Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 676: A Nightmare - Part 2

As the men charged in his direction, Raven stood there watching them approach. His mind hastened by the effects of a horror lurking deep within, he could see them moving like puppets with their sprint, slow and uneven. Their voice came in a rattling rumble, but before their intimidation tactic could reach its end, something from the ground tore through the earth and grabbed them by their ankles.

Falling face first into the ground, the bald man clicked his tongue. The other was brought to his knees as he tried to balance himself while the father and son who’d stayed behind remained standing–albeit with weaker knees than before.

Grabbing their ankles the men tried to pull themselves out but not even Regalia with the power of her three almighty patrons could escape those dark muscle fibres so easily. Strenching with their tug, they kept their legs pinned to the ground and even when they managed to pull higher than before, as soon as the pressure was removed, their feet rubberbanded back to the ground.

Grunting and groaning as their struggles continued, the men tried their strength, the edge of their blades and what few abilities they had that could potentially help them escape. Yet somehow, even after replacing their bodies with a clone, their true selves were instantly captured by more muscle fibres appearing right under them.

Panting as the hero slowly made his way closer, their heads finally lifted. But the sight in front of them was beyond what any of them could’ve expected. Connecting himself to the men through the ground and the muscles, Raven had seen through their most cherished memories. And to inject the fear of god in their hearts, he’d shapeshifted into the teen daughter of the group leader with another horror’s ability.

”AAYYY! DON’T YOU DARE PLAY WITH ME!!” Tugging on his legs again, the father used every ounce of strength in him to try to escape his binds, and although he managed to tear the fibres just for a moment, another pair quickly took their place. Coiling around his limbs and neck, the dark fibres broke his knees with the force they were pulling him with. ”AGHHHHH!! I-IT...AUGHHH!”

Grinding his teeth in pain, the leader glanced upwards at Raven with his eyes bloodshot with rage. It was then, to the sound of his screams, that the others finally managed to pull themselves out of shock, and the very first to speak up was none other than his son.

”IT’S JUST AN ILLUSION! DON’T LET HIM FOOL YOU!” He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Meeting his father’s gaze, he tried to keep a relatively calm demeanor. His lips parted to speak again, but before a word could escape, his little sister appeared behind him and kicked him on the back of his legs.

”W-wha-AHHH!”

”I’m gonna fucking kill you, you bastard!”

”WHY DON’T YOU FACE US LIKE A MAN WITHOUT THESE BINDS YOU CHEAT!”

As the youngest was brought to his knees, Raven smiled at the teen girl while looking at the other two that he hadn’t yet touched. Staring at them while the father and son squirmed in pain, he spoke in the girl’s voice.

”Says the ones abusing invisibility to avoid a fight...” Waving at them with a smirk, he knelt beside the boy and pulled him up from the back of his collar. Grunting in response, he struggled and tried to hit Raven with the back of his hand, but then out of nowhere, his body began to morph into something else. ”Let’s see how you like it when someone messes with your woman instead.”

Glancing at the father still pinned to the ground, Raven moved a hand in front of the son’s chest. Turning him into his own mother, he began undoing her top as the woman’s daughter. With a devilish smile on the teen girl, he chuckled to himself as the monster within him kept coming out more and more as the moment passed.

”LET ME GO!” Struggled the son, his voice the same as his mother’s as well.

”Whatever you say...” Pushing him in the direction of the other two, he looked into their eyes and ordered while walking over to the leader. ”Go ahead, undress if you wanna save your father’s life. Show them everything, those two morons and maybe then I’ll spare him.”

”DON’T!” The father screamed, and that was his mistake.

Slamming his foot on his head, Raven broke his jaw and made him lose consciousness in an instant. His son watched in horror as his own sister’s foot had crushed their father’s face. But that was far from what he needed to worry about, as the moment Raven looked at him again, he was reminded of the order.

”I...I’ll do it! J-just don’t kill him–UGHH!!” As soon as those words left his mouth, a flying sword of silver came through the forest and stabbed him right through the skull. His brain matter splattered on the faces of the other two, and while they struggled to comprehend what had happened, the sword disappeared from within his skull, leaving a gaping hole where his face should’ve been.

Quivering on the spot, his body still upright–the corpse of a man turned into a woman, pissed himself before it finally fell lifeless to the ground.

Clicking his tongue, obviously frustrated by what happened, Raven looked down at the leader again.

”Fun’s over for you,” lifting his foot, Raven made the little girl’s persona crush her own father’s head into a bloody pulp. With his feet now blood-soaked, the hero quickly turned back into his own body and scoffed at the other two. ”Now, you two decided which one you is going to beat the living shit out of the other?”

”What?” In utter disbelief at what was happening, the bald man quickly turned to his partner. ”This isn’t happening, right?!”

His question went unanswered, but the other man did respond–not to him, but to Raven’s proposal. That too by punching the bald-headed guy with the hardest punch that he could muster. And while beating his own companions to a bloody pulp, he expected to be spared–but deep down, he knew that he was only buying himself, at most, a few minutes.