19 – Rusckan village – Desperate measures

A new fire lit up inside of David. Death was not an option here; not when so much innocent lives were at stake. He felt his heart beat loud and fast, his head clear until all of his focus was upon his enemy. It was time to act.

The dwarf came crashing down, after having leapt several meters into the air. His double edged axe was glowing blue, and his eyes were fire.

A fireball shot out from David’s hand, at the last moment, after he concealed it behind his body. It roared as the fires were hungry and voracious, but then exploded in a thousand droplets when the blue axe cut it in half. The rush of hot air expanded in all directions, and launched the two away from each other.

David grunted, but managed to keep himself from being hit. It was his fire, after all. The dwarf landed with extreme dexterity and practiced motions, heedless of the wave of scorching air. If anything, he grinned, and charged again.

Two knives appeared in midair, already speeding towards the incoming enemy. The new, upgraded ability, was already under David’s control like an extra limb. The knives sped and the guild master deflected them, but they disappeared and reappeared again and again in a hail of blades.

It was not enough. The charge was not interrupted, the dwarf was still coming with his glowing was axe and his face full of rage. The wind was picking up, and the clouds were beginning to pour their contents onto the battlefield.

A deep breath. He had to think. Think.

Spears of stone and earth erupted from the ground, but Griglir dodged and jumped like he knew they were coming. Knives and bullets of fire sped like projectiles from a gun, to no avail. Eventually, David called forth all of his magic in one last, desperate attack.

Every element under his control: water, air, fire and earth answered his call.

A shell of compressed stone appeared in mid-air. Inside, raging winds and fires were building up, until a large amount of cold water materialized out of nothing.

It exploded with extraordinary force, right under the dwarf’s legs, and sent splinters of stone like deadly darts towards him, guided by the wind itself. He fell down, legs bleeding.

David heaved, his lungs burning and his head spinning. He looked at the figure of the guild master, on the ground, face down, and approached him cautiously.

It twitched.

David pulled back, but saw no other movement. As he approached, though, the body jerked and launched itself towards David, axe glowing white now. He was still alive.

In a panic, David began to extract everything he could from his inventory. Rocks, boulders and large trunks were cut in half without any effort. Dirt and sand splashed against the face of the dwarf, but he didn’t stop. Water invaded the battlefield, a lake’s worth of stored mass washing everything away but the enemy that needed to be stopped.

It was no use. He was going to die again.

Then, it occurred to him that he still had something in his inventory that he could use. Hearing the raging laughter of his enemy, feeling his neck skin crawl and his blood boil in his own rage and fire, he took out the magical ropes that bound him in the cell. They were going to resist an attack, and momentarily stop the dwarf for long enough to allow David a counter attack.

He took them out, and met the axe head on with them. The rope didn’t break, but the force was so great that it forced it and David’s hands into the ground. A wet crunch indicated broken bones, but the pain was welcome and warm in his nerves.

It was just the fuel he needed. He grinned wide and wickedly, and his laughter was added to the choir of death and destruction that their fight was unleashing. In the distance, the monster was getting closer, its steps making the ground shake. Here, two figures were laughing maniacally.

The dwarf grunted, and spat. He dislodged his axe, but two long blades hit him in the side. He screamed in pain, but his strength didn’t leave him. He swung the axe.

A head rolled on the ground, a shocked look in its eyes.

David was back in the white room.

Reincarnating in 3, 2, 1…

26° Reincarnation.

>Rebirth bonus: magic affinity upgraded to D tier

>Choose target location. Current mission; Silverscale forest.

“Shit!” He yelled, and wanted to punch the ground. There was no time, no time, though. “Current mission, fast!”

>Confirmed.

>Mission is respawn type. Complete objective to unlock new area.

Process complete. Namaste, and good luck!

He returned. The pain came and went, and he ignored it. As soon as he was able to function again, he saw that the monster was already rampaging though the village. There was no trace of the dwarf.

He ran towards the towering head that was visible over the buildings. It was scaled and green, long like a reptile and filled with teeth. Below, a long neck and then a large and round body, large as a house. It moved on many legs, fast and angry, spitting and roaring while it stomped onto buildings and running people alike.

Every step sent tremors through the earth, and every roar displaced the air and crumbled buildings.

David looked at it. It too stopped and looked at David. He knew, upon seeing the thing, that he could not kill it. It was larger than a house, seen from here. It was as big as an apartment building. As wide. And its head was so far high up, that he feared he would not even be able to hit it.

It moved fast, bearing down like a whip. The mouth was open wide and human-like, yellow teeth crowned the disgusting thing. Only a second to think before it hit him, and swallowed him whole.

An idea struck him. There was no way to dodge this thing, not when it moved so incredibly fast. It ignored all the laws of physics, because it needed not abide them so powerful as it was.

But there was one thing that could beat it. One thing that so far nobody had been able to resist.

He closed his eyes, and the beast ate him.