Chapter Ninety Eight - 098Wha--how?
Felix turned his hands, numbly noticing how they shifted from inky black hide toward his standard skin further up his forearms. Small black studs even poked from the meat of his arm, studs that looked alarmingly like bone. A wicked laughter crawled through his ears.
What have you done!?
The Maw gave no answer, but the nearby Prismatic Wretch let out a hissing screech as it snapped out its claws. The blast of sound shocked Felix's gaze upward, away from his transformed hands, and he saw that the bugs were only a dozen feet away, at best. The lead creature opened it's mouth and hissed as it scuttled forward, clear, paralytic drool whipping behind it.
SCREEEEE!
Felix snarled and heaved himself into action. With a concentrated Reign of Vellus behind him, he was launched up and over the monster, high enough that he could see the two others that were also stampeding down the narrow street. His sharp Eye and high Perception saw that all of them were smeared with crimson, their carapaces streaked with bloody trails. Rage boiled in Felix's core, and he felt his Fire Within crackle with thunder and ruinous flame.
INFLUENCE OF THE WISP!
Blue wisplight burned across the four of them as Felix sailed above, the Skill snagging each of them in its thrall.
Prismatic Wretches (x3) are Enthralled for 2 seconds!
Already passing the apex of his assisted leap, Felix whipped his hands out to the sides and dual cast Shadow Whip.
Dual Casting is level 22!
Twin streaks of shadow slithered outward and latched onto the buildings to either side of the street, and Felix let himself fall, the tacky material stretching a moment before rebounding him forward like a bungee cord. All three of them were still frozen, their inhuman visages a tableau of universal pain as the blue fire ate away at their bodies. Felix felt zero sympathy, only a cleansing fury that drove his next spell all the harder.
Wrack and Ruin!
The dark orb shot forward, splashing corrosive all over the lead Wretch as Felix sailed throught he air toward it. The wisplight flickered out only moments before he landed atop its back. He dismissed his Shadow Whips with a thought.
SCRAAAA! SCREEE!
The massive mantis tried to spin and attack him, but hit buildings to either side of itself, the street entirely too narrow for the ten foot tall monstrosity to maneuver. Exactly as Felix had hoped.
Unfortunately, that did nothing to prevent the Wretch behind him from attacking.
A massive scythe whipped into Felix's torso, tearing him off the lead insect's back and sending him hurtling through the upper story windows of a residence. He exploded through the wall and slide across a room until he fetched up against the far wall. Glass and stone littered the floor, but Felix paid it no mind. With a groan he shoved himself to his feet, splintering a wooden floorboard as he did so, and jogged back to the window.
The three Wretches had proceeded further down the street, no doubt drawn to the large gathering of survivors at the Coldforge.
"God damn it," Felix cursed, before he heard a soft gasp behind him.
Quick as blink he turned toward the noise, his hand crackling with blue lightning before he realized he had smashed into a bedroom. Two brown-haired Humans wearing bed clothes stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. Felix quickly checked that his cowl was up, and when he did the Humans screamed and ran from the room.
They saw his hands.
"Great."
Looking back outside, Felix saw the monsters already three houses down and picking up speed. A powerful wave of fury surged from him, from the base of his skull, a rage that shouldered past all restraint and caution. The bastards had left behind them a trail of blood and gore and Felix could envision the bodies these monsters had waded through on their way here. And they were monsters, made to eat and kill and feed.
No.
He leaped out of the window, his legs flexing lightly as he smashed into the cobbles. He summoned a writhing tendril of shadow into his right hand.
I'll show them a monster.
Relentless Charge!
Felix burst forward, and at the same time cast out his Shadow Whip. The branching tendrils entagled the rearmost Wretch, catching all of his right side. Channeling his mounting horror, Felix felt his insides burst into agonizing flame, scouring his pathways with a burst of laser focused hate. He impacted the insect with his claws outstretched.
And he tore it apart.
The monster's chitinous thorax sundered beneath his midnight talons, his swipe passing through its hide with barely any resistance. His momentum was so great that he kept going forward, hurtling into and through it's left legs. They snapped like dry tinder, gruesomely segmented by his left handed strike.
Relentless Charge!
He sped forward, moving passed the nigh-immobilized enemy in the back, onto the second in line. He spared no thought, put no mind to tactics. He was fury and hate. Each clawed strike slashed open a body part, sending green gore splashing in all directions. A giddy sort of rush built behind the ferver, a humming in his ears that Felix's Body couldn't ignore even as it passed by mostly unnoticed.
The second Wretch flailed backward, driven away from his offensive in primal fear. Felix laughed, and in his moment of distraction, the rearmost monstrosity lunged forward. With a sickening, wet *thud* it sunk its needle teeth into his right shoulder before whipping his entire body into the ground. The stone cracked beneath him and blood sprayed in vivid arcs from his gaping wound.
"RRRUAAGH!" Felix unleased a 360 degree blast of lightning that tossed both Wretches backward several feet and himself upright. He could feel the paralytic toxins racing through his bloodstream, but he didn't care.
Status Condition: Paralyzed (Torso, Arms)
The one behind him was still alive, though it struggled to right itself after that last hit. Unable to lift his arms, Felix brute forced out the Mana pattern for Reign of Vellus, willing it to discharge even as his arms stop working. It hit it square in the face, splitting the bug's head and bursting it's left eye in a shower of goo. The Wretch hit the ground only moments before Felix himself.
You have defeated a Prismatic Wretch!
You have gained XP!
He could feel his Poison Resistance and Fire Within burning through the paralytic in his blood, but at that moment he could feel nothing but the warm wash of green ichor as it spread around his prone body. Bits of it poured into his mouth, and Felix found himself unable, and unwilling, to spit it out.
It tastes...his Mind shuddered in disgust and desire. It tastes good.
His Fire Within sparked with gold and blue as it rapidly devoured the mid-grade paralytic. With an abrupt, ear popping jolt it cleared entirely from his system.
Poison Resistance is level 41!
Felix got to his feet, his claws trailing in the puddles of lumpy muck that surrounded him. It dripped heavily from his stolen cloak, soaking the material and dragging it down tight against his shoulders.
Go ahead, it whispered. Take your due, Felix Nevarre.
Felix fought against the voice, forcing his own hand down and away from his face. He turned back to the nearest Wretch, who only now had mustered the courage to attack. The ten foot tall bug skittered forward and struck simultaneously with its two claws, but Felix reached up and grabbed them.
*THOOM!*
Gobbets of offal and ichor pulsed outward in a ripple, the force of the Wretch's blow clearing the streets around them for six feet. The iridescent bastard tilted it's inhuman head at Felix, clearly confused as to why he wasn't crushed. In response, Felix snarled, sunk his talons into its claws, and yanked.
The wounded Wretch toppled forward, clearly not expecting that move, and as its head came into range Felix reared back.
Corrisive Strike!