The Fiends tore a path forward, snarling and rabid, ready to tear into his flesh for a chance at easing their pains. As the tidal wave of flesh moved forth, Hoplite’s perception of time slowed, allowing him to consider his options. He could fall back to get a better position, holing up inside the rest stop along with the others.

If he did that however, it would be more difficult to finish off Tolak, the mutant would be able to sit outside the tunnel comfortably while his minions whittled away at the party. Perhaps it would be best to engage him here, after all, these standard Fiends would be unable to harm Hoplite. The most they could do was get in his way.

There was also the matter of the massive Fiend that still loomed above the horde, staring dumbly ahead. It towered over Hoplite by at least two feet, with arms and legs as broad as tree trunks. It was almost certainly a lesser threat than Tolak, a simple bullet to the brain would incapacitate it permanently, though the orc seemed to be almost… docile. Hoplite took aim with the Visus anyway, pulling the trigger and sending the bullet flying towards the giant’s skull. The bullet collided with the orc’s forehead, knocking its head back and causing it to stumble, yet it did not fall. Hoplite had heard a plink through the cacophony of roaring voices, and the beast’s head returned, clutching its skull with a weeping cry.

Was this creature like Tuji, with skin like steel? If that were the case, then overwhelming it with a barrage of bullets would have to be the solution. If he caused the Fiend enough pain, it would collapse into a useless husk, no matter how tough its skin. He flicked the Visus to semi-auto, firing two bursts aimed at the beast's knees. Tolak however, leapt to intercept. Almost too fast for his eyes to track, the chains whipped forth, knocking all six bullets off course and into the surrounding Fiends. Tolak landed, darting toward Hoplite with a wide grin on his face.

He was far faster than the surrounding Fiends, closing the distance between himself and Hoplite within only a few seconds. He put away the Visus, pulling free the Sectis as Tolak finally came within range. The two chains whipped forth at blinding speed, narrowly missing his helmet as he ducked, thrusting toward Tolak’s chest. The mutant sidestepped the blow, twisting around with a punch aimed squarely for Hoplite’s head. He seized the fist, but before Hoplite could apply pressure to shatter the hand, Tolak took a deep breath. Somehow, his hand phased through Hoplite’s gauntlet, becoming transparent before solidifying again. Tolak cackled as he backflipped away, landing cleanly in front of his horde before they parted around him. The creatures charged Hoplite with mad fervor, and he met them with fist and blade.

Going for vitals would prove to be a waste of effort, striking them anywhere would be enough to put them down. Fist crushed skull, Sectis parted cursed flesh, all blows landing indiscriminately at the grasping flesh around him. Only a few seconds had passed and already a circle of gore and twitching limbs surrounded him. At some point, he had grabbed a beefier Fiend by the wrist, flinging the mutant around to knock away its comrades. This proved to be wonderfully effective, often sending the surrounding creatures flying into one another and causing more injury.

“Halm!” Tolak shouted from the crowd, “Crush the others, I will deal with this one!”

A loud guttural roar answered the order, and Hoplite could see the giant Fiend trampling over its fellows, charging towards the rest-stop. He could see no one else but Michael standing there, frustratingly motionless as the marine stared blankly at the tunnel's interior. Before Hoplite could shout an order however, Michael seemed to steel himself, charging into the tunnel after clicking on his headlamp.

Hoplite reared back, planting his foot firmly on the stone behind him before he flung the bloodied remains of his improvised Fiend toward the towering beast. The projectile's lower half was almost completely gone, nothing but bone and shreds of muscle remained, the guts flapping in the wind as it flew toward its target like a rocket. Again, Tolak leapt, but Hoplite, who had anticipated the motion, lashed out with his free hand, jumping to meet the Fiend in mid-air.

A single chain struck the flying husk off course, causing it to narrowly miss the orc. Instead, the unfortunate creature collided head-first with the stone barrier rail, splattering on impact like a fly on a windshield. Hoplite’s hand lashed out again, looking to crush Tolak’s windpipe with a quick squeeze.

Again, Tolak took a deep breath, his form once again becoming incorporeal for but an instant. Hoplite’s hand passed through the shimmering form as if it were air, and then the chains came for him. A barrage of blows struck his shields, once, twice, five times, even more until finally they burst, all in the span of a second. Hoplite collided with the ground, rolling with his momentum to come up standing.

Tolak greeted his vision, standing tall with his arms crossed, that increasingly irritating grin still on his face. Why was it that this expression seemed to irk him so? He never used to care about such trifling things. No matter, now was not the time to think on it, something more pressing needed thought. Hoplite was certain that he had just found a weakness in that last exchange, one that he could take advantage of, when the positioning was just right.

The chains didn’t seem to deflect blows from up close, meaning that close-quarters were necessary. If he could close the distance again, he could pull out the Fortis and blast Tolak’s head off before he could become transparent. It seemed that ability was activated by a sharp intake of breath, if he could get a shot off before the Fiend could do that, then he’d be neutralized. Hoplite darted forward again, eliminating the Fiends that had filled the gap between the two of them before again he thrusted for Tolak’s heart.

His hand reached down toward the Fortis as he did so, pulling the magnum free before quickly taking aim. Just as planned, bullet tore through skull… the problem was, it was the wrong head that had been splattered. Tolak had forgone his strange breath magic, instead opting to dodge the blade thrust, counter-striking with firm fingertips. He had not struck Hoplite though, but rather the barrel of the Fortis itself, knocking its aim off center right as he had pulled the trigger.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

It seemed like a risky move on his part, would it not be better to simply phase again? Tolak couldn’t have known what Hoplite had planned, so perhaps there was a short period of time where he couldn’t phase after using it. If that were the case, then if he overwhelmed the Fiend with blows, then eventually one would hit. All Hoplite needed to ensure his victory was to land just one clean hit, the pain would slow Tolak down enough for further damage to be inflicted.

Tolak backpedaled as Hoplite slashed, a tense look on his face as he barely managed to dodge Hoplite’s flurry of blows. It felt strangely satisfying to see that damnable smirk wiped from the creature's expression. This show of emotion seemed to prove his theory, there was a window between his phases that Hoplite could take advantage of. This fight was as good as finished. Tolak was incredibly fast, able to dodge every single blow from Hoplite, but he was clearly on the ropes.

Tolak had clearly never faced anyone as deft as himself before. Hoplite was certain that he would have been able to land a hit a while ago if not for the dozens of Fiends that still pooled around him. They kept absorbing blows that may have been able to clip Tolak, getting in the way as they scrambled to either move past or latch onto him. They barely slowed him down, true, but those few instants were crucial in aiding Tolak’s survival.

Again, Tolak phased, backflipping through the air. Hoplite fired the Fortis, the bullet speeding toward the solidifying form before being deftly deflected by one of his chains. This was proving to be a most frustrating encounter. Never before had all his attacks been made ineffective like this, it made his face hot with rage. It took a great effort to cool the heat of his anger, but his icy discipline eventually won out. Was he too far outside of Twindil’s range for her aura to affect him? It was possible…

He charged at a gasping Tolak, flattening the Fiends that flooded his path with ease as he bore down on the smaller man. This needed to end now. He was certain that he’d manage to get the mutant eventually, but the squad didn’t have that long before they’d be overrun. If he could incapacitate Tolak, then the Fiends would revert to their normal state, i.e, charging the nearest uninfected individual. That wouldn’t do anything to pull the mutants already in the tunnel away, but the greater horde out here would be compelled to pursue Hoplite.

They just needed to hold out until then, and based off the dozens of lights emanating from the tunnel, they were doing fairly well. The giant was nowhere in sight, meaning that it must have entered the rest-stop. Hopefully they had taken care of that one already, but only time would tell.

He stabbed at Tolak again, and the Fiend ducked, but instead of backpedaling, he retaliated. His chains whipped at Hoplite in a flurry, quickly bursting his shields again before one wrapped around his throat. Tolak laughed madly as Fiends piled on top of Hoplite, the chain constricting around his neck as several pairs of fists wailed ineffectually at his armor.

“You’re finished now!” He heard the Fiend mock, “All that armor and speed proved useless against me and my horde, now suffocate!”

Idiot.

Hoplite clipped the Fortis to his thigh, reaching up to grasp the chain around his neck, unbothered by its constriction. If Tolak had understood anything about Adium, he would have known that it couldn’t bend. Trying to strangle Hoplite was useless. He yanked on the chain, feeling something come forward with minimal resistance. As that happened, he attacked the horde piling onto him with the Sectis, parting limb and flesh until again he could see the sky above. Tolak stood there, both hands grasping the other side of the chain as his heels dug into stone to resist being dragged.

Now that he was somewhat immobilized, this would be simple, even with his ability to phase. He hacked his way toward the Fiend, disemboweling mutants left and right as he wrapped the chain further around his gauntlet. The other chain still battered at his helmet, floating in the air above him as it whipped. A dangerous weapon, true, but it lacked any real weight to its attacks, it was nothing compared to the blows that Tuji had dealt.

He drew closer and closer to the Fiend, a look of panic coming over the creature's face. It filled Hoplite with a sense of satisfaction to see that expression, to know that he had destroyed his arrogance. When finally he was within striking range, he lashed out, stabbing at Tolak’s heart. Again, Tolak phased, and it was then that Hoplite discovered something. The chains themselves didn’t fade away with him, otherwise he would have lost his grasp on them. Advantageous, especially seeing that Tolak also didn’t lose his grip. He couldn’t get away now.

The blade passed through his chest, but instead of drawing it back, Hoplite held it in place. Tolak’s eyes widened, and in that last instant, he tried to move away from the blade. Hoplite followed him, the blade still deep within his transparent chest as Tolak re-solidified… The Sectis embedded within him. He gave a shrill scream of agony as Hoplite twisted the blade, ripping it free with an explosion of viscera.

He then planted his foot firmly on the bridge, and aimed a straight jab right at Tolak’s forehead. His fist collided with skin and bone, shattering it and painting the stones behind Tolak crimson. The end result of that punch left the entire upper half of Tolak’s skull missing, leaving only a lower jaw and a lolling tongue.

Yet, instead of falling prone, Tolak’s body slowly stumbled away… the spare chain whipping around in an uncontrolled frenzy. It struck indiscriminately, lashing Fiends and sending them to the ground screaming in agony. Hoplite promptly released the second chain, backing away as the two chains went wild, a dervish of blurring metal. It stripped flesh from any Fiend that drew too close to its range, reducing them to little more than babbling flesh as Tolak continued to stumble away.

After that, it seemed that as he had hoped, the horde had reverted to standard behavior. The creatures all charged him, fury and desperation in their eyes as they tried to pry through his armor. He battered, slashed and shot, crushed and mangled his attackers beyond any recognition, time ceased to exist as he neutralized the surrounding threats. Eventually, all became still, leaving nothing but piles of twitching broken limbs and puddles of gore.

He was covered nearly head to toe in blood as he approached the now-quiet rest-stop, still clutching the Sectis tightly as he did so. Hopefully casualties would be at a minimum, but he would see for sure once he-

The giant Fiend from earlier, Halm, then rounded the corner, a strange look of… serenity on its face. Had it managed to- it couldn’t have actually-

He charged, drawing the Fortis as the creature raised its hands, palms outward.

“Wait!” It screamed as the rest of the squad emerged from the tunnel behind it.