The fight between amphibians and lizards was bloody. Using their spears, humanoids were cutting through the skin of the monster like it was made from ordinary cloth. However, the reality showed that it was not enough to dominate the opponent. Just the sheer number of predators had caused the situation, when avoiding one swing, the newly proclaimed “marked one” could easily be caught by a bite from another huge animal. Moreover, an ability to pierce the bodies of multi-ton creatures with ease might be deadly for the latter, but not for inertia.
Robert managed to see how one of such already dead lizards simply dropped on the three-eyes amphibian, pressing him to the ground in the process. The attempt to free himself from the unwanted load ended with a follow-up bite, which tore his head off, splashing the bluish blood all over the place. The lizard tried to celebrate its accomplishment with a loud hiss, but a spear, which appeared from the side the moment later, made a hole in its eye.
The most devastating effect on this chaotic battlefield was caused by the leader. The tall figure with a double-bladed weapon not only had a proper size in comparison with the monsters but also strength. Hitting with a shaft so hard that another poor creature dropped down, he stomped its skull into meat paste just after several kicks. The force behind the flying spear in the leader’s hands was enough to sever the limbs of the lizards, while even punches could hurt them, raising real fear inside predators. The fear disappeared with a single hiss from the enormous giant, who was steadily approaching them. The assault resumed, not changing the result in the slightest. The leader was too overbearing in the place, where only weapons talked.
Rob even thought for a moment that it would be a sure win for amphibians, making him anxious about losing the possibility to leave the damned water world. However, a careful observation had changed his mind as, despite the power of the strongest, all other humanoids were slowly losing their ground. There were too many lizards. The colorful armor could protect it from being pierced, but brutal force would still break bones behind it. They couldn’t compete in strength, even falling behind Rob’s own abilities. Overall, their movements looked quite clumsy as the surface didn’t seem to be the place, where they were taught how to fight. Still, their resolve was as clear as a day.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough against overwhelming numbers that were additionally strengthened by the main alpha-predator. The appearance of the latter immediately caused the death of two amphibians, where one was simply tramped on, while the other was swallowed in one gulp. The last seven “marked ones” had gathered around their leader, pointing the spears toward the biggest threat, but none of them showed any signs of fear. Maybe they already knew their fate even before coming to the beach or it was a cultural difference. Rob didn’t know that.
The only thing he was sure that after he died in that bunker on Earth, his desire to live for himself had exceeded any noble goal to die for. It was as if he already had paid his price for the “greater good” of society. It had to be a sure-death situation, like it was in that tower with William, which could lead him to rethink such an unheroic attitude, but currently, he was seeing the whole scene from the perspective of danger and profit. It didn’t stop him from appreciating the courage of amphibians as they seemed to deliberately neglect any other options, like a retreat.
Still, such thoughts didn’t stop him from rushing forward directly into the middle of the ongoing fight. He wasn’t going to lie to himself – his goal wasn’t to help locals, but just to kill one single beast. Coincidentally, it was the same target for the other group, making them both, either competitors or allies. Rob didn’t care about that spoken bullshit about the heart and being reborn, as he needed only the life of the lizard, and not some magic organs with unclear properties. Therefore, he jumped into the fight, hoping that common sense and cooperation in dangerous circumstances would prevail over possible aggression because of his odd appearance. In the end, they had different goals, didn’t they?
Robert’s first target was a lizard, which almost managed to react when conjured two-handed saber cut through its neck. Side-stepping from a falling corpse, Rob dispersed his weapon before starting to climb up, using both hands. His attempt to summon improvised claws directly from fingernails to help with going immediately failed as the created steel just pushed him away, not wishing to be conjured inside another’s flesh. Noting to experiment in the future, Robert focused on his surroundings.
It appeared to be a good idea as the moment he stood up on the back of the dead lizard, he was greeted with the wide open mouth of its brood’s brother. The instinctive creation of the shield blocked the maw from closing with his arm inside. Not wasting any time, Rob conjured a thin epee in his free hand before piercing the eye of the monster. Or trying to as the lizard not only managed to avoid being blinded but also swung his head to the side, throwing Robert away. The flight surprisingly took much longer than he anticipated because of the starting point on top of a big predator. It was only logical to expect a hard landing. And it was.
The hit on the rocky ground almost blacked out Robert, but a few rushing lizards injected an insane amount of adrenaline into his blood, almost catapulting him up. Awkwardly falling to the side, he barely missed the unpleasant fate of being cut into a few pieces. His following counterattack left a deep bloody mark on the lizard paw. The returning movement, when the creature tried to lean on it had sent a wave of pain, making it lose its balance. Rob was already in motion, almost stretching himself in a straight line with a long spear. The sharp end went through the opened mouth of the predator before being stuck somewhere inside. The spurt of blood clearly showed that he damaged something crucial.
Unsummoning it, Rob rolled under the falling body to separate himself from the nearest lizard only to face another one. However, this time the help came from amphibians, as two of them simultaneously stroked the animal from both sides, pushing their weapons almost half of their length inside. Seeing it as a great opportunity, Robert raised his hands up, while shouting.
“Peace! I want to help to kill the giant!”
Rob even saw the trace of understanding in the single eye of a “marked one”, which was directed at him. Or at least he thought he did, as there were no visible signs of aggression. Both amphibians stopped their tracks for a moment as if deciding what to do. Their weapons came out from the flesh with a loud squelching sound before pausing in the air. However, it was when the familiar awful voice came over the telepathy message.
“Kill the mutant! Don’t let him dirty the heart or its bearer in any case. We need to proceed with the ritual without any mishaps! The fate of the whole of our world is at stake!”
Once again, the grinding sound pierced Rob’s mind, disorienting him for a second and making it difficult to process what was said. His vision cleared only when the spear blade was flying towards his face. Somehow, he felt the time had stopped. Many thoughts went through Robert’s mind in a single moment. The disappointment in how the situation was developing, not only crossed out the possibility of any normal interactions but also put them on opposite sides from the beginning.
Where are my friendly locals, who always are happy to help a stranger? Or a beauty, who will quickly turn into a trusted companion after just a few days of acquaintance? Oh, well, die then.
Slightly moving his head to the side, Rob felt a blade cut through the air in mere centimeters. A bitter smile appeared on his face as he moved forward, pushing the conjured dagger directly into the stomach of the amphibian. The rubbered skin tried to resist the force behind to hit but failed. Feeling the impact, Robert twisted his weapon in the wound, while ducking under the arm of the enemy. Unsummoning it, he made it appear on the other hand before doing a few more hits. Finally jumping backward to distance himself, he checked his surroundings.
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The injured amphibian turned around and tried to make another swing with his bladed spear. However, the motion was too weak and unaimed to threaten anyone. The bluish blood was already pouring out from him. Another step was the last one before the humanoid collapsed on the ground as if the energy inside him was suddenly cut off.
Robert only sighed again after such a scene, redirecting his attention to the second amphibian. The latter didn’t even blink with the loss of his fellow warrior, rushing forward in the same clumsy and straightforward manner, which made it quite trivial with the easily foreseen result. Still, there were too many enemies around, Rob ended the fight with a simple deflection with the shield, before following with a kick to the knee that finally opened the way for his axe.
The dead body hadn’t even landed on the ground, when lizards came, putting Robert in the situation of a fierce skirmish. Periodically he was catching the scenes from surroundings but mostly he focused on his own survival. In the background, the leader of the group was fighting against the huge beast in an almost iconic and epic one-on-one battle. Despite the big difference in sizes, he wasn’t losing. The double-bladed spear felt as light as a feather in his hands, managing to cut through the thick body. The wounds were not deep enough to endanger the life of the alpha-predator. However, the blood loss wouldn’t help either.
Tanking the direct hit from the giant, the leader was on his legs a few moments later, despite the large cut on his chest. Widely opening his toothy mouth as if silently roaring, he evaded another stomp, before jumping on the paw. The spear pierced the skin, getting stuck in the bone, but creating a platform for the amphibian. The latter immediately pushed himself up, climbing on the top of the beast. Holding on the horns, he made a few kicks directly into the eye of the monster, effectively blinding him. The loud hiss and insane convulsion threw him away, while the lizard was rampaging from the growing anger.
Robert had to avert his look as the last three amphibians decided to target him, disregarding the other predators. The reason could be in Rob’s efficiency in killing which easily had put him on the top danger list for their plans. On the other hand, the beasts just attacked the nearest, decreasing the number of his humanoid opponents by one right from the start. The fight was bloody. Clawed paws and spears left quite a few marks on his body, while the restoration ability was already on the verge of overstressing because of intensive usage. It healed the injuries with insane speed, easily several hundred times faster than natural recovery, but despite all Robert’s efforts in saving the limit was nearing with each moment.
When Rob managed to kill the final predator, the fight between the bigger one and light-blue skinned leader was also over. The latter had lost his arm and both legs, struggling to even crawl to his desired goal. In its turn, the overgrown lizard was lying motionlessly with a huge gap in flesh on his side. With broken horns, half-blinded, with a paw that looked like went through the shredder, covered in blood, and a protruding spear from the skull – everything indicated the pitiful state in which it was. Only heavy breathing could confirm that it was still alive, just barely.
Looking at surroundings that were covered with tens of corpses, on the bare rocky scenery of a lone island in the middle of the ocean, in the hot non-resting sun, Robert had only one simple thought. The thought that brought joy to his mind.
I will not miss this stupid world! Hell no! Let’s get out of here! Now!
However, he made it only halfway to the lizard, when he was stopped by the very same leader. The sound of his voice in the telepathic message was as awful as earlier, but this time it had a begging tone added.
“Please, mutant, help. It’s not only me – the whole of our nation will drop into infighting for the sake of ruling others if I die here. My whole family was killed by traitors. I am the last of royal blood, old and weak. Only Reborning ritual will not only heal my current wounds but grant me the power to stabilize the political situation…”
“Then why did you attack me? I don’t need your stupid heart or whatever it is. I just needed to kill the God damned beast. That’s it. Nothing more. Moreover, I am not a mutant but an outworlder… And, man, your stupid way of speaking just makes my ears bleed. Not only that, but you also look like some creepy dungeon dwellers with a meat diet, purely from other humanoids. It was already hard to decide to befriend you, but you just ruined it by yourself. What goes around comes around.”
The boiling anger inside Rob made him almost explode with a tirade. Maybe it was because of broken expectations from communication with different species. Maybe it was his long loneliness in the unfriendly place. Maybe it was just aftermath emotions from the recent life-threatening fight. Or a mixture of everything as he felt that his black line in fate just refused to end.
“But the beast’s Queen is already dead, outworlder…”
“Wait, what?!”
Ignoring the continuation of the high-goal speech from the leader, Robert rushed to the lizard only to confirm the information. The whole world around him darkened when he realized the fact that he had missed the short time frame to end the life of the dying lizard. He almost collapsed on the ground as dreams of leaving this place were destroyed by a tiny delay in action. The way out was on the arm-stretched distance, and he failed to use it because of his own stupidity. Rob knew that there was another lizard out there, but the fight against such a giant was always dangerous and didn’t guarantee a win. Therefore, he wanted to punch himself hard, kick everything, to destroy the surroundings just to pour out his emotions somewhere.
“…church of Krak’eno might be the fourth global force in the incoming conflict for usurpation of power. Even with my full restoration to youth, I will need any available help to repel their attempts to take the rule. More treason are expected… But fear not, there is a ritual that can grant you proper grills and fix your appearance… Just hurry and help me – I don’t have much time left!”
“God damned it, shut the fuck up! Your voice is annoying… As a whole this shitty world is. Yes, I know, I can help you to restore your power, save your Kingdom from bloody civil war, and later use your military help to kill the beast with ease… But FUCK YOU! Not going to happen. On the contrary, I will take your precious heart for myself to get more power to beat the crap out of that lizard with my own hands and leave this stupid world forever! Will it burn or not – not my business.”
The leader paused for a moment before resuming annoying pleading again. However, Robert was too angry and too focused on the corpse of the lizard to listen. Moreover, the grinding voice only fueled his resolve to follow such a decision.
Grow some grills? Fix my appearance? I know I am not a model, but becoming a noseless, bald three-eyed freak wasn’t my dream either.
The butchering of the enormous predator took a lot of time and effort. By the moment Robert managed to get to the heart, the leader of amphibians was barely speaking. All this time he was trying to convince Rob to help him without any success. Despite calming down and rethinking everything, Rob still followed his new plan.
His goal was the same as before – to leave this cursed place. If he wasn’t here, the leader could have ended with a similar result, but with no options out. Robert did kill several amphibians, decreasing their group’s power. On the other hand, he also made a dent in the lizard’s numbers, creating overall parity. Moreover, Rob wasn’t an aggressor in the first place and only defended himself. Not speaking about the possibility of this amphibian “king” to be a real tyrant, whose death would be for good. Robert didn’t know and, frankly speaking, had no desire to know. He wanted to stay in his role of passerby, and he would.
“You are making a huge mistake. The blood of my people will be on your hands!”
“Oh no, it is your inner conflict, don’t involve me. I wasn’t the cause of it and have no obligation to solve it. It was your mistake to command others to attack me, so die with the result of your own decision. I will live with mine.”
Robert shook his head before focusing his attention on the heart. The leader wanted to argue but his mental strength was barely enough to make his messages audible. The organ, on the other hand, looked quite interesting to inspect. Contrary to the expectations, it was small, just a fist size, but very dense. It was more like a stone than a biological product. Red, with violet and silver veins, it almost pulsed in Rob’s palm, despite being separated. For anyone, it might look disgusting, but Rob’s experience didn’t make him blink when he was making a first bite.
Here goes nothing! Power up, I am coming!