A wide spread rescue (2/2)

Whether it were someone of the three mercenaries he had come there with or surprisingly some surviving rookies he had heard sounds of battle from, Jay wasn't sure. Either way he had to hurry.

He even jumped over some smaller walls that had broken down for the most part, to take a more direct way.

A few seconds later he finally jumped down the few stairs leading onto an open space from out of the small alley between higher structures. What he found there were Marrec and Cerea who seemed in a pretty tight spot.

Another irregular Gnoll, this time one with black fur and nearly nine feet tall, kept attacking them while five other Gnolls closed in from the sides.

Marrec took the hit with his shield but still seemed to have received some damage from it.

The pair had apparently managed to take down one of them as a sixths Gnoll lay dead to the side.

As he was sure they'd at least last some more seconds, Jay ran over not to reveal any of his movement skills.

The Gnolls had been so absorbed in their attacks, they didn't even notice Jay until one of them lost it's head while another died with to sword tips peeking out of it's chest. Those two attacks in swift succession had gotten the other monsters wary of Jay and at the same time incurred the big ones wrath.

It turned from Marrec to Jay and directly attacked with it's spiked club.

Though glad he had managed to give the two mercenaries some room, Jay was a bit hard pressed to dodge the strange weapon as the long spikes had quite some range. He still managed with rolling to the side and had not that much trouble parrying the monsters claws that followed next. It even was the opposite as after he redirected the paw, riposte activated and Jay counter attacked.

With this he made sure at least the offhand claw would no longer come in attacking as he cleanly sliced off the armored Gnoll's left forearm. The monster got as befuddled as the two mercenaries from this, but Jay was once again closing in on it after the elite Gnoll had jumped back.

The moment it had gained some distance, he had used (analyze) on it and learned his opponent was called Shadowmaw. Though only level 24, it was marked by his system as elite monster, signaling it's strength was abnormally high.

From how hard the first attack had been to dodge, Jay didn't doubt his system at all. Even his attack on Shadowmaw's left leg didn't really get in thanks to the monsters padded armor.

In the meantime, Marrec and Cerea had resumed defending and attacking the other Gnolls, killing two of them to that point.

As they were engaging with two more of them, the last one had once again teamed up with the boss and tried to attack Jay as he had stopped after his last attack.

The pincer attack proved to be a fatal mistake though, when Jay simply sidestepped the Gnoll that came from behind, kicked it's back and had it crash into the incoming club.

With a then stuck weapon still in it's remaining paw, Shadowmaw looked at Jay in surprise. Latter though closed in on the mostly dead Gnoll and once again kicked it's back with now slightly protruding spikes.

As Shadowmaw didn't have enough strength in his right arm to defend against this, the result was two Gnolls of different size pinned together, one dead, one severely wounded.

With the newly appeared blind spot, Jay circled the big Gnoll and jumped onto it's back while turning both of his swords. The moment he made contact with the monster, he plunged both blades down into it, between its neck and the armor on both sides.

Not even a scream escaped the black Gnoll's maw as it tinged backwards and began to fall.

Jay jumped off and landed exactly when Cerea had just killed the last remaining of their Gnolls. The two mercenaries kept staring at the dead Shadowmaw until Marrec finally walked over to it, kicked the corpse pinned onto it to the side and confirmed that Jay had killed it.

"Dude, how fucking strong are you?" M.

"I take it this was the first big one you encountered?" J.

"Well, we did have to fight some of the normal Gnolls, but other than that we…." C.

"Yeah, none of them had either this size or strength!" M.

"More importantly, we found one of the rookies corpses. Wait, did you encounter more like that one?" C.

"Yes, I had another encounter… And I'm sorry to say, but I also had found two of the young men you had described previously." J.

"That means only one of the recruits is left. I have a bad premonition!" C.

"Hey, look at this armor…" M.

While Jay and Cerea had tried to speak about their way to that point, Marrec had started to rip the damaged armor off from Shadowmaw. It really had been a sturdy one, though Jay was pretty sure his own was even better.

Once the mercenary was done, they chose the most direct way towards the south.

On their way towards the targeted location, the two explained to Jay that they had taken quite some detours but tried to stay clear from monsters. That way they had arrived there without suffering damage of loosing too much time.

While the meeting point with Adohan wasn't far, they they proceeded careful as close to the center they suspected a lot more opponents.

About hundred yards further, this suspicion got proven right as they encountered the first batch of Gnolls. Completely overpowering the group of five monsters, Jay and the mercenaries soon found the next batch.

All together four packs later, the three arrived at the place where they were supposed to meet up with their leader.

Thanks to them knowing the ruins pretty good, Jay had noticed quite the difference in pace as he previously had to look for his path.

The small plaza they stood on had no guardian to their surprise. Not even normal Gnolls roamed the area.

Just when Cerea stated that they should wait there and recover until Adohan arrived, they heard a human sounding scream. It came from behind a huge door that had one half slightly open.

Jay jumped into a sprint, grabbed the massive door and pulled it open. Behind it was a wide staircase, leading down for at least twenty yards.

At about half of it he could see it was something like an arena, with high walls surrounding it and empty ranks above.

Some pillars of which a few had broken down, stood to both sides of the paved path in the middle.

Even on the rest of the arena grounds were rubbish and half high walls, giving Jay the feeling it might have been more of a theater than an actual arena.

The moment Marrec and Cerea had arrived with him, the trio rand down the stairs and along the path trough the middle of the wide space. They had seen a temple like structure at the far end located on a huge pedestal with four pillars supporting the roof, two to each side. From Jay's guess they were more than twenty feet high and probably ten in diameter.

Only once they reached the foot of the few stairs that led up to the entrance did the three of them see they weren't alone like they first thought.

In the shadow and half behind the first pillar to the right, they spotted a furry figure. A silent whimper that sounded out next signaled that the Gnoll wasn't alone as well. Cursing in his mind that he even wondered why no Gnolls had been down there, Jay began to climb the stairs. As he saw the scene up on the plateau he barely reacted in time to stretch out his hand and hold Cerea back as she would have rushed over there.

The Gnoll named "Jagged Tooth" was Level 25 and, like the last one they had encountered, an elite. Jay had analyzed the monster, presumably about 9 feet tall when standing, even before it came completely in view. The reason he wasn't sure of its size was the position they found it in and the reason he held back Cerea.

Jagged Tooth was looking the other way and in a squat down position. Between it's legs, Jay could see a small human figure that the Gnoll was humping.

While the pitiful whimpers coming from her signaled them she was still alive, Jay noticed his blunder a tad bit late.

"Clodagh! It's Clodaghmpf…." C.

Though he had held her back from rushing in, Cerea had shouted out the moment she noticed it was the last of their missing recruits that the monster kept ravaging. Even Marrec had no chance to react in time, holding her mouth shut a second late.

Their reaction seemed to have startled the big Gnoll, bringing despair for their poor rookie.

Jumping forward a bit in surprise, Jagged Tooth rammed it's knot inside her as well, resulting in an ear shattering scream from her.

At least the monster let off from the then fainted girl and turned around to face the three. While it looked utterly enraged, that wasn't the problem Jay and the other two were facing.

Nor was it the rookie lying behind it that urgently needed help.

Following the sound of metal grinding along stone, a really humongous figure peeked out from behind the pillar on the left side. It looked like a Gnoll as well, but from the size of at least twelve feet and the strange metal helm it wore, none of them were sure.

Jay used the moment it needed to get the situation and analyzed their new opponent. But that didn't make the situation any better and even more, seemingly got noticed by the monster as it looked directly at him.

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Gnoll Chieftain

LVL 28 (elite)

* Red Gnoll* Age: ? * Gender: male *

HP 13,784/13,784 * Mana 0/0

[Hammer LVL 3]

[Whirlwind Smash LVL 3]

[Enrage LVL 3]

[Roar LVL 1]

__________

As it let out a sonorous roar, Jay jumped back down the Stairs and yelled at Marrec to take the smaller Gnoll. Cerea was to look after the girl, while he would fight the big one. Those last words nearly got stuck in Jay's throat as the Chieftain revealed itself in full from behind the Pillar.

It's red fur and the helm was not the only peculiar thing about it. The spiked shoulder-strap, the belt with two shields hanging on the sides or the plated thigh guard made it's huge figure even more imposing.

That was true for the giant metal hammer it pulled behind as well.

But that hadn't been the reason his words nearly got stuck, but the sight of it's other giant weapon. The Gnoll had stepped out of the shadow with a dog like boner in a size possibly too big for a human woman to survive it.

Considering what had just transpired, they really barely made it in time for the small rookie, whatever shape she then was in. And if she really would survive the day depended first of all on how the other mercenaries fared in this battle.

From the noise Jay heard behind him, it seemed that support for the Gnolls had already arrived as well.

To his luck, he at least didn't need to get the Chieftains attention anymore. It took a heavy step forward and then leaped down the stairs, straight after Jay. The moment it landed, the red Gnoll swung it's giant hammer over the shoulder and brought it crashing down right where Jay had stood a second before.

Six levels higher and an elite even more, Jay inwardly rubbed his hands.

This would be the first real fight of the day.

Like this he dashed forwards with both swords at the ready, only looking over his shoulder once to get the roundabout position the new arrivals had taken. The moment Jay reached near the Chieftain, he saw it change it stance.

Instead of aborting, Jay simply jumped forward and into a slide as the humongous Gnoll kicked out at him. The result was a deep cut around the monsters ankle, bringing it to lean on the hammer and growling in fury.

Jay had by then dashed towards the closest normal Gnolls after he got another cut onto the Chieftains back. That one only was shallow as most of the monsters back got guarded by a big metal shield. It seemingly knew it's weaknesses.

Of course the small wounds Jay had inflicted didn't stop it from chasing him.

The movement speed might have been reduced from this, but it still was far faster than the other Gnolls. In no time the Chieftain was back behind Jay and started it's next attack.

But that had been exactly what Jay was waiting for and the reason he went to his position. This was precisely in the middle of all the other Gnolls that had arrived. And the attack that came was the one he had been hoping for as well.

The moment the red Gnoll began to spin around, the world turned dark for numerous other Gnolls that Jay had silently slowed down or paralyzed with lightning. He had guessed what this [Whirlwind Smash] would be, as well as that the enraged monster wouldn't ve able to differentiate.

Thanks to previously attacking them all, his system did just that though. Each and every kill turned into XP for Jay, until the wide and strong attack ended.

Jay had during that time simply laid dawn to dodge the attack.

During that time he had looked over to Marrec and Cera, only to find out she had brought her rookie friend to the side and then joined her partner. Together they stood a good chance against the Gnoll, even more so as Jay was taking care of the other Gnolls as well.

Of the over ten supports, only three were left once Jay got back up. He ignored them first though and rushed to the dizzy Chieftain.

A single boosted stab to the monsters right hand was enough to bring it back focusing on Jay.

He dashed back towards the closest Gnoll, a Veteran one, and dodged it followed by the normal one behind that. A loud noise like an explosion and another kill in his log informed Jay that his plan had succeeded.

The chieftain had mashed it's own veteran with an over-head swing, while the one behind that got splashed by the debris and took some damage as well.

Jay kicked it towards the big red one and then took care of the last remaining himself. Stumbled over it's own subordinates and killing them in the process, the Chieftain finally went into a rage.

Jay even thought it got more red than it had already been, but then had to jump as it came charging in even faster than before.

Still rolling over the hard paved ground, Jay was lucky the debris that came flying didn't hit him. The raging Chieftain had crushed into one of the stone pillars along the middle path and destroyed it completely. But that didn't slow it down in the slightest.

Back on his feet, Jay only had a split second to glance over to where Marrec and Cerea kept struggling with their opponent. Though they still managed to keep it busy and focused onto them, the agile Gnoll with a bow posed a tough fight with its fast ranged attacks.

The next moment a huge chunk of the pavement next to Jay burst into smithereens as the giant hammerhead crushed into it.

Had he gotten distracted by the other fight even a split second longer, Jay wouldn't have been able to sidestep the attack.

He still got hit by some of the debris that came flying after the impact, but thanks to his good armor nothing happened. Some possible bruises would have healed long before the fight ended.

Thanks to this, Jay could use the position he was in and rush towards the Gnoll along it's weapon's long handle.

Rolling to the side, Jay dodged the anticipated kick that was coming in and then spun to the right as he arrived behind his giant opponent. First he only sliced his offhand sword diagonally along the monsters back, but once he had turned further, Jay rammed his Cruel Barb he had grabbed backwards into the Chieftains kidney.

While his attack dealt serious damage, it still was a long shot from killing the elite monster. It's absurd health hadn't even dropped by a third from Jay's attacks after this.

At least his opponent got staggered a bit, granting him enough time to retreat and look for the next opportunity to get a heavy blow in.