Skill-Eater: Prison World Saga-Chapter 52: Deadly Demon

As the crew crept toward the demon’s glade, Edge reviewed their plan one final time.

They would open with an alpha strike, hitting the monster with their strongest ranged attacks before it knew they were there. Fortunately, Fox had a magitech device that could cloak the crew’s presence during the approach. Its reservoir of silver aether would only last twenty seconds, and the effect would end the moment that someone attacked, but the tool would let them get into position, ready their weapons, and prime their skills.

Step two was launching a barrage of consumables to distract the demon. Then everyone would assume their primary combat roles, although Jumo had been warned to focus on evasion rather than taking the monster’s attacks head-on. Edge would be joining him on the front line for this engagement, keeping the creature busy while the others dished out damage.

Mel was on hit and run duty. She was planning to unleash some heavy attacks with her axe, then dart back before the monster turned on her. Snake would focus on stacking his various poisons and disabling skills until the demon was sufficiently weakened, then switch to carving it up with his lance.

Fox would offer ranged support until an opening appeared, at which point she would strike for the monster’s vitals. Ideally, her attacks would further impair the creature and hamper its mobility.

Tessa’s role was to hang back and watch for approaching monsters while keeping an eye out for any surprises the demon had in store. She would also help finish it off, once an opportunity presented itself.

Since this was a major engagement, everyone was planning to use some expensive consumables, including a range of potions and weapon oils. On that note, Snake warned everyone not to touch any weapon that he had treated.

By now, they were almost back to the clearing. After making sure that everyone was ready to do their part, Lilly reached down to her belt and pressed a button on a magitech device that was clipped beside the buckle. When she did, everyone in the crew became blurry. Edge could still make out the members of his team, but Lilly had assured him that anything that wasn’t shrouded would have a harder time sensing them.

The trail widened as it opened into the glade, and everyone came to a stop a few feet past that point. Edge was relieved to see that the demon wasn’t looking their way. He assumed it meant the device was working, since it had been staring straight at them before. He unstrapped his chakram and got ready to activate Elemental Blade, waiting until everyone else was ready to use their skills before activating his own.

The moment that the crew was in position, Fox raised one hand and gestured, signaling that it was time to assume their formation. Snake had pulled out his crossbow during the approach and treated the tip of the bolt with an ointment from a vial resting in one of the loops of his toolbelt.

Mel had her throwing axes, Jumo was casting Piercing Javelin, and Lilly had manifested a bolt in her boltcaster and primed it with Vortex Shot. Everyone took a few steps deeper into the glade, then got ready to start the battle.

Tessa unstrapped her shield and drew her sword. She signed that there weren’t any other monsters nearby, then Lilly gave the order to attack. The instant she did, Edge and Jumo ignited their cores and activated their skills. Three seconds later, a frost-rimed chakram, two bolts, a throwing axe, and an obsidian javelin shot forth from their position, just as the magitech shroud flickered and faded out of existence.

The demon’s head whipped toward them, and it let out a furious roar. Its gaze locked onto the missiles headed its way, but it only tried to dodge Fox’s bolt and Jumo’s javelin. The monster stepped out of the way of the Vortex Shot, but Piercing Javelin caught in in the chest, although unfortunately, the attack only grazed it. The other weapons landed on target, but none of them penetrated deep. That thing is insanely tough. This is going to be a difficult fight.

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His chakram deflected off a muscular shoulder, freezing a small patch of tissue in the process. Edge heard Snake mutter, “Shit, that bolt didn’t sink in far enough. I doubt that much of the poison transferred into its bloodstream.”

While Edge reached into his belt pouch, the demon shook itself like a dog to dislodge the embedded projectiles, then came streaking toward the party with blinding speed. Before it arrived at their position, a cluster of flashbangs detonated by the monster’s head, disorienting it long enough for Edge and Jumo to advance.

As they had planned, Jumo Dashed forward to meet it—the tip of his spear leading the way. Edge followed a few steps behind, prepared to cut the monster off if it tried to run past the warrior to engage the other hunters.

But in this case, his caution was unnecessary. The hulking demon was happy to launch itself at the closest target, barreling straight toward Jumo like a muscle-bound battering ram.

He came to a skidding stop and grounded the butt of his spear, just as the demon pounced. The weapon caught the creature in the torso, but the tip only scraped a gouge along its grotesque exterior instead of sinking deep. It did, however, serve to break the monster’s charge and hold it in place for a few crucial seconds.

Jumo let go of his spear and hopped back, dodging a wicked set of claws coming for his face with inches to spare. The monster turned to follow up, but before it could launch another attack, Edge was there. He had already infused his polearm with Elemental Blade and scored a shallow cut along its forearm that left a trail of frozen tissue in its wake.

Once again, the attack hadn’t penetrated as deep as he’d expected, and while the frostbite must have hurt like hell, the subzero mana wasn’t sufficient to impair the monster’s movement. “Its Disruption is weaker than I thought, but it’s using a passive skill to enhance its Durability,” Tessa reported as she scanned the battlefield.

Snake fired another poisoned bolt as Fox raised her boltcaster, ignited her core, and unleashed a second Vortex Shot. Just like before, the demon ignored the man’s missile, which bit a little deeper this time. It swerved out of the way of the powerful skill, giving Jumo a chance to reposition and retrieve his weapon.

“The monster isn’t bothering to dodge minor attacks,” Lilly called out. “But it’s smart enough to avoid ones that are infused with a lot of mana. Don’t waste your reserves unless you’re sure that you can hit. Focus on defense while Snake’s poison takes effect, then he can try to land a disable.”

With that, Jumo and Edge spread out far enough that the demon could only look at one of them at once. Whenever it turned to face one of hunters, the other would step forward and attack. Unfortunately, the monster had superior Reflex and Control. Although the men were able to land a few blows, they didn’t deal any serious damage.

Mel took advantage of the opportunity to circle behind the monster. The next time that the demon committed to an attack, she raised her axe above her head and brought it down in a wicked chop.

The monster glanced over its shoulder, but since the blow seemed like it would fall short, it looked away when Edge Double Slashed and sent the blade of his polearm sailing toward its face. The instant its horns parried the naginata, Mel ignited her core and unleashed her first skill of the fight.

“Force Cleave,” she called out so that everyone knew to stay out of the way. In the fraction of a second it took for the guardswoman to complete her swing, mana congealed along the blade of her war axe. It extended the weapon’s reach by another three feet, streaking for the monster’s hindquarter with the full power of her body behind it.

The demon sensed the mana infusing her chop at the last possible moment, but it couldn’t get out of the way. Her war axe came crashing down—force blade slicing into its muscles and carving away a strip of flesh as thick as Edge’s thumb.

The monster let out a furious scream, bracing a hand against the ground as it kicked with one hoof and lashed out with its tail spike at the same time. Mel had already darted back far enough to dodge the kick, but the tail caught her in the chest. It scored a deep gouge across her chitin-plate armor but didn’t cut all the way through.

Receiving its first significant injury infuriated the skinless monstrosity, and it was eager to return the favor. It reared up to stand on two legs, Sharpened its claws while activating another skill to create a combo, then sent them streaking for Jumo.

Edge had a bad feeling and brought his polearm up in a Double Slash, while Jumo Dashed to one side to get out of the way.

However, the monster’s second skill was something that made its claws grow, giving the crimson blades another two feet in length. One set was blocked by Edge’s dual blade with an impact that knocked him back, but the other was headed straight for Jumo’s fleeing form.

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Luckily, having one arm restrained impeded the motion of the demon’s attack, mitigating the damage Jumo took. He came away with three ragged lines carved across one arm, but the wounds weren’t deep enough to sever nerves or veins.

The crew had done well to endure this long, but the battle was far from over.