CHAPTER 167: Underestimated

  Fleming screamed as a claw gouged out his side. The healing energy from Zito’s healing domain tried to repair the damage, but before it could, the thick lizard tail smacked him outside of the domain.

  A localized tornado came from the sky and wrapped itself around the rampaging Scyrric. Razor sharp blades of wind bit into the armor. Sgolkr wasn’t deterred as he walked right through it all, only scratches taken to what he wore.

  The long and sloped Scyrric blade stabbed towards Zito. Rexus stepped in the way barely in time. Even without worthwhile armor, there was a flash and clang, the sword being reflected and Rexus catching himself before falling into Zito.

  Jamari Gillum, “Outrider [26],” landed on Sgolkr’s shoulder as he tried to steal one of the awkward shaped knives that were lined up on the Scyrric’s back. Spence also struck from the other side, using [Inner Power] and [Form Break] to do damage.

  The tail swung up and caught Gillum, knocking him into the air where he flew 10 feet before landing with a thud and rolling. The attacks by Spence did damage again, but this time the creature didn’t even flinch. Since using [Mindless Assault], the Scyrric had truly become unstoppable. No control spells worked on him and no damage deterred him. He would pick a target and attack.

  A combination attack from Cody Sloan, “Storm Invoker [28],” and Fleming had singed the invader’s scales, but that still hadn’t stopped him from rushing at Sloan. It had bought Spence enough time to get a solid attack in, as the only one able to cause damage through the powerful armor.

  Zito had his hands full keeping the domain up, healing the extreme injuries, and swapping the positions of his allies within it to keep Rexus the focus of the Scyrric’s attacks. Even with all that, they were on the back foot, unable to keep up with the monster’s speed and strength. Any time Sgolkr used his skills [Deadly Charge] or [Talon blades], someone would almost die.

  It was obvious that only Rexus’s class had survivability to stand against this monster, but they weren’t going to give in. They watched each other’s backs and tried to whittle down his life. However, without Rexus’s taunts being effective, they had no control over this fight.

  The strategy had become constant attempts to get the Scyrric to attack a fighter, swap that fighter with Rexus, then Spence would hit with his skills before backing off. It barely worked half the time as Sgolkr’s strikes were sometimes faster than they could respond to.

  “This isn’t working!” called Spence. “I just can’t do enough damage!”

  “Maybe we should have borrowed weapons from those kids,” said Coleman. “The arrows their archer used would do at least some damage.”

  “Never!” spat Fleming. “We said we’d kill this guy, and we will. Without their help!”

  “You’re all smoke,” Sloan taunted his fellow mage. “Your fire can’t even singe the reptile’s scales.”

  Fleming winced at that, but didn’t take his eyes from their enemy. A split second was enough to be split in half.

  “Spence is right,” said Rexus, as he rebounded from another blow with Sgolkr. “We need another strategy. This is why their leader said only if we could kill him. He wasn’t underestimating the invader or us.”

  “Then what do we do?” asked Zito with a strained voice. Rexus and Abrego swapped locations within the domain as claws almost tore the Dueler in two.

  “Retreat to the wall,” commanded Rexus. “I’ll hold him off.”

  “Will you be alright?” asked Gillum. “Maybe we should…”

  “YOU’RE ALL DEAD WEIGHT!” shouted Rexus, his frustration coming out. “I can survive this for a while, and it will be easier if I can fight instead of just protecting you!”

  “R-right, commander,” stammered Gillum. He grabbed Fleming, Spence grabbed Sloan, and Abrego grabbed Zito. The physical fighters carried the slower mages in the retreat. The healing domain was left behind for Rexus.

  The feral Scyrric watched them run away while flickering glares at Rexus. A slight awareness returned to Sgolkr’s eyes as he stood a little taller. After releasing a hissy breath, he spoke.

  “You should not have lasted against me,” said the berserker, his breathing steadying while his words became clearer. “That must be an epic class to be able to return so much of the damage I do. Are they even aware of how strong you are?”

  “What would you know about it?” snapped Rexus.

  “I know more than you, native. I also know how to defeat classes like yours. However, for now, I am enjoying the challenge. Let us continue to sharpen our claws against each other.”

  To Rexus’s surprise, Sgolkr pulled two of his combat knives from the bandolier on his back. He tossed them to Rexus with a bloodthirsty smile. Rexus continued to watch his opponent as he picked up the knives and tried to get comfortable with the awkward grips.

  Then he nodded to the Scyrric, and the clash commenced.

  ***

  General Carmichael was scowling as he watched his best soldiers returning. Gregor had already come back and had stayed silent while recovering. It was inconceivable to him that this invader could be strong enough to handle his elites this handily.

  “I guess your peeps couldn’t cut it,” Tom mocked. “Not so easy to defend the base, is it, oh [Uniter] of humanity?”

  Alissa swatted Tom on the arm, no longer strong enough to force him to move. “Now’s not the time! If neither side is strong enough to stop that brute, then how are we going to protect everyone? We need to get Emily back too!”

  Tom frowned. Hearing that Emily had been taken had killer their mood further. It seemed obvious in hindsight that leaving the young teenager in the penthouse wasn’t going to work, even with their logical arguments.

  “Who cares about her!” snapped Carmichael hatefully. “The sister of a traitor hardly matters.”

  “General,” spoke Gregor, “That lizard claimed that the kid isn’t on their side. That he was captured and taken away.”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The general rounded on the much larger man. “You are listening to our enemies? They are trying to take our world and kill our people! You can’t trust what they say!”

  Gregor just closed his mouth and looked back to where Rexus was fighting. Neither fighter seemed to have an advantage, although they didn't seem to receive much damage either.

  “Jordan, how is the wall holding?” asked Lucas.

  “A larger section is about to crumble. Once it goes down, I think they’ll be able to push inside. The mages and ranged attackers are causing them difficulties, but the Scyrric have almost broken through while removing enough debris.”

  Lucas nodded. The enemy army was too big for only his group to face directly, but once the wall was breached, they would drop down and lead the fight inside the wall. Nick, Carlos, Elias, Andrea, Ed, Lamar and Brandon were with the other ranged attackers, fighting and supporting from the wall.

  A sigh was about to come from Lucas when suddenly Fido, who had been brought to Abbey for healing, began barking and sniffing the air. A foot came up and pawed at Alissa while the third head whined. Carmichael’s nose scrunched and he grumbled.

  “Don’t let your…*ahem*…dog…do his business here,” ordered the man gruffly, while wearily watching the alien canine.

  “I don’t think that’s what this is,” Brittney said slowly, watching Fido closely. Alissa and Abbey nodded in agreement.

  BOOM!

  A distant explosion rocked the area, vibrating the air everywhere. The ground, air, and walls quivered as the group felt the explosion through their feet. With a sense of disappointment and not a little amount of concern that something new and unexpected was happening, everyone looked at the base of the wall, then to where Rexus and Sgolkr were fighting. Those two had even stopped and were looking around.

  BOOM!

  More confusion entered the group as they looked around to find the source. A sonic boom from another explosion filled the air. There was no light or fire to indicate where it came from. The group turned towards where the Scyrric army had stopped to look around.

  Frantically they looked around, everyone on edge while wondering what else could go wrong. It was Brittney who saw it first and pointed.

  In the rear of the Scyrric forces the air was violently pushed outwards in a visible shockwave, like a depth charge going off in the water. The small, distance forms of Scyrric were flung into the air in all directions.

  BOOM!

  Emotions running high and hearts pounding, everyone opened their mouths to speak at the same time, but Fido didn’t wait. He took off down the wall, running with everything he had towards the explosions.

  Alissa blew out air in frustration, but there was a huge smile on her face.

  “About time!”

  ***

  Adam was panting from exertion as he reached the border of Jackson. He had never put that much effort into anything. Prior to the [System] he couldn’t have been bothered to try that hard, and since the [System], even his difficult fights and moments hadn’t felt this lengthy when consumed by the river. The memory of seeing Emily captured by the Red Clan in the tower kept him pushing forward, even if that hadn’t really happened.

  This time was different. For his family, his friends, and for his world, Adam was giving it all he could. Even if that meant running 27 miles. Ugh!

  There had been another problem that appeared during his run: the damage the mind witch had done to his soul. In the tower lessons, he learned that the soul is partially an amplifier to the body. The increased energy that strengthens the class, soul, and levels was what allowed boosted stats in the body.

  He had several wounds in his soul from her attacks. They created leaks for the body and soul connection. When he had tried to run using the full might of the stats, he felt a weakness as energy was lost in the transfer. It was as though he currently only had about 75% of his strength.

  The leakage reminded Adam of trying to ride a bike with a puncture in the tire. Even if the hole was small, or there was an item wedged in it that only leaked air at certain times, the pressure dropped as you rode. That was his soul currently. Adam was almost scared to use his pseudo-skills, figuring that his soul corruption and the fact his stats were inherited from memories of other people would complicate things even more.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to rest or take it easy. He also nearly lost control of himself right away when he saw the scene before him. Thousands of Scyrric, strong and well equipped, were breaking though the base wall. His wall.

  The corpses of blue giants would have given him pride in the defenders as he watched their spells rain down on the invaders, except internally he was already fighting the river. The soul leakage he was experiencing made him feel like he was having a heart attack as the river rushed through him. Instead of flowing smoothly and fully empowering him, the energy sloshed about, banging against his inner borders. Even as it tried to swallow him, the power of it was inconsistent, strong one minute and weak the next.

  The vision of his sister being led into a room by the vampires of the Red Clan was remembered once more as the anger was filling him. Regardless of what he wanted, the image of his sister changed to his mom, then his dad, then the girls, and Nick. Even the kid that had ridden his shoulders the day before the invasion flashed through his mind.

  They were all down in the besieged base, their lives in danger.

  Adam grabbed his chest, feeling the pain throughout his body and soul. He tried to get accustomed to it, to move in spite of the river pounding on the edges of his essence. There was no way to control this, and there was an army of invaders before him, pulling the full force of the corruption upon him.

  COnQueR! Screamed the inconsistent river.

  Adam took a deep breath, lowered his head and charged forward.

  ***

  The Scyrric in the back were no less disciplined than the ones in the front. This was where the healers, support, and rotation warriors waited. They were prepared to move where directed and to support their brethren. As professional as they were, they didn’t neglect looking in all directions.

  “What is that?” asked a Scyrric warrior, pointing out a streak in the distance.

  The support he had spoken to squinted to see the movement. Time was getting late in the afternoon, and the sun was going down. The approaching twilight affected their reptilian eyes even more than a human’s.

  “I don’t know. Let us notify Commander Zwythkle.”

  The support turned to move through the ranks to reach the leader of their battalion, a Tier 3 “Momentum Stopper [41]”. He moved through the orderly rows and columns of Scyrric waiting for the wall to drop and the slaughter to begin.

  “Commander!” said the support Scyrric with as much respect as he could, half bowing to him. “There is something approaching from behind."

  The Momentum Stopper looked confused at the support but didn’t question him. He lifted an octagonal shield and followed the support back with heavy steps. The two had almost returned to the warrior when they heard a voice shout while running.

  “[Kinetic Impact], [Arc Shockwave], urgh!” The voice sounded in pain, but that only mattered for a brief second as it finished talking. “[Gladiator’s Approach]!”

  BOOM!

  The air pushed outward with the winds of a hurricane. Scyrric were sent flying, ricochetting off each other with an unnatural force. It was clearly an attack. Dirt and ground were blown upwards, making the commander squint as he raised his shield to keep the flying soldiers from knocking him over. Thanks to his size and the weight of his armor, he only had his balance disturbed rather than being knocked back.

  Because of the raised shield and squinting eyes, the commander’s vision was too obscured to see the axe swinging sideways at him. The metal of it was of a higher quality than even his armor, as he had been sent to this world at the beginning of the invasion.

  The axe, taken from Sgolkr’s armory, was sent specifically to empower the berserker to deal with the aberration. It easily cut through the commander’s neck. The head lowered to the ground slowly as it had been caught in the wind. It spun and rolled, coming to a stop where dozens of Scyrric were climbing to their feet, their orderly rows disturbed by the attack.

  The body of the commander didn’t fall. The armor was sturdy enough to hold it upright and thin squirts of green blood spouted from the open neck, then were carried by the wind to splatter all around them.

  Standing next to the commander’s body was a native. His skin was red, and steam rose from him. His eyes were pure fury, and an animalistic bloodlust could be felt by everyone there. The lack of a tag above his head told everyone who this enemy was.

  He held the handle of the axe high along the shaft. Some words were muttered, and the axe began to glow.

  “Aberration!” cried one warrior. He rushed towards the apparition standing in their midst. His blade was raised and began to come down.

  As the axe bit into his midsection, cutting through scales and armor, a force was released. It once more threw all the surrounding Scyrric into the air or rolling along the ground. The whole battalion had been turning to see the commotion, but it was too late.

  “[Arc Shockwave]!”

  BOOM!