I slashed out removing the man’s arm. He let out a scream and began swinging his bloody stump and good hand at me. These half dressed zombie people just didn't stop appearing. All I could do was to keep killing them. This one clearly wasn't storing its brains in its heads up top. “AHHHH!” He yelled uselessly. I moved to the side and cut out removing his other head. The attack barely seemed to faze him as he kept trying to reach me. It was simple enough to stay out of his range as I cut him apart.
The body collapsed and I let out a sigh. These constant attacks were annoying, really annoying. I didn’t know how Solid Steel was doing it but they were constantly deploying zombie like attackers against me and assassins at night. I went around to the four corpses I had sprayed Kek at. I had wanted something to cut apart to make me feel better.
Capturing and torturing them didn’t seem to do anything except make them horny. It was incredibly disturbing how enraptured these things were with experiencing pain. They made for great cannon fodder, but this was just the beginning. If there was one thing I was sure about it was that. If Solid Steel didn’t think they could beat me, they wouldn’t be deploying all these resources to defeat me.
I collected up Kek and continued my journey north. Two days of relentless attacks, just three more until I reached Str and would teach Solid Steel why you don’t mess with Blood Rain. Another mindless thing appeared in front of me. I stepped to the side and decapitated it. The body kept running around mindlessly for another couple of seconds like a headless chicken before it tripped and spent the last few seconds of its existence.
I kept moving. I could have let Kek take out the zombie like person but I needed the stress management. I had sent a call through my atrium, but Solid Steel was not responding. I was on their shit list for not dying apparently. A breeze blew across the grassy hills I was traversing and there was a moment of stillness afterwards.
“Whoooooooooo….” A howl echoed in the distance.
“Whooo….”
“Awhoooooooo…..”
More howls followed the first one. I reached the top of the hill I was ascending and saw a horde arrayed against me.
‘Run.’ Kek told me. I looked at the forces standing on the opposite hill about a mile distant. It was a massive force, a true army. I saw cavalry, infantry, archers, and in front of the troops was a large group of half human half wolf hybrids.
They had furry bodies, but stood on two feet. The way they stood on their toes showed they were runners. There was at least five thousand people on the hill opposite me. Killing a hundred people had cost me around 100 MP. I would stand no chance against this many people. I still had most of my SP left, but I had no clue where I could escape to.
Starting a fire wasn’t an option since I was sure they had mages who could put it out. “Tafe my bacon is cooked. Any help?” I could run back south but I would never reach the Vlat River. To the west was just more plains. The army was to my north. To the east was a forest, but that seemed too obvious. I could see it five miles away.
The cavalry began circle out to the west to force me towards the forest. That just confirmed it was bad news. The werewolves, since they couldn’t be anything else began advancing at a slow run while the soldiers followed up behind them. I dropped my pack and mentally prepared myself. I was ready for this fight and had a chance of winning.
“Kek, full production. Burst Speed two times.” I then turned and went straight for the cavalry. I crossed for hundred feet in four seconds and leapt up into a flying kick. I hit one of the soldiers straight in the chest with my tri-pronged foot caving in and piercing his chest at the same time a moment before he was hurled off into the man behind me. The man’s horse who I had just sent flying collapsed on the ground from the sudden change in weight.
I landed on the ground and spun in a circle spraying Kek in a circle around me. The horses went down letting out screams as the black slime dug into their flesh. Their large mass would allow for Kek to create more slime drops. I clicked my tongue again and again as I kept taking him into my mouth and spraying him across the troops all around me.
“Kek, ground coat.” I whispered out. As Kek grew he would coat the ground and spread out for now. The werewolves had reached the fight and began to strafe around me at high speed. They began to throw axes at me. I reached down and grabbed a soldier and held him up to use as a shield. My skill with a blade wouldn’t decide this fight.
I felt impact after impact on the corpse as I spun it about me to intercept the axes. The cavalry was pulling back and the werewolves moved in. The sky grew slightly darker and I saw a massive swarm of arrows heading at me, blocking out the sunlight.
The werewolves backed off but still kept a constantly moving perimeter around me. I could tell they were waiting to throw another barrage of axes the moment before the arrows struck. I looking at the angle of the arrows I threw the corpse into the air and grabbed up another one. The corpse hit the cluster heading for me and I spun the corpse I had just grabbed around me to intercept all the axes that were thrown at me.
Kek blocked a couple of arrows that would have hit me, letting them fall off onto the ground. I mentally issued the command Fear Aura, ten minutes. My opponents didn’t even flinch. They obviously knew about it and had found a counter. That would have been too easy. Another barrage of arrows went up. They were trying to wear me down as much as possible before the main fight. Kek was still working on the corpses and I needed to buy him another minute at least.
I began grabbing up the shields the soldiers had dropped and managed to chuck two into the air creating a gap in the barrage. I grabbed up a third and cowered under it as the arrows struck. I felt two axes take me in the back and stumbled from the force of the attacks, but Kek managed to stop them before they penetrated me.
The soldiers had come up were surrounding me with a shield wall while the werewolves fell back behind their lines. “Mages!” I heard someone call out. I let out a breath and saw it hang in the air for a second. They were going to try and freeze me. I didn’t think Kek would do well in the cold or to being frozen. The temperature was quickly dropping.
“Kek, are you under the soldiers?” A squeeze on my left shoulder. “Will you make it soon?” Another left shoulder squeeze. Ok time to improvise. This would have been a great time for a flame blade but I would have to make do. “Flame around me.” I whispered out. I poured out two canteens.
“Archers fire!” Really guys, couldn’t you give me a break. I pulled out a knife and struck a piece of flint tied onto my belt. A shower of sparks rained off and one of them thankfully caused the oil to catch. With that done I managed to scramble under a horses when the arrows hit. Once they finished impacting I tossed the corpse off of me and saw the fire was going.
The temperature was still dropping and the flames started to flicker out. I thought out Burst Speed and Conceal Movement. With that done I rushed through the smoke from the flames at the opposite line of soldiers. Their shield wall was unbroken. There were no spears extended which was a surprise. Suddenly one of the shields glowed and a blue wall appeared in front of me. I slammed into and then stumbled back.
“Hold fast!” I got to my feet shaking off the frost that was clinging to me. I felt a squeeze on my right shoulder. Now was the time to show them the fury.
“I call upon the powers of the Abyss! Aid me now!” I shouted out at the top of my voice. The front line of soldier’s suddenly collapsed. They began screaming and grabbing for their feet. The corpses left in the killing field collapsed into black slime drops.
“Get another shield wall up, contain him.” Their commander began shouting as troops scrambled to form up another shield wall. This was hampered by one of them collapsing screaming every so often. “Archers fire, stop his magic.” Arrows arced from behind the soldiers in all directions instead of just one. They probably had taken the time to spread out.
“Kek, shell.” Black slime rose up and formed a shell around me. The arrows hit and sunk in slightly and then fell off. He collapsed back to the ground, but I noted he was moving a lot slower as a layer of frost was now coating the entire killing field. “Kek, we are moving.”
I drew Slice of Life and rushed the line of soldiers that was still trying to reform. I unleashed a spray of black slime into three of their faces, the forth managed to get his shield up. I slashed down towards the ground and cut through his boot and into his foot. I clicked my tongue and kept spraying out more black slime forward and kept advancing.
My Fear Aura was still up and the soldiers were quickly crumbling in panic. I took a deep breath and shouted out in my best imitation of their commander. “Archers fire!” Only a third of the arrows were loosed, but it was enough. Kek protected me as soldiers all around me were hit with friendly fire.
I had about a third of SP left and about half my MP. Kek was already reaching critical mass as he spread out in a sheet across the ground, taking out the feet of anyone approaching me. The killing zone had collapsed and the mages had probably pulled back since I broke the encirclement. MP was costly and a wide range freeze aura, boosting their troops to block out my Fear Aura was probably putting them under a tremendous amount of pressure. If they lost their mages, this would turn from a disaster to a catastrophic loss.
I stood there, occasionally dodging a ranged attack as Kek slowly spread out across the ground. The army began to with draw back to the hill they were on previously. Most of them were retreating in good order even as their comrades’ flesh disintegrated behind them. Others ran off screaming, or just running. That was when I heard a roar from the north.
Looking in that direction I saw a green speck hovering in the air in the distance. “Oh shit.” I muttered. “Time to go Kek, any part of you that is running away with me, better come now.” The entire field bubbled as Kek self-consumed most of his current mass to power level. A large portion of slime climbed back up on me and I started moving south.
I kept up my speed at 9.9 miles per hour. The green speck was growing larger and it had unmoving wings. “Kek, why is a dragon after us?” I looked down at my arm.
‘Power. Great. Pull.’ So Kek became too powerful so a dragon was pulled. Well that was bad news all around.
“Is it coming after us or the battlefield?”
‘Hidden. Destroy. Run.’ That was confusing.
“What do you mean hidden? Are we hidden?”
‘Yes. Small.’ That was good. It was just going to lay waste to the general area and not me specifically. So that was my quest target. The main problem was how the dragon hovered in mid-air and had perfect control over its movement. If I could get on its back I might have a chance. With it hovering thousands of feet in the air, that was impossible.
A beam of light lanced out and the battlefield went up in flaming column of molten rock. I kept running, feeling the intense heat at my back. I spared a glance behind me and the dragon burst through the smoke in all its green glory of pure power. Its head turned slightly so that an eye was focused on me. Conceal Movement, three seconds.
I immediately changed directions and the dragon’s head did not track me. When the time ran out it didn’t move its head and I let out a sigh of relief. It was a moment too soon as the dragon rotated its entire body to face me. “Kek, any ideas.”
‘End. Weak.’ I scanned around ignoring Kek who had become suddenly useless. I had a single chance of surviving and it was all or nothing. I spotted one of the soldiers from before running away. I ran up to them and pulled out the Cube of Etherion.
“If you want to live hold this and say, Shield of Etherion.” He looked at me and then back at the dragon. “NOW!” I yelled out. He grabbed the cube out of my hand.
“Shield of Etherion.” He stuttered out. I turned and looked back at the dragon just as it fired. A glowing blue dome surrounded both of us. I was forced to shut my eyes from the blinding light. It was oddly peaceful in this protected area. Three more times the light increased in brightness after dimming. The dragon wasn’t taking any chances.
I looked back at the man who I had given the cube. He had pissed his pants, but kept holding on the cube. It was emitting a soft blue glow from the runes etched onto the surface. His body suddenly crumbled to dust and the cube fell to the ground. The shield disappeared to reveal a molten landscape before the ground began to fall away.
Smoke washed over me as I fell through the air. I saw the cube flying nearby and I made to reach for it. My fingers just grazed it and sent it hurtling off into the smoke. The chunk of ground slammed into the molten ground and I landed on top of it.
The fall hadn’t been that great and Kek and moved to cushion the landing. The air was foul but breathable as the ground was cooling and the smoke dispersing. I looked around for the Cube of Etherion but couldn’t see it anywhere. It had disappeared.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
I waited on the small platform for another two hours as the ground cooled enough for me to walk on. I couldn’t use Kek like that again. I had barely survived and without the cube I wouldn’t survive again. I kept looking about the wasteland for any clue of where it had disappeared to but there was nothing. I had asked Kek but he had no clue where it had gone either.
At least from that battle I had leveled up Shield Mind and Burst Speed…yeah, go me. The loss of the cube was huge. It was my only leverage against Tafe. For a moment he expected she would appear now to gloat but nothing happened. I picked my way across the smoldering landscape out of the crater I was in. The blasts from the dragon must have carved out the ground beneath the shell created by the cube while it held our position.
I reached the ridge of the crater and saw the entire area around was a raging inferno as fire swept across the plains. I could see in the distance that Solid Steel’s army was digging ditches to create a firebreak at their position. They were definitely in trouble. I moved off the crater and began to advance on their camp making sure to keep smoke between us.
I waited on the hill beneath their position as the sun set, leaving the orange glow of the fire and embers littered across the landscape. Once it was the middle of the night hit I made my way out and towards their camp. It was a simple matter to cut off the heads of the exhausted sentries to create a path into the camp.
I went quietly through the camp cutting open throats one by one. The sweaty exhausted bodies were proof enough that the previous fight, dragon, and then the fire had worn them out. I lost count of how many throats I cut open and bodies I left bleeding out. I found a cloak and tossed it on to cover up my soot covered clothing. When the first hint of sunlight came up at the horizon I left the camp with two horses. I had probably killed over a thousand sleeping people.
Riding from camp I headed north. It was time I pay their headquarters a visit. A couple of messages popped up and I glanced at them.
ExperienceA maximum of 100,000 EXP has been applied for a calamity you caused.
***WORLD NOTIFICATION***Due to in game events. All players' bonus quest is upgraded to Legendary.
I just shook my head. Even with that experience I only went up to level 97. Another calamity would only push me up to level 99. The experience curve was incredibly brutal. I really wanted to reach level 100 and know what the final quest was. Killing the dragon would have netted me a million experience points, but I still had no idea how to beat it.
I pushed the horses hard for Str. The sooner I reached the city the less prepared they would be. With all the people I had killed at their camp I didn’t hold out much hope of them mustering up a return in time. “Yah.” I said and snapped the reins.
I heard howls echo across the wind. They must have found out how many corpses I left. Kill one person you are a murderer, kill a million people you are a hero, and kill a thousand for a calamity. The quest upgrade was surprising, but clearly Tafe was trolling me.
“Thanks Tafe.” I called out. Still no response. I guess this was my punishment or she was just trolling. “Kek, how much of you is leveled?”
‘Five. Ten. Ten. Ten.’ That meant five thousand drops.
“Kek, no more doing anything that would call a dragon. No matter what.”
‘Small. Weak.’ It was unfortunate but I was not going to take a chance.
Both horses eventually collapsed, frothing at the mouth as I rode them as hard as I could. Once they collapsed I set off towards Str Mountain which I could see in the distance. I turned to the east. I would cross the river slightly upstream and drift into the city. Solid Steel had quickly made a very long list of stuff to answer for.
There were a couple of farms which I passed by. I reached the river and took a boat someone had tied up to the bank. They wouldn’t be needing that anymore. I hopped in and set off down the river. I imagined if Kek grew to the length of the river. If all the dragons were dead, maybe he could consume the world. Now that would be awesome.
I landed the boat at a sewer entrance that poured out from the city and into the river. The entrance was covered by a metal grate a couple of feet inside the sewer entrance. I kicked the boat off into the river and began using a dagger to loosen up the grate.
It was slow going but I eventually managed to pull two bars loose and squeeze through the gap. I bent the bars back into place before I walked along the dark pathway with the rushing sewage off to my side. I took a seat just past where I entered and sat down. I munched on some bread and jerky I had stolen from the camp while I debated my next move. With the food I had, I could wait down here for a week.
I was loathe to hide out that long, but I wanted Solid Steel to lower their guard. I would need to make my way out of the city and up the side of Str Mountain to the top. From there I could descend and take out the fortress. Once I was inside the walls it would a slaughter fest. I was tempted to set my auto-pilot to review my videos of the fortress, but that was just asking to be found.
All I did was it in place and Meditate, eat, and then relieve myself in the stream of rushing sewage. I figured Kek needed the time to rest as well. He didn’t say anything, but he was content to just wait with me. No one came down to the sewer entrance while I waited. After five days I took a chance to go to my atrium to check the news.
The current word, was that I was an army killer and that Solid Steel had become molten metal. All their holdings around the area were under tremendous pressure after the disastrous loss of most of their main fighting force. There was also quite a bit of debate if the dragon was after me or helping me. It was assumed by everyone that I was still alive since the quest was still active.
I logged back in and waited until the sun set. I climbed out of the sewer entrance and up mortared bricks and into Str. I quickly leapt down onto the street from the wall I had just climbed up and made my way through the city. There was enough back ground noise and it was dark enough that no one noticed my tri-pronged foot that sometimes poked out the edge of my cloak.
I made my way through the city towards the mountain. “Hey, hold up.” I kept walking. “I meant you in the cloak.” I spared a quick glance and saw a soldier approaching with the Solid Steel emblem across his chest plate.
“What can I do for you?” I asked and turned around. I noted three other soldiers hanging back.
“Got to see your face. Hood off-“ I jabbed forward with a dagger, plunging it into his throat. I left it in and called out to his companions. I grabbed him as he slumped over.
“He is sick, help.” I called out. Two of the soldiers approached while the last one drew his sword.
“What is the-“ I dropped the now dead soldier and stabbed out with another dagger. I got the second in the throat.
“Blood-“ I kicked him in the knee which shattered. His shout turned into a yell. I yanked the dagger free sending a spray of blood across the street and stabbed the third man in the eye. The forth soldier was just staring at me. He then threw his sword down.
“I surrender. Don’t kill me, leveling up takes forever.” I pulled out the daggers and began cleaning them without saying anything. “I can help you into the fortress, if that is where you are going or out of the city.”
“I am burning this city down.” I stared at him.
“Please no.” He went to his knees and bowed his head. “I mean me and not the city.”
“You want to help?” I asked.
“I just don’t want to die.”
“Why are you even in FEAR?”
“All my friends joined. Please, I signed up with Solid Steel for the benefits and easy guard duty.”
“If I spare you they will kill you, you know.” The man was silent.
“Dammit.” He cursed quietly.
“Alright, you will take me into the fortress. If I am discovered you will get to feel the wonderful feeling of dissolving from the inside out. The pain is so great you won’t be able to focus on mental commands to log out.” The man noticeably paled.
“Fine, come on.” He walked just in front of me and led me through the city. We didn’t say anything to each other and I was weary for traps. Something was definitely off. He should have logged out and come back in an hour to avoid pain and giving in to me since there as no chance of him surviving.
“Shield Mind.” I blinked and realized something was off. I stabbed the man in the side of the head repeatedly and looked around. The city was too quiet even for the dead of night. Kek pulled me to the side and I quickly moved.
A man was standing next to the corpse wearing a silver mask with a grin on it. “Hello Kenji Shadowen.”
“You have me at a disadvantage.”
“That is how it should be. I suspect this fight will be a challenge regardless.”
“You really think you can defeat me?”
“Yes.” The voice was utterly confident. “I am well aware of your abilities and my limitations. Coming to this city was a mistake. Solid Steel is powerful, more powerful than you can imagine.”
“I killed your assassins, zombies, and army. What makes you that much stronger.”
“One skill, one attack, one thought.”
“You can’t make me afraid. There are things much scarier than you and they don’t wear masks.”
Something hit me from the front. I stumbled back from the force of the blow. Thankfully Kek had taken the attack.
“Impossible.” My opponent muttered out. I thought Burst Speed one time. I rushed forward and sprayed him with black slime. He was fast and almost managed to dodge the spray. Unfortunately for him I was fast as well and with Burst Speed it was over. Some of the spray went on his neck and he stumbled back.
I was hit with another two attacks, one at my head and another at my arm. Kek managed to absorb both of the attacks but I was left stumbling. My opponent was not shaking about in pain. He was immune to Kek. I drew my sword and rushed forward. The man suddenly disappeared and my slashes met nothing but air.
More invisible blows struck me, sending me stumbling about the street. Kek kept jerking in different directions but it was impossible to keep up. The attacks stopped and Kek stilled. “Kek track your portion that landed on him.” I felt a pull and followed the direction I was given.
I made my way through the streets and came upon ten soldiers. The man in the silver mask was standing behind them. “Stop him.”
“I am Blood Rain. Out of my way or die.” The soldiers didn’t moved, paralyzed with indecision. I charged forward and the soldiers scattered. The man in the silver mask met my blow with a dagger. I unleashed a spray of black slime in his face. He stumbled back and I moved forward. The Slice of Life pierced straight through his stomach. I pulled my blade free and backed up.
“Curse you.” He let out a cough of blood. “Freaking bull shit strong.” I moved in and decapitated him. There wasn’t enough blood in him to let up a spray as his headless body fell over. I got an experience screen showing he was eight levels above me. That was scarily impressive. The soldiers had already run away. I reached over and pulled the silver mask free.
“Identification.”
Silver MaskLvL: 83Requirements: Stealth Max LvLStats: N/A
Special: Life SightDurability: 10/10
A decent item. I tried it on and the entire world faded away except glowing outlines which could only be people. I could barely see the street or the buildings as they were completely foggy. I took the mask off and my vision was back to normal. I held it up and looked through the eye sockets, nothing changed. It appeared I had to wear it. I kept it and moved on through the city towards the fortress.
***
Author’s Note: The cube is gone, so Kek can’t go super slime any more. Kek is a massive force multiplier but isn’t an instant win.
I wanted to thank all my readers again. Your support really means a lot. Please take the time to leave a review if you have not done so. It helps me improve as a writer to get feedback. Also please up vote all the reviews you like.
Please note that I will try and keep updating, but I am in the process of moving…urg. So much crap. I want to be like the MC and leave it all behind and steal some more at my destination.