With Caelus and the Group
"So, do you have any plans on how to deal with the Dead End Butcher?" Nicole asks as she looks a bit winded. Caelus and everyone have been running in the Hollow with the guidance of Slyboo for a while, and they have yet to see the Ethereals.
"I'm going aggro, you guys either poke or deal big pp damage!" Caelus says, earning confused 'huh?!' from everyone as Caelus sighs. "I mean, I get its attention, and you guys either deal small but continuous damage or a fatal blow."
"Are you insane!? Did you forget how you ended up earlier!?" Nicole asks in disbelief.
"Nah! (Left!)" Caelus turns left and enters a spatial rift leading to another area.
"I have my reasons," Caelus explains. "For whatever reason, any Ethereals that I encounter rush towards me like a moth towards flame. That makes me a perfect distraction for that big buffoon! And let's not forget, I got an upgrade!" Caelus adds as he lifts his fire lance.
"Yeah, we really have a lot of questions about that," Nicole mutters.
"Not for me," Anby says with a frown.
"...I am a bit curious as well," Billy admits.
"Can we ask questions until we take care of the big threat?" Caelus says exasperatedly. "For all we know, we only have like few minutes before the Vision Corporation detonates the bomb."
"They plan to detonate it at 3.45 PM, one hour from now." Corin decided to speak up, causing everyone to blink at her. "M-my master is a powerful figure in New Eridu; he has information regarding any activities in New Eridu, including Vision's demolition schedule."
"So, your master's rich?" Nicole asks as her eyes comically turn into a pair of dennies, causing everyone to sweatdrop. "Once this is over, you have to introduce us to them!"
"W-wah! I-I can't! I shouldn't be telling you guys this!" Corin says as she comically tears up. "P-please forget what I said! Mr. Lycaon will punish me for this!"
"Don't worry, Corin. We ain't snitching you," Caelus says to reassure the little girl before glancing at Nicole with a look, earning a 'tsk' from Nicole.
"So..." Nekomiya says, earning everyone's attention. "You can fight, huh?"
"Oh, um...yeah," Corin says as she grips her Pizza cutter staff. "I...had to learn how to fight to serve my master. Some of their guests are... unpleasant."
Everyone instantly squints their face in disgust, understanding what she's implying. Corin misunderstood their expression and shrank in fear.
"We're not mad at you, Corin," Anby says reassuringly. "We're all mad because of the guests you mention, and we all are concerned about your line of work." Everyone nods in agreement.
"O-Oh..." Corin mutters, feeling a bit warm. Besides the other Victoria Housekeeping members, rarely people display concerns towards her. It...was nice for her.
Suddenly, they hear a shockwave from a distance, and they see a huge cloud of dust not far from them. Everyone glances at each other before nodding and rushing in the direction of the shockwave.
Today was a terrible day for one Dead End Butcher. When he was resting in the Hollow due to a lack of living beings to corrupt or kill, he sensed a powerful energy, and his body instinctively moved towards the origin of the energy.
It was a mistake it ever made in its short life, as the energy resides within a creature of unknown origin. Its destructive power terrified it, something it had never felt for a while. And for some reason, the Ether energy that it used to corrupt many living beings didn't seem to affect it at all. It was driven into the corner so badly that it activated its latent power.
At first, it was getting an upper hand as it beat the weird creature so easily, then another monster appeared. The monster was capable of shattering its shell like wet tissue, and the attack made its core crack. It uses all of its latent power, focusing on protecting its core from the monster that looks like it's going to hunt it down till the end of the Hollow. If not for the other two creatures dragging him, it wouldn't be able to survive.
Currently, the Butcher has been causing a lot of destruction to increase the Ether activity inside the Hollow, spreading the corruption faster so it could charge itself. It can feel a portion of its strength increasing, but before it could do more destruction, its body froze before it started twitching like crazy.
The Butcher roars as it feels its instinct attracted to the energy it detected earlier. The fear inside the creature continues to fight, not wanting to face the monster, but it is overtaken by its instinct. It turned and saw the creature it had fought earlier, and everything it saw had slowly turned red.
"Hello there," Caelus says with a smirk, holding the lance he had stabbed to the ground before raising his middle finger and making a 'come on!' gesture. "Miss me?"
All he got was a roar to his face.
"Round two, baby!" Caelus grins before lifting his lance and taking a stance. The Butcher slams his remaining three arms at Caelus, who blocks the attack easily. The Ethereal let out a confused growl before a blast of Ether-charged bullets hit right on its face and followed with a slash right on its shell, which only left a tiny scratch.
Anby clicks her tongue in displeasure before Corin charges with her spinning pizza cutter at the scratch, and she pushes deeper, slowly cracking the shell. The Butcher roars and attempts to slam its arms on Corin, but it howls in pain as Nekomiya stabs both of her daggers into its back. The Ethereal starts thrashing around to shake off both Corin and Nekomiya.
Corin yelps in panic as her pizza cutter was knocked off, and the Butcher's arm was about to hit her. Anby uses her body to shield the young girl, but Caelus had summoned a fire barrier to protect them. The Ethereal successfully shakes Nekomiya off, sending her flying. Caelus grants another shield to the cat girl as she crashes into a pile of rubble unharmed.
"Wow, this shield has saved my tail twice," Nekomiya mutters in surprise before giving Caelus a thumbs-up and rushing towards the Ethereal.
Billy starts raining bullets after bullets at the Ethereal, but it uses its arms to shield the cracked shell. Anby and Corin also took their chance to attack, but the Butcher's other arms kept shielding their attack.
"Oh, come on! Now, this monster plays defense too!?" Billy groans before looking at Nicole, who looks hesitant to use the rest of her Ether Bullets. "Boss, another shot would be nice!"
"Give me a break! I can't use all of them at once!" Nicole tries to argue. "If that stupid giant keeps shielding, then my shot will be useless!"
"....fair," Billy mutters as Nicole huffs. She may have a good reason, but at the same time, she had whispered a tearful goodbye to the bullet and moaned how her money was spent for nothing because she was too 'soft-hearted' to join hands with the laws for the sake of civilians.
"I'll give you guys an opening, get ready!" Caelus exclaims, getting their attention. Holding the lance's handle and pointing downward, he stabs it into the ground before the ground starts to shake. To their surprise, several magma blades emerge from the ground and pierce all of the Ethereal's arms, leaving it immobile. "NOW!"
They take action without any hesitation. Nicole launches a powerful shot right at the shells, cracking the shells even further. Anby and Corin deal a cross slash, shattering the shell entirely and exposing its core before Billy starts to fire bullets after bullets, but it is tougher than it looks. The Butcher had freed one of its arms and shielded the core with its arm, but Nekomiya had sneaked on it and delivered a double knife slash on the core, but to everyone's horror, it only managed to crack it.
"No..." Nekomiya mutters in horror, knowing she had screwed up. Suddenly, everyone was protected by a flaming barrier, and a wave of flames had started to consume the area.
"You guys have done enough. Leave the rest to me." Caelus says before pulling out the lance from the ground as fire dances around him. "Fire Lance, Activate!"
Everyone could hear the sound of the engine coming from the lance as Caelus charged forward like a speeding bullet, pointing the lance at the Ethereal's core. The Butcher attempts to shield itself but it didn't matter as the blade cuts through it like a hot knife slicing a butter and stabs through the cracked core.
Caelus halts his charge by stabbing the lance to the ground, and in doing so, a huge pillar of flame emerges and devours the Ethereal, leaving nothing but ashes. His allies are shielded from the attack thanks to Caelus's precaution of granting them the blessing of Preservation (Shield).
For anyone who asks, why didn't Caelus just use that from the beginning? Well, Caelus had made sure he read every detail regarding the Preservation Path and his lance. Despite how deadly it looks, it is still a weapon for a tank. It's meant to preserve, not to destroy. The attack damage is lower compared to his baseball and the Destruction Path, so he didn't use it when the shells were still there.
And also, the flaming pillar is very concerning. So much for Preservation not meant to destroy.
Everyone held their breath as they watched Caelus pierce through the monster, and a flaming pillar consumed it. As the fire disappears, so does the giant Ethereal. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"WE DID IT!" Out of nowhere, Billy let out a loud cheer that caught everyone off guard. Everyone glances at each other before some of them start laughing out of disbelief. Corin giggles while shaking like a leaf. Anby let out a chuckle, Nekomiya simply laughs in relief, Billy cheers while Nicole covers her ears, and Caelus laughs.
It was a crazy day for everyone, but one thing is for sure, they are all glad that the battle is over and no one is harmed.
Now, there's only one thing left to do: dealing with the Vision Corporation.
To Be Continued