RISE OF THE SWARM

Khurzak stood up, his face half-melted, a toothy grin plastered over it. He laughed, though it sounded more like a wheezing cough than any laughter.

Horizon lifted a metaphorical eyebrow. Any normal orc would have already died two times over from such an attack, yet Khurzak shrugged it off, laughing as if he had been hit with a pebble.

Horizon glanced down at the sentinel that had fired the shot; it knelt on the ground, sections of its armor growing red hot. Steam rose from cracks in its armor. It was severely overheating. It would be out of this battle for quite some time.

Khurzak roared. A green energy surrounded his melted face, slowly but surely beginning to heal it. It was slow due to the nature of the plasma damage, but it would, in time, heal over.

Khurzak lunged. His movements were a blur, way too fast for a creature of that size. He appeared in front of his broadsword. He heaved it out of the ground. Pointing it at Horizon, he dashed again, his sword held in a stabbing motion.

The runes on the sword glowed, mana rushing to the blade, enhancing the attack.

The sentinels moved. Three of them rushed forward, propelled by jet boots. Their energy swords glowed even brighter. The two forces collided; a huge energy wave erupted at their point of impact, knocking both sides back.

Khurzak stabbed his sword into the ground, stopping his skid. He looked up, his eyes growing even greener. The sentinels crashed into a nearby wall, the force from the impact a bit too strong.

<Detecting moderate damage to the sentinels.>

Horizon looked over. Sparks came from the arm joints of the sentinels, their energy blades flickering on and off. Damaged but still functional, Horizon thought.

He looked at Khurzak. He was stronger than Horizon had accounted for. If things were going to continue like this, he might have to intervene. Time to change strategies.

Horizon raised his hand. The sentinels responded in unison. They jumped back, fanning out around their enemy. Missile pods popped out from their armor; they aimed, ready to fire. But it wasn't Khurzak that was their target.

They fired. Khurzak flinched, expecting to be the target, but the expected attack never arrived. He looked up to see the missiles streaming upwards. The missiles collided with the ceiling in a large explosion that caused the chamber to quake violently.

Rock debris fell onto the battlefield, bringing up huge dust clouds. Once it settled, a whole new scene was unveiled. All across the floor, large rock pieces lay scattered. Khurzak was too fast despite his size; the rocks would help with that issue by slowing him down significantly.

Khurzak snorted. Did they really think these rocks would be an obstacle for him? A hissing sound interrupted his thoughts. His head swiveled in a certain direction. A sentinel was on all fours, on its back a plasma cannon charging up, ready to attack.

It fired prematurely upon seeing that it was noticed. Khurzak quickly brought up his sword, supporting it with all four of his arms. The plasma shot landed on the sword; a bright flash of light occurred at the point of impact. As the light slowly faded, Khurzak stood heaving. His sword had taken the brunt of the damage, while he only suffered some minor burns which would heal in no time. He looked at his sword; multiple cracks had formed on its surface, the runes having faded completely.

"I guess it's time I get serious."

Khurzak threw his sword to the side, lodging it into the nearby wall. He spread out his arms wide as green, glowing veins began popping out along his skin. A grin appeared on his face as he began laughing maniacally.

Horizon observed all of this with feigned curiosity. This was the same thing that had happened to the orc chieftain earlier. He had sacrificed his sanity for a large boost in strength. It seemed Khurzak had done the same thing. A green aura wafted from Khurzak.

With a smile, he vanished. He instantly reappeared in front of the sentinel that had fired the plasma shot. He grabbed onto its limbs with his four arms. He began pulling at the sentinel's limbs. With a snap, he separated the limbs from the body. The body burst into a rain of sparks as a black, oil-like substance fell onto Khurzak's body.

With a smile, he went after the other sentinels. Try as they might to dodge and fight back, their attacks were useless. Their bullet rounds bounced off Khurzak's body like rubber, while their blades barely left a shallow cut.

Khurzak laughed as he killed off the sentinels one by one. Soon, no sentinels were left. Metal arms and legs were scattered over the ground. A black, oily substance bathed Khurzak's body. He smiled as he turned to his last opponent: Horizon.

He vanished, appearing in front of Horizon, towering over him. He smiled, clutching Horizon's head and lifting him up to meet his eye level.

<Engage combat protocols?> his inner system rang.

No need replied Horizon.

Khurzak laughed as he began squeezing Horizon's head. Horizon clutched the arm. His form slowly began to turn liquid as he began covering Khurzak's arm.

Khurzak watched in confusion as the silver liquid began flowing over his arm. Soon Horizons entire figure turned liquid as it stuck over the arm. Khurzak tried shaking it off but to no avail.

The liquid began to move, spreading over his body. It began to dig into his skin entering his body. Khurzak watched on in horror as he was unable to do anything. He could feel as the liquid squirmed around in his body as if searching for something.

Soon the squirming stopped. Khurzak keeled over as he felt the liquid travelling up towards his head. He opened his mouth as silver liquid began to pour onto the ground.

He looked in horror as the liquid began to transform into the figure he saw before in its hands a a large green crystal.

The last words he heard were.

"Just as I thought."