“Let your warmth suffuse us, gathered in your loving embrace. Through you we endure, and in enduring grow strong. Your power fortifies our bodies, beating back the presence of decay. Let us share your care with the world, as we [grow] in your name.”

--Overheard Prayer. Church of Constitution. AC 1239.

Dodge. Strike. Dodge. Strike.

The pattern continues as minutes pass. The monster outweighs me and is stronger, but I still hold the advantage in speed. Even with his flowing attack, I'm able to move out of the way and haven't been caught up in grasping tendrils. I'm holding off on using skills as much as I can, trying to conserve mana. As the last strike hits, I repeat the same motions, breaking away and ensuring I don't get caught up in the creature’s attack.

"ENOUGH!"

The guardian roars, spreading his arms wide. I back up a little farther and assess the damage. Continuous crisscrossing lines are localized around his two legs. I keep aiming at the same place, trying to cut through a limb, but with the dynamics of combat I'm unable to hit the same place each time. My claw holding the shield gently shakes, the fatigue building from deflecting the glancing blows. I taunt him,

"Is that all you got?"

And he charges once more.

Okay Crabby, dodge. Deflect glancing blow, swing the sword. Disengage.

Wait.

The guardian isn't following through on its attack. I expected it to flow along with his strike, try to swamp me in tentacles. That's not happening, and I scramble away as it lifts its foot off of the floor. I continue scrambling backwards as it slams his foot down, and the entire mass follows, becoming a circular wave of flesh that swarms in all directions. The peak of the wave is too high and I'm not moving fast enough to dodge.

Jumping off the floor, I throw my sword and shield forward, using the momentum of the throw along with [Water Manipulation] to propel me up and back into the water. I clear the attack and as I descend back down, I'm already reaching for my earth, trying to reform my armaments. As my skill billows into the ground, I realize something is blocking me and a piercing pain is the only response I receive. The wave isn't receding, the circular impact continuing to spread along the floor and coating it in the monster’s flesh. There is nowhere to land, and I hover as the tendrils cover the arena.

Okay.

There is a thin layer of guardian covering the floor. It can't reach me up here, it doesn't have enough vegetation to reach. But similarly... I don't have any way to attack it. As we reach this strange impasse, I take a minute to catch my breath. I try to figure out what the enemy’s strategy is here and as I focus, I realize.... he is continuing to heal. My claw jerk reaction is to charge and stop it but I reign that impulse in. I know that as soon as I do, he will try to swamp me. I look through my skills.

[Sever]? No.

[Earth Manipulation]? Blocked.

[Mana Manipulation]? Useless.

[Water Manipulation]? No...

Wait.

I hover in the water, my tension rising as it lays there menacingly. I remember the pufferfish from the dungeon and the swarm of jellyfish above. Could I?

I engage [Water Manipulation] forming an image in my mind. Slicing, cutting, impact. I pull from my experience with [sever] and [slice] before it. As I form the idea I get a sense that I don't quite have the ability to pull it off. I grit my mandibles, looks like I'll have to make up for skill with strength then. I start pumping mana into the image, holding it close in my mind as I reach my claws in front of me. I open my pincers and touch them together, peering through the triangular gap. An image floats unbidden from the Akasha, a human speaking a strange language, "Ka... me... ha..."

No. Focus Crabby.

I banish the thought and focus on the mana gathering. My claws and mind shake from the effort and as it grows too strong to control, I let it go.

A piercing beam of water rockets from me, streaking downward to impact the enemy. The force of the beam cuts a furrow and as I sustain it, I'm driven upwards towards the ceiling. Mouths erupt from the monster’s flesh as it screams and in a fit of spite I move the flow of water around, the beam cutting into and silencing the guardian’s cries. As the mana pours from my core, I feel my reserves begin to empty. Before it bottoms out, I cut the beam off, gasping from the strain of that much magic. As I pant in the water, I'm able to get a clear view of the damage.

Criss-crossing cuts have streaked through the monster, and it lies motionless on the floor. A small portion of it seems to still be alive and as I watch, it slowly reforms into a small figure, about my size. It's shaking in pain or anger, I can't tell which and as I watch, it reaches out towards the dead matter around it.

I don't think so.

I brace my legs and kick off from the ceiling, pushing myself to reach him before he can reconstitute. I'm swimming as fast as I can, swimmerets pounding in the water, my claw forward. The monster has bent down and has a hand in the dead flesh surrounding him. I can see pulses as it starts to consume. We've locked eyes and he reaches up a hand to stop me. The guardian manages to say,

"You'll never wi..."

Before my claw impacts its hand and [sever]'s it in two.

The force of my impact slams him to his knees and he gives up on trying to heal. I pull back my claw to attack again and realize... I'm stuck. When I cut his hand in half, the remaining pieces of it wrapped around my claw and is holding me in place. Panic rising, I swing with my other claw, trying to tear off his head. As my claw swings forward, his other hand reaches out, catching that one as well. I'm still floating in the water, my momentum nullified. I don't have any leverage to pry him off. He kicks a leg back into the dead flesh and starts to absorb once more, holding me in the water. His grimace slowly turns into a smile.

"This is the end."

I wrench my claws back and forth, trying to [sever], trying to break free. Even in this reduced form, its strength is higher than mine. There's a twinge in my thoughts from what I'm about to do. But I don't see any other way. I just hope I've recovered enough.

"Sir."

"Sir."

"Sir."

The guardian cocks his head, confused.

"What are you doing?"

I feel a sharp pain in my soul as I pull my remaining mana to bear.

"SIR CRABBY! HOOOOO!"

'ding

Sir Crabby’s Music has been applied

Effect: +30% increase to STR, DEX

Effect: 1 minute remaining

Strength surges through my limbs and the guardian’s eyes widen. I force my pincers open and snap them shut, cutting the tendrils holding them in place. He recoils, his hands in ruins as I lift my claws high above...

And [sever] him in half.

'ding

"You have defeated level 51 [Corrupted Guardian Giant]"

Congratulations!

You have leveled up X6!

You are now level 44!

You gain +12 to all stats!

I collapse onto the floor, panting in exhaustion. I try to see if I’m injured, but frankly EVERYTHING hurts. I let the music fade and feel out the edges of my mind space. The golden burn where I last used the skill has grown. As I approach it, the damage floats in my mind. All the recovery I’ve done thus far, nullified by overextending myself. My stamina and mana are low and above everything else...

I'm just tired.

From the fights down here, to the racketing tension, to everything that has happened thus far. Even Luna...

LUNA!

I get to my feet and turn towards where she was being held. Whatever [Binding Agreement] did must have worked because the fleshy kelp has released her. I swim forward and gather her in my arms, pulling the remnants of the impaling kelp out of her wounds. I realize she is unconscious and I gently shake her,

"Luna? Luna? Wake up!"

As I speak, she seems to come around,

"Wha... Crabby? What's... what's happening?"

"Come on now. We have to go. Snap to it Luna. Teleport out of here."

She quickly gets her wits about her and looks around to the shredded enemy. She says, with a tone of awe,

"You... you managed to defeat it?"

"Yes, but that's not important right now. What's important is that you go. Come on the enemy is..."

"IS WHAT CRAB?"

A pounding voice shakes the water. It reverberates in my shell, and I rock gently back from the force of the vibrations. The tendrils of kelp around us slowly recedes, falling into the floor and disappearing from sight. All around is the enemy, teeth gnashing, writhing in anger. There I see a swarm of piranha, their fins churning in the water. A company of crabs snip their claws menacingly in the water. Swordfish, puffers, clownfish, an entire legion of rotting evil is facing us down. I try to figure out where the voice emerged and realize with a sinking dread that it came from ALL of them. They're all speaking at once with the fury of the damned. I wearily say,

"I thought we had an agreement. I won, so you have to let us go."

Thousands of monsters laugh in unison, and I shiver. They speak,

"Did you think it would be that easy? The guardian did let you go. Unfortunately, that has nothing to do with the rest of us. And besides, I don't need your knowledge anymore. I figured it out."

My stomach drops even further, and I start slowly backing away.

"Did you think you would be able to hide it from me? I felt your soul at the battles conclusion. You reached for power that was not yours and was burned for it. You still have yet to recover."

I take a couple steps more, moving slowly, trying not to indicate my panic.

"And now the game has ended. I'll kill you, sink the army into the rift and destroy the city. Their souls will empower me to break this blasted barrier and then I can get back to more important things.... like destroying the planet."

I turn to Luna and whisper,

"Go, you have to escape."

She stares at me with despair.

"I can't. The kelp drained me of mana. I can hardly move."