Chapter 54: The Tyrant’s Fall

Chapter 54: The Tyrant’s Fall For a long, frozen second, the only sound in Gorgon’s throne room was the drip of grease from the roasted leg he had dropped on the floor. The ten-foot-tall Demon King stared, his brutish mind struggling to process the impossible. The rats he had been trying to squash for days had just appeared in his living room. Then, his shock curdled into pure, incandescent rage. "RAAAAAAAGH!" he bellowed, a sound of such fury that the melted televisions of his throne vibrated. He grabbed his warhammer, the massive slab of concrete and rebar, and charged. BOOM! The ground itself seemed to shatter under his thunderous advance. The air shrieked and tore itself apart around his massive form, a pressure wave of displaced air blasting across the room. "SCATTER!" Isabelle yelled. The Wrecking Crew exploded into action. Fenris and Reina went left, Lillith went right, and Isabelle met the charge head-on. This was it. The final boss fight. BOOM! Isabelle’s dark sword, Dáinsleif, met Gorgon’s warhammer. The clash was an apocalyptic detonation. The sound was a deafening, metallic scream that made the entire mall shudder. A massive shockwave of white force erupted from the point of impact, blasting furniture to splinters and sending both combatants staggering backward. "You are STRONG!" Gorgon roared, a flicker of surprise in his brutish eyes. "And you are SLOW!" Isabelle retorted, lunging back in, her blade a blur of motion. But Gorgon wasn’t alone. He had been so focused on the battle two floors below that he hadn’t sent his personal guard. Now, they came crashing into the room from adjoining chambers. Five hulking Ogre Bloodkin, each one almost as big as Gorgon himself, their eyes glowing with red, fanatical loyalty. The fight became a desperate, chaotic brawl. Reina was a whirlwind of crimson-streaked destruction, her fists landing like miniature bombs. BOOM! CRACK! BOOM! Every impact was a sonic boom, every blow shattering Ogre bones. But for every Ogre she stunned, another swung a club at her head. Fenris fought with the savagery of a cornered wolf, his claws tearing through thick hide, but he was being hammered from all sides, his powerful form taking heavy blows that made him roar in pain. Lillith’s illusions were a godsend, causing two of the Ogres to start fighting each other, but Gorgon, in his rage, was immune to her charms. Isabelle was locked in a deadly duel with the Demon King himself. She was faster, more skilled. But he was a mountain of raw, A-Rank power. Every time she parried one of his devastating blows, the force of it ran up her arms, threatening to break them. She was being worn down. They were all being worn down. They were outnumbered and outgunned. Ragnar watched from his throne, his jaw clenched. His plan had worked perfectly, but he had underestimated the raw power of Gorgon’s personal guard. Isabelle’s team was on the verge of being overwhelmed. "Chloe," he sent the command, his voice a tight whisper of will. "It’s time. The main event." Back in the mall, just as Gorgon raised his hammer for what would have been a finishing blow on a winded Isabelle, another Transfer Array flared to life in the back of the throne room. From it stepped Chloe, Grunt, and the three Goblin Snipers. Gorgon froze, turning his massive head. He saw another Dark Elf, a massive, scarred Kobold, and three goblins holding bows that looked far too deadly to be normal. "More of you?!" he bellowed in disbelief. It was the opening Isabelle needed. "NOW!" she screamed. It was a perfectly executed pincer movement. From the rafters they had climbed, the Goblin Snipers loosed their arrows. They flew like black streaks of lightning, aimed not at Gorgon, but at his Bloodkin. Each arrow struck an Ogre in the eye or the throat, dropping them where they stood. Grunt the Warlord let out a terrifying roar and charged Gorgon from the flank. BOOM! His iron-shod maul, swung with all the force of his evolved form, slammed into Gorgon’s side. CRACK! The impact was a detonation of shattered ribs and ruptured organs. A visible shockwave ripped through Gorgon’s massive frame, and he stumbled, roaring in agony, his warhammer falling from his numb fingers. At the same time, Reina and Fenris, freed from their opponents, launched a synchronized attack from the other side. And at the front, Isabelle moved. BOOM! The ground exploded under her feet as she pushed off, her body a blur, Dáinsleif held high. The wind shrieked as she closed the final distance. The world slowed to a crawl. She saw Gorgon’s terrified, disbelieving eyes. She saw the opening Grunt had created. She brought her sword down. The blade cut through flesh and bone with a sound like the world ending. The final, deafening crack echoed through the silent room, and Gorgon the Tyrant, Demon King of the Shopping Mall, fell. Silence. The Wrecking Crew and the Shadow Strikers stood panting in the ruined throne room, surrounded by the bodies of their enemies. They were battered, bloody, and exhausted. But they were victorious. A flood of notifications lit up Ragnar’s phone. [You have defeated Demon King Gorgon!] [You have usurped the Domain: Tyrant’s Mall (7 Sectors)!] [You have absorbed all remaining subordinates of the defeated Demon King!] [You have gained 10,000 Experience Points!] [Your CP Debt (Bloodkin: Chloe) has been cleared!] [You have Leveled Up!] Ragnar leaned back in his throne, a slow, deeply satisfied grin spreading across his face. He let out a long breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. The war was over. He had won. And his kingdom had just gotten a whole lot bigger. A few days after the conquest of Gorgon’s mall, a strange and unfamiliar calm had settled over Ragnar’s Domain. The initial thrill of victory had worn off, replaced by the mundane, soul-crushing reality of middle management. World domination, it turned out, involved a surprising number of spreadsheets and logistical nightmares. Ragnar sat on his throne, idly scrolling through his new, expanded subordinate roster on his phone.