Kal flinched as a sharp pain lanced through his mind making him stagger and step onto his still-useless leg. He nearly fell but managed to balance himself in time.
The garghounds were charging toward him and his options were limited. His will was already at its limit maintaining the sphere around the symbol, his second core and now marking an additional target with Slayer’s Intent. He needed more wrath or he was going to die, he just couldn’t keep up with them and without a weapon doing lasting damage was going to be nearly impossible with the royal guard's impressive regeneration.
His regeneration had kept him alive for now but he was clearly losing ground, the combined attacks of the garghounds were enough to easily overcome his endurance and regeneration. With nothing to kill Kal had to try and mark the third garghound but if he did that he knew his constructs would be at risk. Who would have thought he would have to make the decision to break one of them so soon?
But really he knew he only had one choice, but he needed to protect himself from what was about to happen. The one-eyed garghound had reached the edge of his pillar and the others were just two leaps away from reaching him as Kal focused on the unmarked garghound and simultaneously held the sphere of will around the symbol. Hopefully, I can pick up the pieces when it's over…
Kal crushed the sphere of will and the tiny fragments immediately began to glow and disperse, seeping. Kal grunted as he was immediately assaulted by more images, the skies grew dark as his will focused on the land of men…it called for the end- Kal startled himself back to awareness as a chuckle left his throat with that moment of clarity he marked the garghound, now only a dozen feet away leaping for his throat.
[Entities Marked: Garghound Royal Guard | Enraged, Garghound Royal Guard | Enraged, Garghound Royal Guard | Enraged]
The potent rush of his soul rising in tempo and fury as another’s killing intent brought it to new heights sent Kal’s mind reeling as the fragments visions and leaking emotions of his wrath took hold, “Kill them all dear- ~~~~~ let it all end….
Kal awakened to a set of huge jaws clamped around his abdomen, and his already wounded arm snapping under the pressure from a second garghound. The pain was unbearable but instead of screams of agony, Kal could only laugh. His cackles seemed to make the demons pause in their moment of victory.
What was he supposed to do again? He looked into the eyes of the one with a missing fang, its eye flashed red and his face warmed slightly but Kal barely noticed as his mind fell into the fiery iris of the demon.
“No! Kal, Stop!”
Fear rose up in his chest as the voice of his father echoed through his mind, No! It isn’t true!- He couldn’t see that again. His mind revolted against the memories trying to reveal themselves. Feeling nothing would be better.
Slayer’s Apathy activated and everything grew still. The weight of his emotions was gone, the pain of his maimed body gone, and the pain of memories returning gone.
His weaker self had been so overwhelmed with wasteful thoughts and memories it could not bring its potential to bear. Wrath Incarnate activated and he tore the eye from the garghound tearing his organs and slammed his fist into the neck of the one on his arm. They both let go, their pathetic pain showing their true colors.
The slayer kicked free from the walking corpses and landed easily on his functional leg, deactivating Wrath Incarnate to save it for when it was necessary. The damage done to his body was irrelevant as his regeneration continued to work, healing blood vessels and sealing organs.
Health:
123/2490
Stamina:
789/5480
Wrath:
122
Health:
204/2490
Stamina:
789/5480
Wrath:
244
His weaker self blundering and allowing the loss of his weapon was an unnecessary complication but one that could be dealt with.
The garghounds recovered quickly each landing on their own pillars and charging forward again, the one that had missed out on the most recent maiming was already closing but paused as the slayer brought his good hand to his mouth and bit down hard on the ends of his fingers.
Blood spurt and bone fragments clattered against the ground as he spat them to the side. The joints of his four fingers remained intact but their top phalanges were now jagged points which soon began to shine crimson as the jagged edges became razor sharp as the slayer activated Edge of Malice. The self-mutilation made the closest garghound hesitate, a weakness the slayer exploited instantly with an instantaneous activation of Wrath Incarnate and a strength-enhanced leap forward.
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The slayer’s clawed hand carved its way directly into the demon's chest, between its ribs, and into its lung. It was meant for the heart but the muscles of the demon were dense enough to slow his strike.
The garghound howled in agony and tried to retaliate but the slayer was already adjusting his attack and withdrew his hand along with one of the demon’s ribs which he twisted as to cause more internal injury on the way out. The savagery of the attack caused enough shock to make the demon freeze and tumble instead of retaliating.
Mutilation bonus notification quickly filled the slayer’s log but he ignored them as the other two garghounds arrived. Activating Wrath Incarnate in tiny bursts to propel his maimed body, he used his stable leg to leap to the right just as they left the ground. Unable to adjust for the sudden change in direction while mid-air the right royal guard was open to a disemboweling strike as the slayer carved four deep lines across its belly and side.
Viscera spilled from the demon as it tumbled to the ground, its regeneration was already at work to seal the wound but the viscera that still hung from its side was blocking most of the healing from being done. The final garghound pivoted to leap back over its still recovering kin.
The inconvenience of a damaged calf made itself known as the slayer’s shin cracked as he landed despite the minimal weight he had placed on it. So instead of turning to face the coming demon he rolled to the side then leaping across the twenty-foot gap to the next closest pillar he retrieved the rib from his mouth and threw the rib through the air with a crack.
The projectile pierced the demon’s throat and exploded against the stone of the pillar. Now delayed the demons couldn’t prevent the slayer’s easy landing and reorientation as the cracks in his shin smoothed over and the muscles and tendons began to rebuild themselves over it, the majority of his organ damage now riddled with scarring but in a workable state.
The pillars were already covered in blood and bits of flesh from both human and demon kind. The garghounds would recover quickly but the slayer would use every moment gained to his advantage. Another use of Edge of Malice sharpened his teeth in razor-like fangs and Flames of Wrath spread across his working arm and then across his teeth. The amount of damage the skill could do remained to be seen against this demon kind but its use took no effort and his wrath was not simply fire.
His entire body drastically increased in temperature as the three of the demons came again, their eyes flaring in time with each other. The slayer’s cloak ignited, wreathing him in flame but he felt nothing of note as they leaped across the gap.
Activating Wrath Incarnate was simple in his current state. It's the unnecessary urging of his body never reaching his mind. All meant nothing to him but to see that his purpose was complete and those marked by him would be the first to end.
The slayer’s leg had healed enough to bear his weight so reactivated Wrath Incarnate for a burst of speed in power to reposition beneath the middle demon before pulling it from the air and slamming it to the ground by its burning tail. The heat was nothing to him so he ignored the flames licking at his flesh and tore a section from the garghounds back with his crimson fangs.
The demon's hide was tough but his fangs of malice cut neatly through and into its spine. Its legs died instantly but he continued to tear chunks from its back while carving its sides with his working clawed hand with Wrath Incarnate inactive.
The demon’s allies hesitated as its howls of agony echoed through the chamber. Their pathetic fear caused the death of their kin as the slayer used the additional time to tear out the demon's throat and bury his clawed hand through its eye and into its brain.
The crimson flames spread from his hand and deep into the demon’s skull and it quickly began to sizzle away. It took several moments for the thing to die but the kill notification came before its two living counterparts arrived.
You have slain [Garghound Royal Guard | Abyssal Spawn 60] bonus experience awarded for slaying a higher leveled entity.
Level up!
A mark has been slain…
[Entities Marked: Garghound Royal Guard | Enraged, Garghound Royal Guard | Enraged]
He was forced to waste some of the incoming wrath by dumping it into his second core since the accumulated mutilation bonuses had nearly tripled the normal amount of wrath gained.
Health:
1434/2490
Stamina:
652/5480
Wrath:
5034
There would be no more additional wrath now that there was only enough to maintain his regeneration. But as the demons reached him his right arm finally began to function again and another activation of Wrath Incarnate battered one aside and allowed him to focus on the one-eyed one with its throat still barely intact from the thrown rib.
His right arm lacked its normal strength, he slammed its head into the ground with his left while he mentally spent all of his free points on strength before slamming his even more powerful arm into its neck. The demon’s vertebrae shattered under the empowered blow. Several muscles in his right arm tore under the stress of the blow but it had performed its required task giving the slayer time to spin in time to claw across the face of the broken fanged garghound as it snapped at him from behind.
One of its eyes burst and crimson flame began to eat away at the mucus left behind. The garghound stubbornly continued its attack but the slayer continued in kind with rapid strikes, each one piercing deep into the demon's neck and the back of its skull.
The crimson flames ignored the fire resistance of the garghound and with each strike scales pieces of torn away flesh caught alight. The damage was small but persistent and soon the demon had let go of the slayer and had fallen from the agony of continuous brutal strikes and the burning of its organs.
Neither of the demons was dead but they both lay helpless with their bodies betraying their loss of function or for fear of more agony.
The one with the shattered neck would be the last to recover so the Slayer speared his clawed fist into the brain of the one next to him before stepping over its mutilated corpse to the final demon.
It tried to whimper but its shattered spine barely allowed the thing to breathe. His wrath nearly reached its cap again as the second demon died but he did not waste any of it this time, instead, he allowed it to regenerate the injuries his weaker self had allowed itself to take. More healing would be required to fix the scarring but that was irrelevant.
The final demon had tried to stand after a few moments but the Slayer simply stomped on its neck again.
[Entities Marked: Garghound Royal Guard | Feared]
The wrath coming from the thing had become a pathetic trickle no longer enough to allow his healing to continue, The Slayer had thought to use torture the creature to generate more wrath but it seemed it would not be worth the time spent so with one final piercing strike the final royal guard joined its kin in death.
A mark has been slain…
You have slain [Garghound Royal Guard | Abyssal Spawn 62] bonus experience awarded for slaying a higher leveled entity.