97 Cataclysm Comes (1/2)

I raised both my hands, “Wait a second. Calm down, and let’s talk about this for a minute. Where are your guards?”

Torix raised an eyebrow, “What guards?”

I snapped my fingers a few times, finding my words, “Uh, uhm...Aatrox and Kade.”

Torix leaned against his hands, “They are acting as leaders of two battalions right now. Otherwise the followers would have decimated them.”

I spread out my arms, “What about that gaint monster you used once...Moloth right?”

Torix shook his head, “I can send him, but time is of the essence. Moloth is a very slow, fumbling giant.”

I grabbed the sides of my head, “Fuck. What about Althea?”

“The same situation as the guards. She throws the followers off as they travel around.”

I shook my hands, “Why did you send all our fighters off on missions like this? Wasn’t the goal to fight the followers and kill them?”

Torix shouted, “Why haven’t you organized any missions and presented them to me? You have a head between your shoulders. Do I have to command your every move?”

Hod clapped his wings together, “Harbinger and Dry Man. Stop shouting. We need to save Lady Friend number two.”

I sighed, “Dammit...you’re right.” I turned to Torix, “I’m sorry.”

“Likewise. Go and help her.”

Without needing another word, I turned and sprinted out of the house. Hod followed me, stumbling out before flying upwards. Torix howled with his voice unsteady,

“Prepare yourselves. I will stop by once I’ve positioned the troops.”

I stomped my heels into the ground before diving into the ground. I unleashed overcharged energy from my runes, blasting me up into the air. After a few quick dips in the ground, I raced towards the point on my minimap. After a minute of travel, distant, booming echoes radiated from near the steel legion’s training camp.

It was an empty warehouse surrounded by a few tool and car shops. It was convenient since parts could be gathered from nearby. The open areas inside the building where perfect for firing ranges. The enclosure kept most of the noise from firing inside the building. While it wasn’t the same as an underground bunker, it served its purpose well.

Well, for the most part. A follower found the building. That wasn’t what everyone was hoping for. Gunshots ebbed from the building explained why it was found. A giant hole in the side of the building showed where Kessiah and the follower went. I dashed up from the ground, landing beside the hole. Whenever I peered inside the building, horror met my eyes.

Blood drenched every part of the building. Deformed thralls of Yawm feasted on corpses. The squishing of fresh intestines being chewed made my stomach sink. Streaks of warm blood painted the walls and floors. Several dozen summons of Yawm were hunched over corpses, the crunching of bone grating the air.

They chewed on fingers and ribs. Eyes were plastered over their bodies. Blood clotted around wherever their mouth was, whether it was on their face or elsewhere. The thick, pungent scent of organs filled the entire building, wafting out of the hole on the wall. Dozens of soldiers were screaming as their organs were sucked out by abominations of flesh.

Hod dashed into the room,

“Hod save soldiers. Harbinger save Crow.”

I clenched a fist, wanting to dash in there and turn the spawns into pulp. I swallowed that desire before turning towards several other holes in buildings. Several hundred meters away, the booming sound of combat was evident. Kessiah needed me.

I flared my runes and charged towards the fray. I leaped over buildings with torn walls, some flattened down to their foundation. I reached the point of combat a few seconds later. There was the follower.

Dakhma Wike, Blood of Bane(lvl 3,314)

In a city square, Kessiah battled against Dakhma Wike. Four blocks were covered in rubble from collapsed buildings. Several craters littered the ground. Telephone poles and city lights stabbed through buildings or laid mangled on the ground.

With his living cape and hunched back, Dakhma kept low on the ground. Blood leaked from his enlarged right arm. He held his old sword with a firm resolve, however. From under his hood, a malicious grin had spread. The gray armor covering him still shined. He was almost unharmed. Kessiah wasn’t so lucky.

Kessiah limped on a leg punctured by his sword. The sword had stabbed through her shin bone, splintering it apart. The fact Kessiah still walked on it amazed me. Part of her hair had been sliced off, like a new, short haircut. Six stab wounds showed across her chest. Blood squirted from the wounds, but she channeled it into her Blood Arts as she fought.

The black veins spread under her skin, keeping her fighting. I neared them both as Dakhma Taunted in his old voice,

“You remnants have a bit of fight in you after all. It’s amazing what a difference a single talent makes. You won’t fight for long though. Not if you keep relying on Baldowah for your strength.”

Kessiah lifted her hands, spitting blood out from her mouth, “Fuck off.”

Dakhma laughed, his voice like grit, “With it comes a tremendous ability for destruction, but you are undisciplined. You cannot wield it.”

Kessiah shook her head, “Didn’t you want to fight?”

He dashed towards her, his voice bristling across the open square,

“With pleasure.”

Before he reached her, I landed ten meters away. Using telekinesis, I redirected the force of my landing above Dakhma. A telekinetic wave slammed against him, causing his charge to stumble. Capitalizing on my disruption, Kessiah dashed forward and slammed a fist into his face. It looked like a shadow of my own punching but sloppy and wild.

What she lacked in technique, she made up for in power. The speed of her strike was blistering, like a bolt of lightning. After ushering a monstrous echo from the contact, Dakhma shot backwards. His body dug through the ground and pavement. A trench formed before he shot through the wall of a brick building. Slamming into the other side of the small tool store, the entire structure collapsed.

A wave of red dust billowed from it. I ran in front of Kessiah. She gasped, “Ah...fuck, I thought I got him...Thanks.”

I opened the pocket dimension in my ring, pulling out a blue crystal. Torix had given us a guard just in case we needed it. Althea’s had been Aatrox and mine was Kade. Now was that time to use them.

With that in mind, I channeled mana into it. From the crystal, a wave of energy exploded outwards with a cloud of crystalline powder. Kade, a tall guard with two giant cannons positioned on his sides, walked out from the cloud. He looked around, confused and covered in blood that wasn’t his own.

It looked like I plopped him right out of combat. The steel legion would have to make due without him. I tightened my fists and flared my runes. I slammed my firsts together, the telekinetic augments forming without thought, “Let’s rip this guy’s guts out.”

I stomped my foot, exuding Overwhelming Presence and Words of Strength as I roared,

“Come on Dakhma. You wanted a fight, didn’t you?”

A titanic explosion swelled the dust from the brick building in front of us, pieces of brick and debris slamming into nearby buildings. Dakhma stood tall on the ground, his silver armor dented on his face, chest, and right arm. The stunted left arm was nigh useless, but his red cape molded into an even larger limb than his right one.

He leaned over, a gray beard falling onto his chest plate. Menacing and conniving, his eyes and face were hidden beneath the darkness his hood cast. He pointed his sword at me,

“Are you the fighter I spared so long ago?”

I slammed my fist into my chest, the clash of metal overpowering his words, “I didn’t ask for questions.” I thundered, “I asked for a fight. Come on.”

Dakhma leaned back for a moment, along with Kessiah. Somehow my words held no fear. It didn’t even seem like my own voice. It sounded like a bloodthirsty warrior challenging another warrior in combat. In the end, I guess that’s what it was.

Dahkma laughed, “Hah, hah, hah! Finally, an eager opponent.” He leaned over, “I accept your challenge. Prepare yourself.”

I reached out towards him with Event Horizon. He bolted forwards, fast as a speeding bullet. I condensed the aura over the trajectory of his charge. As he entered the aura, his grin turned into a grimace.

He reached me in an instant. It was fast enough that I called it teleportation. As he popped up in front of me, he reared his sword back, trying to knock me aside with his crimson, tattered cape. Like the palm the palm of a giant, it swiped towards my right side. I grinned at the sight.

I stomped my heels into the ground, extending my footing with telekinesis and gravitational magic. Using Volatile Carnage, a gravity warp formed over my left fist, along with telekinetic augments. Boundless Storm let me guide my movements with a pristine grace and deadly intention. Whenever my fist landed, The Coming Tide let me discharge my loaded runes.

The resulting impact was like a holding an earthquake in my hands. The point of contact resulted in a hole being punctured through the cape. Dakhma’s jaw gaped in surprise as he charged into me. The sword stabbed through my stomach, piercing out of my back. I still clasped my hands against his shoulders, gripping as I condensed Event Horizon around him.

Dakhma grimaced before I leaned down. From behind me, Kessiah stepped forward and lobbed her fist at his face. Before it landed, I covered my ears with my armor. Even with the thick plate of metal protecting my hearing, the shockwave of the strike left my ears ringing. I lifted my head after the strike, observing the destruction.

Dakhma crashed through a nearby house, piercing into another one before collapsing the building once more. His attack hardly even scratched the massive pool of health I developed, so I turned to Kessiah,

“Can you go on?”

As if hit by whiplash, she stared at me in disbelief, “How did you block him?”

I clapped my hands, making Kessiah take a step backwards,

“Kessiah. Focus. If Dakhma escapes, we’ll be fighting three followers instead of one. Now’s our chance. To kill him. Can you go on?”

She blinked before nodding, “Of course. Let’s rip him apart.”

I clasped my fist in confidence before charging towards Dakhma, my health regen reconstituting my wounds. Inside the suburban home, Dakhma crashed out of the wall of the building. With blood dripping from his mouth, he howled,

“You meant it when you wanted a fight. I’ll return your intention in kind.”

He dashed towards me, shooting through the air with a burst of speed. As Kessiah’s vanguard, I met his charge. He slashed downwards with his sword from his right hand. I stepped towards his left. His cape moved towards me, the fabric curled into a colossal fist. Before it struck me aside, I used The Coming Tide.

I leaned downwards while sliding two feet deep into the ground. The difficulty of it, like molding the armor on my foot and gravity magic, were eased with The Coming Tide. It made my duck smooth and fluid.

With my feet planted, Dakhma’s cape hit my upper shoulder. As it made contact, I shrugged my shoulder and molded my armor, guiding the strike over my head. Sparks flew off my armor as I unleashed my overcharged runes. My fist struck, and I expanded my footing with telekinetic augments.