385 - The Anglerfish Demon
Jack's warning wasn't a suggestion. It was an order delivered with the cold edge of experience.
Reina and Aella took instinctive steps back. Their weapons were raised and their eyes were fixed on the grotesque display.
Ned and Barnaby hadn't climbed down from their trees. They had known that there was a chance for the heart surgery to go wrong. And staying at their positions was the best they could do to anticipate the situation.
The team could feel it. The atmosphere in the Battle Moon Realm was growing heavier. The cold and damp air grew thicker with the scent of strange flora, wet earth, and now... stinky, rotten egg.
The huge reddish moon seemed to cast a gloomier light to the clearing. The shadows of the red leaves of the trees danced wilder. Twisting the pirate’s agony into something even more alien.
The pirate's head expanded and got distorted. His jaw went unhinged. Stretching wide to reveal rows of needle-sharp teeth. His once-human eyes bulged and glazed over. Turning black and vacant.
From his forehead, a thick, fleshy stalk erupted. Rapidly growing upwards. At its tip, a bulbous, bioluminescent lure pulsed with a sickly yellow glow. Casting an eerie light on the forest floor.
His skin darkened and became slick. Covered in rough, leathery scales. Fin-like protrusions ripped through his shoulders and along his spine. At the same time, his limbs thickened. Their fingers merging into crude, webbed claws.
Crimson Shark was no longer a man now. He was not even a corpse. He had turned into a creature born of malevolent chaos. A nightmare from the deep. An anglerfish demon. Ugly. Terrifying. Huge.
As the demon transformed, Jack didn't stay still and wait. He also activated his [Incarnation Shift]. His human form morphed.
His bones groaned. His muscles expanded. His skin darkened to a reddish black color. A hulking rakshasa with thick mane. Wearing blazing [Naraka Armor].
The steamrune scalpel in his hand vanished. Replaced by the imposing, two-handed [Judgement Warhammer]. A weapon that was pulsing with a faint reddish primordial energy.
The only equipment that stayed the same was the pair of chain bracers on his wrists. The personal artifact utilizable by both incarnation. The [Chains of Vengeance] bracers.
The demon completed its transformation a few seconds later. It turned really big. Almost as big as the Crimson Mammoth they had previously dealt.
It was a hulking mass of scales and teeth. A seaborn predator out of water.
The demon unleashed wet, gurgling roar that shook the luminous red leaves from the trees. Its lamp pulsed simultaneously. Sending out an unsettling rhythm into the surrounding.
Jack surged forward in response. Directly engaging the demon. Swinging his [Judgement Warhammer] in full power.
The anglerfish demon swiped its massive claw to block. A jarring clang reverberating as steel met hardened scale. Sparks flew.
The demon staggered back. Surprised by the brute force.
Jack pressed his advantage. Not allowing it a moment to recover. His Savage Rampage martial art was unpredictable. Just like a hurricane of calculated chaos. He spun his body and brought the hammer down in a crushing arc towards the demon's toes.
BOOM!
The demon shrieked. A high-pitched, grating sound. The impact of the attack sent vibrations through its whole body. It danced around in pain as its regenerative power kicked in. Mending the damage to its toes.
BANG! BANG! Reina's dual handguns spat their bullets. Two shots, perfectly placed, slammed into the demon’s exposed gills.
The demon roared. A thick, black ichor sprayed from the wounds. But it barely registered the damage. Its scales were too thick. Its recovery and vitality too high.
Reina didn't stay in place after her attack. She used her [Absolute Blink] to teleport across the battlefield. Appearing further away. Reloading with practiced ease.
Aella, small and nimble, mirrored Reina's movements. She appeared suddenly with her [Voidfire Blink]. Aiming her voidfire revolver at the demon's eye, and pulled the trigger.
The revolver barked. BANG! A bullet of crackling purple-black fire struck with pinpoint accuracy. Hitting the demon right at one of its eyes.
The demon flinched. Its head recoiled. But its targeted eye, though momentarily clouded, quickly cleared. The voidfire was normally very potent. But against the demon,, it seemed to only irritate rather than truly wound.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Aella blinked away immediately. Appearing some distance away. Her small face was set with fierce determination.
From above, Ned also made a shot. His steamrune sniper rifle sent a lead slug tearing through the air. BANG! The shot struck the demon's forehead with a sickening thud.
But the demon barely seemed to notice. Its hide was tougher than anything else he had targeted so far.
Barnaby didn't stay silent. His fingers danced across the strings again. This time, he was weaving a different melody. A complex tune. This was the 'March of Demon Slaying'. A powerful battle song he had composed specifically for such encounters.
The notes seemed light and joyful. However, it resonated with a deep, primal energy, washing over Jack and his team. Triggering the survival instinct to protect their existence. The one that was threatened by the appearance of the demon.
Jack felt a subtle surge of strength in his primordial power. His movements became even more deadly. He swung the [Judgement Warhammer] in a wide arc. BOOM! Forcing the demon to step backward.
The demon retaliated. Its cavernous mouth opened wide. Glowing ominously. A torrent of searing fireballs erupted. Aimed directly at Jack.
Judge Jack showed surprising agility for his size. He instantly rolled sideways. Right on time. The fireballs impacted the ground where he had stood a second before. Scorching the luminous red leaves and leaving smoking craters.
As he recovered, the demon launched another special attack. Its lure, the bulbous lamp on its head, pulsed violently. A blinding flash of yellow-white light exploded outwards. Engulfing the battlefield.
Jack squeezed his eyes shut instinctively. Even through his closed lids, the light was overwhelming. Leaving afterimages burned into his vision.
He heard Barnaby cursed and Aella gasped. The others in his team were also affected by the blinding light.
Jack, however, had anticipated such situation. He had long learned to fight blind. Relying on his other senses than purely his eyes. He knew he might one day fight in pure darkness or in any other situation where sight couldn't be relied on.
He felt the tremor in the ground as the demon moved. He heard the rasp of its scales. Jack lunged. Swinging the [Judgement Warhammer] through the residual light. Aiming for where he estimated the demon's head to be.
The hammer met flesh and bones. BOOM! The demon staggered back. Jack had made a correct judgement. Without using his eyesight.
The battle raged on. The anglerfish demon, just like any other demon they had encountered, was a relentless, regenerating tank. It took the team's attacks like they were nothing.
Jack was forced to adapt his Savage Rampage. He focused on quick, powerful strikes. Trying to trigger the very low chance of true strike that his war hammer possessed.
He also used his [Chains of Vengeance]. Lashing out with the blazing chains. Attempting to restrain the demon's limbs. Unfortunately, the effect was fleeting. The demon could always pull itself free from the restrains very quickly.
Reina and Aella continued their precise, rapid-fire attacks. Their teleportation abilities made them impossible to pin down.
Each of their appearance was followed by a volley of shots. All were aimed at the demon's eyes, gills, or the vulnerable stalk of its lure.
Those attacks didn't deal mortal blows or cause severe damages. But they chipped away at the demon's astounding regeneration. Slowing its processes.
Ned, from his perch, kept firing. Aiming for the same weak points. Trying to exploit any opening created by the girls. However, his bullets felt like a nuisance to the demon. Not exactly a threat.
Barnaby's music was the unseen backbone of their offense. The 'March of Demon Slaying' went on with increased intensity. Pushing the team beyond their usual limits. Sharpening their focus. Empowering their attacks.
The demon grew increasingly frustrated by the coordinated assault. It began to use its abilities more often. Fireballs followed blinding flashes. Turning sections of the small clearing into scorched earth and disorienting light shows.
One fireball narrowly missed Ned. Incinerating the branch he had been on moments before. He scrambled to a new position. Cursing under his breath.
Another volley forced Reina to blink frantically. Disappearing in a puff of grey smoke just as the ground beneath her evaporated in a burst of flame.
At one point, Jack delivered a crushing blow to the demon's head. Striking the bioluminescent lamp just before it emitted its blinding flash.
The lamp exploded in a burst of yellow light and foul-smelling ichor.
For a moment, they thought they had achieved a breakthrough. But within seconds, amidst the demon’s enraged roars, a new stalk began to sprout from the injured spot. Rapidly growing and forming a new, pulsating lure. The demon's regenerative power was horrifying.
"Just one good hit. I just need one." Jack muttered in frustration.
He knew how to kill the demon. He had done it several times already. Demons were tough, almost immortal due to their regeneration. They wouldn't die unless their essence, their very soul, was targeted directly.
He knew how to do that. The true strike of his [Judgement Warhammer]. That was what he needed. But the low chance of true strike hadn't appeared. The luck hadn't showed any sign to cooperate with him so far.
Jack continued his Savage Rampage. A brutal dance of unpredictable destruction.
He took hits but he shrugged them off like nothing. His rakshasa form's toughness and regeneration were comparable to the demon. Keeping him in the fight almost... forever.
A claw raked across his chest. Tearing through his blazing [Naraka Armor] and hardened skin. But the wound stitched itself closed almost immediately. And the armor was recovering at incredible speed.
The demon aimed another volley of fireballs.
Jack dodged. Then he lunged. Moving faster than the demon anticipated. He slammed the [Judgement Warhammer] into the demon's side. Then he immediately followed with a backhand swing. Aiming for the regenerated lure.
The lamp pulsed, then exploded again. But this time, Jack didn't stop. He pivoted, using the momentum to bring the hammer around in a powerful overhead smash.
It was then. Just for a fraction of a second. The reddish primordial energy emanating from the [Judgement Warhammer] pulsed. It intensified, then shifted. A bright, dazzling golden light briefly enveloped the hammer's head.
It was ethereal, primal, and utterly devastating. The low-chance true strike ability had activated.
Jack instinctively knew. This was it. He wouldn't waste it.
With a roar that ripped through the cold air, he brought the [Judgement Warhammer] down. Using every ounce of his strength. Aiming for the demon's exposed head, just where the lure was trying to regenerate.
The golden glow flared. A beacon of primordial wrath...