[Skill-Eater 2] Chapter 113: Fall Interrupted (Patreon)

When the Gardener realized its Heatwave had been dispelled by Elemental Blade, it screamed in frustration.

The creature hurled its claymore in a vicious arc, bisecting an unlucky monster in the process. One-Eye and Byron hit it with a barrage of missiles, and Edge added his chakram to the mix, infusing the weapon with icy mana between throws.

“If you have any elemental attacks other than wind,” he said. “Use them now. We need to prevent the Gardener’s mana from dominating the area, so its autumn domain can’t manifest. It should be easier than overwhelming it while its magic is running at full strength.”

The jailbird nodded, using a skill that added flaming energy to his arrows while the shadowkiller dipped his bolts into a vial of ice weapon oil.

While the men fired as fast as they could, the boss climbed to its throne and picked up the immense ivory scythe—a perfect weapon to represent the harvest season. Meanwhile, Setna used her knuckle plates to batter a monster that tried to ambush the crew from behind.

As the Gardener descended the mound and began floating their way, it crooned another verse. “As summer’s heat fades away, the winds begin to rise and play. Once they start to churn and spin, a maelstrom will be born again.”

While the crew recovered from the blistering heat, the Gardener abruptly sped up, just as Setna had predicted. In between throws of his chakram, Edge applied his final coating of lightning oil, adding a second form of elemental energy to his attacks. The monster hissed as electricity discharged throughout its body, although it didn’t seem to be doing much damage.

When it arrived at their position, Edge manifested his iceblade and engaged the boss with Setna at his side. The first swing of its scythe nearly killed them both, since it was multiple times faster than any attack the creature had made until now. It tricked us by approaching slower than it had to. Sneaky bastard.

He Leapt back while Setna flipped over the approaching blade, evading death by mere millimeters. She landed lightly on her feet and followed up with a fluid combination of punches, forcing the monster to defend itself for the next few seconds.

The moment he had an opening, Edge downed the white Speed potion and the green Control potion. Then he renewed the team’s Warlord’s Mantles and ate his last piece of mana berry, filling his reservoir one final time.

After another frenetic exchange, he used Foebinder to pull the scapula shield into his left hand as the alchemical brews took effect. He knew the shield was incredibly durable and was worried the monster’s scythe could cut through his iceblade. The boost to his attributes let him react to the Gardener’s movements in time to block its blows.

Without its domain impeding their movement, the crew was able to hold their own. They endured swing after swing from the boss’s scythe—each strike so fast that the blade was reduced to a streaking ivory blur.

While the hunters were dealing some damage and kept piling on elemental attacks, the Gardener’s gem was starting to brighten despite their best efforts. In another few seconds, it was going to reach critical mass and its wind domain would manifest—at which point they were all going to die.

I need to hit it with a powerful elemental skill before it’s too late, and the creepy fucker is too agile to stab with my iceblade. That only leaves me with one option.

Edge flashed a hand signal, asking the others to keep the monster distracted while he made his move. One-Eye dropped his bow and drew his machetes, while Setna circled around and hit it with a rapid-fire barrage of jabs.

As the hunters met the boss in a fierce exchange of blows that sent splinters and sparks raining to the ground, Byron darted away and ignited his core. A silver pillar rose from the ground, then a red rope materialized attached to one end, while the other looped around the Gardener’s foot.

When it noticed the cord, the monster severed it with its scythe, creating a chain reaction that transferred a powerful shockwave into its body. “Fall back,” Edge yelled. “I’m ready to fire.”

While the crew sprinted away from the boss’s position, he reached into his pack and pulled out his spellslinger. He waited until everyone was far enough back, then raised the sights and pulled the trigger.

The crystalized spell crossed the distance in the blink of any eye, hitting the Gardener square in the back and releasing the magic it contained. A searing Pillar of Flame blossomed a heartbeat later, forcing everyone to scramble for cover to avoid being burned.

Before the monster could reposition, Edge fired another shot, causing the collum of blaze to burn white-hot as it stretched to over sixty feet above his head. He tucked his revolver into his belt and recovered his chakram, waiting to see what would happen. He doubted that the double pillar would be enough to kill the boss, although the fiery mana had neutralized its wind domain for the time being.

That had to hurt. No matter how strong the Gardener is, we’ve finally managed to deal some serious damage. He raced to rejoin the others, fell into formation, then flared his iceblade to shield them from the molten heat filling the air.

That was when Edge realized One-Eye had been wounded during the melee. Blood was running down his body from a ragged ruby gash carved across his chest. The man was still standing, but if they couldn’t stop the bleeding, he wasn’t going to last much longer.

Edge reached into his belt pouch and removed the crimson Blood-Restoration Pill, then tossed it to the jailbird. When One-Eye ate it, color returned to his cheeks and his stance began to steady.

“Thanks. I really needed that.” No sooner had those words passed his lips, than a shadowy figure appeared within the Pillar of Flame.

Half a heartbeat later, the monster’s scythe came flashing down. To Edge’s astonishment, the ivory blade cut the roaring fire, severing the mana feeding the skills the spellshots had released. Another slash and the conflagration faltered and died, revealing a smoking Gardener surrounded by a circle of charred soil.

Its mantle of fur and veil had been consumed by the blaze, revealing a skeletal form covered in the charcoaled remnants of its armor. “I think it switched from fall to winter while it was in there,” Setna cried. “I didn’t hear its rhyme this time, but instead of Speed, it’s Disruption is boosted.”

Sure enough, the monster’s scythe was covered in a potent Disruption field—so powerful that he could see it with his naked eye. “Defensive skills won’t stop its attacks,” Edge warned the others. Although Harden should still work, thanks to Counter Disruption.

The hunters moved to surround the boss, pulling back each time it turned to unleash a heavy hit. They were able to keep up with its attacks now that it was moving slower and did their best to whittle it down. The Gardener’s fighting style doesn’t match its season anymore. Maybe it’s because it didn’t get a chance to switch weapons.

Best of all, the gem in its chest was completely dull. There’s enough elemental mana filling the air to stop its domain from forming, although it won’t last much longer. This is our chance to win the fight.

Edge reached down to his bandolier and quaffed the Power potion, tracking his enemy’s position as alchemic might began flowing through his limbs. He felt extremely nauseous—the side effect of using so many potions at once—but he pushed past his discomfort and put everything he had into killing the Gardener before the window he’d created swung shut.

The team went in for the kill, using their strongest attacks while taking damage in exchange. One-Eye activated his ocular implant and let loose a flurry of blows—each slash of his machetes carving deep rents into the monster’s flesh.

From time to time, Edge saw a flash of the Gardener’s ghostly double, but it couldn’t emerge for more than a second before it was absorbed once more.

In that moment, it looked like the fight was over. The boss screamed as wounds blossomed across its body. Its gem had begun glowing a wintery white, but it was still faint. It would take another minute or two to manifest its domain, although cold wouldn’t delay its onset any longer.

That was when matters took a dramatic turn for the worse, and the fickle tide of battle flowed the other way. The Gardener hit them with a skill that sent the crew flying back, scrambling to regain their balance. Before they had time to recover, it charged for Byron and One-Eye with its oversized weapon poised to strike.

Edge had a fraction of a second to react before the boss killed both men in a single strike. Thanks to his potions and the boost from Warlord’s Mantle, he was able to make it in time. He Leapt and landed in front of the monster, forcing it to turn to attack him instead. It grabbed his shield with its free hand, shoving it out of the way and knocking him off balance.

Before he could recover, the Gardener’s scythe came lashing out in a horizontal arc, coated in the thickest field of Disruption he’d ever seen. He brought his iceblade to bear, but the ivory weapon severed the magical manifestation and there wasn’t time to dodge. The blade passed straight through Warlord’s Mantle with no appreciable resistance, whipping around to claim his head.

The monster expected its power to neutralize anything he could do, but there was one skill Edge had that couldn’t be disrupted.

Bolstered by Counter Disruption and the potent concoctions flowing through his veins, he titled his neck, opened his mouth, and Hardened his entire body. A fraction of a second later, he caught the boss’s scythe between his teeth, flaring rank-four Regeneration to heal his battered insides.

The Gardener looked shocked by the occurrence, staring down at the ivory blade trapped between his jaws. Before the monster could regain the initiative, Edge made his move.

He reached out and grabbed the shaft of the scythe with his right hand, while summoning Foebinder with his left and renewing Warlord’s Mantle. The chain of oblivion sprang free from his wrist like a viper, wrapping around the boss’s arms and binding them to its side.

He gathered every scrap of strength he had while holding the chain tight. Then Edge bent his back and drove the boss into the ground headfirst, unleashing a bone-shaking suplex. Before the creature could escape Foebinder’s coils, he turned around, adjusted his grip, and Leapt high into the air, bringing the Gardener along for the ride.

When he reached the apex of his arc, he wrapped both arms around the monster and twisted, shifting their orientation so their heads were pointed toward the ground. Then Edge executed a piledriver that slammed the monster’s face into the soil even harder than before.

The boss of the Savage Garden was powerful, but even a stage-three monster couldn’t shake off repeated blows to its brain. It wasn’t critically wounded but it was momentarily stunned, creating the opening that his team had been waiting for.

Byron dashed in, lashing out with his polearm fast as thought. With his fifth stroke, Death Mark was complete and the skull-shaped wound shaded in, lowering the boss’s defenses.

“Whatever you’ve been planning, Setna,” Edge called out. “Do it fast. This is our last chance to take the big bad down.” The woman paused for a heartbeat to gather her courage. Then her features shifted with resignation, and she ignited her core while rushing to close the distance.

Edge struggled to keep the Gardener restrained as their showdown in the Savage Garden reached its vengeful climax.