Chapter 51 - Phantom Armor

Ash cast another of the spells they'd built during the break, Wind Shield. Rather than casting it on someone, she used it as an air cushion to stop Yarrow from striking the ground at full force. It worked, slowing him enough that he likely wasn't severely hurt when he hit the floor. He was already bleeding as it was, the burst of magic having wounded him while all but ignoring his armor.

Ash shifted her focus immediately back to the monster, needing to stay aware of what it was doing so she could react with the others. The phantom armor stood, its magic recovering the lost limb and moved as if to face Fel. Yarrow's skill should have still been active but it seemed suddenly able to ignore it, likely due to the distance between them. Fearing for Fel's life, Ash did the only thing that came to mind.

Spells hammered into the creature rapidly, striking mostly the still-exposed leg that it had just re-formed. Ash was making full use of her Spell Barrage skill to gain its attention. Deciding she was a greater threat than the little rogue whose daggers had removed its armor, the creature turned towards Ash.

While she was doing that, Gardenia cleared the status effect on on Fi and Yarrow stood, healed by Ash's spells. Ash drank a mana potion as it slowly lumbered towards her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yarrow start running towards her and tried to gauge whether or not he'd arrive in time.

As the monster pulled its axe back to swing it at her, Ash cast Earth Wall between the axe and herself. She followed it up by shielding Yarrow with Starcloak when he moved to stand in front of her, fully prepared to take another blow.

Fi's defensive spell snapped into place as the axe shattered the wall, breaking it apart into rubble that dissipated into magic. Once again, a status effect tore through the magic that connected Fi to the shielding spell but they were prepared. Gardenia cleansed her before the status effect could take her down.

Yarrow cast a spell of his own as well, bringing his own skills as a tank to bear in order to hold through the blow. Magic rolled off of the axe, forming a hand that darted forward and caught around Ash's throat.

Fel hadn't remained idle during all of the commotion, though Ash had lost track of her at some point. So, clearly, had the boss monster. Her blades sank relentlessly into openings in its armor, once more destroying the unarmored leg. Between the blades and the enchantments, it was enough. As it crumpled once more, the magic holding the armor together fell apart entirely, the boss was defeated.

The hand that had been strangling her disappeared, dropping Ash to the ground unceremoniously. Gardenia rushed forward, certain there were status effects to deal with from the struggle.

Ash stared up at the ceiling, dizzy and uncertain suddenly of her location. She didn't need to see the indicators to know that her mana had bottomed out entirely and that she had a blindness effect on her. Worse than that, though, was the twisting feeling in her magic trying to strangle her.

Holding onto consciousness, Ash realized what was going on as the blindness disappeared and she stood. She wasn't in control anymore, the Phantom Armor had a possession skill. Normally the skill would have been incredibly dangerous considering it likely targeted whoever the creature had aggro on which should have been Yarrow or Fel. Ash had definitely made herself more of a threat, though.

Gardenia was relieved as Ash stood, followed by immediate confusion as an axe formed itself of the same magic the boss had been using in her hand. She swiped it at Yarrow, far too slow considering the weight of the weapon and he dodged easily.

Fi cast Cleanse on Ash and Gardenia joined in immediately by casting Dispel. Dispel seemed to get more of a reaction and Ash's body turned towards her, dragging the axe behind it. Yarrow and Fel both hesitated, not wanting to attack Ash even if she was able to return to life. Fi had seen the effect Dispel had and cast it as well, Gardenia joining in to strengthen it with her own casting.

The twisting feeling in Ash's magic disappeared, though it left behind a massive headache. Ash collapsed again as dizziness washed over her in powerful waves that made her feel ill. Her mana was entirely gone and she was blocked from restoring it currently by the aftereffects of the possession.

Yarrow gingerly picked her up, eyes moving around the room to make sure the boss was properly defeated. Possession was a dangerous thing, they were lucky to have had not one but two powerful healers to dispel it.

As if to help soothe his worries, Fel spoke up, "Chest is over there," she waved a dagger towards the exit, "Boss is gone, Ro, you can relax," she scowled towards Ash, "Why isn't she up yet?"

Gardenia answered, her fingers sliding against Ash's neck and checking her pulse and mana flow, "Mana flow's blocked. That thing could have possessed any of us," she and Fi set to cleansing the status effect that was keeping Ash's mana at zero, "Why did it go after Ash?"

"When it hit me, it disabled my aggro skill," Yarrow grumbled, pulling out a mana potion and waiting for Ash to recover enough to be able to drink it, "It should have been after Fel but Ash drew its attention instead. Good thing for us, too, Fel's fast enough she'd have been a problem and it wasn't exactly suited to magical combat."

It took a while for the dizziness to subside, for Ash to be able to be properly aware of everything going on around her again. She tried to sit up, only for Yarrow to stop her in a familiar way.

"Fel's looked around, we've got another set of floors below us. We're going to rest in the safe zone and you aren't getting up and about right now," he nodded towards Gardenia, "Healer's orders. That thing did a number on you by possessing you and you need a bit to recover properly."