CHAPTER 127: Retreat
Chad stopped laughing and the tears dried. The invaders had stopped coming forward after hearing the horns in the distance. They all watched, both the humans and invaders.
They watched as hundreds of vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, military transports, and more, unloaded thousands of people. There were less people than in their convoy, and less than the invaders. Yet the way they gathered and grouped, formed their lines and faced what was in front of them, spoke to a shared experience of growing their power.
The caravan’s gear was crudely and hastily formed. There was very little made from metal, as Earth metals were easily destroyed by the invaders’ weapons and spells. Instead, most was made of bone and leather, both crafted poorly as they moved or stopped during the nights. The leather of strong animals was skinned, processed, and sewn together with tendons or material from inside the monsters they fought.
The new force that was assembling looked regal by comparison. Their weapons, shields, and armor shined as they reflected the light. It wasn’t just that they were made of metal either. They looked refined, shaped, and decorated.
Those wearing leather had stylish jackets and slacks, made to cover them while also having a sci-fi fashion design to them. It was as if they had embraced the Middle Ages and dropped it off in the future. It boggled Chad’s mind that they not only had the time and resources to craft this quality of gear, but that they spent the time on form as well as function.
On their chests they wore a symbol. All the men and women had it shaped in the metal, burned into leather, and embroidered in cloth. Displayed on each person’s chest was a picture of the Earth over their heart, and a silhouette of a man holding a hammer above his head.
The silhouette caused him to look back at the person in the front of the gathering army. He was tall with dark skin. Impressive muscles padded him, though still much smaller than Gregor’s. His red tinted chest armor gleamed, even as frayed leather stuck out from his sleeveless arms. He carried a large war hammer, more intricate than all the other weapons he had seen. He wondered if this sculpture of a man was the inspiration for the logo.
Right next to the man was another who drew Chad’s eyes. He assumed it was a female, with the pink short battle skirt over top her metal armor. She wore a helmet, and her size was diminutive, even as she carried a curved tower shield almost her height.
Once the soldiers were formed up, which took very little time, showing how practiced they were, the man shouted a single command. Chad was too far to hear it, but the whole company moved. They started with measured steps, walking at an easy pace. Then drumming began from the back, the beats agitating the air more than carrying through it.
The man in front sped up. He wasn’t rushing, but taking confident long strides. The short girl next to him never left his side, even with the shorter legs and heavier equipment. The thousands strong in row after row moved forward like a tidal wave, a tsunami ready to level anything that got in its way. Chad wondered if the legendary Roman legion resembled this as they move with precision and discipline against their enemies.
The army didn’t appear nervous at facing so many invaders. They struck with force, led by the man with the hammer. Before reaching the group of humanoids wrapped in fire, he took his hammer in both hands, wound back, and in stride, he swung.
One swing took out three invaders. The hammer started low and swung sideways. It hit the waist of a fire coated invader, carrying it, even as it broke its midsection, into another next to it. A third invader was flipped as the second impacted its head, rotating it upside down.
Chad watched, unsure of how things would go, as the invaders and the new army collided.
***
Lucas could feel the heat coming off these fire coated invaders. They seemed to be humanoids, with their silhouettes visible through the flames that surrounded them. It didn’t matter though. The cacophony of noises that were sounding out filled the air. Drums were beating a rhythm. The rhythm might change depending on orders to pace the Sentinel Army.
Only three more swings of his hammer were possible before the crowding around him got too dangerous to continue using it. He slipped it into the brace on his back and activated the skill [Armless], to boost his hand-to-hand capabilities. The strength and speed of his punches and kicks would now become close to as dangerous as if he was using a weapon.
The skill [Balance] gave him a better awareness of his body movements so that he could recover faster after a strike, and [Proper Stance] made his footwork and positioning more natural as he fought.
He threw a punch. His gloves, which almost reached his elbows, were made of feral behemoth leather. They were good enough to resist the heat that Adam gave off, so he figured they should be enough for these invaders.
A straight right took one of the invaders in the face, throwing him back. Then he brought his left fist across his body. The punch made a cracking noise as he hit the chest of his opponent. With a quick step back to gather himself, he threw a hook with his right fist to catch another flaming invader in the jaw.
Assunax “Fire Stopper [18]” slain. 2,106 XP gained.
Assunax “Flame Brawler [14]” slain. 1,626 XP gained.
A red-hot pitchfork type weapon came at his midsection, but Lucas didn’t bother dodging. A shield was exactly where it needed to be as Brittney blocked the weapon. Then an arrow flew from behind the melee fighters to take the attacker in the face. Lucas just kept throwing punches, with a few kicks at waists, knees, and ankles to get the enemies off balance.
***
Chad was mesmerized by this assault. Commander Rexus and the other special forces that fought closely with him felt a bit stronger and more proficient, but as a whole, this incoming human army attacked together. Enemy attacks were blocked. Skills were used to buff and support each other. Ranged attacks weren’t constant, as they were sent out where they needed to be in order to keep the shield bearers and melee fighters from damage. Those in the front controlled the positioning while those in the back used surgical strikes to drop the most concerning invaders.
“They’re amazing,” whispered Chad.
“Yeah, well, I still punch better than him,” muttered Kevin Spence petulantly, watching from next to Chad and Zito. They were all taking a breather while the invaders were focused on the incoming army. Chad wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste. He began deep, relaxed breathing to help regain his energy.
***
Once they had pushed back the fire guys, the Assunax, they went after the next group, which was familiar. They were the Labesatis, the obsidian armored invaders who had been cooking the captured humans. Lucas reached backwards and drew his war hammer from its brace. A quick cast of [Sturdy Weapon] so his hammer wouldn’t break, followed by [Empower Blow], and Lucas was ready.
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There wasn’t room for side swings, so Lucas swung over his head downward. His timing was good, and his power was overwhelming. Without the titles from the rift conquests, or the appointment title, his strength would have been at 124. However, with all his titles his strength was as if he was 23 levels higher, sitting at 170. That was the force he was now bringing down on the heads of his enemies.
It didn’t matter if they had solid helmets. The head of his hammer, strengthened by his skills, came down as surely as an executioner’s axe to kill them instantly. He only killed one at a time, but they fell before him as the defenders aligned to each side kept him safe.
Labesatis “Blocker [14]” slain. 704 XP gained.
Labesatis “Striker [17]” slain. 938 XP gained.
Lucas led the Sentinel Army through the on ramp, curving around, and then tried to clear the highway on the way to the caravan of humans. His forces pushed until they could move to the median between the different directional highways.
With the invaders pushed back, and split to either side of the army, Lucas raised a hand and gestured for them to move along the road instead of continuing to push the invaders back. A horn sounded and the drumbeats changed, telling all to hold the lines and shift to the right.
This time Lucas wasn’t in the lead as he started from the middle of the front. His forces rushed through the limited space on the merging lane, pivoting outwards to form a longer defensive line. The defenders and melee made space for the support and ranged, spreading them thinly behind the long line of vanguards.
As Lucas shifted his focus to holding his position against the incoming attacks and spells, he noticed a commotion a bit away. There was a human in the midst of the invaders. He wasn’t dying, but Lucas was familiar with how he fought. The warrior would charge forward, roar, and then swing with anything he could find to wield. His enemy’s weapons became his own. Force used against him would cause skills to activate, increasing his power. A force of pure power wrecking the huddled invaders.
Lucas also knew how this would end. The man was bleeding all over, and his movements were sluggish. He didn’t seem in control either as the invaders would bait him in and then get whatever cuts and slashes they could from behind.
Making a decision, maybe out of sympathy for the countless times he saw Adam fight like that, Lucas raised a hand with four fingers up and made a shrill whistle with his tongue against his lips. After a moment, the lines changed, opening up to make room for a unit.
Once Lucas felt their presence, he pushed forward. Brittney and two other shield men walked at Lucas’s sides. Spreading to their sides came Joseph’s unit, slow but strong. Every strike from them would kill something as Joseph, “Reaper [43]”, was a force unto himself. His strength of 201 could even overwhelm Lucas, as long as he could catch him. With the enemies packed so closely, it would favor this slow but inevitable group.
***
“What’re they doing?” asked Jack Fleming as they watched a small group pushing into the invaders. The rest of the humans were clearing the road, coming towards them.
“I think they’re going after Gregor,” mentioned Zito.
“Have you ever seen Gregor that worn down?” asked Chad.
“Never, but we’ve never been this overwhelmed before,” gasped Jamari Gillum, the Outrider scout, having just arrived from checking on the back of their caravan.
“And that guy noticed it as well? Those people seem more legit than I expected,” said Fleming.
“Are you clowns just sitting here like an audience or are we going to help them clear the way?” growled the commander, with murder in his eyes.
Chad took a breath and then walked forward, those around him moving ahead to add their own power as well.
***
Lucas could almost laugh. The bulk of his forces would have had trouble pushing through, but this small group made it feel easy. He was using a sword now, a little wider and longer that a broadsword. He thrust and stabbed as his skill [All Weapons] nudged his attacks slightly to make them more effective, just like [Evade] would tug on his body to let him know where to move to avoid getting hit.
They had the most trouble so far with water elementals. Those tried to envelop them, but the shield wielders were the most effective against them, using [Shield Bash] to splatter them, forcing them to reform. A hard enough hit would disable them for a while. No doubt Andrea and Randall would have been more effective against them, but that hardly mattered now.
As they broke through the circle that the invaders had formed around the human with the tag, “Blood Berserker [2]”, all eyes went to Lucas, including the hollow eyes of the human they had come to save. The man growled at them as the nearby invaders all turned to attack.
“[Attention Here],” Brittney used her skill. The eyes that were spread among the arriving humans all focused on her.
“[Multi-strike], [Deadly Penetration], [Follow Thru]” were the skills that Joseph used. Then he thrust forward with his short spear with an absurdly large head. The thrust carried him forward along with the force of his weapon. The spear tip hit the first invader, a knuckle dragging, hunched over beast of a creature. Thanks to [Deadly Penetration] his spear easily sank through as if there was almost no resistance.
Gohralluh “Knuckle Slammer [16]” slain. 925 XP gained.
With his [Multi-strike] active, the spear took on an ethereal glow, splitting to the sides of his actual strike, as if two more spears floated next to him. No one was on the left, but the invader on the right also took the skill manifested spear in its chest.
Gohralluh “Chucker [15]” slain. 873 XP gained.
Joseph’s new ability, [Follow Thru], allowed his attack to continue as though there had been nothing in his way to stop his momentum. He activated the ability a second time and ended up killing six invaders with the one attack.
On the other side of the circle another from Joseph’s unit, a girl named Akuji, wielded a scythe along with her anime styled goth glam outfit. She cackled as she spun, reaping four enemies before Brittney’s taunt skill had worn off.
Javier and Francis also followed Joseph in, before the rest in the Reapers unit could. Javier had oversized metal knuckles on his gauntlets. There was no subtlety as he took big strides forward and simply pummeled anyone in his way. Francis was right beside his former leg-breaker partner, preferring a short sword in one hand and a sword breaker in the other. The two watched each other’s backs as they assaulted anything nearby.
As the rest of the Reaper unit tried to make space, the blood berserker in front of them was getting enraged. He saw enemies fall to others and huffed himself up, gaining additional size and strength as he raged. Then he bellowed, flashing red with the use of a skill.
“Huh,” said Brittney. “That feels like barely a tickle.”
“I don’t think we can really compare it to Adam though. But yeah, that yell was underwhelming for what we’re used to,” commented Lucas. Joseph grunted in agreement from where he was trying to get two more bodies off his spear.
To say Gregor was unhappy with being ignored and with having his prey taken would be an understatement. When a berserker rages, they’re unhappy about everything. The large man’s reasonless eyes fixated on Lucas and a skill was used, propelling him forward.
“[By Your Side],” announced Brittney as she was placed in front of Lucas to take the blow for him. Then she used, “[Absorb Impact].”
A grunt came out of Brittney as she was hit and pushed back. The force of the blow displaced her, and only her skill [Firm Stance] which is supposed to keep her in place, prevented her from going flying.
“Adam never hit me that hard!” she complained.
“Because he couldn’t or because he wouldn’t?” asked Lucas.
“Are you really asking that?” she turned the question back on him.
“Fine,” said Lucas. “Sorry.”
Lucas stepped forward. He activated an old skill [Toughness] to increase his vitality. Then he used [Balance] and [Proper Stance]. Grabbing the berserker’s palms in his own, he was surprised to feel the berserker’s strength increase again. The man would be able to overwhelm Lucas.
Before he could be attacked again, Lucas looked into the man’s eyes. He simply looked, without making any aggressive motion.
“Your people are safe,” he said to the man. Even with the blank expression the man flinched. “We’re here to help.”
The berserker growled again but then he stepped back, registering what Lucas had said. He took a few deep breaths. Blood flowed from dozens of cuts. The group was so used to Adam having to drink blood to regenerate that they almost forgot that most people needed the healers.
The man’s breathing seemed to calm him down some. His muscles visibly deflated as they shrunk, though they were still huge when done. Thought returned to his eyes.
“You must have done this before,” whispered the man as he ran out of strength and dropped to the ground.
“Something like that,” responded Lucas. “I know someone with similar power.”
The man nodded and then passed out. Once Lucas had the large man on his shoulders, positioning himself between the defenders, he let out another shrill whistle, this one with three bursts of sound.
The Reapers rushed back and got close as spells and arrows rained down on the invaders blocking their retreat. Lucas didn’t bother fighting as their ranged took out any threat in front of them.
Turning his eyes to the massive line of humans that they had come to rescue, Lucas shifted his attention to the next step. Evacuation.