Drake drew inspiration from Han's fight against Kuweii and Marun' Dune. His senses were stretched and focused to their limit as he was forced to deflect, dodge, defend, and counterattack against three opponents now.
The red insectoid alone should have been a good fight for Drake, but his status boosting skills allowed him to simply overwhelm it. However with the addition of two assassin type insects now joining the fray it was a different story.
Each one of the invisible opponents could easily end the fight if Drake was caught off guard.
Thankfully, Drake's assault on the red insectoid had already done its damage as it stood clearly injured a few feet away.
His arms moved in a blur as he was forced to use his aura and mana senses to identify where the invisible assassins were.
The insects had learned from before. Drake could flex his aura and remove beneficial buffs and skills adding them to his own. However, his aura's effects only worked every several minutes and were currently on cooldown after using it on the swarm.
His aura's potency and pressure would work, but the stripping effect would do nothing to help him reveal the assassins for now.
Normally Drake would feel frustrated at being backed into a corner, but now? Now he grinned, a light chuckle escaping his lips as the invisible blades slowly chipped away at his gauntlets.
The shift in mentality was something that was always there, slowly creeping in ever since he first changed his race. But now he was welcoming it.
After all, there was still so much to learn. To improve on. He had seen what a top tier E-Rank was capable of and Drake knew very well it was still far from Han's peak abilities.
Drake could only imagine, no, anticipate what Han would be capable of at later S-Rank. What he himself would be if he continued to grow and test himself.
It was euphoric.
His flurry of exchanges with the assassin insects were pushing his senses further and further until it felt like he could no more. But all Drake could think about, could feel, was the anticipation of how he would overcome this fight. How he would go on to fight even stronger foes.
Somehow the battle became more intense, Drake feeling a third figure approach him from behind, another invisible assassin's blade swiftly coming down. And it was aiming right for the unconscious passenger on his back.
Drake made the snap decision. He couldn't let Han die.
Turning he raised his guard, successfully stopping the blow. But in doing so opened himself up to a counter attack.
Even as he moved to dodge the next strike, Drake was sure he would not be fast enough. Flashes of his fight against Stewart in the tutorial crossed his mind as he felt the serrated edge cut through his arm.
Instead of immediately recoiling and retreating. Drake doubled down, using the blood spatter to paint the surroundings crimson and revealing the three assassins.
Sweat beat his brow while he grinned ear to ear.
"Just cover them in red paint. Why didn't I just think of that earlier," Drake spat, his remaining left hand opening palm up as three shards of ice formed, "This was the day you almost killed Captain Drake-"
But Drake was cut short, jumping into the air as three sickle like appendages came down on where he was just standing. A trail of red following close behind him into the air.
With precision, Drake's shards of ice flew from his hand, striking each assassin somewhere on their body.
Clenching his hand Drake forced more mana into the shards, permafrost cascading over their bodies. However the ice did not pierce the insectoids, the ice latched onto the warm blood, freezing the liquid instantly and turning them into makeshift shackles.
Drake's hand opened again, a black flame replacing the ice shards as he smeared the flame against his right shoulder stub.
Wincing, Drake snapped his fingers again, a well practiced arm of earth forming on his shoulder.
Looking down he saw the three insectoids struggle to free themselves, jerking their bodies in every direction and one of them slashing at their own feet. The red insectoid chosen running to their aid but to no avail.
Drake raised his earthen arm towards the sky, the arm extending a small shard of dirt that suddenly burst open and grew.
He dumped his status into the quickly growing ball of earth, it expanding and rumbling as it churned in on itself, condensing further and further.
A fiery red glow suddenly began to emanate from the center, shining through the crust of the massive ball.
A burst of wind magic began spinning at Drake's feet as he angled himself downward, the ball of heated earth moving in between him and the swarm.
"Battle Cantabile!"
The spinning wind exploded at his feet, shooting him forward as he roared.
"Jupiter!"
The spell collided with the earth below, crushing everything and everyone beneath it as Drake forced the wind at his feet to continue pushing him forward, squashing the hulking mass of earth into the ground.
The enormous ball melded together with the ground below, producing more heat as Drake pushed it further and further into the ground.
Drake finally relented as notifications began pouring in.
You've killed Cealzar Ichor Level 40, temporary experience earned.
Experience stored.
You've killed Lichor Uruk' Level 40, temporary experience earned.
Experience stored.
You've killed Nail Trekian Level 40, temporary experience earned.
Experience stored.
…
He landed on top of the huge protrusion he had created, the ground below him still cooling down as steam wisped off the earth.
Breathing in and letting out an exhale he jumped casually off the mound, the red insectoid half dead and struggling to free itself from under the earthen tomb.
Drake looked down, his right arm crackling with gravely timber as his hand closed and opened palm facing the clambering insect.
"Crushed to death," Drake said calmly, a condensed bullet of earth forming at the base of his open palm, "An appropriate death for a bug wouldn't you say?"
The next moment the bullet shot forward expanding just moments before impact, crushing the last insect beneath it.
You've killed Redban Moore Level 40, temporary experience earned.
Experience stored.
Drake stumbled forward slightly, his hands bracing himself against the mound he had created catching his fall. He had gotten a little carried away, but defeating these E-Ranks was far easier than the first chosen he had killed.
He had lost an arm for his troubles, however, to win this fight it was a necessary sacrifice.
Drake bent down, picking up the glass stone that winked into existence at his feet, the sound of the endless swarm growing closer once more as they came to reinforce the defeated soldiers.
Taking in another deep breath, Drake's arms were set ablaze once more.
"It's going to take me a while to get back, isn't it?"
—---
"Vale! Don't fall behind damn it!" Ganeer roared, Gnobin and Silvester fighting off what parts of the swarm they could.
Vale hurried behind them, her healing skills going full blast as she heaved in deep ragged breaths.
Once they had separated from Drake and Tan it was a clear shot back to the staging area they had come from. However, they were quickly found by the swarm or what seemed to be the rest of a part of it.
Thankfully, there were no chosen in this group. Perhaps they were more concentrated closer to the titans that were further in from them.
Regardless, the remnants of the swarm that they were stuck in constant skirmishes with had hindered them for well over two weeks as they pushed through them.
"Gods be damned! There really is no end to them! We kill hundreds just for thousands more to take their place! What I would give for that golden haired pair of bastards right now!" Gnobin growled, his claws ripping an insect in half.
Silvesters chain tied around a group of taller stick-like insects as he pulled with a roar, the chains bisecting them as he yanked the ball at the end back.
"No use crying over spilled milk! We must get back to the camp first! We are no good dead," Silvester hissed.
"Will both you sissies shut the fuck up already! Can't remember the last time I had some damn quiet!" Ganeer laughed as he swung down with his glaive, splitting a purple insect in half the blade carving the ground beneath like butter.
Their group was becoming wary and worn down. It was obvious and was only a matter of time. Even on their previous excursions and missions they had never faced such prolonged fights, or at least Vale hadn't.
Ganeer had been with Tan since before she had joined and they seemed to have more than just one secret between them.
She clicked her tongue, renewing his healing on the group as well as her AOE buff. But even with her beneficial magic she didn't know how much they would last. They needed rest, they needed a moment to breathe.
Every one had already exhausted their recovery items as well as the steroids that they loathed using.
Vale rattled her brain for what to do, but nothing came.
The forest seemed to close in as the swarm had no end in sight. Her eyes followed the other three's backs as they slashed, clawed, and cleaved at the endless army of buzzing insectoids.
Was this the end? She thought for the nth time that day.
But the banter between the three continued and she couldn't help but feel a smile tug at her lips.
"This isn't such a poor end for people like us is it..?" she whispered.
Despite everything, if she was to leave the world right now, it wouldn't be the worst ending. At least she would die around friends, comrades she had fought with through thick and thin for some time now.
She just wished she could at least beat those stupid Asurans over their dumb golden heads a few times for dragging her into this crap.
Vale's smile turned into a frown.
"I'm not dying until I smack those burning idiots with a dwarven hammer!" she growled, raising her fan into the air, "Kill those insects you three! What's taking you all so long, we have places to be damn it-"
Vale's eyes turned just as she saw the serrated edge come into view, going as wide as saucers.
Just when I was determined to live a little bit longer. I swear I'm going to come back and haunt those two burning idiots! She screamed internally.
However the blade froze just inches from her face. The bladed arm shook with effort as the assassin was removed from its invisibility, frothing at the mandibles.
"Sorry miss, is this guy bothering you?" a voice sounded behind her.
Vale turned, seeing two unlikely faces.
"Tan? Drake? I mean, it's Han now or..?" she somewhat stammered in disbelief.
Looking at the two, they were much more unrecognizable than before.
Both their hair lengths had grown to nearly dragging on the ground. Drake's eyes remained blue giving an ethereal feel to his face. Han on the other hand, had not gone back to looking like the captain she remembered, instead remaining the fierce looking Asuran she had seen just before turning tail and running with the rest of the squad.
Han had ankle length golden hair, blood crimson ruby eyes brimming with power. Two golden gauntlets connected by chains gave off a fierce aura of power that made her shiver, lines of fiery red carving moving images within the material. His armor was dirtied and tattered in some places but still remained oddly regal by Asuran standards.
She looked at Drake again. His body and armor was a stark contrast. Even more were the limbs he was missing. Replacing his right arm was a deep black earthen magic form, his left leg cut and replaced just above the knee by the same. The silver gauntlets she had seen him fighting with before were all but gone and replaced with his bare hands covered in several layers of raw mana and magic. His face and exposed skin all peppered with fresh scars and marks.
"What the hell happened to you two?"
Drake shrugged, his earthen arm turning into a blazing spike of lighting, fire and earth as he slammed it into the chest of the assassin.
"There were quite a few chosen on the way here that held me up," he chuckled lightly, then pointed straight to Han, "And this idiot decided to pass out for a whole fucking week! I lost two damn limbs trying to keep him from getting stabbed, sliced, bitten, or worse! A week! A whole week! Can you believe that!"
Vale could swear she saw Han's ears turn a slight shade of red as he replied.
"It was not that long. His tales of my incapacitation were greatly exaggerated. We have also returned in time to join the rest of the group. Let us focus on the present for now, there is still a long way to go and we must hope that the base camp is still there to allow us off world."
Drake sighed, "Can you believe this guy? Makes me carry him for like two weeks like a sack of rocks. Heavy rocks I might add and that's all he has to say. You better replace my god damn gauntlets when we get back. I can't exactly keep fighting with magic here, remember?"
Vale couldn't help but snicker seeing the two but moved to place her hand on Drake's chest.
"Here, I am a little exhausted myself, but I can help restore your arm and leg back. It must have been a tough time not knowing if you could get them back for all that time," she said with a hint of fright at the thought herself.
Drake smiled, "Not really. It was a pretty familiar. Wasn't the first time I had to go without Martha. Or wait, was her name Lucy?"
"Y-you named your appendages…?" Vale said, her brows scrunching as she helped him to the ground to heal him.
"You don't?"
Vale shook her head, finding Drake even more incomprehensible than before. Han blurring out of vision as he essentially teleported to the others, surprising them for a moment before they began clearing out the rest of the swarm.
Seems I will live another day… Vale smiled, her skill going to work on Drake to heal his injuries.
"Leave some for me will ya!" Drake yelled from the ground.
A roar came from the others in near unison.
"Shut up goldilocks!"
Maybe not living another day wouldn't be so bad after all. Vale sighed.