621 – Final Stage

After distancing myself briefly, I once again fly back up into range while continuing to dodge the [Dark Rays].
It threw me off balance briefly, but I’ve managed to recover.
This amount of damage is within expectations.
It’s not like I could have expected everything to go perfectly in this fight.

But, it’s a bad sign that the origin matter would stray from its usual attack patterns to launch repeated [Dimension Rends] like that.
As far as attacks go, [Dimension Rend] isn’t too powerful.
It took me by surprise this time, but I’m confident I’ll be able to get away with shallower wounds next time.
What worries me is the fact that it has started to mix in irregular attack patterns like this.

If my focus slips for a moment, the high-speed [Dark Rays] could easily empty my HP before I know it.
Dodging repeated [Dimension Rends] takes away my focus from the [Dark Rays].
It’s trying to break through my stability.

Should we go into the third stage and press the attack already…? No, the third stage will burn through treant’s MP too quickly.
If we run out of MP before the origin matter is dead, we’ll be forced to retreat again.

It’s not time yet.
We should stick to relying on Aro for attacks and wear it down for a bit longer.

I return to circling around the origin matter while the three Aros launch [Dark Spheres] in rapid succession.
Every now and again, it sends either single or multiple [Dimension Rends] at me, but I’m able to handle it by diving down or occasionally climbing up.
It sometimes grazes me, but I’m able to get away without a receiving a decisive blow.

『Great… This is wearing it down.
It looked a bit shaky for a while, but this is within the acceptable range.』

As I say that, the origin matter’s surface starts shifting again.
Cheh! It’s about to use repeated [Dimension Rends] again.

This is costing it a lot of MP, so in that sense it’s good, but it’s stressful how much it throws me off rhythm.
It’s scary how easily it could lead into me being honeycombed by a bunch of [Dark Rays] if it throws me off balance again.

『I’m flying up!』

Diving would be faster, but if it predicts which direction I’m going to dodge, it could still hit me.
I slip between [Dark Rays] as I fly up.

The tips of my wings and limbs are torn as I pass.
The damage isn’t too bad, but…it’s being annoyingly persistent with the [Dimension Rends].
It’s a lot less efficient than [Dark Ray], so it shouldn’t want to use it meaninglessly… But it seems it’s starting to get serious, too.
It must have realised that I’d be able to keep evading if it was just one or two [Dimension Rends] like last time.

『Diving now!』

I shout to as I transition into a dive.
More [Dimension Rends] cut through the space right behind me.

A few of the [Dimension Rends] cut my back and belly, but the damage isn’t too bad.
I just need to avoid a direct hit from a [Dark Ray].
The damage would be bad, and I’d be forced to regenerate the missing parts, using up a lot of MP.

I should distance myself and regain my posture again.
Fortunately, the origin matter doesn’t seem to be coming towards me to press the attack.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
[Dorothy]
Species: Origin Matter
Condition: God of Madness
Lv: 140/140 (MAX)
HP: 3952/5524
MP: 4271/6535

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Great, we’re over a third of the way through.
It’s the result of Aro’s firepower being tripled by [Darkness Kaleidoscope], and her being focused on nothing but attacking.
Its remaining MP is starting to get tight.
This amount of progress is superb.
I’ll charge back in for one last spurt of damage with Aro, then we’ll enter the third and final stage to bring it down.

『M-master-dono… In front, there’s something strange in front.』

I turn to look.
Diagonally above me, a black mist is spreading out.
I wonder for a second what it could be, but then realise.

『[Wormhole]!?』

Right, it had [Wormhole].
I had almost forgotten.
Just flying normally is faster than [Wormhole], so I had been disregarding it.

My focus was too tied up by the [Dimension Rends] and [Dark Rays], so I was too late to notice the black light that signifies the [Wormhole] destination.
I see, that explains why it was so persistent with [Dimension Rend].
It was to distract me from the [Wormhole] and lead me closer to it.

The origin matter appears from the black mist in front of me.
More [Dark Rays] shoot out as soon it appears.
[Dark Rays] are still approaching from behind, from before it moved with [Wormhole].
It’s caught me in a pincer attack.

I clench my teeth.
I looked down on [Wormhole] as a useless skill.
If I was more cautious of it, this could have been avoided.
I never expected it to catch me by surprise like this.

I dive down as fast as I can, mixing in irregular movements to do my best to dodge the [Dark Rays].
But, trying to dodge here is as good as praying.
It’s impossible for me to fully grasp the trajectories of the [Dark Rays] coming from two different directions.

『Master-dono! Sorry for taking the initiative, but I’m moving ahead with the plan!』

Treant flies from my back.
His body swells up, and roots sprout from all over his body to wrap around me.
This is his [Woven Armour] skill.

『No, nice decision! This was the perfect timing!』

I shout.
The third, final stage of our plan was for me to launch a fierce attack while protected by his woven armour.
This was the reason I had him preserve his mana.