Chapter 80

The Hellhound bounded forward ahead of its master, fangs slavering, eager to tear into its foes. It stepped once, twice, and then it vanished into thin air, reappearing a dozen feet ahead before blinking forward once again, teleporting in short bursts, jumping from point to point.

Rain shifted his feet and spread his arms ready to take on the hound, to rip it to pieces as soon as it got within his range.

Instead, the hound suddenly changed trajectory, its blinking veering off to the side, away from Rain and toward Lyra and Opal.

The Goblin girl was being helped up by Lyra, her arm slung around the sheep girl’s shoulders, her legs like jelly beneath her, she looked up and her face dropped as the enormous dog charged right at them, they didn’t stand a chance.

“Lyra! Invisible! NOW!” roared Rain.

The sheep girl jerked her head up, caught one look at the bounding dog, and then instantly disappeared along with Opal.

The Hellhound stumbled to a halt, its head moving side to side in confusion, searching for its vanished prey.

“You’re protecting a leveler? Are you a slave? No, you seem to have a personal problem with me, but then, why do you want to protect her...?”

Rain turned to find the Ranker striding toward him, his boots crunching against the rubble and earth.

“Save your concern for your own life.” said Rain, the bridge of his nose wrinkling in anger.

He readied to leap on him, but then the Ranker grinned.

“You should take your own advice.”

He let off an ear piercing whistle and the hound turned on the spot immediately looking toward its master. Bane thrust out a hand, a thick finger pointing at the air to the left of the hound.

“She’s there dog.”

Rain’s eyes widened in surprise, he could see through Lyra’s Skill unaided! The Hellhound blinked forward and crashed into something invisible. There was a cry of surprise and Lyra and Opal appeared, the Hellhound falling bodily upon them, shoulder checking the two girls.

Rain tried to go to their aid but the Ranker suddenly leapt forward, a large fist meteoring up, catching him unawares. He twisted trying to evade, but the Ranker struck home, a brutal hammer blow that caught him in the gut. Rain choked as the wind was blown out of him in a rush, he stumbled backwards, set off balance, trying to raise his paws to defend against the follow up blow.

Behind him Lyra let out a scream as the Hellhound’s maw found her shoulder, biting deep, its serrated teeth scraping against collar bone. She punched and slapped at its head in a blind panic but she may as well have been petting it for all the Hellhound noticed. It snarled and then savaged her, thrashing her side to side, dragging and mauling her like a limp doll, her legs flailing, her hooves clattering uselessly on the stone as the dog tore into her, growling as its teeth inched deeper into her flesh.

“H-help! Help me!” screamed Lyra, fear and pain in her voice as the dog hauled her across the ground, blood washing down her skin and dying her fluff crimson.

Metal flashed and a small knife swung down, digging deep between the Hellhound’s shoulder blades. It yelped in surprise, its teeth coming loose from Lyra as a small green person leapt on its back with a cry of outrage. The hound snarled and snapped at the air, trying to twist its head to get at the Goblin on its back but unable to quite reach, its serrated teeth coming within an inch of her flesh.

“You owe me for this big time sheeepy!” wailed Opal as she was thrown around on top the hound, desperately holding onto the embedded knife as her legs flopped uselessly across its back.

Lyra stumbled to her hooves, one hand held tight over her shoulder wound, “G-get off it and come to me! Quick! I can make us invisible!”

“I can’t! The moment I-”

Before she could finish however her hands slipped from the handle and she went flipping head over heels into the air. The hound’s head snapped around and its teeth came down on her leg, biting deep. Opal screamed, cut off as her head cracked against the cobble when the dog yanked her out of the air. Lyra jumped forward, kicking at the dog, driving her hooves into its side. The Hellhound simply ignored her weak kicks, instead of giving her an annoyed look and then disappearing along with Opal, appearing six feet behind her. It shook its head and Opal was bounced across the ground screaming and swearing as blood rolled down her leg.

“Drop her! Drop her! You stupid dog!” cried Lyra desperately chasing after it.

Rain’s feet slid across the earth as the next blow rocked him, the bones of his arms creaking and hairline fracturing under the impact, driving his arms back into his chest. It was like being hit with a sledgehammer, the steady brutal blows of a blacksmith forging steel, each strike rattling his teeth, this beast of a leveler was strong, un-fucking-believably strong. He was being driven back across the ground from the flurry of his strikes alone, furrows in the earth marking his claws as he desperately held on. A confident grin still spread the Ranker’s lips, each strike of the giant man’s tree trunk like arms felt like an unstoppable force of nature, immutable, undeniable.