Chapter 56: Cleanup crew (1/2)

Jeremy blocked the thrown spear with his shield and managed to deflect it towards the nearby wall. Jasper looked back at him and nodded before engaging the centurion again. They had managed to stand against the machine for twenty minutes already with their group of seven. It had suddenly appeared from behind them and had nearly taken two of their lives immediately.

‘Were it not for Jasper...’ Jeremy thought and looked at the man who glowed with a slight tinge of blue, holding his fragile looking sword with a confident posture.

The centurion slashed towards the man but its strikes were deflected with seemingly slow moves. The sword was precisely where it had to be. Jasper’s sword struck the centurion again but didn’t manage to cut deeply. ‘The fact that he can even cut it...’ Jeremy thought as another bout of magic was released from the three mages behind him. The centurion swiped away two of the attacks with its spear and blocked the last one, a crystal spear with its arm.

Another spear throw followed towards the mages but Jeremy held fast. The rogue and warrior that were with them stood behind him as well but couldn’t help out in the fight at all. Their speed and skills weren’t on par with the centurion which had nearly cost them their lives at the beginning of the fight. Jasper reassured them to get behind Jeremy and try to protect the mages. With their ranged attacks they were a great distraction for Jasper and got in arguably more damage than the sword master did himself.

Jeremy didn’t use any ranged attacks to focus all his energy on defense. ‘I hope Rin is doing alright...’ he thought. The woman had been with a different group. Inström had led them. ‘We’re gonna be fine with Jasper though...’ he thought just when another spear throw was sent their way. This one wasn’t aimed at the mages though but at the warrior who was standing a little too far to the right. Jeremy moved to the right but only managed to deflect the spear slightly.

Combined with the dodging attempt by the slow warrior it was enough to save the man’s life. The spear punched through his armor and exited on the back but didn’t hit anything vital. “Get him behind me!!” Jeremy shouted as the people behind him tried to become as small a target as possible while moving the screaming warrior who was losing blood quite quickly.

The centurion tried to circle around Jasper to get to the group but it proved rather difficult in the small room. It’s movements were fast, nearly too fast for Jeremy to follow but luckily Jasper was there to block the machine’s advance. ‘Like a shepherd protecting sheep...’ Jeremy thought and couldn’t help but chuckle at his own lack of power. Still the excitement of seeing and facing a live centurion made him smile. ‘A story to tell if we survive this...’

Another spear throw struck his shield, hitting it dead center. The enchantments, metal and his buffs to the shield held true though and the weapon didn’t penetrate. Suddenly the wall next to Jasper exploded and two armored people jumped through it. Jeremy looked on as Agor immediately charged the centurion while Lilith looked around the room and then vanished.

He needed a couple seconds to realize the woman had appeared behind himself and had started healing the warrior who had gone silent a small while ago. “Is he gonna make it?” Jeremy shouted as the centurion now fully focused on the two expedition leaders.

“He’s gonna be alright, give me a minute and then you guys are out of here...” she said as Agor was thrown back by the butt of the centurion’s spear. Jasper managed to make a direct hit at the opening.

“Don’t attack! It can’t reach it’s third phase!!” Lilith shouted to the man while her mana entered the warrior who was lucid again but breathing heavily. “We have to get everyone out of here!” Agor nodded at her and then towards Jasper who moved back a little to make space between himself and the centurion.

“Just hold him off the others, they go berserk when they near death and self destruct in the end.” Agor shouted, swiping the advancing spear away with his great sword. “Lilith get them out and then help us out here...” he shouted and circled the centurion to keep its attention.

‘How can she help out with her level...’ Jeremy thought but looking at the woman he was somehow reassured she could.

“Hey Jeremy, you saw the crater near the armory?” Lilith asked him as she got up from her crouching position. The warrior slowly got up as well. She continued after he nodded. “You think you can take a blast like that point blank?” she said and he nodded again.

“Should be able to, haven’t found anything that got through my shield before.” he said and she motioned for everyone to follow. They left the two warriors to fight the centurion and ran towards the elevator.

The rogue screamed and advanced on the dead scout in the elevator room before one of the mages ran after him. “You’ll stay down here...the self destruct is gonna be difficult to avoid in these tight hallways.” Lilith told him.

“You guys need to leave, now!” she shouted to the others. The mage dragged away the mourning man, telling him they’d burn the corpse at a later time. The warrior nodded to Lilith as they entered the elevator. “Make sure to send the lift back down afterwards...” Lilith said to the man and then went back into the dungeons. Jeremy followed.

The two ran back to the room and found a bleeding yet smiling Agor and an expressionless Jasper both facing the centurion. “Backup is here...” Lilith said and threw away her helmet, revealing a grin that mirrored Agor’s.

‘How will she...’ Jeremy thought as Lilith suddenly vanished, only to appear behind the centurion’s head while delivering a kick. The machine buckled a little at the hit, opening up a chance for the other two to attack which the experienced warriors didn’t miss.

“Let’s whittle this fucker down!” Lilith shouted as she dodged a spear thrust coming her way.

‘She’s ridiculously fast...how can she keep up with that level...’ Jeremy thought and prepared all his defensive buffs. He hadn’t forgotten about the explosion that was supposed to come and even though he was sure he’d be able to take much more damage than the three others in the room, he was not a hundred percent sure he could take whatever had created that crater.

The fight went on as he applied layer upon layer of dense rock on his shield and body to both heighten his defense but also his weight. “He’s going berserk!” Agor shouted after nearly seven minutes of relentless attacking. The machine grew more savage afterwards, taking more and more blows at the chance to land a counter.

All three of the warriors managed to avoid serious injuries though, becoming much more defensive in the last phase of the fight. The damage was still done though as the more reckless machine left more openings than before until Jeremy saw a bright glow emanate from the centurion while all three adventurers jumped backwards.

“Behind Jeremy!” Lilith shouted as she vanished and appeared behind him, holding on tightly to his back, strengthening his position. Jasper and Agor reached them half a second later. Agor pushed his back to Ilea’s and smashed his great sword into the ground, giving him more hold.

The centurion’s spear vanished as it slowly advanced towards the group, its chest glowing too bright for Jeremy to see. Jasper held out his hand and concentrated before blue runes started floating before them. A second later the blast followed. Jeremy’s ears popped immediately and a massive shock wave of force and fire struck against his shield, pushing the whole group backwards a whole meter. Agor’s sword cut through the ground as if it were mere earth while the layers of stone on Jeremy’s shield were shattered on impact.

Jasper’s defensive rune had been obliterated as well, barely slowing down the explosion but as the dust settled they stood. Lilith let go of Jeremy and stepped out as Agor removed his sword from the ground.

‘ding’ ‘Your group has defeated [Taleen Centurion – lvl 305]’

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated an enemy one hundred and

‘bing’ ‘Ground Callerhas reached level 173. 5 Stat points awarded.’

‘bing’ ‘

‘bing’ ‘Heavy Paladin has reached level 167. 5 Stat points awarded.’

“Another one down...” Ilea said and quickly checked through her messages. She had used up all stat points before the centurion fight to make sure she was at the best she could be. The guardians weren’t a challenge and she preferred to feel a big change every time she used stat points. She had destroyed a total of 83 sword guardians in the past couple hours and had gained fourteen levels in both Azarinth healer and Ash Wielder, netting her a whopping 140 stat points which she had invested into Vitality, Dexterity and Intelligence. Some skills had grown as well. Additionally the fight against the centurion had given her another level in both her classes. She quickly checked her status after all her stats were distributed.

Name: Ilea Spears

Unspent statpoints: 0

Class 1: Azarinth Healer – lvl 183

Class 2: Ash Wielder – lvl 175

General Skills: