Attack of the Frauds

"Well well well, why don't you look at that, Isabella?! This bastard had a summoning artifact—and he pulled it off because you told me to come with you. This is all your goddamn fault." Said Pocchi, pulling out two daggers from his inventory.

"My fault? You're the one who left the dagger inside his thigh! You were careless as always, you fool."

Pocchi grinned, visibly nervous from the sweat trailing down his face, "Shit, now our plan went down the fucking drain. This bastard managed to summon a Wraith Spirit, we're definitely gonna fucking die, there's no doubt about it."

Bertram took a step forward, summoning a large halberd, and dashing toward the spirit, "Haaaaah!!!" He lifted his weapon into the air, swinging it downwards.

The spirit managed to evade the attack, silently disappearing.

"Huh? Where did it go?!" Questioned Pocchi.

"Above you, Bertram!!" Isabella yelled, catching Bert's attention. He lifted his halberd above him, blocking the scythe that descended down.

"Tsk... damn! This bastard's strong, I can't hold him off...!" Bertram was pushed to his knees, steady holding the weapon above his head, "Grrrr!!"

"Hold on big guy, I gotcha!!"

Pocchi dashed towards the grim reaper, holding his daggers in front of him, and lunging in quick precision. 

He slashed with one of his weapons—creating a long gash across the spirit's chest as his other stabbed the Wraith in the head, "Pain Incision!"

"Hruoooaaahh!!!" The spirit released a deafening banshee cry as it felt its body being overwhelmed with a brutal status effect.

"Heh, as I expected. The pain status effect is one of the strongest in the game, even a Wraith Spirit can't resist it. We might be able to kill this son of a bitch!"

"Heyaaah!" Bertram pushed the grim reaper away, jumping back to get distance, "Huff... I can't believe Pocchi's Pain Incision worked."

"No... something's off." Muttered Dorothy.

"Huh?" Bertram glanced at her, confused.

"The screams aren't coming from the Wraith Spirit. They're from the souls that it absorbed." She lowered her brows. "Whenever it's attacked, it sends the pain and status effects to the absorbed souls it consumed, preventing its annihilation." 

"Say what? Then how the hell do we beat this thing?" Cried Bertram.

"We must continue attacking it until it runs out of souls—that's when we can do damage." 

"Alright, you heard Dorothy! Let's attack together, and take this spirit down, once and for all!" Shouted Isabella.

"Hell fucking yeah! We getsssssss some action!" Viper fang and his long tongue extended from his mouth—hissing like a snake whenever he spoke.

"Let's show 'em who's boss!" Honora slammed her fist into her palm, showing a wry grin.

"...I hope we can do this, together." Archibald held onto his short sword, preparing for their frontal attack.

"Move out!!" Isabella dove right into action, flying through the air with determination to win, "Let's see how you deal with this." She extended her arms to the side, conjuring blue flames within her hands, and merging them together, "I, who stand in the full light of heaven's gate, command thee, who opens the gates of the underworld. Come forth and destroy my enemy! Bring wrath upon evil, in the name of God. Divine Gift, Heavens Flames!!" 

The blue fire inside Isabella's hands would shoot forward in a torrent of flames, immersing the spirit in its otherworldly heat.

"Incredible, that's Lady Isabella's divine gift, Heavens flame." Archibald watched in awe, dropping his jaw, "It allows her to infuse her attacks with the flames of heaven, bypassing the enemy's elemental resistance."

Gifts are rare abilities known to reflect the user's will, and can manipulate the laws of reality to an even higher degree than magic, however, a gift must be awakened through intense emotions, willpower, and or near-death experiences. 

Once a person awakens their gift, it can be either useful or utterly useless. It depends solely on RNG within the game.

"Darn it, why does she always get the chance to look so cool? It's not fair that she has a Divine Gift! Those things are hard to obtain." Murmured Honora.

"Alright, everyone, release your attacks!!" Shouted Isabella.

"On it!" Archibald lifted his blade into the air, "Seraphic Augmemt!" He utilized Celestial magic, enhancing his weapons with divine properties to deal devastating blows to the enemy with holy attacks. 

"This should do it!"

Archibald dashed forward with his weapon infused with a bright light—slashing it towards the Wraith, and releasing a crescent of holy energy.

"Take this!!"

It collided with the spirit, causing the souls within it to wail.

"My turn!!" Honora was already above the Wraith, cocking her fist back, "Let me show you the skills of a fighter!!"

Honora's player class was that of a fighter.

Her intrinsic skill "Limit Break" allows her to remove the limitations of her body, amplifying her strength and speed as a result. 

She's able to adapt and overcome attacks by gaining resistance to their effects (only if they're within her level range).

Honora dove toward the Wraith, landing a solid blow into its forehead, "Fools action!" She used a Debuff spell that cancels out other magic for a short period of time—preventing the enemy from using any Aether.

Dorothy only watched, unable to help them at the moment. She was a Necromancer without any offensive spells. She felt useless.

"Eruoaaaahhhh!!!" The souls within the Wraith wailed, feeling their essence being washed away.

The spirit would retreat.

"Where do you think you're going!?!" Pocchi lunged at the Wraith, skewering his daggers into its backside, "Try this one! Pain Incision II!" 

He used a superior version of Pain Incision, amplifying its effects greatly.

The spirit viciously spasmed, feeling the souls inside of it vanquish.

"Again!" Isabella conjured the flames of heaven, launching it forward once more.

"Teeyaaaahh!" Honora once again lunged into the air, kicking the spirit into its skull.

"Seraphic Augment II!" Archibald used a superior version of his previous spell, amplifying his attacks even more.

They all bombarded the Wraith with frontal attacks, forcing it on the defensive.

"Is that attack ready?!!" Shouted Isabella, turning around to face Bertram.

"Yeah!" Bertram was in the background this whole time, holding his halberd, and charging immense mana inside of it, "I'm gonna hit this sucker with everything I got!" His halberd started to shake from the amount of mana gathering inside, swirling with magical power, "Everyone, get out the way!!" 

Dorothy, Honora, Archibald, Isabella, and Pocchi moved—

"Here goes nothing..." Bertram dashed forward, holding his weapon with two hands, "Take this you pile of shit! Colossal Demolition Break!" He lifted his halberd into the air, swinging it downwards with all his might.

A massive burst of magical power would collide with the spirit, causing a gigantic explosion.

It pushed everyone away, scattering the chairs and tables within the cafeteria from the enormous shockwaves.

"Guwaaa!!!" Archibald screamed as he flew away.

"Aaaahhhhh!" Honora was launched backward.

"You… brute bastard!!!" Pocchi was tossed into the air.

"Guh... such power!" Isabella managed to resist the gust of winds via flight.

"That was close..." Dorothy summoned a large undead knight, hiding behind it for protection.

"Huff… huff... huff..." Bertram was unable to see the spirit from the huge smoke screen in front of him, "Did I get him?"

"...I hope it's over!" Cried, Isabella.

"Such power... is this the strength of the phantom mutiny?" One of the players in the cafeteria muttered.

"They killed a Wraith Spirit! They're truly the strongest in our guild!"

"...Huh? Bertram, watch out!!!" Isabella cried, catching everyone's attention.

"What?" Bertram glanced to his side, seeing the scythe swing his way.

DING!

But luckily, somebody stood in front of him.

It was the undead knight, who managed to block the scythe with its shield.

It saved Bertram but exploded as a result. 

The gap in strength was obvious.

"…I was about to die." Bertram ran away, gaining distance between himself and the spirit, "T-Thank you, Dorothy! I owe you my life." He fell to his knees, dropping his weapon as he panted in exhaustion.

"I-It's no problem... I'm glad you're safe, Bertram!"

The dark-skinned man looked up at her, flushed in his cheeks, "You're amazing, Dorothy. Without you, I'm certain I would be dead right now."

"O-Oh, uhm… I don't know how to respond to your words, but I'm just glad you're okay!"

Bertram closed his eyes, chuckling.

("I never knew how beautiful Dorothy looked up close, she's like an angel; sweet, kind, and timid.")

Bertram grasped his halberd and stood back up, catching his breath, "I will be the one to protect you!" He moved in front of Dorothy, jabbing his halberd into the ground to keep himself up.

"B-Bertram, you're exhausted... you shouldn't continue fighting! Your mana points are low! You only have 20 MP left!"

"Hmph. Only twenty? That's more than enough to continue."

"B-But, it's not like you to keep pushing yourself when you know your limits!"

"Limits? I'm a Barbarian class! We surpass our limits in battle, that's part of our intrinsic skill. Don't worry about me, I'll make sure we get out of this alive."

"Hey, you dumbass, you just used your strongest move! If you keep on fighting, you'll surely end up dead!" Shouted Pocchi.

"Yeah, what Pocchi said, don't be so stupid, Bertram." Proclaimed Honora.

"You need to rest while we handle things from here." Yelled Archibald.

"Rest? Fumu," He snickered, "You guys didn't even notice, huh?"

"Notice what?" Asked Pocchi.

"Viper Fang left. He's chasing after Legolas after he managed to sneak past us. That elf is going after Alice and Jacob."

"What? Since when?" Exclaimed Isabella.

"The moment you activated your divine blessing, everyone focused their attention on you, and that's when Legolas took the chance to escape." Said Bertram.

"W-Why didn't you say anything?" Asked Isabella.

"Because..." He lifted his halberd, placing it on his shoulder, "I was preparing my attack, and I didn't have time to focus on him." He grinned. "But don't worry, Viper Fang caught on and managed to chase after Legolas; let's hope he catches him in time."

"Damnit all!!" Shouted Isabella.

"Hey, he's about to attack! Pay attention to the goddamn Wraith!" Yelled Pocchi.

"Let's finish this bastard!!" Exclaimed Bertram.

"Right!" (Everyone)