Channeler Struggles

Immediately as we step through the fog gate, Mia and Skylar focus on the Channeler, who's looking over the rest of the fight from one of the inner balconies.

Belle, Olivia and I step forward protectively in front of Paige, Skylar and Ivy. We don't engage the knights yet. We're waiting for-

The Channeler raises up its trident (I'm not sure why it uses a trident for spellcasting, but it does), and does a strange little dance. A glowing light forms around one of the Knights, indicating that it's in its buffed state.

Mia unleashes a blast of air at the mage, flying up to meet it on the upper level, while Skylar hangs in the backline, supporting her with taking on the annoying mage.

Olivia transforms into her Petradon form, the form we've figured out is most suitable for taking on Balder Knights. The high strength, durability, and magic capabilities make it well rounded enough to tank the fast hits from one of the Knights and dish out plenty of damage in return.

While Olivia charges for the buffed Knight, Belle and I draw away the other two to separate areas, kiting them away from the others to make sure we all have plenty of space.

The massive agility boost I got from the last Raid segment is allowing me to finally keep up with the Balder Knights, at least in their unbuffed state.

The knight thrusts at me, and I sway to the side, avoiding it easily. I hit it with a powerful burst of frost magic. It manages to block some of it with it's small buckler, but a decent chunk of the magic gets past and hits the mark.

Mia chases the Channeler as it teleports around the room, trying to get at least one hit in before it teleports away. At least she's generally quick enough to be able to keep it from firing off beam attacks towards us.

Olivia locks arms with the buffed Knight, pinning it as best she can, in lieu of trying to match it in speed. Balder Knights aren't strong by themselves, but the buffs from the Channeler make them able to contest against the strength of Olivia's Petradon.

The contest of strength is a fierce one, the knight struggling to break free from Olivia's strong grip and crystal binds, but Olivia holds firm, and eventually manages to slam it against the ground, stomping on its head and denting the helmet.

The Channeler releases a blast of mana towards Mia, who frantically dodges the attack. In the time it buys itself, the Channeler does that stupid dance again, and the light disappears around Olivia's knight.

The knight in front of me begins glowing, shedding the ice buildup from my magic, and suddenly gaining a burst of speed. It plunges it's rapier into my chest, with my armour just barely managing to hold back the sharp blade. I feel a small cut against my skin, and Ivy sprouts plants up to heal me.

I hit the knight with another blast of frost, and yell to Olivia. "It's this one!" I shout, as she rushes towards me.

I retreat, switching places with her to take on the damaged knight. The newly buffed Knight lunges towards Olivia, and she parries the vicious stab with a small shield of crystal, unleashing a powerful punch directly at the Knight's face.

It dodges wickedly fast, pivoting and stabbing at her again.

I get to the damaged knight just as it reorients itself, searching for a target, it's glowing eyes landing on me. I conjure a sword of ice, parrying the stab that comes my way and slashing at my opponent.

Above the fray of melee the rest of us are in, Mia resumes her game of cat and mouse with the Channeler, chasing it around the room and trying her best to damage it before it teleports.

Plants sprout up around me to heal the small amount of damage I've received. I can see little bits of grass poking up through the floor of each arena, a trick Ivy's found to allow her easy coverage of the area without expending her entire mana bar.

Ivy gets a happy look on her face as she comes up with an idea. She shares it with me through our mental link, and I agree it's a good idea. She starts to concentrate mana on the side on growing plants around the balconies.

With her newly powered up mana bar, she can afford to try something like this without losing our source of healing.

Belle and I focus on holding off our knights, while Olivia battles the buffed Knight, slamming it with punches and crystals alike.

As Mia chases around the Channeler from balcony to balcony, Skylar supports her from a range, and Paige uses her magic to add to the damage on the buffed knight, slamming earth on it whenever Olivia gives her an opening.

When the preparations are done, Ivy concentrates hard as the Channeler teleports, shifting her gaze between each balcony to see where he's going to appear.

There!

She lashes out with vines, coiling themselves around the Channeler and disrupting the enemy programming. The Channeler staggers, clutching at its legs.

Capitalising on the advantage, Ivy surges forward with her magic, her vines wrapping themselves tightly around the Channeler's arms and ripping the Trident away from him, letting it clatter to the ground below.

The glow of power around the buffed knight flickers and dies. Olivia takes the opportunity immediately, pulling her Balder Knight in close, wrenching it to the ground, and putting powerful crystals right through it's heart.

The knight isn't dead yet, but Olivia doesn't let up, morphing into her Tetramand form and taking advantage of all her strength to stomp down hard on the armoured enemy, denting and eventually breaking the armour and killing the knight.

I keep slowing down my knight by blasting it with frost magic, knowing this is a turning point in the fight.

The Channeler sends out a blast of magic to break the vines, but Mia is already on top of it by now, and slams down on it with a wall of solid air. The fragile mage crumples to the ground, seemingly only alive by sheer luck.

With as much speed as it can muster, it vaults over the balcony, dropping to the ground and going sprawling on the ground as it fails to stick the landing. Its hand closes around the trident.

Tendrils sprout up once more, but the annoying mage is already teleporting, moving back to higher and safer ground. As it reappears, it's clear that the damage is done.

It does it's usual dance that seems to be essential for casting the buff. Belle's knight lights up, receiving the buff, but the glow is weaker this time. And she's got reinforcements.

Already on her way, Olivia smashes into the newly empowered Balder Knight, ripping it off its feet and sending it crashing into the wall.

Mia storms towards the Channeler, blasting it with air magic, and it's too slow to teleport before a hail of magic crashes into it, Skylar's shadow magic piercing through its colourful robes.

"Can't get me now!" Mia yells triumphantly, raining down blow after blow on the mage as its magic fails.

"This is for every time you knocked me out!" Mia exclaims, blasting it back against a wall.

Black spears pierce through, stabbing the Channeler again and again, as Mia charges up one final attack. It reaches up for it's trident, but is too weak to do anything, as Mia slams a gale force wind against it, blowing through the last of its resistance and finally putting an end to the most annoying enemy we've ever faced.

As the last knight fades into golden dust, it's not a scream of victory that we share collectively, but a sigh of relief. We're all grateful to be done with this fight, and are very much looking forward to the next one.

A chest appears in the middle of the church, and the stairs upwards make themselves known through a false wall that fades away.