Large, black mass swept through the night at an impossible speed, as if the darkness itself moved, running from the light. It jumped over mountains, it skipped through the sea. Nothing mortal with a size this big could move like this.

Suddenly it stopped dead in its track.

“OH, TAKING A MIDNIGHT WALK I PRESUME?”

The darkness shuddered at one and only voice she wished not to hear. Not here, not right now.

“Fancy meeting you here D.”

Countless tentacles turned and twisted in a troubled matter.

“INDEED, IT IS.”

Death met the gaze of the solitary eye.

“YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE.”

“Umm, I’m in a hurry D. If it’s not urgent, can we talk about it later? I’ll get some tea ready…”

“YOU SHALL NOT MEDDLE WITH MORTALS. ESPECIALLY NOT NOW.”

“They are not ready! Not for that! You know they can’t handle it!”

“NO ONE IS READY WHEN THEY MEET ME.”

“Please D, just this one time. I’ll finish…”

“NO.”

The earth shuddered. Darkness stirred within itself. Precious time was running out.

“Step aside D!”

Tall black scythe appeared in Death’s hand. Ominous blue glow of the blade leaked unearthly sharpness.

“MAKE ME.”

***

“This is ridiculous…”

Without even aiming Joe let out another arrow. There were so many of them.

Wave after wave the goblins charged through the narrow bridge, disregarding their casualties. Some would not even make it to where Joe and his slaves stood. Pressed by the wall of desperate bodies behind them, many goblins were pushed off the bridge and fell to their death.

Those that pushed forward met their end under Savil’s hammer or were simply pushed aside by her shield. From time to time Joe picked off one or two goblins that slipped past her.

He put an end to a goblin that sneaked past her before he could stab her from behind.

*DING*

Master archery level reached! You can now shoot two arrows at the same time without loss in accuracy.

Dammit. It leveled up again. How long was it already? Two hours? Where were the reinforcements?! The town’s guards had plenty of time to regroup by now so, where were they?

Four more goblins made it past his knight. Using his newly gained skill he took them out.

“Get ready.”

He gave Neira a nudge with his foot. Covered in blood and dirt, she rested, sprawled on the ground beside him.

“Hi… hi…”

She rolled over and got up, her breathing still far from even. She uncorked one more potion and gulped it down. She took about ten more of those earlier. Ten too much for his taste. Her body hardly kept itself together and her status screen got too depressing to look at. Her muscles bulged up and hardened as the potion kicked in.

She picked up her “toothpick”. Nine feet long, one foot wide. More of an iron slab than a sword.

“Stay close!”

He called after her as she charged into the goblin crowd.

It looked as if a grenade exploded within the enemy’s ranks with minced bodies flying left and right with each deadly turn of the sword.

Using the moment to rest, Savil simply collapsed where she stood. Joe ran over.

“You look like shit.”

Her entire armor, bloodied, charred, and badly dented, lost most of its protective value. He removed her helmet and poured water over her face, washing off blood. She had a snarky remark at the end of her lolling tongue although her body was kind of too busy with catching up on breathing.

Joe picked her up and run towards the safer end of the bridge. Behind his back, Neira danced with her sword, sweeping the bridge clean. But for how long? Her body was at its limit and those potions harmed her more than the occasional wounds she got slaughtering those goblins. Through his menu, he saw her HP steadily trickling down. At this rate, it will be over in a matter of minutes.

“Dammit!”

He opened one of the more potent elixirs, shoved it inside the terrified Demi’s mouth and made sure she swallowed every drop of it. Her watering eyes went sideways. He did a cruel thing feeding that to a demi. Not even a human would dare to sniff it…

Well, at least it had the strongest healing effect of all the things he had in his box.

Making sure her body rest well outside the archer’s range, Joe ran back to the bridge. Neira still had total control over it but her movements were becoming more and more sluggish with each passing moment.

He rolled dodging several arrows aimed at his head and shoot back from his bow. He put the last arrow he had, between the eyes of a goblin that managed to duck Neira’s toothpick.

Suddenly the woman howled and tripped as an arrow went through her knee.

Joe saw it in slow motion. Her surprised face twisted in pain. Her sword falling off the bridge. More arrows hitting her torso. Her body tumbling towards the ground. A wave of goblins converging on her…

“No!”

He screamed stretching his arm forward. Those filthy creatures! How dare they! She was his and his only. His precious!

*DING*

Through special action, new skill was created! Nerd rage! Nobody can mess with your possessions, they are yours and yours only! Nobody can touch your precious collection, nobody but you! Skill effect: Strength + 200% Movement speed +50% Accuracy + 100% Critical attack damage + 500%

*DING*

Through special action, new skill was created! Magic missile! A most basic form of magical attack. Not very efficient.

*DING*

Notice! Nerd rage is now in effect!

An enormous ball of light suddenly appeared at his palm then shoot forward, plowing through the goblin crowd, and exploding at the other side of the bridge.

That gave him enough time to reach the unconscious demi.

“Harvest.”

He whispered holding her motionless body in his arms.

How could they… He gripped his fist tight till his bones crackled. How could they… His eyes turned entirely black. How could they…

He lunged at the goblin crowd, ignoring pain and his wounds. With bare fists, he smashed their faces. Kicked whatever body got within the range of his feet and even bit whatever jumped at him.

One by one he decimated their ranks until they were too scared to approach him.

“That’s enough!”

Somebody grabbed his arm and turned him around. Without even looking Joe threw a punch.

Savil was faster she dodged his arm and sunk her fist into his stomach. Joe’s lights went out.