Chapter 450: Yell if you need help
Mason sprinted towards the people coming out of the gate, trying to get close enough to the charging demons for his bow. As he slowed to shoot, the nearest creatures vanished in a blast of white light.
It looked like the old seer had done it, which was vaguely concerning. But Mason didn’t have time to look a gift horse in the mouth. He saw Ayet and Rosa had come too, and his gut sunk with concern for both of them. But right now he needed every weapon available.
“How the hell do we close these portals faster? And for good?” he shouted, turning to put a few more arrows into loose, demonic stragglers. Kiaan ran up beside him looking shockingly calm, just waiting for more orders.
Not that Mason had any. But he felt a hell of a lot better as he watched Streak and most of his pack come barreling out from the gate, the eagerness of the hunt clear in their strides. Their excitement sunk pretty quick, though. Probably when they started smelling demons.
Ayet had to literally hold her damn silk skirts as she ran towards Mason, and it caused him physical pain. He met her halfway, and for a moment it looked like she thought he was going to throw his arms around her. He reached down and sliced off the bottom of her clothes with a few movements of his Claw.
Her eyes and mouth opened in possibly offended surprise, like she couldn’t quite believe what he’d just done. He met her stare.
“Portals. What do I do? Quickly.”
She blinked and licked her annoyingly distracting lips.
“I can close them, but…I have to be close. I don’t know what’s doing this or how to stop it. But I can close portals.”
Mason nodded, looking at Rosa and Dariya as they came in. He wasn’t sure what an alchemist could do out here, but he trusted Rosa’s instincts and knowledge now too much to question it.
“You got something for me?”
Rosa nodded and started pulling things from nothing.
“Had to move it in storage. Comes from a complex admixture of synthesized crystals from the mine, a solution I bought in the Neutral Zone, and…”
“Rosa, I don’t care. What do I do with it?”
She glared and he suspected he was going to pay for that tone later.
“You throw it in the portals and see what happens. It should be a bomb. But it shouldn’t be shaken much. I have a lot.”
He nodded. Demon-bombs sounded pretty good. He glanced at Garet and his players at a nearby portal.
“Go to Tommaso. Hand him bombs one at a time and stay with them. Dariya, can you help us deal with demons?”
The old elf’s eyes narrowed. “I won’t be zipping around like you mayflies. But yes. I’ll look after Lady Anshan. Don’t worry about us.”
Mason was about to tell her that wasn’t happening when dirt sprayed beside them. The women all shrieked as Violet ripped out of the earth and stared with her beady eyes. He decided it was going to have to do.
“OK,” he said, looking at Ayet. “Close portals as fast as you can. Streak and his pack will kill anything that gets away.” He just about activated Speak with Nature before remembering the worm was damn smart. “Violet—stick with the elves. Protect them.” He pointed, in case she didn’t know what an elf was. But something about her eyes made him think she knew very well.
“Where are you going?” Ayet said, tone determined but voice shaking. Mason glanced at the oldest unclosed portals, wincing as he saw the shadows getting bigger. And bigger.
“Someone has to deal with those. Go. Yell if you need help.”
He ran off without waiting for any more questions or concerns, trying not give in to the very strong and very terrible desire to let some of those shadows get as big as possible…just so he could fight whatever came out…
“God damnit, Cerebus.”
He shook his head, forcing his brain to think of the consequences, the responsibilities, the danger to his people and settlement…
It helped. A little.
* * *
Phuong squinted as another spray of demonic blood spattered his face. He swung his blade and looked for his next target as he chastised himself. A good portion of these things were acidic and he knew he should really be more careful. Fortunately, this one wasn’t.
He’d been surprised how many of the creatures there were. The shadows spawned relatively quickly—but not that quickly. It was clear demons had also been crossing from other unclosed portals to help their brethren. This was concerning. It indicated intelligence, coordination.
“Portal is closing,” Alex said, gesturing at the cloudy shadows pulling towards the sky like a drain with reverse gravity. Phuong nodded and turned to look for the next closest. It wasn’t so easy to spot them until the shadows had grown, but Phuong soon realized he wasn’t going to have a problem…
Dozens of the demons were coming forward in twos and threes from other portals, all gathering with curious but cautious eyes. It was like they’d been watching, and waiting. Now they crept towards Phuong and Alex in a growing half circle.
“I think maybe…they not like us so much,” Alex said, backing away from the growing horde.
Phuong winced, thinking of his newly gained power and title. He was starting to suspect all his ‘extra’ demons were being pulled specifically towards him.
“We’re supposed to kill them in portal grounds,” he said, not sure how they were supposed to get to the next portal through…all that. He was probably fast enough with Adrenaline to get around and make a run for it, but Alex certainly wasn’t. Though he wondered if maybe the creatures would all follow him…
“OK.” The Belarusian grunted. “Tell them to move.”
Phuong grinned and raised his sword. There were too many, he feared. His main hope was that Mason or the others would come and assist—that all the demons Phuong was drawing would make their tasks easier, and they’d have some time to spare.
With all the trees it wasn’t so easy to actually see how the others were doing. But Phuong had been enough in battles to know he had to assume he was on his own.
Fortunately, both he and Alex had come a long ways since the beginning of the game. And despite all coming together, the creatures now seemed animalistic, uncoordinated. They likely wouldn’t fight well together. They might only come a couple at a time. Phuong would be happy to duel them down to nothing.
“Ready, my friend?”
Alex put a hand to the flower necklace gifted by the great tree they’d saved, already glowing with some kind of light as a new wave of warm protection moved around Phuong’s body.
“Yes. Ready,” he said, with no pleasure but neither any fear on his stoic face or in his voice.
As always, Phuong felt kinship and comfort at the man’s side, trusting him perhaps more than any other in Nassau. It would be a fine place to die, he decided, all things considered.
You would have made a very good soldier, my friend, Phuong thought but did not say, knowing it would not bring the man any pleasure.
The growing ring of demons seemed to be getting bolder, a few larger bull-like creatures pushing through to the front. They roared and stared at Phuong with some combination of hate and greed, pushing one another as if ready to fight for the privilege of who would attack.
Phuong made their decision simple.
He weaved a Way of the Sword: Blast and launched it at the biggest bull, tingling with satisfaction as the energy formed successfully and hummed across the ground, right on target. The bull turned just in time to watch the power strike.
Phuong’s newly modified ability covered it in a criss-cross pattern, like it was wrapping it with a net. The creature resisted slightly as the power seemed to tug at its flesh. Then it passed straight through.
The big beast’s red eyes went out. It slopped to the dirt in a steaming pile of shadowy steam, completely diced into hunks of demonic flesh and bone. It was like it had been pressed through a razor sharp cheese grater.
Even Phuong was surprised. He stared at the demon’s corpse with a slight shrug at Alex’s questioning look. He assumed it was the new titles or the planar aura. Or maybe his powers were especially effective against demons.
The other bulls stepped away and grunted in alarm, as if touching their shredded companion might be contagious. Phuong grinned and started weaving a stun.