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CH 32: Red Sunrise
🕑 Added 2024-11-21 17:43:03 +0000 UTCDawn cast a red-orange glow over the clouds in the sky - washing out the luminescence from the torches all around him. The grass and churned mud was cool on Reid's bare left foot.
Reid's face and body were dotted with red patches in early signs of bruising - but it was hard to see those under the layer of blood and gore that coated most of him. His messed up rib complained every time he twisted his upper body - and he'd gotten quite a bit of exercise so far. Five broken, barely recognizable bodies were on the ground at his feet. Compared to fighting the fridge, they'd all been terribly slow - and utterly weak.
Canvas tents flexed and flapped as the growing breeze caught them. The group of men arrayed in front of Reid grew in ones and twos as men made their way towards the open area in front of Bertrand's tent, towards the ever-growing commotion he had caused.
Reid tensed his grip on the bone knife and surveyed the group that blocked his advance. He needed to make short work of these men, and start figuring out who was still alive and well. Louis, Susan, and Sara were his top priorities - but he didn't have any idea if the RV convoy had even returned, and he had no idea where Louis was. That meant his best bet right now was pushing through Bertrand's men, and into Sanctuary proper.
Twenty men had gathered now. They started to array themselves into a defensive formation, with ranged weapons at the back, and melee fighters at the front. Those with firearms leveled their guns at Reid.
He counted three with long rifles, and one with a pistol. A few hung back and gathered energy in their hands - magic users. One man drew back a bowstring while the man next to them hefted a throwing spear over their head. Towards the front of their line, a man with a baseball bat stood between two others holding real swords. Someone off to the side of them was holding a shield, whispering to the man next to them holding... what looked like a sharpened lawnmower blade. A man with a hatchet and one with brass knuckles shared glances with a taller person that held a sharpened stick. Seconds steeped in tension ticked by, then Stickman charged forward. Gunfire cracked and magic lanced towards Reid as the battle began.
The bullets stung - the long rifles did just a bit more damage than the pistol rounds had. But they weren't leaving any true injuries. An arc of electricity shot wide past Reid's left side and burned a hole in Bertrand's tent. A fireball slammed into his arm, and burned off his hair, as well as a bit of skin. Bits of dirt exploded ineffectually against his chest, and the only arrow sent at Reid bent and snapped on impact.
Reid took two steps forward to meet the stickman. He grabbed the man's wrist and slashed at his throat, then shoved him into the hatchet wielder. A brass knuckle impacted Reid's abdomen - and the wielder screamed when the metal contorted around his newly broken fingers. Knuckles was no fridge - he didn't have nearly enough power to overcome Reid's toughness. Reid balled a fist and punched brass knuckle's nose through the back of his skull. Reid pushed the stickman's body off the hatchet man, then dragged him up off the ground by his throat. A poorly aimed fireball slammed into the man's back, and he thrashed in Reid's grip as the friendly fire burned away his back. Reid squeezed until something popped in the hatchet man's neck, then he threw him aside.
Lawnmower blade, shield man, the two sword wielders and the baseball bat guy rushed him together. Reid dodged to the side as three bladed weapons sliced empty air. He grabbed the baseball bat coming for his head, and stabbed the bat wielder through the chest and neck with his free hand. The man's torso twisted and nearly tore as he fell limp. Reid slid the bat up in his hand, and leveled a one-handed, lefty swing at the closest sword wielder. The bat exploded in a shower of wood fragments as it tore the swordsman's head from his shoulders. Back in the ranged weapons group, the pistol holder screamed as fragments of wood hit him in both eyes. Reid saw healing magic flare, and frowned. His mission was speed - and enemies getting healed was only going to slow him down.
Or... this was good. Reid could keep the healer alive, and then convince or threaten the man into fixing his rib. Reid made a mental note to not fling anything in the healer's direction, then started towards the riflemen.
The shield-wielder jumped in his path. He thrust the giant metal disk at Reid in an attempt to bash him - but Reid sidestepped the slow blow, and grabbed hold of the metal's edge. He pulled the shield man close and gouged a channel in his throat with the bone knife. As the man sputtered and gurgled on free flowing blood, Reid cut the shield straps on his arm. Another arc of electricity lanced out and hit the shield. Reid's muscles locked up for a brief moment - just long enough for the remaining swordsman and the lawnmower blade man to attack him from behind. They ripped Reid's shirt... without doing any real damage to him directly.
Reid hurled the shield like a frisbee in the general direction of the ranged attackers, and caught a glimpse of the top half of a newly-bisected body flailing as it soared into the air. His knife stabbed the swordsman through the chest, then through the side of his skull. His free hand caught the lawnmower blade wielder's arm as he went for another blow. The man's eyes went wide when Reid used his grip on the man's arm to force his own weapon back on himself. Reid plunged the metal into the man's chest - then let go of his arm, grabbed the blade, and heaved it up through the man's chest and out his shoulder. Reid frowned - he'd wanted to make a clean cut up through the man's skull, but that would have to do. He pulled the knife back out of the swordsman, and watched both bodies fall to the ground.
Long rifle fire and arrows peppered Reid from range. Another fireball caught his pant-leg alight, and Reid patted it out with a hand as he approached the ranged fighters. A man with glowing eyes and long flowing hair walked out to meet him, then charged Reid with a warrior's scream. He moved incredibly fast - almost as fast as the fridge had while using his boosting skill. Reid dodged a pair of quick strikes, but couldn't avoid the third. A scene from an old cartoon came to mind, of a speedster superhero that had broken their body trying to defeat a tougher villain. Speed was useless if you didn't have the strength to back it up.
The man screamed in pain as everything from his hand to his upper arm shattered on Reid's torso. Reid grabbed him by the hair and hefted the man off his feet - then held towards the ranged attackers like a shield. Fireballs singed the man's clothing and a pair of arrows thumped into his side. Reid drew his knife across the man's throat to stop his screaming. Notifications flashed.
Level: 10 -> 11
Control: 55 -> 60
One of the attackers held a hand out towards Reid and touched his temple with the other. Mana flared, and Reid felt the pinprick he now knew was active skill resistance. The attacker went wide eyed, then roared out in pain and gripped his head with both hands as he fell to his knees.
Reid reached the bowman. In a stunning display of dexterity, the nimble man actually dodged out of the way of two of Reid's strikes - before Reid caught him by the cloak. He spun the bowman into an oncoming clump of soil, and was shocked when it punched a hole through the man's torso. It had seemed like such an ineffective attack when it hit Reid. He stabbed the man to finish him, then sprinted for the dirt manipulator. An earthen wall rose between Reid and the man - then crumbled just as quickly. Reid smashed through the dirt, grabbed the man by the throat, and twisted his wrist. The sudden motion snapped the man's neck, and Reid threw away the body.
The remaining two riflemen were grouped together with the lightning user and fire caster. The healer was still working on the pistol man, though the screaming man holding his head had been dragged over to the magic medic as well. The throwing spearman was alone - and he still hadn't attacked. Reid made sure he never would. He closed the distance in four steps and drew a long gash up the spearman's side, then stabbed through his neck. An arc of lightning hit Reid in the knee and burned away more of his pants.
He recovered, crouched, and zig-zagged an approach to the final team of healthy ranged attackers. The riflemen weren't trying to make well placed shots anymore, and both held triggers down until their magazines were empty. Reid dropped his knife to his pocket as he reached them. Enough of Bertrand's people had died that Reid wanted to try questioning the survivors. He ignored their attempts to hit him. Reid grabbed the shorter one's head in his left hand, then the taller one's head in his right. He turned to the magic wielders, and spoke for the first time in this fight.
"No one else has to die if you answer my questions! Where is Louis?"
Reid knew he was dancing on a knife's edge. Right now, he was a danger to himself. Reid was... incredibly angry - and his rage was only growing as the fight dragged on. He was still in control of himself - still above the waves - but the churning water threatened to swallow him with every new swell. So he'd stopped himself short of killing two men - hoping he could de-escalate his own growing rage and learn more about the fate of his family and his friend.
The magic casters were less than cooperative.
Arcs of electricity tore through both riflemen. They screamed, and Reid's muscles seized again, for a fraction of a second. That seizing caused him to close his grip, and he found himself with the broken remnants of two skulls in his hands. He threw the bits of bone and gore at the electric mage, then stepped in close and low while the man was distracted. His uppercut shattered his jaw, and nearly ripped the man's head off at the neck. The fire mage tried to run, but tripped over the body of one of his comrades. Reid walked over and stomped in his skull with his one booted foot.
The healer had stopped their use of magic, and stared at Reid in shock. Reid stomped the life out of the two wounded men, then crouched down in front of the final mage. The man raised his hands, visibly shaking. Reid took a steadying breath and tried to keep the rage out of his voice.
"What's happening inside the walls? What did you do to the people there?"
The man spent a few seconds blubbering incoherent syllables before Reid could understand him. "We l-l-let everyone g-go, i-i-into the forest. Bert-Bertrand only needed th-the beacon. He t-to-told us not to k-kill anybody."
Hope flared in Reid's heart. "Everyone in Sanctuary made it into the forest? Nobody died?" The healer nodded vigorously. Reid wanted to be skeptical, but he felt tension and worry starting to melt. His family might be safe... or, was safe. A part of him wanted to fall onto his back and relax. The fight hadn't been difficult, but it was still taxing. Everything was sore, and the small wounds had built themselves up into a combination of injuries that was actually painful. His rib was still the worst, though.
Reid looked at the man cowering in front of him. If he was getting information - he may as well ask for more. Reid asked questions, and the healer continued to stammer out answers. Reid learned that Bertrand hadn't let the people go out of any sort of kindness - he'd needed to limit deaths while capturing the beacon for the sake of his quest. Even more interesting was that the beacon hadn't actually been captured yet. For some reason, Bertrand had to 'control it', uncontested, for another few hours before it would officially transfer to Bertland. Any deaths from the attackers or the defenders during that time would be considered a challenge to control, and it would extend the duration, or pause the timer.
As the questions continued, Reid had the healer work on him. The man was slow compared to Susan, but he'd managed to finish fixing up Reid's rib and a few of the more painful areas by the time Reid had finished quizzing him. Reid flexed - then smiled when nothing shifted wrong. He considered what to do next.
Bertrand's quest and focus on the beacon, coupled with everyone's escape, meant Reid had two options. Sanctuary and his family were both safe. He could head into the woods, find the residents, then link back up with Sara on the scavenger team. They could find a new place to settle in, and hunker down until the tutorial started.
They would be able to live, safe and comfortable.
Reid dismissed the idea.
The other path was eliminating the threat. If Sanctuary's people were out of the settlement, only Bertrand's forces would be inside. That meant Reid could fight through them without any risk to his family or his people. Bertrand's group was armed, ready for a fight. Reid would need to pace himself and watch out for anyone else like the fridge that could challenge him - but it felt... doable. He stood, and lifted the healer off the ground. The man might be slow, but Reid would have more need of him, soon enough. Reid turned and started walking towards the gate. He could already see motion on the walls. His resolve hardened.
Bertrand had kidnapped Reid. He'd killed scores of people - and so had his men. There was no future where they would leave Sanctuary's residents alone, even if they ran. Bertrand would take the beacon, then he'd seek them out to kill them. Reid could feel it in his bones. The man was, for everything Reid had seen, a slimy, violent coward. Reid couldn't let that threat stand. He wouldn't.
Bertrand put Reid in a cage.
He was going to put Bertrand in the ground.
