‹Allo, I’m gonna back off for a second to regroup. Hold off on Dark Sphere until I get closer again!›
“O-okay!” chorused the three Allos.
I veered away from the Origin Matter to regroup and avoid the Dark Ray downpour, then calmly closed the distance again. Three more Dark Spheres shot toward the Origin Matter and exploded.
It was working… We were steadily chipping away at the Origin Matter’s HP. The fact that its skills were split between Allo, Treant, and me was a significant advantage for us. But because I was focused on evading, I couldn’t deal as much damage either. One simple mistake would be enough to completely throw our advantage out the window.
So far things were going almost exactly as planned. We needed to widen our advantage as much as possible here, and then deal some massive damage to finish it off in phase three!
‹Hmm…? What’s that stripey pattern mean?› Treant wondered.
The curtain of Dark Rays thinned as the swirls on the Origin Matter’s surface began to change again, flattening out into straight lines. I’d thought I could identify the different swirl variations and their associated skills, but this one was new. I backed off a little, just in case it was something I didn’t expect.
Then a Dimension Slash tore through the air right past me, grazing my right shoulder. I lost altitude for a moment as I righted myself.
‹Tch! I let it hit me! Damn.› If it was just a regular Dimension Slash, I should’ve just dropped down to avoid it instead of backing off. Dimension Slash could hit at nearly any range; backing off wouldn’t do anything to help avoid it.
Another slash appeared in the air right above me. What? It’s spamming Dimension Slash?!
Unlike Dark Ray, Dimension Slash’s damage relied on attack power, meaning it was both weaker and cost a decent amount of MP. This wasn’t a skill I’d choose for rapid-fire attacks. All those Dark Spheres must’ve pissed it off…
The barrage of Dimension Slashes continued. While less numerous than before, the Dark Ray storm was closing in behind me as well. Every movement, every dodge mattered. The Origin Matter’s featureless spherical shape gave no indication for when it was about to unleash a Dimension Slash, making it that much harder to evade.
I knew that if I messed up even once, it could hit Allo or Treant. Allo could endure one hit, but she’d still be knocked off me. My only choice, I realized…was to take the Origin Matter head-on. That way I could at least keep the others safe.
I flew up and spread my chest wide in midair, facing the Origin Matter. The next Dimension Slash tore through my body from jaw to abdomen, immediately followed by a Dark Ray. I leapt to the side but couldn’t dodge it completely; the ray sliced my side open, scales dropping to the ground below.
“M-Master Dragon!” Allo cried.
‹I’m fine! It wasn’t that much damage!› As long as I managed to avoid a direct hit from Dark Ray, I should be fine.
I immediately dove down at a diagonal to make some distance and used Regenerate and Hi-Rest to heal my wounds and restore some HP while I gathered myself.
It was a good thing this fight was happening in the air. Even when I took a direct hit and lost my stance, I could dive down to get away, and there were a lot more directions for me dodge out of the way. It’d have been a lot harder to avoid the Dark Ray and Dimension Slash combo on the ground.
Part 4
AFTER BACKING OFF to regroup a little, I soared higher again and returned to my original circling around the Origin Matter, avoiding its Dark Rays as I went. Those two hits had almost wiped me out, but I’d managed to recover quickly. I’d been expecting to take hits that hard during this battle at some point; not everything could go smoothly, after all. But the fact that the Origin Matter went off script from its usual attack patterns to unleash a barrage of Dimension Slashes at me was a worrying sign.
Its attacks weren’t that strong; it just caught me off guard last time. If it tried that again, I was sure I’d be able to keep the damage to a minimum. But if it kept on mixing up its attack patterns, I might be in trouble. If I dropped my guard, the Origin Matter’s rapid-fire Dark Rays could drain my HP in an instant. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on evading if it suddenly decided to throw a bunch of Dimension Slashes in a row into the mix. It’d found a way to break through our steady maneuvers.
Was it time to move to phase three? No…not yet. Phase three would drain Treant’s MP really fast. If we ran out of MP before we managed to take it down, we’d have to retreat and heal up again. It wasn’t time yet. We needed to wear it down with Allo’s Dark Spheres a bit more first.
We did just that: kept our distance and let the three Allos batter the Origin Matter with more Dark Spheres. The Origin Matter responded with more single- and multi-attack Dimension Slashes, but by quickly dropping and rising in the air, I managed to avoid them with only a few grazes to show for it.
‹All right… We’re starting to wear it down a bit. There were a couple of close calls, but nothing too weird.› As soon as the words left my mind, though, the Origin Matter’s patterns began to swirl randomly again.
Tch! Another round of Dimension Slashes?!
While this attack pattern felt arguably good for us, given its high MP cost, the real issue was the fact that it disrupted our own attack sequence. On top of that, if I made a wrong move, the Dark Rays would end up turning us into pincushions.
‹Going up!› It was faster and easier to dodge by diving down, but if the Origin Matter anticipated that I’d always go down, it could offset its Dimension Slash to hit me.
I shot upward, dodging through the Dimension Slashes and Dark Rays as I went. Even so, the slashes grazed against the ends of my wings and limbs.
Ugh. Given the circumstances, I’d just have to deal with a little damage here and there…but this Dimension Slash onslaught sure was annoying. It was way less efficient than Dark Ray, so it shouldn’t have done much even if the Origin Matter spammed it over and over. But it seemed like it was getting fed up with us too. Maybe it thought that if it kept going it’d wear us down eventually.
‹Okay! I’m diving down!› I called to Allo and Treant before swooping into a dive. The Dimension Slashes chased after us, managing to land a few heavy cuts across my back and abdomen.
A few Dimension Slashes landing wasn’t the end of the world, though. It was definitely much better than a direct Dark Ray hit. On top of dealing damage, Dark Ray would damage my skin, which meant I’d have to spend a lot of MP on both healing and regenerating my damaged body parts.
To avoid this, our best bet was to keep some distance and take time to regroup. Fortunately for us, the Origin Matter didn’t seem too keen on closing the gap and attacking us relentlessly.
Dorothea
Species: Origin Matter
Status: Mad God, Reaper Seeds
Lv: 140/140 (MAX)
HP: 3952/5524
MP: 4271/6535
O-okay. We’ve knocked out about a third of its HP.
Splitting into three Allos with Dark Kaleidoscope meant three times the number of attacks, which depleted Allo’s MP reserves far faster than usual. She was bound to be getting low. But we’d made good progress.
After we regrouped, I’d have Allo make one last push, then move on to phase three and take the Origin Matter down.
‹Ah…Master? Just ahead, there’s…something strange happening,› Treant piped up.
I shifted my gaze. Ahead of us, a black mist was beginning to form in the air. For a moment, I was confused.
Then it clicked.
‹Is that…a Wormhole?!› I knew Wormhole was in the Origin Matter’s skill list, but I’d almost forgotten about it.
I’d always thought Wormhole wasn’t that useful because it was slower than moving normally. But it was choosing to use Wormhole to move instead of chasing me so it could catch me off guard! With my attention divided between dodging the Dimension Slashes and Dark Rays, I’d noticed the black light that formed at Wormhole’s destination too late.
It had been using Dimension Slash over and over, depleting its MP, to herd me toward the Wormhole without me noticing it!
The Origin Matter emerged from the black mist ahead, unleashing Dark Ray as it went. At the same time, the Dark Ray it fired before going through the Wormhole approached me from behind. We were stuck in the worst possible pincer attack.
I clenched my teeth. I’d really underestimated Wormhole’s usefulness. If I’d been more on top of things, I could’ve avoided this. I never thought I’d end up getting impaled with Wormhole!
I dove at full speed, careening left and right at random, desperately trying to avoid the Dark Rays above us. But these evasive movements were more a prayer than anything; it was impossible to fully grasp the Dark Rays shooting down at me from both front and back.