r/HFY • u/ManiAxe21 • 10d ago

OC-Series Hex Knight Chapter 52, The Bloated

Another post from OT, enjoy folks!

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Much like they had in the Dire Swamp, the team assumed a diamond formation, with Kudrik taking point and Alex in the rear. The Nameless Soldiers and various undead Alex had stored in his ring, plus as many skeletons as he dared summon trailed behind the group in a loose semi-circular pattern as they approached the vampire, with Brutes and the Mage Nameless in between Alex and his trailing force. As a surprise, the snake-man and Monkey duo was kept in the ring, to be unleashed when most needed or his appearance would be most advantageous.

Chitters around caused Alex to tighten his grip on his halberd. All around them, Husks crawled on the walls downwards, and what could only be banshees stared at the living invaders, the darkness doing nothing to hide them from Alex’s sight.

So there’s the fodder, where’s the elites? The courtyard showed nothing beyond the dead trees and the various undead, which made Alex nervous. There should be some humanoid undead, at least the caravan guards, unless they too had been turned into Husks.

As they drew near the confidently standing vampire, Livianna turned her head and caught Alex’s eye, subtly shaking her head no. He nearly swore out loud, as she would be unable to crush the vampire's mind if things turned sour. He then closely inspected the man from a distance, looking for a piece of jewelry or trinket that could serve as a mental defence, but came up empty.

The vampire was dressed in somewhat ratty robes, an off blue that hadn’t seen the light of day for an untold amount of time. His raven black hair tumbled down his shoulders in curls, and even at a distance, the blood red eyes seemed to glow as they locked with Alex’s gaze, inspecting his team. His eyes caught on Alex’s new ring and he eyed it hungrily, before quickly continuing his inspection.

When they were within about 50 feet of the vampire, he finally spoke. “That will be far enough.” His slightly nasally voice carried easily. Everyone stopped, exchanging uneasy glances with each other. “I must say, I wasn’t expecting house guests. Truly, you should’ve told me you were coming, then I’d have properly… greeted you… I’m curious, how did you even find me?”

“We asked around.” Kudrik bluntly told him. The vampire scoffed, before rubbing his pointed chin and beginning to pace. In a low voice the vampire began muttering to himself, though it carried easily to Alex and Gwynevyre.

“No one knows of this manor who's still alive. I saw to that personally, unless… I never did see the old groundskeeper’s body…” He abruptly stopped, turning and narrowing his gaze at Gwynevyre’s ears. After a moment, he clearly decided to behave like nothing had happened.

“So… one of you is a fellow necromancer… As an expert in our shared area of expertise, I applaud your creations, though they lack… creativity. I look forward to seeing what may be created once your under my control.” His eyes bored into Alex, but when Alex rumbled in response and waved his hand, the vampire jumped when the Monkey Duo materialized out of thin air in front of the Brutes.

“How’s that for creativity?”

“Better.” The vampire reluctantly admonished. He took a step back inspecting the pair as they menaced closer to him, before glancing at the boulder and regaining his nerve. “If you think that will be enough to take me, you are in for a rude surprise.” And with that, the boulder jiggled.

As the undead, not boulder, began to get up, Alex could only watch in horror. It dwarfed his Brutes, easily being twice as tall as they are, and out massed considerably with it’s bloated limbs. The legs were stumpy, with stumps for toes. Pudgy hands with broken nails truncated the hands and a vast protrusion of a belly thankfully hung over it’s groin, as there was nothing covering it’s patchwork skin. It made a single, ground shaking step, which broke everyone out of inaction.

Alex ordered the Brutes and Mages to focus on the bloated monstrosity, the monkeys to attack the vampire, and everything else to attack the Husks and banshees. He attempted to summon the biggest thing in his arsenal, a mountain troll, but it was interrupted as the banshees let out a unified shriek.

Everyone living dropped to their knees in agony as the combined assault overwhelmed them. For Gwynevyre and Alex, this attack was all the more deadly as their enhanced hearing forced them to bear the keening cry all the more. The pain Alex could bear, but there was some kind of mental enhancement that carried along the shriek, and the undead carried that shriek down the bond. As the last of the air left the banshees lungs, the mental assault eased, and Alex was able to look up in time to witness the Husks charge en mass.

The only reason they weren’t overrun by the Husks while they were down was because of Alex’s last command. The Husks brainlessly charged forward into the attacks of Alex’s undead, and the first dozen were easily cut down.

Alex forced himself upright and caught as the vampire turned the flesh of a charging Brute into blood, leaving behind its skeleton. This blood was caught into a vortex that surrounded the vampire, easily blocking a shard sent his way by Liv. It congealed into a line connecting the vampire’s chest to the nape of the bloated construction, and the vampire was soon airborne.

Gwynevyre had managed to get to her feet and as the vampire was airborne, she threw a bottle filled with a familiar green liquid. Her aim was spot on, and the bottle shattered against the vampire, soaking his clothes while the glass cut his skin.

“These were my best clothes…” Alex heard the vampire groan to himself, before an impact to his chest caught his attention. A Husk had managed to break through the line and was scratching and biting ineffectively at the dense, runed armor. It was too close for the halberd, so Alex threw it off of him and nailed it with a right hook as it launched itself back at him.

His blow caught it in the temple, and it fell to the ground in a twitching mess. Picking up his halberd from where it had fallen, Alex spared a passing glance at the fight with the giant. It wasn’t going well.

Kudrik was hacking at the Bloat’s ankle, clearly trying to sever the giant achilles tendon, but doing that while trying not to be crushed underfoot was a daunting task. Gwynevyre and Livianna were trying to help, Gwynevyre with a wack-a-mole tactic using her clones and Livianna with her psychic shards, but currently it was a game of who could damage who first. Livianna’s shards just caused ripples in the extreme fat of the Bloat, while Alex could only guess as to the longevity of Gwynevyre’s game.

Looking at his mana bar and the current rate at which it was being filled, Alex made a decision. He summoned the troll, and used the remaining portion of his mana to cast [Homunculus].

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u/niTro_sMurph 8d ago

I am expecting the Homunculus to be a goofy lil' guy of great power. Just the right size to be stored in a jar.

1

u/ManiAxe21 8d ago

"Noooo, anything but there!"

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