I rolled my shoulders and cracked a lopsided smile when the creature’s eyes locked with mine. An’ gu’ rush Fang Ripper, Lord Commander of the Red Claw Tribe, General of the Red Horde, opened a fang filled maw and barked in response. I saw his clawed hands reach up to his chest in what I thought was a healthy dose of chest pounding. I was, however, very wrong. A fact I learned a moment later when I barely caught the morning sun glinting off several metal objects that were rapidly approaching my person. Ah, fuck!
I started moving too late to avoid the first two blades that blossomed from my shoulder and thigh and stumbled away as Mr. Fang Ripper’s hands continued to flick back and forth across his chest. More of the impossibly fast projectiles peppered the ground as I ran sideways, while the rest of my team caught on to what was happening without me voicing it and spread out to close on the so called General. I felt two more of the blades bounce off my vest and caught another one in the left butt cheek.
“OW! MOTHER FUCKER! THAT HURTS!” I roared as I ducked behind the burnt and crumbling wall of someone's house. I heard several more thunks in the wood of the wall as I ducked down and found Valley already rushing to me.
“How many did he get you with!?” Valley asked urgently as she yanked the blade in my leg free and examined it carefully.
“Ow! Fuck! A little warning?” I smarted as I turned my cheek to her. “Just this one in my ass and…” I reached up and yanked the other one out of my shoulder and held it up to her,“this one in my shoulder.”
She snatched the other blades up and gave them all a quick once over and smiled, “Not poisoned, now get out there and kill that bastard!” She said quickly and dropped a healing spell on me that instantly went to closing the wounds in my thigh, shoulder, and butt cheek.
“Fine, fine, I’m going.” I sighed theatrically and pulled my pistols from their holsters turning the corner of the building.
Kaia was currently engaged in a duel with one of the giant lizard things, as was Michelle and Samantha. Junipher was attempting to close the distance with the still mounted Lord Commander who seemed to only have eyes for me.
“HEY! JACKASS! THAT WAS RUDE!” I yelled then activated Mag Dump and emptied both my pistols in the direction of the gnoll rider. At this range most shots flew wide but a pair of 9mm rounds caught him in the shoulder. He visibly flinched and attempted to flatten himself against the back of his mount. Too late for him, though, as a trio of plasma bolts smashed into his thigh and shoulder causing him to tumble backwards off the strange pug faced lizard. I didn’t waste time closing the distance and reloading both pistols.
Junipher grabbed hold of Fang Ripper’s mount with her Seizing Roots spell and began to engage the oversized lizard. Hawkings assisted the fight with the trio of lizards so I decided to get some one on one time with our hostile neighbor.
“Oooooh FANG RIPPER! Where you at? I feel like we got off on the wrong foot!” I yelled tauntingly to the gnoll. He walked out from behind his lizard mount with sword and shield in hand, flexing the shoulder that took the plasma bolts in a circular motion, singed hair standing out on his immaculate coat of fur.
“Indeed, Human.” A surprising gravely, yet understandable voice emitted from the gnolls mouth. He smiled in small triumph at my shock. “Ones such as you should know your place. Let me show you where that is!”
His body glowed briefly and then he was charging towards me with his shield raised. I had the time to fire off a pair of rounds from the 9mm that ricocheted off his buckler before I found myself tumbling ass backwards across the field. I skipped off the ground throwing up dirt and the rare patch of grass, then groaned in pain as I crashed head first through the wall of a still standing house to land in someone's bedroom.
“Mother…” I groaned as I pulled myself out of the wall. That shield charge had clipped a good chunk of my health but wasn’t too concerning at the moment. I looked through the man shaped hole in the wall and smirked at the comedy of it, then found my target sprinting my direction.
I holstered the 9mm and snatched up one of my axes and gave the wall a hard kick that completed my job as a human wrecking ball. I stepped through the collapsing wall and aimed my pistol at Fang Ripper as he charged me thinking he was safe behind his shield.
“Not so fast, Jackass!” I roared as I activated Crack Shot and pulled the trigger on the plasma pistol, a satisfying ‘snap-hiss’ later and a green bolt of energy smacked into his exposed shoulder and spun him like a slowing top to the dirt some 10 meters from my position.
He glared back at me and hopped to his feet quickly. “Crippling Shots”, I muttered and began squeezing off careful shots at his feet and legs. He hissed angrily as he tried to cover his exposed legs with the small buckler style shield. He was moderately successful, though enough shots landed to slow his movement.
“I’m going to gut you, Human!” Fang Ripper snarled as he continued his now much slower advance.
“I’ve been getting that alot lately.” I shot back with a wicked grin the gnoll couldn’t see beneath my mask, I holstered the plasma pistol and quickly drew my other axe in anticipation for the fight to come.
We came to a stop a mere 3 meters apart and began slowly circling one another looking for an advantage. The gnoll made the first move by activating a skill that ended in a series of three slashes too quick for me to completely block. I cursed when I felt the last strike open a cut across my right arm.
I answered his ability with one of my own, Reaper’s Cleave. Dark energy wreathed the blades of my axes as I swept them both in a wide arc in front of me. The Lord Commander managed to get his shield up in time to take the brunt of the attack but was unable to stand against the force of the blow that landed on his shield. He fell backwards and let the momentum carry him into a backwards roll that brought him to his feet.
Not wanting to give up the momentum, I activated Reaper’s Fluid Grace followed by Heart Seeking Lunge. I shot forward as he was raising his sword and buried my axe in his side. I tried to hook him in and pull him closer, but he fought through the pain and kicked me in the stomach. I was shoved back several feet with my feet digging furrows in the dirt.
Fang Ripper didn’t hesitate to charge me once again and attempted to sneak his long blade into my chest. I deflected the attack with the haft of one of my axes and swung with the other to return the attempt. My axe clanged off his buckler and he bounced on the balls of his feet back out of my reach.
We traded blow after blow for the next minute, never scoring a fatal wound. A quick survey of the battle as a whole indicated that the rest of my team were still engaged with the three lizard things. That moment of distraction cost another three houses on the street as I was bodily thrown through them all to crunch painfully into the outer wall of the only house that was built of cinder block. That was the smart piggy. Fucker. Reaper’s Fluid Grace wore off at that moment and we now fought on more even footing.
That was, of course, until I activated Cheap Shot and caught his knee with the haft of my axe. He fell on his face and I was there to kick him hard enough to send him careening through the houses I had just tumbled through. If I had been thinking clearly I would have buried my axes in his exposed back, instead I completed the demolition on the aforementioned houses as I barrelled through them as their roofs collapsed at my passage.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
When I reappeared from the houses, An’ gu’ rush rose shakily to his feet and tossed the now broken buckler to the ground at his side and adjusted his hands on his sword to a two handed grip. “What in the Nine Hells are you!?” He spat.
I thought about the question for a moment, shrugged my shoulders and responded with, “Before a couple days ago, I was just a simple Outlaw.”
“And now?” His hands flexed on the pommel of his sword as he asked his question.
I shrugged again, “Now I’m the Merciless Reaper of the Foolish.”
His eyes widened and all resolve he held before my plainly worded proclamation faded from him. “A Reaper? So soon!?”
For a moment I thought he might piss himself, then, he quickly steeled his resolve and launched into the air off his good leg. His gravity defying leap carried him higher as he reached back with his sword held high above him. As he reached the apex of his jump I launched into the air and met him as gravity reasserted its hold on him. “Reaper’s Cleave”, I muttered casually as he brought his sword down towards my head. Black energy streaked across the gnoll's body as his sword streaked past my shoulder.
I landed several meters from where An’ Gu’ Rush tumbled out of the air in three pieces. His sword sprung from the dirt next to his body with a severed hand still wrapped around the hilt. His formerly good leg also bounced across the desert for a few feet before coming to rest several feet in the opposite direction of his sword and hand.
Fang Ripper rolled over in obvious pain and stared at me in horror as I turned back in his direction.
“Y..You… so… s..s..strong..“ He choked out as I stood above his broken body. “L...let me.. See… your face.”
I paused for a moment watching the gnoll bleed out into the dirt at my feet. With a mental shrug I raised my ballistic mask and stared down at him. My face reflected back in his wide eyes and I noticed my eyes were somehow glowing with a dark energy and assumed this must be an effect of the Reaper.
He was left speechless and I didn’t feel like watching him bleed out so I brought my axe down across his neck and severed his head. I didn’t bother to do anything showy like wave his head around and roar, I simply walked back into the field where we started our fight to see my team wrapping up with the lizard things.
I stood on the edge of the battlefield and watched as Alyssa finished her fight with Groma’kul and did raise his severed head in the air and roar in triumph. A notification popped up naming her ‘First Challenger’ and then what remained of the southern horde broke and scattered in every direction but ours.
A feeling of Deja Vu overwhelmed me at that moment and I could swear I saw a beautiful woman with wings watching our fight from a distance and nodding in approval. Then the moment passed and I would have dismissed it if I hadn’t gotten the next notification.
Congratulations! Your Skill, Deja Vu (Expert) has advanced to level 2.
Well, that’s fucking wierd, looks like we got visitors coming soon.
Congratulations! SooHoo Military Settlement has successfully defended against a siege by a Gnoll Warband. All participants have earned 500000 Experience and 100000 UMC! This horde really should have wiped you out, you should NOT have succeeded. GO TEAM SOOHOO!
“Veep, did the system just give us some snark?”
Veeps orb buzzed in my vision for a second, “Yeah, I think. I don’t think that’s directly from the System, I think one of the Mana Administrators may be bored.”
“Right, you’re going to have to explain that shit later.” I let it go for the time being as it seemed I wasn’t able to affect that right this instant.
The Stronghold of the Broken Claw Gnoll Tribe is now undefended and open for assault for the next three days. After the designated time has passed a new, larger horde will be rallied and the Stronghold will no longer be accessible.
You have been offered a Local Area Quest - Defeat Legate Khaimshir Splitclash, Leader of the Broken Claw Gnolls within 72 hours. Rewards: 250000 Experience, 50000 UMC, 1 Rare item for each party member that participates.
Do you accept (Yes/No)?
Uh, YEAH! This dude needs to go so I can expand my settlement damnit!
“So, that was fun.” I deadpanned as I returned to my group.
Valley rushed over when she saw the amount of blood that covered me and hit me with a healing spell before she even reached me.
“Sure, I mean, you seem to leave us to do all the hard work while you run off and play, but whatever!” Michelle responded sarcastically.
Junipher was on me in an instant checking me over for any serious wounds as if Valley wasn’t perfectly capable. To her credit, Valley didn’t get upset and just smiled as she returned to stand next to Hawkings.
Hawkings looked over the smashed houses and smirked, “Yeah, remind me not to play with Karl. Hope no one was hiding in there.”
“So we headed over to the school now?” Samantha walked up and asked with her hand and arm crossed in front of her. I noticed she still wasn’t wearing any gear. Then I looked at the rest of my team and realized I was the most equipped of my party so I made a decision.
“We have 72 hours to shove our boots up the Gnoll Leader’s ass. I don’t think it’ll take more than a couple hours. I need to check in with Eli and the rest of the teams so why don’t you guys hit the Kiosk to round out your gear situation while I handle some administrative shit?”
They all smiled and Samantha answered for them, “Sounds like a plan, when do you wanna head to the school?”
“Let’s say, in the next 12 hours. I’m expecting visitors.” I waved a hand when she went to ask for further details and marched off with Kaia and Junipher in tow. Eli, Alyssa, and the rest of the teams had gathered in front of the West Gate so I met with them there.
“Good job everyone. If you checked your notifications, seems someone out there didn’t expect us to beat back this attack. Well, I say, FUCK THEM!”
A loud cheer went up amongst those gathered and then a roar of victory echoed out from inside the walls of the settlement. Relief and happiness rolled outwards like a physical wave. For the first time in almost a week the people gathered under my banner had doled out an absolute victory against odds that were clearly stacked against them and they were proud of themselves for it. And though I wouldn’t admit it easily, I was proud of them too.
Eli called out, “HERE! HERE!” and pumped a fist in the air. I walked up to the older man and shook his extended hand.
“Good job leading the defense, let’s go inside and talk for a minute.”
He saw the look on my face and straightened his own and followed me up to my office through the throng of celebrating people. “Job’s never done, eh?”
“No, but, I won’t beat around the bush. I think another group of refugees is incoming. I had a brief vision of them watching us from a rise out to the southwest. Other side of the rail yard.”
“Oh? What horrors await us next? Not that our Daemon friends aren’t a friendly lot, but, you know… Demons and shite.”
“Oh, that’s the thing, what I saw was mostly human. Just with wings. And maybe glowing blue eyes. I’m not sure. Like I said, it was a glimpse.”
Eli raised his eyebrows at that then continued the conversation, “Ok, so what are my orders.”
“Give the people a couple hours to blow off some steam, then let’s double the patrol for the next 72 hours. I know it’ll be rough with our current numbers, but something tells me our new friends will be able to help with that. Before you ask, I’m suspecting they will arrive at our gate within the next 6 hours.”
“Ok, I’ll let the watch know to expect some strangeness. Don’t shoot unless shot at first, yeah?”
“Sounds good. I’m giving the teams a 12 hour extension to begin their missions.”
“Alright, what’re the marching orders?”
I activated the map on my desk and pulled up several locations that I wanted investigated and cleared in the next day.
“I am going to take my team in the next 8 to 12 hours and clear the highschool. I want Alyssa to take her team to the rail yard and check on the big nasty that blew that shit up. I also know there’s a group of monsters holed up in the Elementary school here.” I motioned to the center of the map. “ And I saw survivors at the Circle K here, just three days ago. So maybe the team that hits the Elementary School sweeps the Circle K too?”
“Yeah, that would be efficient. What else you want them to check out?”
“Check the hospitals, and get a team to sweep through the shopping area, Safeway, and Walmart. That should be your best team, they’ll be going the furthest.”
“S’bout right. What about the housing area on the other side of the Walmart?”
“Let’s save that for later. Remind them if they run into any dungeons, if they think they can clear them, to capture the core. In fact, Veep, access the settlement interface and set up a repeat quest for the capture of all local dungeon cores.”
“Done.” Veep responded.
“Anything else you can think of that I missed?” I asked Eli.
“No, I think that’s a good start for now.”
“Alright. Let’s End This.”