The normal green color of the Power Armor's heads up display shifted to red and became more streamlined as Pax went into battle mode. The targeting reticle cycled through all the available targets, but settled on one of the smaller Kobolds in the area. It held a wand in its hand that looked similar to the one Ethan had that let him his cast fire arrow spell. He didn't know what spell the Kobold's wand could cast, but according to Pax, it was the greatest threat in the bunch. With a mental shrug, Darius announced his presence to the monsters by launching a searing red bolt of concentrated plasma at the creature from his shoulder mounted Plasma Cannon. It burned a hole right through the monster, leaving it to fall over and twitch spasmodically on the ground.

Not wasting any time, Darius followed the suggested targets and launched a bolt of plasma at each one at a rate of one per second. I can’t believe it, it's so effortless. Why didn't I get myself one of these before? He thought as he meticulously mowed through all the casters present. He'd managed to kill five or six before the rest of them got over their surprise and began throwing magic his way. Spikes of Ice, balls of fire, and even zaps of electricity struck his hovering body, but between the environmental tolerance upgrade and the fifty points of defense from his Orichalcum armor plates, not a single point of damage got through.

The warriors of the group tried to reach him, but since he was thirty feet in the air and they were only about four feet tall, they didn't stand a chance. Seeming to give up. Some of them broke away from the main group and ran into the buildings on either side. Not feeling too worried about the little monsters, Darius continued to pick off the mages, one by one. Most of them only needed a single plasma bolt to kill them, but a couple had a bit higher of a Constitution score and managed to barely survive the first blast. But the second blast finished them off.

Darius actually began to feel a bit bad, with how easy it was and how helpless the small lizards were against his overwhelming power. Then he remembered how they'd taken him while he was unconscious, knocked him out when he'd come to, and then threw him into a subterranean larder along with the corpses and body parts of other people. "Fuck them," He swore, then with that memory fresh in his mind, his grin returned. What little pity he'd started to feel faded away, and he moved on to the next target.

As he finished off the last of the eighteen casters in the group, the Warrior Caste members—who'd run into the buildings—appeared on rooftops and launched themselves through the air, along with whatever ropes, cords, and even bed sheets, they could get their hands on. He'd managed to dodge several, while still keeping up the steady rate of fire, but three managed to land on him, shaking his flight stability for a moment.

The moment the little bastards made contact, they immediately swarmed over him, using the ropes and electrical cords to try to tie down his plasma cannon along with his hands and his feet. They were too close to target with his weapons, so he was forced to punch at each of them, and try to grab them when they were within reach. One thing he hadn't considered with the power armor, he didn't have the full range of motion he'd had without it. He wasn't able to make full use of his dexterity and agility stats while the Kobolds weren't encumbered. With all the shifting around to try to catch them, his flight became so erratic that he actually crashed through the outside wall of a building. On the plus side that knocked one of the beasties off, but the other two became more determined.

“Okay, you are really starting to piss me the fuck off!” Engaging his thrusters, Darius shot out of the building and spun like a drill bit as he picked up speed. The Kobolds tried to cling on, even sinking their claws into the seams of his armor to maintain their grip, but it was futile. In just a handful of seconds, they were flung off at high speed. He righted himself and prepared to fly back. Still feeling annoyed at the little monsters, he used his own personal Mana and spent the next eleven seconds to Conjure Rain of Fire. as soon as the weapon settled on his left shoulder, he targeted the center of the biggest cluster. Pax, with the help of his tactical program, helpfully highlighted the blast zone, and he was able to aim it in such a way that it would catch the most amount of Kobolds without lighting the buildings on fire. Within five seconds, the targeting reticle changed from a round crosshair to a square box and the missile Icon turned from red to green. He triggered the button and heard the burn of propellant as the soda bottle sized Missile launched from its tube and sped away.

As soon as it struck, there was a massive detonation as a wave of Kinetic force accompanied by intense flames knocked the Kobolds down and seared their flesh. Eighteen Warrior Caste Kobolds died in an instant, while the rest scattered and ran off into the desert. Darius reducing power to his flight system, he gently landed on the sandy soil and let out a long breath. He looked into the dark recesses of the church and could make out slight movement from the people inside. Realizing how everything must look, he disengaged combat mode. Rain of Fire and Doom Bringer slid back until their barrels pointed straight up. He didn't want to dismiss them just yet, since there were still several Kobolds out there that he knew of, and probably even more hiding underground somewhere. He did trigger the front panels of his helmet to unlock and slide back, revealing his face to the people inside. His face wrinkled involuntarily as the smell of cooked and burned meat hit his nostrils, but he quickly smoothed his expression and took a few steps toward the building.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Hello? it's safe to come out now. The monsters I didn't kill all ran away." Darius stood there for a moment, but got no reply. "Look, I'm not here to hurt you. If anything, I want to help."

"Take… Take what you want. Just don't hurt us?" a man finally replied from within the building.

"I'm not here to take anything from you. Hell, I just killed and ran off all the monster's attacking you all. Besides, I aint no damn robber. I never stole a damn thing in my life. Now why don't you come out here, or invite me in so we can talk like grown ass men instead of yelling out here?"

"Wait, you're not with them?"

Confused, Darius called back. "Them? them who? what you talking about?"

"The others, the ones who came before. Men in suits like yours. They flew in like a bunch of Ironmen. We thought they were here to save us, but they weren't. They took our people, they took our food, and what weapons we managed to get together… anyone who protested… they… they…" the man paused for a moment before continuing. "They said they'd be back."

"Oh, hell Nah!" Darius swore in disgust. He had a feeling he knew where this was going, and it made his temper rise hot and high. "Don't tell me they took your women?"

"You- you mean you really aren't one of them? I… Ye-Yeah. they took Olivia, Emma, Isabella, and Camila."

"Look, can I come in? I don't want to keep hollerin' out here. Who knows what else may be wandering by?"

There was a moment of silence before the man called out, defeat and weariness plain in his voice. "Just a sec. Let me clear the door."

After that, Darius heard the sound of heavy wooden furniture scraping across a tile floor. A couple of minutes later, the front door opened a crack. A moment later, the door opened the rest of the way. Standing there, with a handful of other people behind him, an older black man, tightly curled hair ash grey, and massive bags hung under his eyes while a tattered black robe draped loosely on his narrow frame.

Xavier Johnson

Faithful of God, FR 2

HP: 91/91

SP: 182/182

Divine charges: 2/6

"Come in, quick, before those monsters come back," Xavier said while urgently waving at Darius.

With a mental shrug, Darius entered the dimly lit church. As soon as he passed through the threshold, the priest closed the door and immediately began shifting pews to block the door once again. Seeing the older man struggle with the weight of the solid wood seats, Darius gently pushed the man back and casually blocked off the door with the furniture. Between his Olympic level weight-lifter strength and the minor bonus his Power armor gave him, it took next to no effort.

"I, uh… Thank you, my son."

Darius winced at being called the man's son, but he refrained from commenting. He knew the whole, my son, Father thing was a common thing, and he didn't mean anything by it. He stood back up and let his eyes adjust to the dim interior. "Yeah, it's no problem." Darius replied as he took in the state of the building. Beyond the little anti-chamber he stood in, he could see the main gathering room. The bright light outside shone through the narrow cross shaped windows high up in the walls, letting him see several pews pushed together, forming rough beds with a few blankets piled on them. He also saw five other people huddled in the back corner, clothes looking ragged. Their eyes were wide with fear and locked onto him. It didn't take a genius to realize that they were terrified, and with what the preacher had told him already, he was sure the Power Armor he was wearing wasn't helping.

"Please, come. We appreciate you driving off those demons," Xavier said, as he plodded into the other room. Everything about the man seemed to exude exhaustion. "We have water and a little food if you are hungry."

Darius made another sweep with his eyes, looking for any sign of danger before he made a decision. "Nah, I'm good. I don't need anything." Then he focused on removing his Power Armor, letting it open up and retract to its storage space. It only took a few seconds, and the already widened eyes of the people watching him somehow grew even wider. It looked like they would pop right out of their sockets. Wanting to try to alleviate their fears, Darius stepped forward so they could see him better. "It's all right. I ain't here to hurt you. In fact, I'm here to help."

"Besides driving off those beasts, what can you do to help?" Xavier asked.

"well, I can help with a couple of things. You see, I have a hamlet five miles down the highway. You know Enchanted Nights?" at the priest's nod, Darius continued. "we've built up a safe place for people to live there. We have walls, food, water, and enough people to fight off the monsters. If you like, I can call my people and have them escort you there."

"But what about my Emma?" an older man called out from the far side of the room. "She was taken, and if we don't do what those men say, they'll hurt her."

"That's the other thing I can do to help. If you can tell me which direction they went off to, my people and I can go there and bring your family back."