Crabs were not having a good time. His opponent did not seem to tire at all and their clashes had caused his buckler to be shattered by the unnatural force behind the blows. Which left him with his rapier and a jawbone parrying dagger against the implacable longsword-wielding monster. The nature of the battle had changed over time, at first it seemed that his enemy was testing him, prodding rather than going in for any extended assaults.
It seemed to have deemed him weak enough to switch tactics, which took it from careful prodding into a relentless flurry off offense. And Crabs was only barely able to fend it off, barely but still able. All that mattered was the duel, Crabs did not give anything else any thought. He hyperfocused on only this battle and that along with his skill was the only reason he had been able to survive at all.
The monster dictated the pace of the fight still, it had driven Crabs up against the inn where Elarma was working her magic from. Just as he deflected another flurry of furious swings, he felt the wooden wall against his back as the force of the blows drove him into it. It twirled its blade and moved in for a devastating stab that would take Crabs through the gut, the twirl gave him just enough time to act, and as the blade was driven towards him. He spun around and deflected the stab slightly with his dagger, the blade sank deep into the wall and in between the heartbeats that it had afforded him, Crabs attacked.
First, he struck down with his dagger towards the wrist of the enemy, it instinctively recoiled away and let go of its weapon. Crabs didn't even notice as he was already moving into his thrust, as he stabbed towards the cloaked face of the enemy. It was as quick of a thrust as he could achieve without magics enhancing his speed, and yet it wasn't enough. Just as the tip of his rapier would have struck his opponent, it bent its head away and he merely sliced through the hood instead.
He wanted to howl in frustration as his foe spun out of the way, but as it came to a standstill Crabs finally saw the face of his opponent. It was an unmistakably human face, but a terrible one. There was no hair there and the person must have suffered horrific burns or similar because the skin was glistening and sore. And that was where the humanity of the man ended, strange crustaceans seemed to have latched themselves around his throat and temples, his eyes almost glowed red and it looked like there was more than one pupil in each eyeball. Metallic lines were spread over the bones of his face and alien purple discolorations appeared on his skin, almost like the spots on a mushroom cap.
"What..."
The man did not give Crabs more time to speak as he darted towards the sword stuck in the wall, so he attacked the unarmed foe out of instinct. He deflected the incoming stab with his forearm and then backhanded Crabs across the face, which sent the agile fencer sprawling once more. Pure pain pulsated through his jaw as he looked up at the warped man as he pulled the sword out of the wooden wall. He spat out a tooth and pulled his wyvern bone saber out of its dimensional storage and rose up to face his foe. This was going to suck.
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Michel saw the monster that had been a kindly old healer, slaughter the fighters around him. He had managed to overcome his sorrow and terror and had picked up a dropped hammer to join in and fight against the beast. She was not particularly fast or skillful, no her power was being almost invulnerable and stronger than a raging boar. Axes and swords bounced of her fungi armor, and the versatile material cushioned the blow of maces.
But the numbers that she faced should have been able to overcome that, had it not been for the fact that her presence inspired the puppets around her to fight harder and better than before. So, everyone were busy merely defending themselves let alone putting up an actual offence.
It was after he tried to hit her with his hammer again and bouncing of as the creature lazily blocked his strike with a punch, that he saw the Adventurer. Mariam Du Eralt was running towards the wall while being chased by several weasles, and her gaze met his through the slits in her helmet.
"I AM COMING UP! HOLD OUT A SPEAR!"
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Michel reacted as quickly as he could as he glanced about until he found a spear laying on the floor and he picked it up. The last remaining Light Tamer bought him time by distracting the foes around them and he dove down to hold the spear out just in time for Mariam to make her move.
She ran at and then up the wall for a few steps before grabbing around the handle of the spear, and he helped pull her up and onto the wall again. Mariam did not waste any time as she saw the lumbering beast and she rushed right for it. It was distracted by the process of ripping the head off of the last Light Tamer, and that gave Mariam the opening she needed to tackle into monster and the two plummeted over the edge of the wall and smashed through the roof of a nearby house.
He could only hear the screams that came up from the building, but even that was mutated compared to the general cacophony of the battle. Yet the strange moment gave him time to formulate a single thought.
"This is too easy."
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Henry marveled at the might that the Sovereign Swarm had bestowed upon him. It was quite silly really, that he had dreaded becoming part of it. The beautiful song of the millions of fragments that his own fragment were singing along with, and the great strength, speed, and durability that Mar had given him was beyond his wildest dreams. Sure he wasn't exactly a handsome man anymore but that was just as much due to the boiled skin as the chitin, fungi, and metal he had been infused with.
Even his strange legs that ended in claws rather than feet were an improvement, he could run so fast now and jump like a figure out of the stories. The other benefits were less tangible at the moment but even his new sight was appreciated. All of these gifts allowed him to match blades with Crabs of the Hornstalkers with consummate ease.
Feints and tricks were mostly pointless against him as his new eyes could easily see through such things, the previously lightning-quick Crabs was now slower than what an untrained militia soilder had been to him before. And he was much much stronger than any normal warrior.
As it was the blessings he had received were almost too good. It was difficult to adjust ones mind to the realities of what these superhuman abilities actually entailed. He could have finished the fencer off at multiple points but he had underestimated his strength and placed himself out of position.
The battle had driven the fencer to desperation as he had dropped his parrying dagger and replaced it with a saber. His style had switched from a defensive one to a far more aggressive style combining rapid thrusts from the rapier with cuts from the sabre. Henry was relying on blocks to get used to this new approach before he went in for the kill again.
He swung for his legs first which caused Crabs to jump and then he punched which forced him to duck. With his superior speed it was then easy for Henry to swing his sword down in an overhead swing which forced Crabs to bring his two blades up in an x to block his strike rather than deflect it. Henry was stronger with one arm than Crabs were with two so he almost effortlessly broke through the guard and he sent the fencer stumbling back by shoulder checking him.
The follow up strike he launched cut through the bone rapier like a dry twig and sent the handle of the sword flying out of Crabs hands. He could see the man realizing his doom, but rather than give up it caused him to fight more boldly as he unleashed a rapid series of cuts at Henry. Each one of the rapid blocks were easy enough for him to block but still the ferocity of the renewed assault pushed him back. The retaliatory strike was neatly sidestepped and Crabs launched himself forward to stab at his heart.
Henry barely managed to move his arm up to block the thrust and to his surprise he felt pain as the blade started cutting through the metal and chitin armguard. However, Crabs looked more surprise as the blade didn't go through his arm. A surprise which Henry obligingly exploited to swing his longsword around and decapitate the man with a single stroke.
Bursts of blood gushed out from the neckstump and covered Henry but he didn't mind. He had a specific task and his former compatriot had slowed him down unnecessarily. The Swormsworn Human picked up the blade that had pierced him and then began to rapidly ascend the side of the inn towards his actual target.