The Gobzkin Shaman's body lay lifeless due to a severe case of headlessness. Adam's bold action and accurate judgement contributed to the kill of such a monster type that once annihilated his entire party of survivors.
This sudden turn of events sent a tremor through the morale of the remaining Gobs, who were already on the brink of running away. The Gobzkin Shaman was a force to be reckoned with, able to control large numbers of Gobs as well as cast powerful sorcery.
Without hesitation, Adam picked up the shaman's club which was guaranteed to have a rune, and stashed it for himself. Sergeant Elena immediately dragged him away from the fight.
If expressions could kill, the look on Elena's face would have killed Adam a hundred times over, since he just completely gone against their agreement of not putting himself in direct risk. However, that was neither the time nor the place to have such a conversation.
"Sergeant, we can't put a scratch on that thing." Buzz shouted while he was working hard to evade the Muncher.
"Run over there!" She responded, pointing north towards the church, "They have enough firepower to threaten it."
Heeding Elena's orders, Buzz immediately started running while being covered by Sharp. The two switched fire on the Muncher until it was disoriented between the two and flew into a rage, trying this time to get Sharp instead of the slippery rat-like Buzz.
With the right maneuvering, Sharp managed to slip past the area they were locked in and started running north, but what runs on four usually catches up to what runs on two rather quickly. The Muncher took a swipe at him but he completely threw himself to the side after a warning from Buzz, and just as he turned around with a pistol to put a desperate fight against the Muncher's teeth.
"CANCEL!"
Adam immediately cancelled, causing a tiny miniature to drop on the ground along with the pebbles and scattered rocks.
On the other side, Officer Reeves and Ivan saw Sharp slide off and disappear in what they assumed to have hide under a car or something. Knowing that, the two opened fire immediately.
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!
Officer Reeves's LMG started spewing lead at the Muncher which was incredibly resistant to damage of smaller calibers, but now, chunks of its body were shredded with every single bullet and sensing its impending doom, the Muncher started falling and retreating before it ran into the nearby campus and disappeared beyond its walls.
Adam and Elena made sure that this part was clear before sending Buzz to retrieve Sharp's miniature and rejoined the ongoing fight with the Brute.
And just as Adam and Elena were wracking their brains on how to kill something that could endure everything they could dish out so far, the situation decided to get worse.
"AAAH!"
A scream came from the nearby rooftop as something new made its appearance on the scene. Adam looked up to see Yuki, hanging from the rooftop with one hand as a Gobzkin creature was standing over her, trying to step on her hand. The other survivors seemed to have been taken out silently, while the Gobzkin was using Yuki to distract the group.
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[ Skulker ] < Medium Gobzkin >
A stealth-oriented guerrilla warfare expert of the Gobzkin horde, a nasty creature that enjoys the chase and causes all sorts of trouble even before stepping in personally.
Stalker — The Skulker can always keep its distance due to its stealthy nature, choosing to attack only when it is safest and most efficient, while using the rest of the horde as its distraction if needed.
Killer Tusks — The weapons of the skulker vary depending on the situation, but its tusks are its sharpest tools and deadliest weapons.
——————————
Face to face with a skulker for the first time, just one look at the lean-bodied yet tall Gobzkin made Adam realize something. This opponent is the kind Adam fears the most, the one that can be strategic and pose immense risk on the long run.
Right now, that Gobzkin Skulker attacked the shooters on the rooftop right as it felt the safest, and without them harassing the Gobzkin Brute would be difficult. It knew that and it was aiming to make the fighters on the ground gradually lose to the Brute.
"Buzz," Adam spoke without looking at the strong-armed comms operator, "Think you can throw Sharp's miniature up there?"
Elena and Buzz both widened their eyes while looking at Adam, who raised his hand, ready to fry a few brain cells for this summoning attempt. Buzz turned to Elena, who nodded for him in approval of the plan.
Buzz stepped forward and with Sharp's miniature in his hand, he tossed it up so fast, it reached two stories up in an instant as Adam uttered:
"ARISE!"
The miniature rolled midair and with the power of Adam's magic flowing through it, a flash of light burst at the ugly face of the Skulker, shocking it out if its wits as Sharp emerged from that light, Blazer rifle aimed right at its face and charged for maximum damage.
ZZZZZZAAAAPPP!
A flash of red ran through the crystals within the blazer amplified by the extra carbon nanotubes that fed it from the blazer cell, and the burst made a fist-sized hole right through the head of the Skulker, knocking it back with a powerful force, right as Sharp landed in his place with a roll. Immediately, the Marine Man-at-Arms turned around and reached out for Yuki's hand that was about to slip.
"Got you!"
Sharp caught to her and she held him by the sleeve of his jacket, trying to get up as soon as she could.
Back on the ground, Adam collapsed on one knee but Elena and Buzz caught him as his consciousness was fading, with a complicated complicated mix of frustration and worry flickered across Elena's face.
Why do you try so hard? Elena wanted to ask that, unable to comprehend how Adam was always taking such risky moves despite her constant protests: jumping through a roof to save Megan's group, running at the Gobzkin Shaman to personally kill it, and now pushing himself so far to the point of losing consciousness.
No commander would ever do that. Not even the Solwoken would risk their lives for their subordinates like that. Survival is a selfish business, that's what Elena understood. Every risk is calculated, every possibility taken into account, and what can't kill you may leave you crippled. That's how she survived for 15 years in the Solarium Legions.
But for a second there, she almost felt it along with Adam, how weakness and desperateness can create such tenacity and faith, not that she knew where Adam's faith came from. For that, she left Adam to Buzz and stood up.
"You have a full spare?" She asked.
"Yes, my last." Buzz replied, taking a blazer cell from his belt.
Elena twisted her bionic arm in a weird angle and ejected the blazer cell within, which was at half capacity, replacing it with the one she got from Buzz.
Usually, Elena's arm doesn't consume that much energy, but Buzz knew what she can do with a full blazer cell, and he didn't like it.
"Sergeant, this is risky." He said, trying to stop her from what he thought she was doing.
"I know." Elena replied and smiled, "Watch me."
Then she broke into a fearless run towards the Gobzkin Brute. In her right human arm, she had her blazer pistol aimed and firing one bolt after the other, attracting the attention of the Brute, on her left was the half full blazer cell with its detonation ring taken off by one thumb move.
Elena approached the Brute fast, and before it could punch her, she simply slid and with one swift move, threw the charged cell right at its face. The Brute didn't mind the pebble hurled at him by the human, but before he could react, the red glow within the cell suddenly intensified and…
BOOOM!
The explosion wasn't as strong as the two from before, but it was enough to stagger the Brute and fully peeled the flesh of its face, sending it into a pained howl.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Elena rolled her body a few times after getting pushed away by the blast, but right as Hammerhead was about to support her, she launched herself up, used one broken car as a footing then jumped above the back of the Brute, with her bionic arm aimed at its head.
The brute sensed something over its back and tried to reach for it, but Elena was already charging up her bionic arm to maximum burst power. It took her almost 3 seconds of struggling to stay on the Brute. Her arm glowing intensely and with when the buzzing sound from its charge reached its peak.
KRA-KOOM!
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