Pincer Attack
Acrid smoke rose into the air. The smell of cooked seafood mixed with burnt flesh and dead fish rose to Tom's nostrils, making his mouth water as his gag reflex kicked in. He retched as the mixture of scents wafted on every breeze. Getting his stomach under control, he stood upright and looked over the side of the wall lining the roof of the building at the ground below.
The giant lobster lay motionless on the ground beneath him. In the middle of the large creature lay a hole large enough to drive a truck through, the edges burnt and flaking off. Ajax's single attack had slain the beast and kept the battle on more even ground. Tom silently thanked Azroc for helping him acquire that summons.
His head still swam from using so much mana all at once, and a pain throbbing behind his right eye from being left with only eighteen mana. Pulling a potion from his inventory, he popped the can open and drank the sweet liquid as quickly as he could. Looking at the blue bar in his display, he saw it begin to rise rapidly.
Tossing the can to the side, he cast the first Summon Demonic Creature spell and focused on Inari. She rose from the black summoning circle and looked around.
"You are still alive, I see," she said, moving to the edge of the building and looking down.
"Yeah, we killed the big one," Tom replied.
"Good, then the plan worked. You may make us permanent summons again if you desire," Inari said.
Tom shook his head, the remnants of the mana fatigue still making his head swim slightly, "Yeah, give me a minute."
Inari stared at him with slight confusion, cocking an eyebrow at his condition.
"He just used a ton of mana all at once," Kiera said, moving to Tom and placing a hand on his arm as she looked him over.
"I'll be fine. Make sure you keep the ground teams covered," Tom said.
Kiera's face flashed with concern, but she nodded and moved back to the edge of the building to continue sniping pirates.
Tom moved to Inari and pulled a dagger to prick his finger. Completing the permanent summons ritual, he then summoned Onslo next. Completing the same ritual for him, Tom looked out over the city again. The fighting raged below as pirates and humans alike killed and died as they struggled to get the upper hand. Looking for an opportunity to best help, he spotted a group of humans that were surrounded by the side of a downed ship.
Just as he decided to go help, the sound of the third shield shattering sounded. Tom watched as the laser moved to the last ship, which had seemingly abandoned escaping, and moved to fire down at the combatants below.
"There. Onslo, we move to help that group of people," Tom said, turning to head for the steps.
He was suddenly grabbed from behind and tossed over Onslo's shoulder unceremoniously like a sack of potatoes.
"What the hell?" Tom cried out in confusion.
"It's faster this way," Onslo said before leaping from the side of the building.
"What, wait, NO!" Tom yelled as they jumped out into the open air.
He screamed in an octave he would later deny as they fell to the ground. Landing in a superhero pose, Onslo crashed into the ground and then took off at a blistering pace to the humans Tom had pointed out.
Slowing his pace as they neared, Onslo sat Tom down on the ground so they could continue on foot. Still slightly shaken from the fall, Tom wobbled slightly as he fought to keep his footing. Looking ahead at the fighting and seeing that his comrades were taking heavy damage, his head cleared as his adrenaline began to pump through his body. Equipping his greatsword, Tom activated his Tattoo of Strength, feeling the familiar course of power through his body.
Deciding that caution was not the better part of valor in this situation, he equipped his second greatsword and rushed into the fray. Tom watched in horror as a pirated grabbed one man by the wrist, the metal of his armor creaking loudly as the pincer clamped down. He screamed out in pain, dropping his sword as the arm was wrenched backward. Another lobster grabbed his other arm at the elbow and clamped down hard enough to sever it, a horrifying crunching sound emitting over the din of battle.
The man's screams hit a new height as blood fountained from the wound. He began to flail wildly in an attempt to get free before a third lobster fired off a spell that shot a hole through his chest. His armored body fell limply to the ground.
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Tom roared in anger as he leaped into the air, Onslo right by his side. He landed on the back of a pirate and drove both swords into the creature's carapace at the same time. The creature screamed in pain as it thrashed beneath him, though his swords had gone straight through it and into the pavement below, pinning it in place.
Its tail thrashed in and out in rapid motions, causing it to buck wildly beneath Tom's feet. Onslo had apparently had the same idea and was riding his own bucking lobster to Tom's right. A claw struck Tom in the side of the head as he focused on not being thrown to the ground by his current victim, and he fell to the ground.
Tasting copper and seeing stars, Tom rose to his feet again as quickly as he could. Spitting a mouthful of blood to the ground, Tom tried to take in his surroundings, but everything blurred as he tried to turn his head, his vision swimming from the blow.
Casting a quick Dark Restoration on himself, his vision began to clear just in time to see another claw swinging at his head. He grabbed the pincer with both hands and, with a roar of anger, bent the claw with so much force that the exoskeleton cracked, then shattered as he broke the appendage in half.
The would-be attacker screeched in pain as it tried to recoil from Tom, but he held onto its arm with a vice-like grip. Pulling his lightsaber from his inventory directly into his hand, he activated the blade and turned his body. With one fluid motion he brought the blade down through the creature's arm, severing it, then continued the motion back into a stabbing position, jamming the blade into the face of the lobster up to the base.
Sizzling and popping sounds replaced the creature's screeching, and it died almost instantly. Not wasting any more time, Tom pulled the blade from the lobster and continued on to his next victim. As he turned to attack again, he came face to face with Onslo, causing him to have to halt his strike. Recognition flashed in both of their eyes, and they turned to fight back-to-back against the remaining foes.
Another scream rang out to Tom's right as a woman went down in a pile of lobsters. Tom rushed to her and began slashing at the creatures with his lightsaber, each strike cutting away at the creatures and leaving smoldering wounds. Unfortunately, by the time he had cut his way to her, the woman was in pieces on the ground, a pool of blood covering the pavement beneath her dismembered body.
Seething with anger, Tom spun on another lobster as it tried to attack him from his left. It extended both of its claws at the same time in an attempt to latch onto him. Raising his weapon, he sliced across his body back and forth in rapid succession, his additional strength allowing him to move the light weapon with great ease. The lobster screeched as it was cut again and again and again, receiving the brunt of Tom's anger.
Pieces of Lobster fell to the ground, each one cooking with the extreme heat from the laser. When the creature lay dead, Tom picked up a piece of the dead lobster and held it in his hand. The other pirates made hissing and bubbling noises as they stared at him, caution showing in their eyes. Staring back with hatred, Tom popped the meat out of the claw and shoved the piece into his mouth, chewing on the nearly perfectly cooked meat.
Horror played across the lobsters' faces as they recoiled at his vicious act. Or at least, Tom assumed it was horror; their faces were hard to read. Grinning at the pirates through a mouthful of their companion, pieces of the meat falling from between his teeth, he tried to make his face look as crazed as possible.
"Delicious," he said to them as he swallowed the meat. "I just need some butter sauce."
This seemed to enrage the creatures more than anything so far, and they all charged at once. Onslo fell from above, landing on the back of one of the lobsters, his weight crushing it beneath his boots. A sickening, crunching, then squelching sound emitted from the creature as it died before Onslo began hacking at the creature next to it.
Tom jumped at another of the creatures, whose charge faltered at the sudden appearance of the Mastadonian. He sliced out again and again, destroying anything in his path with his blade. Soon, nothing but dead lobsters lay at their feet, the survivors staring in awe at the carnage.
"Get back to the group! We need to reinforce our positions and not get separated! That way!" Tom shouted at the guild members, who hastily rushed in the direction Tom was pointing.
Tom retrieved his greatswords and stored them in his inventory before joining Onslo and jogging after them, making sure everyone had joined up. In the time they had been rescuing the cut-off fighters, the main army had regrouped as well, and the pirates were attacking from the right flank. Bron was on the front line, helping to hold off the attackers and directing the fighters. Tom looked to move in that direction when the sound of angry screeching suddenly came from their left.
"Shit! Watch the other flank!" Tom called out, getting the attention of Derek, who was in the middle of the group shouting out orders between casting healing spells where he could.
Looking at where Tom was indicating, Derek growled in frustration, then shouted to the guild, "Barbarians to the left flank! Don't let them surround us!"
Kevin was the first to rush to the left flank, meeting the first of the lobsters as they rushed to engage, Kirsten right behind him. Huthu leaped through the air above their heads from amidst the humans, landing hard with both feet on a lobster in a similar fashion to Onslo in their previous fight. He trumpeted a war cry from his trunk that made Tom feel like he was on the African savanna.
As the battle continued, the lobsters began to push the humans back. Fighting a battle on two fronts was not going in their favor, as the enraged pirates screeched their hatred at the guild members. People began to fall to the creatures' tough hides and formidable claws, and casters from the pirate ships began to join the fight, casting buffs on their comrades. Tom heard the last of the shields shatter overhead as he stabbed out at another pirate with his lightsaber.
After switching the lightsaber off, Tom stored it away and retrieved both of his greatswords, activating the ability Dark Inferno on his Greatsword of Hell's Inferno. Using his additional strength, he swung both blades in repetitive circular motions at the creatures, bashing their exoskeletons as much as cutting them with each swing, fire jumping from his blade to their bodies with every other swing.
Despite their best efforts, the pirates and their ever-growing numbers were still pushing them back. Tom chanced a look at the last ship and saw it landing, opening its ramp on the front of the ship to let even more opponents free. He received another claw to the face for his distraction, reeling back as he tried to keep his footing.
Blood ran from a cut on his lip as his rage mounted alongside his growing concern. He dispatched the offending lobster with a few slashes of his swords before turning to his next foe. They had to do something to stop this pincer attack, or they would all be trapped in a kill zone.