Raj, the tengu librarian stood alone on the peak of the pitched roof of the Filam Adventurer’s Guild. Her thin arms were crossed over her chest and the golden brown feathers of her great wings ruffled in the chill breeze. Like everyone else in town, her sharp gaze was fixated on the strange images in the sky.
The absolute worst case scenario feared by everyone was unfolding. The Warlord had come to Filam with his horde. According to the guildmaster, a human along with just a few allies were going to try to defeat the invading force on their own. It was unbelievable and yet there the foul demon stood, literally disarmed with a look of terror on his face which was utterly unaccustomed to such an expression. What was stranger still was the source of his fear - a single human woman. The giant which could only be the infamous Yugal himself was rampaging against his own former allies, killing them by the score. An actual dragon had appeared, and was casting magic to transport the Warlord’s victims to safety.
Just as Raj was wrapping her mind around what she was witnessing, a ring of white flames erupted in the midst of the Warlord’s forces. A score of orcs and goblins disappeared into clouds of drifting ash. A dark gray blur leaped away from the explosion’s center and landed over twenty meters away in another cluster of monsters. It was a humanoid but moved with unnatural fluidity, like the shadow of a falcon across the ground. Another flash of blue light left another score or more monsters frozen solid. Another leap launched it into a handful of orcs, a flurry of unarmed attacks left nothing but twitching and bloody piles of meat in its wake.
The gray figure paused as many of the remaining monsters organized enough to evenly enclose it from a distance. Raj caught her breath as she recognized the man whom she had taught some magic basics to recently. She couldn’t recall his name which wasn’t unusual for her, but she remembered his appearance. He looked far different now. He had been handsome for a human, and quite cordial in plain old boring human attire. Now his skin was bone white. His face was more sharply featured, and he even seemed taller. His clothes were exotic but appealing, and his body language sent signals of danger firing through her entire being.
The monsters clearly feared his deadly spells and wicked claws. They showed surprising coordination and surrounded him from a healthy distance. Many brandished spears, some held bows, and still others were hefting stones. The missiles soared in, and the man didn't even move. Some of the crude projectiles missed but most found their mark. They bounced off and fell to the grass unceremoniously. Was that a flash of teeth she saw on his face? Was he actually smiling?
Two strange looking black metal wands appeared in his hands and he held them out, pointing at distant enemies. Explosions erupted from the weapons in such rapid succession that it registered as one long horrible bang. The weapons fired perhaps thirty times in just a couple of seconds and a like number of monsters were sent flying with melon sized holes blasted in the dead center of their torsos.
It was a massacre. Monsters stumbled over one another trying to escape the fury of the gray nightmare and the colossal giant. Raj couldn’t peel her eyes from the specter of death that was the man in gray. There was a horrible momentum to his actions. Every kill seemed to chain to two more. His weapons appeared and disappeared as if by magic. When any enemies dared approach or they were simply too slow to escape him, he would plunge a hand through their body and then fling them with horrible force into the legs of other fleeing enemies. Perhaps five hundred battle hardened monsters had accompanied The Warlord to Filam. More than half of them were now scattered in literal pieces across the western field.
An agonized roar pulled her focus from the projected images and she focused over the city wall at the distant scene where the tall woman had mutilated The Warlord.
A muttered spell sharpened Raj’s vision. She hated to waste Soul Energy during such a dangerous time but she couldn’t resist. The image that came into focus defied belief.
The Warlord was on his knees, desperately flailing his stumps at the tall woman. She had seized one of his huge antlers by the base and was turning to drag him effortlessly. The demon thrashed and twisted, breaking his own antler off with a spray of black blood. He turned and launched a barrage of quills, a few of which bounced off the woman’s clothes. One quill shot past her and into the back of one of the last few women atop the floating barrier platforms. She dropped instantly, clearly dead.
The dark haired woman, fully calm and in control up to this point suddenly unleashed an enraged scream and pounced on the demon. She seized his remaining antler in her left hand and planted his face into the dirt with enough force to break bones. With her right hand she reached down and began ripping handfuls of long quills from The Warlord’s back. Apparently this caused the demon great pain. The shriek of agony that came from him wailed on and on until the very last quill was violently torn out. It seemed her rage was not satisfied. She lifted one high heeled foot up and stomped down on the Warlord’s spine just above his hips. The sickening crack carried across the field all the way to Raj’s ears.
Crippled, mutilated and drenched in his own blood, the Warlord feebly choked and twitched as he was callously dragged through the grass and dirt by one of his lifeless legs. He and the woman disappeared a moment later and Raj exhaled the breath that she didn’t even realize she was holding.
The slaughter continued. With her new magically enhanced perspective she now noticed something else. The giant was using his massive leaps and huge strides to cut off the majority of the fleeing monsters and deliberately driving them toward the man in gray. When some managed to scatter in other directions, green barriers would appear and bright explosions launched from the sky would stall and divert them.
Stolen story; please report.
“They’re being herded and harvested like cattle...” She said aloud, mystified.
One group of monsters was now resorting to a last desperate escape plan. A goblin that was much larger than normal was using fifteen other goblins as shields and running directly toward the city. The man in gray finished destroying a trio of gnolls bare handed and sprinted over to the giant. After a brief exchange, the giant nodded, grabbed the man in gray in one hand and cocked his arm back. He was clearly aiming at the fleeing goblin leader.
“No...” The rest of Raj’s words failed her as she watched the giant begin his mighty throw.
She couldn’t follow the speed, she merely witnessed the resulting carnage as the human missile impacted the trailing goblins, tearing through their ranks like a cannonball. The man rolled and oriented himself as he tumbled, facing the direction he had come. His hands slammed into the dirt, slowing him and digging deep furrows. He halted and stood with his back to Raj, facing the remaining goblins and their orc sized leader.
From this distance, she could see steam rising from his white hands which now ended in long black claws. The goblin leader didn’t attempt to run or fight. The pressure and pure bloodlust rolling off the human was difficult to deal with even where Raj stood. She shuddered at what the goblins must be feeling. Then it was simply over. He charged, and the goblins were dead before their panicked bodies could respond to their brains’ frantic messages.
Less than a hundred monsters remained, fleeing in small groups with no organization whatsoever. Raj watched the man in gray begin pursuit of a handful of orcs when suddenly he staggered. She watched curiously, and gasped when he dropped to one knee and clutched his chest. Black tendrils began sprouting from his back, coiling about him like shadowy serpents...
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Requirements Met: Devour (333) Souls... Evolving Blood Lord to Infernal Count...
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I was just about to continue my happy killing spree when the messages started popping up one after another just like before. This time they came with a wave of pain ten times more intense than the slime devouring my foot. I collapsed and honestly thought I would die. I could also feel a familiar fatigue worming its way into my mind. Shit I’m going to pass out again.
“Tabula!” I prayed she could hear my hoarse shout. “I’m good! Tell Rain to clean up the stragglers and protect the hostages. If one of you can reach me then get me inside when it’s safe.”
I hoped for the best as the familiar darkness closed in on my peripheral vision...
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“You got lucky again.” A helmeted man in the armor of a gladiator knelt before me and choked out the words. The roar of a crowd deafened me. They were chanting a single word over and over.
“KILL! KILL! KILL!”
My gaze drifted to a particular place in the arena where a specific person stood silently grinning down at us. He extended his hand slowly, theatrically. The crowd hushed. With agonizing torpor, he turned his thumb down. The crowd went wild with bloodlust.
My opponent must die. I turned back to him, regarding him curiously. I felt something for this man. We were entangled by destiny. I could see it in the familiar resignation in those dark eyes, staring at me from behind the eye holes of his bronze helm. I could feel it in the weight of my spear that had pierced his liver, and left him kneeling in a growing pool of his lifeblood.
“We’ll meet again accursed son of Thetis!” He declared, straightening his shoulders. It was a fine death cry and somehow familiar. This whole scene was one long moment of dejavu.
“And on that day my name will shine and you shall be dubbed Corpse yet again.” These words came from my mouth but I didn’t recognize them. “Give Hades my regards and rejoice. This time I send you with your eyes, ears, and tongue. Let none in the next world say that I am unmerciful.”
Without another word, I plunged my spear through the man’s heart and the world melted away around me.
The scenery changed suddenly and I was seated in an ornate throne high above countless ranks of soldiers and monstrous creatures. They were all saluting me. It was an army unlike anything I knew from history. There were hulking humanoid giants with long tusks jutting from their mouths, a sea of knights in spiked red armor, and a trio of black robed men kneeling before me. The sky was full of flying spaceships, massive moons and bright star clusters. It looked like something out of Warhammer. Pain wracked my head and the visions blurred and split into an infinite number of scenarios. I was truly losing it. Who am I? What is this? Unfamiliar names and fragments of memories roiled and collided in my mind by the million.
“My lord!” A familiar voice. Someone I love dearly. Who?
“You would destroy a whole world to kill one man?” Another familiar voice from another time. You’re damn right I would! That piece of shit killed... who?
I can’t take it anymore, please just let me die already.
“Gray!” That name. The kid. The kid needs me. Who is the kid? I held onto that voice for dear life, batted away every other thought with a growl, and an image appeared.
Niiya. The word shattered the illusions and my eyes flared open.
Something was on my chest when I came to. I was lying on my back, on something soft and comfortable. My eyes were instantly assaulted by the light as they opened. The pain was over in a flash as my eyes adjusted, but it was still overwhelming. I recognized the ceiling of our mobile EDEN apartment and looked down. Niiya was snuggled tightly to my side with her head on my chest. What was the deal with those dreams? Even now I was struggling to recall the details. I lifted my left hand in front of my face, fearing that I might have become even more monstrous. .
To my relief, a bit of color had returned to my skin, and the veins while still dark were less noticeable. My claws were still black but had shrunk down to the size of human nails once more. I felt relief at first then some mild disappointment, then surprise. As I imagined my old claws I saw them extend and sharpen. I imagined them shrinking and they retracted. Frigging sweet. I played with that new toy for a few seconds, extending them to nearly five inches which seemed to be the limit and back.
“Gray.” Niiya’s voice was as small and sweet as ever. “You’re okay?”
“I’m okay Niiya. How long was I asleep? Where is everyone else?” I answered her and then asked. We were in one of the large bedrooms of EDEN.
“A long time, it’s dark now. They’re outside.” She said, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.
“Alright. I’m going out there.” I informed her and started to get up myself.
An odd thing suddenly happened. One second I was in bed, the next I was at the door. What the... I turned around to find Niiya staring at the spot I had been, blinking her eyes rapidly. This was going to take some getting used to. My movements were now more an act of will than the use of my muscles.
“How?” Niiya’s startled question as she looked at me made me shrug.
I didn’t know and didn’t have the time to look through my stats to find out. A feeling of urgency was pressing on me as I flung open the door and moved to exit EDEN.
“It might be dangerous out there. I know you’re sick of being left behind but wait for me again. Okay Niiya?” I said as I put my hand on the door to the outside and whatever awaited me there.
“Okay Gray.” There was a hint of frustration there, but she stayed put and managed a smile.