CC 9: Tenacity ~ Thirty-Two

Wasting not a single moment, Joe clapped his hands together to bring his right palm into contact with the tiny Ritual of Activation that he was holding in his left. Sparks flew as his magic bounced off the magical diagram, and he sucked in a breath as he shook the lingering power off of his hand. “Feces! It's too low ranked to activate without stabilization!”

He started dropping cubes around him as rapidly as he could while ensuring they were in their proper place, but was still too late to do anything about the Rhino’s initial charge. Instead, the hefty beast met with a shield wall, sending Dwarves flying like bowling pins as the second, third, and fourth ranks interlocked their shields and drove their heels into the ground. The mighty surge of the armored creature was brought to a standstill; the stocky warriors proving that together, they were far more substantial than any mere stone wall could hope to match.

Joe finished his setup, once more slapping his Ritual of Activation, this time succeeding in his attempt. A half-dozen barriers sprang into existence behind and to the sides of the boss. Originally, the Ritualist had been concerned that this would incite the wrath of the unending horde, but with the walls broken and a gaping wound in their protections, his magic barely even slowed the tide. The surging Penguins and Hoardlings were funneled through various points, and a mix of shouting humans and bellowing Dwarves stepped forward to meet them.

Realizing how dire the situation was, Joe made sure to activate each of the last resort rituals that he'd put in place around the breach.

Ritual of Proximity (Wind Blades) has activated!

Ritual of Proximity (Dark Lightning Strike) has activated!

Ritual of Force (Barrier) has activated!

Over a dozen rituals met the monsters head on, but without a tower to allow these rituals to rain down magical damage on his enemies, the series of contained spells could only attack the nearest target that met the requirements. The barrage blasted the lesser creatures, allowing the Legion to focus on the greater threat of the grunting Rhinosealus as it swung its horn back and forth, shearing through any shield or armor that its main weapon even managed to brush against. Between its incredibly durable armor, which continuously regenerated itself thanks to the efforts of the Salamanders, and its flashing horn, the Rhinosealus slowly began to gain momentum once more.

An arrow that looked more like a ballista bolt shrieked through the air, slamming into the skull of a Salamander and bursting through it, pinning the lizard to the frozen plates below it. Joe chanced a look back along the trajectory of the assault, briefly managing to get a glimpse of Heartpiercer McShootypants before she shifted locations to attack another of the oversized geckos.

The results were apparent immediately, as the armor the Salamander had been boosting began to show signs of wear, cracks appearing on its surface as it failed to regenerate any further. A voice that Joe recognized but couldn't quite place bellowed out from the ranks of the Legion, right up against the Rhino where the attacks were crashing against the ice. “The Salamanders are buffing it! Slay them first, then target the boss, or we’ll get nowhere with this thing!”

Even with as enormous as the creatures were with their mountainous numbers in their Constitution, against the concerted efforts of thousands of hardened warriors they were slain with three motions each instead of only one. Then came the arduous task of continuing the assault, tens of thousands of points of damage merely going toward breaking through the armor on the creature before it saw a single point of health loss.

When they finally struck true, and a deep-purple stream of blood splattered off of the creature, Joe saw a chance.

He Omnivaulted forward, catching a handful of the substance before his still-active rituals could drain it away to be converted into water. Then he pressed off of the surface of the Rhinosealus, barrel-rolling through the air until he landed near his original position. With no time to prepare further, Joe didn't pull out his inscribing tool, Ritual Tiles, or any other implements that would assist yet slow him. Sucking in a deep breath, he pressed both hands forward and tried his hand at Somatic Ritual Casting mid-combat.

Even with his stabilization cubes around him keeping the backlash from coming into effect instantly, Joe could feel the heavy distortion of this world fighting to punish him for his attempt. The Ritualist believed in himself at this moment. His skill was approaching the Journeyman ranks, but had been bottlenecked at Student eight for a long time. The ritual he had in mind sprang into existence in front of him as mana and aspects poured out, finishing by feeding the blood into it as a targeting mechanism. As the ritual flared to life, a matching set of rings appeared around the berserk Rhinosealus.

“Keep it within the rings for a minute! Just one minute!” Joe's voice rang out in a clear, concise commanding tone. He wasn’t sure if his companions were listening to him, or if they were simply doing their duty and attempting to push the beast back, but each time the Rhinosealus surged forward, they would shield-bash it back as a unit, twenty to thirty Dwarves at a time in perfect synchronization. The entire time, spells were flying, weapons were singing through the air and flesh… and monsters, humans, and Dwarves alike were dying.

“...fifty-seven... eight… one minute!” The Ritual of Containment that Joe had desperately mustered snapped into place around the boss, ethereal tendrils of mana seeping into the flesh and blood of the colossal creature as well as the bones of the world underneath of it. A blood-curdling scream of rage erupted from the creature's mouth as it sensed the unfamiliar magic taking hold, causing it to convulse in a movement pattern closer to the seal portion of its makeup.

The twisting, undulating motion forced the Dwarves to reposition, and the Boss escaped the encirclement. Despite the ritual's insatiable appetite for its stamina, mana, and vitality, the creature pressed on, undeterred by the draining effect that constantly intensified the farther it strayed from the containment circles. “I absolutely cannot believe that worked…!”

“Really? If you had no faith in it, why did you do it?” Jaxon gently tapped Joe's chin with his fist, “You need to believe in yourself more! Now pardon me, I'm going to see if I can fix that Penguin’s back since I have so much experience with their bones.”

The job wasn't done, and the Rhinosealus was on the loose. Hundreds of Dwarves abandoned their post, chasing after the rampaging creature and leaving a hole in the back lines of defense. Joe went with them, most of his time chasing spent in the air as he reactivated his Omnivault off of every surface he touched. The creature was making a straight-line shot at the Town Hall, building up momentum to the point where Joe was unsure if they’d be able to stop the juggernaut even if they did manage to get in front of it.

“Come on, come on! Go down already!” He could practically see the Stamina drain, as the trio of energies steamed off the beast with every step that it took—siphoned back into the ritual itself to further empower it.

He could see that the ritual was having an effect on the beast, as it was incrementally slowing down. Even with having failed to hold the rhino among the Dwarves, Joe felt a cocky grin arrive on his face unbidden—pride filling him at that moment from the fact that he was able to call upon that ritual while having last studied it two worlds away. “One of my oldest ever rituals, but that one really stuck in the ol’ noggin. Maybe I should rename this one to ‘Ritual of Reliability’. First saved my rear when I captured Cel, then against the warden at the Well of Shadows, and even stayed useful enough against Gameover so that I could provide a constant power source for Tatum.”

Still, agitation replaced his exaltation as they quickly neared the only building this creature had to destroy. Joe's mind raced, seeking a solution that could turn the tide of this battle. The melee had devolved into chaos, and his risky gambit of precise timing and coordinated efforts was failing to produce results. At this point, he could only hope that the Rhinosealus would activate the Ritual of Slaughter and get turned into charcoal before managing to outright destroy-

*ZZzt!*

An oversized arrow slammed into the front left knee of the creature, penetrating into place just as it came down on that foot. The unexpected wound sent the creature stumbling, arresting a large portion of its momentum. It didn't fully go to the ground, managing to continue its charge at a lesser speed. Yet, it was enough of a reprieve for the front ranks of Dwarves to catch up and begin harassing the creature, attacking its rear legs: the only place they could easily strike while moving at this speed.

For a fleeting moment, the Rhinosealus staggered under the onslaught, its formidable defenses tested to their limit. It roared in fury and defiance, eyes shining with an icy fury. Blow after blow struck with precision, exploiting its weakened state. Even though it possessed a remarkable vitality, something Joe wished to have for himself, the creature’s mighty frame quivered; strength and resolve weakening… approaching a breaking point.

A Dwarf used his companions as a launchpad, flying into the air above the boss monster. He reared back with his oversized hammer so far that he nearly toppled backward, before clenching his abdomen muscles and bringing the weapon over, around, then down onto the still-frozen skull of the beast. While the boulder-shattering strike didn't kill the creature, it did force its horn down. The natural weapon caught in the ground, causing the Rhinosealus to catch and flip forward; up into the air for multiple seconds due to its enormous frame. With a resounding *crash* and a mushroom cloud of snow and dirt, the boss collapsed to the ground. Mere moments later, it succumbed to its injuries as a continuous deluge of attacks rained down upon it.

Congratulations! You have participated in slaying a Boss monster: the Armored Iceberg Rhinosealus! Rewards will be calculated at a later date, now go and finish this A.I.R.-raid!

Silence descended over the immediate area as the warriors relented in their assault, heaving for breath and allowing cautiously optimistic smiles to appear on their faces. Joe even heard one of them scoffing as though they hadn't all just gone through a rigorous trial. “Hah! Only one more of those in this entire assault? Or something like it, I suppose. Why’d we ever worry about upgrading to Town rank?”

Those words were met with a roar of approval as the majority of Dwarves shoved their weapon-bearing hands into the air.

It was simply a matter of poor timing that one of them used his offhand, and the tower shield he was raising was able to be used as a jump-off platform for a lone Penguin. The squawking beast had managed to maneuver past the less-dense group of defenders and approach the otherwise occupied Legionnaires focused on the Rhino.

Joe watched in horror as the Penguin spiraled through the air, its beak striking the stone of the Town Hall. The whip-crack sound of stone breaking filled his ears, even as his heart sank. Not because he was worried about the structure. No, he knew there was no way that single Penguin would be able to take it down before they destroyed it. The Ritualist inhaled deeply and held his breath so that he didn't scream as he watched the ritual he'd placed onto the Town Hall spin up and activate.

His last-ditch trap card was being used for the first time, and Joe wavered between interest and intense annoyance. The air crackled with arcane energy over the next three seconds as the carefully crafted Formation-enhanced ritual hummed with ramping-up collected power. Strange beads flew to it from all around the Village, so fast as to be nearly imperceptible. “What is… could that be the markers that the ritual put on the beasts that went by them?”

Any further questions were forced to be held, as five unaspected circles of magic snapped into position in the air above the Town Hall, their chaotic energies tamed and channeled into a single purpose: exploding into rampaging fire.

Joe fell to his knees, gripping his skull as he didn't have any hair to try and rip out. “Noooo! That's so expensive! Don’t go off now, there's only fodder creatures left!”

The ritual cared not for his petty anguish. Its purpose was clear, and its requirements had been met. Now there was nothing that could stop it from unleashing torrents of raw power against the marked targets.

Even the sky itself seemed to ignite as a torrent of flame cascaded down, fluid and majestic like molten gold; searing the air around it. With a blinding intensity, the flames coalesced into a radiant beam of heat and flame as it surged forth, aimed at the offending Penguin that had dared to fulfill the final requirement. In an instant, the already-almost-dead avian was engulfed, the flames engulfing its feathery form with screaming heat as the Dwarves beating it dove for cover. The creature was reduced to nothing but smoldering cinders in an instant, as the lion's-share of the power contained in the ritual was emptied into it.

But the majority of the power being gone didn't mean it was completely used up. As the initial blast dissipated, the residual energy fragmented and scattered, morphing into a dazzling field of fireflies. Thousand-degree sparks flew together and formed countless fireballs, each pulsating with fiery brilliance. They shot out, leaving trails of rapidly-refreezing vapor as they arced through the air.

The sky became a canvas ablaze with trails of vibrant light, leaving after-images along their parabolic paths. Seemingly slowly, the bolts rained down upon the battlefield, each ball of fire greatly reduced in power due to expending the energy to move, and survive in the arctic chill. Sounds of combat were replaced by various cries as feathers were lit ablaze, hair burned, and fat sizzled; a symphony composed of the clash of fire and flesh. The attackers could only scream in terror as the relentless barrage from an element they had never before been exposed to decimated their ranks.

Scents of burnt ozone, hair, and cooked meat lingered as the last echoes of the ritual faded into the night that seemed somehow darker after the incandescent ritual vanished. Joe let his hands drop to the side as he released a long, unwilling sigh. “That's what I get for wanting to test it. At least it turns out that Socar had the right of it… I would've never figured out how to convert it to fire like this without adding additional components or some kind of alchemy. So, I guess I've got that going for me… which is nice.”

He could only watch as the ritual slowly stopped turning, then winked out like a burst soap bubble as soon as it was out of either targets or energy. Joe's eyes trailed down to the first Penguin that had been crisped, grimacing at the mere ashes that remained. “Super effective, but not much in the way of material left if we burn them. I suppose it's called the Ritual of Slaughter, not the Ritual of Easy Butchery and Material Collection. Live and learn, I guess.”