My Second Life Is A Heroic Power Fantasy

After a few brief scuffles and skirmishes, the most adamant of the resistance faded. Whatever threat the gnolls could place disappeared as soon as Harrowbloom felled the first. From there, carving them down as simple, and methodical.

To Jack"s surprise, by the time they"d cleared all of the houses, there were still more than two dozen loyalist left. The remainder had fled to the edge of the town square closest to the ledge, using the shape of the cliff behind them as a form of crude defensive support while they a.s.sembled some form of last stand. However, despite their final show of force, their resistance caved almost immediately when a frighteningly enthusiastic Dawson the Daring leapt from the ledge, sailing downwards until he landed directly on one of the guarding gnolls. The resulting impact reminded Jack of the time he"d seen someone throw a watermelon off a building, only in reverse. In the aftermath of the horrific splatter, the remaining creatures all dropped their weapons and fell to the ground before the giant black knight , and Jack had to expressly forbid him from gleefully hacking the unarmed creatures to pieces before he could do anything else.

As the Elders and their supporters rounded up the surrendered loyalists and sent them to be dealt with, Farlo and the rest of the party, including Urien, descended from the ledge and joined Jack and Rose in the central square. Within minutes, the work was done. Gragh"mah walked up to their party, his fingers again steepled in front of him.

"The loyalists are contained. As soon as Rawgh"faz is removed, they will fall in line behind whoever the ruling party is. Such is the way for our people." He said. "I of course will be waiting for confirmation of his defeat."

Jack nodded.

"We"re on our way to deal with him now. With all of us together, dealing with him shouldn"t take long." He said, sheathing Harrowbloom. "Where is he now?"

Gragh"mah pointed a long finger at a tunnel entrance at the far end of the ma.s.sive cave they currently occupied.

"Through there is the throne room, as well as access to his personal quarters. You will find both him and your blue friend there." He said.

Jack clapped the gnoll on the arm.

"Thank you, friend. We will speak-"

He was cut short by a deafening roar emanating from the corridor. All eyes in the square shot towards it all at the same moment.

"What in G.o.d"s name is that?!" Urien asked, pulling his sword from its sheath. The remaining party members drew their weapons or prepared spells, as did the dozen or so fighters loyal to the Elders.

Gragh"faz took a step backwards. While Jack was certain it was impossible for a gnoll to look pale, if there was a gnoll equivalent, the Elder wore it plainly on his face.

"That is not a sound I have ever heard before." He said.

"Is it Rawgh"faz?" Rose asked.

The gnoll shook his head quickly, before stumbling backwards.

"I... I don"t know..." He said, scrambling backwards on his hands and feet

Jack grimaced and pulled Harrowbloom from its sheath again, the spiritual energy of the weapon flooding into his body again in a rush. As soon as he did so, he heard another deafening roar, then a tremendous crash, like an entire building had just been smashed to pieces. Whatever it was approached down the tunnel towards them with thunderous, slapping steps, the sounds of tearing stone and falling debris following in its wake.

He looked at the panicked gnoll, his face grim. He pointed at the ledge above.

"Whatever is about to come through this tunnel, you need to take whoever you can and get up on that ledge and find a way out of here. If you stay, it is quite possible that all of you will die. We"ll do what we can to stop it. If you have any fighters who want to stay, we will be happy for the help." He said.

Gragh"mah nodded shakily before clawing his way back to his feet. Without a word of response, he immediately began calling out to others, gathering everyone in earshot and sending them on their way as Jack indicated.

In the meantime, Jack, Rose, Farlo, Dawson, and the rest of the party, along with nearly a dozen armed gnolls rushed for the edge of the village, providing an armed barrier between the fleeing villagers and whatever was on its way towards them. Jack found himself wanting to give the group some kind of rousing speech like the hero would do in the final battle of a gret movie, but the fear of what was about to happen drove his mind blank. All he could do was keep himself composed and focus on his breathing. Harrowbloom was charged. He"d regained a bit of magic since they"d last fought, even in spite of the small amount he used in his confrontation with Urien. He was supported by talented fighters. This was as good as he could hope for.

And then, as if on cue, the source of the horrible cry tore itself out of the far tunnel and into the central cave room.

The creature was an unholy abomination out of his worst nightmares. A giant humanoid thing, easily twice as tall as he was, with four ma.s.sive muscle-wrapped arms and legs as thick as tree trunks. The whole thing was an awful pallid flesh tone, and covered with countless fleshly tendrils that reminded him of something between a sea anemone and an octopus. In the center of the creatures head was a single, unblinking red eye, and below that, a hanging maw of countless jagged teeth. The whole effect was so unnatural and off-putting that Jack felt himself get light-headed and queasy just by looking at it. Several of the gnoll fighters and adventurers with them blanched and immediately fled with the rest rushing up the ledge and out of the cave.

The creature turned its attention towards Jack and the rest, roaring loudly again before breaking into a sprint towards the small a.s.sembled group.

Jack pulled his last magic missile scroll from his belt and tore the seal. The familiar darts of magical energy congealed into the air, orbiting his hand. Casting a glance sidewards, he saw the couple remaining Gifted members of the party prepare spells. As soon as the creature crossed within fifty paces or so, he loosed the missile charges at it, and the other casters followed suite with their attacks. The missile bolts struck the creature square in the torso with a trio of faint thuds, leaving behind small scorch marks, but little else. A pair of fireb.a.l.l.s crashed against the abomination"s body, but washed harmlessly away with no effect. Only the stone spear hurled by one of the other casters seemed to have any effect as it buried itself a couple inches into one of the beast"s ma.s.sive legs. The creature howled in pain, before tearing the spike out of its thigh. It hurled it back towards them, catching its initial caster directly in the chest and sending him sailing a few dozen feet backwards before the spike buried itself into the dirt, his body still stuck to it.

"Hold on everyone! Here it comes!" Jack called out as he settled into a defensive stance, the Shieldcloak in his left hand and Harrowbloom in his right.

Within seconds, the beast was upon them. It hurtled into their midst, its four clawed arms swiping and tearing at anything near. Two of the gnolls supporting them were carried clean off their feet as the creature"s claws tore gaping wounds in their bodies and hurled them through the air into b.l.o.o.d.y piles in the distance. One of its blows struck Jack"s Shieldcloak with such force that it slammed straight to the ground like G.o.d had just hit him with a sledgehammer. He groaned as he fought back to his feet, forcing air back into his lungs. The creature wound up for another strike at him, only to be distracted by Rose and Dawson, who each chopped at the monster"s legs with their blades. Both of them could have been striking stone, however, as their blades bounced and glanced off the creature"s hide without mark. Only Farlo seemed to cause any harm with his weapon as its short blade bit with each cut, leaving small gashes that trickled oily black blood into the dust.

More spells crashed into the abomination"s body, but with little effect. Seemingly fed up with the arcane intervention, the creature emitted a low gurgling sound before firing a gout of yellow-green fluid from its maw into the gathered mages. The spray doused all of them, sending each of them into fits of screaming as the flesh the bile struck melted and dissolved into sloppy bits of gore. Within seconds the three of them were silent, steaming piles of goo and meat. Jack felt vomit rise into his mouth, but choked it down as he brought his sword to bear against the creature"s leg. Harrowbloom bit deeply with little resistance, slicing a clean line form the creature"s kneecap to its ankle. The beast staggered for a moment, falling to one knee.

"Now!" Farlo called, and everyone near rushed the beast, attempting to strike the head that was now in reach. In response, a flurry of strikes. .h.i.t the creature everywhere that could be reached. Dawson managed to cleave a pair of tentacles from the monster"s body with a single powerful strike that managed to shatter the blade of his greatsword in the process. Rose managed to guide her blade inside the creature"s maw, where it pierced through one cheek. The abomination shrieked and roared in pain at the onslaught, swinging and flailing at its attackers as it stumbled back to its feet. One backhand managed to collide with Rose, sending her flying behind the creature and away from the rest of the group.

Jack"s heart jumped into his throat, and he ran for her.

"Rose!"

Before he could get more than a couple steps, however, the beast stepped in front of him, its ma.s.sive tooth-lined maw flinging strings of saliva and black blood in his face. Feeling the energy crackle in his hands as he spoke the words, Jack threw his hand up into the creature"s face and emptied a fistful of lightning into the abomination"s mouth. The bolt tore from his hand arced inside the creature"s maw, sending up the smell of charred meat as it crackled and scorched the beast"s mouth. The aberration screamed and howled, rising up and jerking away. Seeing a window of opportunity, Jack dashed past the beast, making a beeline for Rose"s body.

When he got to her, she was already struggling to sit up. Her leather breastplate had been shattered by the blow, and as she shifted to get her arms under her, she let out a growl of pain and fell back to the earth in a coughing fit as he fell his knees on the ground beside her.

"Rose! It"s okay. I"m here. What"s hurt?" He asked.

She looked up at him, her expression a mixture of fear, pain, anger, and relief. Her face was ashen grey, and her skin cold to the touch. She coughed again, and thick rivulets of blood shot from her mouth. After a moment, she spoke in thin, gasping sentences.

"f.u.c.ker... shattered my ribs... I can"t...breathe, Jack.... One of... my lu...lungs is torn." She finally eked out, before falling into another gurgling bout of coughing that covered her lips and chin in more dark crimson.

Thinking quickly, Jack frantically started digging through the pouches on his belt, trying to find the last health potion he had. Finally finding it, he jerked it free, tore the stopper from the vial, and poured the contents in Rose"s mouth.

"Drink! Quickly!" Jack said as her eyes widened and she threatened to choke on the contents. She finally was able to force the fluid down in a few seizing swallows, and then fell back again as her eyes rolled back into her head. A small bit of warmth returned to her cheeks, but she was unconscious now, and there was nothing else he could do to help. Seeing her laying there on the ground, broken as he was, was almost too much for him to bear. Tears sprang to his eyes, and he grit his teeth and wiped them away with the back of his hand as he stood back up. He had to trust the potion would be enough to keep her alive until she could be taken out of here. He had to let it be enough. It had to be. He couldn"t lose her. He turned to the rest of the battle, his jaw set in cold fury as he returned to the fray.

Most of the rest of the adventurers were down, and what remained of the gnolls helping them had been either slain or fled. Farlo, Dawson, Urien, and a couple others were all that remained, and each looked hard-pressed as they struggled to defend against the creature"s relentless onslaught. The beast was missing several more tendrils, and bore several new gashes on its limbs, but seemed uttely unperturbed as it flattened another adventurer with a stomp.

Jack thrust Harrowbloom into the creature"s leg, burying the blade far enough that its tip came clear out the other side. The beast shrieked and flailed, jerking its leg away with such terrible force that it tore the weapon"s handle clean out of his hand and sent him sprawling face-first into the dirt. He rolled over in time to see the creature tear the blade from its leg and toss it a dozen feet away with one of its hands. It turned its attention towards him as he scrambled to try and get his feet under himself. Its ma.s.sive claws bore down, ready to tear him apart, and despite every bit of apt.i.tude and training he had, he flinched as he braced for impact.

He instead heard a terrible clang as the beast"s claws struck metal, and he opened his eyes to see Dawson the Daring standing over top of him, blocking the creature"s blows with his broken greatsword.

"Hurry, Lord! Retrieve your weapon! I shall hold this fiend at bay!" The black knight said jovially as his armor strained and creaked under the beast"s immense weight.

"Thanks, Dawson!" Jack said, scrambling to his feet and dashing for his weapon. He reached Harrowbloom within a few seconds and s.n.a.t.c.hed the blade up, feeling the ever-familiar flow of awareness the weapon gave him fall back in place. He turned his attention back to the fight.

The creature, keeping Dawson"s block pinned in place with two of its arms, wrapped the hands of its two other arms around his torso and lifted the black knight into the air. Dawson thrashed and swung with his weapon, trying to score some kind of hit, but nothing connected. The creature flipped him sideways, and Jack watched as the creature tore the metal man in half with a horrendous grinding sound. Both ends of Dawson the Daring"s body went limp, and the creature dropped them unceremoniously into the dirt with a thud.

"Dawson!" Jack screamed, rushing towards the creature again. As he watched it, Dawson"s body began to fade, dissolving into a pile of ash before vanishing entirely. The construct had sacrificed itself to save him. He only hoped that being torn apart like that didn"t mean he was gone for good. The creature turned in the direction of Jack"s voice and let out a bellow of rage when it saw he was still standing. It rushed towards him, completely ignoring the rest of the party, swinging and screeching as it tried to land a blow on him. The a.s.sault was so intense and relentless that even in spite of Harrowbloom"s blessing, he had magically pump his Prowess and pour every bit of concentration into dodging and deflecting the never-ending flurry of claws. Somewhere in the midst of the a.s.sault, the various remaining tendrils on the creature"s body flared to life, stretching and flailing in all directions to aid in the attack. Finally, one of the tentacles managed to slip past his Shieldcloak as he parried another attack and touched his arm.

Instantly his left arm pulsed with blinding pain, before almost instantly going numb and completely limp. Instinctively, Jack spun and lopped off the tendril. There at the end of the flailing appendage was a thin, viciously-barbed needle.

So, the appearance to an anemone was not coincidental. Great.

His thoughts were interrupted by something tremendous slamming square into his chest, knocking him flying in a whirling corkscrew that sailed through air a distance before tumbling across the dirt. He lay there for a moment, trying to regain his bearings.

He couldn"t breath. He reached a hand down to his chestplate. The metal was torn completely apart in four parallel lines that folded inwards where the creature"s claw had struck him, and flared out at the side of the plate where they tore out. Jack pulled his hand back. He was bleeding, and more than a little. There was little pain, but that was probably because he was in shock. Either way, his breastplate was completely destroyed, and the crushed metal was making it impossible for him to get air into his lungs. He struggled with the binding straps on the side of the armor, but his fingers were shaking hard enough that he couldn"t manage the knots. Lacking a better option, he reached behind himself with his right hand and pulled the new dagger free. Severing the leather bindings only took a few seconds, and as soon as the last popped free, he found himself able to breathe easier again. He sat up to see the beast laying into the few remaining members of the party, and grimaced.

He was wounded, though he wasn"t sure how bad. His armor was destroyed, and his left arm was still completely numb and non-functional.

This... this was bad.

He jammed Harrowbloom point first into the dirt and used it to push himself to his feet before he shrugged the destroyed breastplate off his body and dropped it to the dirt. He was running low on magic as well, and the familiar feeling of fatigue was beginning to set in. Leaving the sword in the dirt, he checked each of his belt pouches, but one by one, they all came up empty. He was all out of tools and tricks. And then he felt one final vial in the furthest back one, and pulled it out. It was a small bottle filled with thick brown liquid.

That"s right- he still had the drug c.o.c.ktail that the gnolls took. The potentially deadly last resort.

Jack looked down at the vial, then in the distance to the ongoing fight. Another adventurer fell, this time to a tendril in the face. That left just Urien and Farlo. There were no other options.

Jack tore the stopper out of the vial, and poured the contents down his throat.