Chapter 17: The Gates of Hell
Ellis lifted his head up off the ground and tried to focus his eye on the person standing above him.
"Not you again."
Ellis groaned as he smacked his head back onto the ground.
"And here I thought you were totally useless, but it turns out that you're only mostly useless! I suppose the beast still did a number on you though. You look unsightly."
Belial made a disgusted face as he pulled out a small vial and poured it directly onto Ellis's face, not caring where it went.
Ellis coughed as he inhaled part of the potion.
"There, all better!"
Belial said in an excited tone.
Ellis clenched his teeth as he began to feel the pain of his wounds healing.
"Aghh!"
Ellis screamed as his broken arm popped back into place and his eye healed. The sensation from the healing felt oddly familiar. It didn't feel the same as the petty potion he had bought from Eliora. This one felt more thorough. Soon Ellis's body had fully healed, leaving only a scar from the bottom of his eyebrow down to the top of his cheekbone.
That has to be on the same level as the potion that I used in the Tower.
The pain slowly subsided and Ellis sat up, still slightly out of breath.
"Where did you get that potion?"
"A simple thank you would suffice."
Belial rolled his eyes as he tossed the empty vial to the ground.
"Thanks, but why are you here?"
Ellis said as he got up off the ground and tried his best to wipe the leftover monster guts off of him.
"I just thought I'd stop by for the show."
Belial's eyes morphed into crescents as he gave Ellis an unsettling smile which caused him to shudder. Ellis chose to just ignore Belial and hope he went away. He had leveled up after that fight, so Ellis decided to call out his TowerCard. He had leveled up twice, which meant he had ten stat points available.
With as much as I've been getting hurt, I need to be able to take more damage without it incapacitating me.
He put the points straight into defense.
STR:40 AGL:40
DEF:25->35 CON:32
INT:40 LUC:7
Ellis then walked to the monster's corpse and began cutting through it, digging through the monster's remaining organs. He eventually felt the gem and it felt like it was a bit bigger than the Imp King's.
"Got it!"
Ellis shouted excitedly as he pulled the Gorethorn's anima gem out of its chest.
Boom!
Suddenly the earth began to tremble under their feet. Ellis's eyes shot in every direction, trying to locate the threat.
"Looks like they're coming again."
Belial said as he stared in the direction of the Tower.
"What's coming?"
Ellis said as his eyes continued darting around before he saw Belial looking at the Tower.
"The beasts."
Belial replied as he walked over to the building where the Gorethorn laid.
"Why would they be coming out again?!"
Ellis said, starting to panic as he watched Belial casually walk around him.
"I'm not sure yet, maybe the tower is trying to force more people into the tower to make monsters stop spewing out."
Belial could only guess as he jumped up to the top of the building in front of him with ease. Ellis watched in astonishment before he ran over to the side of the building and started climbing up to the roof where Belial was.
"The doors have finally reopened."
Belial mumbled to himself with a grin as he looked toward the Tower.
Monsters poured out of the Tower in the dim moonlight. They could faintly see the field surrounding the Tower begin to fill up. Ten. Twenty. Fifty. One hundred. Two hundred. Five hundred. The monsters rushed out in waves all headed directly for the city. The last monster to appear was the size of a 2-story building. The entire area was covered in hundreds of monsters roaring toward the city.
Ellis and Belial watched the scene unfolding in front of them in two very different ways. Ellis watched in fear as Belial watched in excitement. Belial whipped out his phone and quickly dialed a number.
"I need that favor."
Belial put the phone back in his pocket and Ellis looked at him confused.
"What was that? What favor?"
"You'll find out."
Belial grinned as he reached into his pocket and pulled a long-curved dagger seemingly out of nowhere.
"If you really think I'm sticking around to try and fight hundreds upon hundreds of monsters; you really need help."
Ellis said as he backed away from Belial.
"And what happens when you don't, huh? Who is going to protect your mom and sister? The military barely survived the first attack, this one is going to wipe them out completely. We are the last line of defense between the beasts and the city. So, you either let those beasts destroy the entire city and everyone in it, or you fight."
Belial dug his finger into Ellis's chest as Ellis looked at the ground.
He's right. At least if I die, I'll die protecting my family. But how are we going to take on hundreds of monsters by ourselves?
"Try not to die too quickly."
Belial laughed as he jumped down and dashed toward the monsters. Ellis shook his head in hesitation before he finally jumped after him.
Uh-oh. I didn't realize we were this high up!
Ellis flailed his arms as he fell to the ground. He landed awkwardly and rolled forward onto his feet before running forward. He ran after Belial with all his power, who had a dagger out in one hand and his other hand in his pocket.
Belial got to the monsters first. There was a big monster out in front of the pack, it looked to be about two and a half times the size of Belial. The monster was a dark blue color with slime dripping from its body and a huge snarling mouth, running almost like a gorilla. It had long claws that dug into the ground with every step and a demon-like pointed tail.
Ellis watched in amazement as Belial jumped up, twisted his body upside down, and drug his dagger through the entire length of the monster, splitting it in two, before landing unphased continuing his sprint to the monsters.
How did he cut that giant monster in two with such a small dagger?
Belial slowed down and Ellis caught up to him. Directly in front of them was the first wave of the monsters that were about to reach them. The monsters were all various sizes from half the size of a person to four times the size of the Gorethorn. There were even Imp King's he could see in the crowds of monsters. A huge monster bigger than a house bounded toward them angrily on the right side.
"You get the left; I'll get the right."
Belial smirked as he dashed ahead before Ellis could protest.
Alright. I guess this is do or die.
Ellis took a deep breath, calming himself as much as he could before monsters enveloped him. He slashed left and right; smaller monsters fell to the ground dead around him as he shot lightning bolts at the bigger monsters he didn't want getting any closer to him. Most of the monsters weren't any taller than he was, so he aimed to cut off their heads. Ellis dodged and blocked as many attacks as he could, but occasionally an attack would slip through his defense, leaving him with various cuts and bruises. One monster, about half Ellis's height, sprung forward at Ellis quicker than he could react and dug its claws into his chest before it opened its mouth revealing hundreds of sharp spiky teeth. Before it could bite him, he grabbed the monster by one of its horns and threw it on to the ground. With one swift motion, he cut the monster in half before he had to roll out of the way of a giant metal covered fist headed for his face. Ellis twisted his halberd and cut the back of the ogre looking monsters' legs causing it to collapse onto its knees before cutting its head clean off. He looked around and saw Belial, with monster corpses surrounding him, fighting a winged monster with a head almost like a hammer. Belial threw his dagger straight into the monster's stomach and its guts exploded everywhere.
He must cast some sort of magic through his dagger.
Ellis thought to himself before he noticed the 2nd wave of monsters surging toward him. This time, almost all of the monsters were twice the size of Ellis. He could see two Imp Kings as well as a few wolfish looking monsters that had heads like a boar and horns that formed an arc across their face. Ellis gawked in terror as nearly fifty monsters charged straight for him.
Ellis lifted his hand and shot a lightning bolt with 30% power toward the center of the pack. The ground exploded as ten monsters fell to the ground scorched and lifeless, but the others writhed in anger as they ran on with steaming blackened marks covering their bodies. Ellis jumped up into the air and slashed his halberd through one of the wings of an Imp King flying toward him, sending it crashing into the ground. Before the Imp King could get up, Ellis stabbed it through the chest and electrocuted it using his halberd as a catalyst. As he finished off the Imp King, two boarish wolves attacked him from two different sides. Ellis jumped to the side, dodging them, and the two monsters slammed into each other. By the time Ellis finished the two monsters off, he was surrounded by the rest of the monsters.
He knew he had to come up with something quickly. Ellis gathered the remaining 40% of his anima but this time he shot it out of his entire body sending strikes of lightning out in every direction, sending the monsters surrounding him soaring through the air smoldering. Suddenly, the air was knocked out of Ellis as he tumbled across the ground. Ellis looked up to see a monster the height of a semi-truck with black scorch marks covering it barreling toward him with its one huge eye locked onto him as it shook the ground with every step. Ellis looked to Belial for help, but he was fighting an even bigger monster that was wielding a huge, thick sword. He attempted to stand up, but his legs wouldn't cooperate with him fast enough. The monster reached Ellis before he could move and brought its hand down to crush Ellis to death.
Shluck!
An arrow pierced the monster's eye, sending it stumbling backward in pain before it could complete its killing blow. Without warning, a giant white wolf-like monster leapt over Ellis's head and crashed into the side of the cyclops monster, sending it plummeting down to the ground. The white wolf jumped on top of the monster, pinning it down before it began ripping it into pieces. A few seconds later, the one-eyed monster laid lifeless in a puddle of blood. The giant wolf then jumped down from the monster before it started running toward Ellis.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone