Health:
2188/2490
Stamina:
1252/5480
Wrath:
2821
Kal barely had time to activate Slayer’s Intent on the level sixty-three royal guard before it slammed into him with enough force to throw him into the tunnel wall, sending shards of stone into the air with a loud crack.
[Entities Marked: Garghound Royal Guard | Hostile]
Before it came again Kal let Wrath Incarnate take control and he roared and brought his sword around to meet the huge garghound as it approached. They clashed and Kal stood firm as his amplified strength was enough to keep the first one back but it still took most of his attention so he wasn’t able to protect himself from the second’s attack which charged from his flank and in its stride closed its jaws around Kal’s abdomen and ripped from the ground, its large fangs piercing his body even through his amplified endurance.
Kal growled as his health dropped but he ignored the pain and hacked his blade into its neck biting deep enough that the demon threw him to the side by reflex as several of its neck muscles were severed.
Before Kal had even hit the ground the third attacked, trying to catch him between its jaws but Kal pivoted mid-air and brought his sword across its face forcing it to pull back so that his blade didn’t take an eye.
His stomach pumped blood and internally he knew that the wound wouldn’t be cheap to heal properly but he didn’t have the wrath to spend to heal it properly so he kept his cheap version of Wrathful Regeneration active instead.
The three charged him at once, and in the relatively tight confines of the tunnels, Kal had no way to dodge all three of them so charged them in return. Wrath Incarnate got him a large enough attribute advantage that was able to bash one aside with his free hand with a heavy thud and crack as its head hit the wall before he brought his sword down on the strongest of the three.
The limited space prevented the demon from evading but it moved far enough to take the wound on its side rather than its head before ducking low and biting for Kal’s thigh. The third Kal once again struggled to do anything to stop as it simply got within his reach and went for his body again, all Kal could do was twist, giving up his leg to the other royal guard to avoid a fang through his liver.
The bite still tore a sizable chunk from Kal’s side and his health dropped by another ten percent then he was ripped from the ground again and slammed into the tunnel wall as large fangs pierced straight through his leg on both sides.
Kal went to bury his blade in the garghounds skull in return but as he brought his sword down the familiar sensation of his blade jumping in temperature told him they had tried to melt his sword again. He almost grinned as he brought the sword down but then he felt his fingers crush the hand and even his rage paused for an instant as the blade that had been with him since before the trial liquified in his grip.
If he wasn’t riding the wrathful rage of his soul Kal would have panicked at the loss but instead, he roared and slammed his fist into the huge garghounds open, it still hadn’t stopped glowing from melting his sword but when it burst in his fist it certainly did.
The now one-eyed garghound roared and threw Kal clear as dark blood squirted from its empty eye socket.
[Entities Marked: Garghound Royal Guard | Enraged]
As Kal bounced and rolled to a stop, his leg gave out underneath as the muscles hadn’t had time to regenerate but didn’t stop the uninjured garghounds from rushing him before he had the chance.
His wrath was plummeting, and keeping up both Wrath Incarnate and Wrathful Regeneration with dozens of weaklings to kill just wasn’t possible. Or was it?
Kal roared as the two garghounds rushed him and slammed his fist down on one’s head as he dodged its burning tail strike then spun grabbing the second’s throat before slamming it into the wall, following through with a hard slam to its neck. He heard a satisfying crack but annoying it wasn’t enough to paralyze these much tougher garghounds.
Health:
1230/2490
Stamina:
1098/5480
Wrath:
52
He was forced to drop both of his skills as his wrath got dangerously close to starting to use his stamina instead, Kal looked down at the quickly recovering royal guard and ignored the now charging one-eyed demon and in a moment of desperation tried to activate Slayer’s Intent.
It was something Kal had been meaning to try but the opportunity never arose. To get any wrath out of the skill the target had to be a higher level than him and for the most part if he did come across multiple demons of higher level there were far more weaker demons to kill along the way to make Slayer’s Intent just another thing to have to keep track of while trying to manage his wrath. But with his second core that was less of a problem. Even if he gained more than he could burn he could simply feed it to his backup core.
Slayer’s Intent [Rare] [Soul Forged]
Induce fear upon those you have marked for death and revel in that which empowers you. While this skill is active all active fear effects are greatly amplified against the target of your intent and you will generate a small amount of wrath every second scaling with the target's killing potential.
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It wasn’t clear but the first line seemed to imply it might work and Kal’s vision of the arcane hunter using his version of it on billions of people sure made it seem possible.
[Entities Marked: Garghound Royal Guard | Enraged, Garghound Royal Guard | Hostile]
It worked, but the moment the skill took hold and Kal could sense the killing intent of the demon flare up in resonance with his soul, a crushing weight slammed down on his mind. It was the same pressure he felt when he finished his wrath switch construct.
He staggered, as the pressure disorientated him but finally, the first tick of wrath came but not before he was smashed to the ground by the one-eyed garghound. Without Wrath Incarnate active the pain was all too clear to him as he felt several of his ribs break from the hit, he gasped but kept his wits about him for long enough to reactivate his skills.
The power rushed through him just in time for him to catch the jaws of the garghound before they clamped down on his head. He twisted the demon’s head sharply getting a snarl of pain in response but the demon was tough so it simply tried to gore him with its claws in response.
With the extra wrath coming from the second marked demon he was now generating a total of one hundred and eighty-seven wrath per second. That was great and all but it wasn’t even enough to keep Wrathful Regeneration up constantly let alone Wrath Incarnate. He needed more.
Kal roared as he threw the one-eyed demon off of him and turned to the just recovered garghound as it got to its feet. Kal kicked it in the head before it got a chance to react just before his wrath hit zero again and he dropped his skills again. The pain of his injuries returned in full again but he couldn’t let it slow him down as grabbed hold of the downed garghounds head and slammed his knee into its jaw.
Again, and again. Finally, a fang snapped free, followed by another savage snarl.
[Entities Marked: Garghound Royal Guard | Enraged, Garghound Royal Guard | Enraged]
With the second demon enraged he was now getting two hundred and forty-seven a second, just enough to keep his regeneration going. But Kal was still slower and just strong enough to keep up with one of these things one-on-one.
He leaped from the snarling and dazed one-fanged demon in an attempt to scoop up the broken fang but the uninjured garghound finally got involved again and caught Kal by the calf and threw him in the other direction, keeping a chunk of his leg in its mouth.
Kal couldn’t help but yell as most of the meat of his calf was torn away but he did what he could to right himself and be ready for the next attack. His mind still quaked at the enormous pressure but how far could he push it? Did he have a choice? His heart pounded as the one-eyed and uninjured demons charged toward him again.
His leg wasn’t even close to fully healed but his health was picking up at least but Kal didn’t expect it to last, without Wrath Incarnate he literally took damage more easily as his endurance dropped drastically.
Kal’s soul cried out for the destruction of the two he had marked but his body couldn’t keep up and his reactions had become sluggish as the pressure on his mind continued to bear down on him. What could he do?
The two royal guards attack him at once, one going for his already wounded leg and the other for his right arm. Kal was just as fast as them but two at once was now too much to manage, he managed to protect the leg but the size and speed of it knocked him into an easy position for the other to get his arm. Its fang carved along the full length of his arm as it brought him to the stone floor hard and a sharp crack sounded throughout the tunnels.
Kal felt himself once again leave the ground but a startled snarl from the royal guard made him realize he was falling and not being thrown. With a gasp, Kal swung his body around carving up his arm even worse in the process to kick the garghound in the face as they fell. Only after the second kick did it actually work and Kal was knocked away to land hard, his already damaged leg cracking and his mangled arm utterly limp as nearly all of its flesh was torn apart or ripped free.
Health:
138/2490
Stamina:
789/5480
Wrath:
0
Health:
138/2490
Stamina:
789/5480
Wrath:
247
Health:
220/2490
Stamina:
789/5480
Wrath:
0
Health:
220/2490
Stamina:
789/5480
Wrath:
1
Health:
302/2490
Stamina:
789/5480
Wrath:
0
Kal climbed to his feet using his good arm and leg, his body was in agony but he scanned the place they had just fallen into. Unlike the tunnels this place was much better lit, several crystals clung to the roof in a large cavern each of them glowing a surprisingly pleasant blue. The cavern was full of tall pillars that seemed to be covered in some kind of script, they were all about thirty feet tall and about twenty feet wide, one of which Kal had been lucky enough to land on. If he wasn’t currently trying to stop himself from getting ripped apart by demons he would have stopped to look at it all some more.
The garghound that had mangled his arm missed the pillar and fell to the cavern floor. It must have hit the ground just as hard as he did since it had only just now gotten back to its feet. Kal looked up to see the other royal guards leap through the hole he had fallen through to land on two different pillars.
They snarled as they leaped between the different pillars in opposite directions to flank him. None of Kal’s woes had vanished and if they got to him now he was dead. He had to do something, but what?
The last garghound snarled and began charging towards his pillar, its body beginning to radiate with heat so it could melt easy footing for itself to reach the top of his pillars.
His heart pounded and his head screamed but there was only one thing he could do.