“Viola! Get a heal on Linnaeus!” Lucas shouted when he saw Viola immediately throw a barrier up in front of Nick and heal him the second after. A small, translucent-white halo had appeared above Nick’s head, and Lucas knew that wasn’t part of the typical Dark Knight skill set. That meant Viola apparently also had access to more spells than what Lucas was accustomed to seeing. “He’s more important than Nick!”

“Healing Linnaeus right in front of the enemies? Wicked! Count me in!” Viola shouted back gleefully. Seconds later, Lucas twisted around to see the arrows being expelled from his wings.

Then, as if having received a second wind, Linnaeus plunged downward, dipping low with Lucas in front of him.

Lucas only had two attacks on his staff, and he was much closer to specializing in Lightning than Fire, so as he came barreling toward the ground, he started unleashing wave after wave of triple-charged electric blasts. The tank carriers did well to intercept the attacks, leaving Linnaeus and Lucas wide open to counterattacks, but Lucas quickly found their weak spot: their Healers. The enemy had left them so far back that no one could have engaged them under normal circumstances. Thanks to Linnaeus’s flight speed and Viola’s healing, Lucas was able to close the distance and hit them hard. He rained down wave after wave of attacks while Linnaeus whizzed back and forth above them. The Healers practically melted under the relentless assault, and Linnaeus pulled back into the sky once again.

Lucas spared a few parting shots at the tanks for good measure, simply because he could, but they were once again repulsed.

“I don’t know how much longer I can hold out!” Bonnie shouted. She sprinted out from behind the tree she was using for cover and ran over to another, taking an arrow to the back as she moved. Unlike Nick, Lucas, and Linnaeus, however, she had no one who could heal her, and there was nothing that anyone could do at the moment to peel pressure off of her.

“Bonnie, I hate telling you this, but switch to Healer,” Lucas shouted back.

“I can’t! My bag is . . . Boss, just do something!”

“Yeah, come on, Prince Charming! I’m running out of Holy Energy here!” Viola yelled up at him.

Linnaeus, clearly thinking that the title Prince Charming was aimed at him, responded, “Don’t worry, little girl! No one shall defeat my master’s people while I am here! Come now, master! Redouble your efforts. This lady’s Prince Charming is supporting you! Ca-caw!” Linnaeus cried out, once again diving toward the enemies.

“Actually . . . Wait!” Lucas replied, stopping the flying ape. At the rate things were currently going, Lucas knew that he wouldn’t be able to win even if he burned his entire supply of Arcane Energy on Chain Lightnings. His spells simply weren’t powerful enough to punch through the enemy shields. He did, however, still have Meddling Minds. “Just keep me from getting hit.” Lucas began channeling the mind control skill, focusing the spell on the warrior with the glowing blue shield.