The Primal Hunter Chapter 1251 - Second (Final?) Phase

Maybe taking out the Guard Captain prior to eliminating every Elite Guard turned out to be an error, yet Jake harbored no remorse for his choice. Even though this move might have intensified the challenge beyond necessity, he didn't see it as negative. Actually, ramping up the difficulty could only heighten the thrill, right?

Had they been genuinely overwhelmed already, such a step would have been foolish, but neither Casper nor Jake had unleashed their full potential so far. Not even close.

Down on the floor, Casper attempted to dispatch a handful of additional Elite Guards, yet they abruptly withdrew as a unit toward the sky beam and the ziggurat. Jake fired shots to drop some, but the relentless surge of energy from the ziggurat diluted his strikes, allowing the guards to cluster and repel them effortlessly.

The Risen chose not to pursue attacks either, opting instead to ascend and join Jake in the sky to observe the shift in phases.

“You good?” Jake inquired of the undead. Casper had sustained injuries, sure, but Jake truly couldn't gauge the extent, given that the Risen's form didn't appear vital to him.

“I’m fine,” Casper replied.

“How about Lyra?”

“I’m also fine,” the ghost responded courteously. “Thank you for asking.”

“Please, it’s the least I can do when we’re fucking up Minaga’s dungeon together,” Jake remarked with a grin, shifting his gaze to the ziggurat that continued to burst forth with energy inexplicably.

“Can you see what’s going on inside that beam?” Casper questioned.

“Not clearly,” Jake denied with a shake of his head. “But I sense we’ll discover it shortly, as the power is waning.”

True to Jake's words, the energy flow diminished, and moments later, the beam vanished completely, exposing the Formation Master, who lowered her hood at last and pivoted to confront the assailants.

Jake felt certain she was female, though to be fair, distinguishing genders among this peculiar race crafted by Minaga proved challenging. It held no relevance anyway; their vulnerabilities remained the heads, with key organs mostly housed in the torso.

The Formation Master regarded them, flanked by all surviving Elite Guards. “You are too late, brave adventurers! My work here is complete, and all that awaits you now is death by my hand! Now come! Face a master of formations!”

Minaga’s dubious script-crafting stayed predictably awful, to the point Jake believed it intentional. Casper appeared somewhat mortified, prompting Jake to offer a sympathetic grin.

“It’s okay, we can finish her quickly and not give her time to speak too many more lines,” Jake assured, aiming to soothe the Risen.

“We both know her death dialogue is going to be even worse,” Casper exhaled as the curse energy swirling about his frame grew denser. “But yeah, let’s finally let loose and hope there’s not a third phase.”

“I doubt there will be,” Jake dismissed with a shrug. “This is just a mid-tier boss, and Minaga will definitely save a third phase for the final boss of the dungeon.”

“Unless the last boss has three phases and then another hidden phase,” Casper noted.

“Nah, something like a hidden phase is something you can only do once, and seeing as this place is part of a series of dungeons, he’ll have saved that for the final boss of the final dungeon,” Jake asserted confidently.

“Good point,” Casper agreed with a nod. “You know, seeing you know Minaga so well, maybe you should-“

“Fools, I shall allow you to strategize means to defeat me no longer! Behold, my power!” the Formation Master bellowed intrusively from the ziggurat's summit, cutting them off.

True enough to her declaration, her aura erupted outward, while streams of magical script traced along the ziggurat's flanks. These energy lines seeped into the gray sand composing the chamber's floor, blending seamlessly.

At the same time, the Elite Guards' armor ignited with glowing magical script, and in unison, they drew guns that evidently drew enhancements from the Formation Master's efforts.

Anticipating the imminent assault, Jake and Casper veered apart, evading a barrage of bullets targeted at their prior positions. From below, the sand stirred and surged, propelling toward them simultaneously.

Jake and Casper evaded cascades of sand and bullet storms alike while evaluating the chaos. To clarify, Jake sidestepped all threats flawlessly, whereas Casper absorbed minor strikes occasionally, deflecting numerous bullets as well.

Per their prior plan, they abandoned the defensive stance soon after. Casper initiated, his aura surging dramatically, revealing activation of what Jake presumed was a distinct secondary enhancement skill, apart from the curse-based one employed earlier.

Jake recognized this alternate boost too, as turquoise energy radiated from Casper's form, his aura faintly mirroring Lyra's. Their fusion took effect instantly.

Casper ceased evasion, permitting a sand wave to traverse his now-phased body harmlessly. Bullets likewise passed through him, inflicting partial harm from their embedded energy, yet Casper scarcely registered it as he lifted an arm.

Spectral energy coalesced around him while he conjured numerous cursed wooden stakes that swiftly drew in his ghostly power, the essences combining as Casper and Lyra had merged.

Through sheer will, he propelled the stakes downward at the ziggurat, compelling the Formation Master to intervene personally by wielding a staff and thrusting it earthward, invoking a formation that birthed a vast translucent shield.

The stakes collided with the barrier collectively, fracturing it extensively as they embedded partially. Casper thrust his palm ahead, unleashing an energy pulse that drove the stakes deeper, shattering the shield and directing them toward the Formation Master.

Yet, five Elite Guards swiftly positioned to shield their leader, each brandishing a script-imbued shield from the Formation Master, enlarging them considerably.

They thwarted Casper’s assault effectively, and the Formation Master retaliated by manifesting an aerial magic circle that twisted and compacted into a enormous spear forged from tiny runes.

Just as she prepared to launch it, a blast engulfed her with a spray of blood as an Elite Guard lost his right arm entirely. Jake, far from spectating idly, had persisted in eluding bullets and sand surges until seizing an opportunity to disable another guard.

The Formation Master, sustaining the spear's charge with one hand, swiveled toward Jake and gestured with the other, summoning more gray sand around him. Four pillars rose and morphed into script-veined hands, bolstering their resilience and might as they sought to seize Jake.

Emulating Casper's approach, Jake ceased restraint. He ignited Arcane Awakening fully, alongside Pride of the Malefic Viper to counter the advancing hands.

Upon nearing, the hands halted abruptly, and with minimal effort, Jake conjured multiple arcane bolts that riddled and detonated them, freeing him to target the true boss.

He swiftly gathered an Arcane Powershot and felled yet another Elite Guard moments before the Formation Master hurled the massive spear at Casper. The Risen aimed to evade it solely, but the boss augmented with sand to restrict his mobility.

Compelled to defend, Casper extended both palms toward the spear. The atmosphere rippled, and upon impact, a ghostly energy barrier materialized. The spear pressed against it without breaching, the wall yielding elastically to deflect the weapon mere inches from Casper.

Observing this, the Formation Master snapped her fingers, detonating the spear into a volley of lesser spears aimed at the unprepared Risen. Several pierced his phased form, inflicting real injury.

Amid the fray, Jake eliminated two additional Elite Guards and maneuvered to isolate and assault those he'd knocked from the ziggurat's peak.

Casper seemed more irritated than wounded, channeling greater might to erect a grand magic circle behind him. Rather than deploying it, he invoked further blight-laced cursed stakes, launching them at the Formation Master and obliging her guards to protect her, granting Jake extra moments.

With his enhancement at peak, the Elite Guards struggled against Jake's amplified velocity, enabling him to thread curved arrows through armor seams, allowing poison to infiltrate deeply.

The Formation Master persisted in casting spells, primarily at Casper, as the Elite Guards fired at Jake or shielded against incoming arrows and stakes.

In short order, Jake dispatched three more Elite Guards, each kill simplifying the subsequent ones. The survivors fared poorly too, since even parrying Casper’s strikes proved detrimental, as they burst into curse- and blight-laden fragments.

Nevertheless, for all their progress, neither had landed a blow on the Formation Master yet. Jake noted the prior blood and blast hadn't touched her, halted by an unseen barrier hovering over her robe.

Striking her directly remained impossible, with Elite Guards sacrificing themselves willingly, likely influenced by the magical scripts adorning their gear.

Regardless, Jake preferred eliminating the guards before tackling the Formation Master. In his quiver, another Protean Arrow readied, tipped with Eternal Hunger since melee wasn't required. Thus, when she stood vulnerable, he'd eagerly consign her to the Guard Captain's destiny.

Soon, all fifteen Elite Guards lay defeated or dying. With Jake and Casper at full throttle, their prowess eclipsed prior displays, overwhelming the guards as curse and blight sapped their strength, and Jake's arrows and toxins finished them off.

Their synergy proved effective, and Jake almost wished for a debuffer like Casper in his Nevermore Party. Still, he wouldn't trade any current members, and though Casper shone independently, his raw damage fell short.

Sufficiently, it secured Casper the last guard kill via a stake to the neck. At last, only the Formation Master endured, exposed atop the unscathed ziggurat that bore no marks from the battle.

“Damn your interference! I seem to have underestimated you, adventurers, but make no doubt, you shall still die this day!” the Formation Master declared, Jake wincing preemptively as she elevated her arms. “My comrades may have fallen, but their spirit and desire for victory shall live on through me!”

Jake refrained from labeling the ensuing event a third phase, though interpretations varied. The slain Elite Guards' and Captain's armor glowed anew with prior scripts, levitating from scattered spots toward the ziggurat's apex. Fragmented pieces joined, amassing above the Formation Master.

The armor contorted and reshaped into a four-meter humanoid figure. Weapons disassembled and reformed into a hefty rifle and sword. A luminous flash heralded the birth of a fresh entity, which Jake promptly Identified.

[Summoned Armor Golem Guardian: lvl ???]

“Go, my Guardian, slay these adventurers and show them the folly of their actions!”

Obeying instantly, the Guardian lunged at Casper with startling swiftness, its sword swing revealing formidable power. The Formation Master crouched, pressing palms to the ground to conjure a magic circle and deploy further spells... or so she intended.

Jake envisioned a swifter conclusion, spotting the unguarded Formation Master with no cause for delay.

“Event Horizon.”

Briefly, Jake's vision drowned in void as he perceived the Event Horizon. The Formation Master froze mid-action, eyes wide with primal fear and bewilderment.

Yet Jake fixated solely on his invoked Event Horizon, and as the vision faded leaving the encircling light on his mark, he drew his bow and sighted. Frantically, the Formation Master redirected the golem toward Jake over Casper, but the Risen discerned Jake's ploy and triggered his rear magic circle.

It unleashed a flood of Lyra-like ghosts that engulfed the golem, while Casper deployed explosive traps around it, chains erupting to restrain the construct.

Jake sustained his Arcane Powershot charge despite the Formation Master's finger aimed skyward, firing script spears that impaled his torso. He held firm without flinching.

In desperation, the Formation Master cried out, erupting the ziggurat floor; her accumulated formations dissolved into one colossal spear she flung at the hunter without pause.

Jake remained unmoved outwardly, though he had no intent to endure this strike. Targeted at his chest, he opted against evasion or resistance, instead subtly weakening his guard.

Precisely to provoke his danger sense intensely upon approach, as planned. With peril imminent, time dilated, letting Jake seize control. Though Arcane Powershot hindered motion, he gradually shifted aside from the spear's path, maintaining the charge.

Time normalized, the spear whizzed harmlessly by Jake, its velocity preventing the Formation Master's recall before it cratered the Grand Labyrinth wall.

Bewildered, the Formation Master gaped as Jake deemed his shot primed. He released the string, propelling the Protean Arrow laden with all accrued Hunting Momentum.

Then came her ultimate ploy: through a final ritual, she recalled the hampered golem to her despite Casper's bindings. It promptly fused its arms into a towering shield, interposing between them and the arrow.

However... no obstacle could halt the arrow's trajectory to the horizon. Though swift, the Protean Arrow arced flawlessly past the golem, hitting the stunned Formation Master, frozen by a timely Primal Gaze preventing response.

The impact centered on her chest, hurling her from the ziggurat into the void. Her personal barrier exceeded Jake and Casper's expectations in durability, briefly resisting the arrow.

Upon wall collision, the abrupt halt propelled the arrow through the barrier, splintering it utterly. Eternal Hunger's tip embedded in her flesh and the Labyrinth's metal, pinning her fast.

The Formation Master lifted a hand to form a minor magic circle, spurring Jake to ready another arrow. But before release, her arm slumped inert, eyes dulled, vitality ebbed, and the golem crumbled into scrap metal heaps.