Chapter 65: Fingers arrive!
Crash!
Dio’s figure uncontrollably flew into the surging horde of Variants, crashing in their midst with a vicious impact.
Struggling to his feet from the sunken, steaming crater of his own making, Dio’s bulging arms crossed over his frame, bracing for impact.
And impact came. Appearing before him was the faceless, creepy-mawed abomination — its hip already in a smooth pivot as its massive shadowy legs whipped into Dio’s arms and shoulder with bone-cracking intensity.
Once more, he took an uncontrollable flight. This time, there was no breathing space — the creature was so fast it was already upon Dio while he was still mid-flight.
The Variant weaponized its weight, channeling it with full force into its feet as it descended right upon his neck — so fast the foot broke the sonic barrier.
Helpless, Dio could only watch — only fast enough to angle his arm in protection for his neck.
A sickening Crunch! rang out as Dio was forced into the blackened earth. The monster’s weight times velocity snapped his arms straight away.
His spine ran cold. What... what if that was my neck?
He would be dead for sure.
Gaaaaaaah!
In a furious blind rage, Dio roared — his claws gripping the retracting foot of the monster tight as he rose with fierce momentum, causing the abomination to lose balance and fall.
And in a smooth fashion, his claws pierced straight toward the beast. Carelessly, Dio cared about nothing but slaying the monster before him.
His arms hurt, but he didn’t care. His mind buzzed, but he ignored it. His vision was red from fury, and his predator side kicked into full drive.
At this point, Dio was acting entirely on instinct. There was no coherent flow to his disorienting movements, as the claw arced through the opponent’s brace for defense — piercing straight toward a particular distinct light-skinned face.
Kreeeeeee!
The monster screeched in a wave of panic. Dio’s attack was so unexpected it didn’t take any precautionary measures. If it had known its opponent knew of its weak point, it would have engaged from a controlled range.
Even Dio himself wasn’t conscious of the attack — he just went with his tugging instinct, and it turned out to be jackpot.
Splurt!
The broken arm smoothly pierced through the abomination’s figure, and it immediately burst into putrid black liquid after a few seconds of painful grunts.
Dio froze. Wait what... it... it died just like that? He frowned in disbelief.
This was something that continuously tanked his attacks without bearing as much as a scratch...
And suddenly it became so frail?
Obviously, he had hit a weak spot — but what was it? He frowned in contemplation. This was something he had to share with others. After all, who knew how many of these horrors were out there?
His arm waved, smacking a stray rabid Variant lunging toward him to immediate death.
It was then that a mental ripple reached his mind — info relaying the weakness of the monster he just fought.
Ah... I see. So it was that.
Thankfully it was relayed. He rushed to get himself and Jack to Ethan for help, as both their armors were in tatters — barely having any defense capabilities left.
With the limp figure of Jack and one other squad member he picked up on the way, he reached Ethan.
"Damn, to think a captain figure was rendered into such a state so quickly..." Ethan gasped at Dio’s plight as he quickly got to work, directing the mass tide of nanobots behind him.
The sea of sand-grain-sized robotic workers surged toward the three, creeping into their armor, creeping into their orifices as they began dealing with internal bleeding, cracked and broken bones, punctured organs, and bone shards clogging arteries — even stitching snapped muscle strands and tendons. In short, they were quick and efficient, and in the time it took to brew tea, they were done — surging back to their master’s side.
The armor of the three was once more airtight, their injuries fully treated, and they were fully revitalized.
Clenching and unclenching his arm, Dio couldn’t help but marvel. "Indeed, it is an exceedingly resourceful ability..."
"Thanks, man... we should be heading ba—" Dio was in the midst of speaking when a system chime appeared before the two. Ethan’s smile stiffened, and Dio froze mid-sentence.
The two locked eyes and both gulped hard...
[Warning! Fingers of Gluttony detected!]
Both were silent, but the same thoughts ran through their minds.
Shit! So fast? This was bad!
They both panicked. A single underling had wrecked Dio so badly — how much worse would a Finger be?
Were they even capable of facing such a monstrosity?
Unfortunately, no one could answer their questions — only the echo of reverberating tremors across the ground.
As though something colossal was heading their way. The two couldn’t retreat — they were captains. A pathetic retreat would cause more harm than good. They had to contain it to the best of their abilities.
And slowly, the abhorrent Finger of Gluttony came into view.
The two had their eyes glued to the enormous pulsating abyss of shattered space as a massive frame was slowly being outlined.
As the creature stepped into their territory, all across the battlefield the creature was visible — a commotion rang through the crowd.
The workers back at Ageis, sensing the ominous threat this newcomer held, trained their aim toward it.
But like throwing cracked eggs against a rock — it was completely useless.
As though that wasn’t enough, trailing right behind the abomination was another... then another... then another... Six!
The entire six Fingers entered the frey in one go!
Which made sense — coming alone was tantamount to suicide. Who would foolishly enter the battlefield alone just to get jumped?
So by attacking together with a fatal strike, they could take out the threats in one fell swoop.
All six horrendous abominations walked their separate ways — each moving with a destination.
From their path of movement, their targets were obvious: the captains!
Following the scent of the purest souls and most ether-saturated individuals, finding the captains was easy — like a lighthouse in the dead of night. The hungry wraiths marched toward their prey with starving determination.
Toward both Dio and Ethan, the Finger headed their way was like an amalgamation between an arachnid and a human.
Eight spiky legs like a spider, with a woman’s frame topping it. Her head held eight eyes, and her lower jaw was unnaturally big — a row of intersecting dirty yellow teeth always in full display.
A constant stream of drool cascaded from the Finger’s jaws, and the fact that its eyes were trained on both Ethan and Dio the whole time unnerved the two.
Their hair stood on end as a chill ran down their spines... This clash they couldn’t escape. This was the make-or-break phase.
They either clawed their way to victory — or they both became crushed in the maws of the insatiable Finger of Gluttony!