Somnia Online by K.T. Hanna (reading strategies book txt) 📕

multiple shieldings, and right on the end of that attack, began to whirl his blades with abandon. The Flurry of Blades tore into the shaman, and his skin paled immediately.

The onslaught of attacks on the rogue seemed to double as people used short duration cooldowns to do as much damage as they could whilst hoping they might loosen his focus on the healer.

Just as Murmur was about to call out the resurrection, Risk managed to yank Veranol clear of the attack with his lasso. It all happened so quickly, and Veranol’s hit points dropped so low, Murmur’s heart sat in her stomach. But the HoTs kicked in and kept him alive, even as Jirald turned to face his next target.

Karn barely dodged in time, so intent was she on attacking Jirald herself. She was constantly improving, but Jirald was just better. He beat her back, inflicting gashes and ripping holes as he did, dropping her health by seventy-five percent. The glee on his face made Murmur sick to her stomach, and for a second, she hated the quest requirement to not kill him.

Jirald chuckled, continuing to fight from where he stood. “Almost. So many weaknesses to exploit.” He left Karn bleeding out, coughing up blood as the healers dashed to repair her body, and returned to facing Devlish with a renewed glint in his eye. It was like he was playing a game. A game where he had twelve seconds every minute or so to wreak as much havoc as he could.

And now he’d tested out his bounds, she knew who his next target would be.

It was like the train wreck she knew was coming and couldn’t see past, couldn’t prevent no matter what she did. Even piling up shielding, pushing Snowy toward the blood mage, and making sure she kept Sinister in sight didn’t save her.

When the break came, Jirald was faster than he’d been previously. He made it there in less than a blink of an eye, and this time executed a double blow that cleaved her head clean off her neck.

Murmur stood there like time had stopped, watching Sinister’s head roll away, her life bar immediately depleted. She barely even registered as Veranol called out that he’d resurrect her. Murmur’s gaze remained glued to that spot on the ground and the blood seeping out of the body. To the lifeless eyes as they stared at the feet of the raid members. Sin’s skin had immediately taken on an ashen hue, and regardless of whether it started out blueish, the effects still seemed so real they hit her in the gut like a wrecking ball trying to make her throw up.

Snowy wasn’t by her side comforting her; he was in the thick ripping what he could out of Jirald’s hide. All of the sensations warred within her, and Murmur barely pulled back in time not to cover the entire raid with a wave of grief-filled anger and revenge.

The cold feeling of rage centered in her chest. Not at the world, not at the game, not at anyone other than Jirald. To him Somnia was a game, perhaps a bit more. He wasn’t even aware of how screwed he was with the adjustments he’d made to his damned headset. But to Murmur, Sinister was everything, and Sinister had been targeted because of Jirald’s hatred for the enchanter.

She couldn’t forgive him for that.

Murmur formed the spell in her mind, like she had what seemed like an age ago in one of the dungeons that seemed to blend with the others in her mind. Time slowed so much that she saw every strike Jirald executed on Merlin and his slow responses that barely managed to save him from Sinister’s fate.

Even blinking her eyes took what seemed like forever. She summoned Insidious Lure to the fore. She wasn’t angry, really. Instead, there was a crystal-clear path that she needed to follow, or else more of her friends would suffer, and Murmur wouldn’t allow that.

Insidious Lure

Cast: Instant once released

Type: Entrapment/Psychosis

Duration: For as long as your will remains focused.

Effect: This will lure your enemies into a trap of the mind, forcing them to see their worst fears and act on them, even to the detriment of their peers. It will continue until the caster releases the spell, or the enemies have killed each other.

Caution: This spell can be mentally taxing and even damaging. Make sure your reasons for using such force are justified. Try not to get caught in your own nightmare along the way.

Last time she’d used it, she’d felt such overwhelming guilt afterward. But not now. No, now it was a means to an end. Releasing it, even though she knew there were only a few seconds left before Devlish could taunt again.

It hit Jirald with a warning.

System Warning. This particular subject will become immune to this over time. Be cautioned against overuse. Do not succumb to its Lure yourself.

That was okay, though—she had other tricks up her sleeve.

Jirald stopped in place, his hands clutching his head for a moment. When he looked up, his eyes were haunted, like he could see something they could not. A sneer passed over his face as he grabbed his daggers and lurched toward Ishwa.

Devlish’s taunt popped up just as Ishwa managed to blink out of Jirald’s reach. Murmur cringed. That hadn’t gone as planned. Her only other option was far too long a recast. She’d have to time it perfectly so it hit on the next window. It would buy her time to figure out what to do about the rest of it.

“Good call.” Ishwa was suddenly next to her. “I know his family. His dad gave me my first internship, so we know each other. You couldn’t know I’d become a target.”

For a moment she wanted to ask if he could read minds, but she was focused on disabling Jirald as much as she could. In fact, the attack on Ishwa and the beheading of Sinister seemed to have spurred the entire raid into