Reborn to Devour: A Demonic LitRPG

“I hope you regret killing my subordinates,” Capitaine chuckled as blood wept from their eyes and their body convulsed from the recoil of the bullet. “Change of plans. Bonnie, you have to use any damaging spells that you have. We need to kill it before it kills us. Ishmael, continue to interfere with its movements.”

While Bonnie’s water globes turned into a sickly brown color, I remained perfectly still. The eruption of rage I expected to feel at Capitaine’s deceit need not greet me. Instead, I felt icy with only clear thoughts to guide me.

Pawns.

That’s all that we were in Capitaine’s schemes for victory. Sacrifices that could be expended one by one in order to reach their goal. This world was a general’s wet dream. Play your cards right and you end up with thousands of immortal soldiers that will endlessly fight for you until it is over.

There were ways to keep Yoshitsune alive longer; I knew this. I could have been stationed at the bottom of the hill while Capitaine offered covering fire. We could have stabilized Yoshitsune’s health and given another angle of attack for the Corpse-Watcher to be wary of.

But, our short-sighted commander thought it best to terminate her in exchange for some easy damage into the Corpse-Watcher’s head. If it were a killing blow, I would have understood. That is not the situation that we find ourselves in. It is wounded, angry, and showing signs that it has grown some new eyes and, undoubtedly, new powers.

“You fucking liar,” I spat into the ground as I remained rooted in place.

“You’re upset,” Capitaine said unapologetically. “Take it out on the beast. Anything else you feel, I recommend you save it for afterwards. Or are you going to tell your friend you ruined her sacrifice by throwing a tantrum and leaving her with nothing?”

I clenched my teeth, feeling the tips of the needles press into the gums to fill my mouth with the taste of iron. Fuck that they were right. The only thing that was keeping me from leaving their corpse from looking like a deer hit by a semi was the fact that this whole thing was my idea. I had to take responsibility for dragging Yoshitsune into this shit.

Without giving them the satisfaction of a response, I moved into my position. Though there was only one enemy left, I felt like I was being watched from all sides like I was in the center of a panopticon.

“I just need a couple more shots to finish it off,” Capitaine informed us. “I’ll use my death shot as a last resort.”

Even after saying that and getting into position, the Corpse-Watcher refused to oblige us. No more reckless charges up the hill greeted us.

I started to itch in restlessness at the lack of action. Each second that dragged on made me feel more exhausted as my body remained tense in preparation of the next move. I knew that it was out there, watching us, waiting for us to slouch and take to the offensive.

“What a smart mutt you are,” Capitaine complimented.

A crack of gunfire split my thoughts like an axe into a coconut. Capitaine fired a blind shot into the woods and turned whatever tree that greeted the bullet into mulch.

But, even as Capitaine hastily loaded the next round, the Corpse-Watcher did not appear. It was far too wary of the next beam of light that could eliminate it. The cowardice was starting to get under my skin. If this was its territory, it needed to try harder to get rid of us.

Then, the revving of its bestial engine started to reverberate through the woods. Red circles arced through the forest as it burst forth from the darkness.

The many-eyed visage made my muscles tense up with unnatural fear. My body felt weaker; my muscles felt like they were withering and my scales felt flaky and brittle. Timers began cropping up above my health bar to show the debilitating effects. I continued to press forwards, but my body felt as though it were piloted by someone who was dreaming. Actions were taken with full power to have minimal effect.

“Ishmael, tear it apart!” Capitaine commanded. The words caused body parts to start to follow orders as the effects of the Corpse-Watcher’s presence was diminished.

I charged the Corpse-Watcher without a single thought in my head. This beast would be the focal point of my anger. Base desires began to take over to force away the instincts that ordered my retreat. My fingers twitched, eager to rip into something. My teeth were ready to clamp down on my throat and not let go until whatever was caught between them ripped itself apart. At this dehumanized version of myself, I truly felt respect for this proud and wily beast. To push us all so far, to make me lack confidence in our victory. I had no other choice but to acknowledge it.

We met partway down the slope. Without the option to jump, it attempted to sidestep me like I was a simple roadblock on its way to more delicious targets. But, I was no pylon.

I lunged at the Corpse-Watcher. My arms wrapped around its body and my feet dug into the soil. Strong as this beast was, my own strength was nothing to scoff at. Even if I could not fully constrain it, I still acted as the dragging anchor to this black ship.

Without any other options, it braved the acid and ripped at my body with its teeth. Searing pain flared into my brain as I felt scales crunch and muscles ripped out of place by several swords. Despite this, I could only smile. My own teeth dug into the Corpse-Watchers flesh as I fully prepared to keep it in this death grip. In addition to my own acidic blood and ravenous claws, Bonnie was splashing it with muddied water that slowly chipped away at the little remaining health that it had.

All we needed was Capitaine’s next shot.

A shot that I did not hear.

The Corpse-Watcher twisted its bloodied body in my grip to clamp its powerful jaws down upon my arm. Teeth penetrated deep into flesh and began to scrape against bone.

It jerked its ahead away to rip my arm off and escape from my grip. As my bone was yanked from its socket and my sinews ripped apart like a doll caught in a game of tug-of-war, I finally heard the blast of Capitaine’s rifle ring out.

The shot only clipped the hind leg of the Corpse-Watcher before it turned into mist; taking my arm with it. Only a shallow splatter of blood and a tattered body rewarded me for my efforts. They were injuries that required multiple recovery potions to be drunk at the same time to pull myself from the brink and allow me to regrow my missing limb.

As I made my way back to the top of the hill, I saw Capitaine working on loading his final shot. Before he could finish, the sky exploded with crimson eyes. The blood-red sigils watched from every angle and brought the full pressure of the Corpse-Watcher’s presence behind each one.

“Ishmael, defend me!” Capitaine ordered.

I looked towards Bonnie, my preference of target clear on my face.

“Do it,” Bonnie said with a look of serenity. She had already made peace with her role as sacrifice and left the rest of the work to us.

Against my own wishes, I leapt towards Capitaine and abandoned Bonnie to the mercy of the Corpse-Watcher. The beast sprung from out of the red eye and at the merfolk with its maw wide open; an arsenal of white blades that could supply an entire army glistened through the darkness. It passed in an instant to scythe through Bonnie’s helpless form. A snarling sound blared like a train horn before disappearing into the nothingness of the red eyes.

Bonnie's body remained standing for a brief moment. Her head and torso were removed messily like a surgery with a hacksaw. Her forearms and hands, severed from the rest of the limb, had fallen to the ground. Then, her lower body finally toppled over and landed in a sprawling mess.

Alert

Party Member Bonnie has died.

“Why didn’t you shoot sooner?” I demanded, seeing fault in everything that Capitaine did.

“It was waiting for my shot before escaping,” Capitaine replied. “The longer you hold it down, the more damage it would take. Don’t worry, I’m ready to finish it.”

Snarling escaped from all the eyes and rumbled the hill like an earthquake. My weakened legs struggled to stay up, but I willed my screaming muscles to persevere for just a while longer. If I wanted to triumph, I had to hold.

“Grab it as soon as it pops out,” Capitaine said with an oddly exuberant tone. “We’ll win if we do. We’ll actually defeat this thing.”

It did not take long for the Corpse-Watcher to oblige. The medieval armory in its snout sprouted from an eye that suddenly appeared beneath me like a shark to a lazing seal. I had to jump out of the way to keep my entire lower body from being removed by the attack. One of my legs was not so lucky and fell into the beast’s clutches.

Without hesitation, I spun my body around to create a death roll on my own limb. My leg snapped and ripped off in the Corpse-Watcher’s mouth while the rest of me gripped around its snout, forcing it to eat my noxious appendage like forcing a dog to take medicine.

“Take the shot!” I shouted with my leg slowly reformed.

However, Capitaine didn’t point their gun at the Corpse-Watcher. Instead they reached out and planted their hand directly on the beast’s forehead. Capitaine’s eyes began to glow and energy flowed out of their hand.

“What are you doing?” I interrogated as the writhing beast continued to dig into me.

“I’m going to tame this beast to be my little pet, of course,” Capitaine replied with a greedy grin. "Imagine how powerful I’d be if I had its power at my beck and call?”

I had had enough of this shithead. At this point, I couldn’t give two shits if I got the rewards or not. I just wanted to leave them with nothing. I dug my leg into the ground and, with all my unnatural might, lifted the Corpse-Watcher off the ground.

“What?” Capitaine managed to ask as they were knocked off balance.

“Fuck! You!” I shouted as I swung the Corpse-Watcher into Capitaine’s body, causing them both to tumble against the ground.

Capitaine recovered first, quickly springing off the ground and onto their feet. Without any sort of plan, they charged at the Corpse-Watcher and reached out their hand. They abandoned all sense of self-preservation in the greedy pursuit of subjugating their target.

The beast, ready for the attempt to enslave it, caught Capitaine’s arm in its mouth. The Corpse-Watcher twisted its head and ripped the limb off the hyena’s body and Capitaine screamed in pain. But, it did not succeed in destroying Capitaine before they pressed the light into the Corpse-Watcher’s head.

The Corpse-Watcher sat stunned and did not move.

Something appeared behind Capitaine’s eyes that made them laugh. Their rifle disappeared from the ground and appeared in their hands. They stuffed the butt of the rifle into the soil and pressed the barrel into the Corpse-Watcher’s neck.

With a pull of the trigger, a bullet fired right through the Corpse-Watcher’s neck and into the night sky. Miasma began to rapidly spill from the Corpse-Watcher’s body as it started to dissipate into nothingness.

Corpse-Watcher defeated. You have earned 20000XP.

But not before I jammed my claws into Capitaine’s neck. They were not going to be allowed to walk out of here alive. Not after the shit that they pulled and the people that they coldly sacrificed. Even though I survived, I knew that I was going to be next on the chopping block if things didn't work out.

“Are you going to be happy now?” Capitaine asked with a crooked smile. “Do it, I need my arm back anyways.”

“Fuck you,” I answered as I tore out Capitaine’s throat, leaving the hyena slumped over and leaking into the soil.

Alert

Party Member Capitaine has died.

I stood without a smile on my face. As badly as I wanted to do that, since it was still on their terms, I felt unsatisfied. Seeking further retribution for my blood and loss, I lifted their rifle off of the ground and snapped the weapon over my knee. The wooden stock assembly splintered and made a satisfying crack.

Quest Update

Murder the Gunpowder Heretic

Quest was not completed in a way satisfactory to the quest issue.

Quest reward has been exchanged for 5000XP.

“You fuckers too,” I said with a bitter laugh as I limped my way out of this shitty forest and back to the camp.