Loki’s Successor System

Chapter 44: Endless Mode Part 3

Dawn had broken, and all daylight had been besieged by the darkness of dusk.

A mask suddenly manifested on Jin’s face. “Okay, it’s time for some fun.”

He stood up from the bench he had been sitting on. He started walking down the path of the pavement, with his hands in his kangaroo pockets.

He passed a few paranoid people who stared at him when they noticed the mask on his face. He simply ignored them all. But he paid attention to the people in the streets.

He was looking for a fight.

He searched and searched but to no avail. He could not stumble across someone who deserved to be beaten. He was getting desperate.

He walked so far away from his home that he thought he would get lost if this kept up. He needed to find someone to defeat. Now, and fast.

He started to get weary; telling himself that he should turn back now, and just give up. Yet some part of him kept to it; walking through the night streets, subtly looming in the darkness.

When suddenly, his slit eyes met a scene that brimmed his being with exhilaration.

There was a group of taller figures pushing around a lone figure in what appeared to be a dark alley. Jin’s attention was only drawn to them after hearing their muffled voices from a distance. He quickly licked his lips under the mask, and started approaching the figures.

He did not have a weapon at hand in that he assumed his fists would be all he would need. As he drew closer, their voices rose such that he could hear them clearly.

“Kid, you better stop bullshitting us. Where is it!?”

“I-I don’t have it … I swear…”

“Ya’ fuckin’ liar! We know y’ have it!”

“C’mon, you gotta believe me!”

One of them flipped a knife. “You scammed us, you little shit! You ain’t making it outta here alive unless you give us what we want!”

The tallest of the figures approached the kid, his fists tightly balled. “If you think we’re some guys you could just con and get away with it … better think again, twerp! I’m gonna—”

Suddenly, a glass bottle crashed into the back of the teenager’s head, and shattered. He hollered, and immediately collapsed. He writhed on the floor, a hand placed to the back of his head.

Apprehended, the others quickly turned around, and peered over at the figure who had hurled the glass bottle. It was Jin. He stood, looming in the darkness. His mask lingering on his face and injecting fear into their hearts “Hey… what’s good, guys?”

The tallest one who had been hit, was on a knee; holding his agonizing head. “Don’t just fucking stand there! Kill the mother fucker!” his tone rose to a scream.

The only Hobgoblin started approaching Jin with a baseball bat at hand. His gait was formidably menacing. He swung his bat such that it rested on his shoulder as he walked. “You heard the boss, get that piece o’ shit!”

It was then that they all charged Jin; lunging towards him; all quick on their feet.

Jin raised his forearms higher than his head, and bent his knees. “Bring it on…” his voice, deliberate and calm despite entering a battle.

A meager goblin had drawn the closest to him. It jolted its body toward him and sent a fist with all its body weight. Jin quickly sidestepped, evading its hit.

When the goblin’s hit ceased, another attacked. It was the hobgoblin. It suddenly swirled on its feet, swinging its baseball bat. Jin leaped sideways. His body collided with a wall of the alley.

The hobgoblin’s lethal swing missed.

It was about to attack again. It pivoted its body, and raised its bat to swing again. Jin quickly kicked it to its chest before it could. The hit ended up thrusting it back and stopping it from swinging.

Jin struck again, scoring a jab to its face. He inched closer. He launched another fist. It whimpered as it regained its balance. Before it could attempt another swing, Jin raised a leg and back kicked it to its belly again.

[Progression: 4/20 damage]

It gritted its teeth as its face scrunched in rage. It clutched both its hands onto the bat. Jin was ready. When out of nowhere, a shirtless figure sunk its knife into his left quadrant.

He moaned in agony as he quickly sunk a fist into the knifer’s face. The knife went pitching out of the figure’s hand as he tumbled.

The hobgoblin then swung its bat. Jin saw the attack coming from the corner of his eyes. He quickly raised his forearms and blocked his head from getting hit.

[HP: 9/15]

The bat whacked him to his arm; the metal colliding with his flesh. He skated on his feet from the impact.

The hobgoblin then raised the bat again. It swerved sideward through the air. Jin quickly ducked.

He started edging away, walking backwards down the alley as the figures closed in.

The hobgoblin was drawing closer. The shirtless figure had gotten back up. The goblin was gaining on him.

The goblin ran in first; running the fastest on its feet. “I’m gonna fuck you up!” it snapped, charging toward him.

He simply raised a leg. Yet the goblin still came rushing in. Its face collided with the leg, and it was sent flying in the opposite direction.

Jin turned his head to the other assailants.

The hobgoblin was far closer than he thought. It pounced into the air with its hands clutched to the weapon, raising the metal bat as best it could. Then it swung the bat in a downward motion.

Jin swiftly darted to the right. The iron bat meteored downward and crashed into the ground, causing several cracks reminiscent of a spider web.

The hobgoblin missed him again.

The bat quivered as it crashed against the floor. The hobgoblin’s back was bent forward, while it held the bat that was still touching the floor. It lost track of Jin.

It turned its head only to see a boot launching into its field of view.

It was sent crashing to the floor. The bat was knocked out of its hand. Jin watched as the bat bounced. It rolled down the Alley a bit and halted.

As he darted towards it, the shirtless figure kicked him to his back. He was knocked even further away from it now. He turned around. When suddenly a knife came hurling towards his body. It impaled his lower thigh and got stuck in his flesh.

He gasped in pain. Still, he rushed toward the bat. He bent over and latched his hands to it. The shirtless figure unexpectedly rammed a fist to his head. He jolted back, still keeping the weapon ahold.

Then he quickly swung the bat, knocking the shirtless figure to its head. It quickly collapsed, sprawling out on the floor as if deceased.

Jin turned to the hobgoblin.

The hobgoblin was yet again closer than he recalled. It scored a fist to his chest. Then another. Another again. He was thrust back from the barrage of blows. He raised the bat, and quickly swung it at the target.

He was going at the head.

The hobgoblin blocked with its arms. Jin missed its head. So he swung again. The metal collided with its flesh, damaging its bones. Jin swung again, this time even harder. It was knocked down to a knee but kept its shielding up, blocking its head.

Jin clenched his teeth, squeezing the handle. He raised the bat, and quickly bashed it into his assailiant’s arm. The wincing hobgoblin’s breach had finally been broken. Its shielding arms dropped lifelessly, dangling at its sides.

It was now on both knees.

[Progression: 9/20 damage]

The hobgoblin, down on its knees with broken arms, gritted its teeth. “Go ahead! What are y’ waiting for!? Do it!” it hissed.

Jin slowly raised the bat over his head again.

“Do it, you pussy!”

He raised the weapon even higher. “Ohh trust me,” Jin cooed, “I am gonna do it—”

Suddenly, a goblin ran up his back, and held onto his head. Its sharp fingernails barely missed his eye. It quickly seized the back of his neck with its teeth. And finally, its sharp canines sunk into his flesh.

Jin wailed in agony, struggling to maintain his stance with the goblin on his back. Its teeth were still in his flesh. The creature then hurtled its head, shredding Jin’s flesh.

Blood was drawn.

[HP: 8/15]

Jin whimpered in pain. He quickly ran backward, ramming his body into a wall. The goblin ended up knocking its head into the wall, yet it kept sinking its teeth deeper into his flesh.

Jin began to feel the throbbing pain intensify. His body spasmed. He quickly ran forward. Then, backward again. Screaming to the top of his lungs.

The goblin’s body rammed into the wall. The aggressive collision burst the creature’s head. Blood splattered. Silence, as the blood trickles down the wall.

[Progression: 16/20 damage]

The goblin falls lifelessly as Jin edges away.

The hobgoblin gained strength to stand. It stood, jamming a hand into its pocket. It pulled out a small, clear, plastic pack of a strange red powder. It quickly opened the pack, and sniffed some of this powder up its flared nostrils.

It constantly knocked a hand into its temple. “You fucking cunt! You killed Bale!” it snarled, its eyes twitching.

Its convulsing eyes suddenly reddened. Veins began to manifest all over its body. The hobgoblin quickly curled its fists as its nasal breathing quickened. Its head, constantly twitching.