[x] Charge your shield as much as possible.
[x] Have a 25 charge force bubble ready, just in case.
[x] Dual boost toward the witch. Use momentum and unleash a 20 charge energy slash at the witch. Boost away.
[x] If the force bubble is used, exploit it. Attack what you can with sword strikes and boost away afterwards.
You grit your teeth and set your shield in front of your body. It seems you have no other option but to fight without your friends' help and hope for the best. If you were to make a guess, that riding figure is the witch itself and you should concentrate on bringing it down. For all you know, killing a familiar will just make another one pop up.
The spinning lines inside your shield pick in pace and the winds around you begin to grow more forceful. As you charge up your reservoir of energy, you keep your eyes glued to the figures surrounding you, just in case they were planning to pounce on you while you were busy.
No attack comes, but the witch heists the huge cleaver from the ground and poises it to the side. It is waiting for you to make the first move it seems.
The familiars are another story and charge at you again, all at once. You brace yourself for a fight and dodge, but the need never comes. The blood-clad familiar with the burning wound receives several new ones all of sudden and vanishes into the mist as if it hadn't ever existed
One of the unwounded ones is forced jump to the side and seems to stop like it had run to a wall, while the one on the side of the previously hurt one also receives a couple of glaring holes in its torso.
This works for you just fine.
The shield clocks at the maximum charge and you immediately start drawing on the energy inside. Half of the gathered energy is gathered in your body, legs and sword. Your hand flies to the handle of your sabre and you bend your knees a little to prepare for your upcoming assault.
The horse part of the witch simply leans forward in anticipation.
[Tamiko attack: 98 vs 93]
You push out the energy in your right leg and shoot forward at the witch, drawing your sword and launching the energy slash at it at the same time. The witch is fast enough to make an honest effort at dodging, much to your surprise, but your boosted speed is too much for it even if the energy slash slowed you down a bit.
The flashing energy wave cleaves through the witch's other side, cutting off the arm holding the spiked chain and leaving the emptiness of the armor visible. The witch screeches like grinding metal, and you become aware of the cleaver being swung your way above your head.
[Witch attack: 69 vs 93]
You immediately let go of the force bubble you've been holding on to, and the white energy washes over the witch. While the witch seems to be strong enough to withstand the power of the expanding bubble with only a slight stagger, it still manages to push the sword out of its course enough for it to miss you.
[Tamiko attack: 66 vs 39]
You take advantage of the unbalance and manage to counter the witch with one final parting slash before you boost away to the side with your left leg. The witch's reflexes are enough to lean back slightly in the face of the attack, but you still draw a gouge at the horse's side.
You are vaguely aware that your sword arm hurts as you land about a dozen meters away from the witch to the side. You don't think your normal attack did much... That armor is not just for show it seems.
However, you still did a fair number on it with your first attack, and you note how mist rolls off the new opening in the witch's torso. Then the screeching ceases and turns into noise vaguely resembling mad cackling that echoes in the frozen swamp around you. The witch turns to face you and the horse aggressively drags it front hooves against the ground.
Strange runes scattered around the creature's armor begin to glow with pale blue light. It lifts the sword from the round an sets it to the side in preparation for another round with you.
Around you, the familiars approach you again from the sides, with another fresh one joining the fun of the previous two.
Tamiko shield charge: 50/100
What do you do?
[] Write-in.
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You know, this is probably the first time the energy slash has rolled high enough to actually hit something