Unsafe Working Conditions : A He Who Fights With Monsters 6+ Companion Story

Chapter 22 - That is One Angry Midget

 Liam fired the first blast and hit the box causing it to rupture, and a yellow flame to fall toward one of the queens. Liam swung his weapon and fired at the dreidel, his aim was true and the dreidel turned into a ball of blue light. His face fell as he realized the grenade was lightning based and would contribute to the power of the swarm.

A Vole bit into his free arm; the creature's teeth didn't penetrate his coat before he placed the barrel of the shotgun against its head and fired. The creature fell back but the time between firing was too short to allow for enough power to gather for a killing shot. Reaching up to his back he drew his sword and immediately buried it into the stunned creature, "Divulge thy bounty onto the worthy," his chant coming out as a grunt.

Another Vole had reached him, the electricity arcing across its teeth as it reached out to bite him, "Oh piss off you tiny handed badger!" To his surprise he felt mana leave him as the creature stumbled and with a squeak closed its mouth. Liam quickly pointed the shotgun at its head and fired. The creature's head was crushed by the force of the blast killing.

"Query. All explosives not electrical," Liam was nearing the top of the hill, preparing to dive back to try and avoid the imminent discharge. The ground before him was spotted with red, Liam dove into the swarm batting away Voles with his gun and slicing them with his sword to disable them while he fought to reach the nearest explosive. The coat protected from the sharp teeth and claws but not the force of the bites.

Liam buried his sword in a furry body before reaching down to pick up the red outline, he was now surrounded. Lobbing it towards the nearest collection of red and blue outlines he shrugged off the Voles biting his arm holding the shotgun and fired, "Pay Tribute!" The charm in his palm hummed and the rest of the mana in his body was used to fuel the spell. He watched as the shot curved to hit the floating red blob. The impact set off the explosive which expanded in a ball of fire. At the same time the Voles were connected by arcs of lightning that consolidated on one of the creatures behind him.

He had been retreating in a straight line and using his Dark Rewards power to increase damage the ground was littered with explosive loot. The expanding ball of fire was soon joined by volcanic eruptions, discharges of icy spikes, earthen spires arose to spear some before being torn into shrapnel.

Liam was thrown from his feet by the blast at the same time as a lightning bolt struck his sword. The electricity enervated his arm and traveled up to the rest of his body, his jaw clenched so hard his teeth made cracking sounds.

He struck the ground hard, his vision swam with black dots and his left arm was smoking. He fought to remain conscious, around the black dots a green glow suffused his vision. The dots and glow receded, the feeling returned to him as his body was filled with energy.

Standing up he could feel that the mana that was entering his body would be too much. The side of the hill was covered in craters, most of the Voles were wrapped up in the various detonations, those not injured had collapsed. Summoning his Augmented Reality glasses he looked at the nearest one.

Vole of Irancent Paleocollapse

Male

Suffering from mana deficiency

Suffering from Ruin Condition

Suffering from mana poisoning

Suffering from...

The list of ailments on the screen continued but Liam could feel the mana building inside him. He retrieved the grapnel from his storage and began to slice and fire at every Vole he could reach while pumping the maximum amount of mana into each attack.