"Oh yes," said the man. "A warlock by profession, slaver by trade. Asrodeum the Vile by name. You have quite a collection there."
"I'm not selling kids," said Ranma, directing a flat look towards the slaver.
"Well, then, I'll have to take them by other means," said Asrodeum, bringing a hand upward. Dark red flame surged up around him.
"You're on fire?" asked Ranma. "Kids, stand back. Way over there."
"Fire Shield, you seem to be a monk of some sort," said Asrodeum. "Now, how to deal with you. Perhaps a Flesh Lashing curse to melt the skin from your bones."
Ranma began to move quickly as soon as he noted the kids had taken shelter behind a wall.
"How plebian," declared Asrodeum. "My defenses completely surround me. As long as this is in place, you cannot touch me."
Ranma completed the spiral. "Hiryu Shoten Ha."
"What the hell happened?!" asked Asrodeum.
"Funny you should ask that?" came a deep booming voice.
The warlock stiffened as the darkness surrounding him gradually cleared, revealing a broken plain lit by reddish light. Screams and groans, not of the carnal sort, formed a sort of constant background music. "Oh damn."
"Yes, you are," said his patron in warlockry.
"How did I die? I was facing some dumb monk!" declared Asrodeum.
The impeccable and impossibly handsome human straightened his business clothing. "I had arranged for you to be in the right place at the right time, with the right resources. All you had to do was take the gathered Chosen and cause them to despair and die when their hope was at their bleakest. The divine spark within them would have come to me and you would have been rewarded."
"It's not my fault!" declared Asrodeum.
"That's what they all say," said the demon, smiling to show way too many teeth.
"He killed the boss! Get him!"
"This is different," mused Ranma, ducking under an axe swing. "Usually you defeat the mooks THEN the elite and then the boss."
"POW!"
"Mostly it's kinda familiar," said Ranma, springboarding off the axeman's head to land atop some dual-sword wielder's helmet. Said dual-wielder was apparently not ready for that and their chin hit the ground almost instantly. He twisted to avoid the axe-wielder coming back to him, elbow jabbed the axeman's helmet so hard it left a large round indentation.
"SMASH! KA-POWIE!"
The dual-knife guy trying to sneak up behind him got a monkey paw strike that crushed his nose.
"WHACKUM!"
Ranma glanced towards the wall. "I don't need sound effects ya know!"
"Daddy's too awesome NOT to have sound effects!" declared one of the little girls.
Ranma tried to wipe the smile from his face. In the meantime he twisted around the guy trying to use a katana one-handed, kicked a nerve cluster in the guy's arm to disarm him, caught the hilt in one hand and grinned.
"KA-CHING!"
"That's not an appro- apuro- uhm, that's not the right sound to make," protested one of the other girls.
"You- you- you won't get away with this!" declared one of the thugs. "We'll come back and get you for this!"
"Bring someone who can fight better, you guys are lame," responded Ranma.
"Loot!" declared one of the little girls, running around the battlefield as soon as the enemies had cleared. "I'll help ya Daddy!"
"There's something so wrong about this," said Ranma.
"Daddy! They's left the wagon!" pointed out another little girl who'd gone around the side of the road to keep watch. She was now absolutely sure that their new Daddy was an epic hero! He didn't even do his own looting!
"What the hell?!" asked Ranma after he went past the tree, around another section of wall, and found the slaver's wagon. Minus the horse, apparently one of the mooks had taken enough time to unhitch it and ride off.
"More loot!" said the sea elf girl, pointing inside the cage.
Ranma winced, dreading what he'd find.
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(Posted Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:01)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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