Apocalypse: Regression

Nick suppressed some pre-battle jitters as he stood just behind the top of the hill crest, a few hundred yards north of Mr. Walters, who was now nothing more than a dark silhouette against the snow-covered ground. He watched as the large man charged headlong towards the front of the supply line, Allen’s drone, ViVi, flying behind him mere inches from the ground.

"Watch him work," Nick whispered under his breath to the others.

Mr. Walters was, after all, incredibly impressive as his heavy boots crunched through the frozen crust of snow, his body as low to the ground as he could make it as he ran. His speed was far greater than what Nick had initially expected, reassuring him that Mr. Walters could successfully kite the bear.

The ursine slave driver reared up as the wind shifted and it caught the scent of something approaching. It then spotted the incoming threat.

Mr. Walters saw this and gave himself a burst of aura-enhanced speed, his legs glowing with an orange energy as he used a skill Nick hadn’t seen before. There was a cry from the snow harpies and the twenty or so dire wolves that ran at the front of the supply line as they finally noticed Mr. Walters, but it was too late. Before they could do more than turn towards the man, he was in their midst, lunging forward, the air crackling around his glowing knuckles as he unleashed the Dragon Fist of Fury into the ursine beast's midsection. There was an audible thud that resonated even above the howling wind, the impact sending shudders through the lightly falling snow.

ViVi struggled to keep up with the man, but she did her job as she flew above Mr. Walters, her speaker blaring the insults that the commander of the knights had recorded for them: "Did you roll through a thorn bush, or is that mangy fur just naturally that hideous? I've seen dung-stained carpets with more style! And I’ve seen drunk cubs with better coordination! What horrible sin did your mother commit to be cursed with such an ugly child? If your strength matched the stench of your unwashed, flea-infested coat, I might actually be worried!"

Nick could barely hear the insults from his position, but he could clearly see their effect. The giant armored bear’s eyes looked like they were going to burst out of its skull as it went mad with rage, letting loose a massive roar. Swiping with its six-inch-long claws the moment Mr. Walters got close, it tried to rip the bodybuilder’s head off, but Mr. Walters ducked and countered with a glowing punch to the creature's other side.

You’re supposed to taunt it and run Mr. Walters! Not engage! Nick wanted to yell, but he had to keep his cool and trust in the old man. His faith was immediately rewarded, too, as Mr. Walters turned on his heel and began darting eastward as fast as possible.

The bear’s loud and powerful roars seemed to translate into commands, despite it not saying any actual words, and a dozen dire wolves rallied to it as it gave chase after Mr. Walters. The veteran fighter's taunting laughter and ViVi’s continued blast of recorded insults were drowned out by the snarling horde and the loudly roaring ursine.

Nick gripped his Standard of Greatness tightly as he watched Mr. Walters led the monsters away from the supply lines, the human captives having huddled together and dropped to the ground, covering their heads with chained hands as the snow harpies, which had previously been circling around and harassing them during their march, turned curiously to watch the spectacle too.

“Alright, it’s our turn next,” Nick announced once Mr. Walters had led the bear far enough away. Mr. Walters quickly took the two items from his inventory, Topaz’s goo cartridge and Reggie’s ball of caltrops, and tossed both of them behind him.

The two items exploded instantly on contact with the ground, the caltrops and goo shooting out everywhere, making a dangerous combination. While the large ursine was wearing bone armor and bone shoes, which protected him from the caltrops, he was still slowed down a little by Topaz’s goo, the sticky substance grabbing onto his shoes. The dire wolves, however, were far less lucky. Two of them got completely taken out by simple spikes. The caltrops jabbed through their paws as they let out loud yelps before collapsing fast first into several more spikes, their bodies becoming littered with Reggie’s brutal little creations.

“Good job, super smith,” Nick said as he watched several of the wolves dying in pure agony while the others went from a fast run to a slow slog through the sticky trap field.

“Thanks, bro,” Reggie said with an ear-to-ear grin. “I even poison coated them with Topaz’s help.”

The effectiveness, clear as day, was a reminder to Nick of why he needed to invest in traps more. They were something he’d put to the wayside because, with the way power levels progressed, tools were often surpassed easily by those who wielded them, but for large battles, there was no substitute for good traps in taking out hordes.

With Mr. Walters having properly taunted the bear, and several of the dire wolves hurt or struggling as they chased after him, Nick turned to the others.

“It’s time we move out,” Nick told them, lifting his standard into the air and leading his troops into battle. Nick, his team, and the knights charged straight over the hill crest and quickly reached the remaining enemy group’s flank, the cries of the snow harpies not loud enough to be noticed across the distance as their leader continued to charge after Mr. Walters.

"Strike true and fast!" Elizabeth's voice cut through the chaos of the initial clash, the heavy wolves and harpies smashing into the shields of Nick’s team and the knights with such force that Nick himself was nearly knocked over.

Nick's control over the snow beneath his sandals made him one of the fastest among his group, and he met the lead dire wolf head on. It leapt at him, its slavering jaws wide open and poised to snap off Nick's entire head. But Nick decreased the traction beneath his sandals and dropped, sliding right under the leaping wolf and driving the sharp point of the Standard of Greatness forward, piercing the hide of the monster and driving the tip out the creature's back.

The wolf’s momentum sent it flying over Nick, where it crashed into the snow with a crunch. The standard was nearly ripped from Nick’s hands, but he held onto it as he increased the traction beneath him and pulled his weapon free.

Nick heard a snarl, and before he could turn, he saw his friends and the knights run past. Seo-ah’s spear glowed pink as she impaled the wolf that had nearly gotten Nick, a shot whizzed by as Allen hit another, two knights used their swords to slice into yet another of the white-furred beasts, and one by one, the dire wolves fell before the united might of the Nick’s friends and their knightly allies.

But the brief moment of triumph soured to dread as the snow erupted beside them. Two beams of icy blue energy shot out of the increasingly thick snow that was falling around them and hit a knight, freezing him instantly in ice.

Nick instantly recognized the ice magic as coming from some vulpes that must have been using illusion magic to hide in the snow. He retraced the direction of the blue beams of energy and used Omni-Trainer’s Insight. His eyes burned as snow hit them, but he kept them open until two forms glowed amidst the snow, notifications popping up that he immediately dismissed. Like phantoms, their presence was betrayed only by the arcane shimmer in the air as they gathered magic to attack. Beams of ice coalesced and fired from their tails, unleashed in deadly arcs toward the knights.

"Cover!" Nick shouted, but it was too late for some. Two knights, caught by the sudden assault, collapsed to the ground, their forms encased in ice.

"Allen! On me! I’ll mark the vulpes!" Nick roared as he locked eyes with the fox beasts. Their slender forms were almost lost amidst the whirl of snow and but the icy gleam around their tails let Nick see them once he knew where to look.

"Target sighted!" Nick shouted. With a burst of speed granted by his Charge skill, he lunged across the battlefield, the Standard of Greatness fluttering behind him.

The young vulpes, sensing the imminent threat, cast another volley of ice beams. But Nick quickly darted left and then right. He felt a stinging cold as one beam hit his left shoulder pauldron, but the combination of the protection from the armor and his Crown of the Mountaintop blunted the damage.

With a roar, Nick reached the closest young vulpe thrust the pike head forward, his anger easily igniting its tip with holy fire. It found its mark, plunging deep into the flank of one of the two monsters, killing it.

The second vulpe turned, its feral eyes narrowing on Nick. Nick spun, flinging the dead young vulpe away, as he brought the spear around. The tip glowed with bright holy flame again, but before Nick could strike, there was a blur as something glowing zipped past him unleashed a burst of blood as the second vulpe’s head snapped back. The monster dropped to the ground, and Nick turned to see Allen in a kneeling position, his artificer-enhanced air rifle pointed in Nick’s direction.

Nick thought they’d turned the tide in their fight until a guttural cry tore through the skies. From the line of shackled captives only a few feet from Nick, two figures burst forth, their bodies contorting, expanding. Fur bristled, muscle swelled, and where once stood chained prisoners, now loomed two adult vulpes—ten feet at the shoulder; possessed of raw, vengeful might; and sporting five deadly magic tails each.

For a moment, Nick was frozen in surprise at their appearance, and he wondered if the adult vulpes had illusion magic that was flat-out too powerful for his Omni-Trainer’s Insight to catch or if the skill wasn’t sufficiently leveled.

Whatever thoughts zipped through Nick’s mind were gone the next moment as the vulpe to his left lunged at him, a paw tipped with razor-sharp claws slashing at his head. Nick was moving before he consciously realized it. The speed enchantment on his sandals activated, and he darted towards the adult vulpe trying to kill him. The ice beneath him shifted from solid to slick under the command of his crown, allowing him to slide under the towering creature. Nick tried to stab at the beast, but his standard missed as the monster leapt forward.

Nick caught sight of the creature’s five massive tails as he dug his feet into the snow and threw himself forward out of the slide. One of the tails, thick as an oak, cut through the air where he had been a mere moment before and slammed into the ground, sending up a plume of snow. As Nick came to his feet, he saw another of the tails already swinging towards him and summoned a wall of ice from the tundra itself. It rose with a crystalline scream, blunting the force of the second strike that sought to crush him. But he knew it only bought him a few seconds. The ice splintered, a spiderweb of cracks exploding outward.

"Nick! Hold on!" Elizabeth shouted through the icy gales, sharp and clear.

Nick glanced in her direction and caught sight of the Walters siblings fighting. Elizabeth cleanly bisected one dire wolf with her purple-glowing blade while Lou kicked the last of the dire wolves right into Arnold's waiting Maul of Afterburn. The mighty weapon left trails of flame in its wake as it connected with the monster with a crunch, sending it flying through the air like Arnold had hit a home run.

Then they turned towards their next target—the other adult vulpe—and leapt over the dead dire wolves toward the creature, which barely had time to turn to face them.

As another blow nearly shattered Nick’s ice wall, Maria's command resonated, rallying the others. With her shield raised high, she led the charge against the adult vulpe that Nick was fighting.

"Forward! Protect the chosen of the Black Witch!" bellowed the knight commander. The ten knights surged ahead, their armor glinting with frost as they braced to intercept the vulpe's vicious onslaught.

Maria's commanding shout rose above the din: "Let the knights tank! Everyone else in the Ranged Kaiju attack formation!"

Adele's incantations filled the air, the litany of power wrapping around Nick and his allies like a protective shroud. Her mace glowed with a soft radiance, infusing each of them with a surge of strength that coursed through their veins.

Reggie stood beside her, his hands weaving complex patterns as he chanted words of augmentation. The buffs took hold, empowering the fighters with enhanced sharpness to their weapons.

To the left, Maria and Christina dashed toward the creature’s left flank, their blades aimed at the vulpe's powerful tails.

"Keep it distracted, Topaz and Allen!" Nick called out. Allen and Topaz nodded. A flurry of projectiles whistled through the air. A canister landed by the vulpe’s left paw, exploding into a mass of sticky white glue that tangled the limb. A rapid thumping sounded off, and then a half dozen electrified rounds hit the monster in the chest, shocking it.

Seo-ah joined Nick on the right with a wrathful expression on her face, and Nick wasn’t sure if she was angry at him for putting himself in danger or at the vulpe for trying to kill him. Together, they struck from the right side at the vulpe's tails. Nick planted the standard in the snow to keep the buff going but switched to his sword, the Blade of a Thousand Failures. Nick knew the vulpe’s weakness to flame and ignited his weapon with holy fire as he thrust and slashed.

The Vulpe roared in pain as one of its tails was severed, and it turned towards Maria, whose sword was covered in its blood. It struck out, claws raking against her shield and sending her flying backwards. She landed on her back but turned the landing into a backwards roll and was back on her feet in a moment.

The knight commander shouted, “I’ll wear your pretty white coat for a bathrobe, you toothless excuse for a fox!” The vulpe turned to him with a snarl, putting its back to Nick.

Nick didn’t miss his chance, grasping his sword in a two-handed grip and striking with blazing fire at the tail of the adult vulpe. Beside him, Seo-ah's spear flashed pink as she created three spinning saw blades with Hwarang's Blossom Fury. Between the strikes, a second and third tail were severed.

The vulpe's shrieks pierced the air, its imposing form now thrashing with desperation as it was surrounded. Each lost tail diminished its power. Its eyes flashed blue, and nearly everyone around it suddenly froze as it used an area-wide fear attack.

Only Nick, Maria, and the knight commander remained unaffected. The vulpe’s two remaining tails struck, blasting blue rays of energy. Christina and another other knight went down.

Nick’s mind raced as he saw the vulpe raise a clawed paw to strike Seo-ah. He stepped in front of her, ready to take the blow when another idea flashed through his mind. The frozen icy-blue Crown of the Mountaintop on his head disappeared and was replaced by the Crown of the Gallows.

He immediately felt the boost to his stats, his constitution skyrocketing to over 150 in a single moment. More importantly, a radiant glow of power flashed out from the crown as its Leadership Aura took effect, and more than a third of the warriors around him shook off the fear effect.

"Everyone! Pile on!" Nick commanded.

The rush of over twenty attackers when it was already vulnerable was too much for the creature. It howled as blazing blasts of holy fire burned it and aura-enhanced blades met fur and flesh. With a concerted effort, Nick and his allies severed the final two tails, decimating the creature’s offensive magical capabilities.

The beast tried to flee, to shapeshift into a horned lepus and get lost amidst the white snow falling down around them, but Nick’s fiery blade intercepted it, skewering it halfway through the transformation. It died looking like some twisted amalgamation of horned rabbit and multi-eyed fox, its blood staining the white snow beneath it.

Nick knew the fight wasn’t over yet and turned to aid the Walters siblings in their fight with the other vulpe, but it seemed like they already had had it in the bag. Elizabeth, Arnold, and Lou looked like a group of acrobatic performers, a whirlwind of force, spinning, slashing, and striking with relentless attacks. Elizabeth's sword glowed with a fierce purple fire as she somehow combined her aura with the holy fire spell, her slashes leaving lines of purple flame on the vulpe’s body. Arnold's Maul of Afterburn erupted as he struck, breaking bones and searing the creature's hide while Lou darted in and out like lightning, tangling the creature’s tails and ripping them off with pure muscular power.

Then Lou leapt around the shoulder of the creature, his open hand glowing with the signature aura of his family, extending his fingers in a blade-like fashion at the Vulpe’s throat. He stabbed, the aura blade pushing through in a shallow but precise cut, exposing a vulnerable section of the creature’s thick hide. Before the vulpe could react, Lou was gone and Arnold was already in motion. With a powerful swing, his maul struck the weakened spot, the force shattering the monster’s trachea and rupturing a major blood vessel in one brutal blow.

As the creature staggered, blood pooling in the snow, Elizabeth darted forward with a fierce cry, her blade flashing as she aimed for the vulnerable space on the vulpe’s throat, the moment her the tip of her blade entered, she pivoted and sliced, tearing through the fur and flesh on her first rotation. The second rotation bit deeper, and the impact severed the vulpe’s neck completely, its head snapping back as the rest of its enormous body crumpled lifelessly into the snow, steam rising from the gaping wounds.