"You there, who has slain me," Zirgoth growled, pointing his cleaver at Arlic. "I shall not make the mistake of underestimating you this time!"
With that, Zirgoth began to run at Arlic, his cleaver spraying blood everywhere. Arlic grit his teeth and gripped his sword tighter, preparing for battle. But he knew he wouldn't be able to win. The lizard man didn't seem to be tired at all, while he was already starting to tire out after the battle. He knew he should have packed potions, it would have made it so much easier to reco-
*CRASH*
Suddenly, a boat slammed into Zirgoth at incredible speeds, launching him through a wall of a house. Arlic sighed in relief and looked at the boat, waiting to see his saviors.
The doors opened up, and Laura, dressed in combat gear, walked out, weapons at the ready.
Out of the back door Clara stumbled out, swaying from side to side, her face looking green. Reiya walked out after her, keeping the girl from falling over.
"What's the situation?" Laura asked, looking around. A loud crash was heard where Goron tackled the cannibal, while Arlic was focused on the lizard man, who was beginning to get up.
"Two invaders with unclear motives. They seem to possess revival powers, not sure how to kill them," Arlic sputtered out.
"Where are the other knights?" she inquired, tossing him a vial of liquid.
"Dead or too injured to continue. They're being tended to right now," he explained, chugging the potion. In just a moment his body began to rapidly recover.
"Understood. Clara! Get ready!" Laura exclaimed, pulling out a sword with a sky blue blade, similar to the pins she always had in her hair.
"Yes ma'am," Clara replied weakly, changing her weapon to a better form, while Reiya raised her hands, preparing a spell.
"Damn it, this complicates things," Zirgoth grumbled, looking over to his side. But his partner was wrestling with Goron, and winning by quite a bit.
Even though Goron is strong, he was tired out after days of searching, and Laura knew that. She looked between the two opponents and pondered for a moment.
"Clara, you and Reiya take on the lizard man. I'll take on the other one," she commanded, running forth to help Goron.
"Wha- hey! Alright!" Clara sputtered out, turning towards the lizard man. Arlic raised his sword and glanced over at Clara.
"He's pretty agile and has a lot of tricks up his sleeves. That tail isn't just for show either. Do you have a way to restrain him?" Arlic asked.
"I do, but I need to get within range," Clara replied, checking her skill list.
"I'm ready to support you with magic," Reiya chimed in, forming a glowing arrow.
"Alright. I'll get you two close then. NOW!"
Arlic charged into the fight, swinging his sword at the lizard man as fast as he could, trying to end the fight as fast as possible. But Zirgoth just cackled and blocked every hit while Clara and Reiya got closer.
"Where is that fire from before, warrior?! Your movements are slow and weak!" the lizard man laughed, smacking his attacks away with ease and quickly retaliating, pushing Arlic back. But because of this, he completely ignored Clara.
"Chain Bind!" she yelled, summoning metal chains out of the ground that quickly wrapped around the target, holding Zirgoth down. Before Zirgoth could retaliate, a bright arrow stabbed into his arm, followed by a barrage of light pellets that began to bombard his body, breaking his scales and burning the skin beneath. Arlic pulled his weapon back, ready to stab through the chains and into Zirgoth.
"So that's the traitor," Zirgoth growled and twisted his body so quickly that Arlic could have sworn he heard some bones snap. Suddenly, Zirgoth's tail poked out from the chains and bashed Arlic's head into the ground, knocking him out.
"Erst-," Clara raised her hand and tried to summon a lid to try to stop Zirgoth from attacking, but he picked up Arlic's sword off of the ground with his tail and launched it at Clara.
It was so fast that Clara barely had the chance to react. She tried to move her knife and shift it into a defensive form, but the sword was moving way too fast for her to block.
Reiya pushed Clara out of the way and summoned a barrier around her to stop the sword. But despite her defenses, the sword pierced the barrier and shattered the barrier. Clara could only watch as the sword continued to fly towards Reyia, and slashed at her torso.
"Agh!" Reiya groaned, clutching her chest as smoke or steam poured out of the wound. Clara rushed to her side and reached into her pocket, but she didn't have any potions with her. Reiya just smiled and curled up on the ground, clutching her wound. "I'm ok. I'll… recover."
Sh*t sh*t sh*t! I should have stocked up on SP potions!
"Step aside, hero. I will execute the traitor first!" Zirgoth yelled, breaking out of the chains and approaching the two.
"Get back!" Clara yelled, swapping to the largest cleaver she could wield. "Erst Slash!"
Royal Mushroom Knight Cleaver
abilities locked equip bonus: "Change Tool", 10 attack
special effect: agility up (small)
Zirgoths eyes widened as Clara's speed increased, the cleaver quickly approaching him. He swung his weapon at the approaching blade, slamming the holy knife into the ground, trapping it. Clara grunted as she tried to pull it out, but Zirgoth stepped onto it and rushed at her, cackling madly.
"S-second Lid!" Clara stammered out just as Zirgoth was about to hit her in the face. A green lid appeared between the two of them, cracking as the lizardman's blade crashed into it. Clara barely had time to back away as the lizard man raised his weapon again, ready to strike.
"Change Tool!" she exclaimed, trying to swap the floating lid to something stronger, but her options were limited so she picked the most recent thing on the list, the royal mushroom knight carapace pot.
A light surrounded the floating lid, quickly changing into a mushroom-like cap with a small knob in the center. The cracks in the skill remained, and Zirgoth didn't seem to be bothered either.
Just as Zirgoth's blade landed on it, cracking it further, the mushroom burst to life. Or rather, simply burst. The top layer exploded, sending a cloud of green smoke straight at Zirgoth. He jumped back and began to cough violently, trying to get out of the smoke, but he began to sway from side to side.
Clara opened her mouth to speak, but her eyes widened as Zirgoth continued to cough, a bit of blood leaking from his nose and mouth.
"Shine Knife!" Clara pointed her knife at Zirgoth's face, blasting his eyes with a blinding light. Unfortunately, he seemed to sense her direction regardless, even with his eyes closed, he turned towards Clara and growled.
"Damn you! You're more annoying than I had anticipated!" Zirgoth grumbled, coughing in between words.
Meanwhile, the cannibal woman headbutted Goron, kicking him onto his knees, and kicked him in the chest, tossing the chef back. She picked up her cleaver and turned towards Zirgoth and Clara.
Laura pulled out a couple of darts from her belt and launched them at the cannibal's face, hitting her eyes and causing the tower of terror to roar out in pain. She swung her cleaver as hard as she could, trying to cut Laura in half, but the woman slid under the knife and in between the beast's legs, cutting the back of her feet with a pair of daggers.
Her opponent dropped to her knees and began to swing her cleaver wildly, trying to hit Laura with all her might, but she just backed away and continued her onslaught, slicing and stabbing at the joints, immobilizing the giant.
"Get. Away!" the giant roared, grabbing a nearby corpse and swinging it like a metal bat by its legs. Laura dodged back and prepared to attack, when the giant quickly stuffed it inside her stomach, crushing the body in an instant with her sharp, large teeth. The assassin watched in annoyance as the wounds she inflicted healed in an instant, and the giant stood back up from the ground.
"Damn it, of course it'd be healing," she grumbled, reaching into her belt. The cannibal rushed at Laura with surprising speed, but she dashed out of the way and threw something into the gaping hole on the cannibal's stomach. The next moment, a loud explosion was heard, as the cannibal clutched her stomach. Blood and shards of metal poured out, forcing the cannibal to the ground.
Laura didn't waste any time and quickly scaled the woman's back and then jumped in the air and stabbed her sword into the cannibal's head, pinning the body to the ground. She twisted the blade a few more times to make sure the enemy was dead and turned to where Clara was fighting the lizard man.
"Come on! Is that all you had?!" Zirgoth yelled, slamming his cleaver against Clara's pot, pushing her back more and more with each swing.
"Why are you attacking the village? What did the villagers do to you for you to go this far?"
"It is all for my lord, who is on a path to create a better world for us! Rid of the virus that is humanity, allowing us to live our lives! Once your friends and that traitor are gone, no one shall stand in the way!" Zirgoth explained, coughing up more blood with every step. "But you shall be spared for now. Our lord has use for you yet!"
"You really think your lord will actually remember you when he grows to power? Many say they do, but barely anyone keeps their underlings after they become the strongest!" Clara yelled, remembering the shows she watched with Jim.
"Our majesty will never abandon us!" the lizard man yelled back. "His goals are for the good of all the beasts! So stop us if you can! Though I doubt it."
With that, Zirgoth stumbled forth, and suddenly lunged to Clara's side, slashing at her leg and leaving a large gash. Clara grit her teeth to stifle the scream of pain, as blood began to drip down her leg.
"I can't imagine why. Your skills seem lacking. You don't even seem to realize the situation you're in," Zirgoth scowled, wiping the blood off of his mouth as he circled around Clara. "You didn't go for the kill when you had your chance. You haven't killed anything more than mindless beasts, have you?"
Clara ignored him and glanced at her leg. She could barely put any weight on it without it feeling like her leg was being ripped off, so she quickly glanced through her skills to see if there was anything else she could block his attack with.
"Eyes on the battle, kid!" Zirgoth yelled, launching his cleaver at Clara's head. Clara raised her pot just in time to block the hit, but it was followed by a punch to her stomach, sending her tumbling to the ground.
"My lord said alive, but not uninjured!" Zirgoth let out a choked cackle, coughing up some blood onto Clara's face, as he raised his cleaver to attack.
"Erst-!" Clara tried to summon a lid to guard herself, but Zirgoth recoiled back, clutching his eye as blood poured out from under his hand. He started to scream out in pain, and Laura used his moment to stab her sword into his tail, pinning it to the ground, before tackling him and slamming the lizard man's head into the dirt.
"Get off of me, you pest!" he yelled, trying to squirm his way out, but Laura just punched the back of his head and tied his hands behind his back.
"Now talk, why have you attacked this village?" she demanded, holding the squirming lizard man down.
"Our lord asked for this village's destruction, and I had no reason to object," Zirgoth replied. "Kill me if you must, but we'll just be back with-"
Zirgoth suddenly paused and began to cough violently again. Blood continued to drop from his mouth and nose, and his scales began to fall off by themselves. With a final jerk, Zirgoth stopped moving. A small stream of blood leaked out of his mouth to paint the ground below crimson red, as life left his body. Laura put two fingers on the man's neck for a few moments, before closing her eyes.
"Nothing. Looks like their revival was a one time use," Laura mumbled. She glanced over to where Clara was, but the girl was slowly stumbling her way to a barely continuous Reiya. Luckily, the ghost girl seemed to be recovering, and didn't have to worry about blood loss.
"How are you two feeling?" she asked, pulling out two vials and handing them to Clara, one with red liquid and one with blue. Reiya let out a short grunt, but didn't move off of the ground.
"Better, thank you," Clara replied, helping Reiya drink the SP potion. The wound she got was quickly closing the cut on her chest. She opened her eyes and looked at Clara, concern growing on her face as she saw the condition the girl was in.
"Miss Clara, you're bleeding!" she exclaimed, pointing to her injured leg.
"What? Where am I… oh… OH," Clara exclaimed, as the pain began to make itself known again. Reiya upended the health potion vial and poured some of it over the wound, forcing a hiss out of Clara as the wound closed up bit by bit.
"You have to be more careful, Miss Clara! What if you got more injured than this?" Reiya grumbled, handing the rest to the hero to drink.
"You got injured even more than I did! You almost got stabbed by that sword!" Clara protested, quickly downing the red liquid.
"Alright, we need to get both of you some new armor. Maybe even weapons while we're at it. Didn't you used to have a shield?"
"It blew up a while ago," Clara mumbled, rubbing her injured arm a bit.
"Right. Well, what did we learn from this fight and how can we improve?"
"Um, I can cast magic better?" Reiya suggested.
"Not what I mean. I mean what did you do in this battle that you should never do? I want you to think about that and ways to improve," Laura instructed. Reiya and Clara fell silent for a few moments as they thought about the fight. Clara looked at her empty arm where a shield used to be.
"I guess I was busy swapping between defense and offense with my weapon and so I couldn't do both at once?"
"That is something we can improve. Remember to get a shield when we get you new armor. Reiya?"
"Um…" Reiya mumbled, trying to come up with something.
"Don't jump in front of swords?" Clara suggested.
"Hey! I did that cause you were going to be hit instead!" Reiya pouted. "And this is the thanks I get?"
"But now I'll have a shield and I'll be the one in the front slowing down the enemy, while you can cast magic from a safe distance,"
"But what if you get hurt and I can't reach you in time?" Reiya protested.
"And what if you get hurt?" Clara fired back.
"So, you two have some time to reflect on the battle and learn from your mistakes. This could be the difference between surviving and dying next time, understood?" Laura said, putting her hands on the two girl's shoulders.
They were interrupted when a set of footsteps began to approach them.
"God, it feels like someone hit me with a boat," Arlic groaned, stumbling over to where the three were.
"Well, morning sleepy head. You had a nice nap?" Laura teased. "We finished the battle and left you the cleanup."
"What about those guys? Did you figure out why they attacked the village?" Arlic asked, pointing to where Zirgoth laid motionless.
"They didn't seem to have any particular goal in mind. This feels like a distraction rather than the main attack," Laura said, knocking out the man
"You are correct," a voice boomed across the battlefield.
Before anyone could reply or see where the voice came from, a large shadow enveloped the village. Clara looked up just in time to see a dark figure dropping towards the ground like a meteorite.
"Erst Lid!" she yelled, pulling Reiya out of the way before a large foot slammed into the ground, shattering her barrier in an instant. Clara looked up to see a huge crimson red dragon with burning red eyes that looked like they were staring into her very soul. Clara shivered under its gaze, and apparently she wasn't the only one.
His gaze shifted to Reiya, and he frowned.
"If it isn't the traitor," he growled, opening his mouth wider. A burning blue flame began to glow in his throat, ready to fly out.
"No!" Clara screamed, jumping in front of the girl, a pot in hand. The dragon paused and closed his mouth, letting out a low growl as he started Clara down.
She trembled under his fiery gaze. She didn't have to know its level or stats to know that she wouldn't stand a chance against it. Just being next to the dragon made Clara feel like she was being suffocated. She felt like she was at the bottom of an ocean, getting crushed by the water above as currents moved back and forth to push her to the ground. But despite the heavy pressure, she stood her ground, even though her knees threatened to give out any second.
The dragon let out a short puff of hot, almost burning, air into her face, before turning away.
"Very well. We shall meet again, Hero of the Spirit Weapon," he growled, turning towards his underlings. In a moment his body began to melt into a dark cloud that reformed behind them into a more humanoid form. He grabbed the underlings and picked their corpses off of the ground.
"Don't you dare!" Arlic yelled, throwing his sword at the dragon. But it didn't reach its target in time. The dragonic man crushed some object in his hand and the three figures were engulfed in a dark cover, disappearing into the shadows.
Everyone stood there in silence for a few moments as they tried to comprehend what just happened.
Reiya walked over to the shivering Clara and wrapped her hands around her waist, just as Clara's knees buckled under her, resulting in them both collapsing to the ground. Clara held Reiya's hands, turned to her and gave her an exhausted smile.
Arlic was the first to break the silence.
"Any knight who can move, help the injured. Once that's done, we'll bury the dead. I'll report this to the queen, get me a list of casualties," he instructed, walking up to Roland's corpse, and took a deep breath before reaching for his bag. He pulled out a small tablet with a golden metallic band on the rim of the glowing crystal and began to type away.
Clara glanced at the villagers who were beginning to walk out into the open. Some were terrified, some had tears in their eyes, and a few were fuming. Friends and families were walking through the fields, crying over the people they once knew who were now lying motionless on the ground.
"You didn't go for the kill when you had your chance. You haven't killed anything more than mindless beasts, have you?"
Clara sighed and looked down at her hands, covered in dried up blood. The thought of taking a human life, or anything human like felt wrong. Yet here, people don't seem to think that hard about it.
The closest I got was that wolf. But I counted him more as another monster to kill, rather than a thinking being. How far do I need to go to go home?
Clara glanced over at where Reiya was standing.
I need to get as many SP potions as I can asap. I guess I have to take a trip to the enchanted islands.
"IT'S GONE!" A villager yelled, running through the village with an empty container, knocking Clara out of her thoughts. "The dragon heart is gone!"