NOVEL NEXT Chapter 042: Terrible First Time
Finally free from the world of shadows; the monstrous Wechuge experienced a level of exhaustion that they had never before. It was somewhat amazing that such a creature could even feel tired. However, at the same time, there should be no surprise that there was some price to be paid for what it achieved.
Having literally jumped to a new universe through a real-time depiction of a single world. In addition they passed through the atmosphere of the planet - a great distance after literally crossing over limbo without so much as a pitstop. Usually it was the game system that covered the costs but that eldritch elk decided to take all that taxation onto themselves.
Whether they desired it or not.
In response that eerie body of theirs seemed to almost become fluid, melting under the unforgiving pressure of their actions, but they remained standing. If anything it seemed its fierce maw was smiling maliciously as its three hollow eye sockets erupted with new found kindling. Slowly those crimson flares followed the various humanoid races dancing around in front of itself like a gluttony watching the meat sizzle on the grill.
An inhumanely long black tongue fell from it’s maw to lap around its jaw; two claw-like arms slowly entered then exited its flaming mantle. Within its grip was a rather simple matte black Kusarigama which possessed zero embellishment. A weapon that was designed for pure efficiency.
“几ㄖ山 山卄丨匚卄 Ꮆ尺ㄖㄩ卩 ᗪㄖ 丨 卩丨匚Ҝ 卂 千丨Ꮆ卄ㄒ 山丨ㄒ卄 千丨尺丂ㄒ…”
| Now which group do I pick a fight with first… |
The digits that wrapped around the chain released it as it clawed at the ground in order to launch itself toward the fighting militia. Instantly they were atop the nearest person. Deciding there was no need to plan ahead when it came to dealing with some measly mortals who were waving around their sticks & stones.
That clawed hand came toward the back of the head of an unsuspecting guard - a fact which truly made it impossible to know whose side they were on - as a malevolent aura shrouded their hand. With a smooth action they dragged the astral projection of the humanoid out of their head. An action that caused their health bar to drop by a significant amount as the monster greedily bit into the spirit.
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Battle Encounter System (Beat’Em’Up) Activated
Preparing Battlefield
12x South-Port City Security: lvl 30~40 D - C
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15x South-Port City Security (Enlightened): lvl 30~35 D+ - C+
vs
山乇匚卄ㄩᎶ乇 Reaper of Sins: lvl 1 Ex
山乇匚卄ㄩᎶ乇 Theme Song: Code Red
Prepare For The Hunt
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Although things only got confusing from there (at least for Wechuge) as the world itself got real weird all of a sudden. Some extravagant energetic music began playing as their surroundings subtly changed - at least it was subtle at first. Those winding alleys only got longer and more confusing. The width also increased as if to freely hold all of them, allowing for a far greater range of motion, while the most concerning thing of all… Was the fact that the self-proclaimed demi-god could only watch.
It was as if someone had pressed pause on time itself; letting space freely conform to the demands of whatever entity was behind this. Things only got stranger as suddenly - from out the brick walls and concrete floor - metal branches with TV’s began to erupt out. Those TV’s soon flicker to life as an ungodly amount of static managed to even overcome the backing track in the monster's ears.
A few seconds later… Faces that that creature began to recognise appeared within the distorted screens with their own faces distorted in pain.
It did take them a few seconds of time to recognise it, most of the changes had already been complete even if that surprisingly only took mere moments as well, causing them to tilt their head. Their confusion was visible to those who recognised the horror just a few feet from them… Well it was hard to actually understand the expressions of a literal animal skull.
On closer inspection those voices were only appearing on those closest to the mighty monster; a fact that made sense. Since those were the faces of those it snacked on. In addition it felt a strange connection to those screens which allowed it to experience the resurfacing of a memory which helped explain this.
Within the “Fighting Game” genre there was an obvious issue… How do you handle it? The answer was simply to create a parallel space to store those who were fighting - allowing for those involved to truly let loose without worrying about the world around them. That world, however, would be influenced more according to the strength of a party.
For the security teams this meant simply making their standard city more suitable for fighting while for a boss it can lead to a massive shift.
A shift exactly like this.
Often it came with amazing bonuses that undoubtedly mesh well with the moveset of the boss creature yet unfortunately the Wechuge had little knowledge of their own limits. They could not fully understand what those screens happened - nor why sirens began to sound as crimson lights erupt out the walls as if warning of a coming disaster. Yet, as the theme song replaced the stand music, they could not help unleash their building up adrenaline in the only way a monster like them could.
*ヨ尺ヨヨ~廾丹山*
Soon a countdown formed but it only took a single glance to recognise that the 12 regular guards were nowhere near ready as that number went down from 5. Thankfully the beast took the initiative to have a taste of one of their souls; letting them recover some of their much needed energy. Although the fear that those mortals were released…
“ᗪ乇ㄥ丨匚丨ㄖㄩ丂…”
| Delicious… |
That ever tasty spice increased in intensity as those weaklings couldn’t help themselves - it was difficult to understand what Wechuge said but it was not hard to understand that hungry look. Not to mention the system message did not do any favours. What it did not like was the lack of reaction from those blasted enlightened; they still had a kind smile on their face despite being within its might presence.
Confusing considering the one it apparently took a bite out of was one of them if the name that popped up over their head was anything to go by.
Annoyingly their attack didn’t seem to do as much damage as they liked.
In the “real world” this kind of thing would result in instant death but the enlightened securities soul was far more resistant to being dragged out their whole body. Alternatively it filled them with far more energy than even a whole normal soul would have. The obvious answer being this was due to a perk of levelling.
Sadly there was no time to commit more thought to this as the countdown reached zero. With that the pandemonium continued once again however it surprisingly wasn’t Wechuge who moved first. There should always be a delay in how fast a meatbag can react yet that didn’t stop the “enlightened” from continuing their assault.
Although that did not help their companion who was in the monster's grasp - damage to the soul was not something one could ignore. Being stunned due to the snacking, they were unable to react as the massive maw opened up wide to quite literally bite their head off. A sickening crunch echoed through the alley.
Flesh & blood seeped through their fangs as the rest of the body slumped down.
Yet, even after that, there was no sign of those mind controlled security rushing toward them. That beast hardly cared about the details of that, however. If they were truly being mind controlled then why would they react to another random puppet's death?
It did not dwell on the important; charging toward another enemy with their weapon raised up high with full confidence in cutting the poor bastard in half. Somehow that was not the case. The human was more focused on the monster in the first place (having been the one fighting its prior meal) so was more than ready to move his shield to stop the weapon.
Normally Wechuge couldn’t care less about such a pitiful attempt at defending like that… Except this time it turned out not to be so pathetic. The shield held firm against their attack as a well trained thrust caused a short sword to pierce through the inky-flame mantle which made up the monster's body. For a moment that thing from nightmares completely froze resulting in the security member retreating away with relief.
“Although it has soul attacks like banshee they don’t seem too strong physically and aren’t too tough since they were affected by physical attacks!”
That was wrong.
Howbeit, it was true that they were affected by the physical attack. It was not due to an overwhelming level of pain or fear causing them to be stunned like the security thought - instead it was completely due to the shock born from arrogance. When has the mighty being ever been harmed when in their purest and strongest form?
Never.
Thus, even when the feeling was akin to a pat on the back more than an actual attack, that creature found itself completely frozen. In hindsight it should have been obvious that their meagre skill would catch up to them and was actually fortunate such was brought to their attention now. So, to an extent, Wechuge was a little thankful to these humanoid mortals.
Although… More than that…
Was the overwhelming rage they felt!
If their weapon was useless against that shield then they would just need to pry that shield from their hands then beat them with it! Sadly things didn’t turn out that easily as the human used a well placed [Shield Bash] to stun the monster while another took advantage of this to thrust a spear into its shadow adorned torso. A fact that gave those meat bags enough confidence to cheer… Certainly doing nothing to assuage Wechuges unyielding anger.
They hadn’t practised their close quarter combat because there was no reasonable way to push themselves when everyone was so weak. Usually someone would get to fight against some low level mobs and build up their experience before fighting against well trained npcs so it was never a problem that the monster considered. Unfortunately that oversight was right in their face making them even angrier.
The anger doing little to help make them use that genius mind of theirs - although their own massively superior intellect could also ironically be blamed for the arrogance which caused this.
Those pesky flies were only hurting its pride but that was enough.
Fortunately that same intelligence helped them realise that doing the same thing over and over would just result in the same result. Except meat bags were limited by their stamina while, obviously, a superior spiritual entity was not. Wechuge being one of those very entities.
Additionally they could hardly focus on the monster when their attacks were clearly accomplishing little while having their corrupted colleagues cutting them down more skillfully. Plus it was not as if the monster's attacks were completely void of effect. Their attacks did not piece the securities armour but did manage to deliver a mighty impact and knick places where the armour was lightest.
Though that did nothing to repair Wechuge’s pride.
“I thought you said physical attacks worked?!”
“How would I know; I’ve never seen an undead like this!” Their panicked voices echoed out as, by now, there were only a total of five security personnel while the enlightened had only lost two. Both losses due to getting in the way of the monstrous elk rather than due to the staunch resistance they were putting up.
By now they had realised that the one bar hovering over the “undead” hadn’t even lost a single notch despite all the attacks they had been sneaking in. They had even managed to hit it’s head but it merely turned into a blackened mist just as they were about to celebrate. Leading to the startling comprehension that they were just annoying the thing all this time; a terrifying though based on how quickly it could take them out once it finds a chink in their armour.
Things weren’t looking good…