Monstergirl Quest Book Three

by Darknight, C. S.

“Well, that was certainly impressive,” the Emperor rasped. “But not quite impressive enough.”

  I gasped, reached woozily for Ciara’s Wrath, hoping that I might have been able to draw it and ram it through his throat, but I never got the chance.

  His bootleg Soulguard was rippling with destruction magic as he closed it into a fist and drilled me in the face with it.

  I saw stars. I saw nuclear explosions. The world seemed to retreat from me, until I realized that he’d knocked me high into the air.

  I crashed to the ground almost two football fields away. I went down hard, into the grass and dirt, and felt something painful shooting through my chest. Broken ribs, I thought. Maybe even a shattered sternum.

  It was a wicked fight just to get back up on my feet.

  The Emperor was nowhere close to defeat. Though I’d weakened him, he still had more than enough fight left in him.

  He turned toward the darkrealm creatures and raised his fist. In response, the dark horde roared and cheered.

  “Take the Earthman’s head!” the Emperor shouted, his voice booming across the plains. “Bring me his head and that rainbow bauble on his left fist!”

  Just before the horde could charge, I felt several pairs of strong arms lift me up.

  It was Ignacious and two of his strongest men. They were dragging me back into the Royersford Woods.

  “You guys…” I wheezed. “You have to run…”

  “That isn’t going to happen, sir,” Ignacious said. “Except for these two brutes. They’re my strongest men. Earthman, they’re going to carry you back to Woodkeep Village.”

  “That’s…suicide…”

  “Aye, it might be,” Ignacious said. “ But we’re holding them here for as long as we can.” He turned to his men. “Get him to the healers, boys. Our allies in Woodkeep Village are going to need him.”

  At that, the first big brute hefted me onto his shoulder. The brute and his counterpart broke off at a run. I looked back and saw Ignacious and his remaining forces drawing their swords, roaring defiantly as the darkrealm horde closed in on their position.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  What happened next, I only remembered in flashes, like a movie projector playing a reel with missing frames.

  Those two Red-Hand Legionnaire brutes carried me off at a run. Back the way we’d come, I saw Ignacious and his men backpedaling, yet making the invading creatures fight for every inch.

  They hacked and slashed the darkrealm beasts that stormed up the road, while half their numbers were off in the trees, using their knowledge of the Royersford Woods to their advantage. They fired off arrows, hid behind trees, and set traps, but their meager defenses wouldn’t hold the darkrealm horde for long.

  There was a curve in the road ahead. The first brute, already winded, handed me off to his companion. As we cut along the curve, I saw Ignacious, standing alone before a dozen werewolves. The Imperial captain drew his silver longsword and charged the beasts, and the last moment I glimpsed him, I saw him regain his honor in exchange for his life.

  Another missing frame, another stutter from the projector.

  Though Ignacious’s men were holding back the darkrealm horde, now and again, werewolves or primal vampires would slip through the cracks and dart out of the trees to harass us.

  I screamed (which mostly came out as a rasp, weak as I was) and reached for Ciara’s Wrath, but the brute who had me on his shoulder just said, “Easy now, Earthman, we’ve got you,” as he and his companion took turns guarding our flank.

  Another missing frame, another flash on the movie screen, with the screams of the Red-Hand Legionnaires who’d once called themselves the Emperor’s Fist ringing out as the last of them fell, finally, to the darkrealm horde.

  Now, bleary as my vision was, I spotted flashes of the horde moving in the trees behind us. My brutish Red-Hand protectors, though exhausted, doubled their pace. Soon, they shouted that they could see the end of the Royersford Woods up ahead…and Woodkeep Village, just visible on the horizon.

  Another missing frame.

  I blinked, the world went black, then grew illuminated again.

  I looked back over the brute’s shoulder. The horde was closing in on us. I pulled up my Second Sight and saw that my stats were improving, though I was still in no shape to fight just yet.

  Still, I had an idea.

  The Emperor wanted the Mana Gem. If I could muster enough strength to hold off his horde until he came to claim the gem himself, I just might be able to overload the Mana Gem – and myself – and take him out in one last, suicidal stand.

  A sliver of a chance…but it was a chance.

  In response, I saw bright red flashing across the Mana Gem, as if Ciara was trying to communicate with me.

  “…hold on just a little longer, Earthman…!”

  Her voice rang out in my ears, in my mind, and in my soul, and that was the only reason I stayed my hand.

  Another missing frame. The world went black for a moment.

  The brutes were wheezing, their legs sore and their muscles swollen. The one who had me over his shoulder could hardly draw breath, but he still pumped his legs like pistons as Woodkeep Village – now only a half-mile away – opened its gates to greet us.

  Yet the horde was right behind us. The brute who had me over his shoulder turned to his companion.

  “Take the Earthman!” that brute shouted.

  He hefted me onto his buddy’s shoulder and the other brute, slightly less winded than the first, sprinted toward the gates.

  “…no!...” I wheezed as I watched the other brute draw his silver claymore, blocking the road in triumphant defiance as the darkrealm horde fell upon him.

  I screamed, or tried to, when I watched the werewolves and ghouls and demon knights tear the brute apart. He swung his claymore in a wide arc, taking a half-dozen beasts along with him, but he fell dead all the same.

  He died, yes, and he bought me and the other brute perhaps ten seconds of relief.

  Woodkeep Village was too far off, so close yet so far. There was no way we’d make it to the gates before the horde caught up with us.

  That was when the light of mysticism magic flared all around us.

  Pandora suddenly appeared, screaming at the top of her lungs as she hurled an overpowered TK force bomb at the forces snapping at our heels.

  Esmerelda was with her, roaring in defiance as she launched elemental missiles into their center mass, basically splitting the invading force in half.

  Bella stood at the rear, clad in illusory seraph armor, and she created her familiar legion of seraphs who charged into the oncoming horde, cutting the darkrealm beasts down in righteous fury.

  Layla fired arrow after arrow at the beasts, pausing only to clench her fist and raise it high, summoning a jagged collection of thick tree roots that sprouted forth from the soil and impaled our assailants.

  And not to be outdone, though her connection to restoration magic had been severed, Sephara came flipping into view, amber-tipped spear in hand and jamming it through the skull of any creature unfortunate enough to happen upon her.

  Then, behind the Mananymphs, storming northbound on the road toward the horde, came our army.

  Orcs and wood elves and Red-Hand Legionnaires and a division of Greenbeard’s Darkwood Forest allies came rumbling up the road to smash against the approaching darkrealm force.

  It was a comparatively small force, not quite a thousand in number, but it was more than enough to drive back the tip of the Emperor’s spear.

  Behind that tip, however, a wave of monstrosities were on the way, and would be bearing down on our defenses soon enough.

  Just as I looked up, just as I was starting to get my bearings, I began charging the Soulguard to take part in the attack. That was when Pandora appeared, smiling at my side, and gave me a long, wet kiss on the mouth.

  “We’ve got healers for you, Earthman,” she said. “Save your strength. We’re going to need it soon.”
r />   *****

  I awoke in the Woodkeep Village infirmary several hours later. A small army of healers were trying to mend my wounds.

  I shrugged them off, peered out the window, and saw the battle beginning to unfold along the city walls.

  The horde had come in full force. I realized the Emperor was taking no chances this time. No poking or prodding our forces, no probing for weaknesses. The bastard wanted to overrun us in one shot.

  Yet, even as our forces fought this desperate battle, I knew that it ultimately showed that the Emperor had been weakened.

  I knew that, during our last skirmish, though I’d been on the losing end of it, I’d nevertheless weakened him by unleashing the raw energy of the Mana Gem on him during our fight.

  If he hadn’t been weakened, he’d have been storming Woodkeep Village himself. Instead, he was content, at least for the moment, with sending wave after wave of his minions against our defenses.

  Out along the north-facing wall, I saw Esmerelda and Erhoff coordinating our magic defenses.

  Up and down the wall, our mages were hurling spell after spell at the invading force.

  Layla and Hingar commanded our archers, who launched countless arrows into the darkrealm horde.

  From my vantage point, I could just barely see over the wall. Out there, along the road between Woodkeep Village and the Royersford Woods, Gorrok and his warhorse-riding orcs were sending sorties to harass the darkrealm hordes.

  Of course, each orc had a wood elf in the saddle behind him, firing off arrows to bolster the orcs’ cavalry attack. I glimpsed Pandora and Sephara riding along with the orcs, both of them sitting atop Buddy. Pandora shattered the creatures with TK blasts while Sephara kept them at bay with her spear.

  Greenbeard and the spriggans were heading out to the northeast, cutting off the horde from flanking us.

  Down in the streets, the Red-Hand Legionnaires mixed with soldiers from Homehold and Silverton. They manned the battlements to fight off any creature that managed to scale the wall. Hundreds stormed out through the wooden gates to cut off the darkrealm beasts attempting to hit us on our northwestern flank.

  For now, our forces had stopped the darkrealm horde completely. Every inch of ground just north of Woodkeep Village was covered in melee gridlock, with our army not yielding so much as an inch to the invaders.

  Yeah…for now.

  Because as valiantly and fiercely as our army was fighting, there were still a hundred-thousand darkrealm beasts farther north, salivating for our blood.

  No matter how hard my allies fought, this was clearly a losing battle. Eventually, our forward defense forces beyond the walls would have to fall back behind the village’s defenses. When that happened, the darkrealm horde would be able to surround the village and, in time, wear us down through a simple war of attrition.

  Besides, even if we managed to actually defeat this massive horde, the Emperor would no doubt send his loyalist legionnaires to mop up what was left of the United Rebel Front.

  That alone was enough to give me the strength to claw out of bed. When the healers tried to stop me, I shrugged them off.

  Already, just north of the wooden wall, I saw that the horde was starting to get the better of my allies. Orcs and elves were falling. To the northeast, I watched in horror as a small legion of skeleton archers launched flaming arrows at Greenbeard himself. To the northwest, the combined Homehold-Silverton soldiers were quickly being overrun.

  “Fall back!” I heard Gorrok shout in the distance, from somewhere down in that chaotic melee.

  I pulled up the Mana Gem’s stats.

  GAIA CHARGE: 200/1000

  Then, I looked at my own stats.

  GAIA STRENGTH: 150/1000

  I grit my teeth in anger. The Emperor’s powerful attack seemed to have stunted my recovery. No wonder I was still so weak. Still, I drew my amber longsword. If this was how it was going to end, so be it.

  I wouldn’t let my allies fall to the monstrous horde bearing down on them.

  I made a save point and prepared to head out, when suddenly the Mana Gem caught my eye.

  It was flashing red, almost like a warning light…as if Ciara was trying to tell me something.

  I felt a slight tingle in my fist, which quickly became a tremble, then a full-body convulsion.

  The healers shrieked and fled as a sudden burst of rainbow light shot forth from the Mana Gem, bathing me completely in its warm and welcoming radiance.

  GAIA CHARGE: 10,000/1000

  GAIA STRENGTH: 10,000/1000

  As the power rippled through me and Ciara’s soul shocked my stats into a temporary ultra-god-tier status, I smiled as I turned back to the window, where our forces were still rushing back behind the wall.

  “Ciara, you’re the goddamn best,” I said.

  The Mana Gem flickered and flashed in response.

  I glared down at the horde then got to work.

  I vanished from the infirmary then reappeared atop the battlements on the north wall. All around me, my allies cheered at my arrival. Clenching the Soulguard into a fist, I teleported again, this time right into the middle of the darkrealm forward forces.

  I cast Ciara’s Blessing, blowing a giant hole right through the division.

  I teleported again. This time, I appeared among their easternmost forces, and cast Ciara’s Blessing a second time.

  Wash, rinse, repeat.

  I came and went like a thief in the night, like a knife in the back. From the walls of Woodkeep Village, it must have looked like a series of rainbow bombs going off every few seconds.

  All said and done, I ripped through the invading force eight times, absolutely devastating their numbers, easily chopping them down by half.

  However, right after casting Ciara’s Wrath for the final time, I felt like I’d gotten hit by a dozen freight trains.

  The Emperor’s armored fist appeared in front of me, then promptly slammed into the side of my head.

  The impact, along with a cast-on-impact destruction spell, sent me sprawling. I landed about fifty yards in front of the Woodkeep Village wall, and behind me, my cheering allies had suddenly gone silent.

  The Emperor approached me slowly, glaring at me, and though his force had been devastated, the remaining creatures were already rallying behind him.

  Before I could get to my feet, the Emperor grabbed me by the throat with TK magic and yanked me over to him.

  I choked and spit, my body slamming against the soil as he dragged me those fifty yards then made me come to a crashing halt right at his feet.

  If I managed to weaken him during our last skirmish, he was certainly back to full power now.

  He released his TK hold on me, only to crack me across the face with his bootleg Soulguard.

  He smiled. “Earthman, you’ve certainly fought valiantly,” the Emperor said. “But by now you must have realized that this fight is hopeless.” He gestured to the darkrealm creatures forming up behind them. Though I’d slayed thousands of them, roughly fifty-thousand still remained. “Even if you manage to hold off this force, I’ve already called the legion in. The first divisions will be marching upon you within an hour or so.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I spit blood into the ground. “Go fuck yourself,” I said.

  He laughed. “Earthman, now it’s time for you –”

  Behind us, the gates to Woodkeep Village flew open. The Mananymphs stood in front of our forces, all of them on horseback. Pandora rode out before them.

  The Emperor glared toward my friends riding to my aid. I heard the hatred bubbling up in his voice. “Do they know they ride to their own suicides?”

  I struggled up to my feet. “They do,” I said. “But I still say that we should settle this one-on-one, your highness.”

  Because now, I knew what I had to do.

  During our last fight, on some level, I’d been holding back. I thought I would have been able to kill the Emperor merely by wielding the Mana Gem, but that c
learly wasn’t the case.

  I could defeat him with the gem, but I couldn’t do it without killing myself in the process. I’d have to unleash every ounce of raw power within the Mana Gem. It would consume me, as well, but it was the only way.

  I grit my teeth and began to charge my gauntlet.

  The darkrealm creatures roared and began to charge, but the Emperor held up his hand, silencing them and making them stop in their tracks.

  Just before my allies could come thundering up to us, the Emperor cast a massive TK force shield that created a huge invisible barrier around us.

  I smiled. “So, one-on-one?” I asked.

  He smiled back at me. “No,” he answered, then closed his fist, which promptly glimmered with more TK magic.

  That was when I realized the move he was making.

  Nothing was going to make it through his force shield…nothing, that is, except for who he wanted to make it through.

  At once, each Mananymph came flying through the barrier, each one clawing at the invisible TK hold that the Emperor had around their throats.

  They came crashing down around, each one red in the face, just barely able to breathe. The Emperor let out a maddening chuckle as he brought each Mananymph to her knees.

  “Let them go,” I snarled.

  He shrugged. “Then give me Ciara,” he said. “I can still sense her in the area, Earthman.” He scowled at me, letting me glimpse the bottomless hatred in his decrepit old heart. “Give her back to me!”

  *****

  By now, I’d channeled every bit of mana I could muster into the Soulguard. The raw, violent power of the Mana Gem was harnessed right into the gauntlet. I knew that, if I unleashed it now, I’d be able to deal the Emperor a mortal blow.

  And no, I didn’t give a shit that the attack would kill me, as well. But at this range, the Mananymphs would be vaporized right along with us.

  The Emperor flashed me a hateful grin, because he must have realized this, as well.

  I could have hit him with a lesser attack, but mustering a lesser attack that would still harm him would drain the Mana Gem too much for me to unleash its full power.

  It was like a chess match and he was thinking five moves ahead of me.