A gray monkey walked out from the bushes with a long cane that seemed more at place with minor nobility than a weird forest dwelling monster. Its tail was black and white stripes and its feet were solid black. The final thing of note was a strange leaf crown that sat atop its head.
Attached to its foot was a light brown creature that stayed hunched over and unmoving despite the steps the larger monkey took.
It sauntered through the lines of monkeys and came to a stop at the end of the procession. The monkey pointed the scepter at trio and started screaming at them in some unknown language. After shouting at them for literal minutes with no real understanding of what it was saying or wanted, it kicked off the smaller brown monkey from its foot.
The small monster tumbled forward to a stop 10 feet short of Nurgle. It slowly stood up and wailed in much the same way his counterpart would when he was confronted with a puzzle.
The awkward silence that settled between the two groups with a backdrop of crying only lasted so long till the larger leading monkey shouted something and the small brown thing finally calmed down.
It rubbed its eyes clear of tears and looked at the trio with a quivering lip before throwing its hands to the sky. The outstretched palms glowed with a blue light, reminiscent of Drew’s summoning circle.
“We should stop that shouldn't we?” Drew became nervous as the light reached a crescendo and the small creature slammed its hands to the ground. “Well I guess it's too late.”
Bright lights popped up around the monster and familiar creatures walked forward and out of the corona surrounding it.
https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FULBPg87.jpg [https://i.imgur.com/ULBPg87.jpg]
“Fuckin penguins?!” The surprise was palpable in Drews tone as the knee high creatures waddled towards the group.
“Nurgle, kill those things for us.” The command was welcomed by the cyclops and he advanced on the flightless birds. Expecting to crush the slightly larger beasts, Nurgle flung a hap hazard blow to the the first one he came near.
The blow hit the feathers and sunk a few inches before rebounding back out like nothing happened. The muscular monster looked down at his cleaver in disappointment and tried once again to no avail.
“The feathers are acting as a form of kinetic dampening from cut type strikes. I would recommend striking the head with the points of the blade.” The plushy rattled off her analysis of the combat and waited for Nurgle to carry out the next attack.
He bashed the harmless penguins with both axes straight to the head and watched its eyes pop out and onto the floor in an unexpected show of gore. The addition of the pressure from both sides was the only concession the cyclops would make.
The lack of an experience pop up was not too surprising considering they were just summons, but the fleshiness of the monsters did leave a weird taste in his mouth.
Nurgle was unperturbed by the scene and advanced on the other penguins that wandered out of the light. A non stop flood of the birds exited in a stream of feathers while Nurgle slowly advanced into the growing crowd.
What was once a pair of penguins had ballooned into dozens. Eventually the cyclops waded far enough in that the birds surrounded him and cut off any avenue of escape.
“Do we need to help him?” The precarious looking position would have been worrying if not for the lack of damage Nurgle had taken from the monster's pecks.
“The summoner should be our highest priority currently. That would be the only way to end the waves of penguins in all likelihood.” Sapphire scanned the battlefield for any new developments and motioned to the brown beast.
The larger monkeys behind the fight glared in smugness at the melee before them, seemingly assured of the victory. A sneer was plastered on the leading monkey’s face as the bodies piled up around Nurgle.
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A high pitch wine flew by Drew’s ear and blue sparks flew up from around the brown monster.
“Woah, was that you?”
“That was my ranged attack master. The creatures seemed to have a shield protecting him from damage.” The attempt at sniping had showcased a new problem before they got within range of it.
The bodies had begun creating mounds of flesh around the little berserker but failed to do much beyond covering him in viscera. Hundreds of dead penguins laid across the ground in front of the onlookers.
The lead monkey shouted loudly enough that the sounds of the battle ground were heavily eclipsed. The brown monster picked up its hands from the ground and raised them in the air in preparation for some new move.
“Nurgle, come back to us buddy! It’s doing something weird.” The shouting was drowned out by the combat and layers of dead bodies.
The summoner’s hands glowed a bright yellow as it seemed to focus on its task completely. Unsure of what to do now that Nurgle was outside of shouting distance, Drew advanced to the mellee’s center.
The small brown monster slammed its hands down to the ground and the penguin’s bodies began to grow in size. The heaps of dead bodies began to grow so quickly that the pile that surrounded Nurgle reached nearly 10 feet in height.
“What's happening Sapphire?!” The new mystery startled Drew to no end as he redoubled his effort to reach his little friend.
“I am not sure about that Master but I believe we should attempt to extract him soon.” The plushy shot out her ranged attacks at penguins that ran for interference , dropping them before they could intercept.
Climbing over the dead body slowed their progress from a crawl to a halt when the first penguin exploded from behind them. The first bird Nurgle had killed was the first to go. A chain reaction of sorts cascaded through the stack of bodies.
“OH SHIT!” Drew clutched Sapphire to his chest and pushed as many penguins away from him as possible as the explosions crept ever closer. The corpse explosion finally hit them and the world went red with guts.
He was left in a ball curled up on the ground with his ears ringing from the many explosions defending him. The ground below him vibrated from the numerous explosions that encased their little friend ahead of them.
The elephant cradled in his arms below him and tried to move around his arms. He felt a small prick in his wrist, slightly different from the ache that all concussive blasts imparted on his body.
He finally found the courage to open his eyes as the explosions died out from around him. He was splattered, surrounded, and sepulchered in gore.
The world was gore. He had underestimated the small brown creature due to its size and form of arrival and Nurgle had paid for it. There was no way the little cyclops had survived the explosions.
If they had all rushed the monster before, they might have survived this fight completely unscathed. How could that shield it had around it amount to anything against the onslaught they could put forth?
It was too late now. Drew looked over the battlefield now that the guts and blood had settled onto the ground. Nurgle was nowhere in sight; the clearing was painted red in viscera.
The monkeys were cackling in joy, watching the air clear of dust and guts. The brown monster sat smiling in place huffing and puffing in exhaustion. It fell on its back with its chest rising and falling.
Drew saw red.
He rushed forward in a rage. Each step he took carried him closer to the down monster. Before anything could react, he stomped as hard as he could on the creature. The first stomp stopped on the blue tinted shield that protected the downed figure
The next stomp sent cracks spider webbing across the surface. The brown being stare up in horror at the hulking mass of anger that was knocking on his lifeline. The next stomp dented the surface in and sent shards scattering around.
With one more mighty slam, the shield shattered and his foot carried through to the little beast. A sickening crack sounded like sweet music to his ears. Its chest cracked inwards under the full weight of the stomp that was quickly followed up by another.
+380 xp for defeating Summoner Foot Parasite [Summon small monster] has inherited the xp in your place. 390/1600 xp
Drew kicked aside the crushed creature and ran to the crowd of monkeys in a fit of rage. The lines of monkeys scattered in all directions as he advanced on them. The last monkey to fall to fear was the gray leader.
It snarled at him and turned tail to run. Drew hefted his ax from his side and threw it as hard as he could at the retreating leader.
It nearly flew true to his aim, but fell just short of decapitating the monster. It chopped the monkey's tail off at the base and sent it scrambling up to the nearest limb away from its impending doom.