From above, the thousands of soldiers belonging to the Terran-Martian Alliance must have looked like ants as they poured in through the gap Stefan made, immediately spreading out as far as they could. To the left of the gap were a few of the storage buildings, to the right was the power plant along with more storage units, and at the centre was the motor pool, messes, and barracks.
“Get a move on!” Vigdis cried to her bodyguards, her heart pounding as she saw the structure that fueled the rest of the depot. It wasn’t out of fear that her heart beat so hard, but out of excitement. Never before had she had the chance to work with something so complicatedly designed and built, yet so simple that it could be turned on with the flick of a single switch. About a couple hundred of the soldiers tightly surrounded the entourage, granting them extra protection, and more importantly, extra pairs of eyes.
The Depot premises were large, being about a quarter league from front to back and roughly the same length from left to right. It took longer than they had expected to arrive near power plant, but with each minute they spent traveling, the entourage and the soldiers accompanying them felt an unexplainable weight on their bodies.
“Do you feel that?” Stefan asked as his horse galloped alongside three other mounted beasts.
“The uneasiness?” Valto said in his typical mature, stoic tone. “This isn’t because of anxiety. Vigdis feels absolutely livid right now, but if she were to be Initiated, I believe she’d have this feeling too.”
“So it’s the Reserve,” Stefan surmised. “There’s a really strong source of Reserve nearby.”
“Correct,” Valto said. “Be on guard, lad.”
The trots of the horses slowed down as did the feet of the soldiers around them. It was hard to tell why, but everything seemed to have stopped up ahead.
“What’s going on?” Vigdis asked, finally feeling the air displayed by her comrades. “Why are we all slowing down, we’re not even—
The sound of a shrill scream filled the air, followed by the sight of a shape hurling above the heads of the entourage. And then another shape. Another cry of pain and another figure being flung above the crowd. Drops of blood and gore spilled on the heads of the young men and women sent to capture the power plant. They were not alone. The Reserve was not simply emitting from a powerful source, it came from one that thirsted for blood. There was no conviction or resolve in the aura. Only pure desire to tear and destroy.
They’re just being thrown… Stefan thought as the terrified crowd began to step back, some turning around despite orders being cried to remain and continue fighting the source of the chaos. Like ragdolls. Like back when Meinrad took me to observe Klaudia and the hunters.
His face became slick with sweat as the assailant began to not only fling bodies into the air but through the crowds themselves.
I’m not as helpless as I was back then. I am going to do something about this.
He saw Vi and Valto guiding their horses closer to Vigdis as she cautiously inched back.
“I’m sorry.” he cried in their direction before lightly kicking his horse’s side with the heel of his boot, sending it full throttle towards the person or thing decimating his comrades. He swerved and ducked to dodge bodies and parts being hurled, and soon, he could hear it.
The maniacal laughter of someone who enjoyed life being taken at their hands.
Stefan adjusted his feet in the stirrups, standing upright as his steed continued to barrel forward. He concentrated Reserve into his legs before he leapt from the moving horse, landing with a roll towards the huge man as he was about to pick up yet another soldier of the Terran-Martian alliance. Faster than even he could comprehend, Stefan whipped out a dagger and slashed it across the behemoth’s armored knee, causing his Black Shield mask to fall off.
Stefan quickly rose to his feet as the abnormally strong Titanian soldier staggered back. He had been able to pierce through the armor—clearly well crafted and unusual since most Titanian soldiers did not wear any armor—with a single swipe of the hand.
“Looks like we have a little shit who thinks he’s brave,” the soldier said with a pained laugh. “You’re a tough one.”
“And you think you’re tough because you can throw around Terrans like rag dolls,” Stefan scoffed. “Fight me, then. You’ll see I’m not nearly as easy to thrash around.”
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To that, the Titanian soldier snickered. However, underneath the visor of his helmet, Stefan knew he was doing more than just ridiculing him. He was observing him.
“I thought your face was familiar,” the Titanian remarked. “You’re the brother Joakim mentioned having. You’re definitely taller than him, but at the end of the day, you’re just a version of him I can safely put my hands on!”
“Safely put your—
Before Stefan could finish inquiring about the surprise statement, a large fist flew at his head. He could feel the air shift as the limb rushed at him with immense Reserve concentration, perfectly honed to blow Terran bodies apart on impact. While Stefan was indeed cut from another cloth than his comrades, he was not invincible. Thou before the fist collided with his face, Stefan generated a level 15 barrier before him. To his surprise, the barrier did not immediately crumble the moment the Berserker made contact with it. In fact, Stefan did not feel tired or weak.
Sindri stumbled on the side of his injured knee, even more enraged that he could not get to shed the same blood that flowed through Joakim’s veins. Remaining cautious, Stefan jumped back a few feet.
“You really aren’t like them.” Sindri scoffed, staggering while trying to remain upright.
“Fire!” Stefan cried, but not at his opponent. He was speaking to the men and women behind him, now aware that they had used the pause in the slaughter to compose themselves and hold their rifles at the ready. They were never bad or weak soldiers—it was simply that their foe was too strong and too tenacious. The boy ducked as the Reserve beams and bullets volleyed the armored Titanian’s body, causing him to bounce and fall onto his good knee. The intensity radiating from Sindri’s aura grew darker and darker, but he was unable to keep up with the sudden switch in the Terrans from defense to offense. Stefan read this and after about five seconds of relentless gunfire, he held a palm up, ordering the soldiers to halt, offering himself a very brief window to examine the outcome.
Physical attacks barely hurt him. He’s probably as vulnerable anywhere else as he is in that knee, but there’s no way I’m gonna get that close to him with a knife again… unless more people have to die. Guns don’t do much damage to him either, just dents at best. I have to dull his senses if I want to cause something lasting.
Stefan rushed forward and double jumped in front of Sindri before the beast of a Titanian could recover. He kicked down on the back of Sindri’s head with his heel. Stefan nearly crashed to the ground hard on his back but was able to break the fall with his hands.
“My ears…” Sindri held his head in his hands before Stefan could rise to his feet. The Titanian juvenile wrenched the helmet off of his head, revealing eyes that looked like they were bulging out of his skull, his mouth set in a furious grin. “My ears are ringing. You’re going to answer to me, now!”
Sindri swung around with bent knees, his massive hand wrapping around one of Stefan’s ankles. He lifted the boy up into the air. Stefan tried to kick his way out, then resorted to pulling his dagger out, but Sindri’s vitals were out of his reach. With a cry of hate and rage, Sindri brought Stefan down hard to the ground. The desert surface rumbled from the sheer concentration of Reserve, causing a strong tremor felt for dozens of yards around. Hundreds of soldiers struggled to remain upright as the force sought to bring them to the ground and disorient them.
Stefan was able to pull his foot away from Sindri’s grasp just as he hit the ground, quickly making a level 10 shield to guard his head and neck saving him from any life-changing damage, but the impact still briefly blurred his vision. The next thing he saw was a fist coming straight for his face. As if moving on its own, Stefan’s own fist shot into the air in what had seemed to be a foolish attempt at saving himself. The two fists flew in the same trajectory, destined to meet in the middle. Sindri smirked. First he would shatter the boy’s fist, then the rest of his body. But neither happened.
“I already told you I’m not like other Terrans, you fucking meathead.” Stefan chuckled, his knuckles holding back the weight of Sindri’s fist.
The light seemed to drain from the Titanian’s green eyes as he realised what had happened.
My most powerful blow… blocked by a Terran? A mere groveling Terran ape?
The strongest member of the Frei Squad in terms of raw physicality, just barely beating out Meinrad, had his attack stopped by a Terran. Without the use of a weapon. And without any obvious struggle.
Sindri fell onto his rear end in shock. His perplexed gaze was met with the unrelenting dominance exhibited in Stefan’s eyes.
His Berserker state had died down, the strength of an Abnormal Titanian gone from his grasp. His hand immediately flew to his utility belt—he was a trained soldier, after all. He was going to win against this Terran in whatever way possible.
Before he could stand up again, a bullet found itself lodged in his good knee. With a shriek of pain, he fell once more. Another bullet found itself in his dominant hand. The Beast of the Frei Squad was out of commission.
Stefan wiped off the mask of sweat on his face, ignoring his miserable opponent. He scanned the area for signs of the person, or people, who had potentially saved him at the very last moment. He found a crowd gathering around a person, someone easy to make out with their fiery-red hair whipping around in the wind.
“Vi?” his pupils grew with gratitude. “Vi! Nice shots!”
The phantom-like soldier acknowledged his thanks with a brief nod of the head, holding her rifle in both hands tightly. However, a second later, his appreciativeness converted into tenseness as his Detection found a strong source of Reserve coming his way. It was not as strong as Sindri’s, but it was fast. So fast, Stefan found it nearly impossible to believe that it came from a living being. Its speed was more machine-like than organic.
“Everyone run away from here, now!” he cried.