Ceaseless Horizons [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy]

Melvine and Lev stood up and prepared their skills. A cold mist slowly started forming around her, seeping into her dark green armor that she summoned for the first time.

Sleek and deadly, it covered her form almost like a second skin, protecting her entire body while also letting her remain quick on her feet. The enchantments were also dense and vast, brimming with a flavor of cold that made his neck hair rise.

Lev's preparations were simpler. He slowly cycled mana throughout his armor and roused the enchantments before creating a blade on top of Stargazer. She thrummed with suppressed potential, and even concealed, she attracted the gazes of everyone watching. By now, they knew that the weapon was special, just not how miraculous.

"Anything we should be aware of?" he asked Sherron, who didn't seem ready to intervene.

"You're better off fighting at range this time," she replied, leaving it at that.

Lev looked at Melvine instead, who didn't spare any words. She seemed perfectly content with diving into danger headfirst. Admirable, but not very helpful for his nerves.

If the worst comes to pass, at least we have an Exalted watching our backs, he sighed and flew into his bubble. His constructs were quickly given a once-over with a pulse of mana, revealing them to be in ideal condition.

The bubble's layers of enchantments were tested next before he double-checked the cannons. Everything was in order, so he and Melvine quickly flew to the left. They couldn't let the monster come close to the carts, as that would quickly put an end to their quest.

Here it comes, Lev deployed several of his walls when a large beam of condensed air roared towards them. Melvine remained prepared while channeling mana into her sword, ready to act at a moment's notice as the attack landed on the barriers.

The first two shattered immediately, and so did the next three as the beam showed no signs of subsiding. Melvine recognized that too and immediately dashed away, her speed higher than even Lev's.

Letting his walls retreat, Lev moved the bubble to the side, too, not seeing a reason to risk needless collision. For a few long moments, the beam followed his concealed transportation, getting alarmingly close as he weaved up and down to confuse the monster.

It eventually died down, finally letting them close the distance. He didn't forget to keep an eye on the carts, but fortunately, they were rushing ahead, away from the danger. He could go all out in that case.

Overloading his bubble, he caught up to Melvine and finally laid his eyes on the creature responsible for the attack.

It was smaller than he expected.

Barely two dozen meters long, the centipede's exterior was as dark as the night, shining brightly as light reflected on the durable, glassy surface. Melvine didn't pause for an instant as the mist thickened around her, condensing on the edges of her blade.

[Ripper Matriarch - ????]

We're so gonna die, he grinned, not allowing himself any more doubts than that singular joke. They had a monster to bring down.

Sherron's warning started to make more sense when the ripper lunged, outclassing the Masters in sheer speed. Melvine's mist slowed it down just enough for her not to get chopped in two, and her experience showed when she utilized the small opening without missing a beat.

Her sword bit into the gleaming armor, digging several inches and delivering a payload of mist inside. The amount was far from enough to slow down the monster, but Lev could see the warrior constantly channeling mana into the wound, enhancing its effects.

Before the ripper could retaliate, several arcane spikes burst out of the ground, targeting its relatively less protected underside. A burst of wind was enough to let it move away, except the spikes didn't shatter from that much.

Lev's newest creations mostly revolved around terrain alteration. The current plate he had devised was already enchanted with a sharpness and durability formation, as well as the Arcane Barrier rune. With a few supportive runes and tweaking, he could make it so that the plate's center immediately elongated into a spike that became thicker the longer it was, eventually becoming as wide as the plate's width on the base.

That way, even as the spike consumed the enchantments, they stretched on its surface instead of breaking down. The runes were set up in a way that the quick change would result in a functioning form.

Consequently, the centipede failed to destroy them in a single burst. The upcoming storm of wind blades, however, quickly shredded them into bits.

Melvine had to make distance because of that, unable to capitalize on the opening as four barrier rods landed around the monster. It screeched, almost destroying them with the sound alone, but had to pause when a barrier net formed and dropped on its body.

Lightning was streamed into the net in massive amounts, imbued to jolt the monster. Unenchanted as it was, several of the barrier ropes shattered immediately, only to reform under his control.

The durability really is horrible, he noted, giving up on the net when the monster released a wave of wind, shattering it almost entirely. The rods also broke down under that, proving that the idea still needed a lot of improvements before he could use the rods as leverage for the net.

Regardless, he knew that the net was viable. If it could survive a second of assault from the ripper, it could definitely excel against second-threshold monsters.

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Melvine slashed through the wind wave, rushing the slightly disoriented monster. Her mist gathered around its head that immediately whipped up, as if only now remembering the second human.

That small delay cost it heavily. Her mist was water at its core, and she backed away after covering the front half of the monster with it. Lev fired a lightning slash at it, paying close attention to how his recent upgrades fared.

Mana Perception's and Gaze of the Marksman worked beautifully in tandem, letting him detect the monster's position through the mist. Even if the feedback wasn't completely accurate, it was more than enough.

Fracturing Wave was more destructive. It tore through the mists, dispersing most of Melvine's element before landing on the side of the ripper's head. The disturbing shriek that followed was enough to clear the resulting explosion of lightning and fire, and Lev's bubble was already darting away when the monster started to fly.

Carried by the wind mana, it devoured the distance as all of its legs shone brightly in his senses. A burst of wind was enough to catch up, and its plan to wrap around the bubble with its lethally sharp limbs was thwarted by a wave of lightning, released in every direction from the construct.

Inside, Lev was reconsidering their chances. The combination of mist and lightning had done little, and the ripper's chitin also showed barely any signs of damage. It was another one of those situations where he needed to break down his body to eliminate the enemy.

Seems like there really isn't a choice, he breathed in deeply and exited the bubble, letting the construct rise to the skies. Sherron had warned him not to get close, and it wasn't hard to understand why. Each of the centipede's legs looked sharp enough to negate his armor, and he wasn't going to put that to the test.

Regardless, fighting from inside his bubble wasn't going to be enough. The ripper immediately whirled toward him, only to falter when all fifty of his ropes dove down. Connected to the bubble, Lev easily used it as a control point and imbued them all with lightning.

Befitting the monster's level, it dodged every single one of them. Bursts of wind pushed away most of them, and the ripper's speed allowed it to weave between the rest as it closed the distance.

Underneath, Melvine was running on barrier platforms that formed in a blink, letting her catch up to the monster. The ripper also noticed her, slowing down as it considered its options.

The carts are far enough now, Lev risked a short glance back, seeing that Sherron was still watching them from afar. The rest of the caravan was outside of danger, so he turned back to the monster.

With a gulp, he released most of his aura and disabled Stargazer's concealments. The ripper whipped around, and all signs of intelligence vanished from its form as mana roared out of its body.

Before lunging, it reared back and screeched at the top of its lungs. Lev's hackles rose when he didn't feel any mana in the sound, and his fears were proven correct when the hills around them started trembling slightly.

One, two, three… five.

Five gray rippers tore out of the ground and slopes, answering the matriarch's call. Melvine and Lev shared a glance, and with tacit agreement, she jumped back to the ground and rushed the nearest giant centipede.

The matriarch continued its mad dash towards Lev, and he had to forgo caution entirely when its speed continued to rise. Lightning and blue fire streamed into his armor as he led the monster away from its kin and the carts.

Now, how do I win against this creature?

For once, he knew that his chances were nil. No matter how much mana he threw at the matriarch, it was going to survive. That much was obvious. Not only did it have frankly insane reserves of mana, but he also wasn't confident in piercing that exoskeleton.

The choice was made for him quickly when he noticed the mana gathering in its legs. Lev hastily formed shields when each leg released a mana bolt towards him, the projectiles packing enough power to be a blur to his senses.

Shields shattered one by one, and walls were taken out of the bubble to block its beam. In the distance, he could see that Melvine had stopped holding back, putting down the first centipede in less than a minute.

Unfortunately, the speed at which Lev was flying away meant that she couldn't reach him quickly. The monster closed in still, outdoing his skills, attributes, and imbuements with pure wind manipulation.

A lightning bolt stormed out of his right hand, landing on the monster's armored back when it turned around in the neck of time. A burst of air pushed away the resulting explosion, denying the after-effects of lightning.

The moment it turned around, an overloaded fireball landed on its head. Lev could only shake his head when the flames parted around its wind armor, not even scratching the monster.

Regardless of how outmatched he was, he still had to try. Less than two dozen meters remained between them when three overloaded lances flew out of his bubble. The first was deflected, whereas a wind beam destroyed the second. Wind blades would've torn through the last one, but the explosion from the first two lances disrupted them enough for the final lance to rush through.

Before the centipede could dodge, a dozen ropes were already descending on it. Seeing that it was pincered, wind bolts rushed out of its legs, the monster twirling to aim them upwards.

Within moments, the ropes were decimated, and even his bubble was punctured by several despite the concealments. Returning to the lance, it twisted out of the projectile's path, finally allowing Lev to rush in with Stargazer brimming with mana.

Except the matriarch was already waiting for him. The overloaded lightning slash that was fired at the monster was countered by a combined sonic and wind blast, one explosively extending outwards in a semi-circle.

Lev was violently hurled back when the attacks collided. His Fracturing Wave, one that specialized in tearing through defenses, was halted in its tracks. Neither the slash nor the wave gave way, stubbornly resisting each other. There was little chance for the former to win, but that was bound to change when his flame cannon joined the mix.

Breathing heavy and his body hurting from the mana overuse, he commanded his single prepared cannon to fire. Unbelievably, the centipede still wasn't caught off-guard as it opened its mouth, countering with a condensed beam of its own.

Fire and wind collided, and the former won without much trouble. It was backed by too many passives and enchantments to be outdone so easily, but Lev's lightning slash also broke down before it could reach the monster. As the matriarch's wind wave continued forward, it resisted the fire beam long enough for it to lose cohesion, fruitlessly exploding mid-air.

Yeah… Lev sighed as he continued flying away. Over half of Stargazer's mana, and it just powered through all of it. If anything, it doesn't even seem to be that tired or out of juice.

At least the combo had given him enough time to make distance. The moment his lightning slash had faltered against the wind wave, he knew that the fire beam was also going to accomplish little. Even if it did land on the monster, the damage would've been negligible because of the multiple layers of protection covering its fleshy body.

It didn't take long for the centipede to give chase again, firing multiple wind beams and bolts to stop him. Lev merely recreated more walls and quickly enchanted them to negate its attempts. He had the monster beat in that aspect, at least. Small victories.

Behind him, the nearest hill's slope neared. Lev was going to refrain from flying too fast, as both Melvine and Sherron could see him fight on the slope and join him in case things went south.

Come, then. Let's see how hard it is to survive the full assault of an actually strong third-threshold monster.