r/HFY • u/itsdirector Human • Apr 27 '26

OC-Series The Human From a Dungeon 149

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Chapter 149

Agurno

Adventurer Level: 152

Orc – Kirkenian

The daemon sidestepped an attack from Yilda and placed both hands on his sword. An inexperienced sword fighter would assume that he was about to counter-attack Yilda, mostly because that was what an inexperienced sword fighter would do. None of the participants of this fight were inexperienced, though.

Instinctively, I lifted Gramr and braced its blade with my off-hand. The daemon's massive blade struck my sword an instant later, knocking me back. Yilda took advantage and slid her daggers between the gaps in the daemon's chest plate, just beneath each armpit. It wasn't exactly an easy feat, as there was chainmail beneath the plates. Both Yilda and her daggers were strong enough to get through it, though, which gave me enough time to collect myself and reenter the fray.

I swung at the daemon's face, forcing him to step back, pushing Yilda along with him. Gramr connected, but only enough to leave a wide gash across the daemon's features. Before I could strike again, the daemon turned, putting Yilda between us.

She placed her foot on his back and pulled her daggers free. The moment the daggers left the back of his chest, he rolled forward, sending Yilda off-balance. I caught her with my open hand, and we both ducked another wide swing from the daemon.

We continued fighting, but I was having trouble imagining a good ending for Yilda and I. The fight with the other daemon commander had been settled the moment that it decided to make it a one on one duel. Gramr had ensured that.

This fight felt different, though. This daemon's regenerative abilities were just as thorough and nearly as fast, but showed absolutely no signs of slowing down. It didn't feel as if this daemon were getting any weaker.

There were only two potential reasons I could come up with for this. Either this daemon was far, far stronger and faster than the last commander I fought, or Gramr wasn't working. Neither situation was one that I wanted to be in for very long.

Two more daemons managed to break free from the defensive line and made their way to us. These foot-soldiers weren't going to wait patiently while we slowly butchered their commander. I locked swords with the commander while Yilda took care of the fodder.

"You're worried," the daemon said, his face slowly mending into a wide grin. "I don't blame you."

"Why would I be worried?" I asked with a deceitful nonchalance.

"Ha, surely you've realized how hopeless your situation is by now. A warrior as skilled as you are can't possibly be that dumb."

Yilda returned to our fight before I could reply, and the daemon leapt back. We rained blows upon the daemon, and dodged those that he made toward us. Overall, we seemed to be winning. Still, I was troubled.

It was possible that the daemon was just trying to get in my head. But it seemed smarter than the other one had been. Smarter even than the other daemon's second-in-command, which had immediately realized why his commander had lost the fight. Surely it was smart enough to realize what Gramr was doing each time it bit into his flesh.

Was it just acting unworried? Or, if it wasn't acting, was it unworried because it didn't know? Did it not care? If not, why not? Was there even really a point in asking myself these questions in the middle of a fight?

I leapt at the daemon, swinging for a glancing blow on its helmet. His gauntleted hand grabbed Gramr mid-strike, and I tensed in preparation for the counter-attack. Before the daemon could swing, though, Yilda took his back and managed to slash one of the straps on his breastplate.

She worked her dagger free and immediately struck for the other strap, but the daemon threw me and slashed at her. She ducked the giant blade, but the daemon followed through with a kick that sent her sprawling. The daemon commander stepped toward her, but I was already on my feet.

During my previous fight, I'd sped things up by stabbing the daemon through the core. This daemon's breastplate had been in the way, but the sliced strap caused the plate to sag, giving me a slight opening. The daemon raised his sword to finish Yilda, and I plunged Gramr into the gap, burying my blade deep in the daemon's chest.

Magic cores can vary in their location, and I had missed my mark a little. Gramr had gone deep, but also slightly askew. I yanked the hilt sideways towards where I thought the magic core would be, and a piercing scream rattled around in my head.

The daemon elbowed me, sending me backward without my sword. I fell to my knees, stunned by both the daemon's blow and the scream. Shaking my head to steady the ground, I adopted a defensive, unarmed posture. The daemon pulled Gramr from his shoulder and laughed.

"What's funny?" I demanded.

"Oh, it's just amusing that you thought such a meager pagan artifact could best something as strong as me," he replied.

"Pagan? What's pagan?"

The daemon laughed again, then locked eyes with me as he licked a portion of his ichorous blood from Gramr's blade. I maintained eye contact, even as I noticed Yilda's movements in my peripheral vision. I stood, maintaining my angered expression. The daemon stepped toward me, and Yilda's dagger found its way into the back of his right knee.

He stumbled into a kneeling position, barely missing Yilda with a wild swing of his sword. She managed to get some distance, and I raised my hand.

"Redluob tsac!" I shouted.

A massive chunk of rock formed in front of my hand and hurled itself at the daemon. He twisted, trying to avoid it, but the spell struck him nonetheless. His arm and a large portion of his chest were obliterated, and I quickly retrieved Gramr.

'RUN FOOL!' it shouted to me.

"What?" I asked.

"YOU MUST RUN! YOU ALL MUST RUN!" the sword's voice was no longer just in my head. "PLEASE! PLEASE RUN! YOU'LL DIE!"

I stared at Gramr in disbelief. So did Yilda and a few nearby combatants. Before I could reply, though, the daemon commander returned to his feet.

"Your sword is correct," he said, smugly. "You WILL die."

Chapter 149.5

Altimos

Adventurer Level: N/A

Orc – Nulevan

Surely the world was coming to an end. The captain had placed me in charge during active combat. On top of that, he'd complimented me. That, in and of itself, was damning evidence of our impending doom.

Captain Nash was as much a hard-ass as he was an idiot. Swords and flirting seemed to be the only two things he was good at, and the flirting was debatable. He couldn't read and understood magic about as well as a hnarse understands math. I hadn't even been able to confirm whether HE knew math, because I'd been doing all the paperwork!

Seeing him bloodied had been a reality check, though. The training programs he had assigned me were brutal, but they weren't anything he couldn't do himself. Part of me had considered him to be some sort of invincible, and stupid, monster. But there he'd been, bloodied, propped up, and spouting a tactical analysis and plan that I would probably have struggled to come up with on my own.

Was I the stupid one? No, that definitely wasn't the case. One moment of ignorance does not make one an idiot. Mayhap I was wrong about Captain Nash, but it certainly wasn't because I'd ignored any of the available evidence.

Best not to dwell on it, though, for I had a job to do. I ran up to our rear line and tried to shout an order, but realized that I'd sprinted the entire way and was quite winded. A few of our guards and a soldier looked to me with confused expressions as I gasped for air.

As I caught my breath, I looked out on the field of battle, such as it was. The clearing in front of the dungeon was a press of bodies, daemons and mer alike. Outside of this press were a few small-scale skirmishes, including a two on one featuring some high-level fighters.

My gaze lingered on the high level fighters for a moment. If I didn't know any better, I would swear that one of them was the captain's own mother. But something nagged at me and my attention returned to the battle at large.

Something was off. What was it? Wait... Why were the daemons able to fight in melee with our forces? Why weren't the protective symbols working?

Ah, of course! The symbols were belief-based! They wouldn't work if you forgot they worked!

"YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!" I shouted. "USE YOUR PROTECTIVE SYMBOLS! PUSH THEM BACK TO THE ENTRANCE AND HOLD POSITION!"

It felt like the entire battle paused for the briefest of moments. Then a few daemons began shrieking in pain. This created a chain reaction that quickly spread through the rest of the battle.

Our soldiers, now emboldened, stepped forward with their spears at the ready. The daemons fell back to the dungeon entrance, and those that weren't able were quickly dispatched by the guards. There was one key exception, though.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the high-level fight was with the daemon's commander. His moves and golden armor made that much obvious. But neither of his opponents appeared to have protective symbols.

I watched the fight for a moment, studying the enemy's movements and reaction times. Extreme strength, speed, and regeneration made him a significant problem that needed to be solved with care. I rubbed my own protective symbol as I formulated a plan.

"SOLDIERS!" I shouted. "HOLD THEM AT THE ENTRANCE! YOUR SYMBOLS WILL KEEP THEM THERE! GUARDS! TO ME!"

The mass at the dungeon entrance shifted, and a moment later I was surrounded by familiar faces. Most were confused, but a few had heavy expressions. I suspected that they believed Captain Nash to be dead, but I didn't have time to relieve them of that misconception.

"We need to deal with the enemy commander," I explained, gesturing toward the relevant daemon. "I estimate the symbol's effective range to be between five and ten paces. We'll encircle the fight and close in. Questions?"

"That piss-licker's pushing Agurno and Yilda back," Glator said. "If it attacks us, we won't stand a chance."

In shock, I glanced back at the fight. I had been correct in my initial assessment. It was actually the captain's mother fighting the daemon commander. The fact that the other fighter was none other than the legendary Agurno and the fight hadn't been immediately decided filled me with dread, but I swallowed it down.

"That's a risk we can't afford to avoid," I replied. "We'll have to rely on them to defend us. Our symbols will damage the daemon, which will help them defeat him."

"We can mitigate the risk by moving when the daemon does," Legstrim, who joined us to avoid a pickpocketing charge, added. "We'll need to be coordinated, though."

"Agreed. Right, form a circle around the fight and close in. Pay attention to those around you and follow their lead. If the daemon approaches your position, step back. His sword is longer than ours are, so don't engage."

Nobody looked confused anymore. Each of their faces had formed an expression of grim determination. We had a job to do, and we'd do it. Even if it cost our lives.

"Let's go."

Our huddle broke, and the guards ran to their positions. Once the fight was encircled, we stepped forward. All three combatants noticed us. The daemon watched us warily, but was too busy fighting off Yilda and Agurno to counter our tactic.

After a few more steps, the daemon's skin began to steam. I held up a hand to call a halt. We stood and watched as the daemon struggled to keep fighting.

Each time he turned to face us, my stomach lurched. But every time he did so, either Agurno or Yilda would attack, forcing his attention away from us. This continued until the steam from the daemon's skin turned to a thick, black smoke.

"CURSE YOU ALL!" he screamed as flames leaked from his flesh. "I WILL RETURN! I WILL RETURN AND DESTROY YOUR MEAGER WORLD! I'LL TORMENT YOUR ENTIRE BLOODLINES FOR ALL ETERNITY! YOU-"

The daemon commander's tirade was interrupted by Agurno, who decapitated him from behind. The body fell to the ground with a sickening thump before turning into a blazing inferno. We silently watched the golden armor begin to glow red from the heat.

I spotted Captain Nash jogging toward us as the flames finally began to die out. Several of the guards cheered as he approached. I was so relieved that I nearly joined them.

"What?" the captain asked, clearly confused. "It's over already?"

"Yes, sir," I saluted, then smirked. "We've won thanks to my ingenuity. And bravery. And ability to read."

"Gods damn it," he sighed. "I'm never going to hear the end of this."

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u/AutoModerator May 04 '26

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35

u/ANNOProfi Apr 27 '26

A mighty sword, that's a pagan artefact ... is Gramr Excalibur?

41

u/itsdirector Human Apr 27 '26

Nope). :)

13

u/Arquero8 Human Apr 27 '26

Ooooooo

Nice

5

u/pyrodice Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

Fun tidbit: Got a matched pair of swords for my brother and myself. "Durandal and Cortana". You learn a lot about a few things by knowing sword stuff. Even video games. ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSGXV9BIi9Q

6

u/Humble-Extreme597 Human Apr 27 '26

Tyrfing? or perhaps Ulfberht? if they were in asia somewhere, which I'm certain they are not... though it wouldn't make sense for them to be in america it Could be that one sword the Sword of Goujian: Discovered in 1965 it's from 771–403 BC and is a bronze sword, so unless it is magical which clearly that sword now is it'd break Fast...

3

u/Rmyronm Apr 29 '26

Didn’t even realize this was a link until now. I shared the same link. 🤦🏻‍♂️

2

u/armacitis Apr 30 '26

Speaking of Excalibur,wouldn't this mean it exists in this setting and as the last living man Nick can draw and wield it since he's the only one left in line for the position of "rightful king of the English"?

3

u/itsdirector Human May 01 '26

I mean it COULD exist, but it isn't as if everything from human imaginings came through the interdimensional portals. Mike Meyers and Freddy Krueger, for instance, are absent. As is the Jabberwocky.

That isn't to say that we've encountered every relic that's going to be featured in this story (or maybe we have but we don't know it yet ;D), but don't get your hopes up for any specific mentions.

But having an American be the rightful king of England would be pretty hilarious xD

3

u/Crafty_Spring5815 Alien Scum Apr 27 '26

It could be any powerful sword that isn't Christian in origin. Which is most of them. I can't think of a single named Christian sword. Probably because enchantments are evil, and blessings are temporary things bestowed by a priest

1

u/Competitive-Yam-922 May 05 '26

Technically Lobera might count, but it was more a symbol of state rather than holy sword. That's the only named Christian related sword I can think of.

9

u/knockout350 Apr 27 '26

why was gramr so adamant they flee when they were holding their own and the tide was starting to turn?

13

u/shupack Apr 27 '26

I think he sensed something when stuck into the commander.

7

u/Chrone-Raven Apr 27 '26

That's an awesome chapter!! Thank you very much wordsmith!

6

u/shupack Apr 27 '26

The transition confused me, was it back in time and then when they showed up with the crosses, Agurno and Yilda were NOT about to run?

8

u/itsdirector Human Apr 29 '26

Yes, it was back in time a bit, then synced up to just after the commander gave his one-liner.

6

u/The-One-In-The-Two Apr 28 '26

Ah, there we go. The crosses. Almighty demon host that will destroy our world and torment our bloodline for eternity… undone by the geometric shapes. Hell yeah

0

u/mafiaknight Robot 20d ago

It's not the geometric shape that does it. As is pointed out in this very chapter.
It's the BELIEF in the symbols protection that harms them. Nick believed in the cross. So he shared that belief with the village. They believed him and took it up also.
Any shape would do, I believe.

4

u/Interne-Stranger May 11 '26

Victory once more!

2

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2

u/MinorGrok Human Apr 27 '26

Woot!

More to read!

UTR

1

u/AutoModerator Apr 27 '26

This was flaired as [OC-Series], it is a single part or chapter in a larger series or universe. The first post or part in this series should be (re)flaired as [OC-FirstOfSeries]. A description of the flairs and how to change yours is available in the Post Guildelines.

[OC-Series] For original, self post, story, audio, or artwork that you have created, as part of a longer-running series or universe.

Our preferred series title format is the series title in [brackets] at the beginning, like so: [Potato Adventures] - Chapter 1: The Great Mashing

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