The Path of Ascension 6: A LitRPG Adventure

61

Using his new gauntlets, he maxed out the mana throughput and pulled the sphinx out of the air. He had to use his suite of manipulation skills to keep himself from getting crushed under a wave of loose sand, but he brought the beast’s attention back to him and Susanne without letting it interfere with Liz and Aster’s battle.

Even as the sphinx was being dragged to him and his gravity well, Susanne, who had driven her primary blade into the ground to anchor herself, used her second sword copy to launch consecutive [Wind Cutter] and [Mana s***h]es at the sphinx.

The giant cat seemed to have enough, and all the sand in the room rushed in toward it through some sort of spell, one that he found himself without enough mana to stop.

Not wanting to be near the boss if this was some attack, Matt stopped controlling gravity and retreated with Susanne.

As the sand finished rushing at the boss, they found that it was now clad in sand armor.

It seemed to have decided that its flight wasn’t worth the lack of defenses, and it happily pounced at them, bringing massive, stone-covered paws down at them. He and Susanne fled outward in opposite directions as the giant paw slammed the ground between them, shaking the entire arena.

There was a blast of wind from above them, and as Matt rolled from another strike, he sent his spiritual perception up above to where Liz and Aster were.

A massive eagle had joined the fight in the skies, which made Matt wonder about the origins of this ruin and where the griffins had come from.

Seeing that Liz and Aster were successfully kiting the giant eagle, and that they didn’t seem to be in any obvious danger, Matt refocused on his own problems.

He used [Earth Manipulation] to create a pillar of stone to block the next paw swipe, then rose a number of additional pillars throughout the otherwise empty room, creating some cover for him and Susanne.

The sphinx disagreed, as it spun in a circle shattering most of the pillars, then turned to where Susanne was standing. She had just landed a [Wind Cutter] on its flank and cracked its armor, finally drawing blood.

Matt was sending out a [Mana s***h] as a follow-up when he caught its rear paw to the chest in a surprise kick and was sent flying.

He was able to catch himself with his Concept, but it still hurt where the lion paw claws had torn through his armor as if it wasn’t there. That only reaffirmed his theory that the griffins were some mutant mix between the giant eagle and sphinx.

Teleporting forward, Matt joined Susanne in the melee and exchanged a few blows with the boss.

Their swords were able to pierce its armor, turning the fight into one of attrition.

It was a perfectly fine place for Matt to be. One on one fights that lasted a long time were where he shined. And if they had been alone, that would have been okay, but they weren’t. After all, Liz and Aster were dealing with the ruins’ second boss themselves.

Those two had entered Liz’s golem form and cast [Blood Crystal Armor], creating a giant, golden golem that was currently grappling with the eagle. From inside the behemoth, Matt could feel Aster’s presence as she was sending and directing attack after attack at the griffins that were trying to land and tear at their armor.

Seeing that they needed some help, Matt cast [Hail] for a second so Aster had some more ice to work with.

Susanne dodged a bite, and Matt used that as his chance to unleash a [Mana s***h] at the cat’s open mouth.

This time, a flap of tongue fell out of the sphinxes mouth, and Matt tried to follow up as the cat retreated, spitting blood.

Having retreated, the sphinx eyed Matt and Susanne as they spread apart and flanked it. While they were close, he used his Concept to help fill up his teammate’s dwindling mana pool.

They hadn’t worked together long, but they were both competent melee fighters, and their styles merged well.

At the same time, they both raced forward and let loose attacks.

Susanne used [Hypersonic Edge] and [Wind Cutter], while Matt used [Flamethrower] and a brief pulse of [Cracked Mana Spear] to take the boss in the flank.

The attacks pissed the sphinx off enough that it abandoned any subtlety and tried to pounce at Matt, so he dropped his sword, and he reached out to grab the monster’s arm-length canine teeth.

Matt was only Tier 11, but after dropping [Cracked Phantom Armor]’s protection to the minimum, he had 2000 MPS to spread between all of his physical cultivation skills. [Acrobat’s Finesse], [Ranger’s Sight], [Sharp Mind], [Willow in the Wind], and [Lesser Regeneration] were only used a little, to keep his general physical capabilities in line with [Barbarian’s Hide] and [Mage’s Retreat], which had respectively 300 MPS and 1500 MPS. With that much of a boost, Matt caught the sphinx’s jaw and held it from edging any closer.

The sphinx wasn’t stupid, and it tried to pull back from his grasp, digging its claws into the ground to do so. In return, Matt used his gauntlets to stick the monster’s canines to his hands, while locking himself down with his Concept to prevent it from retreating.

It wouldn’t last long, but with the sphinx unable to move, Matt grinned as Susanne closed the distance. Using both her swords and [Hypersonic Edge], she cut at the sphinx’s neck from top and bottom.

Like a pair of scissors, her blades cut deep into the monster’s neck, but it wasn’t enough to decapitate it.

Matt solved that issue by changing his anchoring grasp to a pulling force, while also pushing his repelling force onto the monster’s body.

One tug and twist later, the boss’s head separated from the body, and the rush of Genesis Energy was like a wave that crashed over him and Susanne.

Instead of celebrating, Matt flew up and joined Liz in her battle against the eagle.

Except, he found that the eagle was already battered and bloodied, barely on its own last legs. Instead, he cast [Flamethrower] and [Fire Manipulation] to fry or scare off all the remaining griffins.

In less than a minute, Liz had their battle with the eagle wrapped up, smothering it with her blood to finish it off.

After the rush of Genesis Energy, she stood up with an excited Aster as the remaining griffins fled.

Liz sauntered over and asked, “Who expected two bosses? I didn’t. The asshole landed on me out of nowhere.”