“Humaaans!” it howled in a male voice as it charged forward even faster than before! Even the density of the trees around us didn’t slow it down... It actually accelerated as it approached!
That thing’s faster than I thought! I placed my hand on the ground, and... “Bepheth Bring!”
Bepheth Bring was a spell used for digging tunnels, so if you pointed it straight into the ground below you, you could basically make an instant pit trap!
Then it was Zel’s turn. “Dug Haute!” he incanted, his spell conjuring spires of earth.
I thought we could slow Centaur down enough with our one-two spell combo for Gourry to take off one of its legs... However, it’s always important to expect the unexpected, and Centaur was closing in way faster than expected!
I’ll never forget what happened next. The scene that played out before me seemed to pass in slow-motion, searing itself into my brain.
The Centaur’s forelegs hit the hole in the ground my spell had created. And just as its front half dropped inward, Zel’s earthen spire shot up into the horse’s stomach. Naturally, it wasn’t strong enough to pierce the Zanaffar armor, and as a result...
Wooow, serious hang time!
“Aaaah!” Centaur shouted as it was arced into the air, head over heels!
“Wait?! Huh?! What?!” Even Gourry, shocked by this development, quickly backed up. Then, as the armor tumbled back downward—Slash!—Gourry struck.
Centaur hit the ground behind him. Fwoomabangkrickle! The sound of that impact, man... I mean, the guy was an enemy and all, but I still couldn’t help wincing in sympathy.
We all stood there in a moment of silence.
But Centaur, apparently still conscious, moved slightly. “You...!”
“Take this!”
Ah. Alaina with the double-tap!
Vwooosh! A giant spear—no, more like a battering ram—morphed from the ground at her behest and sent Centaur flying high again. As it did, I saw the human torso rip right off the rest of the armor.
Gourry’s slash had probably nearly severed the armor, then the force of the landing plus Alaina’s final push had finished the job, tearing it asunder. It was funny, in a way, but I felt too sorry for the guy to laugh. I wasn’t sure if we should count this as a stroke of good luck for us or a major case of misfortune for him. We were fighting and all, but damn...
The bisected Centaur clattered to the ground. The group stared at it for a moment, and then...
“Urgh...” We heard its wearer groan.
Ah, right. The wearer was only inside the torso and the horse’s forelegs! Thus, cleaving Centaur at the waist hadn’t actually harmed whoever was inside.
Realizing this, we braced for combat again. Gourry ran at him.
“Don’t underestimate me, humaaans!” the front half of Centaur shouted as it... continued lying there, splayed on the ground and twitching.
Startled by the strangeness of this behavior, Gourry slowed his charge and kept his distance.
“This is nothing! As long as I have... the power of Zanaffar... I’ll never... Ah, why is it so heavy?!”
As I watched the guy struggle, I realized something. “Hey, dude inside the armor!” I called. He stopped moving then, so I figured he’d heard me. “You know that the Zanaffar’s a living thing, right? So when the armor kicks the bucket, you’re outta luck!”
In other words, he wasn’t going anywhere, much less firing any more laser breath.
“What?” the guy asked blankly. He struggled a little longer, and then... “Damn it! In that case...”
Krsh! The armor burst open. It was apparently designed with an emergency release mechanism that could activate even if the Zanaffar died. Its wearer, released from within, stood up slowly. He turned to face us, and...
Splat! I planted the heel of my boot smack in his face with a flying kick!
After I laid the guy out, Zel got a look at him. “Cashdial?!” he cried in shock. It sounded like it was someone he knew from his time infiltrating the Forest Hounds.
“He’s one of them, right?” I asked.
“Yes. He’s quite skilled... This must be quite an embarrassment for him.”
“Yeah...” You could say that again.
Gourry looked a little puzzled. “Um... So, what do we do now? I don’t wanna just, like, murder the guy.”
“Hmm. Yeah.” I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with him either. I knew how Gourry felt, although it was going to be a pain in the neck if this Cashdial dude woke up and started chucking attack spells at us. But before we could discuss the matter any further...
“Mind Rasp!” Thunk! Alaina hit the unconscious elf with a dose of magic.
“Hey!”
“Erm, that spell deals damage to the spirit,” she explained before I could muster an argument. “He probably won’t wake up for a few days, and once he does, he won’t be able to use magic very well.”
Aha, so it’s a little like Elemekia Lance. “Nice thinking, then!” I flashed a thumbs-up.
I didn’t know how many Zanaffars were out there in total, but that was one down! I was hoping we could take the rest of them out the same way, although I was skeptical we’d be that fortunate. Cyclops had probably been watching the whole fight with his drones, which meant our next move should be...
“Incoming!” Gourry bellowed before I could decide. I followed his gaze and spotted a figure coming out of the mist nearby. The sound of Centaur’s unfortunate fall—er, his tragic defeat in combat, let’s call it—had brought one of his buddies running! I would’ve loved to greet the new arrival with a spell, but the whole magic-doesn’t-work-on-these-guys thing made me rethink my go-to plan.
What emerged from the fog looked like a walking suit of heavy armor. Its arms were thick and its waist was broad, with its head almost entirely subsumed by its breastplate. It was also totally covered in spikes. It wasn’t carrying a shield or a weapon, but if you were gonna make armor for an ogre, that’s probably what it would look like.
It had to be a Zanaffar, of course. It was gray all over with four tentacles protruding from its back, each terminating in a ruby-like object that I could only assume served as a firing port for laser breath.
This new Zanaffar—Heavy Armor—could apparently make out our silhouettes in the fog. It made a beeline toward us until...
“What?!” Crying out in shock, Heavy Armor stopped short. I couldn’t see what had caught its wearer’s attention, but I could imagine it was the remains of the Centaur armor. “Impossible! Cashdial was...”
His shock at the sight of his defeated comrade left him wide open!
“Dark Mist!” Zel unleashed his spell. This baby created enough black mist to fill a simple room. It had no direct offensive capability and although it usually manifested around a target, Zel had summoned his to the side of ours.
The appearance of encroaching blackness when Heavy Armor was already shaken was, psychologically, quite effective. The armor’s “eyes” darted that way, then Heavy Armor drew back in fear. He was probably expecting an attack from something hidden in the darkness, but he was in for the opposite. While Heavy Armor was distracted by the black mist, Gourry dashed to get around behind him! But as he closed in...
“Win Blast!”
Whoosh! Heavy Armor burst, and Gourry went flying back with it! More accurately, just before the burst, Gourry leaped back in anticipation. Two lasers struck at his feet as he landed, forcing him back even farther.
“Are you okay?!” called Tessius, whose Horns Zanaffar now appeared from the fog. He must have seen Gourry advancing on Heavy Armor and fired—not at Gourry, but at Heavy Armor itself. If he’d aimed at Gourry, the big lug stood a chance of slipping past the attack and continuing his charge. But a magical attack centered on Heavy Armor ran no risk of friendly fire and made Gourry think twice about getting too close. Smart thinking, loath as I was to admit that.
But... Tessius had just cast an attack spell. I had to wonder why his Horns armor didn’t seem to be open.
“I’m okay! But Cashdial was defeated!” Heavy Armor reported.
“Impossible! An elf of Cashdial’s caliber? While wearing his Zanaffar?!” Tessius cried in shock.
The guy in the Centaur armor was apparently highly regarded by his comrades. It made me stop to appreciate what Zel had said earlier. We probably would’ve been in for a nasty fight if we’d tangled with him head-on.
“I... saw it,” Cyclops Sagan said as he, too, now emerged from the fog. Surely he’d seen the whole thing go down via the drones that Gourry hadn’t destroyed yet. “The moment he found them, they used unspeakable teamwork. Faster than the blink of an eye...” His voice was quavering with fear.
I wouldn’t have said it was “unspeakable teamwork” so much as it was dumb luck, but I wasn’t about to correct the guy. If his drones only relayed visuals, it would mean he hadn’t heard Gourry’s grunt of uncertainty at the time. And that being the case...
“We’ve gone easy on you so far!” Strike when they’re shaken, that’s my motto! So I got straight to striking! “But if you don’t back down fast, we can’t promise any more mercy!”
Details of intentionality aside, the fact remained that we’d defeated Centaur without losing a single member of our own party in the process. If the Forest Hounds had been brave enough to come out of hiding because of their Zanaffars, seeing one of those Zanaffars defeated had to be a serious blow to their morale.