Chapter 258: The Elites
"Okay guys change of plans. We need to corner him this way." Zeke said over the [Voice Chat].
The elites were confused about what was going on. They didn't expect the scenery to change as it did and, the worst part of it was that Quinn got away.
"What do you mean? We already cornered him earlier what gives?" Jake said in irritation.
"Yeah, uhm about that, you need to do it as I say or it's not gonna work. Quinn's new powers allow him to destroy anything in an open space and you guys were just about to fall into his trap."
"So he was gonna kill us?" Julia asked.
"Well I wouldn't say kill. I suggest you guys take him down using this method so we can avoid any unnecessary casualties."
The game continued this way. Zeke watched form the tallest skyscraper as the elites mobilized themselves against their former leader. Amare also wanted to prove herself at this point. Demonstrating that she has become a dependable and capable commander in place of Quinn.
"Defenders, begin by limiting the area where Quinn can go to." Amare began right away. Looking at the map and immediately coming up with a strategy for them to use.
"Gawain, go to an open space where you can snipe him down. Merlin and Zane will join you and as soon as you track him down, make sure that he understands that he can't move freely." The snipping archer did as he was told, moving up a skyscraper together with the two sorcerers.
"Curio focus on following his trail. Don't get too close. Just make sure that he is always within range. If a fight cannot be avoided, I'll leave it to Jake, Mirio and Kaguya."
"Copy that."
"Horus summon as many aerial units as you could. We need to mark every location in this map."
"Yes ma'am."
"Every other unit focus on back - up and support. Don't get too near until it's time to capture him."
As the elites began moving, Quinn stayed within one of the buildings. He was quickly restoring both health and mana using the regenerative skills of monsters he consumed. While doing so he was also taking into account all of his former teammates. The skills they had when he left and the possible power spikes because of being trained by Zeke.
"They'd definitely have [Chaos Resistance] as well as skills utilizing it. They'd also be better at moving as a group."
There was one thing that was certain. If he came out as he was, the elites won't find much difficulty reigning him in again. The human sighed, not because defeat was inevitable but because, there was one skill that needed to be used at that instance.
Quinn knew that the elites would find him soon. He knew that his teammates were capable enough to do so. But he couldn't rush the spell casting process. Simply because there was a certain threshold for mana and health that needed to be reached before he could use he skill. And, unfortunately, he didn't finish on time.
"Shit." Was all that he could say as he saw the flying summons of Horus look just outside his window. Quinn ran away immediately as arrows flooded the area where he was a few seconds ago.
"We found him!" Horus shouted.
Immediately all the Elites went toward the said direction. Quinn's movements were already limited as, the flying summons also had detonates placed by Zilg on them. Aside from this, the melee fighters waited for him down the ground, following his tracks.
"Ahhh this is so burdensome." Quinn said as he made another jump but, this time, he was caught in Kaguya's trap. There was a hole of [Oblivion] waiting below, sucking him down as he was forced to weapon blink.
He realized that this decision was too late as a flying unit also flew toward the said direction,. Exploding right away and forcing Quinn to use [Overdrive] while also deploying a thick fog that obscured the team's vision.
This didn't stay for long as Gawain shot it away with his wind. Cornering Quinn once again.
"My this is looking really grim for Quinn. He probably didn't except them to get this strong in just a month and a half." Zeke said to himself as he watched the poor struggle of the human. But still it was commendable because, Quinn was holding his own even though he didn't have equipment anymore and was only optimizing the monsters he devoured during his travels
"I think I should make his equipment right now. I have a rough sketch of his power level after all." Zeke said, proceeding to his inventory and leaving the elites to enjoy their little game of tag.
"You aren't getting away!" Jake shouted as he used an [AoE] spell – raining down spears on Quinn.
"Jake that wasn't part of the plan!" Amare immediately commented through the [Voice Chat].
"Giev me a break. This is Quinn we're talking about. I doubt that my [AoE] skill could kill him, let alone leave him in an incapacitated state."
Jake was right on the money as something flew out of the cloud of smoke that formed. They all directed their attention towards this while some also noticed that another thing came out, running on the opposite direction.
"Take down both!" Amare commanded which both Glade and Zane acted on. With one sniping down its target while the other used a freezing spell.
All of them thought that one of these would be a decoy while the other one would be Quinn. But they were wrong as, after the smoke disappeared, they saw that both targets were decoys.
"Where is he?" The elites began looking for Quinn without even knowing that the human was still inside and, this was all the time Quinn needed in order to finish his skill.
They all felt the intense amount of pressure coming form Quinn. Even Zeke halted form what he was doing as he wanted to see what was going to happen next.
"Oh my. Now this is a surprise."
"Avarice Manifest." Around Quinn was a serpent that had wings. Similar to the biblical one that was found in the beginning of Genesis yet, this creature had a vicious form. With fangs that looked venomous and scales that looked impenetrable.
Jake tried hitting this but both Quinn and the serpent could not be damaged. Instead, his spear was met by a barrier. One which they could not even take down as they tried firing various types of projectiles. But this was least surprising compared to the next event because, the same serpent then bit Quinn.
It looked painful and it probably was because the human almost dropped to the ground. But it wasn't something new to Quinn, he trained in the usage of the skill countless times already. So much so that at that point, the pain was, at the very least, something he could bear.
"Ultimate combination. Unlimited spell activation."
One by one, the flying summons of Horus got taken down. This was not the end of it as Quinn also used [Flash Freeze] on the whole area where the elites were located down below. He also obscured the vision of the long-range units by immediately vaporizing the same ice, creating steam that also hindered movement for the ground units.
He then followed this up by creating clones, all with a binding spell that would activate as soon as they came in contact with one of the elites.
"Kaguya!"
"On it."
The female elite immediately shifted to her new transformation. Lizzie empowered her and, soon enough, she was flying all around the battlefield. Destroying all the summons while also searching for Quinn.
But just as the steam cleared up and all the summons got taken down, Quinn showed up in the sky. Gaining the looks of the serpent while the creature itself disappeared. On top of him were five layers of magic circles, all with different colors.
All the elites were just about ready to activate a spell to counter this. Yet before they could make their move, the spell circles shattered. This shocked the elites as Quinn also took away his transformation and went down the ground.
"I'm not here to fight."
"Like hell you aren't!" Jake tried punching Quinn, but the former leader not only dodged but punched Jake on the cheek.
"Who gave you the permission to be mad at me! Do you think I liked all that happened to me thus far?"
"That doesn't change the fact that you left! You didn't trust us enough to carry that burden with you nor were we strong enough!"
"Uhm is Jake defending us or outright saying we're incompetent? Eerie asked Gawain.
"I think it's the latter."
"Look. I'm back and I don't expect any of you to accept this. But trust me when I say that there wasn't a day that passed by without me thinking about all of you."
Of course Quinn's words were not enough in themselves. The ice would not have been broken soon. That's why Kaguya stepped in, hugging Quinn which surprised all the other members. Some boys got jealous while there were girls that felt all jittery from the scene. Some were also teary eyed while there were those that simply sighed the whole incident off.
"I think that should be enough for them." Zeke said as he ordered Heron to take down the skill.
"Should I tell them to prepare for the meeting master?" Zeke looked at the group and felt some human emotions kick in.
"Nah, just let them be for now. They deserve a bit of time to catch up." The gamer furthered as he proceeded to the preparations for the final battle.