Nix and Pon circled Crater, going in opposite directions before meeting behind their target a few moments after the first contact.


    "A bit slow, old man." Nix pushed mes into his bone hilts and shed toward his target. The temperature around Crater dropped steadily as Nix approached; just before his de strike, the air itself seemed to condense with tiny ice crystals that stung like tiny bees.


    [Sword Dance][sh de][Parry][Hamstring]


    Quadruple Combination Sessful!


    [Crippling Strike]


    Nix''s footwork has enabled him to strike a vital area.


    Nix hasnded a Significant Strike.


    Crater has been stunned.


    Nix has turned his opponent''s movement against him [Bleeding Applied].


    Nix has slowed Crater''s movements by forty percent.


    [Dual Chain][Balefire: Hex][Sudden Strike: Dread me]


    Combination Sessful!


    Pon has followed up Nix''s attack with a Significant Strike.


    Crater has been stunned.


    Pon hasnded a Critical hit.


    [Dual Chain][Void Strike][Backstab]


    Combination Sessful!


    Semmi has followed up Pon''s attack with a Significant strike.


    Crater has been stunned.


    Semmi hasnded a Critical hit.


    [Dual Chain][Void Strike][Demon de]


    Wind has followed up Semmi''s attack with a Significant strike.


    Crater has been stunned.


    Wind hasnded a Critical strike.


    Crater has been infected with Demon blood, causing his defensive abilities to decrease by ten percent.


    [Dual Chain][Trueshot: Air Burst]


    Ronnie has followed up Wind''s attack with a Significant strike.


    Crater has been stunned.


    Ronnie hasnded a Mortal strike.


    [Dual Chain][Simultaneous Shot: Sniper''s Strike]


    Darsi, Moki, and Dalton have coordinated a Multi-Burst attack!


    Crater has been grievously wounded.


    A st of frigid air escaped from the staggering creature. Inferno''s chain attacks quickly overwhelmed its abilities to defend itself.


    [Life Sacrifice][Sudden Egress]


    Crater has sacrificed all but one of his health points to use a skill.


    Crater has entered a state of invulnerability and is attempting to escape.


    "Running?" Nix jumped to one side when Crater reversed direction and charged toward him and Pon. He shed at the creature as it ran by, but his des passed harmlessly through the enormous body.


    /Inferno: Nix: Shit... He''s invulnerable?


    /Inferno: Jun Li: Chase him; it can''tst for more than a few seconds.


    Crater took a dozen strides, his long legs crunching loudly on the ice as Inferno pursued him. Then, after only a few seconds, he stopped suddenly.


    [Quest Updated]


    Deep Winter War: Matched Pair


    Description: After chasing Crater, it seems like your prey has evaded you.


    Objective: Random pairs from your raid will team up in short instances. Survive at all costs! If either member of the paired group dies or is knocked off the tform, both of those yers are eliminated. Thest pair to survive this contest will battle the Goddess of Winter.


    /Inferno: Nix: Shit... Bastard disappeared.


    Crater''s enormous form vanished, leaving Inferno alone on the icy battlefield. Then suddenly, Semmi and Pon disappeared, followed immediately by Nix and Darsi. Over the next few seconds, pairs of Inferno members blinked away.


    The duo appeared on arge wooden tform. The room that contained them was octagonal in shape and formed from solid ice.


    "So... Kill shit and don''t fall off?" Nix snuck a peek at his partner, his face creasing in arge smile. "Hey, Darsi!"


    The pony-tailed blonde returned his smile while she quickly broke down her long-barreled sniper rifle into a shorter assault weapon. In a few seconds, she switched out the barrel, stock, and scope, clicking them in ce like someone who had done it thousands of times. "Trip-7... You''ll have to front while I''ll y backup." Darsi clicked a vicious-looking bay onto the end of her adjusted weapon.


    Nix nodded in reply and pushed emerald dread mes into his bone hilts. "No worries."


    /Inferno: Pon: I''m with Sem!


    /Inferno: Darsi: I got Trip-7.


    /Inferno: Ronnie: My big Sis!


    /Inferno: Jun Li: S.


    /Inferno: Banz: Gid!


    /Inferno: Pinky: Chael!


    /Inferno: Tess: Gypsy! Shit... We''re both healers.


    /inferno: Donri: Nebs.


    /Inferno: Nezbit: Moki.


    /Inferno: Wind: Dalton.


    Nix felt Darsi''s back push against his; with no obvious door, there was no way to tell from which direction their mobs woulde from. "Head on a swivel, I don''t like this."


    "Me neither." Darsi scanned the area in front of her; suddenly, three howlers appeared next to the wall. "MY SIDE!"


    Nix unequipped his bone hilts and raised both hands; an instantter, a half dozen me strands wrapped around the iing howlers, anchoring them in ce.


    The steady sound of three-round bursts echoed off the wall as all three mobs were quickly dispatched through thebination of fire strands and bullets.


    In an identical room, Pon and Semmi easily cut through three rounds of howlers. The first wave was a group of three, the second was four, and the third was a single mid-tier howler that the old mage Instantly took down with dread me.


    /Inferno: Tess: Shit... We lost!


    /Inferno: Nezbit: So did we. Thest Howler picked up Moki and tossed him off the stage.


    /Inferno: Moki: Sorry, guys!


    Pon nced at Sem, who had a wide smile stered on her face. "You look happy!"


    Semmi shrugged slightly. "It could be us that ends up facing Khione!"


    Pon nodded, his face looking somewhat grim. "That will be fine with me."


    "I won''t let you down. Even though I''m not as strong as you, count on me when it matters!" Semmi gripped one of his hands and leaned her blonde head against his shoulder. A momentter, they both disappeared.


    Nix was in the process of high-fiving Darsi when hispanion was reced with someone else. "Must be my lucky day."


    Sharl smiled slyly and hefted her shield in one hand. "New pairs?"


    "Guess so. Protect me, so I don''t get hurt."


    The Inferno tankughed at hisment. "Okay, but I expectpensation."


    /Inferno: Semmi: New pairs? I''m with Junie!


    /Inferno: Pon: Donri.


    /Inferno: S: Darsi.


    /Inferno: Ronnie: Gideon.


    /Inferno: Banz: Pinky!


    /Inferno: Nix: Sharl!


    /Inferno: Chael: Dalton.


    /Inferno: Wind: Nebs.


    The pair stood shoulder to shoulder, not really concerned that the next fight was looming. Nix was confident that nothing outside of a raid-level boss could remove his newpanion from the tform. He mmed his emerald me des together, causing sparks to shower them both. "Guess the partners will keep changing?"


    Sharl shrugged slightly. "Probably, although I won''tin if I get stuck with you."


    Nixughed at her sly expression, his thoughts instantly traveling to the hot spring cave near his property. "We got this."


    The rounds stayed the same, three mobs, four mobs, and then a tougher mid-tier. Nix found himself paired with Semmi, Jun Li, Gideon, and then Ronnie. No more pairs were eliminated as Inferno did what they do best.


    Ronnie used her [Airburst: Arrow] to kill thest of the four mob groups. She held her bow loosely in one hand while her dark eyes watched the Inferno Leader. "Too bad this is in pairs and not threes. You, me, and Sis make a great threesome."


    "Threes would be even worse; this is ridiculous." Nix smiled at the innuendo. "This is going to take a while; those of us that remain aren''t going to be easily eliminated.


    "Sure, but then Sharl and I could help you pass the time." Ronnie smiled sexily, her lips pursed slightly.


    Nix''s reply was cut short by the appearance of the mid-tier howler. He sent two dozen me strands at the creature, pinning its arms whilepletely immobilizing it. Without mana, he had been relegated to CC or swords; the mid-tier was an easy kill with his ability topletely lock it down.


    Ronnie sent shot after shot into the creature while it struggled to escape Nix''s me strands. "Hopefully, we''lle back around to partner again!"


    Nix nodded, smiling when she kissed him wetly on the cheek. "Stay alive!"


    Ronnie was still smiling a few momentster when she appeared beside a new partner. "Hey, Sem."


    Semmi returned the greeting. "Bet you wished you''d get Nix twice in a row."


    "Yep." Ronnie watched guild chat as the yers listed their current partners, something they''d been doing since the start. Her smile faded somewhat when she noticed thest paring.


    /Inferno: Semmi: Maybe this is a test of endurance?


    The blonde officer flexed her shoulders while she studied the room. "Get back to the middle, Ronnie. The first round will start soon."


    Instead ofplying, Ronnie shook her head and stepped off the tform. "Time to stop."


    "HEY!" Semmi shouted in surprise when Ronnie vanished from the room; a momentter, she also disappeared. "The hell?"


    Ronnie shrugged slightly when the two of them appeared in the holding area next to the other eliminated pairs.


    /Inferno: Ronnie: They''re together; everyone else step off.


    /Inferno: Jun Li: What?


    /Inferno: Ronnie: Pon and Nix are together; everyone else needs to forfeit.


    Semmi stared at Ronnie for a long moment before she nodded to herself.


    /Inferno: Semmi: She''s right. We can''t risk either of them being eliminated.


    /Inferno: Wind: Shit!


    /Inferno: Sharl: I hate it!


    Although no one liked it, the pairs stepped off of their tforms and appeared in the holding area one by one. After thinking it through clearly, it became evident. The strongest pairing would be the two people who could kill the Ice Goddess by themselves.


    Nix shared a nce with Pon and then opened up his hud. "Guess it''s just the two of us?"


    Pon nodded. "Got any mana yet?"


    "Nope. The Archmage strike is such a sham." Nix scowled in disgust; draining all your mana for a few days seemed a bit overboard.


    The old man beside himughed at the face he was making. "Good thing you got those des, Noob."


    Nix smiled and made a rude gesture; an instantter, they were both transported away.