Chapter Twenty-Two:

“Raid of the Chipmunk”

The chipmunk moved, a blur of motion, lightning crackled in its wake as it zipped between the trees, too fast to catch, too wild to contain. Fur brimming with stored energy as it ricocheted through the ranks of players.

Each bounce released smaller bursts of electricity that sent bodies flying in horrific arcs.

HP bars dropped in waves, status effects blooming above heads,

[STUNNED]

[DISORIENTED]

[PARALYZED]

The forest itself seemed to stutter with each impact, the Realm glitching as if struggling to process the devastation, or… relishing in it.

Rachel's photographic mind ran frantic with calculations. Statistics, fragmenting and reassembling as she struggled to comprehend what she was tracking. "Its energy signature is... through the roof! Those cheeks are storing and amplifying every attack! Tabias, don't!"

But Tabias had already drawn his Arcane Blunderbuss, “Thundergut,” the weapon's runes flickering to life along its shortened barrel. The transformed riot gun now resembled something from a steampunk fantasy, all brass fittings and faceted chambers that pulsed with stored magical energy.

Decades of police training guided his aim as he squeezed the trigger. The enchanted shot erupted in a burst of azure light, a perfect hit that would have dropped something twenty times this creature's size.

The chipmunk's cheeks simply expanded, its fur swelling with waves of stored power as the azure shot disappeared into those impossible cheeks.

For one suspended moment, those electric blue eyes met Tabias' gaze with something that might have been gratitude for the snack.

"Oh, you sweet thing," Gameweaver's voice dripped through the Realm, "did you really think that would work? But please, keep trying. It's absolutely adorable watching you feed it."

It exhaled.

The amplified burst caught thirty players in its cone, their HP bars not so much depleting as simply ceasing to exist.

Bodies turned to golden mist, painting abstract horrors across ancient bark.

Their names materialized with merciless countdowns, [27 SECONDS TO REVIVE].

"Get to cover!" Keira's lighter pulsed frantically in her palm as she conjured a thin stream of flame, more desperate warning than weapon.

The Pyre Flies above twisted more violently, their light fragmenting into sharp, jagged forms that reflected Gameweaver's growing excitement.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

David's hands blazed with healing energy as he sprinted toward the nearest fallen player.

His own stamina bar ticked downward with each step, legs already burning from the unnatural effort.

Another player went down hard, stamina completely depleted, muscles simply refusing to respond as the chipmunk bounced past with terrible playfulness.

"Isn't this wonderful?" Gameweaver's voice wound through the chaos, thick with satisfaction. "Such beautiful desperation! Such delicious fear! Oh, and look, your healers are starting to falter. Tick tock, tick tock!"

The creature pinballed through the forest with physics-defying accuracy each impact unleashing concussive waves that turned the air itself into a weapon.

Players exploded where they stood, weapons slipping from trembling fingers as [EXHAUSTION] warnings flashed above other’s heads.

Those still standing found their movements growing sluggish, vision blurring as their stamina bled into dangerous territory.

More spellcasters unleashed everything they had, fire bolts and frost shards filling the air with desperate intensity. The chipmunk's cheeks expanded further, absorbing each attack with what looked like genuine joy.

Through the chaos, Rachel's mind blazed with frantic calculations as a horrifying pattern emerged in the data streaming through her.

"STOP!" Her warning came too late. The creature released its entire meal all at once, the stored energy warping physics itself.

Bodies unraveled, dissolving into golden fractals that caught the light of the Pyre Flies above.

Ghostly outlines bloomed in their wake, each one a three-dimensional snapshot of their final desperate moments.

The [LIFE SAVER] spell cast again, and again as David stumbled between them, blue-white energy arcing from his palms as his MP gauge hit dangerously low levels.

Gameweaver's laughter echoed across Realms. "Oh, the artistry! Look how they shatter, how they fragment! Isn't it just... yummy?"

Nearby, other healers raised their staves, channeling resurrection magic in desperate streams of white light. Where it touched the ghostly outlines, life rewove itself in mesmerizing detail, skeletal systems seeping in from void, veins threading through, muscles knitting over bone. Skin flowed over the reconstructed forms, color bleeding back into existence as health bars materialized above the restored players. Each resurrection drained massive chunks of magic power, the healers' bars plummeting as they raced against those merciless countdown timers.

Through it all, Rachel's eyes kept tracking the chipmunk's devastating dance through their ranks. Another barrage of spells lit the forest, desperate strikes igniting the air between ancient trunks.

The creature's movements blurred through the chaos, its cheeks swelling further with each absorbed strike. Above them, the Pyre Flies twisted into knots, their light pulsing with Gameweaver's barely contained glee.

The next release transformed the forest into a kaleidoscope of destruction.

Players deatomized, their essence spraying across the Pyre Flies in prismatic bursts as Eldoria itself seemed to glitch and tear. More ghostly outlines flashed into existence, too many, too fast. The healers' magic bars dropped into critical levels as they fought to reconstruct what was left.

"Magnificent!" Gameweaver's voice rose to a crescendo of delight. "Oh, my precious little Players, you've made this so much better than I could have hoped! Such wonderful toys you are, breaking in all the most beautiful ways!"

One resurrection caught Rachel's particular attention, a Druidwhose form rewove itself from the ground up, golden light tracing each nerve ending, each muscle fiber, with microscopic care.

But it was the staff that reformed in their grip that made her analytical mind surge with new data, the data fracturing briefly before resolving into clarity. Something about the way wood responded to the chipmunk's attacks...

Through her eyes she could see how the Druid magic manifested in ways that made the chipmunk’s energy react. She saw emerald light from a tall Druid near the tree line, amber energy pulsing from a Gnome whose staff seemed to resonate with the very soil, violet power flowing from a third Druid. Their vine networks spread between the ancient trees, each glowing with its caster's signature hue.

The Pyre Flies above danced erratically, as if uncertain how to respond to this unexpected shift in observation.

"Oh?" Gameweaver's voice carried a note of genuine surprise. "Now this is... interesting. Have you actually found a way to play? How delightfully... unexpected."