The witch slammed into the ground, Connor’s tackle taking her completely by surprise. She recovered quickly, however, and kicked out, her leather pump slamming into Connor’s knee. When that did no more than cause him to wince she reached for her athame, which had landed on the floor beside her, and went to stab him.
Connor tried to grab the witch’s wrist as her knife swung for his throat, remembered he had no hands, and - having run out of time to dodge effectively - [Pole Vaulted] his body out of the way of the blade, landing awkwardly ten feet distant. The witch did a roll until she had increased the distance, then stood back up. The two slowly circled each other about the room, Death calling out unhelpful advice from the side.
The witch reversed her grip on the dagger, holding it at her side in the sottano position, and stepped forward, preparing for a thrust. Connor, inexperienced in combat, watched her warily. At the last second she gave a feint, instead tossing a small jar from her inner pocket at Connor.
The jar, which glowed a lethal and unnatural purple, arced through the air, stopping mere inches from the exorcist’s head as he somehow managed to catch it with his [Lacrosse] skill. The jar spun around in midair, then was launched back. Connor aimed it at the witch, who leapt to the side - a pointless dodge, as a memo from his System indicated.
[Ding! Host has an insufficient Lacrosse score to aim the ball.]
The jar of purple fluid flew far to the side of the witch, whizzing harmlessly through Death and striking a wall, which then promptly began to hiss and dissolve as the contents of the jar ate into it. Annoyed at her own manoeuvre, the witch tried to launch another attack, but she had dived too low when trying to escape and it took her an extra moment to get back onto her feet.
In that time Connor had dashed across the room and body slammed the witch again, hurling her against the floor. She fell hard and, before she could respond further, felt his boot on her chest, pinning her to the ice cold ground.
Connor trapped the witch beneath his foot, then activated his [Master of Exorcism] skill. A bell, book, and candle appeared in thin air - the very air where Connor’s hands should have been - before falling with a harmless clatter onto the floor.
Connor and the witch froze.
“Well, that was awkward,” the witch cheerily observed, then tried to hurl Connor off her, preparing to channel her magical energy into a ball of force. She might have succeeded, but at that very moment there was a BOOM and a CRASH, and with the rumble of thunder the building began to fall over. With a shriek of rage the witch tumbled down and across the floor, sliding until she hit the wall, and was only barely getting her bearings when both of Connor’s feet slammed into her face.
***
The transmigrator pulled himself out of the rubble, cursing up an unprintable storm, only to be violently pushed back into it as another cannon shot hit his torso. He screamed as it punctured through his [Mighty Defence] Cheat Skill, shattering several ribs and ripping a hole out of his side. Fortunately he had an [Instant Regeneration] skill (the goddess had greatly blessed him), but the force was such that he could barely move, and it would take awhile until he was again in fighting shape.
The monster Yin Zhi was paying him no mind, but his fight against the remaining Isekai Protagonists continued unabated, energy bolts and strikes of qi falling like snow in a blizzard, and to the tower’s unfortunate luck one of the transmigrators had a [Super Speed] Cheat Skill and knew how to use it, whizzing about with glee as the patient Yin tried to kill him.
Further numerous blasts passed over the crippled transmigrator’s head and hit the wall, eviscerating the tower’s support beams and causing the wall behind him to fold. The Isekai Protagonist scurried out of the way as the building began to topple, the wall collapsing inwards and the structure tilting over.
“Stop! Stop!” He cried at the behemoth and the remaining two Isekai Protagonists, but stop they did not. Another burst of fire ensconced the wooden beams, and before the transmigrator could say or do anything to prevent the structure from collapsing yet further the ‘wise man,’ three prone transmigrators on his back, returned fire with a colossal butane torch. The edge of the flames ripped through the transmigrator and he blacked out, knowing no more.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
***
The witch’s head hit the wall. She spat blood, then brought her dagger up in a vicious strike, getting Connor in the leg. She internally cursed herself for not having put poison on the blade as he leapt off her, cursing, but remained mostly unharmed. He gave her another kick in the shins and danced back across the wall - the floor now perpendicular to his body.
The witch marshalled her magic, a ball of fire manifesting in the palm of her hand, and spit to the side. “Are you ready to die, boy?”
“Are you?” Death returned, pulling back the trigger on a pistol whose barrel was aimed straight at the Otome Game Villainess’ head. The latter started; the fire in her palm dissipated, and Connor dove to the side, reaching for the bell and candle.
“Don’t move, if you want to live,” Death observed, keeping her gun trained on the witch. This confused the transmigrator - if they were fighting to the death, why wait? - and then it clicked… Death’s “being a deadly threat,” the acid flying through her body, the gun…
“Wait, hold on… you can’t actually harm people, can you?” The witch asked. Death froze, worry clouding her face - which gave the Otome Game Villainess all the reply she needed.
Once more she marshalled her fire, once more the ancient incantation of her mother witches was on her lips, once more she fixated on Connor…
And then the building, which had been tilting and falling slowly, ever so slowly, started to collapse.
***
Down below, the last of the transmigrators scuttled backwards, looking on in horror at the metal behemoth standing over him. The towering giant had his mechanical face fixed in a rictus grin, five transmigrators swinging from his left claw, slung over his back like a pile of rabbits. His other hand slowly reached over, metal hooks going straight for the transmigrator’s head.
The Isekai Protagonist swallowed, rage filling his breast. He couldn’t die here - not he, who was a transmigrator, an Isekai Protagonist, one of those with Cheat Skills and the favour of the goddess. It was entirely unbelievable; it was entirely unacceptable. No, it could not be accepted.
The Isekai Protagonist kept his rage in his breast, marshalled it, inculcated it, and - as the metal hooks of the monster’s hand brushed against the tips of his hair - manifested it, every Cheat Skill in his body burning with righteous fire. There was an explosion, one utterly unlike every explosion preceding it in sheer intensity and scale, a roar of fire and flame ripping through the room, incinerating the wood that remained, burning the stone that had been thus far untroubled, destroying even the magically reinforced steel on the windows.
The wall of the entire lower floor vanished in the conflagration of the Isekai Protagonist’s Cheat Skill, and every support beam for three stories disappeared in a moment. With a horrible crunching sound the collapsing of the tower accelerated, the entire structure beginning to fall about their ears.
If the Isekai Protagonist thought this would panic the monster or cause it to flee he was sorely mistaken. Instead, the unnatural grin on the creature’s face grew ever larger, a crescent moon lighting up the grey and twisted mechanical flesh of its face. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem upset in the slightest about the collapsing building. It grabbed the youth, swinging by his head in front of its face, its breath foetid and repulsive. “Oh, I can see you and I are going to have fun together.”
***
The collapse of the building accelerated, and was joined by the collapse of the building’s structure, floors and walls and roofs beginning to liquidate and collapse. The bricks of the wall gave out from underneath them, the cauldron of the witch smashing through the roof as the latter dissolved into disconnected bricks.
The witch tried to redirect her magical energy into some sort of flight spell, but her own cauldron dinged her on the head, the remnants of magical fluid burning her body. She screamed in anger and pain, her anger growing as Connor got her in a third tackle, smashing through the wall and out into space.
For a moment they floated in midair, the moon watching them impersonally, accompanied only by the rushing of the winds and the panicked shouts of Death, and then they began to tumble down to earth. Remembering that the witch’s body was not her own but that of an innocent, Connor position himself underneath her, ensuring he would take the brunt of the fall.
Down, down they tumbled through the black void of the night sky. The Otome Game Villainess’ face was screwed up in hate; Connor’s was at peace, eyes dull, smile content, his lips muttering the exorcistic chant he’d memorised until they finally crashed into the earth.
The last stone of the tower hit the ground with a thud, and all was still.
Connor’s Stats:
Name: Connor Crinkle (formerly known as uPhone 12 model MX0169)
Age: 22
Race: Ghost of a Demon
Occupation: Exorcist
Physiological Stats:
[Leaves] 0 [Fruit] 0
[Xylem] 1 [Phloem] 1 (0)
[Bark] 3 (2) [Heartwood] 3 (2)
[Roots] 5
Physical Stats:
[Geocaching] 0 [Lacrosse] 1
[Pole Vaulting] 1 [Rugby] 0
Other sports to be unlocked later
Master of the Leifu Exorcistic Arts:
[Master of Exorcism] 1
[Master of the Storm] 0
[Yang Eyes] 0