Rage gripped Magnus' heart as the creatures came closer. 'As if I'd die again to vermin like this!'
His hand shot out, loosening his grasp on the fleshy tower and dragging him down slightly. 'Gotcha!' His hand grabbed the tongue, and with a squelching sound, it was torn off.
"KIEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" An ear-piercing wail came from the burly creature that had its tongue ripped off.
Magnus quickly climbed to the top of the tower, each jump covering multiple meters. 'Can't reach me here, can you?' he snickered at the burly creature.
The next instant, a shadow loomed over him, his instincts screaming at him to dodge. He rolled on the ground desperately.
BOOOM!
Turning to look, the burly creature had stood where he had been, both its muscled arms buried deep into the tower's flesh. 'Had I been there...' He didn't hesitate, running towards the creature.
'You're a soldier from now, the fodder is workers. I need to kill this fucker before I get overwhelmed by the workers, and there are more of em, so I have to be careful!'
A powerful swing came toward Magnus, aiming for his head. The air pressure itself was horrifying. Even with his strengthened body, he felt it was about equal to him.
An idea.
He raised both arms in defense, like a sturdy shield in front of him. He bent his legs slightly as well.
The punch connected.
Swinging both his arms when it hit, the blow that should've sent him flying was deflected to the side. Confused, the creature tried to regain its balance.
BOOOM!
A steel fist dug into its throat, piercing cleanly through its neck.
'Hahahahaha! Fuck you!' A glint of madness burned in his eyes before he saw the status window and smiled.
That kill earned him over 60 XP, bringing his total to 122. 'One more level. Just one more level, and I will grind you all into fodder!' He eyed the endless horde, and a sudden surge of confidence filled him.
A confidence that would soon betray him.
Another tongue whipped through the air, aiming for Magnus' throat. He hastily raised his arm to block it, only for the tongue to wrap around it.
He was about to grab the tongue and repeat what he did when another came flying from the side. Blocking it with his other arm, the tongue wrapped around it as well.
He could break free in a moment. Yet moments decide life and death.
A shadow loomed over him, and pain shot through his chest as teeth dug into him.
ARGHHH!
With a furious shout, he tore off the tongues before reaching behind him. In a frenzy, he grabbed the creature's neck and twisted it off. A faint red aura had unknowingly started emanating from Magnus, one which he did not notice.
Swish! BOOOM!
He dodged backward as two monstrous fists flew at him from both sides before hitting each other.
The soldiers didn't waste any time, throwing successive punches at Magnus. Forced to dodge the blows or risk being thrown off, he made a split-second decision.
He rushed one of the soldiers, blocking its punch with his hand as he clawed at its body. With a ripping sound, the metal gauntlet tore through the flesh.
Not skipping a beat, he spun around, countering an overhead blow with a kick to the soldier's chest. As it was launched mid-air, a tooth pierced into its chest at incredible speeds.
Taking a breather, Magnus waited for the next creature to climb up.
More workers kept climbing up the tower, only for him to grind them into experience. "Like a meat grinder, hahaha!"
The soldiers stopped attacking him with their tongues, which caused a sliver of doubt to rise in his maddened state. 'Are they waiting? Then why let me grind workers— to tire me out? Maybe, but if I get a level up...'
The rage once more consumed him as he began focusing on killing workers. Yet the growing sense of danger he felt went unnoticed, covered by his murderous impulses.
After countless kills, a familiar warm feeling coursed through his body. Regaining clarity of mind, the sense of danger overwhelmed him momentarily.
'Status!'
[Name: Magnus (changeable)]
[Level: 9]
[Experience: 2/1000]
[STR: 32] [SPD: 31] [INT: 11] [WIL: 45] [-] [-]
'Speed and Strength went up by 2 points each due to fighting.' He looked around yet couldn't see anything that might endanger him.
Deciding to trust his gut feeling, he threw 3 points into Strength and dumped the rest into Speed. In his perception, the creatures grew a somewhat slower as they charged him, yet he did not pay that any mind.
With a loud shout, he jumped up high, keeping out of the reach of the soldier creatures' tongues. Landing on a nearby tower, he kept repeating the process as he tried getting as far away from the place where he felt danger.
After traveling a few hundred meters, he still couldn't see anything wrong where he had been. Only the horde running after him was mildly disturbing, yet he felt no danger.
Deciding not to dwell on it too much, he accelerated his pace as he kept jumping further and further away from that spot. Turning around after 10 minutes of travel, the creatures had been shaken off, and there was no sign of danger anywhere.
The only thing he felt in that time frame was the ground quaking.
Although still slightly uneasy, he decided to climb down from the towers due to the chance of being spotted. 'Spotted by whatever gave me that feeling,' he added, 'And I can survey just fine from the ground.'
He wanted to explore the nearby area, to see if he could find anything to heal the poor girl that was waiting for him. Yet even after he searched for multiple hours, he didn't find anything noteworthy that could be helpful.
Deciding to make his way back, he halted his steps after having walked only a few meters. 'Another creature?' he thought, his ears twitching.
Turning around to face the new visitor, he was surprised to see something flying towards him.