Demon Card Enforcer 3, Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three: Combat of the Absurd

            A quick glance at the Stone Arch Fire card and back at the Lesser Urban Corrupter told Wolfe that it was going to be a huge problem if Shel got her deck going—it already gained plus one to all its stats from Shel’s Mythic card.

            But it was Infernal, and would take half damage from Wolfe unless he got his own mantle going. With a quick whispered invocation against his deck’s usual luck, Wolfe swiped his cards sideways.

            “Thank the gods,” Wolfe muttered as, for a wonder, his mantle appeared in his next hand.

            “Cereboo, Malviere, take out the Twice-Damned Hellhound,” Wolfe said, touching his own mantle as two thugs came around the corner, firing guns.

He ducked back, but the enemy hellhound ran through the Stone Arch Fire and then leapt onto the wide, stainless-steel cooking counter, its claws scrabbling briefly on the top to find purchase.

            The card held its head back, all burning dog skull with only a fringe of crisped skin on it, and howled insanely loudly in the closed space. But mid howl, Cereboo, with three barks that were half challenge, half playful, leapt into the hellhound and carried it back onto the other side, snapping and rolling.

            I know he’s just a card, but the fact he thinks fighting is fun makes the couple times he’s been slain much easier to swallow, Wolfe thought.

            As his mantle fell around him, Wolfe leaned back over. He took a bullet to the shoulder from an unusually accurate—or lucky—thug, but it felt more like a hard punch through his mantle and Infernal resistance than being shot. Wolfe ignored the now four thugs and plugged the Lesser Urban Corrupter in the chest, one shotting it back into red energy that dissipated

            Before Wolfe could celebrate, however, Klireen, Daughter of Lust leapt across the field. She was merely human sized, but was a true demonic succubus in all her glory—red skin, massive bat wings, and tail—all wrapped in a shell of incredibly beautiful woman.

            But it was her stats Wolfe feared the most. She landed on the stainless-steel counter and flung a broiling ball of fire into Wolfe, who screamed as his skin cooked. Her stats were insane, as befit a five-power Mythic, he supposed. She hit for a Fifteen magical attack and he only defended with a nine; and his random roll dropped it to an eight. He took an actual twenty-eight damage, halved as it was Fire against Infernal. But even with his toughness and mantle, that cleaved roughly a third of Wolfe’s life off.

            Wolfe shot the demoness in the chest even as he burned, staring up at her.

            Which gave him a great view of the ceiling as a miniature sun of rainbow colored light rose, its luminance somehow mystical and comforting—a promise of a utopia to come in the warmth that washed across Wolfe’s skin.

Quetzalcoatl's Blessing of Promise

Legendary tier-1 Divine/Life [Vitality, Civic] Persistent

2 Life or Divine Power, 2 Mortal Power

Target [Civic] Card you control with power cost 3 or less. This card becomes a token copy of it. While this card is on the field, [Civic] cards you own cost 1 less of any power to play and you may have 2 extra cards on field so long as they are [Civic]. Cards reduced below 1 power becomes cost 1 Any Power (available) and gain Speedy.

"Times are changing and a new age is arriving. I cannot promise that it will be better and already there are omens that it will be a dark age for your people, but I promise you, I will care for you and watch over you, so that you may find comfort and rest after your last days.”—Quetzalcoatl

            Wolfe grinned even as he fired at Klireen, who leapt from the counter unharmed, thanks to the cars special ability to resist the strongest attack each round. But Wolfe knew the situation had just gotten way better for them. Shel has both her Legendary and her Mythic on the field. This ought to be interesting.

            A duplicate of the Stone Arch Fire appeared, made entirely of rainbow light. Each duplicated the others strength, and the healing went to twenty per round for every allied deckbearer and card on the field—basically, everything on Wolfe’s team except Shel herself.

            Cereboo healed instantly, bites closing as if he had a healing factor as he ripped the Hellhound apart. Wolfe’s burns faded to a light sunburn then disappeared.

            As long as Shel doesn’t fall, we’re damn near invulnerable, Wolfe thought, but then hesitated. That card said it has a fifteen magical attack with Psychic as an option, even if she used Fire before like an idiot. One bad defensive roll and that could end me. I gotta be careful.

            Wolfe raised up and fired multiple bullets at people. Malviere whispered her ubiquitous “for the pack” and Wolfe speeded up, even his gun somehow working faster. Two of the four thugs died in seconds, holes the size of a fist blown clean through their torsos. The other two leapt out of the room before Wolfe could finish shooting them.

            But a headless, naked woman floated into the room. Wolfe briefly got a look at the card, which read “Object of Lust” and had the same power as Klireen to control cards, but that worked upon first sight rather than being pulled from a deck.

            Cereboo whined and turned to face Wolfe and his team, and Wolfe received a notification that Cereboo had changed sides.

            Wolfe just laughed to himself. Clearly, no deckbearer had been brave enough to enter the room and see Wolfe’s cards, or they wouldn’t have used that tactic, as Malviere could always change all canine sub-type cards to Wolfe’s side.

            “Always for the pack,” Malviere intoned, and Cereboo switched sides right back.

            Wolfe didn’t explode the Object of Lust, instead firing on Klireen again. It didn’t do anything to her thanks to her power, but Cereboo jumped up and bit at her repetitively. While Klireen was insanely powerful on the attack and against Magic, she was weak to physical attacks.

            Cereboo, empowered by Malviere, ripped at the succubus demigod. The card screamed—something Wolfe hadn’t expected as cards rarely reacted to situations with any emotion—as Cereboo lunged at it with three heads. Cereboo’s base attack of five became six from Malviere—and then twelve against Infernal creatures.

            Which was a hundred and forty-four damage, divided by the creatures five defense to become twenty-eight.

            Per head.

            Cereboo grabbed the succubus by one leg and both arms and pulled. Klireen was able to land a devastating hit, nearly killing Cereboo outright and setting him to burning with her Fire based Magical Attack. But Cereboo detached both arms but the leg nearly in half before the brief screaming stopped and Cereboo hurled the armless torso and legs back through the door where the card dissolved into red light.

            Then he, in turn, dissolved into red and brown light and returned to Wolfe’s deck.

            Wolfe had seen numerous things in his life, but that one had to be near the top for ‘most disturbing.’ Although, slaying a demi-god child card of a major Infernal was pretty cool, and Wolfe knew Cereboo would count it as an absolute win despite being returned to the deck.

And Wolfe was hardly bereft of allies as Sorenia stepped up to his side, her lantern shining brightly.

“Do you need help?” Fern asked into a brief moment when neither gunshot, nor bark, nor scream marred the battlefield that was the Singh mansion kitchen.

 “No, for a wonder,” Wolfe replied, glancing around. The double Stone Arch Fire made Wolfe’s situation nearly unassailable, despite the one-round kill of Cereboo. I can’t wait till I can make him more powerful. A two-power card for zero power will always be insanely useful, but at the level I’m currently playing at he gets taken out decently often.

A voice came from outside, in the hallway. A voice that Wolfe recognized from his time as the head enforcer of the Grimm family. Gurjit Singh.

“That you, Wolfe?!” Gurjit yelled, his voice filled with rage. “If you’ve hurt Gopal, I’ll have you raped to death by a horse!”

Wolfe chuckled quietly at his opponent’s commentary—as if they hadn’t tried to kill him seconds ago. He was pretty sure he’d survive this, but even if he didn’t, he knew damn well they weren’t taking him alive to torture regardless. The idea was laughable.

At his quiet chuckle, Shel, sitting next to him, relaxed fractionally. She pulled out Liurenia to join Sorenia.

“Wolfe you gods’ damned dog, speak to me!”

Wolfe didn’t deign to answer, instead taking his position behind the stainless-steel counter and waiting—nothing else in his hand called to him. Both of his guns were there, as was the Xolotl Spirit Warder, but he had a feeling this would turn into an ‘overwhelm him with numbers’ situation, and his attack power had proven brutally up to the task of individual targets.

A hushed conversation, filled with angry whispers, filled the hall.

“Ten bucks says they try and come in through the dining room door simulateously and overwhelm us,” Wolfe said, pointing.

Shel shifted to cover it, gun out.

“Get behind me, so you’re protected in both directions,” Wolfe ordered quietly.

“So I can watch you die?” Shel asked.

Wolfe rolled his eyes. “Because your setup heals me twenty points every thirty seconds, and doesn’t benefit you. I’m a flesh wall that restores entirely, basically, every half minute. Although if it’s ever between you and me, I choose me to die. But in this case it’s also just good sense.”

“Right,” Shel muttered, scooting around Wolfe so she was protected in all directions.

Shel pulled out another card, and a mantle settled around her, giving off heat and an almost spiritual warmth. Her Stone Circle Fire Tender card.

Stone Circle Fire Tender

Rare Tier-1 Fire/Life [Civic] Mantle

1 Fire or 1 Life power

All other Civic Cards gain +2 to all non-health stats.

If the Stone Arch Fire is in the deck, all healing powers are doubled and may target any entity.

“Those that tended the Stone Arch Fire were the heart of the numerous Cowlitz tribes.”

“Well, now I get healed too,” Shel said, smiling.

Sudden feet thudding outside called Wolfe’s attention. “Good, because I think we’re about to start round two.”