Last Chance

Chapter Twenty Four

I felt every last inch of my body burst with pain as the attack surrounded me. It felt as if the nerve endings within my entire body were beginning to singe. Burning from tip to the end of their respective nerve lines. I screamed a silent scream as I put every last ounce of my conscious into protecting Bailey within my arms.

After a minute or two the pain finally lessened, as the numbness took hold of me. Barely able to feel my own body, I had no hope of feeling Bailey within my arms.

I fell to the ground as my arms slipped from around Bailey. With the last moments of my consciousness I heard the frightened screams of the residents of the towns. The panicked scream that came from Bailey's lips. I could only imagine the frightened look upon her face as my eyes were still blind from the trauma inflicted upon me.

"How dare you embarrass me?" I heard a man shout from my left. The voice sounded familiar but I had a hard time trying to identify it. "You will pay for what you have done to me."

My consciousness was failing me at the moment as I was barely able to comprehend what was happening to me. But the next thing this man said would cement itself within me. Awaken a part of me that I did not even know I had. Even with the wealth of the knowledge afforded me, this aspect remained hidden.

"And I will destroy that bitch too." The voice said catching my full attention. The synapses within my brain began to fire full throttle, awakening my inner self. A self I acquired when I agreed to Chaos magic.

The pain within my body washed away as if it was never there, while power flowed through me. However it was not a smooth transition, as my body was not accustomed to this amount of power.

My body shook as it was pushed far beyond its limits. The bright blue sky clouded over with dark grey heavyset clouds. Lightning rippled across its surface as thunderous claps were heard throughout the kingdom. The winds surrounding the town picked up as they rushed through the streets. Many of the occupants still currently within the town, struggled against the winds not noticing that they were all converging on a single location. Towards a single male.

The winds surrounded my form as the pushed Bailey away from me. My skin colour changed into pure black that barely reflected the light above the town. My eyes lost all colour and now shone a bright white that glowed against the dark black.

My armour and clothes merged within my body as my teeth began to sharpen into canine like sharpness, while my mouth opened wider than normal.

My muscle definition grew larger as did my height. And with all this, I had no control over my body. All I knew is the instinct to kill the threat before me. The threat that would harm what is mine.

My hands began to shift and grew into large claws with talons that grew two inches from each claw. My body rose off the ground as if it was as light as a feather. My white eyes never leaving the threat before. A threat who I only now recognised.

Frederick, the Paladin from the arena. Who also seemed to resemble someone else I knew but couldn't place.

I could see the shock and fear run through his body as he witness the change within my body. Witness the monster that he inadvertently set free.

The beast stalked towards Frederick who had now equipped a golden sword with a small vertical hilt. A sword that I was not familiar with, nor knew of. Even then I failed to care.

I rushed towards him with speed I didn't even know I had as a cloud of dust remained where I once stood. The raging winds surrounding the town continued as they were pulled into the beast. My right clawed hand shot forward in a thrust like motion only to be barely block by Frederick and the sword in his right hand.

The sword managed to block the attack but was pushed back against his chest. Causing him to slide backwards ten or so meters. As he came to a stop he cough ed up some blood as the realisation finally dawned on him. He could not contain nor fight the beast before him.

The beast howled with rage that caused the very ground they stood upon to quake from the pressure. Fear plastered itself across Frederick's features as his left hand furious seemed to tap the air before him.

"Why the hell can't I log out?" He shouted in frustration as his gaze moved from his menu to the beast before him. It would seem that due to the beast's appearance, he was unable to log out. Making me think of the generic RPG rule that you cannot fast travel in the presence of the enemy. Maybe this was similar to that.

The beast rushed forward again bring my left arm downwards in a cross slash aiming for Frederick's right shoulder. When all of a sudden he began to glow a bright golden colour as a sphere of the same coloured energy erupted forth, pushing the beast back.

Apparently the beast was not happy with this outcome as it let out a roar of frustration as he outstretched my arms with my palms facing the heavens. Six black energy balls that had a faint purple shimmer to them formed above him in an almost perfect half circle.

With a shift of my hands bringing them together in a loud clap, the six energy balls shot forward with speed that rivalled my own.

They barrelled down onto the shield Frederick had erected cracking it under the immense pressure of the impacts. With each impact came a loud explosion causing the glass in the surrounding shops to shatter and burst inwards.

The beast rushed forward again and with a twist of its body spun around and delivered a powerful right spinning kick into the remnants of the shield causing it to shatter and explode upon the impact.

Frederick blew backwards as he rolled against the ground, blood seeping from the numerous wounds now inflicted upon his person. His armour in taters.

He managed to get to a standing position, with his sword still in his right hand. His fiery gaze only matched by the fear he felt. The thoughts running through his mind were along the lines of: Why the hell can't I log out? What is this monster? The church needs to stop this monstrosity? Why the hell does it hurt so much? This is a game. It shouldn't hurt this much.

While the thoughts running through his mind, he failed to notice the beast approaching him. He only felt the kick to his stomach as he was launched backwards once more into a shop behind him, shattering the support beams that held the roof up. As the building came crashing down upon him, he wished he could just leave. He didn't want this anymore.

I, on the other hand, only wanted my body back. But the anger was still there. The hated still thriving within the pool that was my emotions. And Frederick was the outlet. Unfortunately for him.

The beast closed the distance between them once more before pain erupted throughout my entire body. The winds pulsing around my body died down, but the thunderous claps of thunder continued to burst forth.

My clawed hands lifted to my head as I let out a loud scream filled with pain.

I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around me. But instead of a threat, I felt content and filled with the need to calm down.

I could feel the pain that Bailey held within her as she watched what became of me. It confused me slightly but the pain of the transformation back was enough to quench those thoughts. My skin changed back to its original colour, while the armour that merged within me, was brought forth with a pain almost as bad as previous.

My clawed hands reverted to their natural state along with my mouth and eyes. I fell limply into Bailey's arms unable to will enough strength to keep me standing. All the while hearing the sobs from her lips. It pained me more that I was the cause of it than all the pain I felt before.

All of my strength failed me, as I could barely keep my eyes open. I felt her right hand brush against my left cheek.

"Please don't leave me." She said softly as she bent down and kissed my forehead.

That was the last thing I remembered before darkness overtook me. And the bright white eyes that glowed against the black around it stared into my own.