Chapter 177: Chapter 177

Arwin’s arrow streaked through the sky, cloaked in a twisting shroud of verdant energy. The Crag Lizard ripped itself free of Lillia’s bindings just as another wave of blue energy drove into it, locking the monster in place for a split second.

When an arrow was hurtling straight for it at terrifying speeds, a split second was quite some time. The Crag Lizard finally regained control of itself and attempted to twist out of the way.

It was surprisingly fast, and the movement should have taken it out of the path of the deadly strike. Instead, the arrow changed its course as [Wyrm’s Flight] activated and caused it to seek out an optimal location to strike. The adjustment was small — but it didn’t have to be more.

Instead of just scraping past the Crag Lizard, it slammed straight into the side of the monster’s neck. Scale shattered and black fragments snapped up all around the arrow as it drove deep into the creature’s flesh and wedged itself in place all the way up until just a foot or two of its length emerged.

Several loud cracks rang out an instant later as crystals sprouted from the wound, pressing against the scales around it as they tried to find purchase. The Crag Lizard roared in pain, stumbling and bracing itself against the ground with its tail as blood poured down from the wound.

The crystals were clearly digging deeper into it, but Arwin doubted they’d be enough to finish the huge beast off on their own. The Prism’s power wasn’t what it once had been, and for good reason.

Sure enough, its progress quickly slowed. The crystals jutted out around the sides of the arrow in a ring, having formed into a large growth on the monster’s neck. A shimmer in the crystals told Arwin that they were still trying to drain power from the monster, but they’d probably filled with all the power that they were currently capable of holding.

Rodrick took the monster’s momentary distraction to stagger back over to Arwin and the rest of the backline. He looked exhausted but otherwise unharmed.

There was no time to talk. That would have wasted the precious seconds they’d just bought. Arwin dismissed Prism’s Reach and broke into a sprint toward the Crag Lizard. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another form doing the same.

Reya dragged herself all the way up to the back of the Lizard’s skull, keeping her center of gravity low as it whipped its head around and tried to fling her free.

She dug her feet into the namesake craggy scales covering the monster’s body, pressing herself against it and stubbornly refusing to lose her grip. Inch by inch, Reya pulled herself closer to the monster’s eyes.

Arwin’s heart thumped furiously in his chest and he prepared to activate [Scourge] and fling himself at the monster. The slightest misstep would send Reya flying right into the monster’s mouth. Gouts of flame screamed through the air and scorched the treetops, but still she pressed on.

There were a lot of things that Anna could heal — but getting bit by something this size almost certainly wasn’t one of them. Arwin took an unconscious step forward, preparing to rejoin the fight regardless of his previous decision — and froze as he caught a glimpse of Reya’s face.

The fear had changed. It was still there, of course. Reya hadn’t gone insane. She didn’t have much training or experience to fall back on. Anyone scaling the side of a massive lizard monster actively trying to kill them would have been scared.

Fear was logical — but there were many kinds of fear. There was fear that held a warrior back and kept them from achieving their goals. There was the wise fear that kept mankind from the shadows in the darkest nights, that kept people from killing themselves fighting what they had no hope of victory against.

And then there was the fear, not of failure, but of stagnation. The drive that pushed a man to be more than who he was. It was the refusal to accept life as it was and the determination to change it.

Reya lunged. She drove Wyrmhunger into one of the Crag Lizard’s eyes with a scream of her own. The dagger bit deep and the eye burst. Blood poured out of the monster’s body and rushed over Reya, and large swathes of it curled up to flow into the curved blade.

The Crag Lizard’s mouth opened and flame started to gather in its throat. Then it sputtered. The great monster took a staggering step, then pitched forward, the light in its one remaining eye snuffing out.

Reya’s arms pinwheeled as reality suddenly slammed back into its proper position around her. She leapt off the plummeting lizard’s head, but there were still dozens of feet between her and the ground.

Arwin burst into motion, dismissing Verdant Blaze, and jumped with a burst of power from [Scourge]. He caught Reya and crashed down a second later, a tremor racing up through his legs.

“Thanks,” Reya said, the tremor of adrenaline making her voice shake.

“Holy shit,” Rodrick called as Arwin set Reya down on her own feet, keeping a hand around her back to steady her.

Anna hurried over to them, magical energy flowing from her hands and over Reya’s body. She turned her attention to Arwin before he could say anything, sending a wave of light over him as well.

Micro-fractures in his legs that he hadn’t even fully noticed knitted themselves shut and he gave her an appreciative nod. She returned it, then finished checking up on Reya. As she worked, the Mesh’s familiar colors flashed before Arwin’s eyes.

Achievement: [Overly Generous] has been earned.

[Overly Generous] – Awarded for stepping back and letting an ally take the challenge of killing an Overloaded Monster out of desire to see their growth. Power is often found whilst guiding others to it. Effects: A single delivery. This achievement will be consumed upon your mental request.

Arwin blinked the words away, and he found that the words weren’t the only thing that vanished. The body of the Crag Lizard was gone. There was still blood covering the grass around where it had been, but there was no trace left of the huge monster’s corpse — and Arwin had a feeling he knew what the delivery would be.

The Mesh is helping me get the materials out of the dungeon because there’s no way we’d be able to spend the time and effort stripping this thing down. That’s… surprisingly thoughtful of it. I really hope it’s just the scales, though.