My Second Life Is An Absurdist Power Fantasy 29 29.

Rawgh'faz walked casually after them. He had plenty of time to catch up, and his warband knew better than to dare crossing him and harming something he'd claimed for himself.

As he looked about, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction as he looked upon the destruction they'd caused. There truly was nothing better than a good sacking.

Except for breaking the spirits of those he took for himself.

That... that was the purest pleasure.

Out of nowhere, his thoughts were interrupted by faint rustle stirred something behind him, and a sudden sharp tang of heat and perfume struck his nose. He spun around, holding his staff out in front of him, snarling at this sudden unexpected intruder.

Eleanor stepped out of the shadows of the small alleyway behind him, holding her staff loosely in her left hand, and gesturing lightly in the air with her right, leaving a trail of glowing sigils in the air behind her.

Rawgh'faz barked rapidly, evoking the names of protection spirits as he spun his staff around, throwing up a barrier just as a jet of blue flame erupted from the tiefling's hand. He threw the ray to the side, and calling up another name, drug the tip of his staff across the ground, shooting out a blast of stone shards towards her at lightning speed, only to bury themselves harmlessly in a wall of ice that'd not been there only moments before. His eyes shot upwards to see Eleanor sailing over his head, a swath of glowing energy symbols ama.s.sing around the tip of her staff. As he went to throw up another barrier, a blast of invisible force slammed into his chest unexpectedly, knocking him flying backwards toward the ice wall, now covered with stone spines. Thinking fast, he threw the prepared barrier up between him and the wall just in time for the impact, preventing being impaled, but blasting through the wall with such force that he lost his breath and nearly blacked out from the impact.

Eleanor landed lightly on her feet a dozen yards from the gnoll, spinning her staff around into a defensive stance, and taking a brief moment to catch her breath.

"You wanna call it a day? I'll spare you the beating if you take the rest of your dogs and leave." She called out to Rawgh'faz.

The gnoll laughed, a nasty hyena cackle that stood up the hairs on the back of Eleanor's neck on end as he stood to his feet amidst the ice and stone. He adjusted his neck with a resounding crack, and began walking towards her, chanting rhythmically in snaps and snarls.

"I'll take that as a no." Eleanor said, s.h.i.+fting her weight slightly as she reached into the pouch tied to her belt and wrapped her fingers around one of the objects inside.

Rawgh'faz burst into a sprint, his chant rising to a shout, before leaping into the air and hurling a handful of dark shapes down towards the ground around her. A few feet before they collided with the stone, they burst, reforming into the shape of snarling dogs that rushed Eleanor, charging at her from five different directions, closing the gap between them and the tiefling within a moment. The five shapes leapt onto her, their teeth bared to snap around her limbs and neck, only to pa.s.s right through and collide with each other in mid-air. Rawgh'faz landed in front of the dogpile as it struggled to its feet, and watched as the illusion dissipated in a cloud of smoke and dust.