We Hunt Monsters 14, page 1
We Hunt Monsters
Book Fourteen
Aaron Oster
For my wife.
For supporting and sticking with me through it all.
Contents
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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9
10
11
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14
15
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Epilogue
Keith’s Status
Afterword
Prologue
Sunlight shone down from above, sparkling as it reflected off the ocean’s surface. White sand marked the beach attached to a private island just a mile in the distance. The island was mostly abandoned, with only a sparse population remaining, almost all of which were hastily packing their bags as the disaster out at sea drew ever closer. To the mortal eye, it looked like a typhoon, one made of a solid pillar of spinning water that stretched miles into the sky.
Anyone who had the ability to see beyond the swirling water would have seen something entirely different – mainly the two figures standing inside the typhoon. Unfortunately for those on the island, whether down by the beach or in the manor, hastily packing, by the time they could see the wreckage of a once-beautiful ship washing up on shore, it was already too late for them.
It was not because the actual storm hit the shore, but because a missile seemed to blast from the inside of it, slamming into the beach and plowing a furrow through half the island before eventually coming to a stop in the wreckage of what had once been a luxurious mansion. Dismembered limbs, blood, and screams of agony filled the air as Shervone dragged herself to her feet, a line of blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, which was pulled back in an enraged snarl.
The Glutton had some nerve coming to attack her on her ship, demanding she serve him – a weakling sitting at the maximum level of the weakest continent on the planet. Her own level of 94 was near the pinnacle this world could contain, yet he had the sheer gall to think of himself as her equal.
The massive form of The Glutton hit the beach, waves crashing around him as the whirling water dissipated. The man seemed unharmed, though Shervone was certain she’d caused some damage. With a low growl, she strode forward, her constructs whirring to life around her as she triggered them.
Four floating cannons appeared over each shoulder as she extended a hand and tapped into her Mechanicalier skill. She felt her mana drop once again as the constructs over her shoulders multiplied by four, forged copies appearing in the blink of an eye and firing all at once. The air burned with their passing, each setting off a different type of energy designed to find some weakness or flaw in The Glutton’s seemingly impenetrable shell.
The man tossed a gleaming sphere into the air, then munched on a sandwich as the cannon blasts slammed into an invisible barrier. The sphere shrieked, then exploded into shrapnel, dissolving before it could so much as touch the massive man.
“This really is pointless,” The Glutton said, his deep voice intimidating and chilling to anyone who had reason to be afraid.
Shervone’s cannons disappeared as she drew a half-dozen potions, hurling them all at the same time. Each of the vials contained enough destructive power to level a city. She couldn’t believe she was wasting them on this man, but he’d destroyed her favorite mansion, and it was going to take months to repair all this damage, not to mention the new ship she’d need to order.
The man cracked a scroll, and soft cushions of air snagged the vials before they could shatter. Shervone scoffed, then concentrated on the vials and shattered them from where she stood. They began to explode, only for small bubbles of air to wrap around them, containing the otherwise devastating blasts. Shervone narrowed her eyes as she concentrated on the man again, trying to crush his bones and pulp his organs. She wanted to pop his head like an overripe melon, but just as last time, the skill did nothing at all.
Guzzlarian chuckled as he removed another item from his inventory and pointed it at her. A lance of freezing light flashed toward her, which she defended, driving forward with a straight punch. She might not have looked it, but her Iron Fist passive skill made her physical attacks land with force on par with any physical fighter of Level 80 or below, even though her specialties were as a mage.
The lance of freezing energy slammed into his fist and shattered like glass, except it didn’t fade as she’d expected. Instead, the shards turned as they passed, slamming into her from behind. Shervone bit back a scream as several tore into her back, piercing through her armor. It didn’t look like she was wearing armor – another perk of her Mechanicalier – but it was there and had failed to block all of that.
Her health dipped again, but she ignored it, tapping one of her regeneration items and allowing it to restore her. The Glutton hadn’t been idle, though. While she’d shattered his first attack, he’d blasted two more lances at her and was already removing another construct, this one looking like a twisted version of a human heart.
Her eyes shone as she used a shield this time, defending against the beams of power. Her Radiant Aura burst from her as she leaned into Composite to make the effects stronger. Then she used Heart-Stopping Intimidation. Mind Bomb and Boiling Blood hadn’t worked thus far, but those affected the body directly, and it seemed The Glutton had defenses in place for that.
Heart-Stopping Intimidation affected the mind first, and that, in turn, affected the body. While this wasn’t a direct attack, it should be just as effective, especially with her aura and Composite adding to it. Multi-colored light washed out of her in waves, sending her long, gleaming hair tossing in the breeze it conjured. Her eyes practically glowed as a terrifying projection of herself loomed.
This wasn’t a directional attack, and as soon as she used it, the few screams echoing around the island choked off as the remaining members of her staff died on the spot. Not that she cared or even noticed. Though if she had, she’d have said it served them right, as they were quitting on her without notice.
A vein pulsed across The Glutton’s temple as her aura washed over him, his face colored a dark shade of red. Shervone smiled inwardly, pleased that she’d finally found something to force that pig to his knees. The Glutton didn’t, however, fall to his knees. He remained standing, a small trickle of blood leaking from his nose, and his small, piggy eyes becoming bloodshot. Then he squeezed the heart in his hand, and Shervone felt pain radiate through her body, shattering her concentration and destroying the skill.
She dropped to one knee, a scream tearing itself from her throat as she tasted blood. Her vision went hazy for a moment, but one of her items kicked in, healing her to full health and pushing back against the searing pain flowing through her.
“You’re going to pay for that,” she snarled, leaping back to her feet and extending a hand.
The Glutton wasn’t there. She blinked, surprised. She’d been down for maybe two seconds. There was no way the man could have moved that fast. Even their battle over the ocean hadn’t seen him moving very quickly. He’d used items to keep himself aloft and had been relying on them the entire time.
She spun in place, eyes peeled as she searched for the upstart who’d dared get in her way. She spotted him an instant before the attack, a blur of black appearing right in front of her and throwing a punch. The fist was massive, larger than her entire body, and it smashed into her with all the force of a charging bullrocerous. Shervone’s shields cracked and shattered, several items tinkling to the ground as she blasted backward, her vision fuzzing once again.
&nb
“You’ll run out eventually,” she growled as she raised a hand. “And then I’ll bend you over backward until your spine’s in a thousand pieces and your intestines are bursting from your flesh!”
A single cannon appeared over her shoulder this time, and without hesitation, she unleashed it. A beam over ten feet across blasted from the barrel, and even the anchoring of Alien Presence couldn’t hold her completely still. She rocked back in the air a good few feet before it finally managed to mitigate the force of the blast. The beam of destructive yellow slammed into The Glutton as he raised a small silver charm.
Shervone was expecting the beam to be partially deflected or maybe even blocked. Regardless of the outcome, this was an Ancient-quality item, so even if the man managed to avoid any damage, it would tax his resources far more than her own. That thought stayed with her until the beam disappeared.
One moment it was there, thundering toward the man, and the next, there was absolutely nothing. Shervone barely had time to react before the silver charm flashed, and a very familiar-looking attack was thundering her way. Swearing loudly, she threw her arms up, rotating shields flashing into place to catch the incoming attack.
It slammed into her, driving her further back through the air as the destructive energy disintegrated her defenses one by one. By the time it petered out, more than half her shields were gone. Growling, she shoved them aside, but once again, The Glutton was nowhere to be seen. She spun in the air, half expecting to find him sneaking up behind her.
“Smart but not quite.”
The voice came directly behind her back, from the direction in which she’d just been looking. Spinning, Shervone once again found herself on the business end of a massive fist. This time, with her defenses so compromised, she wasn’t able to absorb the hit so effectively. She did, however, manage to unleash another Ancient item, even as she flew further out over the ocean, head ringing and feeling like she was about to vomit.
The explosion nearly deafened her at this distance, but she was in too much pain to care. It felt like her entire body was buzzing with insects, small prickles of pain worming their way through her. She caught herself inches from the ocean’s surface, her landing pushing the water away in an explosion of droplets. It was poison he’d injected into her, but she ignored it, allowing her items to burn it from her system. She had an antidote for everything, and if there wasn’t one, her blood would replenish itself as the old, poisoned blood was forcibly removed.
It was why she ignored the blood leaking from her eyes and nose as she streaked back toward The Glutton, who looked like he’d suffered from that last attack. It had blasted him all the way back to the island, and he was slowly getting to his feet, the front of his shirt having been blown open and burned to ribbons by the force.
Shervone concentrated on the man as he stood, and she used Heart-Stopping Intimidation again. He staggered as her burning image appeared around her and dropped back to one knee, his face turning red and his eyes bulging. Shervone grinned broadly, even though the taste of blood lingered on her tongue. The grin remained until she fell from the sky, slamming into the sand on the beach and skidding forward face-first, her body sliding to a stop mere inches from The Glutton’s boots.
She tried to stand. To move. She tried to do anything at all, but Shervone found her body completely immobilized. The pain also kept her from gathering more than a few scattered thoughts, which meant that using any of her spells was also out of the question, and without those, she couldn’t remotely access her items.
“It would seem your reputation hasn’t been exaggerated,” The Glutton said, his voice sounding a bit strained. “But this is the point where you surrender to your superior and agree to fall under my service.”
The burning in her veins was growing more intense, and Shervone was having a hard time understanding what was happening. She growled, then tried to shove her arms under herself and failed spectacularly.
“Ah, yes, the poison now coursing through your veins is a special concoction of mine,” The Glutton said as she managed to crane her neck to one side and get a better look at him.
He was injecting something into his leg while also shoving a foot-long sandwich loaded with meat into his mouth.
“Real nasty stuff, that,” he continued, chewing loudly. “To my knowledge, there is no cure, and no matter how quickly your blood can replenish itself, this poison moves much faster.”
Shervone clicked her teeth together, then let out a shuddering breath as the pain intensified.
“So, now is the time. I will take your unconditional surrender and oath of service. Then we can get on with our day.”
“Heal me,” Shervone growled.
“As soon as you—” The Glutton cut off as Shervone’s fist slammed into his gut, launching him into the sky in a spray of blood.
She panted as she stood in place, her chest heaving with the exertion it had taken to move so quickly. Boiling Blood had more than one use. She could use it on herself to rapidly increase the flow of her own, heightening her physicality to levels unsustainable in anyone weaker than her. It burned a tremendous amount of mana and stamina, even to use for less than a second, and put an immense amount of strain on her own body, but the results were undeniable.
She growled as she felt her life-saving measure – the Heart’s Queen – crumble to nothingness in her inventory. She’d been carrying it with her for over fifty years. It was a World Item of such power that it could reverse near-death, and she’d been forced to waste it on that land walrus who believed he was better than her.
She watched as the dark shape tumbled from the sky and began walking in that direction, her chest still heaving from the explosive movement. It took a lot of skill to control herself at those speeds, and no matter how good The Glutton was for his level, he still needed to activate those items for them to work. If she moved too quickly for him to react, he was helpless. It baffled her that she’d needed to push herself this hard just to take him down.
His body crashed into the remains of her manor in an explosion of splinters and masonry, sending debris flying in all directions. Shervone pulled a potion from her inventory and swallowed it down, her own healing items exhausted. Still, as she tossed the bottle aside, she allowed a small smirk to tug at the corners of her lips. Stepping over a collapsed and twisted support beam, she found The Glutton lying in a crater of his own making.
He was covered in blood, and there was a hole where her fist had drilled into him. His legs were shattered, and only one of his arms seemed to be functional. He was still alive, his chest rising and falling fitfully as blood bubbled on his lips, sounding wet as she strode around to his head, looking down at the bloody mess.
“What was that you were saying?” Shervone asked, placing a booted foot on the man’s thick neck and applying pressure. “That you would be taking my unconditional surrender?”
She laughed, pushing down harder as she concentrated, using Alien Presence to seize control of his body. It worked this time. No issues whatsoever. She began bending him back, just as she’d imagined, gurgling, choked screams sounded from the man’s throat as she did, and the snapping of bone soon followed. Her grin widened as she applied more pressure, lifting the man into the air as she strode around to his face, looking at him upside down.
“Any last words, walrus?” she asked, giving him a wide, toothy smile.
“You should have taken me up on the deal,” the man said, his voice coming out oddly clear.
Shervone had only a second to react before a tremendous force slammed into her chest, hurling her off her feet and sending her careening through a dozen trees before she stopped her backward motion. She’d managed to defend herself an instant before the attack, but using one’s own body as a tree-chopping tool wasn’t great for one’s health.
Her back ached as she pulled herself to her feet, using Alien Presence to take to the air and throw herself forward, more of her items activating around her as she approached the man, who was in the process of untwisting himself. His body straightened in a series of sickening pops and crunches, the hole in his gut sealing itself, and his legs reorienting in the right direction. At the same time, he seemed to lose half his body weight, loose skin hanging off him as he landed on his feet and immediately dug into his inventory for a whole roast chicken that he promptly shoved into his mouth.
