93. Coaster

"I think I see where this is going," Serac thought out loud, wanting to make sure that all four Wayfarers were on the same page. "Zacko's charging up another massive explosion. When it goes off again, we won't have anything to hide behind. We need to Poise-break Mulaharta again before that happens, which should make it spit out Zacko. Then we also need to deal enough damage to finish it off while its healing is disabled. Oh, and one more thing: we should all be careful and try not to become the next GIZZARD food!"

Now that she'd outlined the plan, it sounded rather convoluted and fraught with potential pitfalls. Not the least of which was…

"Before we can do any of that," Renate gave voice to Serac's concern, "we need a way to safely descend and engage GIZZARD. And that first explosion already took away most of our footholds."

"Leave that to us."

The Tomasen twins took off, with Lars and his newly recombined Instrument leading the charge. The STROKE-SIDE twin jumped into the open air with nothing to catch his fall. But as soon as he struck COASTER and sent it flying toward his BOW-SIDE brother, a trail of solid ice formed along its path, bridging one end of the corridor to the other.

Thus, the twins sculpted their own Path where there was none. They jumped and landed and swung their OARS in perfect sync with each other, as a zigzagging footpath followed in their wake. It took them no time to close the gap on a stationary GIZZARD. And they would've topped off the trip with a Lars set-up into a Hans finisher…

Were it not for a wall of Slangespytts standing in their way. A Poison Mat blanketed the entire corridor, blocking any access to GIZZARD. Lars let rip his powerful, lightning-charged one-timer, only for COASTER to bounce harmlessly against the Slangespytts' Zealous-immune barrier.

"Leave that to me!"

Serac jumped into the fray, nearly slipping on ice in her haste to make herself useful. She recovered just in time to aim from a kneeling position, lock onto the center of the Poison Mat, and fire:

[Chamber One: CATHARSIS]

[235!]

The ol' reliable. Black flames of Penitence ignited the centermost Slangespytt, then spread rapidly to the peripheries, dealing [190!], [267!], and [535!] points of damage in sequence. By the time the fire died down, it'd burnt a nearly corridor-wide hole in the Poison Mat, surely large enough for the COASTER-wielding twins to attempt another shot…

Were it not for a squad of Rumpejettes that awaited on the other side. In the time it'd taken for the Wayfarers to make their approach, a swarm of slimy tadpoles had coalesced into several giant aggregates of themselves. Four of them to be exact: one for each Wayfarer. They stood over GIZZARD in a compact formation, ready to defend their command center to the bitter end.

Not only that, but they clearly deemed aggression to be the best defense. They wasted no time to start lobbing grenades, sourced from the Rumpetrolls that had served as the giants' own building blocks. Fresh hell rained up on the Wayfarers in the form of a Tadpole Airstrike. It was all Serac could do to sidestep the ordnances as they came, taking care to stay on ice as she did.

Of course, the ice too was highly susceptible to the bombardment. The newly constructed bridges fell apart under heavy fire, leaving a Rakshasa gunslinger scrambling for footholds. With no way to fight back, she concentrated on simply staying on her feet. But it was a matter of time until she ran out of room. One grenade took out the next ice platform she'd set her eyes on, before a second exploded right on top of her, snapping one of her horns clean off.

[395!]

The Tadpole Grenade packed a punch! Not just in terms of physical force and Attack Value, but also in its Poise-shredding capability. Serac nearly fainted from the sheer impact and was forced to take a knee just to steady herself. This is no good. Mulaharta doesn't even have to wait for Zacko to finish charging up. These Tadpole Giants are more than capable of getting the job done!

But not if the Tomasen twins—the architects of the ice bridges—had anything to say about it. Under the Rumpejette's constant barrage, the sturgeons were forced to postpone their boss-smiting ambitions. So, they went right back to construction work. The oarsmen passed COASTER between each other at a furious pace, all while dodging or batting away the grenades as they came. They made sure to dart all over the arena, generating more icy platforms than the Rumpejettes could destroy.

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The Tomasens did their part to keep the Wayfarers in the game. Now, it fell upon the two girls to break through and make the decisive push.

"Renate!" Serac called over to the frog woman even as she sidestepped another grenade. "I've got a way to make this fight 'fairer', but I need your help. Could you focus on one Rumpejette and almost kill it but not quite?"

"No guarantees, but I'll try my best."

As it turned out, the Finless's KL-63 'best' was nothing short of spectacular. First, she jumped off the ice and onto the edge of the arena, where she proceeded to run on the vertical wall. It was the same trick she'd pulled off earlier, made only possible by her bare, webbed feet. She now covered a much longer distance, running past the level of GIZZARD and its quartet of bodyguards.

In response, the Rumpejettes shifted their formation, sliding across in unison to cover the angle of Renate's approach. They'd identified her as the most immediate threat, and showed it by focusing fire. Four grenades, all hurtling toward one Yaksha.

[Auxiliary Technique: ELEMENTAL SURGE]

This time, the DREDGED-up ripples belonged to the air itself. The result was a localized hurricane, one that swallowed up all four grenades and sent them spinning above Renate's head. She then bent at the knees and jumped off the wall, flying high into the air with her shovel poised.

If the Tomasen twins were experts at batting Rumpetrolls, then Renate the Finless was an absolute artist at scooping them up and throwing them across the room. Where the frog woman lost to the sturgeons in power, she made up for with precision, ensuring that every one of her counter-grenades landed in the exact same spot.

Said spot belonged to the Rumpejette on the uppermost edge of the formation—and therefore the one closest to Serac. Which meant Renate even had the presence of mind to pick out the most helpful target! One, two, then three grenades exploded upon the Tadpole Giant in question, taking off just about a quarter of Health each time.

With the fourth and final grenade, Renate switched targets and flung it into the Rumpejette nearest her, thus declining a sure smite. She'd fully understood the assignment and followed through to perfection. Now, it was up to Serac to execute the rest of the plan.

The presently one-horned Rakshasa hadn't been idle while her frog partner put on a show. She'd diligently cycled through her chambers, and she'd even remembered to heal her Mana by downing the blue-colored [Pearl of Wisdom] (fizzy and pleasantly tart; definitely a step up from [Courage]). Once the enemies' attention had turned onto Renate, Serac was then able to steady her aim and empty her cylinder into the nearest Rumpejette, whittling its Health bar down to its last fragment.

Now, with full MP, a fresh set of rounds, and an Aberrant target at death's door, the conditions were ripe for:

[Chamber One: EMBALMER]

[100!]

[136!]

That was how a freshly ascended Narakite felled her first Wildspawn giant. Or rather, turned it into an [Enlisted Husk] for the next 12 seconds. Her telepathic 'instructions' for her temporary ally couldn't be simpler: keep your buddies busy!

Just like that, a quartet of bodyguards turned into a trio plus one traitor with unimpeded access to the very thing they'd been trying to protect. The [Enlisted] Rumpejette made every one of its 12 seconds count, first by swiveling in place and swinging a Tadpole'd fist at GIZZARD. It even managed to connect, reducing Mulaharta's HP by another modest chunk. But that was before its nearest mate tackled it to the ground. In the ensuing confusion, the other two Rumpejettes sabotaged themselves even further by lobbing grenades in friendly fire.

The Rumpejettes' aggro had completely shifted away from the Wayfarers. The defensive formation had broken, exposing parts of GIZZARD to the Wayfarers' line of sight, starting with the half-digested meal that stuck out from its sphincter.

Serac's heart leapt to her throat as she took in what had become of Zacko. In the intervening time, the green had almost completely turned over to red. It meant the Manusya's limp yet engorged body now positively simmered with wrathful Martial energy, a sight made all the more grotesque and terrifying by the laughing Buddha mask that still covered his face.

There was no 'build-up gauge' to show just how close Zacko was to full charge, but the reality was plain for all to see. He was at his breaking point. It was only a matter of seconds before he erupted and destroyed everything in sight.

But the Tomasen twins hadn't been idle while the girls helped to clear the way. Perhaps, in a different life in a different world, the Wayfarers' rough-and-tumble tactics might have been penalized for 'goalie interference'. But this was the afterlife. And here, the one rule that mattered above all was the Path every soul blazed for themselves.

No, the Tomasens hadn't been idle. Far from it. For an important quirk of their shared magic was its ability to charge up and amplify its damage potential many times over.

Without Hans here to activate COASTER, I do not have access to the most destructive of my spells.

Every pass between the twins—every flick of an icy OAR and every swing of its electric sibling—built up the Zealous energy that churned within COASTER. In fact, between all the zigzags and icy bridges, the sturgeon boys had completed an ungodly number of passes in a short amount of time. Now, they concentrated all their pent-up anger, frustration, and zeal for a good fight… as they readied one last finisher.

If Lars was ice, then Hans was lightning. Lars with the pass and Hans with the shot. Right into the heart of GIZZARD—and right as the seconds ticked down at the end of the game:

[COASTER Spell: BUZZER BEATER]

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