NOVEL NEXT B2 Chapter 41
Angar spun into Tempest's maelstrom, his maul a graviton-charged whirlwind, its head slamming into the Lieutenant-captain.
Most strikes, infused with an Energy Point, erupted in a crackling storm, followed by yellowish lightning searing into the colossus's bio-armor, conduits flaring blue-green as they struggled to knit shut.
The Crawlers lunged, their biomechanical tentacles coiling around Angar's legs and torso, not tearing free like the Harmongulan's, but dragging their massive, spherical cores toward him.
The living metal tightened, crushing against his Crusader Armor, but its toughness coupled with Tempest's 90% damage mitigation held firm, the HUD showed no additional cracks or breaches registering.
Then pain exploded in his left side, where nanites had eaten through his armor's plating, leaving gaping holes exposed.
A Crawler's core split open, revealing a maw of grinding, bio-metal teeth that chomped into his exposed flesh, its own strange-ichor mingling with blood. Angar hadn't known these unholy machines even had mouths.
His lightning arced backward, forking into the Crawlers' cores, sparking crimson diodes, but they clung relentlessly, wrapping tighter, squeezing, chomping.
The Lieutenant absorbed blow after blow, a gene-forged champion of Heresy, its laser turrets blazing crimson beams that scorched the Crawlers wrapped around him as much as Angar himself.
On his next spin, Angar targeted the Reptiloid's left shoulder turret, his maul's head jostling it with a metallic crunch. Each rotation hammered it again, and again, until the turret shattered in a spray of bio-circuitry, its beams silenced.
He tried targeting the right shoulder turret but couldn't, as the Lieutenant's head blocked his strike. Instead, he aimed for the helm.
Soon after, Tempest faded, its energy spent, leaving Angar standing in the bridge's acrid haze.
As soon as the spin ended, he activated Lightning Strike, the shield bursting near instantly under the Crawler's crushing tentacles.
As he had activated the Ability, his left gauntlet seized the biting Crawler's core, the hydraulics in his Crusader Armor whining as he squeezed.
The bio-metal resisted, then buckled, crushing in his palm with a loud screech, sending sparks and ichor bursting free.
The second Crawler clung to his back, its core unreachable. The Lieutenant's massive fist rocked Angar's frame, a combo of bioelectric-charged blows rattling his vision.
He grabbed a tentacle of the remaining Crawler, yanking it with a roar, ripping it free as he hopped and weaved, dodging laser and bio-plasma volleys, thankful for the three seconds of damage mitigation Lightning Strike left after its shield burst.
As he ran, he battered the Crawler against the deck and consoles, each slam sparking but doing little to truly damage it.
The last Reptiloid crewman had moved, cowering in the bridge's far corner, its bio-plasma rifle spitting fire from safety.
Angar sprinted, vaulting consoles and machinery, his tripod-foot crunching debris. The Ruler-caste dropped its weapon, raising clawed hands in surrender, but Angar's bloodlust burned hotter than mercy. It stumbled backward, tripping onto the deck, its hands raised feebly as his Crura Agiliora descended.
The cybernetic leg's tripod-foot smashed through its skull with a wet, satisfying crunch, sending green ichor splattering the consoles.
Angar wheeled back to the fight, dragging the second Crawler still, using it to block the Lieutenant's remaining turret.
He ran around the outside of the whole bridge, banging the Crawler, using it as a shield as the tentacles lashed out at him, until he was on the opposite side.
When the helm stood between him and the Lieutenant, the bio-metal bastion blocking the captain's pursuit, Angar rushed forward, slamming the Crawler against it, the impact reverberating through his arm.
As it hit, he released the writhing machine, and lunged as it skittered away, grabbing the core and squeezing.
The Crawler's core exploded in a shower of sparks, its diodes flickering out as it collapsed, lifeless.
Pausing, given this brief moment of peace, Angar glanced at his left side. The nanite-ravaged flesh was a ruin, blood and ichor oozing from jagged bites, the skin red and rash-covered, blood speckles pushing out of skin.
The Lieutenant must've sent new nanites, Angar was almost certain, burrowing deeper, their fire lancing through his hip and groin.
And now his left gauntlet's armor was being eaten through, and his hand burning beneath. A hand he usually felt little sensation from too.
But this was no time for weakness or whining. As it ticked off cooldown, he triggered Lightning Strike, a crackling shield of electricity cloaking him, infused another Energy Point into his hammer, and charged the Lieutenant as it emerged from behind the helm.
His maul crashed into the colossus, the graviton pulse knocking it off balance and stumbling. Seizing the opening, Angar vaulted onto its back, his tripod-foot gripping into the somehow breathing bio-armor.
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He tore at the right shoulder turret, his jaw clenching and armor's hydraulics screaming as he ripped it free in a burst of conduits and bio-circuitry, casting it to the deck with a clang.
The Lieutenant roared, the bellow shaking the bridge, and jumped up and backwards.
Angar tried rolling free before he hit the ground, but the beast latched onto him, and landed on him with a bone-rattling thud.
The two remaining combatants rolled away and stood at the same time.
Staring at Angar, the Lieutenant drew a hilt that buzzed into a power sword, then turned it off, tossing it on the ground. It looked at Angar with a challenge in its glowing eyes.
It shrugged its shoulders with its hands out to the side, asking if Angar accepted the challenge.
Angar nodded, placing the runed head of his hammer on the ground, the haft sticking up in the air.
Then the slugfest began, a clash of Divine wrath against profane might, a crucible worthy of the Litany of Heroes. Both warriors stood, throwing punches with all their might, rocking each other's frames with titanic blows.
A fist clocked Angar square on the helm, rattling his head and sending him tumbling.
He dropped to the deck, his gauntlets raised, as the Lieutenant's clawed fists swung with bioelectric fury.
A hook swooshed by his helm, but Angar's right fist battered into the follow-up left, the impact jarring even through the armor and the dull sensation of his knuckles, causing the Reptiloid to roar.
He stood, stepped in, and threw a chambered punch to the Lieutenant's chest, the thud echoing around the bridge.
The beast's bio-armor sparked, the conduits flaring, and it lashed out with a double-fisted slam, aiming to crush Angar's skull.
He sidestepped, causing the nanite pain to scream, and swung his fist upward, catching the Lieutenant's jaw, snapping its helm back.
The colossus staggered but lunged forward, its claws raking Angar's side, tearing into the nanite-ravaged and exposed flesh.
Blood sprayed, his HUD flashing red, but Angar roared out, throwing his fists.
The bridge became their arena, with consoles cratering under errant blows, the deck slick with ichor and blood.
Angar's cybernetic leg propelled him into a spinning strike, his tripod-foot and fists hammering the Lieutenant's flank, each hit a thunderclap of righteous fury.
The Lieutenant lunged in with a knee to Angar's chest, the bio-armor's strength denting the compromised plating, bruising ribs and nearly stealing his breath.
He rolled backward, then charged again, his armored foot flying up and cracking against his opponent's head. As his foot returned to the floor, his fists arced in a two-handed overhead smash.
The Lieutenant caught the fists in one of its massive claws, its strength monstrous, and drove a punch into Angar's gut, the nanites' fire exploding into blazing agony.
Angar's vision blurred, but his eyes locked onto his foe's molten-red eyes.
The Lieutenant lashed out, its claws like a relentless whirlwind. Angar blocked what he could, finally getting ahold of an arm. But the beast's free hand caught the exposed side once more, shredding flesh.
Angar roared as blood sprayed again, then his knee raised to block the next slash. He twisted around, still holding the Reptiloid's arm, bringing his enemy's elbow down over his armored shoulder, snapping the joint.
Now it was the beast's turn to scream out in pain.
Angar spun, tackling the colossus. He mounted its chest, one knee over its good arm, raining blows down at its squirming helm, the red blazing, the armor breathing, seemingly healing damage as soon as it was done.
Punch after punch after punch, his gauntlets cracked against the Reptiloid's living armor as the unholy monster bucked and screamed, helpless.
As the damage mounted, the healing slowed, and soon the thuds hit a little flesh, then a little more.
Angar saw it this time. The release of a nano swarm.
But he missed the Lieutenant's massive claw squirming around Angar's cybernetic ankle, its gene-forged strength wrenching with savage force.
With a roar, the colossus twisted and hurled Angar, slamming him into the deck with a bone-jarring crash. The bridge shuddered, consoles sparking as the Reptiloid rose to its knees, then towered upright, its molten-red eyes blazing with defiance.
Angar's vision flickered, the nanite-fueled agony screaming through his hip and groin, but the challenge was over. The Lieutenant's nano-swarm release marked Angar's victory in their brutal duel.
As the beast went to smash him again, he triggered Ground Current, his form dissolving into a blur of charged particles, reappearing behind the Reptiloid in a crackle of static and a lightning bolt.
His drill-toes whirred, slamming into the Lieutenant's spine with a screech of tearing bio-metal. The Reptiloid's bellow shook the bridge, its conduits flaring blue-green as it staggered.
It spun, diving at Angar with a tackle, its claws outstretched. They collided in a storm of fury, grappling across the shattered deck.
Angar's fists pounded the Lieutenant's chest and helm, each strike a thunderclap of righteous wrath, each blow a tribute, each drop of blood a tithe for the Lord.
The beast's bioelectric claws raked his Crusader Armor, arcs scorching the galvornium steel, but his Lightning Strike shield flared, absorbing the worst of the assault.
A mess of shrapnel flew as machinery cratered, the foes trading blows as they rolled.
Once untangled and standing, Angar ducked a double-fisted slam, rolled backwards, and seized his maul from the deck.
Infusing an Energy Point, he swung, the graviton-charged head smashing into the Lieutenant's helm. The featureless mask cracked, exposing a glimpse of the scaled horror beneath.
The beast roared, its claws lashing out, but Angar parried with the hammer's giant head, the impact jarring his bones and causing the Reptiloid to cry out.
He kicked, sending his drill-toes boring into the Lieutenant's thigh, shredding bio-armor in a spray of sparks. The colossus twisted, forcing Angar to hop sideways, his balance faltering.
Seizing the opportunity, the Lieutenant's backhand crashed into Angar's helm, sending him skidding across the deck. His tripod-foot caught in a pitted grating, halting his slide but toppling him with a groan of tortured metal.
Nanite pain surged, threatening to drown him, but Angar spat blood into his helm and rose, his hammer raised high.
He roared, charging once more, determination and resolve burning in his chest.
The Reptiloid tried to dodge, but the maul's arc was inevitable, crashing onto its diving form, catching its shoulder with a resounding crack, knocking it to the deck, on its belly, right in front of Angar.
Infusing more Energy, he struck again. The hammer fell, this time on the back of its head. Then again, the same spot. And again, each hit pulping bio-metal and flesh.
And again. And again, until the head was just a pulped mess of metal and flesh writhing around, the healing faltering, as if unsure how to reform.
He had enough Thunder built up for his newly improved Capstone. His drill-toes blazed, kicking deep into the back of the Lieutenant's neck. The whirring blades bored through sick flesh, sending strange ichor spraying out in torrents.
He drove his foot deeper, relentless, until the colossus stopped squirming, until the writhing mess of flesh almost stilled.
For good measure, his hammer dropped once more, this time infused with Glory Thunders, blowing the corpse apart.
With the captain's death, the bridge's portal groaned open, healing warmth flooded Angar's ravaged hip, groin, and hand, and a message from Theosis flashed across his eyes, heralding his triumph.