381 Run, Fool!
That day, so many Cleaners died. The little creatures’ dying shrieks filled the entire lake, yet they didn’t retreat even once. To them, a feast was worth dying for! They cleaned the entire place of its “Residue of the Deep”, turning the whole place upside down. They were unstoppable! The citizens of Mermaid City would forever shiver as they remembered this day, especially that one man’s voice as he “controlled” the swarm. “Look there, food!” That’s all Jack ever said. He’d point at whatever he wanted to be destroyed, calling it the new food scavenging location. The entire City going down was actually collateral damage. “Please, go away! We don’t have any more food, I swear! You won’t find anything, please!” The mermaids would beg with tears in their large beautiful eyes, even the ex-Empress. Usually, their looks alone would have been enough to get any man to forgive them, they looked so pitiful after all, but Jack was entirely frigid for them. Mercy?! Bloody mercy?! He had so many reasons to get revenge against them, a thousand of them! 1. They had hurt Pumpkin Girl 2. They had hurt Pumpkin Girl 3. They had hurt…
They had also betrayed his trust, but that was a mere detail. He could easily forgive everything else, but attacking his people? Hell no! He kept ordering his new army, decimating everything those bastards held dear. Cleaners = Hungriest Invincible Sword! Water-Pearl = Best Survival Tool (Especially when underwater and focusing everything on avoiding) Cleaners + Water-Pearl = Temporarily Unstoppable Combo! As for the innocent victims in all this….well, this was war. It was all worth to see Gargan’s despair as deep regret filled his soul, the man shouting non-stop. “Tch— Bastard, I should have killed you when I had the chance!” “Stop fleeing, you coward! Honor-less wimp, fight me!” “Stop hiding behind your minions already!” Each of his shouts revealed how unrepentant he was. Not once did he ever show regret for antagonizing Jack in the first place. Nope, it was all about him, him, and him! Fight fairly? What did the idiot expect? That Jack would just stand there and let him hit him? The world sure was fair. What he had gained in power, he had lost in self-awareness. At the end of the day, Jack left behind a pile of rubble and a completely traumatized population. A single look at them triggered an instant wave of PTSD. [Successfully Razed Mermaid City Down!] [The Mermaids Hate You to the Bone!] [Still, They Fear You Even More!] [Title: Demon King of the Lake!] His title had updated? How was a random peer-given title evolving so much?! Not only did it help for intimidation, but from now he’d even be used to scare misbehaving children…
Even now, the shivering soldiers were staring at him as if he was Evil incarnate. All hope had long left them as they pictured the grim future. Destroy the Capital —> Head to the other cities They could already picture Jack gleefully cackling as he ordered his legion to hunt the survivors to the very last one. The entire lake was so doomed! [Fear +++!] [Despair Fills Their Hearts!] Fear, despair? Why were they suddenly despairing now? The City was already gone. It wasn’t like he could do much more damage even if he wanted to! Little did they realize that he wouldn’t be able to attack any random place. It had to be one that contained the food that the creatures loved so much. As far as he knew, that kind of exotic delicacy had only been present here, but everything had already been wiped clean, and thus his crusade would end. But just as they were all misunderstanding his true power and getting scared shit-less, an angelic voice resounded as if a miracle from Heaven. “That’s enough… I’m not angry anymore.” Pumpkin Girl softly uttered from Jack’s back as she stared at the scene of desolation. — Gasps! — Never had someone seemed more pleasing to the eye. So what if her state was horrible and her face currently mangled beyond belief? At this moment, she seemed like a Saint! [Hope Fills Their Hearts!] [What Will You Decide Upon?] Jack could almost see the balance of Karma hanging above his head. Honestly, he cared very little about the lives of the rabble, but he could feel the weight of her gaze on him. She would accept his decision either way, but still… “I should fill the entire lake with your blood to redress her grievance….” They all shook. “Sigh. All of you, scram!” Jack finally bellowed. They ran as if rats on a sinking ship. They ran, sneaking fearful glances at the being that was letting them go, praying for him not to change his mind. At this moment, Jack appeared as if a vengeful Water God, especially floating with the water pearl’s glow. He who had arrived at this place sneakily was leaving it with a huge BANG! There was only one that didn’t want to leave, Gargan. He squinted veins about to pop all over his forehead. “Human freak, I’ll definitely kill you next time!” He reluctantly left with his entire crew, temporarily retreating. [Drove a Powerhouse Away!] [Mermaid City Confrontation Ending!] [XP +++ Level UP!!! Reached Level 42!] “It’s finally over….” Pumpkin Girl’s relieved voice echoed. “Not quite.” Jack shook his head, staring at the rubble on the floor. “How about coming out now.” He growled a warning. — Bam! — The remains of a mermaid building were suddenly pushed away, and a gorgeous dust-covered head appeared. “How did you know I was here?!” An oddly excited mermaid asked in awe. She didn’t seem to care about the destruction around her, nor the Cleaners. “Oh, it’s you. You don’t seem too concerned about the destruction of your City.” Jack remarked. “Pfft— Don’t try changing the topic! How did you figure out where I was?! Have you ascended to godhood somehow? Wait, no. You saw me hide, right?!” “What does it change—” “Hehe, you were looking at me!” She exclaimed triumphantly.
Jack could already feel a headache coming. By now, she was even striking seductive poses, stretching her tail and voluptuous chest alike, even with Pumpkin Girl’s death stare! The best thing he could do was just to ignore her and leave ASAP before— “You’re running out of power, aren’t you? The truth is you’re out of mana, and you don’t have perfect control over the creatures either.” She sharply pointed out. At this moment, she couldn’t have looked more scheming, her grin showing that she had the situation under control. “I wonder what will happen if I attack “you” right now.” She stressed the “you”, for she wouldn’t make the mistake of antagonizing the bugs. Flee? Even with the water pearl, he probably wouldn’t be able to. He was very deep inside the lake. Fight? That was even less of an option. It would attract Gargan’s attention. Jack would be royally fucked if the “Emperor” returned at that moment. He could only bluff his way out! “What will happen? Sushis. I’ll do mincemeat out of you, stuff that pink flesh of yours into dried algae with rice and vegetables. Then I’ll—” “Hahahahaha! If I didn’t know better, I’d believe you!” Without hesitating, she flicked her tail, accelerating toward him. [Your BS Failed for Once!] Goddamn! As if that was the time for the bloody system to gloat! Why did it seem like it wanted him to suffer recently?! Think, think! What could he even do? There was that one Infinite Demonic Energy trick from that book back then…but he was way too low energy even to start the damn spell! No, there was only one thing he could do. He’d retreat to the Abyss, lure her into a mirage, and then…. — Bam! — Another piece of rubble suddenly exploded outward. That’s when a bunch of bleeding, weak-looking guys showed up. Many of them he recognized. They were his old soldiers and some other prisoners he had freed. “Surprise! We’re here too! We came to save you, Commander! Leave this goddess— bitch to us and run. We got you!” They came for him? Jack could actually see their arms bulging with stolen treasures, and they had obviously been looting. One could be an honorable thief, it seemed… “If you make it out alive, the beer’s on me!” Jack irreverently ran for his life, throwing such a puny promise in the wind. He felt Pumpkin Girl wriggle in his arms, seemingly about to say something, but she remained mum in the end. She understood that she was the one he was trying to save. But even then… “ARGG!” “How is she so OP?!” “My arm, she cut my goddamn arm!” The scene behind them was already one of a massacre. Jack’s pursuer was akin to a demon from an aquatic Hell, her water trident slicing through bones as if butter. Not only was she decimating the troops faster than herpes spread in a crude bordello, but her gaze never left Jack even as she did so. Goddammit, now what?! It wasn’t like he could go back to help them either. No, he had to do something! 1. Stash Pumpkin Girl somewhere 2. Lead the crazy mermaid far away
3. Wait for the valiant Moon Moon to respawn
4. Improvise… 😭
He could already hear her shouts from behind… “Why are you running? You can run, but you can’t hide!” She kept playfully shouting over his shoulder. It would have almost seemed cute if she wasn’t covered in blood…. actually was that a severed finger in her long blue hair?! Pushed by desperation, Jack somehow reached point 2 of his mightily improvised plan, reaching a dark bottomless hole. [Enter the Abyss Again?!] [Warning! Extremely Dangerous!] So what if he was low mana? He’d have just enough to throw himself into another mirage cluster. It would be deadly, but so what?! “Sigh. Here goes nothing.” He dived to his sure death, a blue blur quickly following after… That moment when you scare away the big bad guy, only to find yourself chased by the mid-boss. Talk about an opportunist Mermaid! Still, all hope wasn’t lost, for I still had one trick up my sleeve,… ClasslessAscension
Creator’s Thought