Tristan dropped down the hole, cloak fluttering around him. The seconds seemed to pass like minutes as his eyes rapidly darted around the battlefield, drinking everything in.

Duran and Genn keeping the boss’s attention. Focusing its neck joint, cracks forming there. Marr and Varya on the other side. A body, Mosi, laying on the ground a bit away. Where’s Eila?

There. Monsters. She’s in danger.

Go.

Tristan pulled [Shadow Spear] and flung it; it was an absurd distance, but the moment the card left his hand he knew his aim was true.

The Attack flew through the air and slammed into the monster—a large, squat worm-like thing—that was about to attack Eila, forcing it back.

As the card flew, he [Shadow Stepped] to the side, landing on top of the beetle’s head. It reared up, shrieking, the noise almost blindingly loud at this distance. But he powered through, running down its body. The iridescent glow of its shell seemed to pulse angrily, and the lines of Earth energy coursing through its carapace suddenly dulled.

Tristan ignored all of it. He cast [Nightmark] and [Bleeding Hamstring] on the part of the neck joint Duran had clearly been focusing as he sprinted past. Scorch marks riddled the area, and deep fractures had formed there.

[Nightmark] and [Bleeding Hamstring] resulted in a burst of Dark energy that further deepened the existing cracks, making the monster shriek again.

[Bleed] activated. Dark arcs spiraled across the monster’s gargantuan body, intertwining with the existing red net of presumably Fire energy. Both status effects procced in a burst of reddish-black light.

Tristan sprinted down the length of its body; the size of the beast made him feel like he was running across a field. He saw out of the corner of his eye Varya running towards Eila.

Change of plans.

He skidded to a halt and cast Rommie.

The card arced through the air, coming to a stop beside Eila who’d begun running away from the chasing monsters. The wolf spawned and growled at the encroaching mobs.

Tristan spun about and made to go back to the neck joint when the beetle suddenly reared up on its legs.

He tumbled off towards the ground, cursing, as the beetle slammed its forelegs down. The ground erupted into a field of spikes, one reaching up to pierce his body.

A card flew onto him, encasing him in a familiar shield—[Wooden Shell]--that absorbed the damage of the attack. He landed roughly on the ground and looked up. Genn nodded at him, and he nodded back. Clearly the older man had multiple Perks that increased the strength of his shields, as Tristan instinctively knew his [Wooden Shell] wouldn’t have been able to take the brunt of that, even with {Second Layer}.

Tristan ran to join Duran, trusting Varya to be able to take care of Eila along with Rommie. He pulled up beside the panting Guildmaster, Genn beside him.

“Focus the neck joint,” Duran said, nodding to the Devourer as another proc of [Bleed] activated. The older man seemed to take his presence in stride, which Tristan appreciated. Now wasn’t the time for questions. “Keep up with those status effects. Do you have any defence reducing Attacks?”

Tristan was about to say no when he saw a card in his deck. He pulled the [Decaying Sap] Attack he’d found beside the hole. “I assume one of you guys left this behind?”

“Good job picking it up. Eila had just finished forging it when the hole opened up.” Duran took a deep breath, then winced. Tristan frowned. The man had an injury on his ribs. The blood there soaked through his robes, staining it a dark red.

“It’s fine,” Duran said. “Marr will heal me when she can, so focus on the monster. We already did a decent amount on the neck joint. Find an opening, use that Earth Attack, and we’ll follow up when it lands.”

Tristan nodded. It was a good plan. The others had been working together for who knows how long; it was better to let Tristan do his own thing and have the others coordinate off him. His respect for Duran grew.

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The beetle shrieked. Tristan prepared to run off when Duran said, his voice unexpectedly tight, “When you were coming down… did you happen to see Mosi?”

“She was down,” Tristan said. “I… think I saw her [Binder].”

Duran was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was raw. “Thank you. Go.”

Tristan burst into motion, using his last casts of [Wolf’s Grace] and [Wooden Shell] on himself.

Wait, the Lancer. He looked down at his gauntlets and remembered the Perk he’d gotten. Double the strength of your next Apprentice Earth Attack…

Grinning, he sped towards the beetle. It sluggishly turned its head towards him.

A moment later, its mandibles rocketed off its head and towards him, but its impaired movements made them easy to dodge. Still, each of those mandibles had even more force than the Lancer’s throw, and the earth trembled as they landed, nearly knocking him off his feet.

Steadying himself, he chain-cast [Darkstar], [Bleeding Hamstring], and [Shadow Spear] at the neck joint. [Haste] disappeared. All three attacks landed easily on the large beast.

[Bleeding Hamstring] applied another layer of [Bleed], while [Shadow Spear] procced his {Sticking Shadows}, adding a stack of [Slow]. However, the Attacks themselves didn’t seem to do much.

Dark energy crackled across the monster’s body like lightning before a stack of [Bleed] faded. From behind, Varya let loose a [Boulder Bash] spinning with water that landed squarely on the neck joint.

A bit of carapace fell off, revealing a fleshy, pink interior.

The beetle splayed its legs. Tristan switched angles, running at a parallel as the bristles on the beetle’s legs—each as long as his arm—shot outwards in a spray of needles.

Two of them collided with his shield, collapsing it, but his {Second Layer} prevented him from getting skewered. He still flew backwards from the impact and rolled to a halt, gasping. A quick glance around him showed him the others had survived the attack, though Genn now had a spike in his arm. Tristan tossed a [Healing Juice]

his way, then stood.

{Shatter Stun} triggered, and a shell of green energy formed across the beetle, stunning it briefly. [Bleed] triggered, doing some more tick damage.

Tristan seized the opportunity. “Get ready!” he shouted.

He activated his {Mycelium Might}. In his deck, his [Decaying Sap] card suddenly glowed bright, just like the Lancer’s weapon had. He pulled the card and cast it.

It flew through the air and struck the beetle on the exposed neck joint before exploding in a cloud of noxious green gas that suddenly converged onto the monster's shell. The beetle shrieked as deep green rivulets spread across its carapace. The solidity of the armored shell seemed to weaken, becoming more liquified.

A series of cards flew over his head from behind him. Tristan reared back and watched, a strange shiver of awe running through his body.

[Explosion]. [Infernal Claw]. [Pyrolance]. All Adept-rank Attack cards, one after the other, collided with the exposed neck joint and erupted in a cataclysm of fire. Perks triggered, too many for Tristan to keep track of, some from Duran, others from the Support cards Genn and Marr had applied on him.

The beetle’s shriek rose to unbearable levels, forcing Tristan to clasp his hands around his ears. When the commotion faded, a massive chunk had been ripped out of its neck joint.

He ran forward, but suddenly the beetle turned around, rushing towards the crystal at the heart of the chamber.

In its path was Eila and Varya, struggling against the monsters. Tristan shouted a warning, and Varya grabbed Eila, dragging her out of the way of the Devourer as it stomped past, crushing its own hatchlings.

The boss clamped its mandibles around the crystal. The sickly Earth energy seemed to flow into it, rivers of power flowing through its body. Its iridescent shell gleamed brighter.

Tristan [Shadow Stepped] closer, running with all his might.

Cracks formed along its carapace. No, those were sections separating.

He slid and cast [Nightmark] at the wounded part of its neck joint, now leaking waterfalls of an oily, pearlescent blood. The card landed as the beetle mindlessly continued to drink from the crystal.

Tristan shouted and threw [Shadow Spear], colliding squarely. The spear pierced into its flesh, making the beetle tremble, and then [Nightmark] popped, ripping away more of its neck joint. Now the beetle’s head hung limp at an angle; yet still, it remained clamped around the crystal.

Suddenly, with a burst of wind that sent Tristan stumbling back, wings spread apart from the beetle’s back. A second set of mandibles burst from its mouth, and a horn grew from the top of its head.

It had a second Form.