I Was Reborn as a Daddy in Another World

Founders - Part 2

In a secluded area of the second floor of the Labyrinth, not far from the palisaded walls of Abyssia, Katya was locked in battle with a pack of baptet hounds.

Val watched her from a short distance away, a hammer in each hand, and waited as she made short work of the slavering animals. Again, he was struck by the graceful way she moved, swinging her enormous blade back and forth as if it weighed nothing, cutting down the hounds one after another.

Katya spun on her right foot, slashing the blade across her body and cleaving two baptet hounds from the air, sending them tumbling along the ground as they shattered into motes of red light. The last of the black and red hounds lunged towards her and she turned and ran, heading towards Val.

"You ready?!" she shouted.

"I hope so!" Val yelled back, spreading his feet and tightening his grip on the weapons in his hands.

Katya easily outpaced the animal, tearing past Val, and the baptet hound changed course, charging toward what it perceived as the more immediate threat. Val activated the spellchips embedded in the hafts of the hammers, and the heads shimmered with elemental energy.

The hound leapt toward Val and he charged forward to meet it, swinging the wind-charged hammer in his right hand in an upward arc that hit the animal square in the chest. He felt his hammer pushed back in the microsecond before the spell discharged and blasted the animal away. The hound tumbled in the air, spinning over on itself before crashing to the ground.

Val pressed his advantage, running toward the hound as it struggled to its feet, but the monster's injuries were not enough to keep it from being ready for him. He swung the ice-charged hammer he held in his left hand in a wild overhead blow that struck nothing as the baptet hound sprung backwards. He overbalanced and the hammer crashed into the ground, discharging the spell. Instantly, a sharp block of icy spikes froze Val's arm in place, up to the elbow.

Val pulled against the ice ineffectually, grunting with effort, as the hound barked and growled, circling around him for a clear run at his throat.

"Use the other hammer!" Katya yelled, holding her position but ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

Val charged the wind hammer again and swung it into the side of the ice formation. The ice exploded, sending Val backwards in a shower of frozen shards, tearing both hammers from his grip and launching them off into the air. The hound leapt backward to avoid the shrapnel, yelping, but recovered quickly, charging towards Val's prone body.

"Get up, Val!"

Val rolled to his side, pulling another hammer from his belt, and struggled to his feet. The hound was almost on top of him, barely giving him time to activate the poison spell as he swung it in a wild arc that crashed into the wide jaws of the leaping creature, redirecting it just enough that the bite missed his throat by inches. The dog's body hit his shoulder, spinning him around, but he kept to his feet as the animal crashed to the ground behind him.

The dog rolled over, snarling as the high-level poison spell took hold and, after a few seconds, the shimmering green mist surrounding the hound dissipated into the air as the animal shattered apart.

Val tried to catch his breath as a selection of items popped into existence and scattered themselves on the ground where the hound had fallen. Rather than the exultation of victory, Val felt only a sense of relief that he had survived.

"Here."

Katya was already standing at his side, holding a vial of bright, red healing potion in her outstretched hand.

"Thanks, Kat."

Val took the potion, popping the stopper out with his thumb and gulping down the viscous liquid. As always, the taste made him almost gag, but he took great pleasure in the immediate relief he felt as the slow-acting potion took effect, healing his bruised muscles and knitting together the myriad small cuts he received from the ice shards.