Garden Of The Abyss

Sweat lined his cheek, dripping from his chin as he shook both of his arms, feeling a ringing, dull ache emit through them after the potent release of nebulous lightning.

Just as he witnessed a potent aura gather around the Orc God, manifesting into an unknown magic–it was intercepted by a blast of golden flames that engulfed the orc in its entirety.

"What–?" He let out, perplexed.

Looking to the right, his eyes lit up as he saw the source of the flames; the draconic, demi-human man, accompanied by the rest of the guild recruits, and the familiar head of azure hair he could never mistake.

As the flames came to an end, the Orc God only seemed disgruntled by the sudden warmth, having held his arm up to try and defend against it before from behind, a certain, hammer-wielding priest reared back his weapon.

"Down you go–!" Felix roared out.

Smacking the blunt-side of his warhammer against the back of the orc's head, it barely budged, only seeming annoyed at the attack.

"Uh-uh…" Felix let out worriedly, faced with the angered orc.

Before it could retaliate, it was bound by both tendrils of light, and roots of darkness, giving the priest ample time to run back.

[Innate Ability: Grace of Heaven. As one who calls upon miracles, Felix is naturally inclined to unspoken miracles himself, possessing the ability to experience "miracles" in dangerous situations.]

Standing on either side of it, at a safe distance, Calytrix and Iris stood, manipulating each of their binding spells as the Orc God was temporarily restrained.

While it was held, a blitz of cobalt lightning attacked the orc multiple times, hitting his jaw, chest, and arms as Samfrey bolted past him in the aftermath of his attacks.

Joining in an inadvertent joint-attack, Archard and Memo both rushed from either side of the restrained Orc God, who fought against his light-and-dark bindings before being on the receiving end of a light-infused sword strike to the back, and a flaming greatsword, overhead swing from the front.

All of the successive attacks finally began to accumulate, leaving burn marks on the body of the orc, who ripped through his bindings at last, grunting out as he stomped his feet, caving the stone beneath his step.

"Looks like he's angry," Samfrey wiped the sweat from his cheek.

They regrouped near him as he was still catching his breath, "You're late," he said with a smile.

"Mountains are pretty big, you know," Memo explained stoically.

Archard stood in front, holding his broadsword with both hands, "By the sounds we heard when scaling the mountain, it seems you've had quite the battle on your hands."

"Something like that," he smiled, wiping the sweat from his chin as he clenched his bruised fists, keeping his blood running hot.

While they rendezvoused, an uncoordinated, yet surprisingly effective combination of spells from Calytrix and Iris kept the Orc God on his toes.

"Nyx: Cycle of The Sunless Night."

Spawning from the barren, gravelly floor of the summit, ominous, colossal plants of held-together darkness sprouted with twinkling, pale-white petals that mimicked the glisten of moonlight.

"Hyperion: River of Light!"

Flowing outwards from her pointed staff, strands of waving, fast-paced light shot out towards the orc, forcing him to dodge whilst they reversed their direction, tracking the Orc God aggressively.

While the towering flowers of darkness and moonlight surrounded the Orc God, who was preoccupied with evading the strands of light, they exuded a harsh, abyssal pollen.

The moment the black, volatile pollen met with its skin, they released into blasts of shrieking darkness.

"They've got him on the ropes!" Samfrey celebrated, swinging his fist.

"Not for long," he breathed out.

"Huh?" Samfrey paused his celebration, looking at him as the others brought their gaze to him as well.

The answer came as the Orc God seemed to grow irritated with the continuous, exploding pollen, resulting in him being struck by the quick lines of flowing light that pelted against its back.

Grunting as blood and saliva dripped from its dark lips, the orc stomped down, causing a chilling tremor to emit over the summit.

"Graaaargh—!"

All at once, the Orc God dispelled the magic around him with a flaming release of purple fire, eradicating the plants and light that swarmed him.

"...It's our turn, again," he said, walking past the others.

It seemed though they didn't hear him, Akanni and Elena were in agreement with him, as the moment the colorful flames ended, they rushed in from the right of the orc, while he dashed from its front.

As he held his fist back, coiling it in black lightning, he watched the pale-skinned orc's attention warp to him, raising its guard with both of its muscular, iron-like arms held before it.

That's right. You know those hurt, don't you?...Good, believe that then! He thought.

Swapping his stance after his fakeout succeeded, he instead manifested a sphere of darkness above his palm, flinging it directly against the orc's body as he clenched his fist.

"Araphel: Blackout!"

Secluding the effect of the spell solely to the orc, the sphere of darkness enveloped its body in a sensory-deprivation veil.

With its senses blocked out, the draconic demi-human was given free reign to unleash a blast of his fiery breath, leaping into the air to unleash it in full-potency from up above.

"Luft: Greater Swirl–!"

Elena bolstered the golden flames that surrounded the orc, who was groaning within the bath of inferno, using her wind to expand and amplify the heat of the draconic fire.

"Hot, hot, hot…!" He jumped back as the heat of the flames reached further than expected, exuding sweat from his pores as he chuckled quietly.

Approaching from the side, Archard held his hand out, "I hope you don't mind my assistance!"

"Bring whatever you've got, Gramps!" Elena assured him.

Giving the go-ahead, the veteran clad in armor yelled out, "Hemera: Weight of Judgment!"

From above the place where the orc stood, bathing in flames as it was seeming to begin recovering its senses, an eye of light formed in the sky, parting its golden eyelids to reveal a watchful eye that looked to be made of colorful, stained glass.

As it looked down on the orc, its gaze casted a zone of amplified gravity, bearing down on the orc as he was kept in the same spot whilst Akanni stopped to gather his breath.

"Elena…!" Akanni called out, sparse of breath.

"I know!" Elena pointed her hand towards the draconic man, "Luft!"

The verdant-haired woman used her wind magic to instantaneously supply the man with a full tank of oxygen in his lungs, allowing him to plant firmly against the ground before unleashing another wave of flames against the orc.

This time, Elena set out to amplify it further, condensing the flames around the orc at the same time with the gravitational zone of the eye's gaze keeping the flames and wind held close.

"Aether: Sky-Bound Whirlwind!"

Swirling with a rabid intensity, the flames now spun vigorously around the orc, changing to a lighter hue of gold as their heat began to melt the surrounding rock around the Orc God.

Within the flames as he watched the combination attack flourish, he witnessed the orc's right arm slowly beginning to move, fighting against the powerful forces of heightened gravity.

What is it doing? He thought.

"Watch out–!" He yelled out.