I Am A Table [LitRPG Isekai Progression Fantasy]

Rob was confused, but nodded nonetheless. He and Anders quietly snuck out of the palace through the back door.

Uh… Guys. Surely you have room to carry a table along? I'd rather not die to a stray peck.

The Queen roared, a deep, frustrated sound, as the Kung Pao Chicken suddenly disengaged. It leaped from her head, soaring upwards, and then, with astonishing agility, turned mid-air. It delivered another kung fu kick from the sky.

The Queen sidestepped the attack with a surprising, fluid duck of her massive head. The Kung Pao Chicken's powerful kick smashed into the polished peppermint bark floor.

BOOM!

[System note: BOOM!]

The highly polished peppermint bark floor exploded in a burst of red and white shards.

Danger!

Lena shrieked, instinctively flailing. Blorbo, anticipating another direct hit, desperately activated his Adjustable Angle skill. He leaned, twisted, and contorted himself with all his might, using Lena's involuntary flailings as a shield.

A stray shard of candy hit Blorbo's leg.

[-20 HP]

What?! From a stray candy shard? How am I meant to survive this?!

Griesa lay unconscious on the ground, and she was a prime target for another stray attack. Marin stooped, scooping Griesa onto his back, cradling her securely with one arm while keeping his shield braced.

"Stay clear!" Marin bellowed to any remaining Dragonkin.

Brave men don't last long, Marin…

Then his health bar showed up.

Marin's HP: 580/580

The chicken paused, its beady eyes fixing on Marin and his double burden. It let out an aggressive cluck, clearly sizing him up. Marin wouldn't engage directly. Instead, he circled the chicken.

From his knight's belt, Marin deftly unhooked a series of slender, interconnected silver chains. These weren't ordinary chains; they were braided with fine, almost invisible threads of what Blorbo's Skill Appraisal struggled to process. Blorbo didn't know if Griesa had made that for him.

As he moved, Marin began to rotate his wrist, sending the chains spiraling outward. They unfurled with uncanny precision.

The Kung Pao Chicken darted and weaved. It tried its signature side-steps and aerial somersaults. It didn't aim at Marin, but at Griesa.

The Dragon Queen suddenly swiped it away, and its somersaults missed. It crashed land into the banquet table.

[-2 HP]

Kung Pao Chicken's HP: 38/41

The chicken got up immediately and tried again. This time, Marin managed to cast his chains. One chain soared, looping wide, forcing the chicken to turn. Another snaked low, making it jump.

Hold on. Marin isn't just throwing chains. He's drawing lines, creating an invisible web of restriction.

He threw a chain high, making the chicken leap. As it landed, he threw two low, forcing it to jump again. Each time the chicken tried to dart out of the growing pattern, Marin would snap another chain into place, tightening the invisible net. The chicken's dizzying aerial maneuvers became shorter.

Marin sent the last chain spiraling. It wrapped around the Kung Pao Chicken's legs, not tightly enough to bind immediately, but enough to tangle its movement.

"Now!" Marin shouted.

The Candy Dragon Queen's jaw unhinged. She lunged forward, and her enormous head plunged towards the restricted chicken, planning to swallow it whole.

This is it! My 15 HP!

With a furious, ear-splitting KAAAW!. The silver chains snapped. They didn't break; they disintegrated into glittering dust.

WHAT?!

Before the Queen's jaws could close, the Kung Pao Chicken exploded out of the collapsing silver net. It simply launched itself, streaking out of the way of the Queen's gaping maw, leaving a lingering scent of fried chicken and sugar in its wake. It was free, and more furious than ever.

It was no longer content with merely pecking at crowns. The Kung Pao Chicken rocketed at at the Candy Queen. It didn't aim for soft spots; it delivered a series of kung fu kicks to her vitals—lungs, joints, necks. She couldn't stop the assault.

WHUMP! THWACK! CRUNCH!

- 5000 HP

- 5000 HP

- 5000 HP

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The Dragon Queen's HP: 33987/82029

The Queen thrashed, attempting to retaliate with swipes of her massive claws and blasts of molten caramel, but the chicken was too fast, too agile, dancing around her attacks like a feathered tornado. It delivered a final, devastating kick to the Queen's flank, sending her stumbling against a chocolate pillar.

- 10000 HP

The Dragon Queen's HP: 23987/82029

"I… I yield!" The Queen said in terror. "Take what you need and just go!"

But the chicken wanted blood. It landed on the floor, and its eyes stared at the queen with a fire so fiery it could melt down a candy palace. But as its leg moved from the polished peppermint bark floor, its foot didn't release. It tried again. Its foot still didn't release.

It was stuck. The leg was submerged in a thick, oozing goo of golden-brown peanut butter, which had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, spreading across a small section of the floor.

WHO PUT THAT GOO OF PEANUT BUTTER THERE?!

Blorbo's gaze snapped to Lena. She was standing a few feet away, her usual wide grin now stretched into an awkward, sheepish smile. Her face was conspicuously smeared with a thick glob of golden-brown peanut butter, and she was waving a tiny hand, also caked in the sticky substance.

"Wasn't me…" She mumbled.

Lena, you absolute genius! That was planned, right? Right?

Marin breezed forward with movements swift and economical. He drew his sword and, began to rapidly carve deep grooves into the floor around the stuck chicken.

He cut concentric circles, then radiating spokes, effectively creating a deep, intricate starburst pattern in the floor around the peanut butter trap.

The Kung Pao Chicken thrashed harder. As it pulled, the peanut butter stretched, and its leg sank deeper. Marin then plunged his sword into the floor at the very edge of his carved pattern, creating a lever. With a mighty grunt, he twisted the blade.

CRACK!

The section of peppermint bark floor separated from the rest of the hall. The Kung Pao Chicken was now trapped in a literal candy cage.

The Candy Dragon Queen, who had been panting against the chocolate pillar, pushed herself upright. She stared at the now-contained chicken, then at Marin. A long, shuddering sigh escaped her.

"Finally," the Queen murmured. "A moment's peace from that... that avian terror."

They had won against the chicken. For now.

[QUEST COMPLETEF: Beware of Chicken!]

Reward: + 15 HP, + 1 STR

Stay tuned for Beware of Chicken (2)!