CHAPTER 129: Adam Arrives

“You throw some good punches,” Spence said to Lucas, who looked down at his knuckles and understood the type of fighter he was.

“I grew up boxing,” Lucas replied. Spence kept looking from Lucas to the invaders. The boy seemed calm and waiting, his attention focused on something across the way in the Sentinel Army’s troops. Not much conversation came from him, so Spence turned to the little armored girl. “Shield maiden, huh?”

“Yup,” answered a cute voice bluntly. Spence frowned.

“Can you tell me what we’re doing?” he demanded.

“Waiting,” said the shield maiden.

“Waiting for what?” he asked.

“To attack,” answered Lucas, shielding his eyes.

The defenders, including the shield maiden, were blocking any attack that came their way. The invaders were still hesitant to come too close. Spence was feeling a bit restless. Unlike the rest of his unit, his class “Breakdown Pugilist” relied less on mana. His technique combined with some of his passives allowed him to go longer than most fighters not named Gregor or Rexus. While his fellow soldiers required more down time, Spence was still ready to fight, though he knew he couldn’t wade into that mass alone.

“Why are we waiting to attack?” Spence asked, looking to where Lucas was watching.

Then Lucas reached to his back and pulled out the hammer he carried. He nodded to the shield girl and said, “it’s about time.”

“Time?” asked Spence, still not getting it. “Time for what?”

Then there was a roar. It shook the air. The feral behemoth that Gregor had taken down hadn’t sounded this scary. Spence would have shivered, if he could, but found he was frozen. Much like quite a few of the invaders. A loud cheer rose up from the Sentinel Army, spooking the people trying to evacuate. Then the Sentinel Army rushed forward. The freeze lasted less than a second on Spence but had made an impression.

“I guess he was right about another attack,” Lucas said, lacking concern.

“Yup,” agreed the shield maiden. “Ready?”

“Time to feed,” replied Lucas.

“What the hell was that roar?!?” Spence shouted, getting concerned.

Then a person catapulted from behind the Sentinel Army. Two defenders held up shields above their heads. They flashed red with skill use, to stabilize the upward facing shields. Then the person landed on them and launched himself upwards, over the front of the invaders.

Spence had seen Gregor charging enemies plenty of times. The guy had no concern for his own wellbeing, or at least lost concern as his reason eroded under his battle rage. But this…this was madness. To willingly throw yourself into the center of that horde. There were still at least twenty thousand invaders all over, and this man went to where he would have no protection. No reinforcement. The man was about to crash into the wave of aliens.

A glow lit up the man’s war hammer. Then the man disappeared. Spence went to look around for him when a pocket of invaders went flying. They bounced off each other like they were made of rubber. Then another group were thrown around. He watched as the man’s head would come up, the hammer would glow, and with a swing the invader ranks destabilized.

Spence swallowed hard as he watched the man. “Who was…” he started to ask before realizing that Lucas and his group were already at the invader lines, swinging, slashing, slicing, and bashing. He turned to where the other thousands of Sentinels had been, protecting those evacuating. They had all charged forward, following the man, laying into the invaders with a fury he had only witnessed from two people before.

“When in Rome,” said Spence and then charged forward. Now he knew why Lucas said it was time to feed, and he had no issue with taking advantage of the bountiful XP feast.

***

Adam knocked the invaders around. He made sure to create as much chaos as possible to allow his army to close in. They might be outnumbered, but individual strength did more in this new world than numbers.

The river was raging, and Adam knew he didn’t need to hold back with his people coming in from the edges. He allowed the anger to flow through him. The invaders became personal affronts to him that he would not stand.

A group of Labesatis were known enemies. Their rock armor could take some hits, so he allowed himself to hit them hard. With golf like swings, he knocked them into the air, making sure they would disrupt groups further away.

They tried to make space from his swings, but there wasn’t enough room for them to back away. Adam made his own space, flinging them around with his [Kinetic Impact] imbued hammer. The effect of it knocked other groups around too.

Once he had pushed through the Labesatis, he ran into a group of Mantis like humanoids. They had four arms, all with scythes on what would be the forearms, and tiny finger prongs on the end. Their bottom half bent backwards, as if their butts were too big, balanced by more humanlike legs. Their heads had a shiny blue tint, with a curved hooking nose and four eyes.

Having to dodge the other arms might have been a problem, but Adam quickly figured out that their arm weapons couldn’t hurt his armor. Instead of dodging everything, he just moved so their swings and grasps hit his chest or leg armor.

With them, Adam focused on removing their arms or legs instead of flinging them about. Their exoskeletons were sturdy, and as expected, their joints were easily penetrated or cut. He didn’t want his soldiers to get bogged down defensively with these guys.

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Already Adam could hear fights breaking out between groups of invaders where he had sent the Labesatis. The invader army was not made of close allies. In a different situation they would never have come together, instead fighting each other to increase their own strength.

Once he finished with the mantis beings, none had died and Adam didn’t know what they were officially called without the kill notice, Adam faced a bunch of fire coated humanoids. Their features were hidden within the flames. The creatures felt like they towered over him, but that was only due to the rising flames. The silhouette he could see inside the flames only came up to his jaw.

They attacked Adam simply by trying to get close to him. Adam laughed, confusing them. The heat inside Adam felt so much hotter than their flames, and just to test it and his fire-resistant gear made from Feral Behemoth leather, he reached in with one hand.

Nimbly he thrust a hand inside the flames. His glove covered his forearm from hand to elbow, which was plenty of length as he grabbed one by the throat. It felt surprisingly heavy to lift, though Adam was able to move it back and forth. Then he threw it.

Few races had inherent fire resistance, so he figured these guys could cause more disruptions. He smacked them with his hammer or grabbed and threw them. His leather never showed signs of damage, and his skin only got mildly burned, like he spent too much time out in the sun. Nothing that would hurt or slow him.

Chaos was breaking out everywhere he tossed one race into another. Adam glared at them, feeling his hate empower his movements. Any excitement and glee he felt at this battle quickly converted into more rage, a righteous indignation that continued to fuel him. He would go on until they were all dealt with.

***

Every punch Spence threw killed one of the damned aliens. That guy who had jumped was doing quite a number on them. Not just to those he faced either. All kinds of creatures came flying out of where that guy fought, starting smaller fights in other locations. The strategy impressed Spence…a little.

The group Spence moved with, led by Lucas and that shield maiden, made things easy for him. They didn’t kill things outright, trying to incapacitate them first, then the defenders each got a stab in before someone would get the finishing blow. Suddenly it made sense to Spence how so many of their troops had levels higher than his own caravan’s. There was a sharing that none of his group had thought to do before, probably due to them always fighting for their lives.

When he looked back at the lines, Spence saw a frenzy as everyone pushed forward. Earlier they had been so professional in their formations and defenses, protecting those evacuating. Now they pushed forward with a frenzy, still keeping the evacuees safe, but focusing on eradicating the enemies.

A new group had arrived, almost two hundred, that didn’t form lines or formations. Instead, they had driven directly into the mass of enemies, heading toward the first guy to enter. The group seemed to be acting like a crowbar, prying a gap open so more of the army could fit inside, to allow more people to fight and get XP at once.

Spence chuckled. Even the fully offensive group traveling with him, led by the slow spear wielder, were acting insane, in a professional way. There was no rhyme or reason over who they went after. They made sure to keep space between each individual fighter since their reach differed, but they were clearly there for the killing. Manic looks sat on several of their faces, though the lead spear wielder looked bored.

Keeping pace so as not to fall behind, Spence continued to punch, ignoring the fatigue. This group was entirely too exciting and interesting. He couldn’t wait to meet that nutjob in the center, which was clearly where Lucas was leading the group while making sure none of the invaders got past them and to the caravan.

***

“Any problems?” asked Adam as Lucas broke through the invaders around him. The Reapers unit began hitting and dispatching the various invaders that Adam had left alive.

“None,” answered Lucas, “though there was a guy who fought like you. A [Berserker]. I see why they think you are one.”

Adam nodded to him and placed the head of his hammer on the ground, where the dirt underneath cratered at the weight. They were past the highways now and pushing the invaders back further. Adam had no idea what injuries or deaths had occurred to his army, but they continued forward, so he didn’t think there were many.

Combining a bunch of warring factions to face the humans gave the large number of invaders a disadvantage. Adam had taken advantage of that successfully. The General’s Guard, especially Tom, seemed to be doing a lot to agitate and instigate the various groups. It was also clear that quite a few groups of invaders had left from behind.

No matter where Adam pushed, there were no sign of the Scyrric, which concerned him. He thought of them sending an ambush against Jackson, or ambushing the evacuees, but that didn’t seem like how they wanted to war. It was telling that they had organized all this without getting their own share of the XP.

That made Adam suspect the humans weren’t supposed to falter here. Whatever trap had been set; this coalition of races wasn’t in on it. That made him wary.

“Who’s the pugilist?” Adam asked, pointing to Spence.

“One from their strongest group,” said Lucas.

Adam watched Spence for a minute as he continued to put his fists through the enemies. A Tier 3 with good technique, like this man, wouldn’t have trouble with these lower-level opponents. Adam just watched the man do his thing, estimating that he had a blend of strength and speed. He could understand how the general had survived all this time if he was surrounded by such power and skill.

Finally, Spence made his way over while panting. He looked at the hammer solidly on the ground with Adam leaning on it. Then Spence gestured to it questioningly. Adam stepped back, giving Spence room. Grabbing the hammer and pulling, Spence was able to lift it off the ground but not to swing it without falling forward.

“Heavy,” he said as he stuck his hand out to Adam. “Kevin Spence, US Army.”

“Adam Clemens,” said Adam as he shook his hand.

“I get it now,” said Spence, a serious look on his face. “Why you jumped into the center of the army. You’re just a kid, ain’t ya? You don’t know any better. You think you’re invincible. Guess us combat veterans can give ya some lessons when we get back to your base.”

Spence expected a reaction from Adam. He was almost seeking it. Instead, Adam’s face didn’t change but his eyes moved from their handshake to connect with Spence’s. Immediately Spence stepped backwards, breaking their grip. He shivered at the intensity in Adam’s eyes. Then he recognized him as ‘The General’ from the news.

To Spence, both Gregor and Rexus were unparalleled monsters. He now knew that unparalleled was relative, as this boy, er, man, was up there too.

Unexpectedly, Tom burst through a group of invaders. He turned around and began laying into them with his sword. When they were on the ground he smiled and approached.

“Hey, boss. I see you’re taking a break. Did you need us to get you some tea and crumpets for your party?”

“I was just being introduced to a new ally,” said Adam.

The way he had said Ally made Spence look at his shoes. Immediately Spence knew that this boy was in charge, and that there was going to be more than a little conflict between him and Rexus.

“Did you have any troubles?” Lucas asked Tom.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Tom bragged with his mischievous smile. “Just had to deal with a pair of Tier 3s all by my lonesome.”

“I bet Adam had to then rescue you,” mocked Brittney.

“Only after I killed the first pair,” said Tom confidently. Brittney giggled at him, breaking his smile into a pleading look.

“Seriously,” he defended. “I didn’t know the boss was coming. I really took out two of the bosses from the water plant raid by myself. I’m not lying.”

Lucas and Adam joined Brittney in laughing. Tom looked so crestfallen.

“It’s true. He did,” confirmed Adam.

“Guess I’ve got to take a couple down myself,” said Lucas. “Can’t let myself fall behind.”

“Here’s your chance,” Adam said, growing serious and hefting up his hammer. “Ten are coming from that direction.”

Immediately everyone prepared, facing the direction that Adam pointed.