Thinslayer

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

"Who is left to oppose the Witch and her army?"

They hadn't got far before their question was answered. A series of explosions ripped through the city wall and crumbled sections of it, not exactly the sort of thing an invading power would want for a newly conquered position. Someone else was opposing the Witch.

That someone turned out to be a certain well-dressed goblin and his more shoddily clad companion.

"I daresay, that was splendid potionwork thou didst concoct!" the male crowed. The female grinned and wiggled her ears at him before disappearing through the hole she'd made. The male, suddenly panicked at having lost sight of her, followed her through the hole with as much haste as his feet could carry him.

The girl scuffled behind a pile of rubble as goblin knights rushed to investigate one of the other explosion sites. Pleased with herself at having successfully distracted them, she scrambled up to a high point on the wall and looked around. Her ears wiggled when she finally spotted her mark.

"Didst thou find our friend?" the male whispered loudly. She hopped around with glee and pointed to a certain midget-sized individual and his knight trying to sneak past a pair of guards, who were gambling over a pile of coins. The male began to climb up to try and see what she was pointing at, but he was doing such a noisy job of it that she had to yank him into a fallen hay bale with her when the guards came over to find out what was causing all that ruckus.

When they eventually left, she pulled the male back out and put a finger over her lips.

"Ah, yes, I shall be quiet henceforth," he whispered.

Satisfied with his answer, she located a spare suit of goblin armor and plopped it on her friend.

"What? Dost thou expect me to wear this- this oily, ebon monstrosity?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

He winced. "Ugh. Verily this shall stain my garments," he mumbled as he struggled to put on the armor. The girl eventually had to come over and help him put it on. Once he was finally suited up, she gave him a once-over and a thumbs up.

"I pray this endeavor is worth it," he grumbled.

Now that she had a suitably convincing escort, she could finally waltz around like she owned the place. The guards didn't even give her a second glance when she strutted past them; she already looked the part of a Goblin Magiker to a tee. When she relocated Chatak, she rushed over to him and tackled him in a tight hug.

"Oh! Is that thy friend? 'Tis a pleasure to make thine acquaintance!" The male approached Melvin and offered a handshake, failing to realize he still looked like a goblin death-knight at the moment.

Melvin just stared. "A goblin who can speak Common? Now I've seen everything..."

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

@Rabidporcupine Oh! I was wanting to ask if you needed me to post something about Chatak's friends, or if you're good to control them.

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

It's very short so far, but I've got some ideas on how to continue it.

MacKenzie faces an Ancient Bio-Mecha

Rubble sprayed all around her as MacKenzie leaped from the crumbling pillar. Her grapple hook bit into another piller, and she used the momentum to swing for the other side of the room. The air roared in her ears as she arced past the monstrosity. She collapsed against the marble when her hook found its mark.

A deep rumble behind her told her the giant had found her again. The damn thing was fast - way faster than anything its size had any right to be. Its head alone was nearly as big as she was tall. Yet it moved with the speed and grace of a human. She gritted her teeth and backflipped off the pillar. Its ethereal red sword seared her hair and struck the place she'd just stood.

She balanced on its wrist and darted up its arm. Three arrows snapped from her bow. The mouthless giant groaned when the three shots buried in its left eye. Before she had time to dodge, its other arm came swinging toward her. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs and cratered her into the dungeon wall. The red blade followed close behind.

With the last of her waning consciousness, MacKenzie took aim for the vent in the ceiling. The hook bit, the device whirred, and her body flew into the darkness beyond just as the giant's blade melted off the sole of her boot.

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

@Zool Got some MacKenzie fanfiction on the Discord... :D

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

Oh yeah, you use a Switch for your browser. I almost forgot about that. ;_;

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

@Dark Cloud Wanna join our Discord? I put a link in the 0th post.

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

@Dark Cloud That's a tempting offer, but as the actions of villains direct the course of the story, I feel it would be better to leave that in GM hands.

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

@Dark Cloud The situation is even worse than that. Previously, the only Voidspawn on the surface were those left over from the ancient war, the ones that managed to avoid getting sealed away in the core. But the Sealed Tower's spell required exactly the number of people placed inside it; the awakening of the reincarnations weakened the spell, allowing the imprisoned Voidspawn to trickle through. The more reincarnations awaken, the faster they can come out. As Ascended spirits, they can already exist without a body. But since they possess no miraculous powers like what angels or demons have, they cannot influence the physical realm without a body. They can get bodies by possessing intact corpses, which the wars have been producing lots of lately. Burning the dead can prevent them from taking these bodies.

I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the Voidspawn were amassing a secret army somewhere. Maybe I can make an endgame dungeon around the concept...

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

"Who is left to oppose the Witch and her army?"
"What do their chances look like?"

"Grim."

Emperor Dragan slumped into his throne at the statement from his advisor. The Empire was supposed to be superior, a world superpower; what was everyone doing? How had the world's most exceptional country managed to be defeated by this upstart woman and her ragged band of misfits? They had the world's greatest production capacity, economy, technology, military might...they had it all. Even a- a setback like this could be easily reversed, right? His generals had to be slacking. That must be it. He should fire them and hire someone new.

"Who do I need to fire to make this happen?"

The advisor dabbed a bead of sweat from his brow. "General Kilton was in charge of the deployments in that region."

---

"General Kilton sir, your reports."

"Mm." He grunted and took them from the messenger into his office to read them over with his staff. "Of the ten thousand soldiers stationed there, two thousand retreated alive to Hildegard. Five civilian casualties. Thirty thousand civilians safely evacuated to Hildegard post-battle. Three hundred Imperial soldiers were taken captive; no ransom requested. Five reincarnations awakened and were observed defending the tower for a brief period. Enemy forces allowed them to leave."

He handed the documents to the staff officers. "We were crushed. No two ways about it. We'll have to abandon Ormouth for the time being."

"The tower is an important source of reincarnations. I could have a team of rogues go retake the tower."

"If they could hold it, and if we could count on the appearance of...let's say ten more reincarnations while they do so, I might agree to that. Even one reincarnation is a force to be reckoned with, but if five were forced to surrender, that Witch must have an ace up her sleeve. No, I do not think retaking it is a good idea."

"What about aerial bombardment?"

"Read the section about the Witch's forces."

"...50 airships, each carrying approx. 20 wyvern riders, appeared from the fog and opened fire with a new kind of magic weapon. Flaming missiles were observed changing course to precisely destroy defensive catapults."

"Mhm. The Witch must have gotten a hold of Dr. Avant's inventions. Remember the report three days ago describing a new airship fleet constructed at Nazir?"

"I do."

"Three days ago?"

The lieutenants in the room gasped.

The general nodded grimly. "We have nothing in our arsenal to match that kind of speed, nor weapons capable of matching them. The Emperor foolishly spurned Dr. Avant, and we've been paying the price ever since. I told that old fool-"

There was an awkward cough, reminding the general to watch his tongue. "Ahem. Anyway, we'll have to combine our remaining forces and put together a defensive solution at Pelinor before she cripples our iron production. Aelred, Othwund, you're on the job."

"Yes sir."

Another messenger poked his head into the office. "General, a message from the Crown for you, sir."

"Hm." The general opened it up. His expression darkened.

"What is it?"

"His Majesty is being foolish again. I'd better go speak with him."

S E C O N D C H A N C E S (An Isekai Adventure)

Map iteration #2: the Sealed Tower is at the edge of the Empire now.

The roads, btw, generally express the personalities of the various nations. The Tribes in the Badlands tend to connect everything to everything from the mountain; the Empire tries to connect everything with some degree of pragmatism; the Kingdom only gives a hoot about its major cities; Conterre treats each city like a "hub" for the smaller towns around them; the Helsin Khanate prioritizes pragmatism; and Nazir tries to keep everything connected to facilitate military movement.