The Corrupted Manticore

An arrow sank effortlessly into the manticore’s flesh as Mariel tried to establish a backline with Nemi. Hestia backed off as much as she could, and Illya got to work. “I thought manticores had scorpion tails?!” Renji shouted as he got back into the fray, watery darts flew forward into the creature. It was relentless in its pursuit, lashing out at anything that got close without greater thought or purpose beyond slaying and devouring those that stood before it. “They do! This one, though—whatever corrupted it, changed it! Look, it doesn’t have any eyes!” Swinging her mighty axe, it glided through the manticore’s flesh easily, yet that didn’t seem to stop it. Most creatures would have been blown away. This one, however, didn’t even flinch, as though she truly did just pass through it as if it weren’t there—and she made sure to visually confirm that she had indeed wounded it.

A snake made of flames came to Illya’s defense, conjured and controlled by Nemi as she attempted to minimize the monster’s movement. “Of course! That’s how it saw us! I don’t know how, but it developed life-sense! That’s why it can detect us without eyes, and see us through the barrier!” Nemi strained as the manticore struggled against the snake, causing the serpent to shatter, unable to maintain its form. Nemi attempted to focus on her next spell, but one of the manticore’s tails was already on its way. Arrows pierced the tail, throwing it off course from where it was aiming and missing Nemi entirely. “Don’t get scared just because it’s scary looking! Manticores are said to be able to use magic, but this one hasn’t uttered a single syllable! That means the corrupted has made it more or less undead, meaning it’s predictable! We can handle this!” Mariel’s observations were indeed correct. The heart of this manticore ceased to beat ages ago, one of the very first things The Dark Lord did to it when he corrupted it was stop its heart so it could no longer resist the corruption of its body.

The manticore lunged at the group again and again. Its limbs thrashed, seeking to grab someone to devour, but all that did was get it surrounded. Before Illya could go in to attempt a lethal strike, however, the manticore began to heave. Ejecting its bile on the ground before them, thick mucus and bones pooled around the creature. Nobody made a move forward when they noticed the ground rotting and melting from the abhorrent corruption that seeped from this beast. It was unclear just what would happen, but everyone knew that letting that bile touch them would lead to ruin. “Nemi! Fire!” Illya commanded, “You’re the only one with magic strong enough to put this thing down from a distance! Do it!”

Suddenly very nervous, Nemi quaked. She hadn’t had much real combat experience, and her biggest, most powerful spells would require that she spend a good amount of time to cast it. Would she be able to continue to cast her spell with that beast coming after her, even more so if one of her friends got hurt when she could have prevented it? When Illya called her name again, she knew she had no time to worry. It was do or die, just as Hutch warned her it would be. Running back far away, she lifted her staff and closed her eyes, trusting her friends to protect her.

The predatory instincts of the corrupted manticore did not miss its prey turning her back on it. Lunging to her, Renji intercepted once again with a stone greatshield, barely able to maintain his footing. The manticore’s other paw came to swipe at Renji, but Illya was swifter. With an upward swing, she parried the creature’s paw away and slashed at the monster’s face, but it did not stop moving. Both were forced to back off again when it released more bile. Mariel’s arrows found their mark repeatedly, but no matter how many found their way into the creature’s hide, it did not seem to flinch. Even when arrows struck the creature in the face, just like Illya’s slash, it didn’t react at all.

Taking a bite at Renji, he used his greatshield once more, but once the two collided, he controlled the earth to cover the creature’s face. Using that as a foothold, he climbed up the creature’s flailing body as it tried to buck him off and remove what covered its face. Holding on for dear life, Renji finally got himself stabilized atop its head. As long as he maintained contact with the stone, it would hold for now. Clearing a small space in the stone on the back of the manticore’s head, Renji lifted his rapier and brought it down, trying to destroy the monster’s brain. For a moment, it stopped, he wondered if victory was theirs—but he was mistaken. It began to buck and thrash even harder. Stabbing it a few more times, it no longer seemed to register. Smelling the foul bile coming once again, Renji leapt off of the creature and conjured another shield off of the ground. The stone around the manticore’s head erupted, carrying globs of pestilent corruption with it as it scattered over the battlefield.

“So, destroying the brain won’t stop it—just how do we defeat this thing!?” Renji clenched his teeth as the shield protected him from the bile. His shield disintegrated and fell off of his wrist due to the bile’s influence ripping away his control over the earth magic, causing him to shudder. All he could do now was trust in Nemi, and pray whatever spell she was conjuring would be enough.

However, as Renji thought about how to attack next, he heard the creature in front of him gurgling. Not like before—no, it was almost like it was trying to say something. Tension rose as everyone that surrounded the creature began to listen, but all it did was repeat the same few phrases over and over in a language nobody seemed to understand, and even if they knew the language that would not have allowed them to understand what the creature was saying through the corruption. What the party saw next, however, made their blood go cold.

They had assumed that the manticore would be incapable of casting magic because it hadn’t tried so far, but it appeared they were wrong. Manticores often used elemental magic in life, most especially wind and lightning, though they had been reported as being able to use fire when enraged. This was different. A multicolored light began to appear at the creature’s “lips,” some form of breath attack for certain—aimed straight at Nemi.

Renji was the first to realize what was going on. Moving in front of Nemi, he conjured a stone wall to protect them, but when the breath attack hit the wall began to crumble, bit by bit. If Renji were skilled enough to reinforce this wall with magic, it might have held, but as it stood he was but a novice, only capable of manipulating the earth into shapes that suited his needs. Multicolored flames shrouded Renji and Nemi as the wall crumbled, but he refused to give up. Holding the ends of his cloak, he spread his cloak wide to shield Nemi, making himself the wall—but he had failed to realize something during the panic of the moment.

This was aether.

His body was overwhelmed with energy, but though he felt he could not stand, he could not fall. Aether continued to flow into him, filling a cup that was already full yet still fitting in more. The energy became so much so soon that he felt like he was going to pop. When the breath attack finally ceased, what Illya and Mariel saw took their breath away. Not only were Renji and Nemi still standing, but Renji was glowing—literally. Dropping his rapier, he clutched at his body, writhing from a pain he had never experienced. His veins glowed white as he struggled to comprehend the feeling, but it was then he remembered Tiamat’s words: “Release it in front of you.”

Renji screamed as the light consuming his body erupted, his cloak acting like the barrel of a cannon—focusing his energy straight at the manticore in front of him. It was a powerful, painful release as the beam erupted straight from him with force enough to throw him off his feet, yet he remained inexplicably rooted. The beam of raw aether ravaged the manticore as it let out a monstrous howl, its life sense ability blinding it due to the sheer mass of aether being bounced back to it. When the attack finally subsided, Renji and the manticore collapsed, but the manticore wasn’t done yet. While Renji’s body was depleted, the manticore knew no such weakness, but even it struggled to get back up.

“It’s ready!” Nemi announced, holding her staff up high as magic circles appeared by her feet. The energy flowing through her was of similar magnitude to what Renji had released moments ago, but refined through purpose; a true magician about to show her student why she was the teacher. “Pyroclysm!” A fireball appeared over the manticore, yet it was far different to that of the Pyrovectus spell. It seemed denser, stronger, like a miniature sun rather than a mere ball of flame. It descended upon the corrupted manticore swiftly, and when the ball collided the entire area was covered in an eruption of fire as a pillar of pure flame engulfed it. It didn’t get a chance to scream, and when the flames subsided, all that was left was the charred corpse of what may have once been a beast of legend.