An Expected Betrayal |TBATE

Chapter 24 - Team bonding

GREY

I dodged the incoming whip— which was still broken in two so the thing decided to use both parts. I jumped back to get a better standing when I saw something I wish I never had. The four alive chimera's walked over to the ones me and Regis killed and started eating/merging.

"We should probably stop that," commented Regis. I nodded as we both charged in an attempt to stop them. Unfortunately they started to get bigger. I swung my sword down at the one eating the shotgun when the longsword blocked me.

I then sidestepped– making sure to minimize my movements– to dodge an incoming thrust from the lance chimera. I grabbed the tip to the lance and used it to support my body and flipped myself upside down. I then stabbed Dawn's Ballad into its chest. I wrapped my legs around its neck as I felt something pierce my stomach.

I looked down to see the longsword through my stomach, barely missing my core. "Regis! Get in my hand!" I shouted. My partner complied and once he did I found it much easier to gather aether to my fist.

I punched the chimera causing its head to explode. Regis then jumped out of my hand to attack the lance chimera, albeit much smaller than before.

I barely managed to dodge an incoming attack from the ax chimera. Which cut the chimera I was on in half. I jumped back and the ax chimera started to absorb the other two. I watched as the 6 of them fused to create what I could only describe as a dark souls boss. 6 weapons, 1 body, and a whole lot of spite.

It was disgusting. Standing at 4 meters tall it was an amalgamation of flesh and bone. It had three arms on either side of it and about 4 heads. Its legs weren't so much as legs are they were just globs of flesh that moved across the floor. Skin hanged off of its body as bones stuck out in the worst angles.

"Well, this is fun," Regis said. I nodded and condensed aether into dawn's ballad although I still struggled to do so as it took so long and I lost most of the aether. I ran forward parrying the longsword as Regis bit down on the shotgun to make sure it couldn't fire.

The long sword went for a low sweep so I jumped up on to the blade and started to run up it. Before I could get close though the lance was just about to pierce my head. I quickly moved my head to the side and avoided it as I caught the arrow flying at me and stabbed it into one of the heads.

We found out Regis is infused with the destruction rune so he used that to get rid of the shotgun. I then stuck Dawn's ballad into the back of the monstrosity and jumped on it using my full body weight to drive it down the back. Fortunately if I stayed close the lance and longsword was useless.

The chimera dropped its longsword and went to grab me. I quickly got out of the way, minimizing my movements and severed the hand at the wrist. "Gotcha buddy," said Regis as he stopped the whip from reaching me. "Thanks, I'll give you a raise," I said as I went in for another attack.

Regis gasped. "This one is unworthy! I thank my master," he said in an over exaggerated tone. "Regis! Get in my hand again!" I shouted as I ran in. I used Burst Step – which didn't destroy my legs like last time – to increase my damage. I dropped Dawn's Ballad and put all the aether I had left into this punch, which was aided by Regis's aether gathering ability.

I got up close before it was even noticed thanks to Burst Step and punched it while I still had my momentum. I delivered a well endowed punch to the beast's stomach; creating a crater in its body. It flew backwards into the wall, blood splattered everywhere. Finally, it stopped moving.

"Why was my aether so hard to move? I thought Bruce created pathways," I asked myself out loud. "I did, but the ones I made weren't made to be used like you do, they were meant to activate runes, not enhancing yourself," said Bruce as he appeared out of nowhere and threw me Dawn's ballad.