CHAPTER 161: BRINGING DOWN THE BOSS

Jax began stripping off his armor quickly, the automatic removal not available since he was in the midst of battle. Once he fully removed everything, including greaves, gauntlets, and helmet, he put it all away into his inventory.

He kept the sword outside stabbed on the ground so he could use it right away once he was down.

"I really wish I didn’t have to do this," Jax replied grimly, as he looked to the sky.

"I’d rather throw something else at that bird, but anything else counts as a projectile. We could overwhelm it with projectiles, but they need to land more times than not, and with its constant movement, it’s just not happening," Lucille said.

"How do you think the others beat this beast?" Ning asked.

"Archers, Sorcerers with spells with short cooldowns, or counter spells, or utility spells. That sort of magic," Lucille explained. "We don’t have that."

Jax began weaving threads from his fingertips, the dark strings flowing out without stop. "Ning and Melayne will be throwing me, I assume?" he asked.

"I am hoping so," Lucille said.

Ning looked at the sky, thinking of something.

"How are we going to target it?" he asked. "It’s movement is so erratic."

Arrows and spells were fast. They were not. They were throwing a 70 slime heavy human in the air.

"Isn’t Jax going to get struck with multiple lightning if we throw him toward the bird and it is even a bit ahead.

Lucille frowned. She hadn’t considered that.

"Then don’t throw me straight up," Jax said, pointing to the arena wall. "Throw me at the wall at an angle. I’ll use it as a springboard. I just need to get within 30 feet is all."

Ning and Melayne looked at each other, realizing that could work.

"You’re going to get yourself badly hurt," Melayne said, but she was already moving into position.

"Maybe," Jax admitted. "But we’re all going to be hurt if we don’t do anything soon."

Above them, the Tempest Roc continued its zigzag movement, lightning trails crisscrossing the sky. The storm clouds added their own random strikes, keeping the party in constant motion.

"On my mark," Jax said, crouching down between his two teammates. "NOW!"

Ning and Melayne each pulled on the string tied around Jax’s body to throw him into the air. They heaved with everything they had and threw him.

Jax flew through the air like a human cannonball, his trajectory aimed at the arena wall. The speed was incredible and at the same time dangerous.

The impact was brutal. Jax crashed into the wall, his body crumpling against the stone. For a split second, he nearly lost his consciousness. But the pain was too much for him to lose his mind.

He planted his feet against the wall and pushed off with every ounce of strength he had left. The second leap launched him even higher, his body arcing through the air toward the Tempest Roc.

At the apex of his jump, when gravity began to reclaim him, Jax reached out with both hands and activated his spell.

Hundreds of black strands erupted from his body, far more than he’d ever created before. Instead of forming a single thread to wrap around the bird many times, he created many threads to constrict it instead. Each strand was individually weak, but together they were inescapable.

At least immediately.

The threads struck the Tempest Roc from all angles, wrapping around its wings, legs, and body. The bird’s screech echoed across the arena as it stopped flying, falling at an angle.

Jax had succeeded.

He turned around, looking at the landing spot where he was going to fall. Lucille quickly sent her octopus to the place so that Jax could land on it. But even as satisfaction filled Jax, he noticed the ground below him beginning to glow. The clouds above had locked onto him, suspended helplessly in midair.

He was going to be hit.

Jax could either take the hit and fall into the octopus’ embrace, or somehow dodge the attack and fall onto the ground.

’Falling will likely hurt less than the lightning bolt,’ he thought immediately, the pain helping with his decision making. He flipped midair, and looked toward the falling bird.

Threads shot from his fingers like a whip, these ones empowered with raw Navi that made them stronger and faster. They struck the falling Tempest Roc’s body, wrapping around its, locking in place.

Then he pulled.

The threads yanked him sideways through the air just as the lightning bolt struck past where he’d been falling. He had barely missed it.

He pulled harder on the threads, reeling himself in toward the struggling bird. The Tempest Roc was tearing through his binding threads, but there were too many to break free quickly.

With a final desperate heave, Jax pulled himself right next to the bird. His hands found its feathers, pulling on the fur. He shifted his body at the last moment so he was above the bird.

The bird hit the ground first, its body cushioning Jax’s fall but not eliminating it. The impact drove the air from his lungs and sent waves of pain through his already battered body. Worse, the moment they touched down, electrical discharge from the bird’s feathers coursed through him, making his muscles spasm uncontrollably.

"Jax!" Roman’s voice seemed to come from very far away.

Lucille’s water octopus immediately engulfed the grounded bird, its tentacles wrapping around the bird while simultaneously pushing Jax away from it.

The octopus’s tentacles grabbed Jax and tossed him back toward Roman, who immediately used his healing spell. Golden light washed over Jax’s broken body, but the damage was too extensive for a single casting to repair.

His ribs still ached from the wall impact. His muscles still twitched from the electrical shock. Every inch of his body throbbed with pain from the fall. The healing spell had barely taken the edge off.

"I need more time," Roman said, using Total Cleanse to deal with what Heal had not.

"No time," Jax gasped, forcing himself to his feet. His legs wobbled, but they held. He grabbed his sword nearby and went to fight.