Yet another Gnoll fell to the ground, devoid of life. The dust that was stirred up as it collapsed cleared up slowly, revealing the party. Hank, the Tank stood, his shield lay a crumpled mess by the side. His armor was ripped up and blood was running down the side of his face. Corpses of Gnolls lay before him, completely devoid of life.
The Gnolls that had been celebrating the delivery of fresh meat had now quieted down. Hungry, and angry eyes glared at the party of humans with a hot intensity. Now that so many Gnolls had fallen to the humans, they realized that this prey wouldn't be going down without a fight.
Heather and Nick stood behind Hank, panting and breathing harshly. Their stamina had almost bottomed out and little wounds littered their whole bodies.
In the center of all of them, Aileen, the Healer stood, her hands gripping onto her Sage Staff with shaky hands. Her face had lost all of its color and her Mana reserves had dried up some time ago. This was really dangerous, as letting one's Mana pool dry out would always result in a severe backlash. She could already feel an intense heat bubbling up in the depths of her core. If that heat erupted, then depending on its intensity, she might either die, or be severely injured.
Abel watched everything that was happening from the cliff that hung above the Gnolls' playground. He gritted his teeth, knowing that there was nothing he could do, but his subconscious mind still pushed stupid and meaningless suggestions through his mind.
'If I run back to the gate...'
'What if I jump in there...?'
'If only I could save them, even if it's just Aileen...'
As he was thinking all this, he suddenly felt a presence appear behind him. Eyes wide, he jumped up and unsheathed his dagger in one smooth motion, but it was all for naught, as his hand was grabbed by a being far stronger than him.
With glowing, red eyes, and wickedly sharp teeth, the Gnoll pack leader stared at him. It wore the spoils of its numerous victories over its body, whether as a sign of mocking the failed challengers, or to honor their bravery, Abel had no idea.
The pack leader leaned closer and sniffed at him. Abel's mind was completely frozen still the moment it got within an inch of him. Its size was terrifying, as just its head was at least twice the size of his. It bared its teeth and licked his face before bursting out in a horrible cackle that sent shivers of fear running down Abel's spine. All the Gnolls from below the cliff turned upwards at the sound of their leader's deranged laughter.
Before Abel's mind could catch up, the Gnoll pack leader suddenly flung him down the cliff, letting him fall straight down into the middle of the circle. Dust rose as his body hit the rough ground harshly, and the other humans within the circle also gasped.
"Cough cough~!" Abel wheezed and held his side in pain.
"A-Abel?" Aileen called out when the dust cleared up. She mustered what little energy she had in her to cast a small healing spell towards Abel.
"Healer! What are you doing?" Nick roared out furiously. "You should have saved that for us! That good for nothing doesn't deserve it!" Aileen could only flinch as Nick rained down insults at her. Abel watched on, astounded by what was going on. Aileen was a healer, one of the rare Sages that bloomed in this world, yet there were some Tower Runners who dared to act in a disdainful manner towards her?
Aileen remained quiet as her party members glared at her. She didn't acknowledge the fact that she and Abel were familiar with each other, nor did she explain why she had healed him when he reserves were threateningly low.
Just before they could continue harassing Aileen, the Gnoll pack's leader which had come down from the cliff stepped forward. It opened its arms wide, as though mocking them. It's blood red eyes shone brightly as it seemed to say, 'Come at me.' The party members looked at it hesitantly before Nick spoke up.
"It's just a Gnoll in the end. If we can kill it, then the rest would most likely run away. We can run then!"
The party members looked at Nick for a moment before nodding their heads and donning determined expressions. Aileen looked at Abel one more time with an apologetic look before shifting her attention from him.
Hank roared and a wave of red light spread out from his body. The red aura spread around before gathering on the pack leader's body.
'Taunt'. A skill commonly used by Tanks. The skill accumulated all the rage and animosity that the beast held towards a human and centered it upon the Tank, making the Tank the main object of hate in the beast's mind.
The Gnoll pack leader roared before dashing towards Hank.
"Ward!" Hank called out. A pale brown aura covered his body in an instant just as the Gnoll pack leader slammed into him.
'Ward'. This skill was a skill that was used by both Healers and Tanks. The skill absorbed between ten to fifteen percent of the incoming damage and transformed it into five percent of the user's stamina, mana, or health, randomly.
The Gnoll crashed against the Ward, and the pale brown bubble instantly popped. If Hank had a health bar that depicted his current status, then one would have seen that the effects of his Ward were almost negligent. Although ten percent of the damage had been deflected and five percent of his health had been restored, Hank's vitality instantly took a nosedive, bringing him within a stone throw from death's door.
"Healer!!!" Nick yelled out urgently, completely flabbergasted by the strength and ferocity of the Gnoll.
A stream of concentrated mana struck Hank's back, recovering him to about forty percent of his peak. Aileen staggered and dropped to her knees while throwing up a mouthful of blood. She had obviously reached her limit, yet she tried to persist. The Gnoll cackled widely as it lunged at Hank.
"Endure!" Hank barely activated yet another skill to tank the attack. With a sickening crunch, his left arm was completely shattered by the grip of the Gnoll. It licked the blood that had splattered on its nose as Hank stared at his mangled arm with a horrified expression. He lifted the mace that was still held in his grip while yelling, "Divine Punishment!"
A loud explosion of flames, along with a cloud of rising dust blew up the surroundings. Nick and Heather who were the closest to the explosion rolled away, covered with burns and wounds, while Abel held Aileen in an embrace and protected her from the wild flames. Surprisingly, he wasn't pushed back at all.
"Abel...?" Aileen's weak hand gripped his shirt.
"Shh, save your strength." Abel hushed her and placed her behind a large rock that was between the cliff wall and the pack of Gnolls. She would be hidden from whatever explosions would occur in the battle.
The dust and smoke soon cleared out, revealing a gruesome scene that left Heather and Nick's jaws hanging open. Hank's body was dangling a foot off the ground, his head held in the tight grasp of the Gnoll pack leader. It seemed to be smiling at him in a sickening manner.
Crunch!
Hank's skull was helplessly crushed between the Gnoll's fingers are he tried to struggle against it. This caused the pack members watching the show from behind to howl out and laugh.
Heather turned her head away from the side and wretched while Nick's face became pale as he truly realized how dire their situation was.
The Gnoll stepped forward after discarding Hank's lifeless body to the side. It licked the blood off its crooked fingers as it took slow, mocking steps forward. It's red, bloodthirsty eyes gazed upon them with the cool look of a predator stalking its prey.
It was Heather who first got up from the ground. She avoided looking at where the Gnoll had thrown Hank's body to as she slowly picked up her sword from the ground where it lay.
"I don't care if I die today. If I'm going to die, I'll go down fighting, just like Hank did." She gritted her teeth with every word. It seemed Hank's death must have dealt her a very heavy blow.
"Are you mad?" Nick yelled at her from the ground. "We can escape if we just sacrifice those two." He pointed at Abel and Aileen. Heather also glanced back for a tiny moment before nodding.
"You're right, we could do that." A chill travelled up Abel's spine at those words. "But that would be the way of a coward." Heather took a step forward, "That isn't who I am."
As she brandished her weapon, the Gnoll who had grown suspiciously still grinned and cackled widely. It seemed like it had been waiting for them to come to a conclusion.
"Very well, then. I'll just escape while it's killing you." Nick said as he picked up his sword while standing too. He was planning on taking off the moment Heather attacked the Gnoll.
The moment Heather rushed forward, the Gnoll did too, but then, something strange happened - The Gnoll vanished from their sights, and the sound of gurgling was heard. They all turned their attentions to where the sound was coming from and their jaws dropped for the second time that day.
The Gnoll had seized Nick, who was escaping in the other direction by his throat. It raised a finger up before wagging it at him disapprovingly. Nick's eyes widened just as his neck was crushed in the large hand of the Gnoll. Yet another party member was dead, but that wasn't what shocked the others. What shocked them was the fact that the Gnoll had acted as though it could understand them!
Heather's fighting spirit withered away as she realized something she had failed to realize earlier. It was just playing with them. It could have done away with the long ago, but decided to use them as entertainment. That was probably why the rest of the pack gathered around as though they were watching a play being acted out.
Just as the Gnoll took a step towards Heather, someone stepped up beside her. She looked up to see a worn shirt, worn by a supposed peasant. Right now, an ominous aura leaked out of that peasant's body.
"Leave it to me." Abel spoke as he blocked Heather's path.