I could feel the heat starting to swell, demonic flames just poking through the spell circle.
Almost instantly, a massive growth of vines and plant matter covered the ground fully.
It was clear they would give out in seconds, but we hoped to not take that long.
Just as strong as before, the magic hammered at Erin, but this time I left the blocking to Merlin as I pushed on Erin, increasing his velocity to a point his arms were invisible to me during his strikes.
Each one echoed through the sewer, the growls of the rat becoming ever more terrible as the flames finally ceased.
It wasn't what I wanted to happen, because he was still alive and now he planned on doing something else.
We could only watch as, just like the imps, the rat's entire body was shrouded by the demonic flames, his strikes reaching farther than he did, burning Erin with every strike.
As much as I wanted to still help Erin strike, I had to switch plans, forming a shield in front of Erin to stop the flames from reaching him.
By now our potions were empty, the cost for casting starting to hit our mana and our mental acuity.
It was only a few more seconds before Merlin slipped, allowing the rat's attack to graze Erin and send him back viciously into the wall.
Jane was quick to soften the landing, growing a bed of flowers under him that emanated the same glowing green as her healing magic.
[Killed Level 30 Imp (Elite): 2 XP]
[Killed Level 30 Imp (Elite): 2 XP]
[Killed Level 30 Imp (Elite): 2 XP]
With him out of the picture, the rat ran at us, and even with waves of force we couldn't halt the full momentum of his charging body.
As we each readied ourselves to sidestep the charge, the Ent's roots tangled him, yanking his feet from under him.
Both of us were quick to act, slamming him to the ground with massive force.
Erin took the opportunity to rush over, still injured but now able to move again, and plunged his dagger deep into the neck of the beast.
I took the opportunity to push the dagger deeper with my spells, and Merlin had the same idea as he helped Erin rip through the flesh of the rat.
Erin was being badly burned, exposing his skinny body to the world.
I wanted to push him out of the way, but for now we needed to continue ripping into the creature.
Its blood burned up in its own flames and it struggled immensely under the weight of our magic, but in the end it could only choke on its own blood as it died a painful death.
[Killed Level 30 Demonic Sewer Mage (Legendary): 8 XP]
[Cinderthread Focus]
[+10 Body, +10 Strength, Spells cast through this focus are enhanced with demonic power]
[Accept Quest?]
[Stop the Demonic Tyrant: Complete the level 60+ Raid, End of Days Temple]
[Reward: 5000 XP (Level 65), Unleashing of the Second Wave]
[Yes] [No]
Quickly I took the item from my inventory and accepted the quest.
With the fight over we were quickly transported out of the dungeon and onto the street above.
The city was exactly the same as mine, besides the people running around of course.
"Priest! We need a priest!" yelled Jane.
We were close enough to the temple that it only took a few moments before a priest ran over, helping heal Erin.
I stared blankly at the scene for a second, then at Merlin.
"It's good meeting you, but I'm going to pay for a bathhouse and laundry," I say, going to give him a handshake.
"Yeah, same here. We'll talk later man," he says, shaking my hand as well.
After that we ended up going the same direction anyways, first to the cleaners, then to the bathhouse.
Nothing was spoken, but I'd like to think we both chuckled at it.
I spent an hour in the bath, just soaking and thinking of everything.
The fight was certainly interesting, but it wasn't what was on my mind.
Getting a quest like that was interesting. I knew that raids existed from the help menu, but to have it laid out as a goal so clearly, so early, it was a bit shocking.
[Whisper to Sheral] "I'm alive!"
[Whisper from Sheral] "Great, more heart attacks to come"
[Whisper to Sheral] "Everyone on your end doing okay?"
[Whisper from Sheral] "We're fine, me and Jake did Crooked Hills today and got to the low thirties. I'm going to continue being a priest, Jake is going hard into 'tanking' as you would say"
[Whisper to Sheral] "Nice! Didn't get a level yet but I'm with a good group. Got a quest though. It's for a raid to stop a demonic tyrant. Level 60+"
[Whisper from Sheral] "What's a raid exactly. I get the 20 people thing, but like what is it"
[Whisper to Sheral] "Can't say for sure, but just think a stronger dungeon"
[Whisper from Sheral] "Alright, get back here soon and we can do that difficulty"
[Whisper to Sheral] "K, get to level 35 and I think we'll be good"
After my bath I put back on my gear, being without it made me a little uncomfortable.
The constant barrier gave a nice sense of security.
After getting dressed I headed to the expensive inn, it was the place we had chosen to celebrate our victory.
Erin was dressed in his full getup, so was Merlin, but Jane went with a floral sundress that left me enamored for a moment. Only after shaking my head a little did I snap out of my stupor and sit next to Merlin.
"Alright, finally here!" Merlin said loudly, raising a mug up to celebrate.
The others followed to a lesser extent, Jane drinking tea and Erin downing a shot of something clear.
"Thanks, everyone get something good?" I ask, taking out tea from my inventory.
"Pretty good I'd say, definitely worth it," Merlin responded.
"Poison dagger, like the King," Erin said, placing it on the table for us to see.
It looked less like a weapon and more like a fang, freshly pulled from a large demonic creature's mouth.
"Nice, nice. How bout you Jane?" I ask, looking into her deep green eyes and momentarily losing myself in them.
"I got a seed, but it was demonic in nature. Think I'm going to try and purify it or something," she says, sipping her tea.
"Oh that's nice..." I say, and an awkward silence falls over the table as Merlin gives me the nastiest side eye I had seen in years.
"Well anyways. Here's to another day with the living!" Merlin said, raising the energy again.
"Are we going to level tomorrow?" I ask, taking a drink with him.
"If everyone's okay with it," he responds after downing his drink.
"No, going to spend the day with my brother," Erin said, not taking another shot, instead standing up. "I gotta get going. Stay safe."
"Alright, bye," Merlin says, Jane and I saying similar things after.
"I'll stick around, I'm three levels away from my level 20 options," Jane says.
"What did you go for?"
"Went to Adventurer fifteen for the Druid option, now I'm looking for a summoner sub-option for Druid."
"Summoner is cool!..."
[Whisper from Merlin] "Absolutely horrendous, never seen someone flirt worse than you"
I got a little red in the face, taking a breath as I committed to sending her a friend request.
Thankfully she quickly accepted, and for my own sake I called it for the night.
"Well, I'm going to turn in for the night, sleep well."
"You too man, thanks for savin our asses back there. I'll pay you back once I make some more money," Merlin says, getting up and side hugging me, then going upstairs.
I took one last glance at Jane, who was looking directly at me still sipping her tea, before awkwardly getting a room for the night.
This inn was a lot nicer than the other, it had a bathroom with mystically functioning toilets, a soft bed and pillows, and even temperature regulation via magic.
It was all the comfort of home, and for only five silver I should have been paying for the room far before now.
But nonetheless I was once again staring at the ceiling.
It was something I couldn't help, something so integral to my character on Earth.
The helpless feeling that welled within me, but now on top of my family, on top of the raid, on top of the vast mysteries of the system and what it entails.
I was helpless for a woman... again.