Goron walked through the forest, a stench of blood surrounding him. His clothes were painted red after his rampage, yet he still hasn't managed to find Clara.
As he walked through the forest, he realized that he made his way out of the Nightmare Forest, and into the Daydream one. Though he knew it was anything but that. The bright colored plants, the sunlight streaming through the leaves, and the twisting vines with colorful leaves gave a facade of calmness and peace. But between these pretty colors lay many dangerous beasts.
It was then that an idea popped up in his head on how to speed up the search, and so he was currently headed towards the furthest part of the forest that is still a mystery to most people. And the reason for that?
"It's you again, Demonic Butcher. Why have you come to our lands?" a voice called out to him. However, it felt like someone was talking directly into his head. The sound of footsteps surrounded him as several bright orange foxes began to show up. All of them had a small yellow circle embedded into the fur on their foreheads. A few foxes even had a couple of sun rays drawn facing down. But one stood out in particular, his sun burning brighter than the rest with rays streaming down and to the sides of his forehead.
"Where's your dad? I need to talk to him to look for someone," Goron grumbled, glancing around.
"Father is not to be disturbed. You'll approach him over my dead body," the fox replied, glaring at Goron, its fur beginning to glow and move, like a flame.
"Fine by me," Goron grinned, cracking his knuckles and giving the beast a sinister grin.
"Phew. Thank god that was over," Clara mumbled, dropping into her bed.
"Come on, it wasn't that bad," Reiya tried to cheer her up, patting the girl on the back.
"Easy for you to say, you can cast spells without a problem. I still can't make a proper bullet," Clara grumbled, pouting.
"But I was finally able to cast a protective wall on my own! A little more and I think I can start healing people as well!" Reiya exclaimed, her enthusiasm not faltering one bit despite Clara's words. "Then I can protect you and heal you if something happens!"
Reiya looked over at Clara with her eyes sparkling with excitement and a wide smile, Clara couldn't resist and patted the girl on the head.
"You did a good job, Reiya. And… thank you for helping me out so far." Clara said, returning a smile to the giggling girl. "Want me to cook you anything? Well… anything I can actually cook."
But Reiya didn't get to answer as the next mome-
"Clara!" Laura yelled, bursting into the room. "Do you have a portal set at the village where the last wave was?!"
"H-huh?!" Clara yelped.
"Do you, or not?!" Laura yelled, urgency clearly hearable in her voice.
"N-no. Why?" the girl stammered out.
"Big Sister Laura, what's wrong?"
"With me, now, get in the boat, I'll explain on the way!" she commanded, running out of the room with the two girls in tow.
Laura tossed her bag into the seat next to her and turned on the boat.
"What's going on? What happened to the village?" Clara asked, hopping into the back seat with Reiya.
"Village got attacked by someone. And according to the messages I got, someone pretty strong," she replied, driving out of the hangar before the door was even fully open.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Clara panicked and grabbed onto her seat as the boat began to drop down to the ground at rapid speeds without warning, and Laura began to press several buttons, accelerating their drop.
"Getting us over there asap! We still have some knights over there who stayed for corpse disposal, but who knows how long they can hold out for. I don't have time to assemble a stronger squad, so the three of us will have to do as backup." She opened up one of the compartments on the control panel, revealing a red button. "Now hold on tight!"
Clara barely got the time to put her seatbelt on and grab onto the seat in front of her, before the boat lunged forward, throwing Clara back. Reiya grabbed onto Clara with all her might to help keep her in place, and Clara wrapped one of her arms around her as well.
I hope I can deal with whatever it is. I just beat a wave, it shouldn't be too bad, right?
"Pillage and plunder!" the lizard man screamed, swinging his cleaver around wildly as the citizens fled in a panic. Two knights were standing in front of him, blocking his path as the unarmed villagers fled from the scene.
"Who are you, and what do you want with these people?" the knight at the front asked.
"My lord wants them gone. And the enemy of my lord is my enemy!" the lizard man replied, raising his cleaver, ready to strike.
"Not on our watch. Begone!" the first knight yelled, running forward. The lizard man leaped into the air and over the knight, ready to strike, but his cleaver was stopped by a shield, followed by a magic arrow. He grunted as the arrow sliced his cheek on his way down. He tightened his grip and glared at the two knights in front of him.
He rushed again, but the second knight blocked his movement once more, this time allowing for the first knight to attack with his sword, almost striking the lizard man in his chest. The lizard man backed away and grumbled.
"How irritating," he glared, gripping his cleaver tighter. Just then an explosion rang out from behind him, scattering debris. He looked back and smiled as he saw a large feminine figure made of flesh stitched together haphazardly. A large blood covered cleaver was in one hand and a mutilated armored human torso in another. Several knights tried to approach her, but she tossed the torso at one, picked up another, and opened her mouth.
Before she could take a bite off of the knight, several arrows slammed into her back, causing her to drop the knight. She roared, her stomach opening and revealing a large set of teeth with a spiky tongue bursting out of it and stabbing into the mage that attacked her.
"Looks like backup isn't coming anytime soon. I have the two of you to myself!" the lizard man grinned, pointing his cleaver at the more heavily armored knight. "I am Zirgoth! Tell me thy names, so that I may know my prey!"
"Arlic and Roland. Those are the names of the ones who will end you," Arlic replied, raising his sword. Roland nodded and raised his shield, stars circling around him.
"This is gonna be fun," the lizard man cackled, lunging forward.
Roland moved in front of Arlic and shot an arrow at his face. Zirgoth lowered himself to the ground and dug his claws into the dirt, using his cleaver to hook onto the shield and throw Roland to the side. He circled back and lunged at Arlic, swinging his sword down with all his might.
Arlic raised his sword and deflected the cleaver to the side, sparks flying from the collision. The cleaver struck the ground, getting stuck to stab into the ground. Arlic used this moment to pull his sword back and stab it into Zirgoth's throat, but the lizard man ripped the cleaver out with a chunk of dirt on it, sending it into Arlic's eyes, blinding him.
Arlic leaped back, trying to regain his vision, however, Zirgoth leaped forward, aiming his blade at the knight's head. But before the blade could taste blood, something slammed into the lizard man from the side, knocking him back. He scrambled to his feet, only to have a glowing arrow fly towards him.
He smacked it away with his tail, wincing in pain as the attack shattered some scales and burned through a large chunk of meat. Roland rushed forward, his shield raised and another arrow slowly forming next to him.
Zirgoth growled and began to rapidly slash at Roland with his cleaver, trying to cut him down. But the knight blocked the strikes with his shield, and those that he couldn't, he stopped with a barrier. Zirgoth growled in frustration, only intensifying his onslaught. But it was quickly interrupted when a shadow of the swordsman appeared overhead. Zirgoth tried to back away, but his back slammed into a barrier formed behind him. He wanted to move to the side, but Roland stepped on his tail, keeping him in place.
With no other way, he grit his teeth and jumped to the side, with his machete raised as a shield. His tail tore off of his body, setting him free just in time. Arlic descended from the air, slashing at the lizard. But he only managed to graze his side, forcing out a bit of blood from his shoulder. He grit his teeth and slashed at the knight, but his cleaver was stopped by a barrier. The barrier in question suddenly rushed forward, pushing Zirgoth and his squirming dismembered tail back.
"You. Should. Finish. Playing. Now," the cannibal woman said, catching him. Her body was covered in blood and a limb was hanging out from the mouth on her stomach. But she didn't come out unscathed either as there were several wounds all around her body, with a few arrows and swords sticking out of her back and legs.
"Yeah, yeah. You aren't looking too hot yourself. Take a break and leave these two to me," he grumbled, pushing away from her with his good arm. The other one was now hanging limp at the side with blood dripping down his scales. She didn't answer, instead she cracked her neck and readied her weapon for an attack.
But suddenly a large man wearing an apron over a chef's outfit flew in and slammed into the cannibal, knocking them into the wall of a nearby house. The wall collapsed, burying them both in rubble.
On the edge of the nearby forest was a fox with blazing orange fur and a small but bright sun on its forehead. Several small beams were poking out from the bottom and sides of the sun, lightning up the area in front of it.
"I told you that you should have avoided father. Yet you remain stubborn! Search for your friend yourself!"
"I forgot the part where I asked for your opinion!" Goron grumbled, climbing out from under the rubble. Suddenly a hand grasped him from behind and a row of teeth began to poke out from the debris, but Goron just kicked it into the ground, freeing himself. He turned to the fox and pushed his rolled up sleeves higher.
"Now take me to your father before I make you into a fox stew, you pompous ba- huh?"
Goron was interrupted by another hand grabbing him from behind, the cannibal bursting out of the debris. She raised her cleaver and swung it at his head as hard as she could. He grabbed a nearby piece of rock and bashed the cleaver to the side, then punched the cannibal chick in the face, knocking her back. He turned towards the forest to chase after the fox again, but it had disappeared completely.
He stared silently at the edge of the forest as the cannibal got up and began to approach him. Goron glared at her and punched her away again, roaring with anger.
"I ALMOST HAD HIM YOU BASTARD!" he screamed, lunging at her like a raging bull.
"Sh*t," Zirgoth grumbled, as he felt Arlic approach him. He smacked his sword away with his cleaver and kicked the man in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards. Roland rushed forward to block the hit while charging up another spell.
Zirgoth grinned and kicked his tail over at the knight. The tail slammed into the shield and quickly wrapped around the arm of the knight, squeezing it tightly and breaking it. Roland screamed out in agony and dropped his shield, trying to cut off the tail from his arm, but this was the moment Zirgoth attacked. He lunged forward and swung at him with his non injured arm.
The cleaver quickly carved through the shoulder, dropping his arm onto the ground. Roland's and Arlic's eyes widened, but Zirgoth didn't pause even for a second. He smacked Roland to the ground with his cleaver and began to slam his weapon into Roland, cracking his bones one by one.
Arlic ran as fast as he could, regretting not learning magic, and tried to reach his friend. But he was launched too far and it would take him too long to get there. Roland looked up at his friend and smiled.
"Ar.. lic," he wheezed out. With one last swing, the lizard man shattered Rolan's skull, silencing the man for good.
The body went limp, with blood painting the ground crimson. Arlic finally made it over to Roland and began to pour healing potions onto him, but it was no use. The body didn't heal at all, instead only growing colder every second that it lay on the ground.
Instead of taking a swing at Arlic, Zirgoth took a step back and smiled.
"Take a moment to mourn over your friend before I send you to him," he cackled, pointing his cleaver at the knight's neck.
"AAAAAAAAAAGH!" Arlic hollered, swinging his sword at Zirgoth as hard as he could. The lizard man blocked with his cleaver and tried to counter attack, but Arlic slashed at him again and again, not giving the guy any chance to counter attack. Zirgoth took a few steps back, trying to put some distance between the two, but Arlic crushed after him and hit the cleaver out of the lizard's arm and kicked him to the ground. With a battle cry he grabbed the sword with both his arms and stabbed Zirgoth through the heart.
The lizard man looked at the blade sticking out of him in shock, trying to pull it out, but Arloc pushed it in deeper, and twisted it, cutting up the heart even more. Zirgoith gasped out one final time, before his body went limp, remaining still.
Arlic took several deep breaths as he kneeled on the ground, turning back to his friend. He looked over at what was left of his friend and closed his eyes, quickly covering him with a cloak he found. Then he placed Roland's shield on top and began to walk over to where Goron and the cannibal were ducking it out.
Goron, however, had the upper hand. With a loud crack, he slammed a piece of debris over her head. The next moment her body went limp and collapsed onto the ground.
"Alright, you there, catch me up on what's going on," Goron grumbled, walking over to Arlic. "Where did this thing come from?"
"No idea. They appeared out of nowhere and attacked the village," Arlic replied, serving the damage. Most of the knights were wiped out, with only a handful remaining alive, yet injured. A few of the town folks returned and tried to bandage the wounds of those most critically injured," he grumbled. "Where did you come from?"
"Was part of the search party. A bit busy in the forest," Goron explained. "Any idea where they came from?"
"No cl-" he began, but a sudden bell chime rang out behind him. He looked back, and to his horror, the lizard man he has stabbed through the heart just a few seconds ago, had begun to stand up off of the ground.
"Gah, that wasn't pleasant!" Zirgoth growled, glaring at Arlic and Goron.
As he looked at the lizard man like he just saw a ghost, a rumbling noise came from behind Goron, where the cannibal was beginning to rise yet again.
What the hell are we supposed to do about that?!
