The temperature dropped as Arwin approached the door leading into the next room. It was at the far end of the hall, isolated from the rest of the room by a patch of dead foliage. The vines around it had withered and turned a dull white, and the water pooling near the base of the door looked sickly. “That doesn’t seem hospitable,” Rodrick said, kneeling beside the puddle but taking care not to touch it. “It feels… off,” Anna added. “Wrong, I guess.” “I’m inclined to agree. Could be some form of necrotic presence in the area,” Arwin theorized. “Or just normal dark magic. I doubt it’s anything too powerful since we’re still in a Journeyman dungeon, but we should still keep our guard up. I’ll take the lead as usual.” “I’ll back you up,” Lillia said. Rodrick looked her in surprise. “Really? Shouldn’t that be me? I mean, I know you can handle yourself, but I’m the warrior.” “Someone needs to watch our back in case something happens to be behind us,” Lillia said smoothly, with all the grace of an older sister redirecting her sibling from something she wanted. “I suppose that’s a good point,” Rodrick allowed, falling for it completely. He stepped back, letting Lillia move up beside Arwin. With their new formation established, Arwin summoned his hammer back and pushed the door open with its head. Dried vines squelched and cracked beneath it as it swung open, opening a passageway into the darkness. Not too far down, two dim purple flames flickered at the end of the hall, illuminating an old stone door. Arwin’s eyes narrowed. It dropped to the ground, a few wisps of persistent fire still burning at its side. Scrambling to its feet, the gargoyle let out a snarl. Even as chips of bone rained down from its body, the damage faded away as if it had never been there. “Godspit,” Lillia muttered. “Where in the Nine Underlands did you learn how to do that?” Arwin adjusted his grip on the hammer, trying not to look too surprised at his own strength. Verdant Blaze vibrated in his hands, as if hungry for more. It was warm to the touch – the [Soul Flame] had completely permeated the weapon, and it almost felt as if it was hungry. “I don’t think the gargoyle is impressed,” Rodrick muttered under his breath. “How do we kill it?” “By hitting it a lot,” Arwin replied, striding toward the gargoyle to keep the monster’s attention on him. Despite his words, he had no plans of blindly flinging himself at the gargoyle. The claws on its paws weren’t just for show. Even with his armor and enhanced defenses, the gargoyle would probably shred him to ribbons pretty quickly. The monster was simple, but it was effective. Generally, the best way to defeat gargoyles was through magic. Unfortunately, Arwin’s team didn’t have a proper mage. The closest thing to that was probably Anna, and she had no way to fight back. That’s fine. Magic is the easiest way to take out a gargoyle, but it’s not the only way. There’s always another way. And, in this case, that other way is to wear this bastard down until there’s nothing left of him to regenerate. Any healing skill is going to be either really slow or really taxing. And, considering the gargoyle regenerated that wound in just a second, we’re looking at the latter. “It can’t keep up the healing forever,” Arwin said. “Just keep safe and wear it down. Reya, focus on slowing it if it’s about to hit someone. Your job is to keep us safe, not to help us land hits.” “Understood,” Reya said. The gargoyle threw itself for Arwin, turning into a white blur. If Arwin had been with anyone else, he would have tried to dodge the blow. Taking the monster head-on was far from the best way to handle it – but he was the best defended out of the entire group, and they were all behind him. With a roar, Arwin channeled [Scourge] and swung Verdant Blaze. The head of the hammer erupted with flame as it connected. At the same time, lines of heat carved through Arwin’s shoulder. The gargoyle shot off like a bullet and slammed into the wall, shattering both the stone and its own body. At the same time, Arwin nearly lost his grip on the hammer. He stumbled, blood pouring down his arm in rivers. In the brief instant the gargoyle had been beside him, it had managed to snag his arm with one claw. And, in that glancing blow, it had ripped his armor open like a can, gouging deep into the muscle and scratching the bone beneath. If I didn’t have [Indomitable Bulwark], I think I would have lost my arm there. Anna rushed up to Arwin and pressed her hands to his arm. Relief flooded through him as the wounds knitted shut. The few seconds it took her to heal him were just enough for the gargoyle to rise as well, the last smoldering embers falling away as its body reformed. Arwin’s second blow had done more damage to it than the first had – likely because it had been head on and also had the additional force from [Shieldbreaker], but it still wasn’t anywhere near enough to kill the monster. “How many times do you have to kill that thing?” Rodrick demanded, adjusting his grip on his sword. “Until it stays dead.” The gargoyle charged again, screaming. This time, before Arwin could attack, Rodrick lunged forward. Despite Arwin’s orders, Reya thrust her hand forward with a yell of her own. Blue light enveloped the monster and its dash slowed for a flicker of an instant. Rodrick’s sword ignited with burning yellow light and he released a flurry of three blows into the monster’s side in rapid-fire succession before throwing himself back just in time to avoid getting carved apart. Each of his cuts left a deep gouge in the monster’s side – and the cuts weren’t healing. Arwin nearly burst into laughter as realization struck him. The gargoyle craned its head back to study the damage it had taken, flapping its wings and creating a powerful gust of wind to keep them back. “Your attacks count as magic?” Arwin asked of the air rushing past them. “Yours don’t?” Rodrick demanded. “What’s all the fire if not magic? And why does that matter?” “It’s [Soul Flame]. I think soul attacks count differently,” Arwin replied. “And gargoyles can heal from physical attacks easily. Magic disrupts them.” “Why?” Rodrick asked. “Now really isn’t the time for a lesson,” Arwin said as the gargoyle stopped flapping its wings and turned baleful eyes toward them, its gaze locked on Rodrick with revenge promised in its eyes. “It’s because they’re made of magic, and magic always disrupts magic,” Lillia answered for Arwin.