"Pin it and then let him do all the big stuff… Right, great plan," Zoey muttered to herself as she approached the monster head-on. Her fellow founder got to live the easy life, hanging out in the background while she had to deal with an oversized worm trying to eat her face.

Wyrm, whatever.

Zoey was quite thankful for her skill, which boosted her durability in proportion to the overall quality of her armor, as the monster in front of her was one she very well would have been forced to flee against before her new armor, starting to scratch that ceiling of danger that anything past level seventy-four would impose even to her.

In one hand, she held her shield; in the other, a simple-looking spear. Her job wasn't to inflict any real damage, but she at least needed to poke and prod the beast enough that it wouldn't attempt to maneuver past her. Sure, she had her taunt skill, but the less she had to rely on it, the less likely they were to encounter a situation where a monster was able to shake off the effect.

"Hey, you oversized worm," Zoey shouted at the monster, catching its attention.

Not the most original, but good enough.

The dragon-snake-worm thing looked at her, a puff of smoke escaping between clenched jaws as it snorted at her.

Puff of smoke. I can guess where this is going.

Brandishing the spear, she stood in front of the monster, which seemed to appraise her, before looking away as if she weren't enough to warrant its attention.

"Oh, you jack ass," Zoey snapped as she stepped forward, thrusting with the spear.

Lazily, the Wyrm Newt tracked the path of her spear, as it glanced right off its hide, not quite scale but also not ordinary flesh, closer to the material that made up a fingernail or a tusk.

Growing tired of her provocations, the wyrm newt opened its mouth as a column of flame rushed out, swallowing her whole.

Hot!

Shockingly, the fire was rather hot.

Who would have guessed?

Be that as it may, while it wasn't something Zoey enjoyed standing within, between her armor greedily drinking in the energy from the flames and her durability, it was at the very least, tolerable.

Flames petering out, for the first time in the 'fight' –though it was hard to call what had occurred too far as a fight— the wyrm newt seemed surprised, Zoey still standing before it.

The good news was that the monster started to look at her more seriously, no longer brushing her off.

The bad news was that the monster started to look at her more seriously, no longer brushing her off.

Uncoiling from the tree, it sized her up once more, never noticing Rory, who had seemingly vanished from her senses, using some gimmick or trick in his dimensional bag of goodies.

Well, at least someone has it easy.

Making its move, the wyrm newt shuddered, as inky black splotches began spewing out from crevices in its not-quite-scale hide. As they landed on the ground, they seemed to grow, elongating into maggot-looking versions of the wyrm newt itself.

Eww.

All at once, the hound-sized maggots began to fling themselves at Zoey, a barrage of inky apparitions. Swinging her shield to defend herself, each deflection left her feeling like the protagonist out of a kung fu movie being swarmed by ninjas.

Except, rather than ninjas clad in black, it was inky black dog-sized maggots.

Totally the same thing.

As she struck out with her spear at one of the apparitions, it simply reformed around the spear before undulating its body and pulling the spear away.

The wyrm newt, meanwhile, was content with watching its inky summons deal with her; her inability to inflict meaningful damage meant she could do nothing other than withstand the tide.

Which was all fine and well; her strong counter skill built charge the entire time.

And she wasn't the only one preparing. For minutes as she fought, she had a gradually building sense that something was coming, and she wasn't let down; all at once, a surge of power washed over them, whatever method Rory had used to hide his presence failing.

And the reason for this was apparent: a maelstrom of energy overloading whatever veiling mechanism he had used.

Zoey was surprised, but not alarmed, as she had known Rory had been somewhere the entire time. The same couldn't be said for the wyrm newt, sudden alarm in its beady eyes.

Yet it was too slow to react as something whizzed through the air like a hypersonic missile, blowing past Zoey in an instant and slamming through the wyrm newt, which screeched in pain.

Lodged into its body, Zoey was able to get a better look at the missile, an oversized arrow sticking out from its body.

That had to hurt.

The wyrm's body was undulating more, and this time Zoey had a distinct sense that it wasn't the wyrm newt's doing. Something was moving inside its body, though Zoey had no idea what it might have been.

Finally, the undulating stopped as the newt appeared to suppress whatever battle had been waged inside its body, looking worse for wear.

Enraged, the monster slammed its two clawed appendages onto the ground before its body began to slither forward, attempting to chase down Rory.

"Not on my watch, buddy," Zoey growled as she activated her taunting skill, instantly drawing its attention back to her.

It and its summons. Dealing with several of the shadowy maggots was already a hassle, but suddenly Zoey was once more consumed in an inferno of raging flames, even hotter than the last time. So hot her skin began to blister and bubble, melting in spots.

Zoey only grimaced. Such injuries on Earth could have killed someone from the pain alone, but with her durability, they were like stinging papercuts.

"Is that all you've got?" Zoey said, annoyed that she had lost a good deal of her strong counter charge from being caught up in the inferno. Snatching a small vial from inside her breastplate, Zoey tossed it back, inhaling the contents in a single gulp as her wounds lessened. It wasn't a 'true' healing potion; it just borrowed from her immense durability to stitch her up faster, taking from the future to supplement the present.

It also didn't do much more than patch up her melted skin, but then that was all she was seeking for the moment.

Grabbing and drinking from another vial, only three left secured in her breastplate, she felt her muscles suddenly twitch, a swell of power that typically was only possible through her attribute inversion. It wasn't anywhere close to the boost she achieved with inverting her attributes. Still, it was notable that her typically lacking strength suddenly showed upward to a fifteen percent boost.

Partially healed and boosted, Zoey charged directly in front of the wyrm, slamming her shield into its face, only for the monster to catch the edge of it with its claws, grappling with her. It was a good thing she had taken a swig from the strength brew –technically not its name, but Zoey hadn't bothered to remember its real name— as with her unboosted strength, the monster would have ripped the shield out of her hands without even trying.

Alright, going to need a hand here!

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Her arms were aching something fierce. A battle of strength was not what she was built for, and she could already feel herself faltering against the wyrm newt.

Thankfully, Rory hadn't just up and left; instead, the man had been preparing another attack of his own. It was all because of that stupid tree that he seemed to be holding back his usually explosive arsenal, instead relying on a bow of all things as another ripped suddenly flashed through the air, only to be intercepted by one of the shadow maggots.

Unlike her pitiful spear thrusts, the moment the arrow made contact with the shadowy summon, it exploded into a black mist before vanishing entirely.

Still struggling with the monster, Zoey saw, from beneath, a skeletal-looking claw reach out, grabbing the bottom of her shield.

Uh oh.

A prehensile tail. Something she had briefly considered, but seeing it latched onto her shield was all the proof Zoey needed.

And it was also the signal she had to release the shield, as the monster yanked back with all three appendages. Had she not released the shield, she would have been yanked from her feet, lying prone on the ground next to the monster.

Instead, rather than Zoey being sent sprawling, it was the wyrm that was taken by surprise. The brief movement and distraction caused by snatching her shield blocked its view for a split second, just long enough for her fist to crack out and smash into its face, unleashing all her built-up strong counter potential in one hit.

While it would have been immensely satisfying to see her punch explode its face, the monster was far too durable for that. Anyway, she had already lost half of her charge due to being engulfed in its earlier flame breath. Now that didn't mean it didn't inflict any damage; quite a few teeth were knocked free from her strike, and it was instantly followed up by three arrows pin-cushioning its body.

With only one person close by to unleash its anger on, the wyrm was on her in a moment, rushing her and grabbing her with its sort-of-but-not-quite arms.

For a moment, Zoey was reminded of the exchange she'd had with Rory only a few minutes prior.

"It doesn't look nearly as cuddly as the rest of them," Zoey pointed out, ever the wise sage.

"What gave that away? The little arms that look like they are made for holding things down while it goes to town on them?"

Oh, I'm about to experience it firsthand.

Having caught her and unable to escape its grasp, the wyrm proceeded to shove her to the ground, its serpentine body coiling around her and crushing her, as its mouth chomped down on her shoulder. Her armor held for a moment, but it had chosen a good target, not quite as robust as other areas. Its fangs punched through after a moment as her body became pure pain, her blood burning and flesh blistering as something was injected into her body, a venom or toxin unlike any she had felt before.

An agonized yell escaped her throat as rage flooded her system alongside the magma pouring through her veins. Without even thinking about it, she activated her damage nullification skill as in the exact moment she inverted her attributes, hell bent on kicking its fucking teeth in.

The monster, which had been easily overpowering her, was suddenly thrown almost a dozen feet away. From its perspective, Zoey had been somewhat similar to the iron-shelled snails that called the floor home: a tough exterior with a nice juicy interior, with nothing exceptional outside of their defensive capabilities, which, when overwhelmed, left them harmless.

It had been very wrong.

Like an enraged bear, she stalked toward the wyrm newt. The fire still raged through her veins, but it was momentarily blocked out by the sheer rage she felt toward the monster. Had she been in a slightly saner state of mind, she would have realized the rage was unnatural, a symptom of the burning magma venom that had been injected into her that was meant to elicit a reaction from prey that would lead them to opening themselves to an easy kill.

Except Zoey was not prey. Thoroughly enraged and uncaring for her safety, she was on the monster in an instant, her fists crashing down upon its tough hide. Or what had been tough moments prior. Boosted as she was, it folded to her fists, a spongy target to tear apart. Each blow sent a tremor through its body, which had already been in a constant internal war against its flesh turned invader from the strange arrow that had struck through its body.

Now those same flesh tendrils were given second wind as her fists crashed down upon its body, unable to focus its energies on repressing the possessed, cancerous flesh that had turned against it.

Realizing the state of things had suddenly turned dire, the wyrm newt attempted to lunge for her face, only for another arrow to strike it straight between the eyes, punching into its brain. Given the wyrm newt was a rather instinctual monster that only sparingly used its brain, the damage wasn't enough to cause instant death. Even if the arrow piercing an inch into its brain wasn't enough to kill it, it was enough to cause its entire body to begin spasming. Its skeletal, clawed tail attempted to tear into Zoey's face in desperation. Unfortunately, as it shot toward her face, the enraged Vanguard grabbed the tail like snatching a flailing fish straight from a river. Then, with a barbarous roar, she ripped the skeletal claw free from its tail, tearing out a good foot of spine with it.

As much as Zoey wanted to continue to pummel the monster, a shred of sanity managed to free itself from the twisting agony and rage inflicted upon her, mentally screaming at her to shut down the attribute inversion before it was too late.

With a grunt, Zoey fell backward onto her ass, suddenly tired beyond belief. She was a sitting duck, unable to move an inch as she had overtaxed herself through pushing her inversion even while injured past the wise amount. While ordinarily that would have been a problem, being defenseless in front of a powerful monster and all that jazz, but the wyrm newt wasn't exactly the picture of health either. Even more arrows had pin-cushioned it; its tail was mangled from when she'd torn the grasping skeletal claw free, and its body was constantly bubbling from something writhing inside of it.

"My turn," Rory said as he finally appeared directly, no longer lurking at the edges.

"Ass," Zoey grunted. She didn't miss how this was almost precisely the opposite of how the battle against the Ape of a Hundred Throes had ended, with Rory the one sitting on his ass, unable to move.

What followed wasn't so much a battle as it was a butchery. The wyrm newt had taken some severe damage, whereas Rory was untouched. It attempted to bathe him in its fiery breath, only for fleshy vines of all things to erupt from its mouth like its intestines had turned rebel, forcing the monster to clamp down and bite straight through the rebelling flesh.

Rory, meanwhile, had switched to what looked like a heavy-duty machete you would use to chop through dense foliage of some unexplored forest. Except, instead of a forest, it was flesh that it chopped through, leaving long, cleaving gashes on its side, with more and more fleshy vines sprouting from the inflicted wounds.

Jesus Christ, what sort of macabre shit does he usually get into?

He had never shown this side of his arsenal off against her, for which she was thankful. She wouldn't call herself squeamish, but what she was watching looked straight out of a horror movie.

Under constant assault from the heavy machete and its own flesh tearing itself apart, the wyrm newt wasn't long for the world. Whatever other skills it might have called upon were wasted; the extreme damage Zoey's assault had caused to the monster had let the lingering 'virus' within its body run rampant, leaving it too weak and exhausted to call upon them.

Well, almost all of them. The shadow maggots were still an annoying nuisance. As irksome as they were, Rory was protected; knives appeared to fend them off only to vanish a moment later.

At last, the battle came to a close when Rory clapped his hands together, and from the ground beneath them, a giant magic circle appeared. Countless chains began to spring up, tangling up the wyrm newt and entrapping it. Healthy, the monster could have torn free. Unfortunately for the wyrm newt, it was far from healthy. Between its ravaged body and expended energy, it could only shake and shudder uselessly.

Standing above the wyrm, Rory held his hands together as if holding the handle of something. From within his empty grasp, a hilt slowly began to appear, manifesting slower than usual. Zoey could instantly tell why; the quality of the pneuma that formed the basis of the projection felt heavy, as her fellow founder was afforded the ability to direct more time and energy into the projection.

Finally, the sword fully manifested, looking rather mundane, all things considered. Without wasting any more time, Rory brought the blade straight down, piercing its tough hide like butter, and directly through the top of its head, all the way through, pinning it to the ground beneath. While an earlier arrow had pierced its brain, it had only been an inch or two, whereas the sword now cut directly through. A tier seven monster could withstand a lot, and even heal from some major wounds, but a fatal point was still a fatal point. If one could target it directly, there was no getting around that reality.

And that was precisely what had happened. The wyrm newt instantly stilled, only the rebellious flesh tendrils twitching about for several minutes longer before they too lost the ability to maintain themselves.

"Nice job," Rory finally said as he turned to face her.

"Fuck you," Zoey growled. "I feel like shit, and I'm pretty sure it took a chunk from my shoulder."

"But you're alive."

"Barely," Zoey said, pausing for a moment before sighing. "Okay, not quite barely. But that hurt like fuck."

"Think you could have handled it on your own?" Rory asked.

"Fucckkkkk no," Zoey answered instantly. "Whatever that venom was, it was wreaking havoc through me and letting it run wild through my body while my durability was inverted, was something that I could only take for a few moments. A full fight? Nah, I'd die."

"Same," Rory chuckled as he sat down across from her. "I couldn't have taken that sort of beating you took while also finding an attack opportunity."

"Bullshit," Zoey called out. "You probably would have figured out some stupid ass distraction or other bullshit with that bag of tricks."

Rory frowned briefly before shrugging.

"Maybe, maybe not. Prep time is my superpower after all." Rory said after a moment.

"That and dropping fuck off-sized meteors."

"Yeah, but I didn't want to damage that tree," Rory said as he pointed at the strange tree it had been wrapped around.

"Fuck your tree," Zoey grumbled, still feeling grouchy.

"So, you want to continue deeper into these Deep Chambers?"

"Yeah, how about no?" Zoey answered. "Even I know my limits. The first floor of these deep chambers was level seventy-one monsters, easy. This floor? Seventy-two and seventy-three. Less easy, but manageable. This little floor guardian? Level seventy-four was a bitch of a fight. Suppose the next floor is made up of monsters who are around level seventy-three and seventy-four, even if they're on average weaker monsters than this wyrm newt, well. In that case, that's going to be asking for trouble, not to mention whatever floor guardian might be at the end. No, let's consolidate our gains and come back at a later time."

"Wow," Rory said, surprised. "Wisdom, from you of all people?"

"Rory?" Zoey suddenly asked, sounding serious.

"Yeah?" Rory responded, curious as to the change in tone.

Flipping him the bird, Zoey rolled her eyes.

"Fuck you."

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