Twelve-second Deathmatch

ONE…

Ath3na raised her spear high and pointed its tip toward the cyclops, "Come at me, bro!"

[ATH3NA HAS ACTIVATED THE ABILITY [CHALLENGE]! THE DECAPITATOR HAS BEEN TAUNTED.]

At the same time as the pop up appeared in front of her, Ath3na's companions darted away from their companion who was now playing the role of the tank so that her teammates could focus on the attack.

TWO…

The Decapitator's battle-ax swung down on Ath3na's head, but she simply gritted her teeth and endured the slight pain she'd felt as the ax's thick blade cut through her incorporeal form.

"Go, go, go!" Ath3na yelled.

She watched both Black Howler and Lyghtning launch off the ground with their weapons at the ready. But Thorminator had remained close by, and she saw that he had closed his eyes and begun to chant a spell under his breath.

THREE…

Lyghtning was first to reach the Decapitator's neck, and while the cyclops did turn his red eye on her, the death ray that bathed Lyghtning in its crimson light seemed to have zero effect on the player.

This caused Ath3na to smile for she'd remembered their previous fight with the cyclops and the massacre that followed. She'd blamed herself for not being able to protect her team, but today was a different story. Today she'd do her job right.

"Deathstroke!" Lyghtning screamed just as her twin gladius reached the Decapitator's throat.

Ath3na saw red sparks erupt out of both blades, and then she watched Lyghtning cut a wide cross-shaped wound into the Decapitator's neck.

The ferocity of Lyghtning's blows caused the cyclops head to get knocked back.

FOUR…

As Lyghtning's feet land on the Cyclops' right shoulder, Black Howler soared past her in a single leap that Ath3na thought was very cat-like in its motion.

"Go get 'em, tiger," she whispered in a way that ensured no one would ever hear her for she was not one to encourage a rival so openly.

FIVE…

Black Howler drew back his claymore as he approached the cyclops' head.

The Decapitator glared at him. Its red eye blazed with crimson light. But once more, Ath3na's Spectral Aegis proved superior to its death ray.

To add insult to injury, Black Howler roared, "Devour!" and then swung his claymore forward at exactly the same time as the crimson light struck him. And it was as if his Masamune Dark Blade had become a black hole devouring the crimson light before him. At least, that's what Ath3na thought as she watched this amazing feat he'd just accomplished.

"Damn, I have to get me one of those," she said.

SIX…

With his path cleared and his enemy looking momentarily confused by what had just occurred, Black Howler twisted his wrist a hundred-and-eighty-degrees and sent his claymore slashing upward — and his target was the Decapitator's one big eye.

It was at this time when Ath3na decided she was done being a spectator. So she raised her spear a second time and yelled, "Soul Pulse!"

The soul energy poured out of her and pooled at the tip of her spear before launching into the air and splitting off into several spiritual blasts that rose up to the Decapitator's face.

SEVEN…

Black Howler's claymore cut deeply into the cyclops' eye, causing the monster to throw back its head while it screamed in pain.

At the same time, several spiritual blasts exploded onto its face, erupting in a shower of bluish sparks that burned the cyclops' skin. One of the blasts passed through Black Howler's incorporeal form and exploded right into the wound he'd cut in the cyclops' eye.

EIGHT…

The Decapitator screamed again. In its rage, it launched itself into the air and simultaneously interrupted Lyghtning's second attempt to attack its neck.

Ath3na watched her friend nearly lose her footing on the cyclops' shoulder.

"It's trying to escape!" Ath3na yelled.

"No~~ope!" Lyghtning yelled back as she clung on by the skin of her teeth. "We're coming back down… timber~~r!"

NINE...

The cyclops slammed back onto the ground and the impact of its crash caused the earth to rumble and break beneath its feet.

"Holy sh*t!" Ath3na yelled.

She stumbled and nearly fell into a wide crack that had appeared on the forest floor in front of her but she just barely managed to use the butt of her spear to keep herself upright.

Around her, more cracks appeared like spider legs streaking across the surrounding landscape.

"Thorminator!" she yelled. "Whatever you're doing I hope you do it fast!"

TEN…

As if heeding her call, the Draconic Magician aimed his rod at the cyclops that was now flailing its arms wildly in the air, possibly in an attempt to finally shake lyghtning off its shoulder. Either that or it was having a rather huge tantrum.

"Lightning Bolt!" he yelled.

A purple beam of crackling energy erupts out of the tip of his rod and streaked toward the cyclops' head.

ELEVEN…

The purple beam strikes the cyclops' face, right at its closed and already bleeding eyelid. It exploded in a shower of sparks that streaked down from the point of impact to the rest of the cyclops' upper body.

This, more than the monster's thrashing about, finally forced Lyghtning to jump off it.

"Bloody hell," she yelled as she came down. "And I was saving myself for the killing blow!"

TWELVE…

The party's attacks caused the cyclops to wobble on its feet.

"Come on, you wanker!" Lyghtning yelled. "Fall already!"

And with that prompting, the giant teetered one final time before finally succumbing to its wounds and falling over face-first onto the forest floor, causing the world around Ath3na and her friends to quake one final time.

At the same time, a notification window appeared in front of everyone.

[WARNING, THE EFFECTS OF SPECTRAL AEGIS HAS ENDED. PLAYERS WILL RECEIVE DAMAGE AGAIN.]

Ath3na waved the message away. It didn't matter anymore. They were done getting hurt by this enemy. There was just one thing left to do now.

She walked over to the Decapitator's head and noticed how faint the cyclops' breathing had become. It was a beast on its last breaths.

Ath3na climbed up to its neck and made her way to the back of its head. Then her gaze traveled to each one of her companions, all of whom nodded at her as if to give consent that she should take the final blow.

They were alive, she thought. I managed to keep them alive this time.

And with that happy thought renewing her resolve, she plunged her spear down onto the Decapitator's head.

[YOUR PARTY HAS SLAIN THE DECAPITATOR, EXECUTIONER FOR THE DEATH KNIGHT, MALEAGANT!]

This notification was quickly replaced by another one.

[CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING THE EVENT QUEST: SLAY THE FOE OF ADVENTOUR.]

Ath3na laughed after she'd read these two notifications. It was a laugh that was part relief and part hysterics and it was quite infectious. Her other three companions, all of them gathered around her, began to laugh too. They laughed and laughed until their stomachs hurt and the tears were pooling underneath their eyes.

They all heard the snapping of fingers which they now associated as a rather strange system chime that always came before something weird would happen.

In this case, the Decapitator's body, which was already beginning to dissolve into thousands of crystal shards, coalesced together to form a mountain of low-grade soul stones that made Ath3na's eyes grow wide with desire.

"Oh my god," Lyghtning breathed. "There must be at least two-hundred stones in that pile."

"Look," Thorminator pointed at the Decapitator's battle-ax. "It's growing smaller…"

It began after the second snapping of fingers, the transmutation of the massive weapon into something small enough to be just the right size for a human. Other than its size, the weapon's shape had changed as well.

The ax head was small now but the pointy end at the top of its red pole had elongated into a shape that wasn't unlike Ath3na's spear.

She walked over to it and picked up the item, prompting the weapon's status window to appear before her.

[THE RED DEATH [ITEM CLASS: EPIC] [TYPE: WEAPON] A halberd transmuted from the remnant of the Decapitator's broken battle-ax by the reaper, Morgana. Although smaller now, the Red Death retains its giant's will and all attacks made by it will have increased force on impact. Moreover, the blade that has reaped the heads of many souls remembers the ease at which it reaps, increasing its user's chance for critical blows. [BENEFITS: ATK +2, SLASH DMG + 1, PIERCE DMG +1, CRT +3, CYCLOPS BLAST, GIANT'S SWING.] Weapon can be upgraded using high-quality materials.]

"Guys," Ath3na turned around to face her comrades, her eyes alight with wonder. "Please let me have this!"

Lyghtning shrugged. A. "I don't use polearms."

"My Masamune Dark Blade's much better than that thing in your hands," Black Howler insisted. Then he caressed his claymore's blade in a loving way. "Way, way better."

Ath3na just rolled her eyes at him before she turned to Thorminator who she hoped wouldn't mind. She was right. He didn't.

"I think that weapon was made for you," he smiled. Then he pointed to the other items lying next to the pile of soul stones. "Besides, there's enough loot for all of us."

And right he was, for at that very moment, a certain pair hiding in the shadow of a nearby tree, was already in the midst of negotiations about just what exactly they were giving these new heroes.