Page 3957

“Exactly how dangerous is this thing?” said Hector. “What kind of abilities does it have?”

‘Didn’t I just tell you that?’ said Voreese. ‘It can conceal itself extremely well and attack you when you’re worn down.’

“Yeah, but what kind of attacks does it launch? Are we talking, like, just teeth and claws? Or is this more like a... lightning and laser beams type situation?”

‘What the fuck? Why would it--? I mean... no, I guess that’s a reasonable question, actually, knowing what kind of shit you’ve been going up against lately.’

Hector just waited, bobbing his head slightly.

‘Well, I suppose I’ve never seen it attack clearly. It keeps to the shadows and peripheral vision, even when attacking. But as far as I know, it does not shoot laser beams or lightning or anything like that.’

“Acid? Fire?”

‘Uh... I don’t think so.’

The more Hector learned about this thing, the less worried he was. “Alright, well. Voreese and Rezolo. Just to be safe, would you two grab onto your servants’ backs for me, please?”

‘What? Um. Yeah, okay.’

Rezolo said nothing but did as requested.

Then Hector raised a hand and clapped iron armor around everyone at once, and there were suddenly five knights standing there in the darkness instead of only one.

He thought it might be tricky to get all the different sizes right, especially with how short Selena was, but it ended up being easier than he anticipated, probably due to the Scarf heightening his spatial awareness.

A part of him wanted to check in with everyone and ensure that everything fit correctly, but that could wait. Even if the creature wasn’t that dangerous, it was better to deal with it sooner rather than later.

“Be right back,” he said.

And turned his own armor into its flying variant in order to blitz away from everyone, into the wall of black and straight toward the Ceese. Without a need to zoom up high, he stayed basically on the ground, with his armored feet barely skimming above it.

He sensed the creature’s reaction. It saw him coming, somehow. Of course it did. Aura sense, maybe? Hardly mattered, because even as it bolted away, Hector stayed on it.

The thing was certainly fast, but Hector had definitely caught it by surprise, judging by how quickly he was gaining on it. Then, with an iron cage clapped around it, the creature had to take an additional moment to try and break free.

Which brought the chase to an end, as Hector’s gauntleted grip found the back of its neck.