Part 5 - Alliance Vs. Norkin

Helga closed her eyes and put her hands together as swirling yellow energy gathered around her in a tempst.

“Story of old, I call you forth from the Alabalsker Records. Heed my call, for I require your presence. Awaken, the guardian of Highsky, the Angel Balsker!”   

The moment her voice faded away a crimson portal split the earth, ebbing and pulsing like a sea filled with blood. A golden helmet imprinted with an intricate claw lifted from within the bloody darkness. Molten tears ran from the figure's glowing eye sockets as the creature pushed itself out of the fissure, revealing its golden heavy armor.

This strange figure, the so-called Angel Balsker, held a massive ultra greatsword that looked like more of a rough slab of iron. The sword was flat as a board yet rough enough around the edges to rend limbs with ease. There was no pointed tip on top of the sword. Instead,  the blade curved at the peak, creating a u-shape with two jagged spikes pointed outwards on each corner of the blade tip. But what really drew the eye was the strange beating heart connected with thick veins that sat in the middle of the blade, spewing out molten orange tinted golden blood. 

Standing over five meters tall the Angel stood and waited for its summoner’s request, one that Helga quickly gave.

“Go forth and destroy the enemies made of bone.”

Balsker raised its head, letting out an inhuman screech filled with the desire for battle. Lifting his Ultra Greatsword over his shoulder, the Angel rushed towards Ritter, who was trying to attack their left flank.

“Mages… warriors.. support... and covering fire.”

As Helga sluggishly issued her commands the mages began to chant, either sending spells towards Balsker to buff him or pelting Ritter with spells while the warriors charged towards the enemy lines.

On the opposite side, Snorri and Robert were going at it. Dust and bone fragments scattered around as Robert attempted to crush her into the ground with his massive black hands. Yet Snorri used her skill, Speed, to dodge his smashes and grabs as she studied the mecha for weaknesses. 

Hmm... no, that’s covered. This one is built differently than a regular white mecha. I can’t aim for the neck and the eyes are shielded... The mecha’s heavy armor won’t allow me to topple it easily either... And its limbs aren’t restricted like ordinary appendages, instead they’re able to angle themselves in various odd ways. How about...

“The only thing your kind knows how to do is RUN! At least try to die gracefully, you vermin!”

Robert yelled as he sent a fist smashing down, interrupting her thoughts. 

Snorri twitched her brow and stared at the mecha with barely contained fury.

>Slayer art - Iron<

Her cyan spot tattoos changed into gray triangles as she twisted her body to send her full force through her fist.

“Ha. DIE!” Robert shouted with glee, sending his massive black fist to meet Snorri’s tiny one. 

Yet both were taken aback as something unexpected happened when they made contact. 

Robert’s grin faded in a flash as his heavy mecha was blasted off its feet. Meanwhile the ground cracked around the unflinching Snorri, who stared with wide eyes at her unblemished hand before looking at the mecha’s large fist that only had a small scratch on it. 

“Those are some pretty strong hands! I’ll have the boys make some armor out of those when they get a chance. Now then, lets see how the rest your body holds up.”

Grinning, Snorri began wailing on the mecha, giving it no time to react as she cracked the black bones and constantly knocked Robert’s huge mecha off balance.

Despite basically playing with the black mecha, Snorri's smile slowly turned to a frown.

Whenever she was forced to back off by skeletons shooting at her or Robert’s bashing attacks, Snorri watched the damage she caused be patched up by the bones on the ground flying up to fill into the cracks.

Tsk. This is going to be annoying.

...

In the skies above the Angel Balsker’s molten wings flared as he clashed against the swordsman mecha Ritter. Wielding his swords, Ritter aimed to decapitate Balsker with a quick slash of his blades. Balsker merely raised his ultra greatsword up in response and pushed the blades aside with a one handed swing while reaching out to grab Ritter’s mecha by the leg.  

Balsker swung his ultra greatsword, using the force to drag Ritter through the air before throwing him down to the ground. Ritter, unable to right himself in time, crashed and created a crater in the bone floor. 

With an inhuman scream, Balsker dove down after him, rotating his body with the intent to use the force of the spin and the mass to crack open the mecha below. Dazed, Ritter smashed a button on his console, working his mecha’s thrusters on overdrive to barely make it out of the hole in time. Yet despite keeping his life, his mecha’s legs were bisected at the knees. Balsker kept moving despite having hit his target, crushing the crater imprint Ritter had left behind and causing bones to fly in every direction. 

Shaking his head out of the daze, Ritter used his lower pair of arms like legs and thrust his boosters to offset the uneven weight, twisting his body in the air. 

“TAKE THIS YOU ABOMINATION!”

Roaring at the top of his lungs, Ritter sent forth one of his staves, using it as a spear, right as Balsker rose up from the ground. Too late to dodge the stave, the weapon stabbed into the angel’s armor’s shoulder joint, managing to rip off Balsker’s right arm. 

“Ha! Take tha—”

Golden wire-like veins shot out of the empty arm socket, wrapping around the angel’s severed arm and pulling it back into place. With a few sickening cracks, the arm was reconnected. Blasker clenched and unclenched his fist before screaming like a demon and rushing to finish it’s kill. 

Ritter cursed as he used his hands to run away, hoping to hold off long enough to regenerate his mecha’s legs. 

As Blasker and Ritter began their game of cat and mouse, Urist and Master Mo flew between them as Lexie tried to blow the pair apart.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN KEEP RUNNING?! DIE LIKE THE ANIMALS YOU ARE!”

Lexie ripped out one of her magnums and locked onto Mo, pulling the trigger to fire a 120mm cannon shell intent on blowing him apart. Yet before she even pulled the trigger Urist had dashed into the line of fire. He had collected flames atop his spear blade and had long since been prepared for the cannon shell leaving its barrel.

Focusing all of his senses on his spear, Urist shifted his body to gain power, slashing down on the shell and using his flame bomb’s explosion to increase his spear's swing speed. The bone shell was split in half. The two parts kept moving, passing by both Urist and Mo, until they smashed into two groups of undead and exploded, taking out twenty or so skeletons each.

Lexie’s eyes opened wide at the display before snorting, “LET’S SEE HOW YOU DEAL WITH THIS! YOUR ARMY OR YOUR LIFE!”

She pulled out her second revolver and moved her aim towards the dwarfs’ front line. 

Urist grit his teeth as he moved in front of the line of fire once more. 

“COWARD!” He screamed.

“ALL IS FAIR IN WAR, VERMIN! NOW DIE!”

Urist prepared to surpass his limits or die trying, readying his spear for the onslaught anew  when Mo appeared in front of him.

“Disciple, your cut from before was superb. Now watch closely, we can sneak in another lesson here.”

“FINE, TWO FOR ONE!” Lexie laughed up a storm as she pulled the triggers of her magnums, sending shell after shell at the two. 

As he spun his spear with indwarven speed, Mo’s eyes glowed silver. The head of his spear met the side of the first shell with unnatural grace. Silver energy pushed the large bone ball away with ease as Mo’s muscles tensed for a mere instant. The next shell arrived on the first one’s tail and Mo used the butt of his spear to guide it out of the way in the same manner.

The third, forth… seventh… thirteenth… and finally, the fifteenth shell were all dealt with in this way.

Each and every one were guided along and sent into areas thick with undead forces, shattering hundreds of skeletons in a flash as the shells exploded with a bang. 

Urist stared in awe at his master’s skill, wondering where he learned to do such a thing. After all Master Mo himself said that he only knew seven strikes. Even the shooter, Lexie, was amazed by his shocking skill. 

“Wha?! Impossible! How did you—!”

“W-what is that skill called, Master?!”

Mo merely looked at his spear, not caring as the people around him fought for their lives.

“Hmmm. Still not perfect. Left a crack behind. Truly, I have a long way to go. Oh yes disciple, it’s something Unicy and I have been working together on. I call it >Wave Dash<. It’s still not perfect, but it’s getting there.”

“Oh! So that’s what you two were sneaking off together for. When are you going to teach it to me?”

“Don’t… IGNORE ME, YOU VERMIN!”

Lexie, enraged at being forgotten, dropped her guns back into their holsters and rushed at the two with her axe in hand. 

“Can’t a Master and his disciple have a moment to bond?”

“NO! GO DIE!”

Spitting on the ground, Master Mo readied his spear, “Tsk, you have no manners.”

“Indeed master, let’s teach her some.”

“Let’s.”

 

“DIEEEEEEEE!!!”

 

Part 6 - Valkus Vs. Gatao

 

“Lets... Go!”

Toes digging into the bone floor, turning it into powder, Valkus launched off with his forces following at his sides. Silver aura flowed off his body as Valkus clashed against the mecha head on,  spear smashing against spear.

Despite the monster Valkus was, the weight of the mecha was too much for him to bear. Soon he was sent flying into a building, causing the bone structure to shatter. 

Gatao chuckled as he eyed the rest of Valkus’ forces, “Heh, the puny insect thinks he can stand the might of my mecha. The rest of you will be slaughtered just like he was!”

As he moved to wipe out the dwarfs and their allies, the building Valkus had smashed into rubble exploded. 

Valkus stood there, still clad in silver. But the usually stoic Dwarf had a small grin on his lips. His leather chest plate had been shredded from the impact, revealing his incredible muscles and the minor cuts upon them.

“More.”

How could that insect survive my blow?! He should’ve been splattered!

Gatao suppressed the shock he felt, preventing it from leaking into his voice.

“Oh? So you're a little sturdy. Guess I can’t just smash you away. Then… I’LL JUST CUT YOU DOWN!”

“You can… Try.”

Valkus pushed himself forth, turning the bones under his feet into dust, as Gatao turned his thrusters on, moving forward to slash the oversized dwarf in half. 

The moment they entered each other's range Gatao slashed down with lightning speed as Valkus dodged a foot away, kicking up bones shards in the process. Gatao grinned, kicking off the ground and turning on his thrusters, pressing his spear to attack Valkus as he moved. Caught off guard, Valkus hurriedly blocked with his spear only to end up having his weapon dented and being blasted away once more.

Thankfully Valkus’ arms only felt slightly numb, allowing him to ignore the feeling and concentrate on the fight. He flipped about a dozen times to negate the mecha’s force and launched himself back into the fray the moment his feet touched the ground. He didn’t go for a head on charge this time but rather moved to run around the mecha and aim for its back.

Yet no matter where he moved Gatao used his thrusters to easily reposition and face him. This cat and mouse game went on for some time as Valkus tried to gain the advantage of position and Gatao tried to cut the large dwarf down to the size of a normal dwarf. But the dwarf had learned his lesson and darted about like an agile monkey. 

“You think that kind of trick will work on me? Think again! I’m not some dumb brute that would fall for that. Now stand still and di—”

Valkus smashed his foot into the ground, causing a large piece of cracked bone floor half the size of the mecha to rise up, before roundhouse kicking said piece straight at the mecha. 

Gatao naturally responded by smashing the chunk with one of hand, sending bone fragments and dust flying.

“Was that your big plan? Sending the ground at me? Truly, you think just like an insect.”

He wanted to berate Valkus more but the dwarf paid him no heed, continuing to kick up large pieces of the floor and sending them at him.  Gatao easily destroyed the chunks, causing more bone dust to float in the air as he kept berating the dwarf. 

It was only after a while that Gatao realized what the dwarf was planning.

Does the little bastard want to set up a smokescreen? Heh, he doesn’t know that this mecha has a special ability to see heat. The moment he thinks I’m unaware and attacks me is the time I’ll crush him!

Chuckling to himself, Gatao decided to keep up the act and to allow Valkus to dig his own grave. Soon the battlefield was shrouded in a thick fog of dust.

“Tsk, how deplorable, hiding behind fog. Have you no shame, insect! Come! Die with honor, you dishonorable rat!”

He moved his mecha erratically, trying to bait Valkus to attack, but the dwarf just kept throwing out chunks of the floor. Gatao thought that it would be strange if he didn’t take any damage with the dust blocking his sight so to keep up the act he took some hits here and there in order to bait out that hateful dwarf.

When is he going to charge in? I’ve shown so many openings and yet he just keeps throwing things and moving around in strange ways. I almost can’t make up his weird movements. If that hateful little insect doesn’t charge soon I’m gonna ru— 

*Crack crack crack*

What is that noise? 

Gatao moved his mecha’s head to look towards the sound only to see the cloud of dust around him part as a large bone boulder shot towards him.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Not having enough time to dodge out of the way, Gatao thrust his spear out with a roar in hopes of cutting his way through the massive building. As he stabbed out another chunk of bone flew at him from the side, smashing into his spear hand and messing up his stance.

“HOW HATEFU—”

Gatao wasn’t able to finish his sentence before the enormous boulder crashed into him. 

“Tsk. Not enough.”

Valkus spat and began sprinting at Gatao, who soon smashed through the boulder with moderate damage around his mecha’s arms and head. The remaining bones on the ground worked overtime to heal Gatao’s mecha.

“IF YOU THINK THAT’S ENOUGH TO KILL ME YOU’RE DEAD WRONG!”

“Die.”

Valkus thrust his spear with all his strength, intent on driving the weapon through a crack of the mecha’s armor into the cockpit.

Smiling wildly, Gatao turned his mecha’s palm to face Valkus and smashed a button in his cockpit. 

“NO YOU!”

The mecha’s hand shot out like a cannon, smashing into Valkus like a truck. The dwarf spat out blood as he slammed through another building.

After digging himself out of the rubble that fell on his mecha, Gatao clicked his tongue.

“I really do need to cut you in half to kill you. You muscle demon.”

Valkus merely ripped the mecha's hand off of his bloody body and cracked his neck.

“Trickster. Gonna kill you.”

“You can try,” Gatao mocked as bones moved to remake his hand.

As the two prepared to charge at each other once more, Gatao noticed something within Valkus' silver shroud.

Why is there a bronze light on his forehead? Whatever. This freak will die all the same.

...

“Ya know Boss, why did we get the short end of the stick?” One of the hunters asked as they took shelter under an earth wall being pelted by spells.

“Shit just happens Rookie. You just have to deal with it the best you can. Fuck, I could use a smoke.”

Joy rested against a wall, looking agitated at seeing the men and women serving under her injured and limbless. Anyone under tier three that were hit directly by that mecha’s lasers had their limbs cut off at best and at worst... at worst they died the moment that beam touched them. They had lost eight people and gained half a dozen wounded before they fell into hit and run tactics, trying to find any weakness in the mecha’s shield.

They had tried attacking the skeleton mages but they just placed a shield over themselves while keeping the barrier over the mecha in the sky going strong. They tried smashing the shield but couldn’t manage to get close enough and only ended up sustaining injuries in the process. Thankfully Ubel had sent them two earth mages and they were able to rescue the wounded by dragging them into the ground.

With the power of three earth mages working together they were finally able to stop the barrage of spells from turning the area into a crater. 

“So what are we going to do? If we keep going like this we’re going to all get killed. I might like a good fight but this is utter bullshit.” Zen the Brawler spat, filled with disgust.

“I have to agree with you, little friend. We’re getting slaughtered here. If we cannot find a way to get past that shield I highly suggest we retreat.” The large fox-kin and best hunter of their clan, Thatch Blacktail, responded as he helped bandage the wounded.

Joy ignored her men's complaints and turned her attention to Gale, her unit's wind mage.

“Hey, when is the commander stepping in? We can’t hold out much longer without support.”

Gale listened to the wind with her eyes closed and slowly responded.

“M2 is in position. We just need to lead the target a bit more and we’ll get our payback.”

“How much more?”

“Sixty meters to the east.”

“Fuck. Whose turn is it to play bait?” Zen asked as he placed a salve over his charred ribs.

“It’s mine. I’ll take the bitch the rest of the way.”

Zen and the rest of the unit turned towards the voice only to see Quake the Champion stretching a bit to limber up his body.

“Ya sure? We’ve been changing every fifteen meters and that bitch has fucking aim. They even managed to tag the boss.”

Everyone turned to Joy, who had taken a laser over her left arm and shoulder, and was covered in a deep charred burn that enveloped over 30% of her body.

“The fuck you staring at?! I’ve had worse!” Joy yelled before staring at Quake, who was making his way out of their shelter. “Can you really do it or are you just throwing your life away?”

Quake looked back and cracked a smile, “You’ve all put your necks on the line to get us this far. This’ll be my best show yet, don’t worry.”

“Oh fuck, he’s an attention grabber.” Run the Hunter rolled his eyes.

“I prefer the term entertainer, young man. Now let me show you the spirit of a champion that has lived in the underworld! You might learn a thing or two. If you would so kindly, Thair.”

“Gook luck.” Thair hummed as he waved his hand, opening a hole for Quake to exit thirty meters away. 

Once Quake left the tunnel he let out a roar.

“HEY BITCH, YOUR GRANDPA IS HERE TO TEACH YOU A LESSON!”

“Oh? Another insect popped up. Please stay longer than a few seconds this time! I wanna play!”

…

“Report.”

“Team M1 and M2 are in position. Joy’s requested package will be in position very quickly, five seconds at most. The only problem is with Valkus.”

“What’s the holdup? He die?”

Ubel sat in his chair, idly looking over the map and halfway done with his tea.

“No, he’s… He's not leading the target to the designated spot and is just fighting the mecha head-on despite being given the signal multiple times. And that's not all… there seems to be a bronze coloring around his forehead in his aura.”

Ubel instantly shot up, hyper-focusing on Kist.

“What? Say that again.”

“He’s not lead—”

“Not that, the last part.”

“A bronze coloring has appeared on his forehead within his aura.”

Ubel frowned, “I knew he wasn’t a normal dwarf. He was too large to just be a dwarf.” 

Ubel muttered under his breath for a moment then returned his focus back to Kist.

“Change of plans. Tell M1 to support Valkus if he needs it. Let’s see what our local giant is trying to do. M2 and the package are to keep with the plan unchanged.”

“Understood. Relaying.”

Ubel drank the rest of his tea and leaned back into his chair.

Valkus, what really are you?

He held out his empty cup and gave it a shake, “I need a refill on my tea.”

“Y-yes! Right away!”

Part 7 - Battlefield

Uroa stared at the sky as her hands moved with finesse, shoving guts back into a fellow dwarf before sewing up the wound. She watched as her love, her muse, moved across the sky, battling alongside his master against a foe far greater than themselves.

How brightly they shine compared to me. 

I’ve always wondered. Am I a leech? Do I even see the reality of the world or am I merely coloring it with my idea of reality. I’m just a shallow dwarf who chases after the unattainable, pressing my will upon others, hoping to be heard, to be important, to be loved.

Fire and bone danced around the battlefield as she finished dressing the dwarf’s wounds. He was lucky that none of his intestines hadn’t gotten nicked, or else he’d be dying a painful death. 

Once Adster or another magical healer got to him, he’d be good to get back onto the battlefield. 

“Next!” Uroa called as washed her hands using a basic water ball spell.

A fox-kin walked over, clutching her severed arm near her chest, a glassy look in her eyes.

Uroa sat her down and looked over the detached arm. At a glance, she could see the dirt and grime that covered both the stump and appendage. Uroa called forth her flames and ran them over both the fox-kin’s stub and her arm, using the fire to wash over the wounds and shift away the dust and grime while leaving the flesh unharmed.

Luckily the bone wasn’t fragmented, otherwise I’d have to cauterize the wound. 

Once the wounds were clean Uroa opened her bag and pulled out a small tablet inscribed with a formation. She also pulled out a bit and placed it in the fox-kin’s mouth.

“This is going to hurt. Bite on this so you won’t bite off your tongue. I’d rather not have one of our limited healing spells to be wasted on something we could have prevented. Help, hold her down.”

The female fox-kin bit down on the bit as a rat-kin held down the fox-kin, keeping her from moving.

“Sorry, if we had the time I’d knock you out. But there are too many injured. Endure it.”

Uroa placed the severed arm in position and the fox-kin screamed in agony as she used her flames like little tools, moving the sliced muscles back into place before setting the stone tablet over the wound. 

“Now for the true pain. Sorry. Regeneration, activate.”

The stone tablet activated, causing the formation to slide off of the stone and latch onto the wound. The formation began to glow and give off smoke as it forced flesh to connect with flesh and revived any dead tissue. 

The rat-kin struggled to hold the screaming fox-kin down as the dying muscles were revived and connected back to one another. 

As this happened Uroa looked back up to the sky, towards Urist’s dashing figure, and let her mind wander a bit as the formation did its magic.

I remember it well now, my past life. I was a baron's daughter. The lowest of nobility who only wished to marry into a better station so that I could live a life of luxury. I lived my life chasing after men, moving my eyes from one better than the next. 

Years of my life were spent chasing after and marrying just the right man. 

Till. 

I grew old. 

I had grown past my prime and in my greed I never settled for any man. I lost my trump card of beauty, and coupled with my low station...

No one wanted me anymore.

I was vain so I conspired. I poisoned. I spread rumors to drag innocent girls to their deaths. All for a better man.

Now I have a second chance at life and the me before I remembered my past life managed to achieve my old wish just by telling her true feelings.

Why... Why did I have to remember?

Why couldn’t I just keep being naive and happy?

“She’s good. Move her to the rest area and let her sleep for a bit. Next!”

A rat-kin with broken arms walked over at her call.

Nothing I can do but reset the bones and send them over to Adster.

Uroa got some splits and bandages ready before she began setting the rat-kin’s arms. While her hands moved her eyes wandered once again, but this time they wandered over to the stoic Uria.

Someone like her is far more worthy to be by his side. She is strong, wise, and they even know each other from their past lives. Even if she's schizophrenic with strange and unexplainable mood swings, even if she manipulates Urists with her whispers... She is always making sure to look out for him and raise him up higher and higher, supporting him the best she can. 

She focuses everyone's anger, frustration, and dislike on herself and Ubel so that Urist can move as he needs. 

What can I offer him that they don’t already provide… I am just...

“Head over to Adster, get your arms healed up, and then get back out into the fight.”

“Understood mam!”

After she finished dealing with the rat-kin she heard a cry of pain.

“My legs! My legs! I can’t feel my legs!”

“Shut up, I’m working on reattaching them. Hey Uroa, stop watching the battle and help me out! I need someone to clean the wound and bring over the needle and thread. If we don’t hurry my muse here is going to bleed out.” Adster called as he waved over Uroa.

Uroa grabbed her bag and rushed forward, wiping away the tears in the corner of her eyes that were slowly filling with determination.

I’m useless at this point in time, so I’ll give up for now. But. This life I’m going to be something. Wait for me, Urist. I’ll show you my ambition.

...

“For glory!” Warrior Littou rumbled as he smashed forth with his silver clad spear, crushing a skeleton’s head with his aura. Next to him, Elrish, his dwarven brother in arms, swept forth, crushing his way through the mass of skeletons swarming the dwarfen allied forces. 

The two dwarfs led the melee rush with fox-kin, rat-kin, and dwarf warriors following along behind them. The rat-kin shattered bones with their claws as the fox-kin used their fists and bodies to crush the skeleton troop’s bones into power. The allied forces moved quickly and agilely, each separated from one another yet all focusing on destroying controller skeletons in order to have less guns around. 

The opening volley of boulders and the sliced Mangum bullet managed to reduce the skeleton army’s numbers by about six hundred. And both of our flanks are battling it out with a necromancer, each leading around four hundred skeletons. By those estimates there are still a little more than two thousand skeletons left. 

Compared to our forces, that’s massive. We’d probably be wiped out if we had to kill every single skeleton. Littou thought as he dashed forth and crushed another controller skeleton. 

But if commander Ubel is right, then there are only about two hundred and ten controller skeletons. If we focus on them, this fight is more than manageable.

“Gah!”

Hearing a rat-kin get shot, Littou clicked his tongue as he stabbed his spear into another controller skeleton’s head.

Even if we only need to kill less than two hundred controller skeletons to disable all of the skeletons, once you're hit you're usually dead. We’ve already lost ten fighters and we’ve only killed about twenty controller skeletons. If this goes on we’ll suffer too many injuries, too many deaths. 

“Rawr!”

Twang. Twang. Twang. 

The roar of a tiger rang out, followed by three distinct twangs of a bow string. Littou’s eyes widened as he saw his commander, Unicy, dash into the battlefield. Her tiger slaughtered skeletons left and right as she began sniping controller skeletons with perfect precision, killing at least one controller skeleton, sometimes even getting up to three, with a single arrow.

Littou smiled at the sight.

“Commander Unicy is here! With her, by our side we will win the battle with ease! March forth for glory!”

“For glory!”

Those fighting around him shouted as they wound through the lines of death. His spear in hand, Littou drove himself into the enemy line stabbing and crushing as he moved farther and deeper into the enemy forces, even as gunshots killed those around him and his comrades went out in their own wondrous blazes of glory.

He drove so deep into enemy lines that at some point he’d left his brothers and sisters in arms behind. Yet none of that mattered to Littou as he aimed for the controller skeleton’s heads. He could dodge out of the way of six shots at a time if he really pushed himself and was lucky he could even dodge seven. 

Bang.

Finally, after slaying tens of controller skeletons all by his lonesome, a bullet hit his stomach.

As the wind was knocked out of him, time seemed to slow. Images of his life and even his previous life flashed across his eyes. Littous watched as he, a simple farmer, was conscripted to become a soldier only to die pitifully in a battlefield filled with orcs. Now, in his second life, he was going to die at the hands of these skeletons? 

Is this how far I go? When commander Volt said I had the talent to become strong? To die after just one hit? To fall so easily when my brothers in arms have suffered through worse?

That... That isn’t how I want to die.

Something shifted within his brain and cracked.

Littou’s view of the world around him abruptly turned monochrome, as if something had sucked away all the colors.

In this new colorless world, his breath returned and his body responded to him once more. Littou shifted his head slightly, cracking his neck and dodging an incoming bullet.

Then.

He moved.

In an instant, silver light moved to cover his arms, feet, and spine. Littou stepped onto the hard bone floor, cracking it as he moved at a speed he’d never before reached in his life. He tightened his grip on his spear, ready to strike down another controller skeleton when all of a sudden, Volt’s words rang out within his mind. 

If I had a few months to train you correctly I’d teach you how to parry, block, counter, and the basics of how to use your aura. But I don’t have the time, so I’ll forgo teaching you fancy moves. All you need to know is how to slash, thrust, smash, and dodge. That will be your bread and butter. You’ll focus on one hit kills. If you have to attack twice, you’ll already be dead.

Littou instinctively used the movements Volt had taught him, rapidly killing controller skeletons with a single attack as he dashed through the enemy hoard. He’d become such a threat that the remaining controller skeletons even focused their sights on him. 

Despite Littou’s advanced speed, his enhanced reflexes, his robust force of will, by the end of his rush he was heavily bleeding and breathing, having to use his spear as a cane. Behind him laid a lake of bones, as he had single handedly killed the remaining controller skeletons. 

I feel heavy. 

Littou looked up to the skies and watched as his King and Master Mo battled against a raging mecha.

Even as he coughed out blood, Littou stared on.

I wonder when I’ll reach that level? For now… I’ll just... take a little rest… Just a little shut eye… I’ve... earned it... right?

“Littou! You beast, how did you do tha—”

 

Elrish enthusiastically ran over to Littou’s standing figure only to see Littou’s empty eyes staring up at the sky and the sight grin plastered on his face.

 

Part 8 - Show and tell

 

Ah. This is it. This feeling of overwhelming force with slim chances of survival. Oh, how I’ve missed this feeling. Quake revealed a maddening grin as he smashed the ground with a foot, sending a massive chunk of bone upwards to block the beam of light the mecha sent out.

I died of old age with a loving family hovering over my deathbed. But in my last moments, I didn’t think about them. 

Quake smashed more bones from the ground to block Vatara’s lasers as he taunted her to follow him by spouting obscenities. As he ran his mouth however, his mind wondered. 

I thought about the arena! I thought about the crowds! The opponents! The challenges! The glory that I obtained as I destroyed my foes with my wit and strength!

He jumped about, moving sheets of bone and clutching them like shields before throwing them to block lasers. 

“Why do you keep saying mean things to me!? Fine, you don’t wanna play and get your arms cut off like the ant you are. Then I’ll just have to move on to the next best way to have fun with an ant. I’LL BURN YOU TO ASHES!” 

Vatara gathered magic above her head and in a flash a large twenty-foot ball of fire appeared over her. 

“Take this and die! >Heat daze!<”

And this is no different!

>Impact Quake<

Quake gathered silver aura over his hand before driving his aura into the ground and causing a giant spike of bone and rock to explode upwards into the skies. Quake quickly hid behind the spike as the massive fireball crashed into it. 

He laughed as flames washed by him in his safe little air bubble.

This. This is pure joy.

“Is that all you got, bitch?!”

“I’ll fucking kill you!”

“Then come over here and do it! Bet you don’t have the balls.”

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy hearing you scream.”

Once the fire dissipated, Quake looked over his shoulder and smiled.

“Haha. Mission accomplished.”

“Wha?” Vatara questioned when she heard a faint plink on her shield.

...

Okay Sage, this is it. Time to show why you're the chieftain of the clan. Everyone is counting on you to land this. If you fail, Uncle Thatch and the rest are going to die. You can’t let that happen!

Sage went over her thoughts as she constantly teleported through the air, watching a dwarf lead a mecha to the ambush point marked with a circle. She was already in position, ready to drop a bomb on the cursed mecha that had given her Uncle and people so much trouble. 

Wow, I’ve never seen a warrior move like that while shifting the earth. Who is he?

Sage watched in a trance as the dwarf led the mecha by the nose, taunting her and blocking her lasers, all while laughing with a massive grin on his face.

Does he not fear death?

Her heart leapt up into her throat when she saw the mecha summon a massive fireball.

A stone plate won’t be able to block that, how is he going to survive?! He just needs her to move five more meters and they’ll be in position! Damnit!

>Impact Quake<

Just as she thought he was dead for sure, a massive spike burst out of the ground and the dwarf laughed madly as he hid behind it. 

Once the fireball dissipated, the dwarf taunted the mecha once more.

“Is that all you got, bitch?!”

“I’ll fucking kill you!”

“Then come over here and do it! Bet you don’t have the balls!”

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy hearing you scream.”

Then finally, the mecha entered the target area. Sage teleported right above it, almost five meters away, before she dropped the core in her hands and ran the fuck away.

Enjoy your place in hell, bitch!  

Sage laughed as she pulled the core’s trigger. 

...

“Oh shi—”

Quake had already been sucked into the ground by an earth mage when the core exploded with fury. 

The explosion tore through the mecha’s shield like it was paper, smashing into the mecha with such force that it was pressed into the ground and shredded. The damage was so immense that the skeletons casting the shield were completely drained of their mana and fell down into mere heaps of bones that were then blown away by the shockwave.

After the dust settled, despite the amount of damage it had taken, the mecha stood up with a limp in it’s step.

“I-it it wasn’t s-supposed to be this way... W-we were supposed to reach the p-promised land... W-we were supposed t-to… ASCEND TO GODHOO—”

…

“Team M1, remain on standby unless needed. Team M2, fire. Ah, thank you for the tea.”

...

Two mechas suddenly appeared from the shadows of a building. One wielded a minigun and the other a high powered sniper rifle, and both took aim towards Vatara before letting loose. The minigun shredded her mecha’s limbs as the sniper blew off its head.

“Tsk, missed the chest. This thing is hard to use. Even moving is a pain. I don’t know how Boss Vlad does it.” Cero lamented as he pulled the bolt of his sniper rifle to load in another round.

“These mechas were made for necromancers, Cero. Not for us blood mages. We’re lucky that we can even use them.” Dai scoffed, releasing his minigun’s trigger to save ammo, ”Let’s leave that mecha for the hunters to finish. I’m pretty sure they’d want their revenge anyways.”

Having been cleared to move up, the coalition hiding in the ground instantly popped out and rushed at the limbless mecha. They immediately removed its power core to stop it from overloading, then began ripping into the cockpit. 

It only took them thirty seconds to remove the cockpit’s outer shell to reveal a dazed and confused Vatara, who attempted to cast some kind of spell only to have her limbs cut off.

“I told you I’d be taking your head, bitch.”

“N-no! Please dont! I d-dont wanna die agai—”

She never got to finish, for Joy drove her lance through her neck and tore her head off. Joy then grabbed the necromancer’s head by the hair and raised it to the sky, letting out a beastal roar.

The dwarfs, rat-kin, and fox-kin all joined in with a feeling of triumph.

In the afterglow of having won, Joy’s mind wandered.

I wonder how King Urist and Valkus are doing.