Almost as a kindness to us, the ratmen waited for all of us to enter, only then saying,
"How dare you thieves enter my kingdom! I worked so hard for this! To build my life here and solidify my reign! You will not take that away from me!" the ratman said, his words like a human said them, not the usual emotionless slop that NPCs spouted.
It was something I wanted to think about more, but there wasn't time for that.
The first thing I did in this fight was make a truly massive Leyline.
[Mana: 817/1080]
There was a premium to making a Leyline like this, costing about 50% more than it would if I had just made the parts.
The Leyline led from me to the center of the room, then out in all cardinal directions, including straight up and down.
This whole construction took a monstrous amount of mana and mental power, and by the time I was done constructing it, the bodyguards were gone. They simply vanished at some point.
It only took a second before I saw the glint of a dagger materialize by my side, the assassin appearing beside me and gunning to slice into my gut.
At the very last moment, it was Falk that saved me again, but his wind didn't deter the assassin, and it used the force to rebound away, dodging Jake's hammer and launching a volley of daggers at the same time that were quickly intercepted by a glowing light.
Almost perfectly in sync, the other assassin appeared by Jake and landed a dagger right into the weak point of his armor, causing Jake to stumble a bit.
To add insult to injury, the leader threw what was clearly a grenade at us, it bursting in the air and shrouding everyone in smoke.
I could only see a few feet, and the cloud was quickly dispersed by another flap of Falk's wings, but I could see the bird was already tired.
The compulsion to use Wall of Fire again was high. It would clearly be helpful, but I hesitated.
It would leave me without mana, and without preparations.
So I hedged my bets and started forming a total of 13 Missile Binding spells.
[Mana: 596/1080]
They were perfectly equidistant to each other and almost formed a web of potential firing angles, but by the time all the smoke cleared, the three were gone.
"Guide these blind eyes in their time of need," Sheral said calmly as a light flowed through us.
[Prayer of Sight]
Now what was total invisibility was more like a mirage, more importantly, we could all see them.
Deadman was quick to rush at one of the assassins, the one who got the leg up on Jake, putting it in an unfavorable brawl.
Deadman was an excellent hunter, and with Hunter's arrows flying skillfully to pressure the assassin more, it was only a matter of time until its demise.
Jake was now bunkered up behind his shield and a magic barrier, with Sheral behind him healing his wound and presumably removing the poison.
In my case, I was only looking for the last of them, the king.
I could see the little shimmer of the assassin running up to me, but nothing from the king.
The only thing I could think of was that there are ranks to abilities, and his stealth outdid Sheral's prayer.
So, I finally decided on a course of action, I let go of all my spells and leylines, beckoning all of my mana back to me like a tidal wave.
[Mana: 651/1080]
[Mana: 706/1080]
I could sense as it hit the assassin, then Deadman, then Jake, finally I could feel as the mana behind me returned.
Although it was the smallest in quantity due to how close we were to the entrance, it was clearly turbulent.
It was almost as if the king was a swarm of creatures flying through the air, but nonetheless he was still there.
Instantly and without thinking, I layered simple spells with nothing but fire runes at my back, putting an ungodly amount of firepower for such a spell right behind me.
Almost instantly I could tell the flame hit something, and it took only a moment more for the barrier given by my gear to break as the flames singed my back.
Nonetheless, I had enough willpower to maintain the flames for a while more, searing the king in flames for almost two full seconds.
[Mana: 506/1080]
"Jesus, man!" Sheral yelled, looking back and putting her other hand on my back as I rotated around to face the king.
A nice cool sensation shrouded my back as her magic started to work on it, but soon I realized turning around may have been a mistake.
The king was gone, but in his place was an almost cartoonish bundle of dynamite, with a fuse that was already at its end.
"Shield!" I yelled, Jake's reaction couldn't cut it, but Sheral's could.
"Protect the lamb from the wolf," she said, so quickly that I almost got tongue-tied reciting it in my head.
Sadly, it seemed to only be a shield for herself.
In the next moment I could feel as I crashed back first into Jake with enough force to hear cracking in my rib cage.
Even with my higher willpower, I struggled to even get up and open my eyes.
Jake seemed to not be affected, setting me on my feet as he got up and readied himself.
Hunter was burnt by the blast at least, but was already on his feet firing an arrow at the assassin Deadman was hunting.
The arrow landed in the thigh of the creature, and Deadman used the next moment to lock his maw onto the neck of the rat.
There was a sudden glimmer of light in front of me as the second assassin appeared, ready to finish me off.
Thankfully Jake was waiting for it, and his hammer moved at inhuman speeds down on the creature. Its blood exploded onto the both of us as its entire body was crushed into a pancake.
It was only a second later that the king reappeared behind Hunter, slamming a dagger into his leg before fading from view again.
"Fuck you!" Hunter yelled out, Deadman leaping at the spot the king was.
Finally for me, though, the cooling light of Sheral's healing magic returned as my wounds started to heal even quicker than before.
If I wanted to help, I could make another massive Leyline and release it, but that would take too much mana and time.
The only spell I could think of was Locate, so that's the spell I used.
Expanding my mana around me, I tried to find the king.
Sadly, it was of no use.
[Mana: 436/1080]
"Guide these blind eyes in their time of need, our eyes yield nothing so your light will guide us," Sheral said, the conviction in her voice resounding as our bodies were once again graced with her power.
[Blessing of Sight]
Now the king's presence was visible to us all, and we were quick to let it know that.
Jake ran at the thing, wildly swinging his hammer at it.
Though it was fast enough to dodge, there was no way in hell I'd let it.
Three Binding Missiles hit it, the chains already attached as its body ragdolled from the halting of motion, then was sent flying by the overwhelming force of Jake's strike.
Even when it hit the wall of the sewer, its assault was not over.
As it tried to peel itself from the wall, Falk forced it back into place as Deadman bit solidly into its waist, ripping and tearing at it.
It was only a second later that Jake raised his hammer into the air, a beam of light descending from above the creature's head and sending it into the ground so hard the stones almost gave way.
[Killed Level 30 Ratman Bandit King (Epic): 81 XP]
[Killed Level 30 Ratman Assassin (Elite): 41 XP]
[Killed Level 30 Ratman Assassin (Elite): 41 XP]
[Ratkings Pocketwatch]
[+4 Intellect, +3 Charisma]
[Clear Out the Sewer: Clear out the 'City Sewers' dungeon on at least Normal difficulty]
[Reward: 1000 Reputation with Human Capital City, 500 XP on Elite]
[You have leveled up]