Battle at the Rune Formation (Part III)

"I'M GONNA MINE YOU!" Eo started slamming the tips of the pickaxe into the rock. Because the pickaxes were a lot more dense, he could only summon about two of them.

Sadly, the picks got stuck when it got wedged in between the crevices of the rocks. Eo watched in disappointment as the picks melted from the heat.

"What are you doing, Eo?" Seraph kicked the corpse of the Zyuhrin-type off to the side.

"What—you're done already? You must be a pro."

"Thanks, but in that case, you must be a newbie. Look, the enemy is still trying to kill you."

The Magmus-type slammed a leg into the ground. Dozens of cracks spidered out of the impact point, racing towards Eo. Eo ran backwards..

"Eo, that's not how you're supposed to dodge…"

"I-it's how I do it!"

The Magmus-type roared and spat out a giant ball of lava. Seraph zipped towards it and kicked at one of its four legs.

The leg gave way, and the Phase IV momentarily stumbled. During that time Seraph thrust her lance into the monster's chin. Each and every move was happening so fast that it looked like a blur to Eo and Reya. The Phase IV didn't seem very fazed though. It just started emitting a violent light, and the amount of heat it was emitting increased tenfold.

"It thinks I'm a close combat fighter, so it's trying to ward me off with its heat. Too bad for the Magmus, because I can also shoot from far away."

Seraph notched another glowing bar of light into her bow and fired. An instant later, the monster got hit by an extremely thin line of light. Sure, it was creating craters in the monster's rock carapace, but the amount of damage done was still comparatively pathetic given the Phase IV's towering size.

Reya unleashed a flurry of lightning strikes. Each blast of lightning seemed to slow it down a bit, but it wasn't enough. Suddenly the back of the creature opened up, exposing the lava-ish sea underneath. Dozens of flaming boulders fired out, arcing in every direction all around it.

The half melted rocks rained upon the trio. Reya suppressed a scream as a piece of white-hot rock singed her back badly. Both of Seraph's legs were badly burned from contacting the monster, something she didn't expect from touching the Magmus-type for barely three seconds in total. Eo was running in circles with his hair on fire.

"Eo, you look lame."

"AHHHHHHHHHH MY HAIRRRR!!!"

Suddenly the Phase IV stopped attacking and just stood still. The trio also stopped in their tracks. What was going on?

"Shh." Seraph said. "Can you hear it?"

"No," Eo said. "My hair is on fire."

Eo slammed his head into the dirt to put out the fire. While his head was in the ground, the vibrations of deep rumbling travelled to his ears. Eo's eyes widened.

"Nevermind. I can hear it."

"What?" Reya responded. She heard a "Mnvmermnd. Ngkon zhrvit." from Eo. (His head was still in the ground.)

What Eo had heard was the movement of a vehicle. A tank had rolled up. It raised its barrel to the Magmus-type, and fired.

Seraph and Reya watched in awe as the remnants of the Magmus-type's head rained down. The body of the Phase IV wobbled for a bit before falling down and hitting the ground with a giant thud.

Several soldiers got out of the tank, rifles aimed at the trio.

"He's right there. Execute him."

Reya pulled Eo's head out of the ground and pushed him off to the side before bullets could hit him.

"Eo, what are you doing?! RUN!"

Eo looked around in a panic before seeing the soldiers in fatigues shooting at him. Eo started running, synthesizing a shield over his back in the process.

The tank's engines started up, and started rumbling towards them.

Seraph grabbed both Reya and Eo. Eo scooped up the essence-filled scrap metal. Suddenly Seraph's body glowed slightly, and then she zapped away from the place, carrying both Eo and Reya with her..