Apocalypse game, p.28
Apocalypse Game, page 28
Ahead of us was a crossroads that led to other sections of the mall. As we reached it, we all crouched down, and I peeked around the corner.
I paled as a wave of fear settled in my gut and the sharp clack of nails on tile sent shivers up my spine.
Guess I found out why this section of the mall isn’t guarded.
Around the corner were nearly a dozen Carnival Beasts. Each of the reptilian monsters a different color of the rainbow. They meandered around the large fountain that spewed water over a concrete depiction of an angel. The beasts lapped at the water resting on the floor.
Why the hell are they here?
I activated inspect and got a good look at them.
Monster (Mid-Tier): Carnival Beast (Controlled)
Health: 250/250
Exp: 102
AC: 25
Controlled? What the hell? Is there a class that lets you tame monsters?
I motioned behind me to Finn and Ade and waved at them to look. They froze up and slowly brought their heads back, holding in their breaths.
Even after our multiple excursions through the city, we were rightfully cautious of the beasts.
We need to go around them. I’d rather not go through that many of them at once.
I pulled back, but my shoe squeaked against the tile, and I cursed as one of them turned to the sound.
“So much for stealth.”
I flipped the safety switch on my SMG to full auto and raised it. I pressed the trigger once, and a quick burst later, the entire head of the beast exploded in a rush of bright gore.
“Alright, guess we’re doing this the hard way!”
Adeline barreled around the corner and unleashed a few rounds from her rifle before one-handing it and casting a few crimson fireballs. They stuck to two of the beasts and engulfed them in hellfire.
Finn rushed in with his shotgun as I aimed at another beast.
They were quick, but we’d surprised them, and they were sluggish to respond. That split-second advantage is what saved us from getting swarmed.
The recoil thrummed through my shoulder as I burned through nearly all of my magazine, killing a few of the creatures. I had to keep a careful eye on my line of fire as Finn fired shell after shell into the beasts. I focused on another one and fired.
Blood splashed in an arc from its skull as it dropped to the ground.
Movement to my right drew my gaze to one that had slipped around Finn and rushed me.
It was fast, and it leapt over the carcasses of the other beasts and opened its mouth wide, ready to tear into me.
As I brought my gun to bear, it jammed.
Shit.
I dropped it, bringing my hand up as I activated my newest skill, Rend.
My fingers burned hot enough that I thought blisters would form. Muscle memory took over for me, and I lashed out with a swipe. Five razor-sharp blades of obsidian coalesced just above my fingers and flew forward and struck home across the flank of the Carnival Beast.
The crescent arcs of darkness carved bloody grooves deep into its flesh, slicing through muscle and bone as if it were cardboard.
The beast fell to pieces in midair, sending a torrent of filth splattering across the once white tile.
“Holy hell!” Finn shouted. “Nice!”
Several more of the controlled creatures howled and ran at us.
Finn let loose with his shotgun and killed more while Adeline aimed at the final one.
The crack of Adeline’s rifle split the air as one of the charging beast's head burst apart. The bloody body skidded to a stop and began leaking out its bright blood. Thankfully, my clothes were spared the worst of the incoming spray.
With that final one, the Carnival Beasts were dead.
Adeline held out a fist, and I bumped it.
“Damn excellent shot.”
“I know.” She smirked.
Combat Results!
5 Killed (Carnival Beasts): 510
Experience Boost (20%): 102 Exp!
Total Gain: 612 Exp!
AC Earned: 125!
Level Up!
Alright. With the exp boost, I basically scored a free kill. Not bad.
As soon as the last echo of the dying beast and gunfire faded, I knelt, snagging my submachine gun and wiping a smear of blood from the stock before I cleared the jam and reloaded.
The three of us swept the area, making sure we were alone. When it was certain we weren’t going to be attacked again, we threw ourselves into a nearby sports store.
We stayed where we were and listened, our guns poised at the entrance as we waited for a response to our brief firefight.
“I don’t hear anything,” Finn whispered.
“Me either, which worries me. That was anything but quiet.” I glanced back at them and nodded. “But sitting here isn’t getting us anywhere either. Let’s check our Mantles, and then we keep pushing on.”
I pulled up mine.
Character Page
Name: Killian Dunn
Race: Human
Class: Demon Lord (King)
Health: 450/450 (495)
Mana: 500/500
Stamina: 300/350
Level: 12
Exp: 271/1393
15 Stat Points Available!
That was over six hundred points just from that quick fight, but they were different from the ones we’ve previously fought. The others were low-tier, and they weren’t being controlled.
It stood to reason that there might be more of the beasts prowling the halls, which meant that finding and taking out the puppet master was priority one.
I bet the beasts under their control will go haywire if their master is defeated.
While we were here, I went ahead and assigned my stat points.
After seeing how powerful Rend was, I wanted to make sure I could keep using it. Five points went into Endurance to bring it up to twenty-five. I did the same with Perception because it was so low, and I didn’t want to walk headfirst into the bullet that killed me. And lastly, I added five to Charisma.
Stat Page
Strength: 35
Constitution: 25
Perception: 25
Endurance: 25
Agility: 30
Wisdom: 30
Charisma: 35
As I hit select, an itch tingled over my skin that started on my face and quickly spread over my entire body. But as soon as it appeared, it faded and left me slightly weary and invigorated at the same time.
“You guys ready to move?” I asked, glancing back.
Adeline nodded before her eyes widened. “What the hell, Killian?”
I paused. “What?”
Finn turned and reacted much the same way as Adeline. “Dude. Your skin.”
I glanced down, not really seeing whatever they were. “What about it?”
“It’s so smooth,” Adeline said. “Not that you had bad skin before, but holy hell, I want whatever you just did.”
I snorted as I realized what must have happened. “I just raised my Charisma, and I guess I must have hit a threshold.”
Adeline grinned. “Well, c’mon, pretty boy. Let’s get this quest over with.”
“Let’s,” I said as we set out.
Our progress through the mall was slower now that we knew what could lurk in the shadows or inside the outlet windows.
The echoes of our footfalls sounded off the walls and announced our presence, but there wasn’t much we could do about it. The gunfight had shattered any attempt at stealth we had.
I glanced at the floors above us, checking for anyone hiding, but I found nothing but quiet, empty shops and darkened glass banisters.
I don’t like this. We made more than enough noise. Someone should have come running.
Why do I feel like we’re walking into a trap?
I stopped as a phantom brush tickled the back of my neck. Light shifted from above me. Before I could question it, I spun around and opened fire as a monster leapt at me.
It was another Charade Beast, but it was pale white, with silver spines down its back. It opened its wide jaws as it dropped.
I held down my trigger as it landed on me, and my bullets thudded against its flesh and eventually tore through. Blood leaked from numerous wounds as my gun clicked empty, and the beast stopped moving. I shoved it off me. Its warm and sticky blood coated a heavy splotch down my chest.
The carcass rolled off me, and Adeline leaned down to offer me a hand.
“Thanks,” I said as she hauled me up.
A round of stilted applause caused the three of us to turn.
In the small courtyard in front of us, right where the escalators and elevators led to the upper floors, was a man in a tight tank top and jeans sitting on the black glass rail of the second floor.
He was tall and thin, but well-muscled. His thick brown hair was pulled back and tied in a complicated knot at the crown of his head that left his sharp features in full view.
I didn’t like him. His jaded blue eyes and smug grin set my teeth on edge.
The man scratched at his knee through the torn hole in his blue jeans and smiled at us.
“Quick reflexes there, not bad.”
I didn’t let him get another word out before I raised my gun and fired, only for the click of an empty magazine to sound through the hall.
“Someone was too trigger-happy.” His smile deepened as he laughed at me with his callous eyes.
“Yeah, well, I’ve got plenty, asshole,” Adeline said from beside me, leveling her rifle at the man.
Finn stowed his shotgun over his shoulder and drew his pistol. “Might want to wipe that smile off your face. You’re outnumbered.”
His cocky attitude never wavered as he stared down the barrels of two guns. “Am I, though?” He whistled.
From out of the shops overhead, several dozen Carnival Beasts appeared from all angles. The ones above us dropped to the ground and quickly surrounded us.
Finn quickly drew his shotgun.
I hastily reloaded, and we all huddled together as the monsters inched closer.
“Son of a bitch,” I whispered. “Adeline, Conflagration, you’ve got the mana to cast it more than once, yeah?”
“I can only have one active at a time, though.”
There goes that idea.
I was hoping to limit their avenues of attack, but it would be next to useless if we only could use it once.
“Anyone have any bright ideas?” she asked.
“Not die?” Finn deadpanned.
“Brilliant. I hope your smartass remark isn’t going to be the last thing you say,” Adeline snapped.
I chuckled despite the fear in my chest at the many, many monsters inching closer to us. “I don’t know. Finn might have the right idea. I hope my last words really piss off whoever it is that kills me. But I refuse to let us be killed by a glorified puppeteer.
“Keep moving and give them hell. Let’s carve a path and try to put some distance between them and us.”
Both nodded, and I began looking for an opening. Most of the beasts converged in front of us, forming a barrier between their master and us, but there weren’t many behind us. Retreat would be our best option.
“Blast there, Ade!” I pointed to a spot where three Charade Beasts were approaching.
She didn’t hesitate, and a brilliant ring of crimson fire lit up the mall and engulfed the three helpless Charade Beasts, turning them to ash in seconds.
“Alright now, in front of us!” I shouted.
Adeline threw up another one where most of the beasts were and blocked our view of the tamer in the process.
“Run!”
The three of us turned and ran as too many nails clinked on tile, chasing after us. I flipped my SMG to a three-round burst and fired indiscriminately behind me. Several high-pitched screams of pain rang painfully in my ears behind me, telling me that I’d at least wounded a few of them.
We put some distance between us and ran to the crossroad, back to the narrow hallway between the bathrooms. It was liable to be the best place to make a final stand as any.
I skidded to a stop and leaned against the large vending machines as I reloaded one more while Ade and Finn kept their eyes on where we came from.
The howling grew closer.
“Plan?” Finn asked.
“Stop them from swarming us. In this narrow hallway, they only have one way to attack us.”
He smiled. “I’ve got an idea.”
Finn walked over to the vending machines and activated his Abyssal Armor. It formed around his skin and solidified into heavy plate mail. He walked over to the large machines and pushed them like they weighed a third of what they should.
In five seconds, he’d positioned them side by side in the hallway, creating a stopgap that the monsters would have to go around or through Finn to reach us.
“How long can you hold the armor?”
“About ten minutes, or until I soak up too much damage, but as we found when Ade set me on fire, it can happen quicker than we’d like.”
Not good.
“Okay, same plan as the warehouse. You play tank and keep their attention, and Ade and I will stop them from swarming you.”
He gave me a thumbs up. “Get your game faces on. They’re here.”
Finn raised his shotgun and fired as fast as he could. He blasted nine shells in ten seconds before he dropped the gun and drew his pistol. However, he couldn’t keep up the rate of fire as too many had reached him. He pulled back into the gap of the vending machines.
Two of the Carnival Beasts climbed on top of them, and Adeline and I opened fire. My shot took a green-colored one in the neck and jaw, shredding its face. It teetered before toppling over and falling into the mass of creatures.
Adeline dropped hers just as another climbed over the edge.
Finn fired round after round into the beasts, but he quickly ran dry, and they massed around him, biting and clawing at his armor, ripping minuscule grooves into the metal.
“Finn, pull back, let a few through!”
As he stepped back, I stowed my SMG and raised my hands as half a dozen of them crammed into the tight space between the vending machines.
Which had formed a neat kill zone.
I raised my hands, activating Rend as I brought them up.
Ten wicked blades sailed from my fingers and into the mass of bodies. One Carnival Beast broke through the line, only to be met by a horde of deadly obsidian.
As soon as Rend carved a bloody swath through them, I grabbed my gun and fired a string of bullets at the opening, peppering half a dozen of them with lead. Blood spurted in heavy streams, coating the sides of the vending machines.
When my SMG ran dry, Ade switched off and unleashed hell with her rifle. The two of us quickly clogged the gap with bodies and gave Finn a chance to grab his shotgun and reload while we fended them off.
We held as the mass of creatures swarmed over the dead to get to us, but they were on shaky ground, and one of the carcasses rolled when one of the beasts landed on it, sending it toppling into a group of others.
Adeline stepped up and cast Conflagration, burning them to cinders in the blink of an eye.
With that, we had a second to breathe, and I ordered her to cast one more spell at the entrance, where a tall pile of bodies resided, blocking our exit. Her fire magic reduced the entire lot to a pile of ash.
The entire area stunk of burnt flesh, and the too-sweet stench of monster blood and all the ash clung to the back of my throat, and I resisted the urge to cough as the last of the Carnival Beasts approached us.
As the ones in front held our attention, there was a heavy crack from beside us. I turned just as the drywall splintered and exploded in a cloud as two Carnival Beasts broke through and leapt at us, their fangs bared.
Holy shit!
I stepped forward and brought my hands up, using Rend to tear them to pieces. It was so much more effective than our bullets had been, and I wanted to save my ammo for Salvatore’s gang.
When they fell to the ground in chunks, I breathed a sigh of relief as Finn and Adeline took care of the ones in front of us.
An ocean of yellow leaked through the carnage in front of us as the echoes of our gunfire subsided, and we sagged to the floor.
Combat Results!
8 Killed (Carnival Beasts): 816 Exp!
Experience Boost (22.5%): 184 Exp!
Total Gain: 1000 Exp!
AC Earned: 200!
My entire body shook with adrenaline, and ash and sweat stuck to my skin, and I fought to keep from stopping and collapsing from fatigue.
Used a good bit of my stamina. Guess this is one of the side effects.
“Holy shit, that was rough,” Finn said as he leaned back against the wall.
“Yeah,” I replied, the exhaustion in my voice echoing his own. “But we did it. Burned through a good bit of ammo. Seems like unless we land a headshot, our bullets aren’t doing much good.”
“You noticed too, huh?”
I nodded.
“Damn.” He shook his head. “Was hoping it was just me being paranoid.”
Finn winced and grabbed his arm, which had a heavy gash of blood running down it.
“Here,” I said, pulling out some of my gauze and tossing it to him. “Patch yourself up, get some water, and then we need to move.”
We couldn’t rest for long. The puppet master was still loose, and we had the other gang members to deal with. Not to mention the soldiers.
I have no idea what they’re doing or if they’re in the building yet. Though I imagine they couldn’t miss the gunfight that just happened, and I couldn’t have heard any other gunshots over ours. They could have already started their raid, for all I know.
I got up with a groan. “Let’s find a place to recover and reload. Then we need to push on.”
The two of them voiced agreement, and we went back through the employee-only area until we were in a secluded supply closet just big enough for the three of us. Finn and Ade sat on folding chairs while I made do with a five-gallon bucket as a stool.
Adeline and Finn fiddled with their Mantles while I checked over my gun.
“Anything new?” I asked when they finished.
Both shook their heads.
