CHAPTER 169: Payback

  Adam glared at the Barrier Adherent as his hand worked its grip on the axe handle. The Scyrric soldiers lined up around them leveled their weapons at him. Adam was so fixated on the Tier 3 dragging his sister away that he didn’t register the sounds of three dogs barking.

  The lined Scyrric were disciplined enough to stay focused on Adam, the real threat. The Barrier Adherent, on the other hand, felt confident enough to turn to look at the approaching sounds. When blasts of fire, ice, and lightning shot out ahead of the source of the barking, the Barrier Adherent raised his arm to protect himself. A clear wall blocked the lightning.

  The fire shot into one side of the gathered Scyrric soldiers, with the ice freezing the other side. That was enough to draw the eyes of the troops.

  “[Gladiator’s Approach]!” cried Adam as he stepped through the space to the Scyrric who was now facing away from him.

  Almost stumbling after teleporting, Adam used the weight of his falling body to bring the axe down on the head of the Tier 3 Scyrric. Like before, the axe cleaved right into the invader.

  Scyrric “Barrier Adherent [46]” slain. 6,294 XP gained.

  Through the pain, heat flooded Adam. Steam rose from his reddening skin. The rage took hold and Adam moved into the Scyrric soldiers.

  BOOM!

  Two dozen were sent flying.

  BOOM!

  Those that survived the shockwave pinballed off each other.

  Growling and snarling even more than his three headed dog, Adam cut down the invaders. If any Scyrric pointed a weapon or spell at Emily, then he arrived at them instantly to split them in two, often with his own grunt from the pain of using his abilities. The soldiers refused to retreat, fighting to the last Scyrric, even with no hope of standing against the enraged Adam.

  Emily watched Adam as he blurred around the battlefield. Tears were in her eyes, but she held herself upright. She forced herself to take in everything that was happening. The pain on Adam’s face and the gore created by his movements. He didn’t use that shockwave skill anywhere that it would reach her, making sure there was a safe distance to each explosion.

  With Fido by her side, she hugged his shoulders. The Carthraga was supportive and comforting to Emily as one head growled and the other two shot lightning and ice at any enemies that got nearby. All three heads stayed low with their ears back, ready to protect her just as much as Adam did.

  It didn’t take long for the surrounding Scyrric to be wiped out by Adam, but as soon as he seemed to calm down, Adam stumbled and fell. He landed on his knees, and then heavily dropped onto a shoulder.

  With a squeal, Emily ran over to him, Fido at her side. She tried to lift Adam, while two heads whimpered and pushed their way under his side and helped him get to a seated position.

  “Whoa! Fido? You’ve gotten big!” exclaimed Adam in a weak, raspy voice. All three heads forcefully pushed into him, each trying to get his attention. A few growls and barks came out, as if explaining things to him. Adam looked at his hand, which used to be large enough to hold the puppy. Then he petted all the heads in turn. Even the grumpiest head licked him in the face, expressing joy at his return, while cleaning off some of the blood and grime.

  “Alissa took him on base raids while you were gone,” explained Emily. “He leveled up a lot. Your friends were trying to get stronger to protect the base without you here. No one really thought you’d escape by yourself.”

  Emily’s arms were wrapped around Adam’s bulky chest armor. She wanted to hug him directly, and would have even with how filthy he was, except he seemed to need her support to keep from falling over. Even as Fido's heads pushed against him, the Carthraga’s body was pressed against his side to help stabilize him.

  “Good,” said Adam. “Coming after me wouldn’t have worked and clearly Jackson needed the support. I hope they’ve all gotten as strong as you look, Fido.”

  Adam used the chest high Cerberus to get to his feet, as unsteady as they seemed. He gave another big pat to the canine’s side.

  “Fido, I’m going to need you to take Emily back to Lucas.”

  At Adam’s order to leave him, the dog whined, barked an argument, and nuzzled against his hand.

  “Please also deliver a message to Lucas. ‘How dare you let me sister get captured!’”

  “I-it wasn’t his fault,” said Emily in defense of him. “I didn’t listen to them.”

  Adam just shrugged as she climbed onto Fido’s back. There wasn’t even the strength in Adam to lift her onto the large beast.

  “Thanks, Fido. You're such a good boy…er, boys,” said Adam with another pat.

  As Emily and Fido rushed away, Adam looked at an approaching figure. Then he looked at the large axe where it had fallen and sighed. Adam winced as he wasn’t sure he could control his body enough to pick the axe up from where he dropped it. At least not without faceplanting. Instead, Adam clenched his fists and stood tall, trying not to show his weakness.

  There was no hiding the weakness from the approaching Scyrric. He was larger than all except a few of the lizard men that Adam had seen, his tail thicker and longer than most others. The armor covering his body looked substantial and impenetrable. Even with the fighting he had done, the armor was clean and would have reflected the sun if it wasn’t setting.

  Adam waited as the Metallic Berserker was casual in his steps. He walked forward slowly, not even bothering to get battle ready. The invader muttered something, and his helmet changed shape. It pulled back from his face, revealing his eyes, snout, and cheeks. The metal resettled on the top of his head and neck.

  Around 20 feet away, he stopped. His mouth flashed his teeth, in what Adam knew was a smile. He inspected Adam up and down multiple times. The giant sword was held casually at his side, a length of the blade resting on the ground.

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  “We haven’t actually met,” rasped Adam. “You blindsided me, using an illegal tackle. That should have been a red card.”

  The Scyrric’s expression became one of confusion at the unknown meaning, before he forced a smile again.

  “I am Sgolkr and I’m so glad you are here, aberration. The last time, I was unable to have a satisfying fight due to the Red Clan speaker’s suppression. Clearly, she underestimated you. You were able to escape her, showing you have some worth. Though you look only a step away from death, I hope you will give me a worthwhile fight.”

  Sgolkr waited for Adam to respond, but Adam just stood there. Inside, the river was trying to take control again while Adam fought against it and the pain it caused. The voice in his soul was shouting at him to kill the invader before him, even as his danger sense was telling Adam that it was a fight he couldn’t win in his current shape. Adam wrestled against his soul, trying to subdue the river to reduce the pain that interfered with his body control.

  Once it was clear Adam wasn’t going to speak, Sgolkr continued.

  “I see you are speechless, as is appropriate for your status beneath our mighty race. I now declare that I will have payback for the wrongs you have committed against us. You have killed those you should kneel before, defiled our taking of this world, which we own by right, and riled up other natives against us. The disrespect you have inspired towards the Scyrric among the races can be laid at your feet. Unlike the Red Clan, we have no interest in studying you or learning about your aberration. Execution is all that matters.”

  “For a lizard, you sure like to talk a lot.”

  At Adam’s words, Sgolkr opened his mouth and snapped his jaw shut with force.

  “It seems you don’t understand your crimes. But worry not, for I will hammer the regret into you before your death.” Then Sgolkr reached out his hand towards Adam’s chest. “It seems that you stole from my armory, yet one more crime against your shamelessness. That was a stupid decision, typical for such a lowly creature. [Metal Retrieval].”

  Suddenly, Adam felt a pull coming from the chest armor. Without moving his feet, Adam was dragged forward. He tried to resist, tried to dig in his feet, but it didn’t work as he moved until the chest armor was pressed against Sgolkr’s palm.

  “[Metal Shape].”

  The armor rippled and then parted. The entire front of the chest piece moved like it was trying to get away from the reptilian hand. A hole opened and spread, widening until Adam’s bare chest was reachable through it.

  “A Metallic Berserker is far superior to other kinds,” informed the invader. “We bind metal to our power. It becomes a part of us that we can control with skills. We can shape it, sharpen it, and even absorb it for our own regeneration. All the equipment in my armory was bound to me.”

  Adam grunted as the extra metal from the armor opening turned sharp and thrust into his skin. The penetration was intentionally shallow, meant by Sgolkr to torment him rather than harm him. The pain was still overshadowed by that in his soul. He was still fighting against the river, not bothering to attack or respond as he was looking to fight the berserker in a different way.

  At the lacking response from Adam, Sgolkr frowned.

  “It seems even this isn’t enough to begin absolving your sins. There really is no redemption for you.”

  With a hissing sigh, Sgolkr raised the hand that held the sword and backhanded Adam in the face. Once more Adam weakly grunted, his skin crushed and bleeding. However, Adam didn’t fall as Sgolkr held the chest armor to keep him upright and the two facing each other.

  Adam brought his face back up, his eyes ablaze as he looked at Sgolkr. The Scyrric then hit the other side of Adam’s face. Teeth chipped and his jaw broke with a crack. Yet again, Adam’s face came up and he stared into Sgolkr’s eyes. With a clinking from the broken jaw, Adam spat out blood, most of it landing on Sgolkr’s face. Fury rose in Sgolkr’s eyes as well.

  “I learned something when I was captured.” Adam’s words were a struggle with his jaw barely moving. The sound was misshapen and muffled, Sgolkr barely recognizing what was said.

  “Clearly not enough if you continue to show such rebellion. What was it you learned, aberration?”

  Adam tried to smile, but it was warped by the damage to both sides of his face.

  “How to beat a berserker…”

  “Wha…” started Sgolkr, but Adam continued over him, the next words containing a power the Scyrric would never have expected.

  “[Soul Lock]!”

  Sgolkr’s eyes grew large, and he gasped.

  When Cruxannith had suppressed Adam, she had used an ability called [Soul Freeze], a weaker version of the skill that Adam was using. It had hampered his ability to use his rage-based skills, weakening the interaction between his soul and potential skills. Even though Adam only had the memories of skills, it had still interfered with his ability to manifest the pseudo-skills.

  The stronger freezing of his soul had been done by himself in an instinctual self-defense without Adam knowing what had happened at the time. The ice that had formed had shut down the connection between his body and soul, temporarily crippling his rage until he released his self-casted soul lock.

  Yet, when living in Cruxannith’s memories of the tower and all that she had learned, Adam had opened more of the skill memories he had inherited from older Adam. [Soul Shatter] was one he had learned, which he had used on the mind witch herself. He was sure that it hadn’t worked the way the skill normally should, since he had been required to imbue her with his own energy through their soul bond before it was willing to activate.

  In the previous minute with Sgolkr, he had tried several of his soul skills, only to find the same result as when he tried back against the Scyrric Base Overseer. They had some form of protection against these skills. However, the pseudo-skill that Adam was using now didn’t need access to Sgolkr’s soul to trigger. It would latch onto a skill that was being used and would lock it, making it unusable to the target.

  Cruxannith’s [Soul Freeze] would generally affect the whole soul, while the Tier 5 skill Adam was referencing, [Soul Lock], was much stronger against a single skill. And the skill the Metallic Berserker was using right now was his connection to his bonded metal.

  “WHAT DID YOU DO?!” shouted the Scyrric.

  The arm that was holding onto Adam dropped. Sgolkr's body quivered as the weight of the thick armor became too much for him. His stats also dropped from losing his connection to the metal and the berserker benefits it provided. The large sword fell to the ground.

  Adam dropped from his grip, barely able to catch himself. His own arms used the body of Sgolkr to find balance. He needed to back away though, as the metal laden Scyrric struggled to rip off pieces of his armor. The shoulders came first, then the arm pieces. The weapon holders and belts fell. Leg panels were ripped off. Finally, the cylindrical layers on his tail were shaken off.

  Sgolkr was the one who began gasping for air.

  “How is this possible?! How can a berserker do this?!” he shrieked.

  Adam looked at him. He activated [Power Through], the pseudo-skill that would increase his own strength while reducing his intelligence based on the levels of his enemies. A huge amount of strength flowed through Adam. Even the energy leakage couldn’t prevent him from growing in power.

  Sgolkr stopped moving and stared at him in shock. Adam’s power continued to rise. The air around him superheated. The pain and physical control weren’t enough to stop Adam now.

  A roar shook the air, causing Sgolkr to cower backwards. Fear replaced everything. Adam’s eyes grew red, his skin changed color too. He hunched down like an animal ready to attack, spittle flying as he growled and moved.

  Sgolkr tried to bring his arms up to protect himself. He wanted to turn. The [Intimidation] that Adam was releasing was great enough that Sgolkr’s rage was replaced by terror.

  When Adam’s forehead connected with Sgolkr’s snout, [Arc Shockwave] triggered. The impact was enough to smash the Scyrric’s teeth and mouth. The pressure wave that followed it rattled Sgolkr’s skull and brain while also propelling his body away from Adam. His head rocketed to the ground, where the velocity caused him to rebound into the air and fly dozens of feet away.

  Adam’s chest was thrust out and once more he roared. He was a beast, ready to take on the world. Scyrric from all over the battlefield trembled when they heard that roar. Even the Sentinel Army heard it and felt fear.

  Sgolkr clumsily got to his feet, blood pouring from his destroyed face. He stared at Adam with a fear he had never known before.

  A howl came from Adam, and he locked his eyes on the Scyrric. This time there wasn’t anger, nor hate. The look was simple. Sgolkr was beneath Adam and would soon die.

  Adam took a step towards his prey. Sgolkr took a step backward, too scared to look away from the monster coming for him. A wobble shook Adam while only Sgolkr’s tail prevented him from tripping backwards. Adam took another step forward. Suddenly, his strength left him, and he fell face down into the dirt.

  Sgolkr’s eyes opened wide. He looked at Adam, then behind him to where his army was in disarray, before returning his gaze to Adam.

  The aberration must die. The Scyrric berserker began to move.