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Eldritch Horror? No, I'm A Doctor
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The boss's hand, which had been reaching for Steven's throat, changed direction. It swiped at Kai instead, claws cutting through the air.
Kai ducked under the attack with fluid grace, his smaller frame giving him an advantage in close quarters. He lashed out with both daggers, scoring hits on the boss's exposed ribs. Black ichor sprayed, and the boss let out a sound that might have been pain or anger.
Ash came in from the other side, his sword glowing with mana. He brought it down in a heavy overhead strike that severed several tendons in the boss's right arm. The limb went partially limp, hanging at an odd angle.
Jack hung back slightly, his role apparently support and coordination. "Kai, watch the spell! Ash, it's regenerating, focus on the legs!"
The mana in Steven's rifle was building, but it was going to take the full sixty seconds. Every second of distraction the trio could provide was another second closer to ending this nightmare.
The boss roared, the sound coming from deep in its exposed throat. It was a wet, gurgling noise mixed with the crack of breaking ice. The creature's remaining good arm swept in a wide arc, forcing all three hunters to jump back.
Then it cast another spell. Ice erupted from the ground in a circle around it, creating a forest of frozen spikes that cut off easy approach angles.
"Spread out!" Kai ordered. "Don't let it focus on one target!"
They moved as a unit, each taking a different position around the boss. Their coordination was impressive, the kind that came from either years of practice or recent life-or-death situations that forced rapid adaptation.
Steven continued channeling, backing away slowly. The rifle was starting to heat up in his hands. Twenty seconds down. Forty more to go.
The boss was smart enough to realize what was happening. Its skull-head turned toward Steven, those empty sockets locking onto him even as it fought off three attackers.
It began to move in his direction.
"Oh no you don't!" Ash charged in from the side, his sword trailing sparks. He drove the blade deep into the boss's thigh, the mana-enhanced weapon cutting through muscle like butter.
The boss stumbled, its advance interrupted. It turned its attention back to the immediate threats, both hands coming up to cast another spell.
Thirty seconds. Halfway there.
The rifle was shaking now, barely contained energy building up inside it. Steven could feel his defense dropping, the protective barrier flickering as power diverted to the weapon.
The boss finished its spell. A wave of absolute cold exploded outward, flash-freezing everything within ten meters. Kai barely managed to dodge, his smaller size letting him duck behind a piece of debris. Ash wasn't as lucky. The cold caught his left side, ice forming on his armor and skin. He gritted his teeth but kept moving, forcing his partially frozen body to respond.
Jack moved in to cover him, placing himself between Ash and the boss. "Forty seconds, Colonel! We've got this!"
But they were taking damage. Kai was breathing hard, his movements slightly slower. Ash's left side was compromised, ice still clinging to him. And the boss was regenerating faster than they could hurt it.
Forty-five seconds.
The boss cast another spell, this one creating a massive icicle that hung in the air above it. The projectile was enormous, easily the size of a car, and it was pointed directly at Steven.
"Shit!" Kai threw one of his daggers. The weapon spun through the air and embedded itself in the boss's exposed shoulder, interrupting the spell's completion. The massive icicle shattered before it could launch, raining ice chunks down on the battlefield.
But Kai was now down to one dagger, and the boss was turning toward him with clear intent.
Fifty seconds.
The rifle was burning hot now, almost painful to hold. Steven's barrier was at maybe five percent, barely a shimmer in the air. He was completely exposed, defenseless. If anything hit him now, he was done.
The boss charged at Kai, moving with sudden explosive speed. Its claws reached for the rogue, who was too close to dodge effectively.
Ash threw himself forward, sword raised to intercept. The blade caught the boss's wrist, deflecting the attack just enough that Kai could roll clear. But the boss's other hand came around in a backhand that sent Ash flying. He hit the ground hard and didn't get up immediately.
"Ash!" Kai's voice carried genuine concern.
Fifty-five seconds.
"Focus!" Jack shouted. "Five more seconds!"
The boss seemed to understand that time was running out. It abandoned its attack on the three hunters and turned fully toward Steven. Those empty eye sockets locked onto him, and the creature began to run.
It was fast. Faster than Steven had seen it move before. Desperation gave it speed.
Kai tried to intercept, throwing his remaining dagger. It hit the boss in the back but didn't slow it down. Ash was struggling to his feet, too far away to help. Jack moved to block the path but the boss simply went through him, one hand casually swatting the hunter aside.
Fifty-eight seconds.
The boss was ten meters away. Five. Three.
Its clawed hand reached out, aimed directly at Steven's chest. At this range, it would pierce straight through his heart before he could react.
Sixty seconds.
Ragnarok Barrage reached full charge.
Steven didn't hesitate. His finger squeezed the trigger, and the world exploded.
The first shot left the barrel with a sound that wasn't quite thunder and wasn't quite an explosion. It was something deeper, more fundamental, like reality itself being torn apart. The bullet struck the boss dead center in its exposed ribcage, and the detonation that followed turned everything within five meters into dust and fire.
The boss's charge stopped instantly. Its clawed hand, which had been reaching for Steven's heart, simply ceased to exist. The arm it was attached to vaporized up to the shoulder. The creature's torso buckled inward, muscle tissue and bone fragmenting under the impact.
But Steven wasn't done.
He kept firing.
Each shot was another artillery shell, another devastating blast that carved away chunks of the boss's body. The second shot took out the creature's legs at the knees. The third obliterated its remaining arm. The fourth punched clean through its spine, severing the upper body from the lower.
The boss tried to regenerate. Steven could see the muscle fibers attempting to knit back together, black ichor flowing to seal wounds. But the damage was coming too fast. Each new shot arrived before the previous wound could even begin to heal.
Fifth shot. Sixth. Seventh.
The creature's torso was barely recognizable now, more hole than body. The frozen heart visible through its ribs cracked, then shattered completely. Ice crystals mixed with black blood, spreading across the pavement in a growing pool.
Eighth shot destroyed what remained of the ribcage. Ninth took out the shoulders. Tenth shot went straight through the neck.
The boss's skull-head separated from its body and flew backward, tumbling end over end before hitting the ground twenty meters away. It rolled a few more times before coming to rest against a piece of rubble.
Steven kept firing until the magazine ran empty. His finger pulled the trigger three more times on an empty chamber before his brain caught up with his body and told him to stop.
The boss's body lay in pieces across the battlefield. Muscle tissue still twitched occasionally, but there was no coordination to it. Just random nerve firings in meat that didn't know it was dead yet. The lower half of the torso was ten meters from the upper half. Arms and legs were scattered like discarded toys. Black ichor pooled around each piece, freezing into dark ice as it touched the cold air.
Only the head remained intact, skull staring up at nothing with those empty sockets.
Steven lowered his rifle slowly. His hands were shaking from more than just the recoil. His entire body felt like it had been run through a meat grinder. The pain from his broken ribs came back with a vengeance now that the adrenaline was fading. He could taste blood in his mouth, thick and copper.
But the boss was dead.
He'd actually done it.
Jack, Kai, and Ash were picking themselves up from where they'd been thrown by the blast waves. All three looked battered, covered in dirt and minor wounds, but alive.
Steven walked toward where the boss's head had landed. Each step sent fresh waves of pain through his chest and legs. Something in his left ankle wasn't working right. He'd probably broken it during the fight without noticing. The adrenaline had kept him from feeling it.
He reached the skull and stared down at it. Those empty eye sockets stared back up at him, but there was no intelligence behind them now. Just bone and ice.
Steven pulled his boot back and kicked the head as hard as he could.
Pain exploded through his ankle and shot up his leg. He hissed through his teeth but didn't regret it. The skull rolled a few meters before stopping again.
"Yes, you're fucking dead," Steven said to the head. "Really fucking dead."
He limped over to where it had rolled and knelt down, his injured ankle screaming in protest. Reaching into the exposed neck cavity, his fingers found what he was looking for. The core.
It was the size of his fist, perfectly round, and cold enough to burn his fingers even through his gloves. The surface was crystalline, clear as glass, with veins of deep blue running through it. An A-rank core. Worth more money than most hunters made in five years.
Steven pulled it free with a wet sucking sound and shoved it into his inventory. The core vanished in a flash of light, safely stored.
He think for a bit and decide to pick up the skull and store it in his inventory too.
He stood back up, or tried to. His left ankle gave out completely and he stumbled, catching himself on a piece of broken wall.
"Fuck me," he muttered.
"Colonel!" Jack was jogging over, the other two following close behind. All three looked concerned, which was fair given that Steven probably looked like death warmed over.
"How are you able to come back?" Steven asked before they could say anything. He pushed off from the wall and tried to stand on his own, putting all his weight on his right leg.
"I saw Jack's intestines hanging out. And you two," he gestured at Kai and Ash, "Took him to safety, right?"
Kai and Ash exchanged glances. Something passed between them, some unspoken communication.
"Hmm, does that count as deserting your position, huh, you deranged apes?" Steven's voice came out harsher than he intended, but he was too tired to soften it.
"Sorry, sir." Kai bowed slightly, his voice quiet.
"Sorry, sir." Ash did the same.
Steven waved them off with his free hand, the other still gripping his rifle for balance.
"Fuck it, I don't care about that. I forgive you. At least you came back." He took a breath, which hurt. "Just tell me how you came back from that inju—"
He put too much weight on his left ankle without thinking. The broken bone shifted and pain white-hot enough to make his vision blur shot through his leg. Steven's knee buckled and he started to fall.
Jack caught him before he hit the ground, strong arms supporting him under the shoulders. "Careful, Colonel."
"Fuck me," Steven said again, this time with more feeling. He let Jack take most of his weight. Pride wasn't worth passing out from pain.
"Ehh, Colonel," Kai started. "To be honest, let me recount the situation that we met for you."
Steven nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. The pain in his ankle was making it hard to think straight.
Kai took a breath and began.
"After we retreated with Jack, we found a clinic. It was in an alley between two closed shops. Completely black building, two stories. Had a sign that said 'Hector Clinic' and underneath 'As long as you're not dead, we can cure anything.'"
"Sounded too good to be true," Ash added, shifting his weight. Ice was still clinging to parts of his armor. "But Jack was dying. We didn't have a choice."
"The doctor there," Kai continued, his expression difficult to read
"He was unusual. But he could heal. He regrew Jack's entire abdomen and both arms. Took maybe fifteen minutes total."
Steven stared at them. "You're telling me someone regrew intestines and arms in fifteen minutes?"
"Yes, sir," Jack said. His voice was steady but there was something haunted in his eyes. "And sir, the healing did more than just fix today's injuries."
Jack paused, reached up to touch near his eye.
"My vision. I've worn contact lenses since I was twelve, Colonel. Had terrible eyesight without them. Lost my lens during the gate break." He lowered his hand.
"But now I can see perfectly. Better than with the contacts, even. Everything is sharper, clearer."
Ash nodded, pushing his hair back from his forehead.
"I had a scar here. Deep one, from my first C-rank dungeon years ago. Took twelve stitches and it never healed right. Left this ugly raised line." He rubbed the smooth skin.
"Now it's gone. Like it was never there."
"My tooth grew back," Kai added, opening his mouth to show his molars.
"Now it's perfect. Like I never lost it at all."
Steven processed this information slowly, his mind struggling through the pain and exhaustion. Complete healing. Not just emergency treatment, but fixing everything wrong with their bodies.
"What is it, real?" Steven heard himself ask.
"Yes, sir," all three said in unison.
Steven's hand moved unconsciously to his eyepatch. The injury underneath was old, years old. A monster's claw had taken his left eye during a B-rank gate when he was still a young officer. The doctors had saved his life but couldn't save the eye.
He'd worn the patch ever since.
"Maybe..." Steven started, then stopped. His fingers touched the worn leather of the eyepatch. Could it be possible? After all these years?
"Then I have to go there," Steven said, the decision crystallizing. "Hey, Jack. Carry me."
Jack blinked. "You want me to carry you all the way to the clinic?"
"Of course. You gonna let an injured man walk on his own, huh?" Steven tried to cross his arms but his ribs protested.
"Okay, okay." Jack shifted his grip and in one smooth motion lifted Steven into a carry.
Steven pulled out his military communication device from his vest pocket. The screen was cracked but still functional. He keyed in Major Daniel's frequency.
"Hey, Major Daniel, are you safe?"
Static for a moment, then Daniel's voice came through. "Yes, Colonel. We're halfway to the military base. What's your status?"
"The boss monster is dead."
Silence on the other end.
"Huh? What? You killed it?" Daniel's voice went up an octave.
"Me and three B-rank hunters. It's troublesome to explain. I'll do it later when we regroup." Steven shifted in Jack's arms.
"Call off the reinforcements. Call the cleanup crew instead."
"Yes, sir." Daniel sounded like he wanted to ask questions but knew better.
"And let's regroup at the base. I have somewhere to go first."
"Huh? Whe—"
Steven hung up before Daniel could finish. He pocketed the communicator and looked at the three hunters.
"Now," Steven said, his command voice coming back despite the pain, "let's go meet that Eldritch Doctor."