A scream echoed through the alleys, the homes, and the streets. Silence followed it as everyone held still in anticipation; then the sounds of footsteps rushing towards the sound of the scream. Eodum sent out its bladed tail, and stabbed through the throat of the soldier who screamed. SHIT! The soldiers were coming closer, and they were coming fast. They'd just gotten close enough that Sheila could now detect them, and Henry could see the mages up above flying down to see the source of the scream. Only one option left itself open to the four. Fucking run!
The four took off through the alleys, forcing themselves to go as fast as possible. The wall was getting ever closer with each hurried step they took, but now the soldiers were running behind them. A fireball flew through the air and over Delac's head. Another one came, then another, then a barrage of different spells came at the four. They were so close to the wall, but the amount of spells coming were unbearable. To scale the wall with this barrage would be impossible. For now, they had to stand and fight.
The four planted their feet firmly on the ground, preparing for the upcoming battle. Soldiers who wielded daggers and short swords were buffed by the mages behind them, and the hastened soldiers came sprinting at the party. Sheila swept her longsword across the ground, and separated the soldiers from their feet. Their speeding bodies fell and slid across the ground, leaving a bloody trail as the soldiers shrieked in pain. The yelling didn't last long however, as Eodum quickly sliced the throats of the disabled soldiers.
A volley of arrows arched through the air coming straight at the four. Knowing it couldn't block the attacks, Eodum began to open an entrance to the void, but Sheila took a step forward. She prepared her shield, and yelled, "[Holy Wall]!!!" At her words, a golden-yellow energy started spreading from her shield. It spread in a five meter radius from the shield "Everyone, get behind it!" She shouted. Quickly, the other three all crowded around Sheila, and just in time as the arrows came flying down at the four.
The arrows hit the wall of energy and bounced off of it with a spark. A wave of white spread out from where the arrows made impact with the shield. As the volley stopped, the wall slowly retracted back into Sheila's shield, "Alright, we're good now." Just as she said this, the soldiers began their march towards the party. They drew their swords as they closed in on the party, knowing that ranged attacks would be ineffective. Henry then said in response to their movement, "Eodum, pull everyone into the void, I'll hand things up here."
"Are you gonna be okay?" Eodum asked, worried.
A smile spread across Henry's face, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Eodum nodded once before it pulled everyone but Henry into the void. Henry was left floating alone. The soldiers continued their march despite the sudden disappearance of the rest of the party. Henry stretched his hand into his [Storage], and pulled out a few bottles of oil and strong alcohol. He popped the cap off of each of them, and he guzzled them down without hesitation. The mixture of yellow, brown, magenta, and clear liquids fell down Henry's throat. Once he finished the drinks, he dropped the bottles, and they shattered on the cobblestone road beneath them.
At first, nothing much was happening, but then Henry's body began shifting. It started rising as the flames increased, and then it shrunk down into a glowing white form. Then, the flames burst out from Henry's body. He was like a bomb in the streets; the flames pouring from his body burned indiscriminately. The soldiers found themselves bathed in a sea of fire. Screams erupted from them, but they didn't last long. Even after the death of many of the soldiers, the flames kept erupting from Henry's body. The alleys were filled with raging flames, but they eventually died down.
The flames sizzled in and out back into Henry's body until he returned to normal. Near Henry, a dark portal began to open; Eodum and the others crawled out from the portal. "Woooah," They three said in surprise, "What happened here?"
Henry smiled, "A new trick I thought up." As Henry said that, a voice rang in his head.
[Alert: do to use an unexpected ability combination, a new skill will be created.]
[Flame Eruption]
[The user can produce a slight explosion of flames from their body. In addition, when coming into contact with flammable materials will cause effects of the skill to be amplified.]
… Neat! This was the only thing coming to Henry's mind as he read through the skill. His new ability was quite powerful, but as Henry thought of his new skill, he remembered something from earlier in the battle, "Wait Sheila, speaking of new tricks, didn't you use a new skill?"
"Yep," Sheila said, smiling. She raised her shield and a small energy wall appeared from it, "It's the evolved version of [Holy Shield], [Holy Wall]. It does the same thing as [Holy Shield], but better and over a larger area." As she finished her sentence, the energy receded back into her shield and disappeared. Then, Eodum's ear twitched.
"Something's coming," Eodum stated, "Prepare yourselves." The four readied themselves once more, and on queue, soldiers of Tolpetsaw and Erup came rushing down the alleyway. Eodum smirked, "I've been meaning to try this out." Entrances to the void opened all around Eodum. The void entrances squirmed and shifted a little, and slowly tentacles reached out towards Eodum.
The soldiers kept running at the four, and the void continued to reach for Eodum. The void wrapped itself around Eodum, and it was slowly absorbed into Eodum's body. A migraine erupted from Eodum's head, but it was much more manageable than before. The spikes on Eodum's body started lengthening and sharpening. Eodum's body began to grow in size, and Eodum started to growl. Then, the soldiers arrived right at the transforming Eodum. The perfect test subjects.