The spikes were too fast for Drake to evade, certainly not at the speed he was moving forward at. However, he wasn't stupid enough not to have prepared a backup plan for a situation like this.
Out of nowhere, Luna appeared right behind him, wrapping her hands around his waist, and with all her might, she pulled him back.
"Grrrh!" She groaned.
It wasn't easy for her to stop his momentum just by pulling him back, so she was barely able to move him enough to avoid the massive spikes—just by an inch.
Still, the Ice Banshee was not yet done with them.
It opened its maws, letting out an ear-piercing shriek as it turned its gaze to Drake and Luna. It raised both hands at them, and at its command, the ground before it shattered. This time, a spear made from translucent jagged ice shot from the ground, aimed directly at the two.
It was fast—cutting through the air with a whistling sound that sent chills up Drake's spine as he watched it close the distance within seconds. And this time, he was defenseless...
The Awakened who were present there certainly did not hesitate to take the opening Drake's distraction had caused, each of them lunging at the Ice Banshee with their most deadly attacks.
Tessa had stayed behind involuntarily to watch, her body rising and falling in heaps as she struggled to take in air into her lungs. Even after seeing Drake, that was not motivation enough for her body to move forward to help. She couldn't even lift a finger to aid them—and this was caused by her flaw.
To every ability came a certain defect, which many would later come to notice after using their talent for a while.
For many, it was physical; for others, it was mental, and more rarely, it was environmental.
However, one thing was sure: all talents have their defects.
And during this battle, Tessa had come to realize hers—the overuse of her talent had caused her to burn up all the oxygen in her system, making it extremely difficult to breathe or even move in this state.
It wasn't a painful process, but still, it gave her a feeling of utter uselessness, and all she could do for the meantime was watch... watch the battle and hope for the best; watch as her friends slowly got dismembered, beaten to a pulp, or very close to death.
It was truly a devious curse of a defect.
Drake let out a sigh of relief, lowering his arms which he had put right before him and the spear to block—not that it would have done anything to stop the spear from reaching him, however, he had hoped it would at least slow the momentum to the extent it wouldn't be fatal enough to kill him... at least not immediately.
Now, that wasn't needed, as the ice spear had been stopped mid-air, just a meter away from tearing a massive hole right into his throat, by another Awakened he very much recognized.
The Awakened was tall, blonde, handsome, and dressed in a black and red outfit—or was it a black outfit covered in his own blood? The second option was more accurate.
He looked to have been beaten to a point where he should have died from his wounds—if he were human, that is.
"Thank you, Kyle," Drake spoke in a low, indifferent tone.
Kyle frowned. "You could have gotten yourself killed. Remember, you are only a summoner right now," he said, letting his gaze stray back to the dungeon boss, who was preoccupied with the other Awakened, then continued, "This is no longer the academy."
Drake nodded. According to his calculations, he had been prepared for the worst the Dungeon King could give. However, preparations never matched reality, and that was something he knew. Despite how the second attack had caught him off guard, he was rather expecting it...
Still, it was all for a rather good reason.
"You know me well enough—" Drake replied.
Kyle could not help but smile at that statement. "What did you figure out?"
Kyle knew Drake's battle IQ was a prowess second to none. It was even considered a talent among their peers during their time at the academy.
Kyle only hoped it would work just as well for dungeon bosses.
Drake kept his eyes on the boss battling against the number of S-ranked Awakened.
One of them was Rumar, who had grown twice as large as a grown man, swinging down a large battle-axe with intense brutality that, with every swing, an explosive shockwave occurred at the point of impact.
He was strong and managed to land fatal hits that would have killed any beast within mere seconds; however, that didn't occur...
Other Awakened there did the same—landing fatal hits while taking on some from the boss monster.
Still, the difference in this battle was clear.
The fact that the Ice Banshee was immediately able to recover from their attacks like it was nothing gave it the upper hand.
It could not be injured by normal physical attacks—that was clear.
"Hmmph?"
Despite its invulnerability against attacks, there was still the fact that the body of the Banshee had some parts of its being blackened, as though its skin was turned to ash. It was somewhat burnt—and did not heal at all...
'That explains why the others stayed away from the battle. I see. It's clear the battle would be a suicide mission to the lower ranks; even for the high-ranked, it's a hassle...'
Drake placed his sword back into its scabbard and then turned to Kyle. "Fire is the only thing that can hurt it, and from how the battle is going, it seems like Tessa is out of commission—that's why this has dragged on for so long."
Kyle instinctively placed a hand over his bleeding gut at this point and forced a smile to cover his exhaustion, caused by ignoring his injuries.
"Yes—"
"Even if she recovers, there's no way she's going to land an attack now. The Dungeon King is smarter than she looks and will find a way to delay getting hit until Tess runs out again."
Either way, it was still death that awaited them.
Kyle held his breath—or so he thought—as the ice and cold air began to clog his lungs. He noticed this, and after a bit of wheezing, he managed to breathe again.
"At this rate, it's either the cold kills us or it does."
Drake could now understand the entirety of the situation. "It's a rather formidable opponent for a boss monster, I'll give it that. However... it's still a beast."
Kyle jerked his head back to Drake, his expression one that held absurdity. 'What the hell does he mean by that? Just a beast? Just! What the hell!'