CHPT 283: Full Moon HellSlaying RAMPAGE!
Instincts are an interesting thing. They're like actions with deep-rooted historical ties. Within their primal directives, stories are told. History is explained.
The urge to protect your own. An instinct and much more in many races. When you grow-- when you lead, you must protect those that follow. The Lupines of Romulus had this directive baked into the very fabric of their DNA.
Packs roamed the lands of the world, finding those in need. In need of revenge, of help, maybe even company. When the gift of Romulus finally graced their flesh, every Lupine in the area became a beast of instinct. The dominant Lupines became the most dangerous threats for miles, searching for and eliminating any surrounding dangers in an attempt to secure a safe-space. The more intelligent members used their vast knowledge and understanding of what they were to speed up the change and make it all go smoothly.
Over time, the locations of the newly changed would be transformed into safe-havens. And there numbers grew. Slowly but surely.
Before there abrupt downfall as a race, this was one of their instincts. This was their physical and genetic history.
And as very few know. The Lupines of Romulus are making a comeback....and history often repeats itself.
***
Madness had begun. The Moon had gotten what it required once a month. Psychotic carnage, twisted further and made more gruesome by its beautifully maddening magic.
Magic that the Lupine below fed on, allowing all of his powers...all of his pack, to grow exponentially.
His limbs carried him away from Rollan's home and across the cold grass ground in a flash. The Phantom Legion followed behind like a giant shadowy relative of Cerberus while Frosty bounded nearby equally as intimidating. And equally as empowered by the Moon.
The HellBred Monsters that once crowded in an attempt to intimidate now hovered in the distance with their weapons and hunger at the ready. Their HellFire blazing eyes watched them with a sick form of excitement. They thought this battle would be easy.
If Claude could think-- he would say otherwise.....and the Wild Magic barrier waiting to be absorbed by him and his pack would support his statement with an absolute level of faith.
It took him less than a second to reach it.
What the HellBred assumed to be a setback to the oncoming charge functioned more as a speed-boost.
Once Claude reached the SpellBloom Ward, he lunged with his claws reaching for the aggressors in the distance.
In an instant, green cracks and fissures of magic opened like wounds in the wind and exploded in glowing green shards resembling magical glass that seeped into the pack as he shattered the ward.
CRSHHHH!!!
The verdant strands of power swelled and lunged for the pack, seeping into their muscles and empowering them as they dove into battle.
Claude met the first of their charge. A HellBred Goblin.
The creature roared with it's sword raised and dark greenish black muscly skin bulging.
"ROAAAA--"
"RAGHSH!" Claude didn't bother dodging and tackled the creature, using his size to overpower and rend the Monster to pieces as they rolled in the grass like two rabid dogs.
As they tumbled, combat washed over them like a tide while he ripped the Goblin to pieces.
When he rose to his feet once again, he did so with a decapitated Goblin head in his right hand.
Another approached. A HellBred Centaur-- looking less like a primal horse-man and more like a primal bull-man with its hulking muscle and giant horns.
FWOO!
He chucked the head at the Monster with a snarl. His throw, empowered by Lunar and Wild Magic, sent the head across the grass like a green bullet that splattered against the Centaur's head midcharge, causing the Goblins horns to sink into it's face like throwing knives.
SHNK!
"NNNRRRGHG--"
SHLCK!
The Monster wailed in pain before being cut short as Claude bounded across the field and lunged, sinking his right arm into it's equine chest while his other arm worked to lift the massive creature and throw it onto the two approaching Kobolds behind it.
CRSHH!
Its massive body pinned the reptilian creatures effortlessly with an earth-rattling thud, leaving them with the single option to scream in pain as Claude landed on the pile of Monsters and began ripping them into unrecognizable pieces.
Each punch and tear wore away more of the Centaur's midsections until he punched through ribs, ripped apart organs, and sunk through stiff reptilian skin.
They died quickly.
[+395 EXP]
He didn't care. The blood and flesh that warmed his claws drew him in with a primal hypnosis that he fell victim to as madness rose around him.
"HSSSSAHHH!"
FWOO!
In his distraction, another Kobold tackled him off his mound of shredded monsters, causing them to roll madly through the grass.
The creature ripped open old wounds along his chest and back while he did the same to a more gruesome degree.
They rolled and rolled through the cold grass like monstrous tumbleweeds.
One roll. Claude was on his back with his hand in the black scaled Kobolds stomach. Another roll. He was on top working to pry the Monsters reptilian jaws from his bicep.
Uncaring of the consequences, Claude moved them faster. Rolling through enemies and adding to their snowballing tumbleweed of chaos until he exploded to his feet with smaller Goblins and Kobolds flying in all directions.
He held the one that tackled him by the leg while blood dripped from it's missing arm. Before it could attempt to attack, he swung the creature at the ground as if it were a mallet.
"RAGH"
SQSHH!
The Kobold smacked into the ground face-first causing it's snout to gruesomely shatter and flatten into it's skull while blood and brain tissue squirted from its ears like a partially crushed fruit.
The others were on there feet and charging him in an instant, uncaring of their fallen teammate.
Claude spun and roared as he swung the longdead Kobold as if it were the legendary hammer, Mjölnir.
FWOO
CRSH!
It's body was brutalized and crushed further as it smacked into the oncoming Goblin...and Kobold...and Centaur.
After a matter of seconds, all he was left with was a leg. The Monsters that fell became floor decorations for the newest wave that thirsted for his blood and hate. He welcomed their madness with his own.
[+385 EXP]
Another Goblin charged, throwing a ball of HellFire at him in the process.
FWOO
He sidestepped the projectile and sent a roundhouse kick to the Monsters body, causing its ribs to shatter in response to his power and its own momentum.
CRCK!
Before it could fully be sent backward, he dashed-- moving at blinding speeds to appear behind the Monster and send another roundhouse to it's back.
CRCK!
"AAARGH!!"
With it's midsection reduced to blood and boneshards, the creature fell only to be stomped further into the earth by a pair of giant canine pawed feet.
No time to relax.
[+75 EXP]
The large Gnoll resembling a muscle-bound Doberman with horns charged him with it's open jaws on full display.
"AAARGH!!"
Claude surprised the Monster, returning the attack and catching it's jaws with both hands.
SHLCK!
It's teeth sunk into his palms as it fought to clamp it's jaws shut on his hands.
For the first time he struggled. The two were off the same size. One empowered by Hell and Lunar Magic, the other empowered by the Wild and Lunar Magic.
They struggled against each-other for what felt like eternity as violence swelled around them.
Frosty ripped into a Gnoll in the distance, disemboweling the creature with his claws while the Phantom Legion covered the PitWolves flank, swatting off Monsters heads with its massive paws.
Slowly, the surrounding Monsters left the Wolves and moved towards Claude as his palms ripped against the Gnolls closing jaws.
Goblins appeared behind him, sinking their daggers into his back, causing him to let out roars of pain and rage that only climbed as Lizardmen and Kobolds latched their jaws onto his limbs.
[95--94.....90....8-- 70% HP Remaining]
He was being overwhelmed.
Adrenaline flooded his insides and Wild Magic blended with the touch of Luna.
Magic continued to swell until he felt drunk on power, causing him to raise his snout and roar at the Moon-- causing the very ground to vibrate, as he used his empowered arms to pry open the Gnoll's jaws and rip its head in half.
SHRIP!
[+185 EXP]
Little did he know, his howls took the Magic of the wild and spit it back into the atmosphere, empowering the pack nearby and drawing creatures in the distance closer.
When he lowered his head, all the Monsters around him were in pieces. Frosty and the Phantom Legion stood at his sides growling silently while they watched the Satyr with the Armament of the Underworld in the distance. More waves of Monsters filled in the emptiness of the field.
They were once again outnumbered.
That's what it felt like until two Griffons perched on his shoulders...and a Mountain Lion and Wolf brushed against his legs.
When he looked back to the Monsters in the distance, they weren't watching him anymore. Their beady eyes now flashed all over the field as the predators of the wild emerged from the darkness ready for war.
The Wild heard his calls and in that moment, he welcomed it's power.