To think that the sombre giant knight of oath was actually a gargoyle queen hiding an entire swarm of gargoyles inside the sheath of its massive sword.
Or maybe the entire Giant is hollow, and the gargoyles have been inside it this entire time.
The sheer volume of swarming stone creatures suggests as much. The sword itself might act as a kind of gateway to the nest. The queen both protects and hides the nest whilst nurturing them. And the swarm protects the queen when it gets attacked.
What kind of ridiculous symbiotic bullshit is that.
The angered gargoyles swarmed and charged at me constantly whilst I cut them down one after another.
The effects of the Queen's roar are still hindering me greatly which is making this a thousand times more difficult than it needs to be.
I've already let go of my hold on the arrows in the Queen's knee which were crushed by the weight of the joint a moment later.
Resummoning two [Plasma Arrows] are bombard the gargoyles charging towards me, preventing myself from being overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.
The gargoyles are much weaker than the Queen. Their stone hides crumble from a single attack and rock dust plummets from the sky endlessly.
Even so, the sheer numbers the Gargoyles have are overwhelming me.
If only I had Snow here I would have a much easier time dealing with them.
[Mana: 16 876 / 28930]
My mana is depleting quickly, and the number of gargoyles only seems to be increasing.
Glancing towards the sheath whilst in the middle of a spin I catch a glimpse of an ever-flowing tide of stone flowing from the sheath. The swarm is still getting bigger.
Now I'm convinced. The only way all these gargoyles could come from the sheath is if the Queen herself was the nest.
The sheath is the gateway, and it is nowhere near large enough to allow all of them out at once, so the swarm is gradually getting larger.
I stand no chance of surviving. My mana is already depleting to fast, and I don't know if I could win against the swarm at its current size, let alone if it keeps getting bigger.
Using [Rubius] to block a charging gargoyle in its tracks I duck beneath the swipe of another before pivoting into a slash of my own.
I decapitate both gargoyles whilst I deactivate [Incras] and [Accel] to preserve mana. Only sword skill can win me this fight. Buffs will only deplete me faster.
At this stage the amount of gargoyle rubble collected along the Queen's belt is hindering my footwork.
Using [Incarnat] I ignite the weaker stone remains, burn them to ash and giving me an environmental advantage.
It's not much of an advantage given that the gargoyles have the height, flight and numbers advantage but every dying gargoyle serves as kindling for my fire which upkeeps the flames without mana.
[Sea of Flames] is giving remarkable results for making the gargoyle swarm hesitate before charging into me.
If only I had help, this would be so much easier.
Dodging a gargoyle descending from above I kick another in the chest, shattering it. I then slash downwards on another before spinning and severing the wings off the first gargoyle.
Pivoting to the side I shoulder slam the crippled stone creature, sending it falling off the edge of the belt.
I should go for their wings more. They're softer. Easier to cut.
[Corrupt Gargoyle]
[Swarm creatures which create a nest inside of their queen. These creatures will defend the Queen if harm is done to her. The Gargoyles wings are weaker than its body.]
Adjusting strategies, I dodge the incoming gargoyles and sever their wings before moving on. Some of them return to attack again, to which I either push them off the edge or cut them. Some simply burning in the increasing volume of deadly flames.
Fighting amongst the fire I must look like a sword demon from hell.
None the less, the volume of gargoyles continues to grow and at this stage, I don't know if I'll run out of stamina or mana first.
A change of strategy is clearly in order but what the hell can I do?
I need more bodies to fight off the swarm.
I need more of me…
More of me?
More pieces of me?
A decoy shaped like me?
Can I trick the gargoyles into attacking the flames?
Not likely. Could I distract them with [Spark]?
Weaving between the tide of slashing stone claws I activate [Spark] in front of me, except, it didn't feel like it normally does.
The light it produced felt, deeper. More real.
As the light manifest it grew beyond the bounds I set for it. The light grew brighter than the flames that surrounded it, outshining the world.
It pulsed and grew then pulsed and grew, become larger and larger, forming a miniature sun in the middle of the battlefield.
A few of the gargoyles attacked the light but nothing happened.
Distracted by my pursuers I couldn't watch the process closely, but I could feel it.
[Spark] was trying to evolve. It wasn't quite managing though. Every time it pulsed it filed to grasp whatever concept it needed to become something new.
I could feel the tendrils of my ability grasping at its chains within my soul. It wanted to become more.
As it pulsed and grew success seemed within its grasp as the spherical ball of light morphed and bulged into the shape of a human. Before long a man of light stood amongst the flames.
This is my [Spark]. It shaped itself like a man?
I never even thought about shaping the light it produced into anything more than its basic form.
Did the ability get sick of waiting for me to figure things out and make the change itself?
What is [Spark]?
The man of light simply stood there in the flams until a brave gargoyle decided to attack.
The manifestation of [Spark] retaliated, slamming its fist into the gargoyles face, turning it to dust.
From there the man of light only got more violent, dashing to the nearest gargoyle and attacking ruthlessly.
I can't say I understand it but I can break it down later. For now, the gargoyles come first.
With the man of light on my side, the gargoyle swarm stood no chance. We hacked and smashed every stone creature that dared approach us.
I ducked the swing of a grounded gargoyle before kicking it in the chest. Then I slashed the chest of another clean in two before pivoting around my dodging ally and killing its pursuer. The man of light turned on the first gargoyle as I did and ripped its head off with its bare hands. Using the head as a bludgeon it caved another's skull in with the first, turning both to dust.
It was strange, how natural it felt to fight alongside the manifestation of [Spark].
Glancing towards the sheath I notice that the swarm has finally stopped leaving to the nest. A number of gargoyles were circling the entrance and sitting on its edges to protect the nest.
However, even if the gargoyles stopped flowing from the depths of their nest, the ones in the air already numbered in the thousands and they were pissed at me.
The queen was also getting tired of waiting for my demise as she started swaying and moving with quick changes in an attempt to shake me off.
She didn't try to reach us with her sword or shield, likely afraid of harming her subjects, but that didn't stop her from stomping the ground and throwing herself around. Its like she's trying to pat off an ant that won't fuck off.
With the ever-shifting battleground of moving stone and rubble, the battle was without doubt the most dangerous I've ever experienced.
I am not in control, and I doubt I will hold up to see all the gargoyles dead before my mana and stamina betray me.
However, I have an idea.
Glancing towards the man of light, we lock eyes for an instant and understanding flows between us. I don't know what this man is or how he works but he seems to share my thoughts on the matter.
Simultaneously, we kill our current attacker and dash along the belt line towards the sheath.
It only took a moment for the gargoyle swarm to catch up in our thinking. Screeches filled the air as enraged gargoyles bombarded us.
Spinning, slashing and kicking, the man of light and I sped towards the sheath, barely breaking stride as the gargoyles tried to block our path.
Reaching the connection between the sheath and the belt, we leap onto the top end of it, which is nearly ten metres wide itself, but inclined steeply.
Struggling to fend off the pursuers, we brace ourselves as the sheath swings even more wildly than the belt as the Queen sways.
A cacophony of screams fill the air as we reach the sheaths entrance and the angered gargoyles lose all reason.
Jumping into the darkness, my flames and the mans aura light our way. The way down is steep but we jump back and forth from wall to wall, over gargoyles using them as platforms, descending deep quickly.
The man of light clearly shares my athleticism and thoughts closely as we bounce off one another, tearing through obstacles in our path.
Before long, the entrance to the nest came in our sights and we clambered inside, ripping the guardian gargoyles to shreds as we do.
Blocking the entrance with a wall of flames I let the pursuing gargoyles damage themselves in the blistering heat before attacking us.
I kept putting more walls up as we descended into the nest, hoping to kill as many as possible with the flames, however, my mana is running short.
[Mana: 7 689 / 28 930]
The nest had a similar design to an ant's nest, wit narrow twisting tunnels that lead in every direction.
Updating [Soul Archive] as we charged through the tunnels, I took the moments reprieve the flame walls provided us to assess the situation.