The Original Beefcake

His Burst jump catapulted Marcus at rapid speed towards the heinous wyrm, but it wasn't enough. The monster moved with great agility, and by the time Marcus reached his target, the beast had moved another 10 meters away. Marcus hit the snow cursing under his breath, and sprinted after the monster, while he prepared one of his 15% Impulse Wave surprises. Continuous weapon fire from Hammond and Janette caused only minor damage to the monster's wings, but drew its ire.

Before Marcus could reach the wyrm, it accelerated towards the back line once again. Its powerful legs pushed the 20 meter long body forward with ease, and the damage dealers had to reposition to avoid getting torn apart. "Hammond, I need some speed here," Marcus said, and a few seconds later he could feel the difference. Hammond's spirit Skittles had grown stronger over the last years and Marcus was now moving at twice his normal speed.

The roaring of the wyrm and Hammond's heavy machine gun echoed from the mountains, while Marcus tried to catch up with the fast moving combat. Marcus watched as a combination attack from Rita and Carlos crossed the wyrm's plan to make Janette his next meal. Rita's combined fragments had formed into a deadly spear, and she aimed at the monster's chest, but failed to cause serious damage.

At the same time, Carlos cut a bloody gash into the monster's flank. The response was a leg kicked against Carlos, and only his great speed saved the Spaniard from a fate like Grace. The wyrm was enraged and it snapped after Carlos several times, but the man was too fast on his feet. With large strides Marcus closed the distance from the back of the enemy and his target was one of the hind legs. The wyrm suddenly shifted, and Marcus could see the beast turning its flexible body towards him.

For a moment, Marcus stared directly into the face of the monster, its head was barely two meters away from him. He Burst jumped to the left and escaped the closing maw by centimeters. Marcus hit the ground and rolled to the side, but no follow up attack came. The wyrm had turned around again, to attack Carlos. The fallen Titan jumped up again and looked at the raging beast for a moment. Instead of going for a safe attack, the beast had chosen to engage with the enemies behind it. Could it be…? Xeen, who had read his thoughts, commented: It is possible. Monsters have their own peculiarities. You can test it easily enough.

Marcus started running again, but this time not directly towards the beast but at an angle. As he came into reach of the bladed tail, it snapped around and nearly sliced Marcus apart. The giant head of the wyrm had turned to him again and the thing watched him with its sharp reptile eyes. Marcus continued to sprint through the dense snow, running in a large circle around the monster. A technique he had used before against the Huba, but for very different reasons. At about 20 meters distance he circled around the beast and every time he moved in the dead zone behind the monster, the head turned around and the beast orientated itself to keep him in view. After a few seconds the others realized what was going on and took advantage of the behavior.

While the Titan played the bait, the rest prepared their attacks. The moment the wyrm turned again they struck hard. A wave of attacks tore the left wing apart and left it in bloody rags. The giant beast roared, and Marcus saw the maw opening wider than ever before. The wyrm had unhinged its jaw and he could see the strangely metallic inside of the mouth. All alarm sirens in his head shrilled, and even before the body of the wyrm had started to pulse, he knew that something horrible was about to happen. The monster leaned forward and the open maw aimed straight at Marcus, he Burst jumped to the side but the monster adjusted its stance.

A fraction of a second before the deadly attack, Janette's railgun hit the right eye of the beast and it exploded into mush. The sudden and painful hit made the monster flinch, and that saved Marcus's life. He never saw the attack coming, because there was nothing to see. From one moment to the other he felt horrific pain in his right arm and shoulders and then he was thrown around like a leaf in the wind.

There was no fire, but something exploded and threw him a dozen meters to the ground. Screaming for pain that the bracers could hardly reduce, he rolled to the side and looked at his arm. It was barely more than skeletal remains. Most of the flesh was stripped from it, together with the armor. The damage went up to his shoulder and abruptly ended there. With tears in his eyes he watched his arm reform, while a hurricane of voices came from the com line.

Still suffering, Marcus tried to get back up again. Carlos was suddenly next to him, giving him a helping hand. The expression on the face of the man was that of horror and relief. "What the hell was that?" Carlos asked, and Marcus shook his head, still clenching his teeth while his arm and shoulder returned to him. Once the pain was gone, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to take a few calming breaths. Carlos was already gone, fighting against the wyrm.

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"Marcus, what is your status?" It was Grace's voice, at least something good had happened. "I am alright, but…." Marcus took note of the mess around him. The whole area looked like a bomb had exploded. Several meters of snow had been blown away and a five meter wide and one meter deep line had been carved into the ice beneath. "… don't get hit by that," Marcus said, with a weak voice.

Now that Grace was back in action, she took the command again and ordered everybody to concentrate on the legs and claws. "We need to strip it of its mobility. It can no longer fly and next we make it a sitting duck," she said, and the raid acknowledged. Marcus took stock of his reserves and estimated about 80% endurance was left in the tank. He started running again, with a grim expression on his face. While he closed in on the monster, he started to compress 50% of his endurance into a disk of red, raging vengeance.

I will not try to convince you otherwise, but that is a risky gamble.

We can't let this monster fire another of these attacks. Nobody can survive a hit from whatever that was.

Yes, it is a nasty type of attack. High power, concentrated radiation is deadly to most organic beings. Still, I would not have expected such a deadly ability on a mere second stage monster.

Hearing Xeen's words made it clear to Marcus what happened. All water in the range of the attack had been instantly overheated and turned into gas. That explained the explosion and why his arm had been torn to shreds.

Marcus relayed the information to the others, and watched how Grace and Carlos used the dead zone, created by the destroyed eye, to carve into the monster's legs. Maybe he wouldn't need to use his Impulse Wave, he thought. Weakened and slower than before, concentrated fire from the ranged team members left deep scars on the head and neck of the wyrm. Meanwhile, Carlos and Grace crippled one of the mighty legs.

It was in that moment, that they got a bit too assured of their imminent victory, and Carlos paid the price. The bladed tail swung around and skewered the man from behind, lifting him from the ground before slamming him down again. Blood colored the snow red, and the monster turned to the fallen warrior. The still working wing claw moved forward to tear the injured man apart.

At the same moment Marcus approached the monster from the dead angle. He had no time to think or come up with a great plan, he ran right up to the already broken wing, and hammered everything he got into the weakened wing. A mighty boom sound accompanied the release of the Impulse Wave and it echoed for a long time between the mountain sides. 50% of his endurance was far more than his body could withstand, and for the second time this day, his right arm was obliterated. He flew through the air and rolled through the snow, clenching his teeth to suppress his screams. Marcus could hear the enraged roaring of the wyrm and knew his reckless attack had some success at least.

Ten seconds after his fall, Marcus was back up again, but so was the wyrm.

The damaged wing was completely gone and thick red blood covered the flank of the monster. And yet, it still moved. Marcus saw Candis and Janette treating Carlos with potions and Healing Hands some distance away, but he wasn't sure if it was enough. A part of him wanted to finish the horrible monster, but another reminded him what was more important. Marcus sprinted to the two women and prayed the rest would be able to seal the deal. He arrived next to the motionless man and Candis Linked him as soon as he crouched next to her. Candis' face was covered in sweat and a grimace of absolute concentration distorted her visage. Marcus saw Carlos' wounds and knew he had made the right decision.

A few seconds later, Janette left them and returned to the battlefield. From his position, Marcus saw Grace dancing around the fangs of the wyrm. The blood of the mighty monster had formed a large circle on the ground and Alistair had joined Grace in melee. Marcus could see the wounds of the beast violently boiling, as the empowered Blood Mage made the monster suffer for its vile actions.

Precise fire from Janette aggravating the wounds further, weakening the monster greatly. Grace used the opportunity to literally kick the head of the wyrm with thunderous strength. The impact made it drop to the ground. A moment later, the glowing silver blade sliced through the thick throat like a knife through butter. The beast shook and gasped before it finally stopped moving. There was no cheering this time around, just exhausted silence.

Marcus turned back to Candis, she looked a lot more relaxed right now, "He will make it, but it was close. Without you…." And she left the sentence unfinished. Rita was the first to reach them. She went onto her knees, holding Carlos' hand in her own. "There better be a giant pile of gold and jewels down there," Janette said, and conjured a lot of smiles on worn faces. Five minutes later Carlos opened his eyes and the battle with the evolved wyrm was now a complete victory. They all had leveled up, too. A testament to the power of the slain monster.

The aftermath of the battle saw Carlos being carried back to the trucks, while Hammond started to inspect the wyrm carcass. Somehow Marcus wasn't surprised that the man had some expertise in farming monster parts. He seemed to be the Swiss Army Knife of the raid. "We should harvest the teeth, claws and if possible the heart. An evolved wyrm heart doesn't even have a market price, it is that rare," Hammond explained, and looked positively chipper. "Looks like your super sized freezer will already come into use Hammond," Alistair said. After a confused look from Marcus he explained that Hammond had been adamant about installing a large freezer in one of the new trucks, to transport monster parts. "We had several cases, when we had to leave good materials behind, because we couldn't cool them," Alistair explained.

Janette and Rita guarded the area while the rest quickly butchered the wyrm. Along the way, the scientists joined them. Malcolm made some interesting observations that made them preserve some additional parts. Especially the organic electrical conductors, which were part of the radiation attack of the monster, looked promising. "At the very least, some science groups around the world will be thrilled to investigate them," Carmen said, and Marcus could see her eyes glow with a dangerous light. That women will use this to gain some important favors for sure, Marcus thought.

As they finished up, a few soft snowflakes started to land on the remains of the once mighty beast. Marcus watched the body slowly vanish beneath the snow over the next minutes, and Xeen began to recite a poem in his own language. As he listened a deep sadness started to fill Marcus's heart, and he couldn't tell if it was his own.