‘Get up Dante! Get up! Get up! Get up!’ Dante dragged himself closer to the edge of the damaged balcony, pain wracked his body. He lifted his head, his eyes peered over the edge of the balcony. The sight that he saw caused him to grimace, he could only watch in horror as the Kobold leader casually walked towards Waya. Each step forward that the leader took ended with an ominous thumping of his staff.

He couldn’t let anything happen to Waya. Taking account of the damage, he looked at the state of his body. Dante’s eyes were greeted with the sight of his blood oozing and congealing from various wounds all over his body. His vitality was hard at work helping to increase the rate of healing, unfortunately, it wasn’t remotely near fast enough.

His constitution reduced the amount of damage he had taken, if he had any less he may have died in the explosion. The Kobolds weren’t attacking, they just maintained their perimeter, defending the Kobold leader that continued to creepily walk towards Waya. His intentions were unreadable, all Dante could tell was that there was undeniable malice in his eyes.

Dante started to pull at the largest of the stakes that had impaled him. Beginning with the wooden stake that had impaled his bicep, he bit his lips and winced as he tugged. He held tightly onto the stake that had penetrated right through his arm. Fortunately, it was a thin shard of wood, but it was long and his fingers were slipping on his blood as he tugged it out. He resisted the need to roar out in pain as he pulled it out, a sucking wet noise was made while the piece of wood slid out of him, he was determined not to draw attention to himself by screaming.

Turning his attention to the injured thigh, seeing the location of the injury, there was a moment of worry as it could have hit his femoral artery. He felt relieved to see it was mostly just a flesh wound. This piece of wood was an inch and half thick and penetrated the edge of his thigh, it hadn’t gone all the way through his leg. He grabbed it with both hands, mentally counting down before ripping it out with one fast move. He couldn’t help but release a guttural roar through his teeth which were clamped shut. ‘Just the stomach left’. He gently touched the stake that was stabbing into his stomach. He felt bile rise in his throat and pain caused his vision to shrink, a small unrestrained whimper left him as he almost lost consciousness. Thinking of how time necessitated the risk, he started taking deep sharp breaths before attempting to pull it out. ‘I don’t have time for this shit! I need to help Waya!’

****

Thump, Thump, Thump…

Waya lay motionless on her side, thinking that she wasn’t doing too good would be a bit of an understatement. She was near to the explosion when it ripped through the door and barricade. The shockwave had ripped through the whole church and she had front row seats. She flailed in the air as she was launched backwards into a support beam, the force of being knocked back into the beam caused a cracking sound in her back. At that moment a sharp pain had run through her body before she lost feeling in her hind legs.

Waya was also impaled by tens of small sharp pieces of wood all over her body, she bore a resemblance to a porcupine. The Kobold leaders rictus grin gave Waya the Creeps. His blood-red eyes and black veins seemed to throb with each step he took. No other expression crossed his face, even as Waya squirmed in pain, trying desperately to scramble away from him. No matter what she did, his face remained the same and he continued to inexorably make his way towards her. There was nothing she could do about it, she was utterly helpless and defeated.

Thump, Thump, Thump…

When the thumping stopped, the only sounds that could be heard in the church was fast heavy breathing from the Kobolds, pained whines from Waya and Dante’s agonised growling. The small but overbearing presence stood before Waya. He leaned down and sniffed. A small low snarl escaped through his fixed grin that refused to change. He exhaled a fetid hot breath onto her face, filling her nose with an acrid smell. It made her want to turn her stomach inside out, she began to gag and retch.

The Leader pointed to one of the kobolds that acted as his bodyguard, he turned his hand and made a mocking come hither gesture. The Kobold, unable to resist the leader, made its way towards where he and Waya were. The unfortunate kobold took each step slowly while its body involuntarily shook with fear. Urine dribbled down its leg but it kept moving towards them, not wanting to upset its leader, unable to resist its command. Upon reaching them it trembled as if it was naked in a freezing storm.

Gesturing once again, the leader forced the Kobold to bend towards them. He gently patted on the back of the shaking Kobold’s head as it was bowed over Waya. The Kobold leader then snatched Waya's muzzle. Despite the creature's small, almost delicate hands, It had a vice-like grip. With her muzzle between his grasp, he crushed at the edges of Waya’s mouth, forcing her to bare her teeth and slightly open her mouth.

The leader's other hand reached towards its subordinate, without remorse it drew its sharp-clawed finger across the kobold's throat. A thin line split across its neck, then small drops of blood were pushed out from the wound. The gash across its neck started to pull apart. Thick putrid black blood poured out of the slit throat in a torrent. The kobold remained still, its lifeblood left its body with each pump of its racing adrenaline-fueled heart. A jet of blood squirted out into Waya’s mouth, slipping between her teeth and sliding down her throat.

Waya gagged on the putrid blood, it tasted like rotten flesh and what she imagined faeces to taste like. She snorted which squirted some of the viscous black blood out of her nose. The sacrificial kobold trembled and twitched, but continued to remain in place, diligently performing its final task of pumping blood into Waya's mouth.

Waya gargled and choked but eventually, she started gulping down the corrupted liquid, with each gulp she tried to catch her breath. Her eyes were so wide you could see the white on the edges of her amber iris. Black veins started to creep along her eyes as she was forced to continue to swallow, each time gasping for breath. The blood continued to pour out.

To Waya, an intolerable amount of time passed before the blood started to trickle until only a few droplets remained, mercifully the bloodletting finally stopped. The Kobold with its slit neck collapsed forward, it was no longer breathing.

The leader just shoved the corpse away from himself with no regard for the disposable pawn. It then looked back towards Waya, grabbing her head and forcing her to look into his eyes.

Finally, his face changed, the smile slipped from its face before transitioning into something of a more serious and tranquil appearance. The kobold readied itself to cast a spell. His hypnotic gaze drew Waya's attention, she didn't want to look but she felt unnaturally compelled to continue making eye contact. The leader started chanting, black threads of pure darkness starting to pour off of him. They wound their way towards Waya. She tried to fight back but he held her firmly in place.

‘Someone help! Please! Maikoh! Father! Mother! Hideless man!’ Her desperate and addled mind reached out to anyone for help as she gradually fell into the enchanting gaze of the Kobold leader.

****

Impotently watching on at the nauseating scene, Dante had never felt so useless in his life. He wasn’t particularly close to Waya, there wasn’t enough time to build up a strong bond. He couldn’t deny he felt a kinship slowly developing between them though. Outcasts that struggled for survival in this fucked up world. He watched the whole scene play out, the sacrifice, the blood pouring into her mouth. The way she struggled and choked on the blood. It was driving him insane to be incapacitated and not be able to move or help.

‘No, NO! Fucking no! I refuse! I refuse to let this fucked little shit have his way!’

Dante pulled himself towards the edge of the balcony, dragging his limp body right to the edge, with a final push he tumbled over the edge. He didn’t have an opportunity to regret his decision before his body smashed onto the floor with a sickening thud. “Arghhh fuck!” A winded groan left his body. He winced as the stake in his stomach was pushed in a little further.

He looked towards Waya, seeing her hypnotized state, how she was unable to resist looking into the eyes of the leader while he continued chanting. Black threads were stabbing their way inside her. Each time they stabbed, she released a soft whine.

‘NO!!! NO!!!’ An uncontrollable rage built up in his head, the helplessness he was feeling, the lack of control. He just couldn’t stand it. His body trembled in anger, the fury helped him push through the pain.

He started to climb to his feet, coughing up blood and bile. Spittle dangling from his lips. He stumbled around until he was leaning against a wall. ‘Fuck this! NO! I refuse!’. He started taking steps forward, his eyes started to glow with blue light. ‘NO!’ Bloody streaks spilt down his face, seeping out of all his orifices. He kept stepping forward.

[WARNING! - System safety restrictions are being lifted, danger to life if this continues]

The Kobolds guarding their leader were watching the whole display of Dante flailing around. Initially, their faces were emulating the rictus grin of their leader. They continued watching Dante slowly making his way towards them with some amusement, as he gained ground their grins started to slip off of their faces. Turning to confusion, then fear.

Blue threads of light burst from Dante's hands, the tendrils were trying to take on a shape. They twirled around in the air, the light blue threads appeared almost confused, not quite sure what was expected of them, they lacked proper instructions. His azure blue eyes glowed ever brighter.

The leader wasn’t paying any attention to what was going on. Dante kept stepping forward.

One of the Kobolds had enough of this man's antics, it was going to take care of him. It charged towards Dante, spear raised and ready to thrust forward. It started to accelerate, almost reaching Dante with its thrusting attack.

Dante’s hand shot up and knocked the spear aside, he roared as he ripped the stake out of his stomach and stabbed it into the neck of Kobold. Blood spurted from the kobolds wound. The kobold didn’t have a moment to realise what was going on before it dropped to the floor, hand ineffectually holding its neck, blood rhythmically seeping between its fingers. A confused expression at the quick exchange remained on its now limp face.

[WARNING! - Safety restriction lifted: 5%]

Dante took another step forward.

Two more Kobold guards charged at him. Dante’s claws started to transition into something new, they grew into blue glowing clawed crystal gauntlets that enveloped his hands. The new claws were two inches long and the space around them appeared to cut the air. He waved his gauntleted hands in feral motions that resembled a wild animal clawing at its prey. Blue streaks of light slid through the air.

The spears the kobolds were wielding were cut to pieces, then lines that split through their bodies appeared. Black blood and organs spilt out of them.

Dante stepped forward.

The Kobold leader sensed something was wrong, it lost its grip on the black tendrils. Sensing possible danger, he turned his head to see what was going on. Its serious face turned back to a rictus grin as it saw the injured Dante moving towards it, taking weak stumbling steps. He didn't see Dante as a threat at all. His puppets should be able to take care of the man who appeared to be on death's door.

Despite the leader's senses screaming at him that something was wrong. He was so close to corrupting the direwolf, he didn’t want to let this chance go. He let his greed get the better of him and turned back to face the wolf, ignoring his senses that warred with his greed. More black tendrils erupted out of him, beads of bloody sweat began to drip from his brow as he started chanting faster.

Dante had killed several more guards on his slow approach towards the leader and Waya. ‘I’m not going to make it in time’

More bloody tears spilt from his eyes. ‘Why do I care so much? I barely know this wolf’. His walking stopped.

The Kobold guards looked at each other, one motioned to another as if to say you first, but the other kobold shook his head and stepped backwards trembling.

Waya's eyes rolled backwards, she was losing the fight against the malevolent creature and his dark magic. Black archaic symbols rose like a collar around her neck, slowly constricting around her.

‘NOOOOOO! THIS ISN’T HAPPENING! I REFUSE TO LET THIS HAPPEN!’

Dante raised his arm projecting the image of energy bursting forth from his hand. More and more blue threads of light wound around his arm, weaving in the palm of his hands and along his forearm, bicep and shoulder. The mana carved symmetrical pathways through both of his arms, he felt a tickling sensation that turned to an itching, then to burning. His arms felt like they were on fire as he forced the image of firing projectiles of pure crystallized mana. Rings of blue energy started to form runic symbols, the rings rippled and rotated up and down his arms.

[Warning - Safety restriction lifted: 10%]

Waya’s body was twitching violently while her head was held firmly between the Leader’s hands. The leader’s voice was rising louder as he was reaching the zenith of his chant. The black collar had almost entirely closed around her neck. Waya started snarling and growling, her lips peeling up and gradually taking on a rictus grin.

‘It has to happen NOW!’

As he thought the word 'now', a dark blue crystal formed in his hand that he held in front of him. His hand was pointed towards the Kobold leader. The crystal started as a thin needle that gradually expanded until it looked like a flechette; it was about 4 inches long, shaped with a diamond tip and slowly spun in the air. The rippling blue rings of energy condensed at his shoulder then travelled along the mana pathways etched in his arm until it burst forth from his hand carrying his crystallized flechette forward.

All of this happened in an instant and it was as though Dante had turned his arm into a rail canon. The forming ammunition instantly appeared, the rings condensing into a bright blue light that merged into his shoulder, then shooting down the arm. A streak of blue light was left burned into Dante's vision.

He blinked several times, the after image flickering in his vision, then he saw the devastation of his new ability. A large hole had torn its way through one of the Kobolds guards that were moments before standing protectively before the leader. He looked through the hole in the chest of the unfortunate Kobold, he was greeted by a pleasant sight. The leader, or what was left of it anyway. Its head was missing and blood spurted from out of its neck in a fountain.

Waya’s head, which was no longer supported by the leader's hands, was unceremoniously dropped to the floor with a dull thud.

The crystal ammunition had continued to pass through the leader's head, leaving a hole in the wall of the church. Dante could see the darkness outside of the wall, he was unable to determine how far the projectile had managed to travel.

[ Skill created - Mana Bolt - 3 Ascension points spent]

Black threads of malevolent darkness crept out of Waya’s body, they briefly rose in the air before evaporating. The collar of black symbols receded then vanished.

The other Kobolds in the church had black steam rising from their bodies. Then hundreds of black threads started leaving all of them, their puppet strings had been cut and the remaining guards looked around in confusion. Their eyes settled on a man in front of them, he had dangerous glowing blue eyes, long claws extending off of crystal blue hands. He wore a pissed off expression.

They did the only thing they thought sensible, they ran for their lives.

[System safety restrictions reinstated]

Dante's emotions began to settle, he ignored the remaining guards that ran away and stumbled forward towards Waya. His glowing blue eyes slowly faded back to normal. His gauntleted hands and long blue claws dissipated, eventually leaving him barehanded. He kicked the corpse of the Kobold leader out of his way, sending it flying into the wall with a crunch. He knelt in front of the wolf, placing her head onto his thighs.

As he hunched over her, he started to gently stroke the unconscious wolf while whispering words to her as much as himself “It’s going to be alright, It will be alright…”

****

In a prison where no light reached its walls, a giant being sat in the darkness, only his madness to keep him company. He was chained to walls that sapped his energy away. Bound to the wall with manacles that could never be broken, even if he had his beloved weapon, one of the seven which eventually drove him to his current madness. He had long given up trying to escape using his own force.

He sensed a ripple of something changing in the system, a smile crept across his face. “So, it’s starting already…” Laughter burst out into the darkness. The walls shook violently as a raucous booming cackle rang out from F, his plans were in motion and Dante had taken the first step.