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You finally end the battle landing a devastating slash across the creature’s neck, nearly beheading it. The effect is almost the same, as the burning fire behind the former orc’s eyes immediately goes out and its corpse topples over sideways. Around you the strange purple lights fade away to nothing, and you begin to hear the sounds of the street normally again.

The shop is wrecked. Almost every weapon that was in a stack or on the wall has ended up somewhere on the floor. At one point the Succubus tried to kill you by flinging a dozen or so bladed objects at you. How you survived that you attribute to a smile from the Gods, until you look at yourself for injuries. There is a huge gash in your side oozing blood. You start to lose your balance. Your legs fail you and you fall to your knees. You don’t even have the strength to call out before you collapse, resting mere inches from the creature you defeated. Your halberd clangs to the floor beside you. It looks as though the demon will have succeeded after all.

Yet you live on. At first you felt woozy and your body progressively more numb all around. Now the seconds go by, you don’t pass out, and your senses actually sharpen. An ache grows into acute pain, then agony throughout your abdomen, and you scream, surprising yourself. You shouldn’t have that much air left in you. Yet you live on, breathe, and scream more.

When you do pass out it’s from the pain, not the sleep of ****, pain like no other, like your entire midsection is being folded a hundred times inside out. But you keep hold of your consciousness just long enough to notice, just barely, before fainting, hands on your body. Someone has found you and is about to carry you away. Turn to 289.