Chapter 491: State of Things.
Chapter 491: State of Things.
Several battles were going on simultaneously...
The Beastmen were busy fighting the Mutant Horde around and upon the island. The Lightslayers were fighting on two fronts, battling the invading Crimson Warriors and the Sea Beast Horde.
Led by Leah and Hunter, a small group of Beastmen quickly boarded the Western Island.
The moment they did, chaos ensued, as they were forced to handle both the Mutant Beasts and the Lightslayers.
Reading throwing a particularly large Sea Mutant, Hunter leaned against a broken wall, breathing heavily. He had been fighting for a long time now. He was covered in blood, mostly from the things he had killed, but his mind was exhausted.
'There's still too many of them.'
The number of Sea Mutants hadn't reduced at all. In fact, they were steadily increasing, encroaching on the island slowly.
The most troublesome ones out of all of them, were the {Sea Drakes}. They were amongst the most powerful Mutant Creatures in he horde, an yet, they were also numerous. Fighting one, or even ten wasn't an issue, but there were hundreds of them, perhaps even thousands.
The could fire jet cannons of compressed water that blasted holes straight through most defenses. I had taken the lives of a couple shield wielding Beastmen and Lightslayers for the lesson of not facing them head on to be learnt.
When it came down to pure power, the Mutant Beasts were far superior. Still, the humans, and mutated humans had more means. The battle should have been way easier to manage...
If...
If they could actually cooperate with one another...
Hunter spotted a Lightslayer charging at him, swinging an axe in a frenzy. His eyes turned cold and without thinking about it, he pulled back on his bowstring.
An arrow was sent flying, accurately stabbing through the man's skull and brain, pinning him to the wall. Thanks to the enchantments on the island, these men couldn't die. That didn't mean there weren't any ways to take care of them.
Rather, it just meant they were a bit more difficult to deal with. Like a mindless zombie, the man struggled against the wall, trying to free himself from the arrow lodged in his brain.
With a frown, Hunter fired two more arrows, pinning both arms to the wall as well.
He let out a sigh. Looking around, he was surrounded by complete carnage.
Hunter summoned the white wolf.
'Dan... You there?'
'What's up? I'm kind of busy right now...' Dan said as he pulled an ice dagger alongside an eyeball from the brain of a strange looking fishlike Mutant Beast.
They were currently seperated by a vast distance on the island, and as such, could only communicate like this.
The Western Island was also covered with buildings, and like the other islands, most of the buildings were destroyed. Like the Central Island, it also had little to no mutating vegetation. Instead, it was covered with the semi-destroyed foundations of the multiple buildings that once stood on it.
There was a portion of buildings on the island that were in better shape, but they were surrounded by a wall of earthern material that was covered in complex runic symbols. The area was also littered in traps, so going there was not an option for now.
The island was truly big, far bigger than the Central Island, and almost as big as the Northern one where they had come from.
Any Mutant Beast that managed to get onto the island quickly wormed its way through the maze of semi-destroyed buildings, attacking humans. Although the Lightslayers couldn't be killed, the Sea Mutants had ample numbers such that it didn't even count.
Over time, their advantage was slowly being destroyed...
'How are things looking over there?' Hunter asked.
Dan looked around. A couple Lightslayers had been frozen into ice coffins, unable to move, while a few Sea Mutant corpses lay nearby, puddles of their frozen blood located closeby.
'Uneventful, I guess...' Dan said without a change on his face.
Hunter grinned, 'Good to hear. What about those girls?'
'They have been steadily pushing through for the past hour. Many Mutant Creatures have made their way onto the island, so the Lightslayers are being pushed back as well.'
Hunter frowned, 'Then...'
Dan sighed, 'Yeah. The ones on the shore and in the sea keep coming. Soon, the entire island will be over run. Not only that, but those {Sea Drakes}will finally have stable footing.
Hunter frowned. Things weren't going very great.
'What about the ship?'
Dan's voice changed, 'I can't see it at all. Whatever spell Cain cast is so deep, I can't even see the shadow of the ship, not to talk of any traces it leaves behind. Still, the arrows and spells keep attacking the beasts from their rear lines.'
Hunter hummed, 'I see...'
Suddenly, the wall in front of him turned into rubble, and a malicious looking beast burst through,
It looked like a creature that was supposed to be located in the depths of the ocean, not something that should be crawling on land. It had huge teeth, and comically large jaws that would have been funny to look at in any other situation.
Its eyes located on both sides of its head were filled with a deep madness that Hunter couldn't make any sense of as well. It had a row of sharp spiked fins located on its back, and a set of gills on where its neck was supposed to be.
Its features were that of an incredibly huge carnivorous saltwater fish. Meaning it should have lacked the means to be motive on land.
And yet...
A set of sturdy, slightly muscular and scaled webbed feet protruded from its underside. Allowing it to stand firmly on land.
Hunter had no idea if this was a recent evolutionary trait or not, but most of the marine creatures that attacked looked like this. They all possessed the means to travel through both land and water.
The consequences of this realization nurtured a deep fear within him. Things would just keep getting more and more ugly until they got out of hand, it seemed...
Still, he would worry about that later. For now, there was still much to do.
'Well, time to get busy.'
Since it was already too close, there was no time to draw and fire his bow.
Forming a hand sign, a magic circle appeared before him, and a huge wolf, accompanied by the smell of sulfur jumped out.
The wolf was huge, towering over the Sea Mutant. The creature sunk its fangs into the flesh of the summoned beast. In response, the summoned beast howled and bit back.
Flames ignited in the depths of its pupils as it belched out hot plumes of flames, slowly cooking through the flesh of the Sea Mutant Beast.
In a few seconds, the Mutant Beast was turned into smoked fish. And a few seconds more, the summoned wolf collapsed to the floor, frothy saliva pouring out of its mouth. The area the Sea Mutant had bitten was already covered in welts and pus, emitting the subtle stench of decay.
'Poison too, huh... Things are about to get truly wicked.
'Dan... Are you still there?'
Dan's voice came through the mental link,
'I am... But looks like I've just run into a bit of trouble. Get over here quickly.'
A frown appeared on Hunter's face, 'On it.'
***
Cain stared at Guy, his face impassive. He knew for a fact he had stabbed Guy through the chest. If he knew anything about the human anatomy, he should currently lack both a heart, half a lung, a portion of stomach, and a kidney.
And yet, he stood before him still, blood leaking through his guts.
Coughi6 up a mouthful of blood, Guy shot Cain an arrogant look,
"Is this all you've got?"
Cain frowned, "You're almost dead."
Guy cackled, "Do you know what a god of War is?"
Cain was not 5he slightest bit curious.
Sensing this, Guy continued anyway,
"A God of War is a god of bloodshed, of slaugher. And most of all... a god of Death."
"A being that possesses dominion over death. A being that will not die even after being pierced by a thousand arrows. A being that does not fall even after being cut down a thousand times..."
A baleful air surrounded Guy as his voice rose in pitch. The blood that dripped out of his open chest quickly reversed in flow.
Cain sighed, 'Of course it wouldn't be so easy. When is it ever...'
From the start of the battle, he had noticed something off. The way Guy fought, it was almost as though he had no regard for his life. Not that he couldn't fight, but his fighting style was simply one of absolute confidence. Confidence that even if he lost his head, he would still live on.
Cain was able to put things together rather quickly.
'Either a powerful regenrative ability... Or something like Asura.'
Seeing how spowerful he normally was, Cain had no doubts that Guy had a lot hidden under his sleeves. He couldn't possibly reveal all his cards at once.
And unsurprisingly, he was right...
In a few moments, all signs of damage on Guy were gone like a fleeting wind.
Cain gripped his sword tight. Things were about to become serious. He stared up at Ruby. A small smile appeared on his face as he used his other hand to rub her fur,
'What, are you nervous?'
'Although he gives me the creeps, as long as Master is here, Ruby doesn't have anything to fear!'
Cain grinned, 'That's what I thought. You are right to believe in your master. We'll beat him up together.'
Guy let out a sigh. His face was covered in glowing red veins, florescent blood flowing through them. Right now, he looked no different from a hellish Devil. A being straight from the depths.
"Shall we begin round two?"