LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 27: Cutting off the head of the snake
You needn't be afraid of a barking dog, but you should be afraid of a silent dog.
-Russian proverb
The cafeteria is as quiet as usual, mostly owed to me sitting at my usual spot, and usual time. The nobles and scholarship students attending walk by in hushed tones, and hunched backs. As if I might jump out at them at any moment. It could also be related to my current tablemates.
"Lady Kyla'th has been ever so kind to me as to so graciously provide me with numerous test subject, I have already made progress on the annihilation of several growths, but alas it is not without setback. I have only been able to terminate growths in simple locations. Anywhere near nerves or organs gets difficult." Xygar is very excited to test an unexplored avenue of death magic.
"You are scary fish pirate, I never expected to see the day that a bonebag would be excited over healing the living." The goblin shaman Prez'cote is at the brink of laughter, it would have scared people away if there was anyone left.
The orc chieftain Blaz-Durnaturr simply picks between his tusks with a serrated blade, much less interested in the magical debates than his goblin companion is. Not to say he came here for nothing, my good relation with 'da midget' did make him search me out to try and broker a deal between the both of them. I look over the contract we are building together once more, it seems awfully rough for simple parchment.
"What's this made out of?" I'll just ask, because I can't figure it out myself.
"Human skin." All my tablemates respond at the same time, apparently they have much more experience working with unconventional materials.
"Well, regardless what you make it out of, the issue with the contract is this part here. It states that a dwarf is to deliver the weapons by caravan, but have you ever heard of dwarven land transport? They absolutely despise that, not to mention that the deal is with Urist, he might live in the Western Edge Mountains." He would probably also be worried about greenskins capturing and torturing his people for design secrets.
"How tha hell am I gonna make a deal with da midget if he ain't tellin where he lives? Da git is way too uptight with tha." Blaz is clearly not happy, but at least understanding enough to be able to work out a deal.
"Well, we could probably work on a third-party dropoff po-." I'm interrupted by a feeling of mana in the air getting heavier, and I can tell that the other casters with me are also feeling it.
"Wotz happenin?" Blaz instantly gets into combat stance. He knows that when the casters get wary, there is a cause for it.
"The mana in the air is getting disrupted, I would have a hard time casting even simple spells. Esstrey do you know anything?" Xygar starts scanning the room, the other students have also noticed something is up.
"Most likely an attack, we need to find the others. Whoever is causing this came prepared." However, before we can move, barriers close the entrances, locking us all in. At that moment, a group of cloaked men emerge through one of the barriers.
Blaz and I get in front, with Prez and Xygar figuring out how to bypass the closest barrier. Without magic, it will take a while longer.
"Who are you people? And what's going on with the ma-." A blade emerges, and slashes the student from shoulder to side. The man fan out, and start chasing people around to kill them. A few have eyes on our group as well.
"Blaz keep them busy, I'm gonna start reducing their numbers." My pocket ballista nails one of the men not paying us enough attention to the wall, turning him into a pin up donkey.
Three of the men engage Blaz, but the orc warlord doesn't go easily without a fight. He baits one of the men into overextending, and rips into his leg. His teammates save him by driving Blaz back, using magic to enhance their weapons.
"Blasted gitz only disabled our magic, I'll have da headz of every one of u spellblades!" Blaz threatens the men to seemingly no effect, until a rock from a goblin sling stuns on of the men, leaving him open. Blaz ignores the rapier of the one still standing, and bashes the skull of the stunned assassin in.
A loud whistling noise is heard throughout the room again, and another man is turned into a rug by a massive ballista bolt. The assassin in the room quickly decide we are too big of a threat, and start focusing on us. We aren't the only ones doing damage to the assassins in the room either, as multiple holdouts have been formed by nobles who rely more on their sword skills.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, as enemy mages have finally set up. The other holdouts are hit by lances of multiple elements. Annihilating any attention that wasn't on us. We only hold out by the fact that I pushed over a few tables as cover, but the assassins quickly start closing in. I look around me, Prez is shivering in a corner in fear, one of the lances went right by his head. Blaz is murmuring curses to himself, in hatred of all magic. Xygar is still desperately working on a way out. This is it, isn't it?
"Xygar, you still have cancer to cure. At the very least, you should get out." I turn to the greenskin duo.
"Оставьте свои посты, покиньте свои дома, оставьте всякую надежду."
My words aren't understood, but their intent is heard. I pull out a small shovel, now barely larger than my claw. Blaz firmly grips his ripper, and Prez shivers while clutching a dagger. I give one last bright smile, and fling the whole table we were using as cover at whoever was unfortunate enough to be in its line. I dive for the closest man, and use sheer force to crush the armor under his cloak like a soda can. Not only that, but I grab the corpse by the leg, and start using it as a club against the other assassins.
Prez managed to get a few stabs in on one of the mages in the confusion, but quickly gets countered by an ice spell, freezing him solid. Someone with a maul shatters the shaman ice statue afterward, scattering his bits across the floor. I begin uncontrollably giggling to myself, I was going to be receiving the guns today as well. I would have done so many things, but it seems this is the way it has to be. I use my makeshift club as a shield against a blast of fire, but multiple windblades shred my uncovered side. One man gets a bit too close for health, and is rewarded by a shovel going through his jaw. My reward for reducing their numbers is being speared through the tail by a soon-to-be dead man.
As I crush the skull of the spearman, I hear a guttural scream of pain. Blaz is driven through the gut by a greatsword, but he isn't deterred by this and tries to slash at his attacker. Instead, the swordsman puts more force on the blade, and bisects the orc chieftain. Blaz falls in between the corpses of the dead to join them. I can't hold my laughter at this point, there's so many of them. I drop my shovel and club, opting instead for the tables in the room. I focus my attacks on the weak looking wizards, slamming them across using superior size and strength. The room quiets noticeably as my work continues, disabling the bastards left and right. Xygar has already left the room at some point, hopefully he will make it out.
I bisect a man with my jaws, and notice I disabled almost all the casters. I might actually win this, but before I can turn to deal with the others, I fall to the ground.
A large thud resounds through the room, as something big falls to the ground. My vision spins as I roll across the floor. The large object that fell to the floor... is my own headless corpse. A man stands next to it, and flicks my blood off his blade. They start talking, but I have already stopped hearing. My brain flashes through its broken memories, desperately trying to find a way out. I see pieces of training, flashes of my time in Moscow. None of these are helpful. I remember what my sergeant said about the mission. 'Success entails enough of us surviving'. My brain scrambles through more memories, but sarge's words stick to me.
The only thing... that survived... is a... head...
