14 Battle

I inspect myself, reveling in the new upgrades my body now has. The one strip of black bone that once ran down each leg has widened, and there are now three per leg. Additionally, the overall strength of the bones on my legs, as well as the strength of my body in general has seemed to increase a ton. 

My carapace that was before a grey, was now a darker grey, with some regions appearing almost black. With the biological armor seeming to be much thicker and sturdier than before. I'm sure that with my new upgrades, knights would be even less of a challenge than before.

However, I do have a goal. If what I guess is correct, the Hive follow the idea of "Survival of the Fittest", and if you get defeated, you were never meant to be strong anyways. If that's the case, wouldn't killing Malvūc grant me control of this entire ship? Perhaps I'm jumping to conclusions, but if I'm correct I should try not to use the arena anymore. The more of these guys that die, the less I would have control over. Hell, if I defeat Malvūc and don't gain control, I would have no trouble killing everything else here anyways.

Regardless, I hear a large commotion outside my door, as I walk out, I check out my status.

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[Status]

[Name: Erebus]

[Race: Augmented Hive Thrall]

[Biomass: 2.7 kg]

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[Upgrades] :

[Retractable Sharpened Claws 5] [Evolution requires 10 kg of Biomass]

[Enhanced Skeletal System 1]

[Absorption Carapace 1]

[Pain Suppression 5] [Evolution requires 10 kg of Biomass]

[Weak Corrosive Ability 2]

[Darkness Control 1]

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Those new upgrades look amazing, I have the feeling that I may be addicted to this new world. 

Exiting through the door, I look out to see what is happening. As. I peer out, I see tens of Hive, all disappearing from their spot in a green mist, leaving behind nothing but air. 

Pretty soon, I can feel myself being dragged away from my current location, almost like how it felt when I boarded the ship in the first place, just slightly more... exciting?  I don't know, I have a feeling a bloodbath is going to occur.

As my entire body slowly vanishes from its spot, my vision goes dark and I feel a cold gust of air wash over my body. Opening my eyes, I'm greeted by a strange sight. I find myself in some type of building, a dark one, rusted to oblivion. Rubble litters the ground, with skeletons of a verity of different species buried beneath. Bullets and guns are scattered everywhere, none of which look like they're in good condition. 

I look around, and see that there are two large abominations, roaming around the area. There's also a floating Hive, with skin that seems to flow into what looks like a wizard's robe. It seems larger and stronger than one that was at the arena, but this time it isn't an enemy, but on my side. I can't wait for the time where all of these Hive are under my control. It excites me.

What are we even doing here? There doesn't seem to be a threat. Not yet at least. Maybe there is one coming, or maybe Malvūc just wanted to get rid of us. Not that I have any way of knowing until something happens. 

Looking around the area, I begin to wander, with no clear goal in mind. There has to be something around here that we have to fight or protect. Turning a corner, I look down a long hallway.

Now what the fuck is that?

At the very end of the corridor, is a figure in large, heavy armor. It has a bright red and white color to it, as it begins to run down the hallway at high speeds. It holsters the shotgun it has onto its back and a large, glowing, purple shield materializes in its right hand. Throwing its arm forward, the shield leaves its arm and begins to flies straight toward me. The shield seems to barely miss me, as the purple glow illuminates my face, continuing toward the wall behind me. 

Once it collides with the wall behind me, it ricochets almost in the exact same path it took before, as I barely manage to step out of the way of the strange shield. The figure has closed the distance rapidly, as it begins to float in the air. The same glowing purple energy wraps around their fist as they rapidly descend, attempting to punch me in the face. I raise my hand instinctively, to tap the fist out of the way, but the figure seems to be unstoppable, as the fist blows past my defenses and straight into my shoulder. 

The energy ripples along my carapace, as some of it gets absorbed into my body, negating some of the damage. A large crack in my hard body appears near my shoulder, as the pain is dampened by my Pain Suppression upgrade. Had it not been for my recent upgrades, I would be one arm down in this fight.

Before I can even get readjusted, the figure tries to slam the shield into me as hard as it can. I'm blown backward with the weight of the attack, as purple energy is once again absorbed into my carapace.

As I fly backward, I dig my claws into the ground beneath me in order to slow myself down, keeping a close eye on the figure in front of me. It was at this moment I notice the floating white figure next to it. 

This thing is a guardian, but easily hundreds of times stronger than the first one I encountered. At this point, the shield dissipates, as the guardian grabs the shotgun from his back. It begins its approach, as I stand up, spreading the darkness to my claws as I compress the black bones along my leg.

Decompressing the bones, I dash forward at a speed ten times as fast as before, closing the distance easily. I was not used to this speed, so my attack misses the guardian wildly. As the guardian turns around, its companion speaks out to it. 

"Watch out guardian! This one is strong!"

Pivoting myself around with my hand, I speed forward again, this time more familiar with the absurd speeds I reach, as I claw the chest of the guardian, leaving behind a deep cut in its armor.

Its companion opens up, turning into a blue sphere as the cut in the guardians armor repairs at remarkable speeds. Once the damage has been repaired, the guardian aims its shotgun at me, pulling the trigger as I feel multiple impacts in my abdomen. Thankfully, the shotgun is significantly less powerful than the glowing purple energy, and my carapace wards off most of the damage.

Clutching the wound, I activate the corrosive ability to decay the bullets that are in my body and look at the guardian, who's ready to strike again. The guardian I killed before must have been really young for me to defeat it so easily. 

I ready my claws, letting the darkness flow even harsher than before, I'm going to need all the power I can get to be able to win this one. 

I rush forward once again, just as the guardian jumps toward me, the darkness that covers my claws collide with the purple energy that covers the guardians hand. The purple glow seems to easily overpower my darkness, as their fist collides with my chest, throwing me backward once more.

Before I can even adjust myself, a powerful bolt of fiery energy blows past my head, almost ripping it off completely. Looking back at the guardian, I can see another one standing next to it, dressed in a cloak and carrying what seems to be a pistol made of fire.

You've got to be kidding... Just one was hard enough, now there's two?

Before I can even finish my thought, a third guardian, dressed in a long robe comes gliding down, as I watch it throw a spinning orb of purple energy at me. Springing backward, I narrowly make it out of the radius of the orb as I feel it attempt to drag me in, however, the power of my legs is able to force me out of its pull. 

Looking at the group, I can see that they all clearly are a team of guardians. They all stand against me, guns drawn, and I stand against them. My speed is my only advantage but I have no idea how well that will hold up against three enemies.

Just as I begin to contemplate my dilemma, I hear the growls of Hive behind me as tens of Hive rush by, engaging with the three guardians. The two abominations let out a flurry of purple blasts as the floating robed Hive lets out a cloud of darkness as it screeches loudly, disrupting the three guardians momentarily.

The bulky guardian thrusts his hands to his sides, causing a large purple dome to encircle the three guardians. The attacks of the abominations seem to be ineffective against the team, as the cloaked figure seems to double jump upwards while spinning, flinging several knives made of fire at the charging Hive.

As the knives impact the Hive, they explode, spreading the damage further to adjacent creatures. The robed guardian glides forward, seeming to soar over all of the Hive, as it looks downward, a large spinning orb once again appearing in its hands. This time however, it uses both hands to charge the orb as they launch it downward with a huge thrust, as a large purple explosion emanates from that location, completely wipes out all the Hive that was once there.

Malvūc sent us to kill these guys? What does he expect from us?

Looking out at the guardians, I can see they show no signs of faltering, as their companions seem to heal any injury they get, keeping them energized in the process. 

How do we even win this?

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[New Task Available]

[Guardian Slayer:

Kill the three Guardians in front of you.

0/1 Hunter

0/1 Titan

0/1 Warlock

Reward: Darkness Control (Strand) 1]

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Well, I guess I don't have a choice.