"I hadn't realized that the spider had left. So I guess distracting is no longer required."
Kyros: "Not much choice, it seems. Well, let's go, then."

Kyros leads the party into the critter tunnel, his swords at the ready. After a few minutes of walking/shuffling, the tunnel splits into two paths. One has faint sounds in the distance, the other quiet.

You throw yourself at Mist, barraging him with circular attacks from Whirlwind. You can feel your strength increasing as the strange effects of Momentum build up, and Mist looks like he's building up his combat skill as he slowly manages to block more and more of your strikes. After a few seconds, it feels like you've hit your maximum.

Out of no where, the grass in the area starts turning brown and withering.

You take a strong stance as John throws himself at you, unleashing a barrage of attacks from his halberd. The first few hits strike you hard, but you quickly learn his attack pattern and block one or two hits here and there, and after a few seconds you're fully defending yourself from the onslaught.

Out of no where, the grass in the area starts turning brown and withering.

Cihas: "I hadn't realized that the spider had left. So I guess distracting is no longer required."
"Not much choice, it seems. Well, let's go, then."

You lead the party into the critter tunnel, swords at the ready and keeping sharp for hostiles. After a few minutes of walking/shuffling, the tunnel splits into two paths. One has faint sounds in the distance, the other quiet.

"Let's split up. Red mage and I will trail the high ground while the rest of you stay low. If we see anything, they are probably gonna see us too, so I'll shoot off an alarming arrow to mark their locations."

You and the red mage pair up and traverse the plains by the high ground, while the rest of the team follows in the low ground. It doesn't take long for you to spot a large, gorilla-like beast on a hill in the distance. It seems to be facing you, and lets out a low bellow.

Red Mage: "Whelp, I was hoping we'd get the element of surprise. I probably shouldn't be wearing a red cloak, huh."

Kyros leads everyone into the quieter of the paths. Better to avoid any sort of commotion then to get anyone else injured further. After a large amount of walking in relative silence, your party stops when the tunnel is blocked by rubble, though it looks like the tunnel hasn't collapsed.

Rudo: "Hope this isn't another rock creature. Someone poke it."

Forming a giant air blade on Whirlwind, you air-dash over to where the epicenter of the withered grass is, leaping over the earthen mound to find the dagger-wielding enemy facing off with Blizzard, both of them paused in battle. Taking advantage of the lull, you launch yourself at the enemy and swing the decapitator.

The hooded woman evades the attack in a twitch, and vanishes in a blink before a powerful blow strikes you in your back, launching you into the miniature canyon you created. Whirlwind Armor feels significantly weaker, and you can feel Naomi panicking.

Naomi: Get up! Get up!

The air above you sounds of a thousand hammers striking steel in rapid succession, and you pull yourself out of the earth as fast as you can to find Aucupe standing over you moving at a blur, deflecting the rain of attacks from the barely visible teleporter.

You suddenly find yourself in a different place, on healthy, green grass instead of the earthen rift, with Horoma beside you.

Blizzard aims a palm towards Aucupe, and the enemy appears a distance from the rest of you.

You transfer as much energy as you can into Torrent while John dashes over the mound.

Torrent: Alright, that's a bit better. Let's give the others some support.

A second later, there's a sound of a thousand hammers striking steel, the sound of two weapons locked in furious combat, lasting only for a few short seconds.

You lead everyone to the quieter of the paths. Better to avoid any potentially dangerous commotion. After a large amount of walking in relative silence, your party stops when the tunnel is blocked by rubble, though it looks like the tunnel hasn't collapsed.

Rudo: "Hope this isn't another rock creature. Someone poke it."

You fire off an electrically charged arrow in the sky, aiming it to land in the low ground by the beast in the distance. Your aim is solid, and a flash of lightning erupts from behind hills, revealing the location to the rest of your team.

Several dark shapes move around the low grounds in the distance, only visible to you when they occasionally cross over a high point. The red mage begins charging a fire ball.

Red Mage: "They're heading towards us. Orders, captain?"

Black Mage: "We're ready down here!"

You form and fling as many air blades as you can, mentally alerting Horoma to teleport the projectiles to the enemy.

The target teleports herself, blinking around in numerous places, avoiding most of the projectiles and shrugging off the few that hit. MisTorrent drop it from nowhere attempting to strike the teleporter with an overhead blow, but miss. The moment you and Horoma end the barrage, the woman flicks the dagger towards the two of you.

Your vision starts to blur and you throw your arms in front of you to keep your head from hitting the ground, your breathing labored and all your muscles feeling like they're cramping. Naomi pours energy into Whirlwind Armor, but it doesn't seem to do anything for you. Horoma hits the ground as well, twitching with gasped breaths.

Naomi: "Don't die! Dontdiedontdiedontdiedontdiedont-"

Whirlwind armor starts to move on its own, flinging you and itself to the side as an explosion appears where you just were. Your vision clears slightly as you feel the armor forcing you to stand, noting that everyone else appears to be in the same condition as you, except for Blizzard. The hooded dagger-wielding woman speaks, her voice mocking.

???: "Your accomplices can't even walk straight now. What are you going to do, Fremit? What good are you without your little pawns? Are you even worth anything without the crutch of a weapon you're using?"

Blizzard remains silent.

???: "No last words? Fine then."

In an explosion of energy, the woman leaps at Blizzard, dagger swinging, only to stop as it crashes against the rapier. Blizzard's armor begins to evaporate, and then the generated clothing underneath, leaving his unmarked avatar body that you saw Atra with.

A single punch is all it takes to knock the woman back, though she recovers quickly.

Blizzard: "Overconfidence will the end of you."

The swordsman charges at the woman, deflecting her every attack and landing every blow, her dagger now seeming to exert as much force as a falling toothpick.

As the two duel, you feel Whirlwind Armor weakening, and someone grabs your arm before you fall over. The effects to your body begin to dissipate, and you look up to see the black helm and armor of Atra, though the arm holding you up seems to be covered in thicker, heavier armor.

Leaping over the mound, you aim yourself towards the dagger-wielding enemy with an overhead blow.

Your target vanishes from its position as air blades tear apart the ground it was standing on, allowing you to hit the ground and tumble over on the unsteady ground.

Torrent: You're going to get us killed.

Immediately after that, you see the enemy flick her dagger in the air, and dizziness hits you hard, keeping you on the ground while your muscles spasm and your vision blurs.

Torrent: Great. Bio magic of some sort. Hold on.

Torrential armor starts moving on its own, getting you to your feet and leaping to the side, evading an explosion on the ground where you were just lying.

Everyone else appears to be in the same condition as you, except for Blizzard. The hooded dagger-wielding woman speaks, her voice mocking.

???: "Your accomplices can't even walk straight now. What are you going to do, Fremit? What good are you without your little pawns? Are you even worth anything without the crutch of a weapon you're using?"

Blizzard remains silent.

???: "No last words? Fine then."

In an explosion of energy, the woman leaps at Blizzard, dagger swinging, only to stop as it crashes against the rapier. Blizzard's armor begins to evaporate, and then the generated clothing underneath, leaving his unmarked avatar body that you saw Atra with.

A single punch is all it takes to knock the woman back, though she recovers quickly.

Blizzard: "Overconfidence will the end of you."

The swordsman charges at the woman, deflecting her every attack and landing every blow, her dagger now seeming to exert as much force as a falling toothpick.

As the two duel, you feel Torrential Armor weakening, but the strange affects on your body diminish as well, allowing you to stand on your own two feet. John looks like he's about to fall over, but a black-armored figure appears from over a hill, rushing to him and keeping him from falling over.

You poke the rubble with an arrow.

Nothing happens.

Ettiin: "Let's hope there aren't any of 'em here."

The armored chirop begins to dig away the debris, clearing the tunnel in short work. The party heads through, and you find yourself in the same tunnel you started in, with the entrance not too far off.

I'm okay. Not gonna die. Not gonna fight that... that monster anymore either.

"Dammit Blizzard. That would've been nice before we got wrecked."

He smashes down on the enemy's head, the rapier seeming to have the weight of a lead pipe, before shouting back -

Blizzard: "Sorry! Last resort!"

"Hi Atra. Thanks for the save. That purple weapon cheats."

You then notice that Atra seems a bit, shorter. She flips the helm's visor up, revealing blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, and a pale complexion. Darla.

Meanwhile, Mist charges at the enemy, slamming her with a powerful swing that launches her off over a hill. Standing a step away from Blizzard, his armor completely evaporates in a stream of mist.

Blizzard: "That's why it's a last resort."

The strange aura around Blizzard vanishes, and Whirlwind no longer feels like it's weakening.

"Dammit Blizzard. That would've been nice before we got wrecked."

He smashes down on the enemy's head, the rapier seeming to have the weight of a lead pipe, before shouting back -

Blizzard: "Sorry! Last resort!"

You charge at the enemy, completely open to attack after Blizzard's blow, and strike her with your signature move -

"Attack the Enemy"

A simple but effective side swing, you hurl the enemy far off.

You also notice that standing this close to Blizzard, your armor feels like it's drastically weakening, and the armor completely evaporates in a couple of seconds.

Torrent: Now we're dry.

Blizzard: "That's why it's a last resort."

The strange aura around Blizzard vanishes, though the damage has already been done.

"Black Mage, get your team ready to confront them! Get in a battle formation, and face them off! And blow as many of their heads off as possible!

Red Mage, you know what to do. Blast them to hell."

You knock three arrows and charge them all with electricity before firing them at the first visible enemies you see, which is the first one you encountered. A triplet of lightning bolts erupt from the beast, leaving it a smoldering hulk, while a bright yellow light zooms towards you.

Before you can move, the light explodes against the hill you're on, throwing you back into the lowlands in a rain of earthen debris and steaming meaty chunks. Someone helps to your feet while you scan the party for casualties - everyone is present, except the red mage.

Black Mage: "Half-circle formation around the captain!

Where are they coming from captain!?"

The soldiers get into formation to provide you cover. No enemies are in sight from the low ground, but there's no doubt they're charging towards your position.