Chapter 34

  Relfire Vortex 2.0

  Only a few minutes remained until the first wave, and we stood on the little platforms waiting to witness the enemy’s arrival. Well, I say we, but Osian and his knights were just about tall enough to see over the top.

  Let me tell you, it’s quite the sight to see a bunch of skeletal knights standing on their tiptoes to peer over a wall.

  I’d been very impressed by the villagers so far. Once I’d told Tarlin that only an hour remained before the portal stabilised, he’d burst into action, bellowing orders like a seasoned general.

  The village had managed to equip a hundred warriors. Well, I say warriors, but the only fighting experience most of them had was a scrap in the tavern on a Friday evening. It was impossible to deny their determination, though. I can’t imagine there were many people out there who would stand firm in the face of an absolute beast of a portal – especially one that was apparently about to spew out a horde of horrific monsters.

  The portal suddenly contracted, drawing in on itself until it was little more than the size of a door. The blue energy grew in intensity until it was like gazing upon the sun. Then it expanded with explosive force, sending an enormous shockwave racing out in all directions. Even though we were nearly half a mile away, it felt as though we’d suddenly been caught in a powerful gale. A few of the goblins staggered backwards.

  And then everything went still…

  The portal stabilised, taking on a consistent size and glow.

  First wave spawns in: 00:00:01

  And then the first of the creatures emerged…

  It was a crab.

  A crab the size of a horse.

  Its shell was a purple so deep it was almost black. Veins of pulsing blue light ran across its surface, similar to that of the portal itself. The energy seemed to pool at the tips of its enormous pincers, which looked sharp enough to shear steel as easily as paper.

  It staggered sideways as it attempted to take its first steps, as though the journey through the portal had affected its coordination. Well, either that, or it’d had a few too many drinks to celebrate the portal’s opening.

  I’d like to think it was the second option.

  Drunk crab was far more amusing than acute interdimensional spatial distortion syndrome or some magical bullshit like that.

  “Be careful,” I whispered to Rel. “Alcohol can make people unpredictable.”

  He stared blankly at me.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  I shrugged.

  Clearly he hadn’t been to a club on a Saturday night.

  The first crab waited patiently as the portal continued to spit out more of its buddies. Soon, a considerable cluster had assembled beside the portal.

  They no longer moved like drunks.

  In fact, there was something rather menacing and predatory about their movements.

  “Rel,” I said. “Is there anything in the quest information that suggests we have to stay and defend the village?”

  I saw an evil smirk slowly form on his face as he considered my words.

  “No, Pete,” he replied. “No, there is not. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “Rel, old buddy,” I said. “If you’re thinking that we should hop over the wall and go punt those oversized fuckers back into the portal – then yes, we’re on exactly the same page.”

  * * *

  Tarlin watched in disbelief as Pete and Rel hopped over the wall and raced out to meet the rift monstrosities.

  It was suicidal!

  He took a small measure of comfort in the fact that Rel had instructed Commander Osian to remain behind and defend the village. If the champions fell, at least all hope would not be lost.

  Tarlin’s gaze drifted back towards the creatures and saw that some were already scuttling off in different directions, no doubt intending to target other villages or towns. However, a worrying number – a few dozen at least – had instead turned their attention towards his village.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  The champions were closing in now, and the monsters appeared to be a little bit… confused. They turned to face each other, communicating rather animatedly and gesturing towards Pete and Rel with their massive pincers.

  Tarlin could understand their confusion. He felt exactly the same. Who would even consider charging out to meet a small army of monstrous demonic creatures?

  Either they were incredibly powerful… or incredibly foolish.

  For the sake of his village, Tarlin prayed it was the former.

  The two forces raced to meet each other. Two brave champions versus overwhelming odds.

  When less than a hundred metres separated them, Rel leapt into Pete’s outstretched hands. Without breaking stride, Pete hurled him skyward. Rel soared upward and then began to fall. He started to spin, faster and faster, until he seemed to hang suspended in the air – a whirling storm of grey.

  Tarlin’s eyes widened as fireballs erupted from within the spinning blur, hurtling into the mass of monsters with indiscriminate fury.

  Even with the distance that separated them, Tarlin could hear the pained shrieks filling the air.

  And then…

  Tarlin reached up to lift his spectacles so he could rub his old eyes. Surely they were playing tricks on him?

  He let them settle back onto the bridge of his nose… and shook his head in disbelief when his vision came back into focus.

  It had not been his imagination.

  It was no longer only fireballs that rained down upon the monsters.

  Bolts of violent lightning tore through the air and struck with devastating force. Where they met shell, it exploded, scorched chunks tumbling through the air.

  Moments later, the deafening roar of thunder reached the village.

  The villagers cheered, their voices rising to join the storm of noise and chaos. For the first time since the portal had appeared, they felt hope return.

  From within the chaos, Tarlin could just about hear the deep voice of the skeletal knight who stood at his side.

  “Lord Rel is truly magnificent,” Commander Osian said, every word suffused with admiration.

  Tarlin could not help but agree.

  And then he felt his heart lurch.

  A monster exploded into motion, racing towards Rel so quickly it became little more than a streak of purple and blue. It launched itself into the air, pincers thrusting forward in an attempt to pierce the whirling storm that was Rel.

  One moment, the monster’s path was clear.

  The next, Pete was there.

  His fist struck with such colossal force that even the thunder seemed cowed by the fury of the blow.

  The creature detonated, fragments of shell and innards joining the fireballs and bolts of lightning in their race to the earth.

  Pete dropped to the ground as Rel’s spin began to slow. Only a dozen or so creatures remained now, many of them already battered and broken.

  Tarlin gasped as Pete vanished. One moment he had been kneeling on the ground – the next he stood more than twenty metres away beside one of the monsters. His leg exploded into a savage front kick, and the creature went hurtling backwards into the portal.

  The portal appeared to have fallen dormant, and when the creature struck it, its body dissolved in a blinding flash of blue light.

  Tarlin’s attention was torn from the battlefield by panicked cries ripping from the throats of those around him. His head snapped round and he groaned.

  One of the creatures had slipped past Pete and Rel, scuttling around the edges of the chaos and making straight for the village.

  It was close.

  Tarlin could almost feel the burning hatred that radiated from the monstrosity. It had made a choice. The village would pay the price for its companions’ lives. Regardless of whether or not it died in the end, the creature would wreak as much devastation as possible.

  “Prepare yoursel-” began Tarlin, but his words died in his throat as Commander Osian vaulted over the wall and strode toward the creature, reaching over his shoulder to draw his enormous two-handed sword.

  Tarlin found the sound of rasping metal to be strangely reassuring.

  The creature let loose a battle cry, an ear-splitting noise that made Tarlin want to clap his hands over his ears. It scuttled towards Osian with terrifying speed, lashing out with one of its massive pincers. Tarlin winced as he imagined that blow crashing against the wooden palisade – it would have been reduced to splinters in an instant.

  Osian, however, seemed to read the creature’s intentions. He leaned back slightly, twisting his body to narrowly avoid the blow, and used the momentum of the movement to bring his sword around in a devastating arc. The blade crashed against the creature’s body with a sickening thud.

  The splintering sound of cracking shell made Tarlin shudder.

  The creature staggered, but quickly righted itself. It whirled on the spot to face Osian, who had taken a step back, his sword raised defensively in front of him.

  They clashed again, their movements so fast that Tarlin could barely follow them. It was like watching a storm of silver and deepest purple collide.

  The last few minutes had made him a very grateful goblin indeed. After witnessing the creatures in action, he knew with cold certainty that Greenhollow would have fallen within minutes.

  People often underestimated goblins, seeing their small stature and assuming them weak. It was not true. They could be fierce and dangerous foes. But in the face of such horrors? It did not bear thinking about.

  Metal screeched as one of the creature’s pincers clamped around Osian’s gauntlet. It twisted its body violently, trying to wrench the skeletal knight off balance, but Osian planted his feet and drove the pommel of his sword down into the creature’s head.

  It shrieked and released its grip, attempting to scuttle backward – but Osian did not relent. He pursued the creature, his pommel hammering down again and again on its shell.

  Crack.

  Crack.

  Crack.

  A viscous pink liquid began to spill from the fractures in its skull, and its movements grew weaker and more sluggish.

  Osian relented and took a step back, watching coldly as the creature staggered a few paces before collapsing to the ground.

  Its pincers twitched a few times and then it fell still.

  The goblins slammed the butts of their spears against the wooden platforms, clashed swords against shields, and let loose a deafening cry.

  “PETE! REL! OSIAN,” they roared. “PETE! REL! OSIAN!”

  Osian glanced back towards the wall and raised his armoured hand in a slightly awkward wave.

  * * *

  I was pretty damn pleased with the results of my kick. There was a beautiful irony in the creature being disintegrated by the thing that had allowed it to enter this world.

  However, the real star of the show was Rel.

  Holy shit.

  Fireballs and lightning?

  Now that’s what I call dual wielding.

  He strolled towards me and I was relieved to see he seemed to be back to his old self. His behaviour on Floor Six had worried me a little – it had been strange to see him so quiet and subdued.

  “Buddy,” I said. “How did you manage that? Can you cast more than one spell at the same time?”

  He did not respond with words.

  Instead, he grinned wickedly as a fireball ignited at the tip of his tail.

  Then he raised one paw, and lightning began arcing across it.

  Then he raised the other, and a green sphere burst into existence.

  “Yes,” he said with a casual shrug. “Something like that.”

  First wave defeated.

  Second wave spawns in: 00:59:59

  ? Overpowers: Magical Girl Crossover [Grimlight Psychological/Genre based Power System] ?

  by Moawar

  He, Life, had a simple job.

  His responsibility as an Overpower was to make sure that fiction stories and the characters in them follow their dictated path. He always did his job well enough, not more or less than was needed.

  His latest assignment, however, would, in retrospect, prove to be his most challenging one of all.

  He would find himself in a unfamiliar world. There he'll have to quickly adapt to guide Nozomi.

  The strongest magical girl with the potential to accidentally destroy those she seeks to protect in her fight against evil.

  What to Expect:

  -If you like the psychological aspects of Madoka Magica and the mixing of different genres a crossover story brings then this story is for you