“Everyone without Neighbourhood stars, get to the island, quick!” Raphael shouted. “And remember to close your eyes when she looks your way!”

The last few people that stayed in the pre-room until the force field pushed them out, quickly trudged through the mud to get to the cottage on the other side. There were already a bunch of people there, forming a ramshackle formation of melee fighters around spellcasters and ranged.

Only a few of them were amongst the stronger party members, including Thomas and Mr. Geruet. The rest were still spread out throughout the swamp, trying to either cover their backs with the gnarled trees that popped out of the mud, climbing into the trees to keep out of the Hag’s reach, or staying out in the open to have a clear shot of the Hag wherever she might appear.

The battle with the damned mudskipper lasted for a good minute already, and the Hag didn’t seem like she was going to slow down any time soon.

She killed a dozen of them already, and there were still people left that could be slain by her deadly gaze. But once Mr. Geruet figured out the trick, the casualties had dropped significantly.

The death stare only seemed to apply if you were frightened by her, people without the debuff didn’t even get the Second Chance achievement when she looked at them and nothing happened. And even if you were frightened and froze in place, the latter only prevented running away. People could still close their eyes or avert them, which already sufficed to avoid the odds of dying entirely.

And though it was a horrible thought to consider this a good thing, the insta-death fortunately seemed to be a risk for the weaker people only. Small was the highest level to die from it thus far and that might’ve been because it was a juiced-up version, while other high-levelled crawlers always saved against it.

Combining that with the downside of this attack; the two or three seconds that she had to stand still and glare at people, ensured that the attack was a give and take. People opened fire on her even the first few times she pulled that trick, and they were getting faster at locating her and firing at her general location. While the solution of closing one’s eyes right in front of the Boss wasn’t the safest idea, the barrage ensured that she only had a second or two to throw a knickknack before retreating.

But the Hag wasn’t letting up yet. They knocked her into the red three times already, but she broke one of the bones hanging from her waist to suck out the greenish bone marrow every time. The effects of her charms were randomised, but the bone juice always regenerated her wounds over the course of about twenty seconds.

“Guys, I can’t keep her in sight long enough!” Ben shouted from his tree branch. “I’ll have to just stab her without the extra boons!”

“Do it! You’re right, we’re not going to be able to pin her!” Thomas shouted back.

They tried, but just like those Swamp Hags from her description, the Mud Hag’s thin arms were a lot stronger than they looked. Despite Elise’s strength, she and Sam had been thrown around like ragdolls when they grappled her.

“Left is clear!” Someone shouted, followed by a low thud shaking the ground and vibrating through Darryl’s chest. But no one took any damage.

They hadn’t been that fortunate with the first explosion. Ben saw Will-O-Wisp like flames dancing around the swamp yesterday, and those turned out to be actual flames. They weren’t that hot, barely strong enough to keep themselves going. Normal flames though, those certainly sufficed to ignite the methane gas emitted by the swamp in clouds too localised to be natural.

The first explosion had been when Mandy ran through one with her flaming sword, knocking her and two others unconscious and killing a third. The second time caught the Hag as well, one of her explosive charms blowing up in her face and knocking her on her arse, and it would’ve killed the crawler she attacked if it hadn’t been for Darryl absorbing most of the damage with his Crown of Thorns. The explosions didn’t burn and they hardly harmed the Hag, but at least they managed to attack her several times before she regained her senses and retreated that time.

So, considering the stark difference of Boss damage vs casualties, they decided to get rid of these gas mines instead of using them against the Hag. People that weren’t contributing much anyway were throwing torches from a safe distance, systematically getting rid of the environmental effect.

And that was where they were now. In a stalemate, the only silver lining being that they were no longer losing.

Darryl looked around, poised to strike if the Hag appeared nearby. Behind him were Elise and Sam, and Corey wasn’t too far off.

The Hag emerged on the other side of the room, tossing a charm already grabbed in advance and throwing it at a group. The raven skull turned into a shadowy raven, which startled them for a moment before Eva pierced it with her rapier, killing it immediately.

The Hag glared again, and they quickly averted their eyes. The Hag cackled and grabbed another charm, preparing to-

“Hey ugly!” Alexa shouted.

Alexa!? What the hell was she doing here? Didn’t they leave her back at the camp?

The Hag interrupted her death glare to turn around, just as Alexa finished her attack.

“Super-awesome Fire Princess Blast!” She shouted, making the same unnecessary hand gestures as before in the Matador room. A ray of fire shot out of her necklace, striking the Hag right in the chest.

The Hag staggered back from the attack and her health shuddered, but she cackled in delight.

“A child! For me? You shouldn’t have!” She cheered, eyes full of malicious glee.

“Oh, shit.” Alexa said, and immediately made a run for it.

Raphael grabbed her before the Hag could catch up, and threw her into one of the trees. Alexa yelped and stretched out her arms to grab one of the gnarled branches, only for a massive tongue to hit her spine and yank her away.

Alexa screamed as much in disgust as in panic as the lvl7 Giant Toad swallowed her. One of her arms was still sticking out as the mouth slammed shut, trying to grab on to something but failing to drag herself out of this creature.

“Bullywully! Good boy! Come to mama and give me the child!” The Hag cheered, and the toad obliged. With large leaps undeterred by the difficult terrain, it began hopping towards her.

“Damn it, don’t fire at the frog!” Elise said. “There’s a child in there, hit the limbs only!”

“Everyone fire at the Hag, leave the toad to the melee units!” Mr. Geruet shouted.

Darryl got in front of the familiar and thrusted with his spear. The toad jumped over him, dodging the attack. He quickly turned around putting his spear in his inventory, and pounced to grapple the beast.

The toad squirmed and its slippery, aerodynamic body easily slipped out of his grasp, but Darryl managed to slow it down for just a second and made its next jump an awkward half-hop. Enough for Elise to catch up and strike at the creature.

Her bat pulverised one of its front legs, and the toad crash-landed so hard that Alexa’s health dropped a bit too. The damage was negligible compared to the continuous damage she was taking from being swallowed, but fortunately neither was going to kill her soon.

“You bully, leave my Wully alone!” The Hag screamed as she emerged from the mud and struck Elise from behind.

Elise yelped in pain and tried to pivot in the air to strike the Hag. The Hag parried her strike with her left arm and pulled an idol from her left leg. She pressed it against Elise’s stomach, and Elise cried out in pain as black tendrils spread underneath her skin.

Darryl used his Crown of Thorns, but oddly enough it didn’t work. Only hints of damage were absorbed, while her health kept plummeting.

The Hag disregarded Elise and the pebbles being shot at her as she turned to her familiar, and held out her hands. The toad belched out Alexa, and the Hag’s arms wrapped around the slimy girl. Before anyone could react, the Hag fell backwards into the bog and disappeared.

“Damn it, no!” Darryl shouted, stabbing his spear into the toad before it could turn to face him. The toad burped in pain, but Darryl kicked it before it could do anything and its health plummeted further as it flew backwards from his Spartan Kick while his spear was violently jerked out of its flesh.

Two projectiles struck the toad, and a guy with a flail struck at it. Darryl stabbed it with his spear again, and the toad died.

The Hag didn’t retaliate for the death of her familiar this time, too occupied with Alexa. She emerged from the bog right next to her little island and ran through the group of people gathered there like a rugby player through a group of toddlers.

“Oooooh, I’m going to make such a yummy broth out of you! Carrot, newt, rotwood and a hint of lavender, I think.” The Hag cackled. “Yes, that sounds good! But we need to boil you first, we do!”

The Hag grunted as Thomas hit her from behind with a Frost Bolt, followed by one of Bea’s cards and a few Magic Missiles. She opted to ignore them and the serious damage she was taking, hobbling to a large cauldron and dropping Alexa in it.

She closed the lid and kicked the wet logs underneath the pot, which somehow immediately ignited and burned fiercely with green flames. A timer appeared above the cauldron, three minutes and counting down.

The Hag turned around and ripped off one of the idols in her hair, throwing it into the group of crawlers that quickly averted their eyes the moment she faced them.

The rat skull cackled madly and began to emit green smoke, quickly prompting most people to flee from the island. Flashes of light in the smoke suggested that at least a few people were still fighting inside, but most scattered.

Then the Hag jumped out of the smoke, swan diving back into the lake.

Mocking the life and death battle that they were having, she actually jumped in and out of the swamp a few times like the world’s ugliest dolphin before jumping out and spinning around with her hands outstretched to knock down a small group of survivors.

Glancing around at them, her eyes fell upon the girl in the maid outfit and she smiled viciously. “Oh, you’re a pretty little thing, aren’t ya? I hate pretty things.”

Before anyone could react, the Hag backhanded the maid and her head twisted ninety degrees with a sickening crunch. The notification of her death popped up and the Hag dove back into the swamp before people could target her with any more spells and projectiles.

The next location she appeared at, was right next to Darryl. She emerged, threw a charm that sizzled out when it hit his shield, and then spotted the dead toad.

“Wully? Wully, no!” She shrieked. “You killed my favourite familiar! None were as slimy and ugly as him! Who did this? Who did this!?”

“Over here, bitch!” Carter shouted, and slashed at her.

The Mud Hag ignored the wound on her back and the black-feathered arrow that found her thight, and pivoted to grab Carter’s arm.

“Let go of me, you old crone!” Carter shouted, eyes widening as her other arm reached for his chest.

“Wully! This one’s for you!” The Mud Hag screamed.

Darryl quickly trudged towards the two and kicked the Hag’s shin, her legs giving out from under her as the Spartan Sandals did their thing. The Hag lifted Carter above her head regardless, and pulled.

Carter screamed in pain as his arm let loose, and the Hag tossed him aside. She struck at Darryl with her new morbid club, and Carter’s arm splattered into bits of gore as they struck his shield.

The Hag cackled and got back up to her feet, unable to submerge into the swamp unless she was standing as one of the odd prerequisites of her power.

Her cackle was interrupted when Ben appeared out of thin air behind her, stabbing her in the back. Her health dropped into the red, and Ben reluctantly touched her shoulder. One of the bones hanging from her belt disappeared, and she grabbed the last remaining one.

Darryl stabbed at it and Ben tried to grab it, but she jumped into the swamp and disappeared.

Thomas: Guys, I need some help! The cauldron is locked and we don’t have enough strength to lift or break it!

Your party member Crawler Carter Belmond just died! Bummer!

Darryl cursed and looked at Elise. He already made sure that her face hadn’t been submerged in the bog before, and now crouched over to look at her wound. The black tendrils were slowly receding, and while her health was still dropping she wasn’t going to die any time soon.

“I’ll have to borrow this for a quick minute. Hang in there, Elise.” Darryl said, before grabbing her Oni Bat. “There’s a little girl I have to save.”