Worth remembering, that contrary to his appearance Hunger is actually quite young. I wonder if instead of burning legs and hands, we could have burned more of our vitality; playing somebody who looks positively ancient could have been neat. Play up that Old Man Genocide stereotype. We even have suitably hardcore themes going for us.
He awoke steadily from slumber, the high sun of noon creeping into his eyes through a giant's upraised fingers. Below was the chirping of birds and the slow, drawling hum of cicadas, trees creaking slightly in the breeze.
Exhaustion is such a bitch to deal with. And we kind of were exhausted for more or less nothing. Oh well, at least it provides some characterization.
Also, nice mental image of a relaxing morning in the woods.
Slowly, the Armament above him flexed its fingers, steam pouring from countless apertures as it rose clumsily to its full height. From this distance he could clearly see how badly diminished was the weapon's current state: the errant, too-pale flickering of runes stenciled on its flesh; the choking, muffled retort of its damaged mechanical systems; and even the bone-deep weariness reflected in its stance.
We cannot heal the mechanical damage, but organic should be good. Once we do that, our long track through the wilderness is going to get a lot shorter by all appearances; we are going to be running, but merely limping along to our destination.
I wonder if steam is a sign of damage, or it is merely a secondary back-up mechanism taking the strain of what normally supposed to be weathered by the organic components.
Though he'd slept in, he was nowhere close to fully recovered from yesterday's exertions. His physical body felt fine, perhaps even stronger than before, infused with a portion of the King Fish's thrashing vitality. The wound in his side stung sharply as he raised himself up with his elbows, but it was a brisk sharpness, jolting him awake.
Again that kinship with Versch. I do not think it is an actual cursebearer, but... Man, actually useful curses for something productive, that's a lot of power. Power that is typically better off used elsewhere on other potential projects. Can't help but wonder how exactly such a state of events came to me, and if any of Versch's higher abilities actually weaponize Decimation.
But his powers of spirit, what Letrizia called his Astral Rank, was badly depleted still. It was a dull, hollow exhaustion, a blankness of the marrow, his soul's sharpness worn down to a nub.
I wonder if Hunger's previous realm had any particular terms for it. Hunger lost of himself... But he also failed to ever regain a lot of himself. Even basic everyday things are probably impossible to retain as of now, or else Hunger wouldn't have been quite as clueless about this as he was. Thankfully, Progression can heal brain damage. At least somewhat. I guess.
"Good, you're awake." Gisena came into view, a pale, fatigued cast to her features. Without pausing she unleashed a Tide of Nullity into the open air, then turned and threw another.
"What's going on?" Fighting through the hollowness, he sprang to his feet, the Forebear's Blade appearing his grip.
FYI if anyone actually reading this, Sorceresess thanks to findross are pretty much always stuck looking at their best; Gisena looking this badly is a sign of major exhaustion.
...Perhaps not as major as ours, though. Man, Gisena having to deal with all this nonsense right after she tried to sacrifice her life against megamurder supergod that Orcish Hero of Age from previous Simple transaction is pretty bullshit.
"We've got incoming," Gisena said, briefly wiping sweat off her brow. "Some kind of portal, but not an Astral effect. And they're persistent, too! Hundreds of attempts over this past hour."
"You should have woken me," he said, coming to her side.
She shot him a cheery smile, with only a hint of strain. "Nope! Both you and Zea were out like a light! And you need your rest most of all, whereas I'm positively brimming with energy!"
Gisena is a much needed source of positivity in this situation. Pity she wasn't strong enough to murder her enemies quick-like in this situation, but can't ask for everything at the same time I guess. She'll pull her weight plenty of times after this, and even now she allowed this fight to actually be relatively even instead of having us be straight up outnumbered.
"I'm operational," Letrizia's voice boomed from Verschlengorge, testily flexing a hand. "Or as close to it as we can be in this state."
Well, more like Versch is operational. Or are they a synchronized being when she is in full committed piloting mode? With all those neon genesis references it is a little bit hard to say.
"I suppose it's too much to hope they'd give up," Gisena said. "And running won't do us any good if they have portals. Well, if they're dying to see us, how about we grant their wish?"
"We'll talk about this later," he growled, advancing upon the now-forming portals. Fuck these so-called interesting times.
"I await your commendation eagerly!" she responded.
Yes, scold Gisena for allowing the most powerful party member to operate with at least some degree of strength. Scold her harder. Maybe giver her some headpats even...
... Actually no, headpats are for Letrz. Power ups and good dresses are for Gisena. Evening Gown might have been a preferred pick, but it would've been so cool, given so much good banter... Alas.
There was no more time for talk as the shimmering blue portals finally gained a semblance of solidity. Scarce had the outline of their occupants appeared before he ducked, avoiding the chest-height Tide of Nullity that Gisena fired into the occlusion.
The first intruder appeared with a baffled shriek, the magic of her armor smothered under Gisena's assault, and he swiftly followed up with a pommel-strike to her sword arm, bone splintering under his enhanced strength.
Consequences of teleporting in high fantasy setting; not actually particularly better than entering from the front door. They got lucky with none of the actually important party members getting the same treatment from Hunger+Gisena, or getting instantly stomped on by Letrz.
Though they'd ambushed one, the full party had materialized successfully: one man, a mechanical construct, and two other women, all outfitted in rugged armor with an assortment of faintly glowing artifacts.
"Took 'em long enough," the man whined, eyes sweeping the party. "The fuck? They didn't say anything about adds. You guys deal with those, the monster's mine."
"Yes, my lord!" Spoke the others, even as Hunger pulled the first intruder close and plunged his blade into her sternum. A swift stroke brought her life to an end as the remainder of the party advanced on him.
Classic Isekai with a harem. Although this once had the pragmatism to get some mercenaries too, and considering Rihaku's later words, is actually just straight-up all-around competent in addition to having his Gamer cheat.
Also, sounds like they have been waiting in the teleportation room for awhile, lol. I wonder if this transportation was particularly sudden.
The male leapt forward with a thump of displaced air, his blade glowing brilliant blue before it unleashed an arc of energy into Verschlengorge's direction. Too slow to evade or block, the Armament took the blow across the torso, leaving a great smoldering gouge in the plating on its chest. Hunger frowned.
This universe probably does not see an Armement being this weak very often. This is a unique window of opportunity for whoever hired this guy. Next fight Versch is going to be at least rank 5, which would've splattered this party, and is going to take much more effort to find willing and able mercenaries to hunt. Overall, the next venture is going to cost a pretty penny in preparations for this "Astral Lord."
Then the attackers were upon him, a nymphlike woman wielding an elaborate sword and a cool-eyed blonde who covered her with crossbow fire. The construct attempted to rush past, targeting Gisena single-mindedly, but he intercepted it easily as null bolts rained down around them. None of them seemed particularly concerned about the loss of their first companion.
Heroic characters seems to be relatively common in this verse. I wonder if bloodlines are their general shtick, or it was just the Fairbright that is powered by her blood? Or is it Soul Evocation, once again?
The first party member whom we killed appears to have been yet another mercenary...
"We must disable the mage," the construct groaned, bronze armor clanking as it traded blows with him. Its internals held up poorly against the power of ruin, scars of riven metal opening at each point of contact.
"I'll give the orders, mercenary." The swordmaiden said frostily, ducking back to avoid another volley from his Sorceress. "But I do agree. Beth, as we practiced?"
...Man, they treat these mercs like shit. Not all that unexpected for "true companions" of kind of scumbaggy isekai, but still. Also, typical anime banter. They even somehow manage to find time for it in typical Rihaku's "everyone is
actually busy trying to kill each other" type of highly energetic combat.
The swordswoman was a striking beauty, her features haughty and regular, crimson hair and pristine blue eyes, though plain in comparison to Gisena. Her companion, 'Beth,' was shorter and mousier, wearing a hood to cover her golden locks.
"Sure," Beth nodded. The two women withdrew.
He took the opportunity to pressure the construct, accepting a blow against the Evening Sky to slice open the thing's neck. It reeled, stumbling backwards, but before he could finish it the crossbow wielder appeared overhead.
A combination attack from what is probably some sort of a princess, or at least a respectably highly-positioned noble, and her servant? Or just peasant companion? I wonder for how long they actually practiced this. Ber, as the Gamer, does not seems like the guy who was doing this for very long. He is still using the game terms as his battle focusing mantra, still unused to the typical realities of the Voyaging realm, still treats this as somewhat of a game. His companions meanwhile, even his primary companions look like they had some actual combat experience.
They are nowhere as good at coordination as Gisena and Hunger, though. Loudly announcing your coordination attacks with no subterfuge whatsoever? You could cry at this display.
"Nice!" Shouted the swordmaiden as her ally fired, several powerfully enchanted bolts hurtling towards Gisena. The Sorceress dipped and weaved, emitting a wave of dispellation, but was caught in the arm. Gisena whimpered but wasted no time, snapping off the bodkin tip and pulling the bolt free. She drew Letrizia's sidearm and began to return fire.Growling, he hurled his blade at the midair archer and pounced on the golem, kicking off its chest to propel himself skyward. Beth contorted wildly to dodge his thrown sword, then spun with languid grace to evade Gisena's fire, heedless of leverage or gravity. But she did not see the Forebear's Blade hurtling back as he recalled it to hand.
Celebrating victory early is a pretty bad mistake...
She gave a startled, hapless shriek as the sword-fragment embedded itself in her side. An instant later he reached her, clothesline to the solar plexus driving her to the earth. Before she could recover his fist rained down with haymaker force, ending her life.
Slow. He was too slow, his instincts numb. He was caught in the flow of the world, instead the rock against which it broke. Had he been anywhere near fighting form, an opponent of this level would never have been allowed to hurt Gisena, and the golem would already be carven scrap.
...Killed someone rather literally here. But I must say, sword-throwing is pretty good for us. Pity we didn't get to do much more of it later. Still, I guess Bladewinds are cool, too.
Also, notably, pretty negligible actually the enemy. Just a single stab wound to the back, what the world has come to.
But what was the point of dwelling? Nothing to do but fight on. His ring pulsed, feeding him with strength from the intruders he'd felled.
He pulled free the Forebear's Blade and moved to once again interpose himself between the construct and his Sorceress, but a howl of stark grief stole his attention.
"ELIZABETH!" Screamed the redhead, her eyes wet with tears. "You- you bastard. You'll pay..."
For people who signed up to kill other people for loot and money, they are rather surprised when one of True Companions actually dies. And oh, it is totally fine for mercenaries to die like cannon fodder, no biggie.
She began to tremble, hair rising in an invisible wind. Furiously he pushed past the golem, unwilling to let her complete whatever technique -
Slow. A moment too late he reached her, and by then her eyes had snapped open, infused with amaranthine energy. She blurred, tearing into him, Celtic knot of her sword pulsing as it pressed against his cloak of stars. Her blade sang as it moved, a mournful hum that intensified steadily, increasing her own speed until she dissolved into a whirlwind of slashing strokes.
I wonder if we actually had a chance to interrupt her here. Maybe with a good roll, or something?..
Anyway, I am going to guess that this ability is not actually the sort of thing that requires sacrifice from Sera, but death of her comrades or some such loss, considering the description. Works suitably well considering their nature as an isekai party karikature.
...Unrelated, but it is a goddamn pity we didn't get to loot her magic system. Party-member sacrificing aside, it sounds like it had good synergies with our SORD combat style. Was it soul evocation?
"My name is Seralize vi Esterarc. And I am your end, monster. It's not about the money or even the glory. I'LL AVENGE HER IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"
How many times had he proclaimed similarly, when faced with the Tyrant's cruelty? Had he sounded so ridiculous? The fact that she was distracted by her monologue was the only reason he was able to keep her at bay.
Well, how many times he proclaimed that while throwing cannon fodder at people who did nothing to him or his? Honestly, the comparison between Hunger's revolution and scumbag isekai deciding to pick up some easy money is kind of weak.
But I guess Hunger just seen too much, did too much. Mind just can't help but make such comparisons sometimes, even if they are unfair.
Gisena tried to assist, darting to the side, probing for an angle. The badly-damaged construct doggedly followed her, forcing her to disengage.
The force of Seralize's hatred was as a palpable thing. It suppressed his initiative and lent unnatural sharpness to her blows. Her sword fell upon him from all angles, grazing neck and cheek, nicking his ear, scraping against his forehead to send blood into his eye. The Evening Sky lent his flesh the same impossible resistance he'd faced against the pirate captain, else he would have died threefold in one exchange.
I must say I like how construct tried to fulfill his goal until the last. I wonder if the unnamed robobro from the temple was the same type of construct as this guy. Warforged-equivalents seems to be relatively common in this realm.
Was he any better than the Tyrant, in the end? Was vengeance alone a goal worthy of all this?
He jumped back slightly, resignation coming over his features. There was not much left in him, but if he exerted all he had, could he reach her, just this once?
"I get it," he said, looking his would-be murderer directly in the eye. "And I'm sorry."
She nodded bitterly. "As it should be."
Age and treachery... Versus blind self-righteousness and hypocrisy. How dare a man not die, how dare he to defend his companions.
Man, verbally kicking these people is too easy. Oh well, I probably should stop kicking the dead horse of how bad these isekai rejects are.
...But it sure is embarrassing how she actually took the bait here, tho. Just wearing Hunger down would've worked, instead she went for a big dramatic finisher.
With a final vengeful roar, she thrust forward, the gleam of her blade like a falling star. He made no move to intercept, stepping into the blow, taking it into his side, all but collapsing on her.
As the blade sprouted from his back, she let out a grim, tremulous sigh of catharsis, then began to pull her sword free for the finishing blow. The weight of his cloak was like a leaden mantle around them.
I kind of hope we'll get a pick that allows for more cloak manipulation hijinks later on. This was just such a sweet way to defeat someone.
Still caught in that impromptu embrace, she was unable to evade when he stabbed her in the spine. The Evening Sky billowed and swarmed, holding her longsword in place to prevent further damage, blanketing them and smothering them, gentle dying of the light. Grimly he twisted his blade, cutting flesh and spirit, fell energies severing body from mind, soul from essence. A mortal wound.
SuprisedPikachu.jpg
I am kind of surprised she actually immediately died from this. Later opponents kind of stretched my definition of "heavy, life-threatening wounds" Vanreir would've just laughed and walked this off while whistling some sort of a fun, carefree melody.
By walking into her strike, controlling the angle, he'd directed the blow down the path of his existing wound, minimizing the damage. Still, the pain was intense even under the soporific numbness of the Evening Sky. She'd widened the cut broadly and managed to nick his intestines. Not a wound that would trouble him much, if he were at full strength. As it was...
Thankfully we picked some sort of healing right after this.
Letrizia's opponent nodded to himself as he struck, his eyes steady and calculating, baiting her into an overhead swing before darting sideways to target the joints. Even the Armament's cockpit was exposed, smoke rising steadily from its insides. As he fought, the intruder spoke, an incessant stream of affirmational nonsense mixed with strange jargon.
"C'mon Ber, you've got this. Patterns are down solid. One last phase and it's payday. Just gotta do like you do, only it's real life. Done it a hundred times..."
As mentioned previously, still employs game-terms, needs to self-hype in battle and is actually pretty nervous... Surely isekai'ed relatively recently. I wonder how good his actual long-term prospects were, if he did not encounter Hunger.
The last invader spared a glance for them, and briefly paused in shock to see his companions scattered and lifeless. His body was not bare of wounds either; cuts and burns covered his skin, and his left shoulder was one enormous bruise, though compared to Verschlengorge he seemed able and hale. He leapt back, dodging a translucent wave from Gisena, scanning the three of them rapidly.
"Even Sera? She's allowed to die? Shitfuck. Should have known an Astral Lord would try to fuck me, no matter how shiny the prize." He mumbled to himself, sword raised in a guard position. "Assess."
Hunger frowned. It almost sounded like this guy had come from Earth, or a realm like it. Not that it mattered at this juncture. Gently extracting the now-dull steel of Seralize's longsword, he prepared to advance on the man. Warmth from the ring on his finger, sending power down his arm. Warmth from the wound as well, leaking strength down his side.
Sweet summer time when stuff like bleeding out to death was actually somewhat of a concern.
Idly he wondered if he could actually defeat this man. He was getting light-headed. Convincing Seralize had taken too much out of him.
"Information not found..." the intruder whispered, eyes going wide. "System, what the fuck is this? Some kind of hidden boss bullshit?"
Evading another Tide of Nullity, their enemy shook his head. "Fuck it. Gotta bail, come back when I'm higher level. Hey, fuckwad!"
And so our desperate struggle to outscale this fuck actually begins. Man, I wish we weren't tired when this fight actually happened. I must say tho, this was a lot harder on Ber than I remember.
...I wonder what sort of loot can we get from him. If he has a +progression drop in his loot list, that would be just great.
He pointed his sword at Hunger, its flat the cold, unending blue of a cloudless sky. "You're dead, okay? All of you. No one kills my... friends and lives to talk about it. See ya."
So saying, he launched a torrential strike directly at Letrizia's cockpit, a sky-furrowing wave of blue that devoured the land as it traveled. Hunger and Gisena both moved to intercept, but even her focused Nullity only diminished the attack.
Panting in exhaustion, the invader gestured listlessly again. A portal of the same color quickly engulfed him.
I wonder if burning through comrades and mercenaries like this has any real consequence... Or failing this mission. Bleh. At very least, I guess, it is nothing particularly devastating, considering he had no trouble starting to grind again in order to kill us.
