"What is happening?!" I awoke groggy and the world indistinct.
"Get up, we're under attack!" The voice of Rak screamed in my ear.
Acting on instinct, my reflexes kicked in and I was soon at my feet and ready for action. Reaching for my sword, I found it was missing. Faint memories came back. I vaguely recalled letting Nutnug look at it. Hopefully, he won't steal it. With no weapon in hand, I turned to assess the battlefield, and it was a battlefield. Corpses littered the camp, and just a few metres away I saw a familiar Skav lying dead with an arrow in his eye. That little guy was a saint. I mean, he tried to pickpocket me with a magic glove, but he was a chill dude.
Enraged by this absolute affront against all that is good and holy. I sent my seething gaze to the first victim. Ignoring Rak as he launched bolt after bolt. My eyes were only for a group of goblins by the trees, protecting an archer. They weren't Skavs, that's for certain, didn't have the cool purple stuff. They were just tiny, green little shits in need of death. Normally I would play some badass music. But right I am just going to kill shit.
"Vengeance!" I screamed, raising my fists in challenge.
"What are doing?!" Rak screamed at me.
"Something cool!" I screamed right back.
Digging my heels in, I felt the grass shift, moving aside as my powerful force pushed everything away. The barrier was super charged and I could feel the power at my disposal. With an effort, I sent a blast of force straight down at a slight angle, launching myself into the air. Cape fluttered in the wind, keeping my ascent straight, preventing a downward trajectory. I soared into the sky, over the decimated camp littered with fires and moaning. But we hadn't lost everything. I saw several Skavs unleashing the power of their strange weapons. One threw an orb that cracked in the air and dropped an ocean's worth of water onto an unsuspecting group of goblins.
Laughing maniacally, I descended towards my victims. Arrows streaked across the sky, only to snap harmlessly against my barrier. Its strength was greater after I fully dumped all my points into it. I descended like a meteor, mentally commanding my cape to cease its magic. I slammed into the earth, sending a shockwave in every direction and cracking the very earth.
"Kill it!" The archer demanded.
They obliged by turning to face me, crude swords at the ready, with a mix of fear and hatred on their foul - looking faces. I barely acknowledged their appearances and instead activated Unleash Aura. The mounting energy built up to a crescendo and burst out in every direction. Flying goblins revealed broken bones, cracked rib cages, and bloodied faces to my senses. So mighty was its weight that it crushed everything.
However, not everyone died so easily, and a sizable group remained standing, somehow enduring the attack because of their sheer endurance. That was the issue with the system worlds; everyone had the potential to create unique and unbalanced builds. Looks like a few dropped all their points into endurance. No matter what, I shall crush them all.
"Bring it on!" I challenged, and they didn't disappoint
I could have blinded them all; I could have blasted music into their ears. Delivered glorious heavy metal into their skulls with enough ear damage to make them deaf. Instead, I just crushed them with sheer, unbridled power. Two came from the front. With swords brandished over their heads, they ran at me with death on their minds. They didn't get far; I raised both hands and dropped 25 points of force right on their heads. They flattened against the ground, heads bent at an odd angle. One of them died instantly from a broken neck; the other just flattened, his body ravaged by the intense onslaught.
"What are you?" The archer screamed, nocking another arrow.
"I'm a Systemologist. Feel the power of the system!" I snapped back, raised a hand and activated force attract.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I lifted him off his feet and pulled him across the field before he could draw his bow. Eyes wide with fear, his bow lost, arrow clattering to the ground and my beautiful mug to greet him. Right when he arrived before me and I removed his organs with several force strikes to the chest. The goblin's body was a mess by the time I finished with him.
With the annoying archer out of the way, I turned to the rest of the scum. Only my senses pinged far too late. A dagger emerged from the shadow of a nearby tree and zoomed all the way to my neck. Only for a sudden thud to knock the blade out of the air and then another to hit its wielder. The shadow assassin fell to the ground, an arrow bolt lodged in his head and a horrified expression locked on his dead face. Turning to find the source of the attack, I should have known. Rakshur lowered his crossbow, giving me a wave.
"Thanks, dude." I waved back before activating my senses, locating every enemy within reach.
There were more goblins westbound. I could see them setting fire to a tent. Torches raised high, squeals of delight as Skavs fled the hurling of flames upon flammable material. Without pause, I launched into the sky, doing the old-school Superman thing. Landing in a crater of my design, the nearby goblins hiss, dropping the torches in fright. And just when I was about to merc these fools, another Skav came bounding out of a burning tent. Head on fire, with a manic look in his eye as he cackled madly.
"Fire!" he screamed, raising a gnarled-looking torch, small and misshapen.
Unfettered because he was literally on fire, he fell into a dead sprint, his flaming hair trailing behind him. Before I could even start blasting, he collided with the group of goblins, slammed down a torch, raking it against the grass, leaving a divot. And that's when all hell broke loose. Still screaming like a madman, cackling wildly, his torch swept up and into an arc before setting the world on fire. The torch released a massive inferno, setting every single goblin ablaze. The Skavs' high-pitched laughter drowned screams and desperate escapes out. I am talking Joker level.
"What in Loki's name!" I quoted the god of fire, who would surely be pleased with this most devout follower.
That Skav is a bloody pyromaniac; every single goblin was scorched beyond recognition. Meanwhile, I just stood there, in awe at how the crazy Skav could still laugh his head off, so drowned in flame that seemed to have no effect on him. That was a different story for the rest of the goblins. Shrugging, I left the Pyro to his work and searched the battlefield for more enemies. That was when my ping returned something odd.
[Infernal entity detected!]
Stopping in my tracks as I was about to leap across the camp again. I did a double take. "Infernal? There is a demon here?" Jenny affirmed with a movie clip. "This is bad."
I followed the ping to the other side of the camp, killing a few scattered goblins here and there. The rest of the camp didn't fare any better. Many Skavs littered the ground, lifeless corpses. But they didn't die alone; many had brandished their strange weapons and taken many goblins with them. Some fell, and goblin corpses surrounded them, dead from many unusual wounds. Really wanting to inspect whatever gear they had. I resisted the urge to loot and continued on.
Finding myself across the camp and near the opposite edge of the forest. Unlike the rest of the place, the trees around here looked withered, drained of life and vitality. And at the centre of it all was a demon. Yep, that's a demon alright. Horns, hooves, spade-tipped tail and scaled red skin. No pitchfork, which was disappointing, but the myths weren't one hundred percent accurate. Maybe some demons had them? However, this demon was wearing a lovely-looking suit, and I couldn't help but compare it to my desk jockey uniform. His was better.
"What is that?" A woman's voice spoke at my side.
I turned and nearly jumped out of my skin. Xyn just appeared out of nowhere, bladed in hand, and Jeremy cuddled up on her shoulder. A slight pang of jealousy welled up in my chest, but I quickly squashed it.
"A demon. Haven't seen you guys in a while," Jeremy said, tilting his head, eyes narrowed.
"A denizen of the void, I have not met your like in many years." The demon's guttural yet oddly pleasant voice spoke; the air felt thick with every syllable uttered.
"What are you doing here?" I cut in, still flabbergasted. "You shouldn't be here."
"And why shouldn't I be here?" The demon spat back.
"Because certain powerful entities wouldn't take kindly to your presence." I explained, teeth clenched. Not in fear of the demon but of what his presence could bring... too much attention.
"And what do you know of such things, huma... no, you are not human... you are?" He stopped mid-sentence, considering his next words. "Perhaps you know of such things."
"Perhaps I do, and perhaps you should flee while you are still solid matter." I threatened.
"I am not worried." He said calmly, completely ambivalent to the wrath of the Gaming Gods.
"You are not..." and that's when it hit me, why a demon would not fear the gods, "you've got a devil on your shoulder." I got it in one; his malicious grin said it all.
"What is going on?" Xyn demanded.
The demon ignored her. "I would flee back to your masters... servant." He spoke the last word with disgust.
I chuckled, unable to keep myself in check. "I serve no longer."
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