Lolith grinned wickedly as she made her attacks, her many eyes and the fangs in her cheeks marring the otherwise normal Drow face she had as her upper half still looked more Drow then spider. She'd look more like a dark elf with extra armor if it wasn't for the thorax and extra limbs like what Racknar has. Her otherwise bare torso only covered by the chitin she grew over it as her outfit was destroyed by the attacks Racknar had made before the phase shift. Racknar did his best to block the many fast attacks coming from the one-handed short swords in Lolith's four hands as they attacked with speed similar to Marionette while under the effects of Haste. Sword met shield or sword twelve times before there was even a split second break between strikes.
Marionette quickly started attacking one of the two last clerics with Krystal and Davy teaming up on the same one to kill it while Ariagoria used all her attacks to kill the second, slamming into them six to eight different times in six seconds. Racknar was on the defensive when a split second opening allowed him to retaliate. However, once again, only two of his attacks actually landed and despite the black flame being stronger than his normal flames, the damage still wasn't enough. Lolith’s weapons glowed with power as she readied another set of attacks. “I see now, that black color isn't really black. It's so red that it was pushed outside the normal range of vision. It's so bright when you look at the world in infrared, white as the flames of heaven. I see it now, your power. You've reached a rage beyond rage.”
She sent her attacks, this time managing to hit twice and do a solid amount of damage. “It won't matter though. Even if that power is ascendant, you are still mortal. You can only hurt me during the attacks where that power flares up, one out of every eight. Your second phase is nothing compared to mine.” There was a break in her attacks allowing Racknar to strike back again. Once again only two attacks hit her, once again the damage seemed minimal. Suddenly the badge of Arachne lit up as Lolith summoned spiders until the badge ran out of charges and the summons started to get through. “My mama reserves are beyond that of a mortal, so even wasting my energy is no big deal.”
Racknar slid backwards gaining some distance between himself and Lolith before letting out a laugh. “You've made two big mistakes. One, the badge wasn't the only reason summoning spiders was a waste of time. Two, this isn't even my final form. Spiders, do your best.” He pointed at Lolith. The spiders then tried attacking her instead of Racknar. Though she was making quick work of them this gave the party some time to heal and drink potions. Lolith let out a roar as she also downed a potion, recovering what little damage she had taken. “Did you really expect me to not carry health potions?!”
Davy shouted out in frustration. “Boss monsters can't use healing items! That's against the rules!” Racknar grumbled. “It's actually not, but it is considered in poor taste for a game manager to have boss monsters use healing items. This, unfortunately, isn't a game of Creatures and Catacombs where we can just leave the table because the GM is being a turd. Anyway, it's time to switch tactics. You guys buy me as much time as you can while I set something up so we can actually win this. Unfortunately most of your attacks will do little to nothing, but still you need to keep her busy.”
Ariagoria gave Racknar a concerned look. “You're not going to summon my father again, are you?” Racknar shook his head. “No, he's not the right person for this job. But I will be doing a ritual summoning so buy me as much time as possible.” Ariagoria nodded and pointed at Lolith. “You heard the man, do your best.” Marionette didn't hesitate to teleport behind Lolith to slice at her back, only for some magic barrier to prevent her from making contact. Krys'tal fired six beans of ice at the usurper with no clear damage resulting from the magic. Ariagoria kept her distance, pulling out her revolvers and shooting six times rapid fire. This only seemed to irritate the false goddess. Davy pointed a finger gun at her before shouting “Maximize Magic, Power Word Kill.” Only to then do the same with his other hand before breathing heavily from his heavy use in such a short time after just recharging.
Lolith slashed at Marionette, then moved to try and hit Krys'tal with her attacks, sending six each to them only to be dodged with Krys'tal’s final dodge having her turn to shards then shoot through Lolith and assemble on the other side. Lolith had several small cuts on her but even minor damage was still damage. Lolith let out a roar in frustration at the stalemate that she was in with this group of mortals. “You'll run out of steam eventually! Then you're as good as dead!” Racknar had taken a deep, calming breath before he began chanting. “Drip drip drip, do you hear the water flowing?”
The group continued to sling swords, spells, and bullets at Lolith to little effect while dodging her attacks and keeping her occupied as Racknar continued his ritual chanting. “Swish swish swish, do you feel the wind a-blowing? With time even boulders can erode. That which takes an eternity is just a heart's breath to one immortal. When one's life is fleeting, blessed be one who takes the time to enjoy the moment. Blessed be thee who sets things in motion and can stand by for the results. Good things come to those who wait.”
Lolith changed tactics and tried attacking Ariagoria instead of only for the demon-blood to quickly swap to her shield and mace, blocking the attack before retaliating with solid results. The white flames do visible damage to the false goddess. She let out a roar of pain as the fight continued and Racknar continued chanting. “Much like a farmer tending a field, you reap what you sow. I invoke Celestia and the angels that reside there. Accept my sanguine sacrifice and head my call.”
Racknar grunted in pain as he grabbed the spider-like legs coming off his pis and pulled them off with his hands. He then moved them around him as he squeezed blood out of them, eventually wringing them like a towel. Ariagoria heard Racknar grunt in pain and twitched about, wanting to look over, but she was too busy exchanging blows with the goddess and healing the rest of the Monster Mashers whenever they took damage. Racknar continued his chant. “I invoke the archangel of patience, need my call and make my efforts worthwhile.”
Racknar then pulled off his lower arms and wrung them for blood, moving them around as well, drawing something at his feet with the blood. “Take this body, for a limited time, and so what must be done. I call thee by thy true name, come forth [Achaiah Jophiel]!” The battle suddenly froze as Lolith took a step back and made a face of confusion. “Aren't those the common names? Also, there's no way a berserker like yourself can even do a summoning ritual.” Davy chuckled. “Whenever he says the true name of an angel or demon there's a magic filter so we hear a common name instead. Also, he's done this once or twice before having summoned our cleric's father.” Lolith took a breath look at Ariagoria before letting out a curse in elvish.
Suddenly, all the torches in the room started to move and flicker as if pushed by a strong wind until all the flames including the black ones on Racknar are snuffed out and everything goes dark. Then a beam of light hits Racknar as the sound of church bells ringing can be heard, followed by the horn of a single trumpet. The light on Racknar becomes blinding, forcing everyone to look away. Then, just as suddenly as it started, the light stopped. After a moment of darkness the torches and lights of the temple lit once more, almost as if they had never been snuffed to begin with.
Everyone looked over at where Racknar had stood, the battle temporarily arrested. In his place a figure with an off-white hooded cloak was hunched over. Then the figure stood, opening the cloak and showing itself. The outside of the cloak looked like a mundane, tattered, dirty white cloak but the inside looked like a blanket of moving stars in the night sky. The figure itself had a cyan colored body that was humanoid but had six arms that looked geometric and compartmentalized, each part separate and floating but moving with the rest as if the joint was still there.
The figure flexed its jointless fingers a few times before looking up with a white masked face with a cross carved on it. The two lines being horizontal and vertical respectfully and inside the carving a cyan glow was emitting. A cyan halo formed above the figure’s head as it pulled out a throwing knife in each hand before flicking its wrist to have three between the fingers of each hand. The figure cleared its throat before speaking. “My my, what a fine and refined specimen this is. And how wonderful that it already produces its own threads with naturally high mana density. I don't have to make my own, just increase this body’s ability to produce thread. The only downside is it's male. I'd prefer a feminine vessel.”
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The figure stood and stretched before looking at Lolith. “Well if it isn't the spider usurper. You know, to be honest, I've been waiting for an opportunity to put you in your place. However, before now it wasn't allowed. Thanks to this one however, I can act in this mortal plane without worrying about the normal consequences of an archangel showing their face here. You four can stand aside now, for the wait is over. Achaiah Jophiel will handle everything in due time. All I ask is for a little patience.” Lolith pointed her shaking finger at Jophiel. “Y-you can't be here! That human wasn't even a mage, he used no magic to summon you. Even if he gave you permission, you can't just hijack and convert a mortal body like that! He'll die!”
Jophiel sighed. “Actually, he'll be fine. He's done something like this before. His body is extremely durable and his spirit is partly divine. He can handle the stress. Though I wouldn't say unscathed, he is more than willing to undergo extreme pain and injury to kill you.” The angel then started throwing daggers from its six hands, the arms moving in a blur of motion until they were all empty. However, not a single dagger seemed to hit Lolith who parted her body. “Ha! Maybe you should have kept the eyes that belonged to that body. Then you could have aimed better.” Jophiel fixed their fingers again. “My aim was perfect, I hit all my targets. Feel free to make your move whenever, false goddess. I'll wait for you for as long as necessary."
The Monster Mashers made sure they were all clear enough from the battleground as to not get caught up in the fight, the only thing from them still at play was the floating gem from Krys'tal that still had ribbons of rainbow dull light going to everyone in the party including the angel who was using Racknar's body. Davy leaned over to Krys'tal and whispered. “What's the floating totem doing again?” Krys'tal hummed lightly before whispering back. “It gives a small boost to a selected stat, if I remember right I chose Dexterity to increase our Evasion.”
Lolith took a step forward, but hesitated for a moment, then she lit up her swords before charging in at Jophiel at high speed. Ariagoria thought loud enough for Davy and Krys'tal to pick up on it. “(Since it's using Racknar's body, wouldn't the angel still be under the effects of Haste?)” Jophiel flexed their fingers and suddenly several small cuts appeared on Lolith forcing her to jump backwards to avoid more damage. “What the-?! How?!” Jophiel wiggled their fingers a bit, small glints coming from off the tips indicating thin strings were attached to them. “This entire room is now a trap, set by me. I've got your inner sanctum like a puppet on a string. These sharp strings would normally be something I make out of magic myself, but this body can save me some mana by creating them for me. It costs less to boost production than to weave them from scratch. Not that that took much mana either.”
Lolith roars before slashing at the air to try and cut the strings before making a leap forward to try and cut Jophiel again. They stretched their arms downward and strengthened their fingers causing several small glints to move as the threads shifted position once again cutting at Lolith's arms and forcing her back. Blood dripped off the thread making it easier to see and allowing Lolith to aim for and cut them. With a flick of a wrist Jophiel was holding several throwing knives again. “Tak tak tsk. So impatient. Are you really in that much of a rush to die? Why don't we take our time and enjoy ourselves for as long as possible? After all, once you're dead, I'll have to surrender this wonderful body. It may not be perfect, but it is interesting. This individual is what I imagine a child between myself and Af Simikiel would be like. At least in personality.”
Davy whispered to the other Mashers. “Who the fuck is Af Simikiel again?” Ariagoria sighed. “It's my father's angelic name, from before he became Amon the Wrathful.” Lolith charged at Jophiel again, slashing at them as they skillfully dodged by a hair. Jophiel eventually jumped far enough back to have room to throw the knives at Lolith who dodged. “Missed me angel girl. Nice try.” Jophiel sighed. “I don't need to hit you with the knives, Lolith. I thought you would have learned that by now.”
Jophiel clenched their fists causing Lolith to get smacked in the back of the head giving the angel space to gain distance. Lolith turned around to see Jophiel had hit the mangled corpses of minions the Monster Mashers killed during her first phase and was using them like puppets. “I call this one, Dance Macabre.” The corpses moved in a janky and imprecise way as they swung their weapons at Lolith who started cutting the corpses to pieces till there wasn't enough for Jophiel to control. Jophiel quickly retracted their daggers and got ready for another round of attacks.
Lolith growled but stayed at her distance as she considered her next move. She knew rushing the angel wasn't working so it was time to change tactics. In a small flash of light the four short swords became bows and Lolith started shooting arrows at Jophiel who started moving to dodge and weave between attacks, occasionally throwing daggers and even getting glancing blows with them. The two kept their distance as they danced around the battlefield exchanging ranged shots until eventually Jophiel stopped.
Lolith took the opening and fired arrows at the angel who stood in place with no knives in their six hands. Jophiel moved their hands from pointing outward to having a complex pose aiming inward. “Cat's Cradle.” The angel said in a somewhat feminine voice as the arrow was cut to small pieces. Then after a bit, several lines of blood appeared in Lolith who spat blood out. Her arms and the spider-like legs were cut into small bloody slices that plopped to the floor with a meaty wet sound as the false minor goddess screamed in pain. The arachnid woman dropped to her knees but was still alive.
“I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet! This isn't over, this is far from over! Just you wait, I'll get you back for this. I'll pay you back tenfold.” Jophiel let out a small laugh. “That's fine by me. I'm very good at waiting. Go ahead, take all the time you need to recover. I'll be right here.” Lolith started shakily standing back up despite the fact she had clearly lost a lot of blood and shambled closer to Jophiel, just close enough to spit on the angel. “Fuck… you.” Jophiel made a disappointed hum. “Sorry dear, but you're not exactly my type.” The angel then started rapidly stabbing Lolith with the daggers before doing some arm movement that pulled Lolith up by strings and had her bleeding corpse hanging from the ceiling.
Jophiel let out one final sigh. “That was far too short. Oh well, a deal is a deal.” A blinding light covered Jophiel and once it was gone a heavily injured Racknar stood. Right after he was out back to normal he collapsed and Ariagoria rushed over to stabilize him. “God damn it Racknar! That was reckless as fuck.” Davy chuckled. “I'll start searching for the two magic items we're after. A statue and a golden spider egg right? Both are magical so it shouldn't be too hard.” Krys'tal nodded. “I'll help. Come on Mari, you help too. Racknar will be fine. He's lost limbs before, they'll grow back.”
The three people went to search the room while Ariagoria used the last of her mana healing Racknar to a point he could get up and stand. “Ugh… it's a good thing we saved this stop for last. Just give me a week to regrow my arms and molt.” Ariagoria helped him up. “You lost so much blood man, and that was before you tore off your own limbs.” Racknar grumbled. “I was going to lose them eventually if I tried to beat her straight. Haste would have run out eventually, and I was running out of ki so I was going to lose access to flurry of blows which is how I get almost half of my attacks. It was a battle of attrition and I was going to lose if I kept it up. I was out of better options. I definitely should have let us level up more or at least upgrade our gear a bit.”
Ariagoria pat Racknar on the back. “Well, we won, and that's what matters. Just promise me from now on no more lending your body to angels and demons and shit.” Racknar groaned. “No arguments from me. That shit hurts, and I don't just mean the limb removal. I feel my body being rearranged. I'm not even allowed to pass out because my consciousness is already in the backseat.” Ariagoria breathed hard through her teeth before cursing. “Well fuck.” Racknar nodded as he started to slowly shamble around the room. The rest of the party came back with the two magic items and they were ready to restore Arachne to her former glory.
Racknar opened his Dimension Door to grab replacements for the weapon and armor they had been using. “Numbers wise these are the same, they just don't have the special abilities like granting spider climb. Not that we used that anyway.” Ariagoria swapped her armor and Marionette swapped her weapons while every item of Arachne including the badge was placed in the circle of blood that Racknar drew earlier. Davy chuckled. “So did we need your blood for this ritual too?” Racknar nodded. “Because I share blood with the goddess. I'm also putting my limbs in the pile because the magic will need at least a bit of flesh to start with.”
Once the pile was ready some magic dust was splashed in it. “The parts of your power have been gathered, now return to your former glory, oh goddess of spiders.” After the short and simple chant was said the pile lit up and the items along with the blood turned to dust and formed a figure. The finished figure looked similar to Lolith's second phase but with a lighter purple shade for the chitin and the person parts looked like that of a human with long dark hair. Unlike Lolith, Arachne had a completely normal human looking face with no extra eyes or a set of fangs.
Arachne stretched for a moment before looking at her mature and motherly looking body that was part spider. “This is… a bit different.” She looked at the group and walked over to Racknar, and tapped his shoulder. In an instant his body was restored in a flash of light. Arachne then clasped two of her hands together to make a new badge and hand it to Racknar. “A small token of thanks. Could you potentially get me up to speed? I have no idea how long I've been sealed away.”
Racknar spent some time explaining the current events to Arachne who nodded. “Alright, I understand. Take me to the dark elf queen and I'll talk to her on your behalf. After that you're on your own.”
