CHAPTER 117: Life and Death

A dodge to the left and crouch was enough to avoid the telegraphed axe swing from the “Riot Enforcer [25]”. Making sure of the position, Nick slashed forward with his knife and cut the front of the Scyrric’s shin before rolling backwards. He was already familiar with the way the Scyrric used their wicked toe talons when fighting and knew from experience to avoid them.

The riot enforcer was clearly surprised that Nick wasn’t affected by his attack, but the momentary lack of balance kept him out of position long enough for another arrow to fly from the humans crowding the gate and penetrate through its shoulder and into its chest. The axe dropped from its hand as the invader reached around instinctively with its good arm to grab its injured one. Nick sprang upwards, slicing the sides of its neck. One follow-up arrow finished it off, flying through where a normal lizard would have its ear membrane.

Scyrric “Riot Enforcer [25]” slain. 3,431 shared XP gained.

Nick didn’t have time to care before two more were upon him. A hiss from the overseer also alerted him to three more that left their positions to approach him.

None of the oncoming Scyrric came hurriedly. They took their time, moving into position. The two who were arriving now were on either side of him.

Turning to face the one on his left, Nick dodged a downward sword swing from the one positioned behind him and used the knife in his left hand to shift the direction of the swing from the Scyrric facing him. The impact of the blades wasn’t straight on, but it was enough that Nick could tell that for all they had more knowledge and better class paths, this riot enforcer had only a little more strength than Nick. Nick was thankful he was 10 levels higher than it and had the extra stats from the Rift capture titles.

Unfortunately, his weapons weren’t affected by his levels. They didn’t seem like they would be able to last long against those the enemies used. He knew each contact and strike would chip at and dull his blades. Even with two backups that he had ready, that only amounted to fighting a few more enemies, something this base wasn’t lacking in. With direct combat, he wouldn’t last as long as he could if he continued to attack from stealth.

Another of Lamar’s arrows flew true and hit the side of the rear riot enforcer. Though it didn’t sink deeply into the armor. The Scyrric hissed in pain and clenched up but didn’t drop his weapon. Once more its pause in motion allowed another arrow to fly through its neck. The Scyrric dropped to its knees but didn’t completely fall.

Meanwhile, Nick was sidestepping and ducking to stay away from the sword swings in front of him. His daggers didn’t have the reach of a sword to get in close enough to do significant damage to his opponent. Little cuts and stabs were the best he managed, further wearing his weapons down.

It was also nerve-racking fighting these invaders, even one on one. There were four points of attack he had to watch, the sword, each foot, and the tail. It was obvious to Nick how these guys could be so difficult to fight, and he had three more coming towards him. Nick couldn’t just wait for them to arrive.

After a quick feint towards the Scyrric’s throat, Nick spun to the one fallen behind him. He used the body as a step to vault over it. Then he ran. Not towards his own army, but to the side of the closest Scyrric building.

The four Scyrric ran in chase, though one took an arrow to its thigh that slowed it from the rest. The invaders might have been slightly stronger than Nick, but they were much slower. Nick easily outran them and as soon as he got behind the building, he once more used [Dim Presence] and [Mask Signs].

As the first Scyrric to chase turned the corner, Nick’s knife sank into its throat. It was a fatal wound, but with such high vitality the riot enforcer didn’t die immediately. A sword was brought up and stabbed at Nick’s stomach.

Nick grunted as he was thrown back from the impact, his dagger left behind in the Scyrric’s throat. Looking at his gut, Nick saw that there was no cut, though he could see a mark on the leather. The feral behemoth leather his armor had been made from had been able to withstand the sword, however Nick’s insides still felt bruised from the impact.

Trying to shake off the pain, but unable to completely ignore his internal damage, Nick staggered to his feet and once more ran. Two more riot enforcers had rounded the corner. They stopped when they saw their compatriot dying on the ground, but quickly got over it and resumed their chase. The last pursuing Scyrric was limping with three arrows in its leg as it came around the corner.

As Nick dodged behind another building, he also activated the skills [Remove Threat] and [False Trail] to make it look like he had kept going, then crept back the way he had come. He allowed the two uninjured Scyrric to pass him and go out of sight, but when the one with the arrows in its leg hobbled near, he struck.

Scyrric “Riot Enforcer [24]” slain. 3,299 shared XP gained.

Nick quietly made his way back to the first building and peeked around the corner. He had taken out several of the riot enforcers, but there were still so many remaining. Nick felt like that quick battle he had should have been a success. It should have been impressive. Reality wasn’t so kind though as he knew it was only a drop in a bucket. A few strong invaders in a single base out of thousands of bases all over the world.

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What did humanity need to be victorious? Adam said they needed to kill them all. How realistic was that? How possible when, as he watched, his own forces kept faltering. Not to the strong ones either. The overseer was just watching. The riot enforcers, except for the three looking for him, were still in their guard positions as if it was just another day at the office. The human captives all lay on the ground trembling, hoping that they weren’t the ones used for screams.

In the main force, humans fell. Most were dragged to the center for heals, but some were pulled forward to be executed by the attacking Scyrric. The humans were much sloppier in their own attacks now. They were wearing down quickly, and Nick knew he hadn’t even been fighting for long.

He had advised against this. He had told them it wouldn’t work, and even being proven right Nick felt tears coming into his eyes. Only one person shooting arrows still had power and intent behind it. Even the fanatical General’s Guard were hitting a wall, no matter how much they wanted to be able to match up.

There was no sports analogy for this. Nick had assumed there was a sports analogy for everything. But in this battle…this fight…this war, there was no analogy for life and death. One was fleeting and the other was permanent. No take backs. Nick felt wet tears going down his cheeks.

This was it. The time to leave. The time to run. He had said it would come. He didn’t feel like these people’s decision to attack was worth his own death. How much was his life worth? How many people was his death worth?

Nick watched the battle. He glanced over at the thousands of mistreated captives. Then he looked at the overseer and the surrounding riot enforcers. Nick was the strongest human here and there was no way for him to win.

If only Adam had been here, Nick thought with a silent sob.

There was no way Nick could face the rest of the enforcers. His insides hurt from a single blow taken. The only reason he hadn’t died right then and there was because of the armor from the creature that Adam had killed. A creature that no other human or group of humans could have defeated. There was no one in this war that mattered except Adam.

If only I were Adam.

Nick took another moment to listen to the sounds of battle; the shouts, screams, metal clanging and spells impacting. He closed his eyes and squeezed them shut, wanting to hide from the world. He had already made his decision. Lamar would need to make one soon too.

Nick cursed Adam. He cursed The General and he cursed his friend. To Nick, Adam was no hero. No great leader. Adam was his weak friend who had become sick. Corrupted. Nick wasn’t sure if he could ever look Adam in the face again.

Then Nick ran, with his tears flowing. He activated every sensory blocking skill he had. He activated all his anti-tracking skills. He even activated all his single strike skills. This was the last time Nick would see Lamar. He would never see his other friends again. He had family, but they had already thought he was dead, so it didn’t matter.

Nick’s legs pumped with his strength and speed. Everything he had was put into that dash. He was barely able to see through the tears blurring his own sight.

The overseer watched him the whole time, even if the riot enforcers couldn’t see him. A toothy grin showed as the overseer’s lips pulled back. Nothing was said as Nick ran at full speed, getting closer and closer to the base boss.

Right before Nick reached him, he threw himself to the side and his dagger sank into the head of the “Watcher [16].” The Scyrric who had been able to track them, watch them, and find the humans that they had captured. The overseer might have been level 32 at Tier 3, but he clearly didn’t have the reaction speed to stop Nick going full speed.

The watcher’s head exploded from the force and skills used in the strike. There would be no healing for it. With that observation class gone, unable to see them outside of the base, at least Lamar would be able to escape.

At least some resistance had been expected by Nick. When there was none, it threw his momentum off and he rolled across the ground, right to where a furious riot enforcer was standing. Nick was on his feet almost instantly, but as he was trying to dash away, a sword clipped him on his stretched calf. The blow’s impact spun him around, preventing him from getting traction.

By the time he recovered, there were four riot enforcers surrounding him. Nick went after them with a fury. He slashed, stabbed, blocked, deflected, but nothing would reach them. A feint and then another leap just resulted in a tail slamming him back into the ground.

Nick groaned as a large claw wrapped around his throat. The points of the talons pressed into the back of his neck. Nick could barely see the base overseer who held him due to the wooziness from being slammed to the ground and the tears that hadn’t cleared from his eyes.

“You cry, native? Yet I have not begun to inflict pain on you,” the overseer said in his abrasive, hissing voice. “The seer you killed was costly to raise and irreplaceable, unlike you native.”

A talon from his other hand came up and sank into the skin just below Nick’s eye. Then the claw was pulled down his cheek, tearing the skin as it went. Blood spurted out and landed on the overseer’s face, but he didn’t care. His long tongue came out and licked it off.

It hurt, but Nick also didn’t care. He had done all he could. Everyone had suffered pain and injuries in these fights. Death would visit him soon and his life would have amounted to nothing.

Three arrows, glowing red with skills, flashed towards the overseer in sequence. They didn’t reach him as a riot enforcer with a shield lifted it to block. The arrows had enough force behind them that the lizard man barely had the strength to prevent all three, with the arrows penetrating the shield even if they didn’t completely pass through. The overseer looked at that in surprise.

“You natives connected to the aberration keep being unprecedented. You reach far beyond your station. The Scyrric stand further above you than the stars. Though it matters not for you. There is no more chance. And no honor gained from killing ones as lowly as you,” said the overseer almost with regret.

Then the base leader took all four claws from the hand not holding Nick and stabbed them forward into his chest. Once more, the leather armor stopped the penetration, further confusing the overseer.

“This material is not from your world,” mused the Scyrric after getting over the surprise at the armor stopping his claws. “Must be something the aberration earned. And if you are important enough to the aberration to warrant this material, then all the more reason for you to die. All this armor has done is make your death more painful.”

A claw was lowered until it found the bottom of the leather jacker. Then the talons reached under it and thrust forward.

This time, Nick did scream.