The gnome gargoyles, wielding short scimitars like daggers, closed in rapidly from both sides to attack Brock.
By now, Brock had already summoned the wood armor monster. Relying on the buffs it provided, he quickly leaped backward.
Brock was merely a mage; his physical strength was clearly no match for that of a swordsman or a heavy warrior.
Furthermore, he was currently wearing a heavy fireproof suit. With his previous constitution, he certainly wouldn't have been able to perform such an evasive maneuver.
However, with the physical strengthening provided by the wood armor monster, it was a different story entirely.
Seeing Brock dodge the gnomes' attack, the two heroic gargoyles closed in rapidly.
With every stomp of their heavy bodies, a dull boom echoed through the air.
The gnome gargoyles that couldn't get out of the way in time were sent flying by the heavy impact of the heroic gargoyles.
The heroic gargoyle wielding a halberd struck first. Its reach was greatly extended by its primary weapon.
Even though Brock was still several paces away after his dodge, the sharp halberd was already lunging toward him.
As a mage, there was no way Brock could evade such an attack.
The sharp halberd pierced directly through Brock's fireproof suit, then through the wood armor monster beneath it, before finally sinking into his flesh and skewering his shoulder.
Through the contact with his flesh, Brock could feel the sheer sharpness of the halberd.
He could also feel a faint trace of mana within it.
This mana!
It's a magic item!
This halberd isn't part of the gargoyle's body—it's an actual weapon!
In the floors above the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, gargoyles often held weapons as well.
However, those weapons were usually part of the gargoyle's anatomy, serving as its "hands."
Thus, it hadn't even crossed Brock's mind that the halberd held by this heroic gargoyle wouldn't be part of its body.
Instead, it was a separate magic weapon.
There was no time to dwell on such things now.
Although the halberd had pierced through both layers of defense, the resistance from the fireproof suit and the wood armor monster had significantly sapped its momentum.
Otherwise, that single strike would have run him through completely.
His body reacted on instinct. Mana condensed around his staff, and he slammed it hard against the halberd embedded in his shoulder.
Clang!
A soft metallic ring sounded.
The staff collided with the halberd, but a mage's feeble strength could never hope to overcome the attack of a heroic gargoyle.
Brock, however, did not panic.
Boom!
Mana surged, and an explosion erupted at the point where the staff met the halberd. Flames and black smoke billowed out, scattering in all directions. Under the impact of the blast, Brock was sent flying backward, while the elite gargoyle was caught by the point-blank explosion and staggered back.
He had broken free from the attack!
Brock hit the ground after being thrown back. Even with the protection of the wood armor monster, he felt a wave of intense pain wash over him.
It was just muscle bruising; no bones were broken.
Using mana to sense his own condition, Brock quickly assessed his injuries.
As he rolled to dissipate the force of the fall, he used the physical boost from the wood armor monster to spring back to his feet.
At the same time, his mind raced to find a way to break the stalemate.
As a peak first-rank mage, Brock specialized in water magic, which was impossible to cast effectively in the Lava Stratum.
However, that didn't mean he didn't know spells of other attributes; they were just mediocre in comparison.
After receiving the Forbidden Fire Blessing, Brock's fire-attribute talent had increased, and he had gained the ability to manipulate flames.
As a result, his fire magic had been vastly improved.
The instantaneous fire explosion he had just used was a result of that enhancement.
The two heroic gargoyles charged again, with the one wielding the halberd still leading the way.
This time, instead of a thrust, the heroic gargoyle swung its halberd in a downward cleave.
Brock gripped his staff tight and thrust it into the ground before him.
Earth magic—Earth Split!
Rumble!
As the ground trembled, the rock in front of the heroic gargoyle cracked open.
The halberd gargoyle, caught mid-charge, couldn't react in time and stepped right into the fissure.
Its body lurched forward, and it collapsed onto its knees.
However, the other gargoyle was clearly much more agile. It quickly flanked him, its feet moving in a nimble series of steps to avoid the cracked ground.
Its body spun, driving its arm as the heavy greatsword sliced through the air, slamming down toward Brock with immense force!
The technique of this greatsword gargoyle was significantly better than that of the halberd gargoyle!
This was only natural.
Many of Dalun Li's combat techniques had been learned from watching adventurers fight.
Consequently, the monsters he created were more adept at using common adventurer weapons.
While a halberd had a long reach, almost no adventurers in the dungeon used them as weapons.
Therefore, the halberd gargoyle's skill was clearly inferior to that of the greatsword gargoyle.
"Snake Bone of Eternal Imprisonment!"
Brock quickly summoned it again!
The previously summoned Snake Bone of Eternal Imprisonment vanished, and in its place, a thick snake skeleton burst through the ground in front of Brock to meet the descending greatsword!
The heavy sword slammed into the snake bone with a gut-wrenching screech of grinding stone and bone, but the attack was blocked.
Brock wasn't about to waste this opportunity and immediately activated the snake bone's ability!
Silver lightning erupted from the snake bone, and a thick bolt of electricity struck the greatsword gargoyle directly.
Paralysis triggered.
The greatsword gargoyle's body stiffened, freezing it in place.
Hiding behind the snake bone, Brock thrust his staff forward like a snake, pressing it directly against the greatsword gargoyle's chest.
"First-rank magic—Explosion."
Mana flooded into the staff, and a magic circle expanded over the gargoyle's chest as the first-rank Explosion spell was cast!
Explosion was a branch of explosive magic under the fire attribute, but it wasn't very practical for direct combat and was only considered a semi-offensive spell.
The Explosion spell required the staff to be pressed directly against an object to leave behind explosive mana, which would then be detonated.
It was typically used for clearing roadblocks or destroying rocks that barred one's path.
The explosive mana was injected into the gargoyle's chest, leaving a circular mark.
The greatsword gargoyle broke free from the paralysis at that moment, its arm reaching out to grab Brock behind the snake bone.
Brock rolled backward and immediately detonated the Explosion spell.
Boom!
Amidst the roaring blast, the gargoyle staggered back repeatedly, a large hole having been blown into its chest.
It worked!
Brock felt a surge of joy, but before he could celebrate, a sharp pain shot through his neck!
In that split-second battle, his attention had been entirely focused on the greatsword gargoyle, and he had completely lost track of the gnome gargoyles.
Now, one of the gnome gargoyles had circled behind him. It had leaped onto Brock's back, wrapping its arms around his neck and dragging its scimitar across his throat!
As it attempted the slit his throat, the gnome gargoyle's sinister, shrill laughter rang in his ear!
Brock's skin crawled.
The fireproof suit had already been sliced through, leaving only the wood armor monster beneath to resist the gnome gargoyle's attempt to butcher him.
The blade of that scimitar was lined with tiny, razor-sharp serrations that were relentlessly sawing through the wood armor monster!
Rate on N.U.
