144 (I) Capture [II]

Orcs! Orcs everywhere! They're everywhere! They're felling everywhere! We need reinforce—

-Last Received SkyCast from Expedition Force Theborn

144 (I)

Capture [II]

Shiv grasped the lance embedded in his midsection, but as soon as he touched it, he felt his hands bounce off, flung back by a blast of unnatural recoil. The vibration was spreading through his body as well, opening his wound wider and wider. Shiv’s Biomancy granted him insight: something about the lance's constant tremoring amplified its ability to pierce—destabilizing the structure of his flesh on a fine level. His Adamantine Adaption warred against the rider's weapon, but it continued sliding through him as if a blade being pushed through wood. His armor and flesh offered some resistance, but not nearly enough.

Avoid the lance, Shiv thought to himself, no more resisting; adapt.

One of Shiv’s Biokinetic hydras reared back and bit down on his flesh. He tore his midsection open with his Biomancy, allowing him to channel a deluge of viscera and blood directly at the rider. It splashed over her at colossal speeds, and the ropes of his intestine coiled around her face. A muffled shout sounded from her as Shiv shrugged off the hurt. A chain of fear extended from the rider, and the Deathless took hold of it. However, the moment he tried to pull, it frayed and snapped.

She still wasn't scared enough for the chain to be usable, but her fear fed power into his body and alacrity to his reflexes. The world slowed as he dashed right, ripping himself free from the lance. In the same instant, another of his mana hydras swallowed his wounds, and it came alight a constellation of crystalline injuries.

He swung the crystallized wounds at the rider with his lashing Biomancy field, but her dragon suddenly descended and went ethereal. Shiv’s gore passed through her body and spun through the air. The Deathless simply grunted and assimilated the biomass into his Biomantic aegis. He'd lost his cancer flail when the rider stabbed him. He needed to build a new one.

As he tried to track the dragon, though, he found he couldn’t keep up with her sheer speed and maneuverability. Every time the rider and her dragon went ethereal, they became four times faster. The Deathless scoffed as he started unleashing his Creeping Void once more. A swell of blackness expanded out from his body, drenching the sky. The dragon suddenly tore past him again—there was only a distance of fifty meters between them. Yet the beast missed him, and the rider speared nothing but open air.

She continued her ascent. The dragon and her rider burst through the clouds before Shiv could fully react or follow, and he found himself glaring at a patch of dense, black clouds with no clue where his rival Chronomancer was.

No wonder Helix recommended leveling my awareness. Once she stops being so obvious and holds off from close quarters, I'm basically blind. For a beat, he considered chasing the dragon, but decided against it. The rider would be back to run him down once more. But now he knew her ways a bit better. He just needed to figure out how to deal with her speed and intangibility.

From directly above, Shiv could see thousands of gray bodies smashing through teams of inquisitorial Pathbearers. Orcs shot up from all corners of the land. A few simply leaped. Others flew. Many teleported. Some just emerged from gusts of wind. They pressed in from all directions, clenching the expeditionary force in a brutal encirclement.

Those who once stood as the Inquisition's outer vanguard were overrun, but the orcs didn't kill them immediately. Rather, they broke limbs. They peeled off helmets and began scalping skulls. They flayed flesh while keeping their victims alive. Shiv felt his stomach twist with muted horror.

Orcs never went long before they reminded you what they were.

A cacophony of screams rose above the roar of combat. The remainder of the expeditionary force retreated inward, adjusting themselves into sixteen compact formations. A wall of defenders stood along the outside, while fast-moving Pathbearers stood behind them. At the center were eight groups—columns of magi. And between the magi were two singular Pathbearers, one of whom had a gleaming bald head.

“I got eyes on Sijik,” Shiv shouted aloud. At some point, his dimensional veil burst as well; Adam could probably hear him now. This would give the Gate Lord something to track

Shiv shot down as he took in the surviving Inquisitors. To his astonishment, their morale was holding. A new barrier, a protective force, fused over them. Radiant barricades and small formations were forged by falling bolts of lightning. The Deathless also noticed weak bolts of lightning jumping between each of the soldiers, flashing from helmet to helmet before they finally soared upward, cleaving just past his body into the sky. His eyes followed that bolt as it flashed behind a curtain of thick and dark clouds, and he watched as it tore southward, likely toward Fortress-City Diego.

That’s probably someone teleporting out, or some kind of lightning-flung message,

A lightning-infused Veilpiercer exploded out from a dimensional wound and split the escaping bolt in half. Twin crashes of thunder sounded in the distance as Shiv let out an impressed laugh. “Good godsdamned shot, Adam! Now. Gotta deal with the rest.”

But as he looked down again, he found the Inquisitors shrouded by a massive, four-hundred-meter-wide dome of force. Projectiles and attacks splashed off it like water peeling over a shield. Shiv hovered in the air for a moment and considered his next steps.

A sphere of fire splashed against the Inquisition's defenses, but it quickly dissipated as the expeditionary force's Pyromancers worked their own mana in return. The same ball of fire was unleashed as a scything blast of light. Shiv instinctively looked away, but several exposed orcs stumbled back, clawing at their eyes. They were promptly blasted off the cloud by missiles launched by the Inquisition. It appeared the expeditionary force could shoot through their protections, but not the other way around.

Shiv squinted. He counted at least eight columns of dedicated magi earlier, and spent a moment observing the Inquisitors through their protective shell. It seemed two columns of magi were Aeromancers with how much electricity was flowing between them. One of those Aeromancer columns specifically seemed to be focused on generating electricity, letting the currents flow through the other soldiers present. The other Aeromancer column directed the bolts, flicking them out at distant targets, slashing at the eyes and mouths of the encroaching orcs.

But the expeditionary force was fighting a horde of Heroes and Masters. Those who were struck by the bolts were not killed. They were merely disoriented or dazed. Others parried the bolts, and a few even caught them, ripping at the whips of electricity as if they were material chains. Shiv saw the obfuscated forms of the Inquisition's Aeromancers get pulled through the air, but they were pulled back by their allies. And just then, a shroud of gravity flowed over the Inquisition. The few thousand soldiers they had left were all further imbued with greater mass, with the anchoring power of Dynamancy.

But even so, they were assailed from all sides, and the contrast played before the eyes of the Deathless. The Inquisition fought together, a singular organism moving toward unified goals. The orcs, however, were like a swarm of hornets. All of them posed a threat of their own. But their coordinated attacks were only things of improvisation, prompted by Maestros or personal interest.

Adam gritted his teeth as he tried to find Sijik in the chaos. But it was hard. It was hard to focus with all the screams clawing at his mind. He saw the things the orcs were doing. Bile lurked in the back of his throat, and Adam felt a visceral hatred kindle within his bones.

The godsdamned gray-skins were monsters. These Inquisition members were traitors, but no one deserved what the orcs were actively doing to them—the casual torture.

He was going to need to talk with Shiv about resolving the orcs after this was done. But for now, he loosed another shot. A Veilpiercer that became two on impact, that became four, that became sixteen, and then…

***

The orcs seized on the opportunity, hammering the magical defenses from all sides, and new cracks began to spread.

Shiv unleashed his Vitae Golem then, and this time he had enough breathing room to infuse it with Vitality Drain. Smash through that shield, kill the mages, detonate yourself after thirty spikes, try not to die. The golem shot down, and Shiv followed right after. He projected his Minor Illusion and cut off his Creeping Void.

He didn't want his allies to be fighting in the dark. Shiv also decided against using Chameleon, just in case one of the orcs accidentally hit him. Shit was chaotic enough. His golem struck the topside of their mana shield first. Cracks spread, not nearly large enough to break through. But the same crack grew into a colossal fracture as Shiv slammed down. A scant second thereafter, both he and his golem discharged. Kinetic blasts erupted off their bodies. The shields projected by the Inquisition's Dynamancers dented inward as parts shattered away entirely. At the same time, Shiv brought his Biomancy field down as well. The blood-red heads of his mana-formed hydras crashed against the barrier, unleashing a tide of mana explosions, impacting the protective dome like a falling star.

Inertial Overdrive 116 > 118

Then came the orcs, towering gray-skinned monsters imbued with titanic Physicality and blessed with implacable Toughness. Spells crashed against them and broke against their bodies as if pebbles flung against the face of a mountain. They swung their great axes, hammered with fists large enough to wrap around a grown man's torso. More shockwaves joined Shiv's, and the Dynamancy barrier maintained by the expeditionary force began to crumble and break.

But the barrier hardened for a beat, then roared with surging force. Shiv felt a shudder of pressure coming from the barrier. Instinct told him to bring his Skysplitter up just in time as well. The barrier detonated outward, and a colossal explosion flung thousands of orcs, along with Shiv's vitae golem, high up into the air and through the clouds. A crushing torrent of force slammed against Shiv, and he realized every blow he delivered, every shockwave and discharge he emitted upon the Inquisition's protective barrier, just got turned against him and the orcs.

Even so, he caught the blast along the flat of his blade and levered up. He magnified the size of his Skysplitter, and he twisted under the tidal wave of force. It took his Plaguefueled, Gravitic Wrestler, and his Biomancy combined for him to trigger Frictionless Vector and have the blast slide over him. The clouds behind Shiv were bifurcated as a jet stream of force split the sky.

Frictionless Vector 66 > 69

And then Shiv was through the broken shield. He deactivated his Chameleon and spiked himself right into the center of a magi column. He slammed boot-first down on the neck of an automaton, and the bot's body groaned as bolts and screws burst free. Shiv swept his mana hydras wide, expanding them as far as he could, making them spiral around him. At the same time, he detonated his inertial sheathe and created a pocket of blood and writhing bodies where a few dozen magi once stood. They ruptured into welters of ruined flesh inside their folding armors, and Shiv drank them in using his Biomancy. He assimilated their biomass to forge a new flail, charging through the other magi at the same time as he tried to find where Sijik was.

Magical Resistances held against his mana hydras. Shiv’s fields recoiled. He slammed into the magically-hardened Pathbearers and lashed their flesh with his Skysplitter. At the same time, a new cancer flail extended from his field, and a wrecking ball of mangled biomass whipped out low.

Shiv's new cancer flail was a nightmarish implement. A mess of human limbs, elven faces, jagged teeth, and more sprouted out as clumps along the sides of the weapon. Ankles and knees shattered. Pathbearers screamed. The Inquisition laid eyes on Shiv for the first time, and rivers of fear flowed from their beings to nourish his. He felt himself grow stronger, faster, felt his mana surge with increased might. Magical Resistances shattered against his amplified Biomancy, and then his Vitae joined the frenzy as well, drinking vitality while gouging eyes and crushing skulls.

Shape of Monstrosity 103 > 106.

Whip Proficiency 9 > 10

"Enemy at the center!" an enemy Psychomancer screamed. "Close ranks! Close ranks! Rapid response!"

And Shiv saw the drill-headed automaton pushing through the formations, coming right at him. The Deathless grinned in anticipation. His dance with the automaton was interrupted by the dragon rider earlier. Now they could get properly—

A blade broke against Shiv’s spine. Shiv felt his armor lose two centimeters of material, just to heal immediately thereafter. Behind him, an Assassin tumbled, spasming on the ground as their face was covered by a spray of basilisk venom. White foam erupted from the paralyzed Assassin—then it was joined by a spray of red as Shiv swiped his blade through her body. Shiv's armor was spewing vile, hissing green fluid from the veins threading its crenulations. Inspiration seized Shiv. He promptly used his Biomancy to direct jets of basilisk venom at the organics all around him as well.

Awareness 34 > 35

Multi-Tasking 18 > 19

More fear flooded into him. A lance of gravity struck Shiv, but he slapped it aside with his Magebreaker—sending it blasting through a group of Pathbearers to his left. The drill-headed bot descended from the air, his skull roaring. Shiv launched a corpse at the automaton in response as he unleashed a brief splash of Creeping Void.

The Creeping Void 112 > 113

The enemy Pathbearer immediately tore into the corpse’s flesh without realizing it wasn’t Shiv. The automaton drove its skull against Shiv’s decoy body. Sparks flew free from Shiv’s corpse. And more sparks burst out from the automaton as Shiv swung a size-magnified Skysplitter against the bot’s back.

Deepest Edge 65 > 66

Deception 20 > 21

Shiv spiked himself over thirty times as he cleaved deeper and deeper into the bot’s midsection. A mechanical scream sounded from the machine. It reached down to stop the blade—only for Shiv to discharge his Inertial Overdrive. The bot’s head snapped back at an awkward angle as it was flung limply through the air. Shiv frowned. Well, you were a disappointment.

But before he could capitalize and finish his foe off, waves of cascading Dynamancy drove his inertial discharge back. Shiv's eyes widened, and just then he felt a crushing mass press down on his body as well. Shiv spiked his field upward as the Dynamancers pressed down. Even so, he was slowed dramatically, and spells and attacks began to smash into him from all sides. Godsdamn Dynamancers. Shiv grimaced, but he was strangely impressed by the Inquisition's resilience and how fast they adapted to the conflict.

A series of arrows crashed into his armor; most of them bounced off, breaking without inflicting any damage. However, an adamantine ballista punched deep through his chest piece, but didn't quite manage to break his skin. As Shiv ripped it out, a burst of Psychomancy caught him by surprise, but Uva’s strands wove around his head, and a clash of translucent mana exploded away from him, sparing his mind. A forest of Psychomancy strings erupted out from Shiv's cape, and it was also joined by two dozen drones that shot up into the air, screeching pitched frequencies.

Automata around Shiv went rigid, briefly stunned by whatever noise the drones were making, and Shiv took advantage of that. He cast himself three seconds back in time with his Chronomancy, and the Inquisition lost track of him. The Dynamancers lost their hold on his body for the second time, and Shiv detonated his Inertial Overdrive. As a new blast spread out, it killed a few dozen more soldiers before the Dynamancers responded, keeping the shockwave contained.

Strider of the Unbending Path 136 > 137

“Chronomancer! Chronomancer in our midst!”

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE OUR WARDS—AGHHHH!”

“CHRONOMANCERS! RESPOND! WE NEED—FELLING FUCK! THEY’RE ALL—”

Several telepathic broadcasts followed, and each ended with a building weight of panic and terror. Shiv learned why as harrowing screams drew closer to him again. The orcs were back, and pushing in from the outside. And with Shiv at the center of their formation, the Inquisitors were caught in a brutal pincer they needed to adapt to.

“Rally!” A rasping voice bellowed. “Stand and fight! The Ascendants demand it! Stand, you cowards!”