Chapter 49: Raptor

Chapter 49: Raptor

The DeathGang group, which Crucis estimated as approximately 15 players of relatively high level, moved towards the uneven, stony ground to their West. The black mist had grown to cover this area as well, so they were all well-hidden. Crucis crouched to the ground, ready for action. A few DeathGang members spread out slightly Southwards and hid near trees or bushes, to keep watch for any intruders. DicingDevil invited Crucis to join a party of DeathGang players, and Crucis accepted the invitation. He saw that the party chat was hushed in anticipation.

Soon, the sound of light hooves echoed from the South, as a small group of [Communion] players emerged from the trees. Squinting, Crucis saw that one of the players was riding a [Lightly-Trained Donkey] Mount. Mounts were rare at this stage of the game, so even this basic Mount was being used. Crucis noticed that the Mount moved with short, unsteady steps, and did not seem suited to the mist. Using [Quickstep], Crucis circled quietly towards the flank of the approaching group, and saw that they were accompanied by a few archers, including Audet from GildedKnights. She was only level 51, and Crucis guessed that taking care of Justiciar had left her little time to level up.

"They have archers, take those out quickly before they can aim," he typed in the party chat.

"We have some low-level bombs planted, attack the archers after the explosions. I'll kill their Mage," came a message in response by DicingDevil.

Crucis crouched down and waited. He knew that the [Nightmare] effect would make it difficult for others to hit him in this mist, so long as their HP was low. If he was able to strike hard early on, then it would be difficult for an opponent to recover, especially if their HP had already been lowered.

After a few seconds, a series of small explosions lit up around the player riding a donkey, and their group were thrown into disarray. The donkey tried rashly to run forwards, only for a couple of DeathGang warriors with spears to attack the riding player. To avoid impaling himself on the spears, the player tried haphazardly to get the donkey to turn sharply to the left or right, but the donkey lost its footing and seemed to sprain its ankle. Since it was stuck in place, its rider was easily impaled on the spears and fell dead to the ground. The donkey disappeared.

The group of players had seemingly not been expecting DeathGang to be prepared for them, and were slow to recover. Of the players left standing after the explosion, only two defiantly drew swords and stood their ground. The rest began to run Southwards, back towards the trees. They were set upon by DeathGang members, including two scouts that had emerged from the trees to the South and cut off the retreat.The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.

A few other players had been thrown aside by the impact of the explosion, including Audet. She fell with her face on the ground. As she tried to get up, Crucis pounced on her with a [Stunning Dagger] to the top of the shoulder. As she froze in paralysis, he locked her in a [Chokehold]. She seemed demotivated, but he saw her reaching for a knife to fight him off.

He decided to continue his assault, and kicked her hand away from the knife. The less HP she had, the harder it would be for her to hit him by flailing with her knife in this mist. As such, he used a quick [The Ripper] to make a slight cut just below the front of her neck, followed by a rough [Silent Stab] into the side of her neck. She flailed her body across the ground in pain, and nearly threw him off as he prepared to stab again. He tightened his chokehold to pacify her, and shifted his dagger to his left hand. She had 65% HP remaining.

His brief instability was enough time for Audet to reach for her knife. As Audet grabbed the knife on her right side, Crucis shifted his body away from it to the left. She flailed the knife behind her back uncomfortably, but missed Crucis easily. While she flailed, Crucis was aiming his dagger. He stabbed her with a [Panoramic Strike] near the top of the back of her neck. Audet fell limp to the ground, and Crucis tightened his chokehold while impatiently moving a foot to step on Audet's knife hand and loosen her grip on it. He saw that Audet now had only 45% HP remaining.

He used [Black Spot] to slit her throat, then slowly deepened the wound with a slicing [The Ripper]. However, this was interrupted by a Mage from the [Communion] Guild, who cast [Mana Strike] on Crucis and propelled him away along the rough ground. Crucis grimaced as he rolled to his feet, covered in dust and light scratches. He noticed that Audet had weakly prepared her bow, but couldn't see him through the mist. This mist wasn't a good situation for archers to fight in. The Mage had also been assaulted by DicingDevil, who was cutting large gashes along the Mage's back.

Crucis held out his sword in front of him, and calmly approached Bahaus. As he approached, Bahaus used a shaky [Flank Cut] to reach speculatively for Crucis' side. Crucis comfortably parried this strike, but Bahaus quickly backstepped to avoid retaliation. Crucis approached again, and saw that Bahaus was now down to 20% from the [Bleeding]. While Crucis could have attempted to strike back after the [Flank Cut], he was still at some distance and lunging forwards may be risky since the ground here was slightly uneven. He decided to try and bait Bahaus into a series of traded strikes and parries. Since the warrior's HP was low, the [Nightmare] effect made it likely that Bahaus would soon make a wayward strike which Crycis could capitalise on.

Bahaus raised his sword above his own head, and swung downwards as Crucis approached. Crucis readily parried this strike, then followed up with a steady [Slash] towards the right side of Bahaus' face, where some of Bahaus' helmet had been damaged in earlier fights. Bahaus comfortably responded with a parry of his own, then responded with a sharp, central downwards [Slash] aimed below Crucis' ribs. Crucis dangled his sword's blade downwards, then slid it to the left in order to make Bahaus' strike veer off course.

Crucis used a [Rising thrust] to aim threateningly towards Bahaus' wounded neck, but Bahaus elegantly blocked this by raising his blade and holding it horizontally in the path of Crucis' strike. As Bahaus tried to shift his blade slightly to swing it at Crucis, Crucis used [Uncrossing of Blades], and the cooldown on [Rising thrust] disappeared. He immediately used another [Rising thrust], almost sneaking under Bahaus' blade. However, Bahaus moved with surprising dexterity, and caught Crucis' blade before it could strike through.

Bahaus responded angrily with a wild [Slash] that missed Crucis completely, and Crucis took advantage of this opportunity to use the [Half-swording] ability, then step in and strike with a [Lunge] to Bahaus' wounded throat. As Bahaus tried to use [Counter], and strike back with his own sword, Crucis reared his blade and easily deflected the strike off-target with the base of his blade. Crucis then swung his blade from the centre like a lever, and easily used [Slice] to strike Bahaus' sword hand with the tip of the blade.

Bahaus attempted another wild strike, but this time he miscued and his sword went flying. Crucis laughed, and Bahaus shivered in fear.

Crucis used another [Lunge] to Bahaus' neck, and pressed forwards slightly to make the warrior lean backwards. As Bahaus tried to recover from the shock of losibg his sword, and grapple Crucis away, Crucis instead sent Bahaus swiftly to the ground with a [Forceful Kick] to the legs. The warrior fell heavily, now on only 6% HP.

Crucis knelt down, and withdrew his [Vile Toxin Gas]. He sprayed it across the warrior's bleedijg throat. Bahaus tried weakly to kick out, but his legs fell back in place as soon as he raised them.

Crucis noticed that Bahaus seemed very scared of his lizard-like form, so he stared triumphantly at Bahaus' eyes and hissed, "And you die!" The warrior was writhing weakly on the ground, due to the pain, but froze when Crucis said this.

Bahaus choked on a scream as he died.

As Crucis circled the area to check for survivors, he saw that the ambush had been quite successful. While there were three DeathGang casualties, all of their opponents had been killed. This was largely due to the element of surprise: DeathGang had not been expected to take a well-prepared, hit-and-run response to the war, and the thick, black mist had been a sudden change from the thin mist of this morning. Further, most of the victims had been cut down attempting to flee, and only the few who stood their ground to fight, like Bahaus, had been able to mount a notable resistance. Crucis reflected that they were lucky to run into enemies with cold feet, as there could have been more DeathGang casualties if the opposition had stood their ground.

Crucis lay down breathing heavily, to recover from a few cuts on his chest. A DeathGang Mage cast healing on him, which somewhat reduced the wounds. After a couple of minutes, Crucis was back on his feet.