a different combination of elements, but still the result was the same. The Eater was still able to withstand my attacks. From the left, from the right, from above, from underneath. {Clash of Nature}, {Formless Swipe}, using {Compression} to stuff something in its mouth and then make it bigger.
Nothing seemed to be working to quickly dispatch the beast. And to make matters worse, there wasn't a single version of events that revealed to me what the Eater was about to do, which made sense. After all, {Mind of Possibility} only allowed me to use all the information that was available to me. The Eater's plan wasn't such information.
I could tell that the skill was running out. But even after three dozen different possible variations, there was nothing. There wasn't a single version of events that would result in this Guardian Eater being quickly dispatched. I could feel the last remaining Energy being spent on one final attempt. In it, I jumped underneath the creature and touched the ice created by Astrid's {Emerging Glacier}, using {Clash of Nature} together with that element, mixing it with the water from {As I Flow So Does The Current}. The impact caused by the combination of attacks was much more powerful than I was expecting.
It seemed like the water itself was still following Astrid's command. The glacier expanded first and only then burst in a small explosion that seemed to pierce the middle of the creature's body. But more than that, the ice seemed to pin it to the ground, stopping the monster from escaping as everyone else began attacking the creature relentlessly.
I wasn't entirely sure if {Mind of Possibility} would be able to give me even one more attempt. So, without feeling like I had no other option, I just took it. Following the exact same pattern that I just watched happen, I rushed under the Guardian Eater, making sure not to be caught by any of its tendrils or its legs. A moment later, I triggered {Clash of Nature}, combining the water with the ice that had been created. The explosion seemed to be a shard of frozen water that emerged from the tip of the wave. And just as it happened with {Mind of Possibility}, the wave of ice impaled the Eater from below, stopping it from being able to move around properly.
But this did not mean that the Eater had run out of options. Instead, it used an ability that no one knew or expected it to have. The tentacles latched down onto the ice and shattered it while still making sure to maintain some of its shape. The various shards now being carried by the tentacles as if they were weapons. Maces, clubs, and even daggers in the possession of this Guardian Eater that continued to threaten us. But even if we were trying to escape, the creature had proven that it was too quick for us. It wouldn't be easy for anyone to flee from this beast.
Astrid slammed her axe on the creature, activating {Crawling Frost}, and I went for another {Clash of Nature}. This time using both earth and fire in hopes of making something similar to lava. It was a bit of a long shot since I had no idea if that was actually going to work, but once I found a rock that still had some particles from the spells being cast by the mages, I managed to create a molten rock that slammed against the monster. From the hole that was already in the monster's body, I launched the projectile of molten fire that was in my hand, hoping to burn it from the inside out.
But I wasn't the only one doing something. Countless weapons were stabbing the creature and attacking it from all directions. Yet the monster was barely using the ice to fight back. It seemed like it wasn't even trying to fend us off but just keep us busy. That's when I saw a glint in the corner of my eye. The blood that was dripping from its wounds was not the same milky white that Eater blood generally had. Instead, it was silvery, almost as if there was a shine to it. With a worried expression, I took another look only to realize that the entire area was covered in that white blood, and we were all standing directly on top of it.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, almost as if telling me something was about to happen, and I shouted as loud as I could, "Run!"
Most of the Rodenti didn't care about my warning. Only a couple of them started moving away, still unsure what was happening. Astrid was the only one who actually took to heart what I said. Instead of running away from the creature, she started grabbing a few other Rodenti that were nearby before bolting. I tried to follow along, but the Huskcarver was considerably faster than I was. Before I could get far enough away, light flooded my vision, and with a loud boom, the Eater turned its blood into a highly potent explosive, creating a blast that sent all of those attacking it flying into the distance.