Hello people and welcome back to Goblin Slayer: The Team Year 2. Let the siege of Castle Dracula continue! I'm kidding, the vampire queen is basically a female version of Dracula, and it's in the Goblin Slayer-verse. Anyway...hope you still have a thrust for blood that rivals that of the good count, because there's gallons more coming, so without further adieu, let's get this assault under way.
Review response: Divide-and-conquer...gotta love it, although Spearman, Witch, and Abbot stayed behind to watch over the siege force for...fairly obvious reasons; why would the queen let a siege force off the hook?
Goblin Slayer does have moments where goblins should be there, yet they still are. Why should this be any different?
Rookie Warrior tends to train with Heavy Warrior, and Apprentice Cleric works with R.W. so...why shouldn't they work with the big brute? Good point with the two rookies staying away from the queen's elites; that would be a death sentence without holy arts on your side, although luckily...Female Knight has her fair share, and...I would hope to heaven, hell, and earth that being involved in this siege would net a promotion.
Fighter, Ranger, and especially Priestess, and GS' team for that matter getting new stuff for the siege is just a shoo-in, as usual.
The Ranger and his team interacting with the Hero is a "see-for-yourself" kind of deal. As for the woman the goblins were manhandling? Well...her clothes weren't going to be intact for long...until our medieval Doom Guy and company put them 6 ft under that is.
I'm just now thinking about this but...one review of the first act of this series said that they wished Assassin was "Alitalia more approachable"...what does that even mean? Could they mean "at least more approachable"? Oh well, she's still basically a female/medieval Doom Guy, next to Goblin Slayer of course; GS might be the goblins' version, but Assassin actually kills demons like Doom Guy does, like some others pointed out as well.
"Impeccable timing..." Ranger said as he stood up from getting slammed into the wall.
"That's what I do." Hero said with pride as her two friends helped the team out.
"Are you alright?" Sage asked.
"I have guts in my hair..." Wizard deadpanned and Fighter giggled at her.
"How did that thing get you two?" Sword Saint asked.
"It ambushed us...somehow." Warrior said.
"Vampires are known for their craftiness. You should've done your research before assaulting the vampire queen's fortress." Sage said.
"We did." Fighter said. "Hence the siege equipment in the far distance."
"Right..." Hero said with a headshake.
"So...you're the Hero?" Ranger asked as he de-morphed his mask.
"That's me." Hero said. "Whooping the bad guys and saving lives wherever I go."
"I've been looking forward to meeting you for some time." Ranger said with an uneven tone.
"Yeah, who hasn't- Wait, why?" Hero asked catching on.
"I confess...when I heard you beat the Demon Lord, I was jealous beyond words." Ranger said. "I want my team and myself to reach Platinum someday, and at first, I thought defeating the Demon Lord was the only way, and that there was no hope of us getting strong enough to do so, until the Abbot protecting the siege force as we speak set me straight."
"Who are you people?" Hero asked.
"You know the rumor about a team of adventurers aiding the Goblin Slayer? That's us." Ranger said and Hero exclaimed as her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.
"So...you're the Ranger!?" Sword Saint exclaimed. "We heard how you and your team defeated a legion of goblins, and set up an adventurer training camp that's being replicated throughout the country. How are you all not Gold Ranked yet?"
"Well, I put down my weapons while my wife was pregnant, and my last 3 teammates did their own thing; you'll have to ask them when this is over." Ranger said.
"You're...wife?" Hero said.
"Her..." Ranger said while pointing at Fighter who waved at the three Gold/Platinum-ranked ladies.
"Ah...lovers make pretty explosive teammates." Sage said.
"Explosive? You know that can be taken the wrong way-" Sword Saint stopped talking the moment the ground shook. "Uh-oh..." Next thing they knew, several torrents of crimson blood burst out of the ground and formed a sphere overhead that whooshed around and when it moved towards the fortress' massive front gate...it rushed towards them.
"Protection!" Priestess yelled after sprinkling holy water on her staff and a massive barrier held the blood back.
"Lord of the Sword, Master of the Mace. Afflict my foes with the foulest aspect of nature. Pestilence!" Ranger prayed and a dark green portal opened between his hands and a swarm of flies rushed forward, through the barrier and the blood congeals and stops flowing.
"Yeesh, that's a nasty power." Hero said with disgust.
"Which is precisely why I have no intention of using it under normal circumstances, even if it wasn't a threat to my own teammates." Ranger said as the portal closed.
"That was a miracle of the War God..." Sage said in awe.
"Yep, I've had the War God's blessing for just over a year now, and I almost wish I got it sooner." Ranger said.
"You do know the War God tends to make people fight each other right?" Sword Saint said.
"That's a myth; the War God is a servant of the Supreme God, and they each have the same goal. The Sword Maiden herself confirmed it." Ranger said.
"You know the Sword Maiden? This just gets better and better..." Hero said.
"She's the one who blessed our marriage." Fighter said.
"Oh, lucky you." Hero said impressed.
"Can we please go get that blood-sucking bitch so I can clean myself off?" Wizard asked in annoyance.
"Can't you just Transmute the muck off of us?" Warrior asked.
"Oh...I forgot." Wizard said before Transmuting the gore off of the team's outfits and condensing it into a ball.
"Give that to me." Ranger said and got a few weird looks. "I need that more than any of you do." Wizard then shrugged, launched it to him, and he absorbed it into his armor.
"You are aware that's vampire innards you just absorbed right?" Hero asked.
"My team used blades enhanced with dragon and demon blood before, and this armor converts whatever it absorbs into raw materials I can use as I please. Vampire essence is no exception." Ranger said.
"That's pretty high-end alchemy." Sage said.
"It's a gift." Ranger said and a shriek was heard overhead and a second vampire in it's bat form, swooped down and circled the area. "One it seems I'll get to test for real."
"These are vampire elites; only the queen's word has them come out to fight." Sage said.
"Then this mission will be it's last." Ranger said as he walked forward to greet it, and Hero braced herself to attack it then Sword Saint stopped her.
"Wait...let's see what he can do." She said and Hero leaned against a wall and crossed her arms.
"Have the famous goblin killers been reduced to common assassins?" The vampire elite said before landing. "The Hero herself was no match for Her Majesty, what makes you believe all of you can face her?"
"See for yourself." Ranger said as he morphed his swords and mask, then it dashed from side-to-side and when it finally lunged at him...he dashed to the side himself and craved into it's side making it stumble into a wall. Then Ranger charged it, it flew upwards, then he morphed a harpoon-and-chain, latched onto it, and he started pulling it back down, only for it to flap it's wings harder and eventually Ranger gets pulled into the air, and Ranger responded by pulling his gun and firing 3 times and hits the elite's back and especially the wing point which makes the elite slam into the ground, and Ranger pulls it towards him, and the elite launched an orb of red energy which staggers Ranger and the energy leaves his body after a second and goes back into the elite, and his wounds heal.
"Ranger..." Fighter whispered nervously before Priestess sprinkles more holy water on her staff.
"Hear me O Merciful Earth Mother. Protect us with your power, and bless us with Holy Light!" She prayed and the elite screamed and thrashed around as the light shined on it and singed it's skin horrendously, and Ranger stood up, not caring about the light, morphed a greatsword almost as large as he was, and diagonally bisected the elite...and smashed the ground with a loud clanging sound in the process.
"And that children is why our Priestess has killed more demons than any of us." Warrior said dramatically as he put a hand on her shoulder and got a smile from her.
"Vampires really are vulnerable to holy arts, just like the old man said." Wizard said to herself
"Thick lot of good it'll do against the vampire queen; even my holy sword was a butcher knife to her." Hero said.
"We've heard." Ranger said and the 3 ladies looked right at him. "The Storm Mage who helped you fight her? He told us the story."
"Oh...him..." Sword Saint said annoyed.
"You have a problem with him?" Fighter asked.
"No, why would I have a problem working with a very sexy yet greedy-as-hell lightning magic user, who sleeps with any girl with a heartbeat?" Sword Saint asked sarcastically.
"He can't be that bad if he's in the Sword Maiden's graces." Warrior said which made Sword Saint scoff.
"She's far too good for him if you ask me." She said, and when Warrior was about to open his mouth, Wizard put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head; Sword Maiden's past was no one's concern but hers.
"Head's up!" Sage called out and 2 more elites came down from the fortress keep and a team of giant suits of armor came out; they must be enchanted or something. Ranger reacted by charging one of the suits dragging his greatsword along the ground as he went and clashed swords with the armor several times.
"Firestorm!" Wizard yelled and a barrage of fireballs were launched at the two elites, but each one was dodged, but it left them open to Warrior bolting them with lightning when they were in-range and they each crashed into one of the large houses on the outskirts of the courtyard. Hero got off the wall but Sword Saint kept her "under control" while the team worked. Fighter charged the team of enchanted armor suits to aid Ranger, and she made them look clumsier than they already were. Whenever one tried to attack her, she either dodged or parried the hit. Eventually, she tripped one, parried an axe swing which made it behead it's fallen comrade, then she leaped over it, grabbed it's shoulders, and slammed it into the ground, twisted off it's head, then beaned a 3rd one with the unscrewed head.
Ranger meanwhile was bashing 2 suits at the same time with his greatsword, and despite it's bulk and heft, he had little trouble wielding it. Eventually, he backed up to dodge a double swing from the two suit, charged at both of them, morphed his greatsword into his gauntlets, and tackled one, smashed it's helmet open, blocked the second one's sword, yanked it out of it's hands, punched it to the ground, and impaled it with it's own sword. He then noticed Fighter throwing the head she held, then morphed his greatsword again, charged it, chopped off both it's legs and smashed it's helmet.
The two elites came out of the wreckage of the house they crashed into, in their regular forms, and they formed armor and greatswords...out of blood, and Warrior stepped forward with his hammer and shield at the ready, and Wizard took a stance with her glaive.
"Supreme God in Heaven. Let the people here be deliverers of your justice with their strength of arms. Empower!" Priestess prayed and her 4 companions each gave off a golden-white and the elites split up as the 4 rushed them, with Warrior and Ranger clashing with one, and Wizard and Fighter clashing with the other.
Somehow, the blood-forged armor and weapons held fast against the blows the team managed to land; the Empower miracle made them more than capable of matching the elites' speed and strength. Not for nothing were they called elites; even when outnumbered and facing empowered foes, they were able to hold their ground..
In Wizard and Fighter's fight, it ended with Fighter breaking the elite's jaw when it tried to bite Wizard, then Wizard impaled it through the gut, ripped the blade out through it's side, then Fighter pinned it down, punched it several times, strangled it, then tore off it's head to make sure it was down and out.
Ranger and Warrior's fight ended with Warrior severing the elite's hand with his hand-and-a half sword when it tried using blood magic on Ranger, then Ranger punched the elite into the house's wreckage, then ripped off a support pillar and impaled the elite in the chest with it until it stopped moving.
"Yeesh, with as much power as you guys have, I'm amazed the goblins aren't extinct yet!" Hero said with a raised eyebrow.
"Speaking of goblins..." Abbot said as he approached.
"57...62...71..." Goblin Slayer counted as he chopped, bashed, kicked, tore, and bombed his way through a crowd of reinforcements with High Elf Archer shooting some goblins down from the back as Dwarf Shaman slung rocks and bashed any goblins who got too close, and Lizard Priest tore through any that tried to work around GS. The woman they rescued hung back with H.E. Archer watching the massacre as if she never saw anything lovelier. The massacre ended with GS stomping a goblin's head in after he found it still alive after Lizard Priest severed it's legs. "And that makes 94..."
"94 goblins in this world is 94 too many..." The woman growled.
"We're going to get the rest as well." Dwarf Shaman said.
"In the meantime, let's get you back to the rest of our army." H.E. Archer said.
"I'm not leaving until I see the last goblin's head roll!" The woman said.
"We can't look after you and kill the goblins at the same time, and you are in no condition to endang-" The woman cuts H.E. Archer off.
"Don't worry about my condition." she said. "I said I'm not leaving without seeing you finish your job, and that's final." H.E. Archer then punches her lights out, and picks her up.
"What was that for?" Dwarf Shaman asked.
"She wasn't going to listen, she wasn't going to speak." H.E. Archer said as she struggled to carry the woman on her back until Lizard Priest approached.
"I will carry her." He said.
"I can handle her." H.E. Archer said.
"We need your bow more than your strength Lady Archer." Lizard Priest said, and H.E. Archer sighed and turned to give the lizard a chance to pick the woman up and hauled her over his shoulder with one hand as they followed GS.
Abbot, Spearman and Witch were busy holding off goblins who ambushed the siege crew. Unfortunately, some of the crew were butchered, but when their 3 protectors showed up, they were quickly avenged. Witch even put the goblins asleep while Spearman and Abbot finished them off. Some archer tried shooting arrows...only for Witch to reflect their shots back at them. Then GS showed up and took out a few hobs with his remaining bombs...then a champion showed up, and Abbot charged it, dodged a sword swing, busted it's leg, then Spearman threw his spear at it and nailed it through the heart.
"Welcome back." Witch said before noticing the woman Lizard Priest was carrying. "Oh my..."
"What happened to her?" Abbot said with concern as he knelt by her when Lizard Priest her down one a large sack.
"She was forced to witness the goblins give who-knows-how-many people a good time." H.E. Archer said sarcastically.
"Wretches..." Abbot whispered while shaking. "I will do what I can."
"There's no need" Witch said. "I can treat this one. You go give our aspiring vampire hunters a hand. Will you?"
"Your generosity is equal to your beauty my dear." Abbot said which earned him a giggle from her.
"You flatter me Father." Witch said sweetly as Abbot stood up and looked at the fortress and put his guard up,
"Incoming!" A footman yelled as a vampire elite flew toward them and Abbot jumped up and bashed it to the side with his staff then Spearman put his guard up as the elite shifted to it's normal form, made armor and dual swords out of blood.
"Gross..." Spearman said as Abbot walked up beside him without putting up his guard. "That was quite a hit old man."
"The Supreme God makes all things possible." Abbot said with reverence.
"Like swatting this blood-sucker out of the sky." Spearman said as the enraged vampire charges them, and Abbot jams his staff into it's gut, stopping it cold, then Spearman impales it in the heart.
"Keep an eye out for more vampires! There's no way that was the only one around here." Abbot said to the people around him as he looked at Goblin Slayer. "So...what happened with the caves?"
"Damn those goblins to hell." Spearman growled.
"We still have plenty to deal with, but there's no way we were letting this woman follow us." Dwarf Shaman said.
"It is unlikely that these goblins are here in the vampire queen's care; there were too few and they were too ill-equipped to be used as foot soldiers." Lizard Priest said.
"They must've been using her fortress as a front while they conducted whatever mischief they had in mind." H.E. Archer said.
"What do you think Beard-Cutter?" Dwarf Shaman asked.
"I agree with the elf." GS said. "Goblins are cowards by nature, so if I were them, I would hide in a place that's under the protection of a powerful figure, or in a place that's out-of-the-way. Those caves fit both descriptions."
"Yeah, and look how well that worked out." Spearman said with a laugh as the woman GS' team rescued woke up.
"Ugh, what happened...?" She said before looking around in a panic. "Where am I?"
"Easy dear, you're with friends now." Witch said.
"Friends? I don't even know who you people are!" the woman exclaimed.
"We killed more goblins like we promised." GS said, then the woman got up, looked around and saw the butchered carcasses of the goblins who attacked the siege force. "Sorry you weren't here to see it."
"Just...just get me out of here..." The woman said.
"I will help." Lizard Priest said before summoning a Dragontooth warrior. "Help this woman get to the nearest town."
"That thing is friendly right?" The woman asked with concern.
"Of course. He will not harm you in any way unless you turn on him." Lizard Priest said.
"O.k...I guess I'll trust you." The woman said.
"I'd hope so. We just saved you." H.E. Archer said to herself as the two walked off.
"It pleases me to see more justice being done, but I must see to Ranger and his ilk." Abbot said.
"So long old man. Give the team my best." Spearman said as Abbot nodded, walked to the citadel, then sprinted faster than a horse down the hill, then jumped over several rocks, dashed from tower to tower, killing any guards he encounters by either bashing their heads in, or knocking them off the wall, then watched the team fight their own elites, then walked through the gate casually and explained the situation...
"Holy shit...Goblin Slayer's still doing what he does best during a siege." Warrior said.
"And soon, the siege force will have completed preparations for their attack. It's only a matter of time before they open fire." Abbot said.
"They know we're here right?" Sage asked.
"Of course. I told them to avoid shooting at the entrance, which of course, is where we are." Abbot said.
"Are you coming to face the vampire queen with us?" Hero asked.
"No. Not yet at least." Abbot said. "If you need me I will help, but I am of better service out here."
"To face the vampire queen's minions?" Sword Saint asked.
"Precisely, and I believe the rest of you should be here to aid me." Abbot said to the team, minus Ranger.
"Of course Father." Wizard said for the other 3.
"In that case, I'll go with them to face the vampire queen." Ranger said.
"Ranger we'll follow you if and when we have things under control out here. Alright?" Fighter said softly.
"Alright. Good luck, all of you." Ranger said, and with that some fire was seen in the distance and some burning rocks were flying towards the fortress and the cracking of the towers and walls could be heard from the entrance. "The siege begins..."
"Down goes the neighborhood." Wizard said cheekily.
"Then let's go give that witch the beating she deserves!" Hero cheered as he rushed to the gates with her team...and Ranger, following at a distance, then Hero kicked in the door. "Hey! Evil queen! The Hero has returned!"
"Don't you ever get tired of failing...?" A deep, smooth, feminine voice came from the entire room.
"Just come out and face me!" Hero yelled and the same voice chuckled.
"So eager to give your blood? All you had to do was say so..." with that...blood oozed down from the ceiling and the puddles it formed spawned more suits of armor, and Hero swung her sword once, and they each got blown apart...before reforming a new, larger group from the pieces.
"Oh great..." Sword Saint groaned as she joined the melee with Ranger staying back to analyze the situation: each time the two swordswomen take down a suit of armor, more spawn from the remains, thanks to that odd blood. Even Hero's holy sword did nothing to deter the blood, why? He then looked at how she used it...Abbot was right: her technique was embarrassing. She simply let the weapon's raw power take down her foes while doing little to nothing to focus that power. If she had, she probably would've won by now, but wait...
Storm Mage said the vampire queen was immune to her holy sword because of her status as the Supreme's champion. Could that simply mean that the vampire queen is somehow a servant of the Supreme, or did she have some sort of power that surpassed the Supreme and is just lying? Either way, watching the two ladies fighting a pointless battle was getting boring so Ranger joined the part by morphing twin swords, heating them up, and engaging some armor that engaged him, and the blood moved away from the heat. Vampires were weak against holy arts as well as fire, but how far could that go?
"Everyone! Get back to the door!" Ranger yelled and the two ladies retreated to the door as Ranger defended himself from the armor suits. "Lord of the Sword...Master of the Mace...rend my foes with...the foulest...aspect of nature...Pestilence!" He kept making distance between himself as the suits and the diseased flies that spawn feed on he vampiric blood until there's none left.
"I hope we don't have to rely on that for too long." Sage said with disgust in her voice.
"Me neither. Useful or not, I don't trust it around allies." Ranger said as the suits fell apart, then some skeletons burst out of the ground and some gargoyles came to life and dropped down from the ceiling, then Hero rushed in to crush them with Sword Saint and Ranger backing her up,
Meanwhile, Rookie Warrior was chopping down zombies with his greatsword and Apprentice Cleric was bashing their heads in with her mace and stopping some from biting her with her buckler while Heavy Warrior, Berserker, and Female Knight fought off a vampire elite.
"Holy Light!" Female Knight yelled and the elite took cover behind a crypt, and Heavy Warrior climbed on top of it and dropped down on it from above and jammed his greatsword into it's chest then Berserker split it's head open.
"How many zombies...are there?" A.C. asked between deep breathes.
"Lots." Summoner said as he showed up.
"What the- Where did you come from?" R.W. asked.
"The old man called me and my two companions to help out, so we're helping out." Summoner said.
"You mean that creepy Assassin lady and her werewolf partner are here too?" A.C. asked.
"Yep. They're helping elsewhere, but they still came with me." Summoner said as a group of blood mist clouds appeared and he raises his hand." NOW!" With that, a pack of fireballs popped out of the ground, hit the blood clouds and they each form a vampire that falls to the ground and turn to ash before they hit it.
"How did you do that?" R.W. asked in awe as a pack of fire elementals showed up from small flames around the area. How were they not noticed?
"Channeling power from summoned creatures...what's not to love?" Summoner said with pride before showing his Gold tags.
"You were not..." A.C. said.
"Yep, I am now Gold Ranked, and boy did I get busy beforehand." Summoner said.
"What about your two friends?" Female Knight asked.
"They're still Silvers; I got on them for not accepting their ranks, but...beasts will be beasts." Summoner said. "Although I do still go on demon hunts with them from time to time."
"Fascinating." A.C. said. "Wait...what do you mean "beasts"?"
"Oh yeah, Assassin is a werewolf herself now." Summoner said.
"Great..." Female Knight groaned before more zombies showed up, and Summoner summoned an earth golem, drew power from it, and punched the zombies' heads in as they got close and whenever one bit him...it's teeth broke against his outfit, even the purely-cloth parts. A.C. and R.W. got involved eventually by taking down some more zombies who came from the entrance to some catacombs. Then the two Silver Ranks charged into the crowd to finish the job.
"Get back!" Berserker yelled and heavy footsteps were heard coming from inside the catacombs and a large, hulking zombie wearing armor and wielding a sword as large as Heavy Warrior's, and a shield as large as large as Female Knight's.
"What is that?!" Heavy Warrior yelled.
"A draugr..." Berserker said as the 6-person team regrouped.
Meanwhile, Ranger was still fighting off cursed skeletons alongside Hero's team, ad each one fell apart like they were made of sand whenever they were hit, but that didn't change the fact they kept reforming as quickly as they fell apart. Luckily Sage was there to use the Revitalize spell to restore their stamina, but it was still tedious-as-all-hell. Sure mowing down goblins felt satisfying, but they didn't come back from the grave right after being sent there. Heaven forbid that ever happens. Eventally, Ranger climbs up a pillar, looks around, and spots a chandalier, ignites it, and yanks it down with a harpoon-and-chain as he drops down to the floor and brings it down with one strong tug, and the blood holding the skeletons together was burned away as the skeletons' bones were crushed under the weight.
"Thank you Goblin Slayer for demonstrating the power of improvisation." Ranger said half-jokingly to himself before turning to Hero. "That's twice I did what the Hero could not..."
"Don't get used to it; the queen herself is a match for anyone." Hero said seriously.
"How right you are..." The voice from earlier said. "Please, do come to me. I cannot wait to show you what I did with my home while you were away."
"How many more miracles do you have?" Sword Saint asked as the team walked up some stairs.
"By my count, three. I have one miracle I can use regardless of what my strength is, but I really don't want to use it unless I need to." Ranger said.
"What miracle is that?" Sword Saint asked cautiously.
"Let me guess: Army of One?" Sage asked.
"Right, but I can only use it once, maybe twice a week so...abusing it is not an option, plus I have no idea how long it lasts." Ranger said.
"According to what I read and heard, it lasts about an hour, and it can give someone enough power to challenge the Demon Lord himself. Challenge, you understand? Not defeat." Sage said.
"That's where we would have to come in. I made him my personal training dummy a year ago" Hero said.
"I heard, although...I know it wasn't a fair fight." Ranger said seriously.
"What?" Hero said as if offended.
"It wasn't a fair fight." Ranger said with an eyebrow raised.
"What do you mean it wasn't a fair fight?! I faced him head-to-head and won!" Hero said.
"Did you face him at full power?" Ranger asked.
"Of course I did." Hero snapped.
"Please, the Demon Lord might be powerful beyond words, but he couldn't recover from his fight with the Sword Maiden, and her team, on his own, and unfortunately for him...you went around destroying his temples, killing his followers, and interrupting rituals meant to empower him, so when you faced him...of course you made him look pathetic. It wouldn't amaze me at all if the queen puts up a more serious fight, especially since she's supposedly immune to that holy sword of yours, which you found on a whim by the way..." Ranger said.
"Alright alright!" Hero exclaimed. "I don't know how you know any of that, but I get the damn point..."
"But...to be fair, if you hadn't defeated him, then the rest of us would be in a world of shit, probably literally, so...thanks." Ranger said and the group took a moment to get a grip. Quite a bit of pride was on-the-line, and this was no time to start fighting among themselves.
"So...are you going to keep bickering like an older brother and younger sister, or can we keep going?" Sword Saint asked.
"Very funny." Hero said as Ranger deadpan-looked at Sword Saint. It never occurred to him, but despite having the lowest rank, he was probably the oldest one in the team. What an irony...
"Wait!" High Elf Archer yelled as she finished climbing a tree. "There's something over there mowing down the goblins!"
"What is it Long Ears?" Dwarf Shaman called.
"Don't know, but it's moving fast and hitting them hard." H.E. Archer said as she dashed and swung from one tree to another as the three below her followed on the ground, and when they got there...they had a trail of mangled goblin bodies to follow and heard goblins yelling and screaming in rage and fear as a werewolf tore through their ranks.
"12...25...31...38...43...59..." Goblin Slayer counted as they went into a cave to find the werewolf who was mauling a hob with it's claws and when the hob's arms were shredded, the werewolf bite it's throat open and held it down until it was dead...then picked it up with it's jaws and hurled it at the goblins watching their larger brother get worked over. "That makes 79." Then the werewolf spots the team who raise their guard, then the werewolf crawls further into the cave as if on a mission.
"Should we follow it...?" H.E. Archer asked as GS just went after it. "Orcbolg! Are you out of your mind?! You saw what it did to those goblins!"
"It kills goblins, that's all I need to know." GS said as he went after it, and the team went after him. When they got there...a big surprise was there: Assassin was there watching some goblins try in vain to tear off her suit and she just laid there chuckling at them, even as some hit her in the face, only for them to hurt their hands.
"O.k...fun's over." Assassin said casually before slamming two goblins' heads together, putting a knife in each of the rest of the goblins' necks, then spin kicks the ones she missed away, then turned into a werewolf herself, and when the other showed up, they got to work on the rest of the goblins...and feasted on their corpses.
"Ugh! I can't believe they're actually eating them!" H.E. Archer exclaimed.
"That makes 144." GS said as he left.
"Let's just leave them to their meal." Lizard Priest said as the three followed GS.
"What was that lady doing letting goblins get their hands on her? Doesn't she know what that could lead to?" H.E. Archer asked in awe.
"Knowing her, she was playing sort of game with them." Dwarf Shaman said.
"A sick, twisted game at that." H.E. Archer said.
"Demon hunters tend to be mentally unstable, she and her companion are obviously no exception to the rule." Lizard Priest said.
Back with Ranger, Hero, and company, he was craving through a small horde of zombies in the middle of a dining hall, with some of the zombies being bulkier than the rest, and some even using weapons. These were clearly not ordinary zombies, but that didn't save them from getting their skulls crushed against the walls or furniture, their faces punched off by gauntlets, having their spines kicked in half their brains blown out by Ranger's gun, or their heads chopped off by swords from him, and the 2 swordswomen.
"Freeze!" Sage yelled as a pair of larger zombies came at her only to be encased in ice. "Shatter!" She then points her staff at them and they shatter and their fragments stagger and even kill some of the zombies behind them. Some more zombies rushed in and in the heat of the moment, Ranger morphed blades on his body like Fighter's, then craved through them with his arms and legs, and absorbed their blood and entrails into his armor when they splattered on him. He even harpooned a cabinet onto a larger zombie, then picked it up and threw it across the room to splatter some more zombies.
"How many weapons do you have?" Sword Saint asked Ranger as she put her sword away.
"More than I thought..." Ranger said as he looked over his armor's blades then de-morphed them. "This is going to come in handy when I get my hands on the queen." With that...he noticed the 3 ladies are no longer moving then Cherub showed up. "Yes?"
"For your information, the Apocalypse Armor could do the same thing, only...good luck becoming it's equal." Cherub said.
"Good to know, now, what's this really about?" Ranger asked as he crossed his arms.
"Did you notice how your armor spawned blades? Well guess what? That's not the only outlandish thing you can do with it; any kind of weapon or attachment you can think of, the armor will respond in kind...as long as it's physically capable of doing so, like if it has enough material absorbed into it." Cherub said.
"So I just imagine my armor doing something, no matter how insane, and it'll do what I imagine?" Ranger asked and Cherub nodded. "Yikes...
"Alchemy is a wonderful thing isn't it? Good thing it's not used by too many people; can you imagine what would happen if the Demon Lord got his hands on an army of alchemically-enhanced people or monsters?" Cherub asked before Ranger let out a breathy exhale. "And you're right: this armor will come in real handy against Her Majesty. Although...for crying out loud: stick to using that armor seriously?"
"What can I do with it that's not serious?" Ranger asked and Cherub raised an eyebrow.
"Where do I start...?" Cherub asked rhetorically.
"Actually...I don't want to know." Ranger said. "Now...please resume time." With that, Cherub poofed away and time resumed.
"I can imagine so." Sage said, referring to the armor being used on the queen.
"Shall we ladies...and Ranger?" Hero said and Ranger let out an amused huff as they progressed forward.
Outside, Warrior, Wizard, Fighter, Abbot, and Priestess were all fighting vampires non-stop for about 10 minutes straight, with Abbot of course doing most of the work, but the team was still able to hold their own.
Warrior was engaged in a sword fight with an elite and a few lesser vampires, and while he's holding his own...he needed to get to a hiding spot to down a life potion to give him a power boost and then ambushed the vampires, beheading one of the lesser ones, disemboweling a 2nd, and parrying a lunge from the elite and kicking him into another lesser vampire and rolls away to get some space.
"Firestream!" Wizard yelled as she shot a stream of fire at the same elite Warrior parried, then Warrior finished it off by stabbing it through the heart when he got an opening lest he get swapped across the face; he might be mostly magic-proof, but the vampire was still supremely strong ; one lucky hit and it was over. Wizard meanwhile sliced any vampire that dared get close, and when one pounced on her from behind, Fighter snapped it's neck, only for one who grab her from behind, then he jams her elbow points into it's ribs over and over until the vampire let's her go, then she tears it's throat out, then spin-kicked two others in the head hard enough to launch them to the side.
Priestess meanwhile was watching Abbot fight elites in mid-air by bashing some out of the air, and jumping from one to the other like they were platforms. Eventually, one gets the drop on him, dives down to the ground and slams him into the ground hard enough to shatter the ground and bites his arm.
"Holy Smite!" Priestess yells and the vampires gets launched into a house hard enough to bring the whole place down on top of it. She then rushed to help Abbot. "Heal..." Abbot then groaned as his body recovered from the beating he just took.
"Excellent use of the Supreme's gift my child." Abbot whispered.
"Thank you Father." Priestess said softly as she helped him up, and he called him staff back to him.
"Duck!" Abbot yelled and the moment Priestess did so, he bashed a vampire who lunged at them away, then noticed Fighter standing there with her eyes closed and when she opened them, her eyes glowed cyan. "What in-? She learned to use her chakras?"
"Chakras?" Priestess asked.
"The 7 parts of the body where our spiritual power is focused. It is said that those who master them can perform miracles with their own power rather than that of the gods." Abbot said as Fighter worked over about a dozen vampires with one hit for each of them, and dodged all their attacks without effort, and didn't show any emotion the whole time.
"She...she's almost as fast as you Father." Priestess whispered.
"No...she's faster." Abbot said with a smile.
"They're really going at it out there..." Sage said as she looked out of a hole a trebuchet knocked into the castle, to see swarms of vampires getting their asses kicked and the castle grounds themselves getting smashed.
"That's what my team does..." Ranger said. "Shame about the guards we had to put down though."
"What?" Hero asked and Ranger sighed deeply.
"These vampires tend to make brainwashed slaves out of people they don't turn. I saved a few on my last mission here, but...the dozens we were jumped all got blown to pieces."
"How could you?!" Hero exclaimed and Ranger glared at her.
"It was either that, or they kill us, so we did it." Ranger said seriously. "We cannot save everyone, and casualties in war are unavoidable. Abbot said we lost some people to goblins earlier remember?"
"But...they're goblins; killing people is what they do. You're supposed to save people-" Ranger snapped at her the moment she finished.
"And I do! I've saved countless people directly and indirectly, and I've payed for my failures a hundred times over. Besides...getting a bunch of brainwashed people killed is hardly the worst thing I've done, and that's including the fact I had no hand in their deaths myself." Ranger said as he kept walking.
"What is the worst thing you've done?" Hero asked and got no answer. "Why did you do it? How many times did you fail? How did you fail in the first place? How did you pay for it? Do you hear me?"
"Yes, but I'm not willing to talk about those things, and you have no right to push me." Ranger growled and Hero huffed at him.
"What about your wife and child, if I may ask?" Sage asked.
"What about them?" Ranger asked with his annoyance replaced with curiosity.
"I know you stayed off the field while that Fighter girl was carrying your child, but...did you consider that people still needed you, or if they needed you at all?" Sage asked.
"Warrior and Wizard were more than capable of handling the goblins, especially since their jobs are equipping and training people to handle not only goblins, but other creatures as well. Frankly, they both deserve a Gold Rank for that reason alone in my opinion." Ranger said.
"Can't argue with that." Sword Saint said as they walked up a stairwell.
"Did you check on them every now and then?" Sage asked.
"Didn't need to; they checked on us." Ranger said honestly.
"Let me guess: teleportation?" Sage asked.
"Give the girl a prize." Ranger joked.
"Regardless, we heroes have to put things on-hold for the good of the world; the bad guys don't rest, neither should we." Hero said and Ranger stopped cold.
"I will never put my family on-hold for something that others not only can do in my place, but should, like Warrior and Wizard for example." Ranger said seriously. "Besides, I promised my wife I would stay with her until she gave birth, and I don't recall ever breaking a promise, especially not to her." With that, he kept going up the stairs.
"You really love her don't you?" Sword Saint asked.
"Yes..." Ranger whispered with a nearly-inhuman amount of conviction before they reached the top...then saw a large double-door.
"Can we knock for real this time?" Sage asked and Sword Saint grabbed Hero before she rushed in and shook her head...then the doors opened on their own.
"I guess we're expected..." Ranger said as he peeked inside and saw a decent-sized pool of blood in the middle of a room full of faint mist, and nothing else.
"Well...can't say she doesn't know how to make alone time obvious." Sage said as they walked in, and when they got close enough, they saw a woman laying down in the pool. She was nearly submerged in the blood completely, but...she must been the queen.
"Hey! Bath time's over! Get out and face us!" Hero yelled as she pointed her sword at her, and the woman sat up and absorbed the blood covering her...and she was breath-taking. Flawless, nearly snow-white skin, pitch-black hair, thick, blood-red lips, hourglass figure, red, piercing eyes and a soft face that had an inhumanly sultry look to it. Her beauty rivaled the Sword Maiden's!
"I don't know if I should call you persistant, or downright foolish to come here after your first defeat." Vampire Queen said.
"You'd be right on both accounts..." Sage said bluntly.
"Not now." Hero said.
"Regardless, this will certainly be your last." Vampire Queen said as she looked the team over. "Oh...you brought a servant of the War God here? I suppose I should be honored."
"Flattery will get you nowhere." Ranger said seriously.
"No, I suppose it won't." Vampire Queen said with mock disappointment. "Although your army destroyed a chunk of my own, there are still plenty of ways for me to stand my ground, and when I do...you will all replace the ones I lost."
"Not if we put you down first." Ranger said and the queen chuckled at him.
"I've seen the miracles you used on the blood I used to test you...I'm afraid they won't work here." Vampire Queen said while giving him looks and subtly showing off her figure.
"Don't be so sure." Ranger said seriously.
"I have little reason not to be." Vampire Queen said while continuing her show and throwing in a seductive tone. "I already took measures to ensure my success...and my survival. Now...tell me, are you the leader of the team who aids the infamous Goblin Slayer?"
"What's it to you?" Ranger asked.
"The people speak highly of you. You'll be a mighty addition to my forces; I might even make you my 2nd in command." Vampire Queen said while standing up and showing her entire body to him, but he remained serious; if the Sword Maiden couldn't enthrall him, this blood-sucking temptress sure couldn't.
"I'll have to say no to that." Ranger said bluntly.
"Smart man." Sword Saint said.
"Is he? I think not..." Vampire Queen said with an edge to her voice and spewed a shower of blood out of her entire body in all directions without even moving and the team was pushed back from the force. Then she formed a form-fitting suit of armor out of the blood and it looked more regal than the elites' armor, for obvious reasons, then the team got up and braced for combat.
Meanwhile, Heavy Warrior, Berserker, and Female Knight held off the draugr and his minions while Summoner pelted it with fireballs which burned it badly, but the burns healed like the sword and axe blows it took. Rookie Warrior was throwing his axe at it, and calling the axe back to him over and over from a distance, and Apprentice Cleric cast Holy Smite at it a few times, but the damned thing wouldn't go down, whereas the team was running out of options.
"Undead filth!" Berserker yelled as he jumped on the draugr's back and plunges his axe into it's head, but it does nothing.
"Impossible!" A.C. yelled and the draugr threw threw Berserker off of it's head and Heavy Warrior chopped off one of it's legs and sent it tumbling back down the stairs into the catacombs, and the leg started to reattach itself...then stopped cold when the draugrs reached the bottom.
"So the rumors are true...draugrs can only be harmed in their crypts. Quickly! While that draugr is in that tomb, it's vulnerable!" Berserker called and the 5 other pressed the attack with Summoner having an iron elementals restraining it from behind and H.W. and F.K. stabbing it in the chest over and over until A.C. casts Holy Smite at it, and it drops dead. "Well done...that draugr was a servant of the vampire queen. Without him, this graveyard is useless to her as a source of strength."
"Here's hoping the team fighting her is having better luck than we had." R.W. said.
The vampire queen was dodging sword swing, after sword swing, after sword swing, after sword swing from all 3 of the melee fighters of the team and Sage was holding back waiting for an opening...but none came; the vampire queen was just so fast, she was practically a blur of motion! Even when she was standing still and not dashing around silently taunting them into a wild goose chase, she was more slippery than freshly-caught fish slathered in melted butter. Eventually Ranger backed up, fired directly at her...and she still dodged it! Hero threw her sword at the queen, and it didn't hit. Sword Saint tried hitting the queen directly after she dodged Hero's sword throw, but she caught the sword between two fingers, and Ranger tried to punch her with a gauntlet...only for her to stop his punch with her bare hand, push him back hard enough to send him rolling into a pillar, then he launched a harpoon-and-chain at her...and when Sword Saint ripped her sword out of the queen's hand and cuts her hand, Ranger scored a direct hit which made the queen not even flinch, and Ranger yanked himself to her and she grabbed him, bashed Sword Saint away and slammed him into the ground then kicks him away like a ball.
"Damn you!" Hero yelled as she grabbed her sword and just as she was about to cut the queen in half...she vanished in a poof of red smoke. "What? Where did she go?"
"She was there a moment ago!" Sword Saint said as she got up.
"Mana bolt!" Sage yelled as she fired a bolt of pure energy at the ceiling and the queen blocked it with a shield made of blood without even moving her body.
"What is she doing up there?!" Ranger growled as he slowly stood up.
"The four of you are boring me." Vampire Queen said as she launched a barrage of spikes made of solid blood as the group and they all scattered and parried whatever spikes they could, and Ranger fired his gun until he was out of bullets, and each bullet hit the queen, but did no damage. Then the queen came down to dodge a swing from Hero who climbed up a pillar to attack her, then Ranger smashed the ground, kicked some rubble at the queen who she smashed the rubble with a casual punch, and Ranger came at her with a punch of his own, and in the confusion, he managed to land a punch to her face, then she grabbed his arm at the elbow and squeezed slowly and he growled in pain as she dug her fingers into his bones, and Hero came down, severed her arm, only for it to reattached itself, then the queen slapped Hero into the blood pool, only to be impaled through the heart by Sword Saint from behind. The queen then jammed her elbow into Sword Saint's gut hard enough to make her fall back and struggle to keep breathing.
"Mana Bolt!" Sage yelled and the queen used a blood mist cloud to absorb the energy blast, and launched it at Sage who was launched into the wall and Ranger morphed a blade on his other arm, stabbed the queen in the gut, then the queen kicked his blade hard enough to make it shatter, and break the bone in his arm, then kicked him away.
"Pathetic...to think I thought all of you could join my army, although...it makes my own army look all the worse for falling to such trash." Vampire Queen said.
"To be at the Demon Lord's right hand, is a fate worse than dying." Hero said as she struggled to stand only to get knocked down again by the queen.
"The Demon Lord is of concern to me girl." Vampire Queen said and turned to Ranger who was getting up...and his broken arm was realigning it's correct angle. "Oh, that armor serves you well, to let you recover from such a gruesome injury." She then disappears in a cloud of blood mist and reappears behind him and stops him from putting a bolt through her head by catching it mid-flight...even though he used his power shot enchantment! "You should know nothing you do is going to work."
"I still have to try." Ranger said.
"Why? Because of these girls? You know they're all doomed, but...you don't have to be." Vampire Queen said with a smile.
"The Sword Maiden couldn't enchant me, what chance do you have?" Ranger asked.
"The Sword Maiden? That wretched little thing who became a goddess among the people? That Sword Maiden?" Vampire Queen asked.
"How dare you...!" Ranger growled.
"How dare I? My good man...she's human, just like you are; she suffers, she grows, she lives, she dies. I will not..." Vampire Queen said as she circled Ranger. "You have proven that you stand above quite a few humans; it would be...a crying shame should you fall, especially...when you don't have to."
"I had a chance to become a vampire before, I threw it out the window first chance I got." Ranger said.
"Oh yes, I would too should I take the blood of a wretch, but...mine is different. Take blood from me, and you will have all you desire." Vampire Queen said.
"You have nothing I want." Ranger snapped.
"Oh? You want a family? Mine is everlasting. You want your team to get stronger? They can have more power than they ever dreamed possible at your side. You want glory and status. I will make you high king of this whole country; you will answer to none but myself. You want love...I can give you more than any man I've ever offered a place to. Ranger...your quest will be complete, and absolute, you need only accept my blood into your veins." Vampire Queen said.
"You...are as generous, as you are glorious good queen..." Ranger said softly. "This is an offer only one foolish beyond words would refuse." With that, the vampire queen opened her mouth, sank her fangs into her tongue, and the three ladies watched in horror as Ranger approached her, wrapped his arms around her, and just as he was on the brink of locking lips with the queen...he jammed a heated blade into her lower chest making her scream in pain as Ranger glared at her.
"However...I also know that should I accept this offer, I would be your pet, not your equal; I would be replaced the moment you no longer have a use for me. It would also spell doom for countless people, for countless years, and I swore to protect them before the Supreme, and the War Gods, and I would rather be called a fool than a traitor." Ranger growled as he dug his blade deeper into her chest. "But, above all else...you sent a succubus after me and my family. The woman who put me back together when I was at my lowest point, and the infant girl who is living proof of our love for each other! You tried to ruin my life, now I'm here to return the favor!" With that he jammed another heated blade into her lower gut with her pained screams falling on deaf ears. "Lord of the Sword...Master of the Mace..."
"Wait, no! Don't do it!" Vampire Queen pleaded.
"...Raze my foes with the destructive power of chaos..." Ranger continued ignoring the terror on the queen's face
"Don't use Immolation! I beg you!" Vampire Queen screamed.
"IMMOLATION!" Ranger yelled and the queen burst into flames, and her screams of pain drowned out every other sound and she turned into blood mist trying to put the flames out, but it didn't work. She flew around the entire room as the flames continued to rage. It was amazing she didn't use her burning body as weapon, not that it would do her any good; Immolation is entirely under the caster's control, and she was likely in too much pain to think clearly. Eventually she reformed above the blood pool and her charred carcass fell into it as the Hero jumped out of it.
"I know vampires are weak against fire, but that was a bit ridiculous." Sage said as she got up.
"Immolation uses holy fire that is under my control, and...I wanted that bitch to burn badly." Ranger said with an edge to his voice.
"Did you have to let her get that close to you, thinking she was safe then set her on fire? That's the kind of thing I'd expect a bad guy to do!" Hero said.
"It serves her right for all the bullshit she pulled on me, and quite a few others." Ranger said with apathy. "Besides, deception is part of warfare as well..." After he finished talking, the blood bubbled up, then started boiling and the queen burst out of it yelling in rage and the blood infects the ceiling, makes it collapse, as the queen flies upwards on a stream of the blood.
"Warfare...! Warfare you say?! I will show you warfare!" Vampire Queen yelled as the ceiling came down and the team had to avoid or destroy the falling debris, and when it was over...the room became dead silent, then an ear-splitting shriek was heard and the team climbed, or flew in Sage's case, up the destroyed ceiling to the next floor, Ranger morphed some claws as the two swordswomen ran up the walls, while Ranger climbed the walls and Sage kept flying to keep up, and when they reached the roof...their hearts sank. There was a massive bat-woman creature that had to be the queen transformed and she was flying around the place, then went to the roof and bared her fangs at the team.
"So...the beauty no longer hides the beast within." Ranger said.
"You have no idea what a true beast is Ranger!" Vampire Queen snarled as she folded in her wings and stood up from all fours. "There is no bargaining out of your fates this time."
"Good...because fate won't like our terms." Ranger said as he morphed a greatsword and the three ladies braced themselves for round two.
Well...that's that. The queen's pissed off, Ranger gave a threat to his marriage yet another middle finger, and Her Majesty proved she's a match for the Hero, and before anyone says Ranger is a Gary Stu for being more competent than Hero, keep in mind that he has powers that the queen is weak to; it's like Batman fighting Superman with Kryptonite, only...more gruesome. Also, Summoner is Gold-Ranked now and Assassin is a werewolf now...yay. Also, for those or you that don't know: draugrs are the Norse mythology version of zombies, and...they're probably the strongest type across the entire mythology board; they actually have godlike powers in some cases, and the only two ways to beat them, are to fight them in their graves, or be blessed by the gods. At least I think that's the case. Anyway, be sure to Rate, Review, and Share...please people, I get there's a pandemic going on, but I need feedback from more than just one person, even though that person is a welcome case. Anyway, round two with the vampire queen is just around the corner, so...stay tuned.