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The attack was so sudden and well timed that they only sensed it once the griffins were less than five hundred feet away from them.
For Tier 14s, that was a distance they could cover in less than a blink.
Still, the four of them were fast and well-trained by their respective coaches.
Matt flew forward and cast [Bulwark], ramping up the mana he sent to [Cracked Phantom Armor] as he swung his blade with a [Sword Twin] empowering the blade as much as he could manage.
Unfortunately, he was too slow, and the lead griffin dodged his attack while using its [Wind Blade] to cut through his half formed [Cracked Phantom Armor].
Blood flew as he was cut in his side, but it never reached the ground. Liz grabbed it immediately and merged it with the blood from her glove that flowed out in a wave.
Susanne, who had been the furthest from the attack, slashed out with her sword and lopped off one of the griffin’s rear legs, but it was fast enough that she was unable to follow up with a lethal blow.
Matt was forced to focus on the other half dozen griffins that were right on the heels of the first, but with just the extra second, he was able to fully form [Bulwark] and charge it with mana. He was able to block the next series of [Wind Blade]’s with the skill, and none of the griffins were willing to ram the shield of mana.
As they were flying away, Aster launched an [Ice Lance], and the arm-length frozen pillar caught one of the trailing griffins right in the chest, sending it tumbling over a sand dune.
That didn’t deter the rest of the griffins at all; like all monsters, rage was a part of their natural makeup. The remaining five griffins disappeared out of his spiritual range, and the four delvers spread out and waited for them to appear once again.
It took an agonizing few minutes for the griffins to circle around, but they eventually came in at an angle to hit both Susanne and Aster. Not willing to let the monsters do as they pleased, they shifted so Matt could take the front, with the others covering his side and rear.
When the lead griffin tried to tear [Bulwark], it seemed surprised that it was unable to break through his shield. The moment of hesitation caused by the interruption of its attack left the monster completely open to a thousand-mana-strong [Mage’s Retreat]-empowered blow from an unexpected angle.
Matt had already teleported back to safety by the time its head vanished under the blast of mana as if it never existed, and the rush of Genesis Energy confirmed its demise.
The rest of the flock stood in their charge and ran into the other three, who unleashed their own attacks just as the griffins shot off more [Wind Blade]’s at the wall of mana that was [Bulwark].
There was no third pass, and the four of them paused to collect any loot from the bodies, which came out to two Tier 8 skills, [Fireball] and [Earth Wall]. The latter was actually fairly valuable due to its rarity.
They suspected that the first monsters Aster killed dropped an essence stone, as there was a small trail in the sand from where the body landed, but the fight had lasted almost a minute, long enough for Minkalla to reclaim any essence stone.
Matt checked his injuries, but they weren’t that bad, and after casting [Bandage], he ran [Lesser Regeneration] and [Endurance] as his most cooldown-efficient methods of healing. He could have used [Ranged Heal], but that spell had a larger healing cooldown to counter its range and instant healing abilities.
Still, the wound wasn’t anything significant, so he was able to travel along with the others.
As they pushed deeper into the desert, they encountered larger groups of griffins ranging from the small half-dozen to one particularly large flock of thirty.
They learned the hard way that the flying lion-birds were incredibly annoying to fight. They didn’t just have [Wind Blade]’s that trailed along their wings and extended their wingspan… No, their claws were their own incredibly dangerous weapon that rivaled any enchanted item.
Each claw was nearly invisible to their spiritual sense, and naturally imbued with armor penetration enchantments, making them beyond dangerous in close range. They harvested a few of the griffins’ rear paws for study once they were past this floor.
Liz took a particularly bad swipe from the claws, which really drove the lesson home. Thankfully, her armor had a repair enchantment that quickly had it back in top shape after they fed it a bar of Tier 14 steel.
They were nearly upon the spot where they felt the exit to the ruin when they discovered that something was wrong.
First of all, the ruin’s exit was underground, and there were at least two hundred griffins flying in a circle around something.
When they were in range to see the griffins with their spiritual sense, the monsters could easily see them, but the entire flock ignored them to continue their circular path.
Liz asked, “Any idea what they’re doing?”
Aster offered, “Maybe they’re like vultures, and there’s something dead or dying under them?”
Matt wasn’t sure if that checked out, as griffins typically weren’t scavengers, but you never knew with ruins and rifts.
They kept close to the ground as they flew up the sand dune before they peered over the edge.
Except, they found nothing.
The hundreds of griffins were circling nothing.
Or at least, seemingly nothing.
They watched for another five minutes before something crawled out of the ground and stretched for the sky.
As it shook off the sand, Matt cursed. It was an oversized sphinx. At least a hundred feet long from haunches to nose, it stretched up and screeched into the circle of griffins flying above. Or at least, that was what he interpreted it opening its mouth as.
Seeing that, Matt hoped they would fight, but he had no such luck.
As the sphinx presumably screeched, sand rose. At first, it was only a few particles, but over the course of a few seconds, there was a veritable sandstorm.
The sand beat at them until they were forced underground, where they retreated into a small hole that Matt quickly dug.
- Writer
