Chapter 44: Danger
Bedlam laughed as Roko and his friends were forced to dance around the monsters, unable to attack back. Whenever one of them would, another girl would get in their way, stopping them with their own bodies. No matter what they tried, there was nothing they could do but protect themselves and the girls. Roko kept trying to push the girls away but they would always come back when he tried to attack. Until one of the monsters finally began to attack him with no time for him to dodge and nothing to block with. Roko brought his arms up to try and block as much of the attack as he could until another girl run suddenly ran in front of him, trying to protect him from the monster.
"Stop this! You don't have to do this!"
The monster's attack stalled in midair, to Roko's surprise. The monster had no way to emote but it still stopped its attack as if it recognized its "mother".
"You see me, right?!" The girl cried joyously, "You remember me, right?!"
The monster continued to halt its attack until a small twitch prompted Roko to grab the girl and pull her away as the monster's attack completed without mercy, smashing into the ground where his "mother" once stood.
"Get away from here." Roko advised before moving to draw the attacks away from her. Despite his warnings, the girl just got up and tried to cling onto the monster, trying to stop it from attacking with little success.
"Roko!" Helena's voice called out from a few feet away as she struggled with her own girls, "Roko, what do we do?!"
"Short of knocking them out?"
"We can't do that! They could get trampled!"
"Can we knock some sense into them?"
"I don't believe we have the time." Roswell added, "Not while getting attacked."
"Besides, they're too many of them." Roland scowled, "Both monsters and girls."
"Then we'll just have to get good." Roko said, "Analyze."
Roko ducked under a girl's arms, sliding in between her and her "child" before kicking the girl away and stabbing his sword into the stomach of the monster, dropping its health by a good quarter before the monster reacted. Drawing his sword from its stomach, Roko made another slash across the body before he was forced to dodge along the side of the monster as it tried to make a quick attack with its hammer arm. Making a quick slash across the sides as he dodged, Roko turned around to face the monster's back to make one last heavy slash into the back before the monster collapsed onto the ground, dead.
"Get good he says." Roland growled as he pulled one of the girls up by the collar and threw her away, "Like we can just see enemy health for ourselves."
"Can hardly be called a plan really." Roswell laughed as he grabbed one girl by the hand and spun her around to the other side before kicking the monster in the face, "But let's try to be gentle, okay men?"
"Hey that's not fair!" Helena cried as she ducked under a monster's swing, "You can't expect me to fire my spell without expecting one of the girls to jump in front of it!"
"Then can you deal with the stragglers?" Roko glanced towards the girl he had kicked away. She simply knelt there, stunned and empty. As if shocked at the loss of her "child".
"Okay! Leave it to me!" Helena called as she disengaged from the creatures, "I have some questions for them anyway."
With little choice but to attack around the delusional girls, Roko and the knights did their best to defend both themselves and the victims from their own "children". However, the more they killed, the more desperate the victims became, throwing themselves upon the attackers, holding them back with their full bodies. Between dodging the monsters, dodging the girls and still somehow making an attack, the situation was starting to grow more hectic and desperate. There were still a number of the advanced monsters crowding them and while the numbers have dwindled, there were still more than they could count. Thinking back to how many prisoners there were, they might end up fighting all night. They might be skilled enough to avoid major damage but any direct hit could do serious damage and who knows what the girls might try to do if they get desperate. They couldn't spend all their time battling the issue and not the problem.
"Roland, Roswell! You've gotten used to this right?! I'm going after Bedlam!" Roko shouted as he disengaged from the monsters.
"Wait what?!" Roland cried, "You're just abandoning us?!"
"I'm dealing with the problem."
"Why can't I fight Bedlam?!"
"Because you're more equipped to deal with these creatures."
"That also means I'm more equipped to deal with Bedlam! It's not my fault you didn't bring armor!"
"Yeah but I'm smarter."
"Like hell you are!"
"Than Bedlam."
"Oh."
"And also you."
"You get back here and we'll see how smart you are after I bash your face in with my sh-"
Roland's threat got interrupted by an attack from a monster as Roko closed in on Bedlam. Before he could reach him though, Roko felt a shadow fall over him and he quickly jumped back as another monster dropped from the ceiling and smashed into the ground in front of him. It wasn't much different from the other monsters they had been fighting but looking closer, Roko could see the arms that had become hammers had changed on this one into sharped points. The monster righted itself on its now pickaxe like arms before he stood before Roko and roared.
"Guess that armor and shield wouldn't have mattered anyway." Roko grimaced as he drew his sword.
The pickaxe monster raised one of its arms and swiped at Roko who narrowly dodged it and slashed into the monster's body.
"Analyze!"
???
Health: 87%
Mana: N/A
Attack: 104
Defense: 54
???
"Why couldn't you have had shields instead?" Roko sighed as he jumped back.
The monster roared as it swung one of its arms up to attack him. Roko grasped his sword with both hands and with a full bodied swing, managed to parry one of the monster's attack, opening the monster up to an attack that stole another 16% of its hp away. This new one had less weight in its arms, making its attacks faster but also lighter. Light enough to parry but nonetheless more deadly. Thankfully, Roko had no armor so he was used to having to dodge everything, unlike what the knights are used to. The only advantage keeping them from dying is the fact that these creatures were still so simple that their attacks were easy to read and dodge. The girls have complicated the situation but killing the monsters were the only way to save them so the goal remained the same just with a new priority on keeping as many people safe. But they couldn't keep up fighting forever. Roko in particular could feel the fatigue dragging his arms and legs, even the pounding of his heart threatened to slow and stop.
"Can't fight your own fights, Bedlam?" Roko said with as much bravado as he could muster.
"Why work when I don't have to?"
"All that muscle and you can't lift a finger to do something yourself."
"Oh trust me. If you manage to get to me, I'll be more than happy to introduce you to these magnificent guns."
"They aren't even real, you idiot."
"They're real where it matters!"
"Please, brother, we need to leave!" Daniel cried as he tugged on Bedlam's arm, failing to get his swollen frame to move.
"There is no need to worry, Daniel." Bedlam smiled, "There is no way for these humans to defeat the power of our God. Their fate is already sealed."
"But still, there is no reason to remain here! We can just leave!"
"On the contrary, I figured you'd be happy to stay."
"What?"
"Here is a prime opportunity to capture the princess of Aporia right here. She would be a glorious sacrifice to our Lord Gnasci. And this way, you won't have to continue tricking that Antecedent Princess."
"I...I..." Daniel backed away, stunned.
"Like I'm going to let you lay your hands on another girl you messed up deviant." Roko said as he parried another attack.
"You are the one I'm least worried about." Bedlam sneered, "You have no skills and no training. You may have gotten the better of me once but that won't happen again."
"And if your magic actually amounted to anything, I would be worried."
"Like I said." Bedlam sneered, "I wouldn't underestimate our magic."
As Roko pushed back the monster in front of him, he was suddenly struck from the side and sent flying across the ground.
"Roko!" Helena cried out in shock.
Roko coughed, a bit of blood trickled down from his mouth as he forced his body up, pushing the projectile that had hit him off his body as it crashed loudly onto the ground. Looking at what hit him, Roko saw a large clump of earth. Dirt and stone compacted together into a small missile that couldn't have been shot at the speed it was through normal means. Which means magic. And looking up, Roko could see the caster, standing there, panicked, confused and scared.
"Stay away from my child!" Melia cried desperately.
"MELIA?!" Helena cried, "What have you done?!"
"AAAAAA-"
Cries and screams broke out from the crowd of humans and monsters. The girls are now throwing themselves on top of Roland and Roswell, trying to pin them down.
"What's the hell's going on?!" Roland cried as he struggled to push the girls off him, "Watch out!"
Roland lunged to the side, dragging as many girls as he could as one of the monster's hammer arms slammed down on the ground where he used to be.
"They've gotten more desperate!" Roswell cried, "What's going on?!"
Roko growled as he pushed himself back up onto his legs, "Things seem to have gotten more desperate."
"Roko, you okay?!" Helena cried as she rushed up next to him, "Melia what are you doing?!"
"Please...please just run away." Helena gulped, "I don't want to hurt you."
"What are you saying?!" Helena cried, "Do you really think this monster is your child?!"
"I...I know he looks like a monster but...he's still my child! I can't just let him die!"
"Are you listening to yourself?! Look at him! He's not human!"
"It doesn't matter if it's not human! He...he can change! I'm sure if I talk to him-"
"She's hysterical." Roko grunted as he reached down and picked up his sword, "My guess is that their God is forcing their perception to protect the monsters."
"Are you sure?"
"The girls of the monsters we defeated aren't responsive right?"
"Yeah. I tried to talk to them but they just don't respond."
"That God must have hacked their minds in order to use them as shields. And now he's using them as weapons." Roko grimaced.
"How can we stop it?" Helena asked.
"If we get that book, we might be able to find a way to stop it." Roko explained, "Even if we can't read it, we can try burning it. Either way..."
"We need to get past that monster." Helena nodded, "And that means getting past Melia."
The two turned to look towards Melia who was standing in front of the pickaxe monster, confused but determined.
"Melia's my friend." Helena patted Roko on the shoulder, "Your sword will do better damage against the monster anyway."
"He only has 72% Health left." Roko said, "It might still take a while. If things get dicey just retreat."
"Don't worry." Helena smiled, "I came prepared."
Roko charged at the monster, sword in hand. Melia jolted in surprise, looking conflicted for a moment before she raised one of her arms, "Earth!"
Dust and rocks gathered in front of Melia's hand, forming into another earthen bullet. Which was immediately blasted apart by an ice spell from Helena. A few more shots separated Melia from the demon, allowing Roko to run in to face the monster. After getting hit by Melia's spell, Roko's had trouble gathering enough strength to land strong hits so at first he decided to mostly dodge and land smaller hits in order to avoid straining his body but at the same time, he was making too little damage to make any meaningful headway and Helena was bound to run out of mana eventually. Straining his aching body, Roko heaved his sword up, side stepping a stab from the monster to land a large slash across the monster's body. The monster roared, swinging its arms as it reared back in pain, one of which almost would have damaged Rokoif he hadn't dove to the side. Having hit the ground though, his body was refusing to get back up as easily, the wound that Melia's spell had left on him, still aching. The monster settled back and raised its arms once more to attack, forcing Roko to roll to the side, back on his knees as the monster's arms pierced the ground. Forcing himself fully on his feet, Roko was about to face the pickaxe demon again before he noticed an approaching rumbling sound and Helena's voice called out to him, "Behind you!"
Spinning around, Roko saw that one of the hammer arm demons had moved away from the knights, charged through right in between Melia and Helena and was now poised to attack him in mere seconds. And in the minute seconds before the monster would crush him, Roko's mind seemed to slow down and he understood. Retreating would still put him at risk from the surrounding impact of the hammers. The only way to escape was forward. Roko lunged forward and dove his sword through the hammer monster's body. The monster screeched and itsattack hung in the air, interrupted but only for a few seconds. But its attack would adjust itself to hit him again and resume. So Roko needed to push further. And pushed he did, forcing the hammer demon's body to arch backwards, bending the demon's body back until the weight of its own arms overtook it and the demon fell backwards, onto it's back. Roko fell as well, pushing his sword until he collapsed on top of the monster. Roko pushed himself off the monster's viscous body, gasping as he recovered from the near instantaneous thinking he had been forced to do. But everything refused to leave him alone for a quick second as Helena screamed "Roko, the other one!"
Roko turned his body around but maybe he was fatigued or his brain was still operating in high speeds because he seemed to be moving much slower. The pickaxe monster had approached from behind and was beginning to swing its arms up to impale him. Roko tried to react but his mind went blank, and his body didn't know what to do anymore. Roko had all but accepted his fate until an ice spell flew through the air and blasted the monster's face. The attack was enough to snap Roko out of his stupor and he grabbed his sword, pulling it out of the body of the hammer monster and slashing into the pickaxe monster. The monster writhed in pain until someone suddenly grabbed Roko from the back and pulled him away.
"Please stop!" Melia cried.
"Damnit, I don't have time for this!" Roko scowled as he tried to push Melia away.
"Roko! Melia!"
Helena's voice alerted Roko to the rising body of the hammer monster. He didn't know why he thought he had killed it but there wasn't time to think of that now.
"Melia, let go!" Roko tried to dislodge Melia but when it became clear that he can't get her away, he tried to grab Melia and move both of them out of the way but with her still holding him down, he couldn't get himself or Melia to move. With no options left, the monster swung its arm from the side and smashed into both of them.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone