Chapter 469: Battle Of The Manor (Part 1)
Laz backed up, swinging his fist up to knock away the monsters mouth. While his fist made contact, it was like hitting an iron plate. The monster was knocked back, but Laz was also forced to retreat several steps until he found his footing again. The black flames seemed to fade as soon as the corpse man made contact with Laz, like they had no effect at all.
"Fuck," Laz said, feeling a bit of pain in his fist.
This was the first time he had tasted pain in a while.
Just as Laz got his footing, the monster attacked again, charging forward with a vengeance.
Laz didn’t hesitate this time, stepping back, channeling his strength and sending it through his fist in the only martial attack he knew, the dragon fist.
Laz had fist learned this move from his uncle Chu back in the chinese restaurant he used to work at. His uncle wasn’t exactly a martial arts expert, but he had gotten some training back in his younger days and this move was a staple kind of attack he was taught. Laz had learned it and used it, but his fights up until this point had never really required this type of move. Afterall, his opponents had only been made out of flesh and blood and a punch to the fast was just as effective. And in those times when it wasn’t enough, he had used his sword... or even the black flames.
But in the end, none of those would work here. Being inside, even with the room space, a sword would be a hindrance. As for his black flames, Laz had no idea how much that would work on a creature with his own type of energy flames seeing as how they had faded so quickly before. And Laz had a suspicion that the corpse man knew a lot more about using the flames than he did.
In the end, when it came down two it, Laz suddenly fell back on the martial attack that was the most comfortable for him to use.
As his energy surged through his arm and down his hand, Laz saw something that had never happened before. As he swung his fist forward, a purplish energy emerged from if and came forward, like he was shooting a fire ball with his fist. Laz suddenly remembered the anime’s he watched as a kid but decided against yelling out the attacks name as even he would be embarrassed to do that.
When the purple energy of his fist made contact with the corpse’s face a second before his fist did, the corpse man was sent flying backwards while Laz didn’t feel any pain.
Looking down at his first and then up at the corpse that had imprinted itself into the wall, Laz suddenly felt like he had a new understanding of this dragon fist.
After all, the purple energy that came flying from it was shaped like the head of a dragon.
’Instead of dragon fist... maybe I should call it dragon head-butt?’ Laz thought for a moment before discarding that idea.
The two robed figured quickly ran over to the corpse man to help him up before he pushed them away in anger.
"You’ll be a bit tougher to eat than I thought. But no matter. This just makes it more fun. You wouldn’t be tasty if you were so weak," the corpse laughed in it’s strange voice.
"What the hell are you?" Laz finally asked, watching the corpse rise as though nothing was wrong with it.
"HA! You don’t know? Truly amazing that you have their bloodline but lack any of their memories. That’s not how it’s suppose to work boy. The blood should tell you all that you need to know," it said as it squatted down. Just as Laz was wondering what that meant, he suddenly recognized the man’s posture.
Before Laz could brace, the man had shot forward, his speed even faster now that he had prepared himself.
Laz didn’t even have the chance to prepare his fist attack again before the man was on him, his bony fingers reaching for Laz’s chest like knives stabbing towards meat.
What was worse was that there was little flesh left on the fingers and the bony tips had been sharpened to points.
Laz was sent flying backwards again from the attack, his armor taking the blunt of the blow that would have ripped into his chest had he been unprepared. This time though, he didn’t manage to stay on his feet as the banister splintered into pieces and Laz was sent flying off the second floor and on to the first where his fall was broken by a manor guard who didn’t noticed he was in danger until it was too late.
Rolling off the crushed figure of the man, Laz looked up to notice the corpse looking down on him, licking his lips.
’He really wants to fucking eat me...’ Laz thought as he rubbed his back. In truth, falling on to a person wasn’t comfortable in any way.
Laz then jumped back as the corpse man jumped down from the second floor and landed in the first, his two feet cracking the old wooded floor boards before the hard stone underneath stopped him.
"Ahhh. To think that after ten thousand years, I would again be able to fight one of you bastards again. It almost makes the wait in this place worth it. And to think, ten thousand years ago, I was slaying gods. But now, even some Void Lord brat is able to withstand my attacks. If my people saw me now, oh how they would mock me for my weakness. But it matters not. Once I escape from this place, I shall be able to regain everything. My power. My life. EVERYTHING I LOST ON THAT DAY. And when that happens, I shall again fest on the bodies of gods and immortal beasts. Oh... I miss that taste. Did you know boy... even an abyss spider can be a delicacy if cooked properly? Sure, the legs can be used for nothing more than to clean your teeth... but the rest of it... A DELIGHT TO THE TONGUE! Even the eyes boy... the eyes... they are like little cream filled pieces of paradise that melt in your mouth. MMMM...."
"And we shall be your loyal subjects throughout your conquest my lord." The two men on the second floor, almost being forgotten by Laz, bent down to their knees in salute. Laz couldn’t help but wonder just why they chose this moment to say something, but honestly didn’t care to ask.
It just seemed weird somehow.
Then again, if Laz knew it was because they had to constantly remind the man that he was fighting that he had promised them this in exchange for their help, Laz probably would have laughed.
When you had to remind someone about a promise like that, there was no way they were taking it seriously. Once this man was out, they could only count themselves lucky if he didn’t kill them.
"Yes yes. Of course," The corpse man said, waving them off.
"SO strong and yet you require help from lonely beings like us, huh?" Laz said, a bit mockingly.
"YOU BOY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF HELL IT’S BEEN FOR ME HERE. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I’VE HAD TO WAIT TO REGENERATE MY BODY TO THIS POINT? HOW MANY OF THESE DISGUSTING CREATURES I’VE HAD TO CONSUME TO JUST NOT BE A HEAD ANYMORE?!?! DO YOU?????" The corpse man said, screaming at Laz.
Everyone had stopped fighting during this exchange. The manor guards retreating to the stairs while the Elven troops had backed away to the door. After hearing what was just yelled though, every one of their faces paled.
This was obviously a secret that even the guards of the first family didn’t know about.
Laz wondered why this lunatic had revealed this information. Looking at the decayed face before him though, Laz had the strangest thought.
’He hates and wants to eat me... But he hasn’t looked down on me either. I’m an enemy, but because of that, I am an equal? As for these people, the Fae... he doesn’t even see them as people... just food?’
The thought was kind of staggering to Laz, but he didn’t feel a hint of pride from it. It shocked Laz that a walking, talking, thinking and feeling person could only be considered food, but maybe that was the way of the much bigger out there that wasn’t just this small planet?
’Fuck it. It doesn’t matter right now anyway. Right now the only thing that matters is the enemy in front of me," Laz concluded before raising his fists again, prepared to fight.
"GOOD!" Just as the corpse gave a smile with what was left of it’s mouth, an explosion rocked the manor, causing the guards and troops to hit the floor. Only Laz and corpse man remained on their feet, glaring at one another.
A non robed figure came running into the room on the second floor.
"LORD! THEY’VE BROKEN INTO THE BASEMENT," came the newcomers announcement.
"WHAT? IMPOSSIBLE!!!"
"OF COURSE IT’S POSSIBLE YOU IDIOT. YOU PEOPLE ARE WEAK, BUT THERE IS A GOD REALM BEING HERE," the corpse man shouted at the robed figure on the second floor who had responded to being called ’Lord.’
"FUCK," the lord shouted and raised his covered arm, revealing a wrinkled hand. Lifting it to point at the massive light fixture on the ceiling, he sent forth a strong burst of energy that impacted with the huge, crystal like structure.
It came crashing down in an instant.
"GET DOWN!" Laz yelled at the troops who quickly followed his orders due to his display of strength along with the orders they received before coming in.
The manor guards had no such warning.
When the crystal hit the wooden floor, it exploded, sending wood, rock and shards in all directions like a grenade.
Covering himself in black flames while the corpse covered himself in green flames, they both stood and ignore the explosion while all of the manor guards were torn apart by the blast.
As for Sylvia’s troops and Ivana’s Priestesses, while they were injured, they fared much better in the blast as the armored ones were at the front and took the bulk of it.
The figures on the second floor were gone, as well as most of the visible floor itself.
"Looks like your little secret has been exposed?" Laz said as the sound died down.
"HA HA. NONSENSE. That is something they needed, not me. After all, as long as I feed enough, I can rip a tear out of here. They will still be stuck though which would be a pity..." the corpse said with a chuckle.
"Oh? So you were going to keep your word to get them out of here?"
"OF COURSE! I AM AN HONORABLE PERSON AFTER ALL. And besides which, I have no idea where I am in the omniverse and it might be a long way home. I will be sure to need some snacks on the way," he said, laughing even harder.
The only one that heard that was Laz as everyone else was still deafened by the blast.
And for some reason, after hearing that, Laz cracked a smile.
