CHAPTER 130: Boss Fights

The invaders had already cleared a rather large circle around Adam, some by choice and others by Adam’s hammer. The opening got larger and larger as the various races of invaders circling them were now rushing to get away from the area. The direction Adam was pointing cleared a path as 10 much stronger-looking invaders came walking in, though not looking very chummy amongst themselves.

The first to enter were two of the Assunax, the fire coated humanoids. The first had a tag of “Essence of Embers [33]” while the other was “Incendiary [35]”. These two Assunax were only slightly larger than the previous ones they had seen, but the heat radiating from their flames was much hotter and had a darker color.

Next walked two Gohralluh, physically larger than the ones Adam had faced. They had a greater hunch and stoop than the low leveled ones, but their forearms and fists were much larger and looked dense. They were wrecking balls waiting to be thrown. Their classes were “Power Driver [24]” and “Skeletal Splitter [28]”. Even if their individual power seemed great, Adam felt that they weren’t stronger than other Tier 3s he had faced.

The mantis like creatures were taller than their lower-level counterparts. Instead of four arms, the “Uncounted Blades [28]” had six arms, all thinner but sharper looking. His accompanying humanoid mantis only had two arms, but instead of scythes, they were flatter and wider, meant to be shields for his “Exo-shielder [24]” class.

Two meaner looking Kabuterci had to dodge the larger creatures’ steps. They were almost as short as the other leprechaun invaders that Adam had faced, but they were a bit stockier and more vicious. Their classes were “Disembowler [26]” and “Scavenger [29]”.

Lastly entered, as the space around the group continued to widen, two Labesatis. Adam practically growled as he saw them, remembering what the others had done to the humans they captured. Adam’s breathing grew heavier, and steam released as he looked at the “Stone Impacter [27]” and “Lava Spewer [32]”.

“Is he ok?” Spence asked the others as he backed away from Adam.

“Oh yeah,” answered Tom, not knowing or caring who Spence was. “The boss gets like that around invaders. This is normal.”

“How do you want to handle this, Adam?” asked Lucas, squaring up to the approaching monsters.

“Me?” asked Adam, surprising everyone. “Pick the two you want. Remember that you didn’t want Tom showing you up.”

“That’s right!” crowed Tom. “I’m obviously the strongest Sentinel now, behind the boss!”

“What?” gasped Brittney, turning from the approaching bosses to stare at Tom.

“Strongest, hah!” exclaimed Lucas, forcing a laugh. “Fine then. I’ll take the two fire guys.”

“Oh no, not the fire guys,” taunted Tom sarcastically. “You just want an excuse when they’re too hot for you. I’ll take those shorties. Maybe find the gold at the end of their rainbows.”

“Then I’ll add the rock covered guys,” Lucas said while turning to Tom. With his full height he loomed over his smaller teammate.

“Four?! Right! Then I’ll take the bug boys,” Tom said, trying, and failing, to chest bump Lucas backwards.

“Nope,” cut in Brittney. “The mantises are mine.”

“Fine!” whined Tom. “Then I’ll…”

“What is going on here?” Spence asked exasperated. These warriors had all suddenly stopped paying attention to their enemies, opponents that in a group had Spence shrinking back from the danger.

“Oh, right. Sorry, guest,” apologized Tom insincerely. “We left you out. You can take the ape men.”

“Sounds acceptable,” nodded Lucas.

“Give us a call if you need help,” Brittney said while reaching up to pat him on the shoulder.

“That’s not what I…” Spence started but faded as he saw Adam’s eyes watching him. Those intense, heated eyes scared Spence nearly as much as Commander Rexus. They were full of will and determination that few could reach.

“Better get to it before I can’t hold back my temper,” Adam growled to his friends.

“Righty-o, boss,” said Tom with a smile, heading towards his chosen opponents.

Brittney was the first to move forward, to meet the swings of the mantis men. The uncounted blades swung two arms at once, and at a speed that Brittney wouldn’t be able to keep up with if her shield weren’t 3/4ths of her body’s size. She cast [Steady Ally] to raise everyone’s vitality, which prompted Tom to complain.

“You can’t buff Lucas! I took on two singlehandedly, with only my own skills.”

Adam stared at him in disbelief. “Singlehandedly? You had half the General’s Guard with you. I’m positive they buffed you too.”

Lucas sighed as he stepped around the mantises and towards the Assunax. “It hardly matters, Tom. Once I take out four, you’ll be down anyway.” Then Lucas cast all his self-buffs, [Toughness] for more vitality, [All Weapons] to improve his techniques with the various weapons he used, [Balance] and [Proper Stance] to fine tune his movements.

“No way, big guy,” retorted Tom. “Once I take out these two, then we’ll be even at four.”

“What are you kids even bickering about?!” shouted Spence. “Focus on the enemies.”

Spence might be strong, but he was also worn down. No stranger to combat, Spence took the fights and his enemies seriously, especially after the widespread death he had seen since the invaders came. To listen to a bunch of kids, at a lower level than his unit, squabbling about soloing bosses just showed their immaturity. They would learn soon enough. He just hoped that Adam would be able to get to them fast enough once they were in trouble. Maybe then they could fight as a group.

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There wasn’t much time to deliberate on it though as Spence saw Lucas already engaging with the fire people. The ones coated in stone, the Labesatis, were trying to get to him too, but seemed to avoid the flames. Lucas was doing a good job positioning them, keeping the enemies unable to reach him at once.

Meanwhile, Tom had separated the shorter two by using a skill [On Your Knees], causing their stubby legs to trip up, even if they didn’t completely kneel. That got them angry enough to charge the boy. After shouting “[Turn Away],” the two diminutive invaders once more stumbled as they looked away. The disembowler was growling while the scavenger looked around as if searching for something.

Spence was impressed by the armor girl. She held that large shield easily. Even with the six arms swinging attacks at her, she found times to [Shield Bash] or swing that one handed hammer of hers into openings. Every attack of hers was blocked by the exo-shielder reaching around his partner to block the blows.

A frown appeared on Spence’s face as he watched. The girl was doing well, but if she couldn’t attack them then she would never be able to win the fight. He looked over at Adam, still standing there imperiously, hammer on his shoulder and a hateful expression on his face. The boy wasn’t moving though. His body language looked like he didn’t feel threatened and was just waiting.

“Yo, punchie!” Tom shouted. Despite never having been called that, something in the words drew Spence’s attention. “Don’t forget to pick up your pair.”

Spence turned to see the Gohralluhs heading towards Brittney. He took a deep breath and lunged forward. Up until now, he had only heard of Rexus and Gregor defeating Tier 3s on their own. Other than those two, Spence assumed there wasn’t anyone else better in a fight than him. Now he was wondering if maybe he had thought a little too highly of himself. Adam was watching him along with his friends, so Spence felt like he couldn’t let the kids show him up, regardless of the condition he was in.

He used a skill to strengthen his fists and one to speed up his footwork. The power driver Gohralluh was the first to reach him. Its unnaturally long and thick arm came straight at him, the creature’s height angling its fist downwards. Spence saw the blow beginning and dodged into the body of the invader.

The blow launched past him with the force of a meteor, the pressure from it both pushing Spence away, while also dragging him in as the punch practically created a void in the air that needed to be filled. Spence’s own punch was weakened as his balance wobbled. He was then forced to spin away from the larger Gohralluh as its partner, the skeletal splitter, also threw a punch at him.

Spence used a perception skill that helped him know where the attacks were coming from, [Pugilist’s Recognition], while also using another to increase his avoidance, [Quick on Your Feet]. He moved through the punches, counterpunching when he could. Like Lucas, he tried to keep only one opponent able to reach him at a time, even getting a few of the invaders’ punches to hit eat other. This caused them to momentarily screech at each other, which earned Spence a breath.

He ducked and wove and punched. Unfortunately, even with his skill [Form Break] that would reduce an opponent’s strength and vitality, these large invaders just had too much power and speed behind their attacks. Even if their other movements were slower, their own skills made their fists stronger than pile drivers. Spence’s fists alone didn’t seem powerful enough to break through the monsters’ thick hides.

Spence didn’t give up though. He didn’t have time to spare to pay attention to the other fights as he dodged and wove around the incoming blows. They didn’t have a tremendous amount of space to fight, as Spence used [Pugilist’s Recognition] to also stay out of the range of other combatants.

The constant movement and dodging were wearing Spence down faster than he would have liked. The previous fights and lack of sleep found Spence too worn to keep up with both of his enemies. In a moment of exhaustion Spence slipped. His foot went back too far and a jackhammer like blow came at him from the power driver. He brought both arms up to block his chest and face, techniques a boxer trains constantly, as Spence felt the power surging towards him.

Then he stopped falling. A hand was on his back steadying him. Spence moved his arms from in front of him and saw a glowing hammer head pressed against a massive fist before striking his face.

Adam righted the man and then pulled two flat but sharp looking pieces of metal from his pocket.

“This is taking too long,” complained Adam. “Put these on.”

Spence looked at the offered metal. They were a bit narrower than his hands and shaped like a wide trapezoid, with sharp ridges on them. There was a flexible material on the underside that when he looked had three holes. Then he realized that they were alien versions of brass knuckles. The material they were made with was unlike something he had felt before.

“Where’d you get these?” Spence asked while inspecting them. They were an awkward fit due to only having three finger holes, and those holes being bigger than his fingers, but he could feel the strength of them as they slipped on.

“A Scyrric armory when we took one of their bases.”

“Scyrric?” questioned Spence, not recognizing the race name. Adam’s eyes looked into his own and Spence felt himself freeze up from the hate he saw in Adam. A snarl formed on Adam’s mouth.

“They’re the bastards who are overseeing the invasions.”

“You managed to take one of their bases?”

“Yes,” said Adam as the power driver threw another punch at him. His hammer continued to glow as he placed it in the path of the fists. The impact caused the invader’s hand to fly backwards.

“You were able to capture an invader base?” questioned Spence, his mind flying back to the one they had assaulted and lost so many men to.

“We control 17,” Adam answered before he looked away. “You know, it was probably unfair of us to expect someone so tired to fight two bosses. Do you want to step back?”

Spence looked at Adam. He wasn’t sure what he felt from the Sentinel’s leader, whether that was judgement from him or compassion, but Spence would have none of either. A fire lit in him, helping him to stand taller.

“Hell no! I’ll take the skeletal splitter,” he spat out. Then he lunged forward and used [Empower Blow] and [Quick Strike] on his punch.

His fist jabbed into the gut of the Gohralluh faster than ever before. Spence could feel the difference that the alien knuckles made to his strike. The skeletal splitter folded forward. It’s tall, hunched body almost rolling up before it caught itself and straightened.

Not allowing it the chance to regain its posture, Spence used a skill [Inner Damage]. A full-on punch, using all of his body and the power behind it, connected to the invader’s abs. Then a pop sounded out and the Gohralluh fell backwards, fluid and vomit coming out of its mouth after Spence felt things rupture inside of it.

The power driver Gohralluh screamed and pounded its chest, intent on avenging his fellow, but before he could close the distance Adam was giving orders.

“Shields forward! Reapers, incapacitate!”

The exertion from his last two blows had Spence panting hard, hands on his knees. Yet he didn’t miss the group that came forward. Two defenders with shields stepped in front and caught the blow of the beast. They weren’t completely able to stop it, as they did get pushed back from the power disparity, but it was enough to remove the strength from it and to create an opening.

A girl with a scythe hooked the back of the invader’s knees with her weapon. Another boy grabbed the scythe, lending his strength to it as two men, slightly larger than Spence and former thugs by the look of it, stepped into the body of the power driver and pushed him backwards.

The Gohralluh fell back as the scythe cut through the knee tendons and it couldn’t support itself. The boy who had helped steady the scythe, walked forward with that abnormally shaped spear.

[Deadly Penetration] and [Follow Thru] were the skills that Joseph used on his spear as he stabbed the Gohralluh in its right armpit, cutting control of that arm. Then an arrow came from somewhere behind them and pinned the left shoulder into the ground. Spence doubted that arrow would be strong enough to really hold it down, but the quick coordination showed that they were no strangers to this type of action.

Remembering how he had felt about the kids soloing bosses, Spence looked up at the other fights while trying to catch his breath.