Amazon Apocalypse: Chapter 41 (Patreon)

“Sacrifice?” I repeated before panting breaths. The other Wolfmen stepped back after the appearance of their alpha, like a pack of real wolves showing deference to their leader.

“To empower the pack. Like the rest of your kind,” the Alpha Wolfman continued. Each word was deliberate, as though he prided himself on being able to speak at all and was doing so with the utmost care. “Sacrifices one and all. Your flesh feeds our bodies. Your souls feed our minds.”

A shiver ran up my spine. I certainly didn’t like the sound of that.

“I don’t think so.” I narrowed my eyes as I focused on using this lull in the battle to my full advantage. Everyone was catching their breaths, and I was regenerating mana. I could use Mind over Flesh to heal my body up too, but Lifesteal had warded off my wounds to the point that the few scratches I had wouldn’t hinder me in the least, especially as my Corrupting Marks continued to deal a small amount of damage to each of the Wolfmen.

I called upon my Study skill once more, having already conquered Furor in the past. Now I needed to do it again. Previously, I had reached those heights through sheer overuse of my Scholar of Forbidden Knowledge class, combined with the desperation of battle. This time, I would achieve it through conscious, directed will.

I focused my breathing as the Alpha Wolfman assessed me for vulnerabilities, poised to strike. But in just a moment, I would be prepared too. I felt power surge within me, like reaching into the sky to seize a fragment of the darkness from the space between stars.

My skill transported me to that realm where I had been after death and before rebirth when I was closest to the essence of the Arcadia Multiverse. I concentrated not on the peculiar arcade I had imagined while there but on the underlying truth, the concealed reality that interconnected everything and enabled the System to manipulate the very fabric of existence.

These thoughts consumed me, and I embraced true madness once more.

Your Mania has increased to Level 3: Blood Frenzy. Chaos envelops your soul, and your grip on sanity becomes perilously weak.

The battle commenced and concluded in a flash. The Alpha Wolfman charged toward me while Sakura dashed to shield me from him. Everything happened so swiftly, yet it appeared slow in my perception. My body hummed with energy as everyone else seemed to move sluggishly, limbs laden with molasses.

The world warped and contorted around me, and I realized Eldritch Augmentation must have heightened my senses. Enhanced by eighty percent, my body transformed into a formidable weapon awaiting the will to act.

I took a minuscule step and vanished, reappearing six paces above the ground. It felt like I stood on solid earth while hovering in midair. I didn’t understand how I was achieving this, but it worked.

With arms outstretched, magical missiles burst from me in all directions. My Mana Bolts adopted a sinister purple hue as Power of Nature absorbed some of the mana I was emitting. Eldritch Mana, something I’d never encountered before. I couldn’t discern if I was using Eldritch Blast or Mana Bolt as the two melded into cascading waves of energy that erupted from me and rained down upon my targets below.

Mana gushed out of me in immense surges. Despite my efficiency boosts from Intelligence, Arcana, and Caster proficiencies, I continued to expend mana at a startling rate. I couldn’t maintain this for more than a few moments. But I didn’t need to.

“Detonate...” I whispered, my voice imbued with a chilling undertone.

Simultaneously, my Corrupting Marks erupted. The ten remaining Wolfmen my allies had been combating exploded in ten concurrent bursts of gore.

Congratulations! You have advanced your class Scholar of Forbidden Knowledge to level 24!

This accomplishment would have been unattainable without the eighty percent boost to all my Scholar of Forbidden Knowledge skills provided by the third level of Mania.

“Demon!” the Alpha Werewolf snarled. He, too, had been hit by my detonating Corrupting Marks, but he had the most health and the least marks on him. His regenerative abilities seemed even more remarkable than those of his pack, and the few wounds I’d inflicted were already healing.

“What the fuck?” Frank exclaimed, as stunned as the Alpha Werewolf, wiping intestines from his face after the demise of the Wolfman he’d been battling.

“Go!” I urged Sakura and the others, gesturing past the Alpha Wolfman. “Save them!”

Bridget and the others couldn’t be far ahead. The Wolfmen must have chosen to ambush us here for a reason. We’d been on their trail since near Crownhill. They’d only confront us if they had no other option.

“But...” Sakura started to object, but then the Alpha Wolfman and I began to fight earnestly.

He was fast, much faster than anything else I’d fought. His claws were like talons, and he leaped toward where I hovered in the air, slashing through what would have been my torso just a moment earlier.

I vanished and reappeared atop a nearby tree. He sliced through the trunk, which shattered into countless splinters. The Alpha Wolfman was as strong as the ogres Sakura and I had fought, but many times faster.

If I used Eldritch Augmentation, I might match him while it was active. But my earlier display of power left my mana alarmingly low. I needed to save what I had left for Warp Step.

Sakura came to the same conclusion I had. She wasn’t fast enough to fight the Alpha Wolfman. She could hold her ground, but that wouldn’t suffice against such an opponent. The same applied to Frank and Marcus. Of the four of us, only I was agile enough to evade this enemy.

And so that’s what I did. I dodged and weaved around the Alpha Wolfman, throwing only the occasional Eldritch Blast. I didn’t intend to win the fight, not in my current weakened state.

Even with the boost to my class abilities from the third level of Mania, I didn’t have enough mana for that. But I didn’t have to win. I just needed to keep him busy.

Over the next few minutes, we played a game of cat and mouse. I ran and hid, dashing through the forest. The Alpha Wolfman relentlessly pursued.

As our twisted dance continued, the Alpha Wolfman grew increasingly frustrated with my evasive maneuvers. His snarls intensified, and I saw the beast within him taking over, urging him to hunt me down with even greater ferocity. Yet, despite the dangerous game we played, I couldn’t help but feel a thrill at the challenge of outwitting such a powerful foe.

The Alpha Wolfman’s voice echoed through the forest, a sinister blend of mockery and menace as he pursued me relentlessly. “You cannot escape me forever, sacrifice,” he said contemptuously. “I smell your fear. Taste your desperation. Just like the rabbits I hunted as a pup.”

But he was wrong. What coursed through me was neither fear nor desperation. It was the sheer unbridled madness of a Scholar of Forbidden Knowledge.

The forest blurred as I sprinted through the trees, leaping over fallen logs and ducking under low-hanging branches. I kept my senses on high alert, acutely aware of the Alpha Wolfman’s every move as he lunged at me with his lethal claws and snapping jaws. Each time he came close, I managed to dodge just in time, his breath hot on my neck as I narrowly escaped.

I regenerated my mana as quickly as I expended it. With this strength coursing through my veins, I could keep this up for hours. The only question was whether the Alpha Wolfman could do the same.

The Alpha Wolfman’s frustration grew with each passing moment, fueling his transformation into a more primal, savage version of himself. His growls reverberated through the forest, a chilling symphony of primal rage and bloodlust that only heightened my determination to survive this lethal encounter.

We wove our deadly path through the woods, and a seemingly endless game of hunter and prey unfolded. As we raced between the shadows, I couldn’t help but wonder if my friends had managed to save the innocent lives caught in this twisted conflict. That thought alone spurred me on, giving me the strength to keep evading the ravenous beast on my heels.

“Carter! We’ve got them!” I heard Sakura’s voice call out from the distance. The engine of my truck roared to life, and I saw them turn in the distance. The back was loaded with people stacked atop one another, some conscious and some not.

I spotted Doctor Roswell among them, missing an arm but otherwise alive. Bridget was there too. She had a bite mark on her throat, but was otherwise unharmed.

Relief blossomed in my heart as they sped away.

The Alpha Wolfman spotted my truck at the same time I did, and he growled at it.

“No! Tricky sacrifices!” He dropped to all fours, salivating as he looked like he was about to charge after my companions. I wasn’t going to let him.

I struck him with an Eldritch Blast, first one, then another. Though my mana pool hadn’t had time to restore itself, I had enough left in me for a few good hits. I just had to make them count.

“I thought I was your prey!” I called out to the Alpha Wolfman. “Giving up on me already?”

Spitting and snarling, the Alpha Wolfman turned to me with eyes full of murderous intent.

I taunted the Alpha Wolfman until he focused on me. My instincts urged me to meet his charge with reckless abandon, addled as my senses were by Blood Frenzy.

But I gripped my mind tightly, wrapping myself in self-control. I was in command, not my class. And certainly not some bundle of otherworldly madness. This Mania was a source of power, nothing more. I was its master.

I had repeated those same words to myself many times over the past few minutes, and I repeated them once more. I couldn’t think straight, but I could guess at what I’d do if I was fully sane.

I would retreat. The battle was won, and my companions were safe. Lust for battle or not, it was time to run. So I forced myself away and put an end to the game of cat and mouse.

Behind me, the Alpha Wolfman howled in rage.

The Mania in my soul howled in reply. We would meet again. And next time, I wouldn’t be the one running.