Striding down the hill towards them, Isaac got a clearer view of the armoured player. He was wearing a light, mobile half suit of armour shaped like a dragon, with the two wings forming ornate shoulder coverings, the head adorning his chestplate.
On his head was a visored knight helmet with an outrageously large red plume, matching the equally outlandish crimson cape that trailed behind him. A large semi-triangular shield was slung across his back, and a medium-length sword with a dragon-wing blade-catcher crossguard was sheathed in a belt on his waist.
“I am Charles, Shield of the Weak!” the figure cried out, continuing his confident stride towards the now halted Muggmites.
“The Hero?!” Isaac exclaimed “We’re saved!”
“Wherever there is a maiden in trouble, I’ll be there!” he continued, brushing back a tuft of strawberry-blond hair sticking out from his helmet and flashing a white-toothed grin at Tenshi.
“I revise my statement, he’s a creep.” Isaac sighed.
The leader Muggmite seemed to size up the recent addition to the fight. Then, raising its glowing sword and letting out a piercing war cry it slashed the air, sending the crowd of Muggmites forward.
“Oh crap, they’re charging, they’re charging us!” Isaac cried out. “Hey man, I hope you brough more than some cheesy pick-ups to this fight.”
“Didn’t you hear me the first time?” He drew his sword with one hand, combing his tuft of hair again with the other. “I’m Charles, the Hero of this world!”
With his sword firm in hand, he punched a glowing dial on his left gauntlet, causing his shield to mysteriously drop off his back and reattach to his waiting arm. “I’d be more concerned with yourself man; I really don’t know how you planned to fight a horde of Muggmites with half a belt.” He chuckled, swiping the empty air in front of him and opening up a game menu of some kind.
Tapping a couple glowing buttons, a shotgun shimmered into existence, along with a belt of shells. “I hope you know how to use one of these.” He kicked them towards Isaac, breaking into a dash towards the Muggmite ranks.
Passing Tenshi, he popped a small vial off his belt and tossed it to her. “Chug that,” he advised. “It’ll burn a bit, but it’ll bring you back into the fight.” Then, cleaving Muggmites left and right, he smashed through the enemy ranks like a bowling ball through tenpins.
“Just how strong IS that guy?” Isaac asked to no one in particular, watching Charles hack straight through armour, weapons, and monsters alike, all the while shrugging off blows on all sides. Pumping the shotgun and throwing the ammo bandolier over his shoulder, Isaac steeled himself, then also charged into the fray, sending Muggmites flying with every sharp crack of his weapon.
Meanwhile, having downed the offered potion, Tenshi flexed her arm tentatively, finding the pain greatly diminished. Flicking her hair again, she pulled out her rifle and loaded it, mowing down a rank of monsters faster than they could reform their line.
Seeing the battle start to fall out of their favour, the Aberrant Muggmite barked a short string of commands to the rearguard of the force, causing it to break into two platoons which circled around the main fight in a flanking maneuver.
Noticing it, Isaac called out a warning to Tenshi on the right flank.
“On it,” Tenshi returned, pulling a small cylinder out of her hair and loading it into a tubular secondary barrel situated below her gun. With a sharp report and a puff of smoke, Isaac barely glimpsed something fly into the group of Muggmites before a loud explosion split the din of combat, sending the critters flying in smaller pieces.
“Well, it looks like she’s got her side under control.” Isaac smirked. Turning to face the left flank, he loaded his shotgun and ran to meet them, picking a spear off the battlefield as he ran, and hefting it into the waiting throng. Blasting the front of the line, three Muggmites collapsed to the ground in response, only to be replaced by those behind them. Dodging a stone axe, Isaac launched off another five shots in rapid succession, cutting the force in half.
Gripping the now empty shotgun by the barrel, Isaac smashed the skull in of another Muggmite, grimacing as a spear nicked his ear. “Not sure how long I can keep this up” he muttered direly, making a wide left swing and felling a pair of monsters, only to take a dagger to his leg.
“Duck, Isaac.”
Falling to the ground without question, a familiar hail of bullets decimated the foes in front of him. Gingerly rising to his feet, Isaac turned to see Tenshi standing calmly behind him.
“Can you still fight?” she asked, looking at his leg.
“There’s no way I’m letting you two hog all the glory.” Isaac grinned in response, pulling out the dagger and half-hopping back towards the fray, reloading his shotgun while using it as a crutch.
Meanwhile, Charles was holding his own in the center. Lashing out with both shield and sword, he used the comparative size difference to his advantage, literally plowing the Muggmites over, trampling them under his iron-shod boots. Careful to never leave his back undefended, he rotated constantly, a little with every strike, cleaving anything that got within the reach of his blade.
Noticing a small troupe of spear-armed Muggmites coming up at his flank, he pointed his shield at them, slamming his arm against his chestplate to activate a waiting button behind it. The unusually thick central portion of his shield began to hum mechanically in response as Charles grinned on.
“Feast your eyes on the exclusive perk of the Knight class!” he boasted, as the spears flew from the hands of the Muggmites, sticking to his shield like glue. “Oh-toh-toh,” he muttered, angling his shield to catch a thrown dagger which likewise affixed itself to the shield. Then, with a final buzz, the noise ceased and all the armaments fell away loosely. Catching the dagger as it fell, he expertly returned it to its sender, imbedding it in its thorax.
“An electromagnet,” Isaac noted, clipping a Muggmite that was approaching Charles’s back.
“Yup, it has a limited battery though, so I can’t use it too often,” Charles stated, driving the point of his boot into the body of one of the now-weaponless Muggmites. “Still, it makes a nice defense alternative.”
“We should focus on the leader,” Tenshi cut in, pointing to the Aberrant Muggmite directing the remaining forces from the rear.
“Agreed.” Isaac nodded, loading his shotgun again. “My leg’s killing me though, so I’ll focus on any flankers.”
“I can take the main force, but I have only one magazine and one grenade left,” Tenshi reported.
“Okay, that should still be plenty,” Charles grinned, clapping the two of them on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’re getting out of this one, guaranteed. I’ll take the big guy while you two clean up the minions.”
“We’ve got your back!” Isaac returned.
“Good luck,” Tenshi offered.
“Okay, then let’s go!” Charles yelled, dashing at the ranks of Muggmites. At the last second, he jumped up, placing his shield below him and slamming a button below his arm. With a loud clatter, the electromagnetic pulse shot the metal weapons from the hands of the monsters to the ground and knocked Charles flying into the sky, as he cleared the bulk of the Muggmite army and landed with a crash in front of the leader.
“Damn that hurt,” Charles grinned, rising to his feet shakily. “Now then,” he pointed his sword at the Abberant. “It’s just you and me.”
“That’s our cue!” Isaac yelled, leaning on Tenshi as the two ran at the confused and disarmed Muggmites. Pushing himself away from Tenshi, Isaac narrowly dodged a thrown axe, dropping onto his side and responding with a shotgun blast.
“Right, the stone weapons wouldn’t have been affected,” Isaac mused.
“Are you uninjured?” Tenshi asked.
“I’ll be fine like this,” Isaac responded, sitting up and loosing a second shot.
“Understood,” Tenshi acknowledged, loading her grenade launcher.
“Make it count.” Isaac grinned.
“Naturally,” was her dry reply.
*******
Charles opened with a front stab, which the Aberrant Muggmite deftly dodged, throwing the blade in its off hand in response, which Charles met with his shield. Dropping back a pace, the monster pressed the gem pommel of its sword, resulting in a sudden stream of facsimile swords. Catching them and throwing them one after the other, Charles was forced to take cover behind his shield, deflecting the barrage of blades.
Raising his head, Charles slowly stepped forward, alternating between using his shield and his sword to block the flying weapons. “I gotta get me one of those.” He laughed to himself, checking the battery on his shield. “All outta juice.” He sighed. “I guess I gotta do this the old-fashioned way.”
Suddenly halting the stream of blades, the monster gripped one sword in either hand, dashing at him and unleashing a flurry of strikes.
“So you noticed you’re almost out of groupies?” Charles mocked. “Sucks to suck. If you don’t finish me quick, it’ll be three-on-one.”
“Equal…odds,” the monster spat out.
“Well I’ll be, you CAN speak a bit of English, huh?” Charles smirked.
Pressing a button on the back of his hand with his sword pommel, the shield dropped off his arm. Flexing his grip around the hilt of his blade, Charles nodded his head, dropping the visor into place.
“One sword is all I need to deal with you.”
So saying, he stabbed his weapon past the ear of the Muggmite, locking its sword in his hilt, and twisting it out of its hand, accepting the strike with its alternate sword onto his shoulder plate. Swiping his sword on an angle, the monster had to jump back to avoid getting cleaved in two. Reaching to it’s first sword for another duplicate, Charles grinned in triumph.
“Gotcha,” he whispered, dropping his hand to his sheath where a smaller holster for a dagger lay hidden. Whipping his hand, he drew and launched the blade in one smooth movement, landing a direct hit between the creature’s eyes before it could even raise its blade in defense.
“A hero must always have an ace card up his sleeve.” Charles grinned triumphantly, sheathing his sword and retrieving his dagger from the Aberrant’s cranium.
And with that, the battle was over.
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