Chương 56: On the Shoulders of Giants 6

"So what do we do about this obelisk, then?" While Orrin thought this question was one that might require careful deliberation, Fizzy saw it as a sign that the Priest was still far too green.

"Nothing, obviously."

"How… How is that obvious?" He seemed genuinely puzzled, so the golem decided to explain the situation to him in the same way she would introduce a toddler to basic arithmetic.

"Let me put it like this. First, we're on the moon, right?"

"Yes?"

"And on this moon, we are dealing with giant moon-bugs, ancient moon-gnomes, and someone that - for all we know - turned herself into a machine for shits and giggles. Are you with me so far?"

"Uh-huh."

"So, while in the midst of all this insanity, we find a glowing black crystal atop a stone pyramid that pulsates with magic none of us understand. Do you honestly believe that messing with this thing, under these circumstances, is a good idea?"

"Well… When you put it like that, it does seem a bit…"

"Suicidally moronic?"

"Not the words I'd use, but you've made your point." Fizzy shook her head in disbelief.

"Were you really an adventurer? Not touching the spooky obelisk of ancient power is common sense."

"I dare say nothing about you or your thinking is 'common,' Miss Rustblood."

"Of course, it isn't," she puffed her chest out.

"You won't find anyone as extraordinary as me."

"I don't think he meant that in a good way, Fizzy." Quiet, you. Just let me have this. The golem's ego was quite starving so she gladly took the backhanded remark as a compliment. Her need for validation slightly satisfied, the Paladin and her companions of convenience started making their way towards the blurry mountain in the heart of the jungle. Tony scouted ahead and reported back to Fizzy with the aid of the pilfered rocky-talkies.

The hobgoblin was able to back up his earlier claims of being the superior stalker quite ably. He also made good use of the grappling hook embedded in his prosthetic arm to give himself an edge in vertical mobility. As he silently swung and hopped from branch to branch, he successfully snuck up on eight parties of moon-gnomes over the course of the next two hours. These groups varied greatly in size and equipment. Half of them were simple foragers and gatherers - civilians, essentially.

The rest were more heavily armed and preoccupied themselves with setting traps and ambushes. They had clearly been alerted of intruders in these parts and were preparing to intercept. The invaders were able to avoid contact with most of these entirely thanks to the experienced tracker's guidance.

Tony was completely in his element and took great pleasure in outwitting the locals on their own turf, not to mention he was finally able to have fun with the fancy arm he got from Fizzy A little too much fun perhaps, as his performance as scout wasn't flawless. Despite the hob's best efforts to outwit and outmaneuver the gnomes, there were so many of them that confrontation was inevitable. His first slip-up was that he failed to notice an alarm trap - a metal wire that had been strung up between some trees.

Orrin walked into it face-first and set off a loud chime that alerted a nearby patrol to his presence. The fight was settled almost instantly with the flash-and-bash approach. The second confrontation wasn't Tony's fault but a spot of bad luck as another group of gnomes chanced upon the golem and the giant from the side while the greenskin was several hundred meters ahead. This too was settled quickly. The third encounter with the locals was by far the messiest.

It started with a bit of miscommunication between Fizzy and her shield-serf that had the group catch the attention of a monstrous monkey-thing that was even bigger than Orrin. The dumb beast was promptly put down, but the commotion alerted yet another pack of gnomes. This sorry lot turned out to be simple hunters that were a lot more fragile than expected. They died so easily to Fizzy and Tony's attacks that Axel's Armistice was only able to save two out of ten.

It was arguably the hunters' own fault for charging a mithril construct, a mountain of muscle, and the fastest axe on Tascuna with just spears and bows. The Priest didn't take this pointless loss of life as easily as his monstrous companions, but kept his moaning to a minimum. It was while the group was cleaning up after that particular massacre that things took a sudden turn. A wave of magic washed over the jungle like a silent roar.

It was so dense with mana that it made ripples in the dirt, grass, and leaves as it moved. It hit Orrin and Tony like an invisible avalanche, threatening to bury and suffocate them. This pressure only lasted for a moment and was ultimately harmless, though deeply unpleasant. The surviving hunters weren't as fortunate and lost consciousness on the spot. Fizzy's unfeeling frame was wholly undisturbed by this phenomenon, though she clearly saw the effect it had on her environment.

"Der't ooka!" Tony was the first to react. He yelled something rude on reflex and raised his weapons in preparation for an inbound attack. It was a good thing no such thing came as he ended up dropping one of his axes. It just slid right out of his prosthetic limb's grip for seemingly no reason. The hob immediately reached to grab for it before it hit the ground. He failed to do so, and in the process realized the cause of his slip-up.

"Ah?! Hey, boss! De arm's not workin' right!" The steel hand was twitching and seizing up at random, as if it just stopped listening to its owner's commands every half-second.

"Tha- abl- jus- Wait, wh-?!" It then became apparent that whatever malfunction had befallen the hob's arm was affecting Fizzy's everything. The golem's entire body stuttered in the exact same manner, leaving her largely unable to speak or even walk.

"Son of- fuck- red- horse!" She was understandably upset at this situation, though to her credit she managed to grasp the frequency of this disruption quite rapidly. She took a moment to focus and then carefully timed her words.

"Okay. This, is, bad."

"What's going on?" Orrin asked.

"Is this more of that obelisk's magic?"

"Think, so. But, much, stronger. Need, to, leave. Fast!" It went without saying that Fizzy was in no shape to fight like this, and Tony had similarly lost the use of his left arm. This drastically reduced the party's combat ability. The Priest seemed entirely unaffected, though that was more of a concern than a relief. It implied the meatbags they'd been tangling with would be similarly unhindered. Well, at least those that were strong enough to be a threat.

That concentrated pulse would have knocked out and perhaps even killed everything below a certain Level, not unlike the weaklings nearby. It was a known side-effect of being subjected to high concentrations of ambient mana, such as those present within Terrania's most dangerous dungeons. A thought then occurred to Fizzy. Could it be that this power crystal that Katya was after - and the most likely cause of this phenomenon - was actually some type of dungeon core? Such ponderings would have to wait for later.

Right now her priority was to get as far away from here as quickly as possible. So, even though she loathed the idea, she had Orrin pick her up and carry her back. The giant struggled with this task a bit as the golem was remarkably heavy for her size. It wasn't that he couldn't lift her, just that her dense and hard frame really bit into the palm of his hand. The hasty retreat from the jungle was, of course, a hot mess. It was quite obvious that the anti-construct pulse was no accident.

The gnomes likely got word to their superiors that they were unable to stop the invaders, and so their leaders opted to activate this contingency. Or, rather, ramp up the power output of the disruption field that was already there. Stealth and subterfuge was basically out the window at this point, and the group thus decided to just leg it and hope for the best. That was more or less their exit strategy to begin with, and they had prepared a number of tricks to cover their escape ahead of time.

Which was good, because they were found and under attack within minutes. Arrows, stone spikes, cleaving vibrations, and improvised heat beams rained down on the trio as the locals converged on their position. Despite their proficiency in earth-attuned magic, however, the gnomes could not move soil quite like a certain Shaman. Tony kept sending quakes through the ground and leaving sinkholes in his wake. This was done with two goals in mind. The first was to throw off their attackers' aim.

It was quite clear that the gnomes favored ranged combat by a significant margin, and it was notoriously difficult to hit a target when everything was shaking. To that end Fizzy was also doing her best to hinder their eyesight with what smoke bombs she had on hand. It wasn't easy on account of her stuttering fingers and limbs, not to mention all the swaying from being carried. She fumbled and dropped quite a few gas canisters as a result, though even those went off and did their job of covering the group's retreat.

And, of course, Orrin did his best to shield and heal through the incoming damage while relying on his massive gait to stay ahead of the attackers. The mad chase lasted for several minutes before Tony's tectonic tampering fulfilled its second and most important objective. Biters began emerging en-masse, drawn out by the violent quakes and shifts. And since the disturbances were largely happening somewhere behind Fizzy, Orrin, and Tony, that was where the majority of the pissed-off bugs made their appearance.

Several naturally stood in the giant's way and lashed out at him with claws, fangs, and projectile acid. The Priest grit his teeth and pushed his way through, doing his best to keep them off him while the golem in his grip fumbled with yet another of Katya's low-tech gadgets. At a glance it was a metal cylinder that looked a lot like her smoke bombs, but with a big funnel sticking out of one end.

Pressing the switch at the base of said funnel produced an ear-piercing screech that dazed and confused the bugs long enough for Orrin to give them the slip. By this point it was safe to say that Grigori's Paladin had done her patron proud, as that entire region of the jungle was in complete chaos. Not just the gnomes and bugs, but even the beasts and sentient shrubbery were all at each other's throats. All this confusion made it relatively easy for Fizzy's group to escape their primary pursuers.

They still had a considerable amount of ground to cover before they were in the clear, but were able to do so at a much more rapid pace than before since keeping a low profile was no longer a concern. After about five more minutes of non-stop running, Orrin's stamina finally gave out and the group was forced to huddle up in a shallow cave while he caught his breath. This delay was less than ideal, but on the bright side they were now far enough away for Fizzy to function normally again. Well, for the most part.

She still felt her core clicking as it skipped a beat every few seconds, but at least her movement wasn't impaired anymore.

"That went, huff, well," the giant wheezed.

"Well? Dat was great!" the hob cheered.

"I need to do dis plannin' thing more."

"No, that was a disaster."

"I thought you'd be - Ngh! - thrilled. Your plan worked, mad as it was."

"Oh, that part was fine. I mean what we learned. Apparently these meatbags can dial up their interference field on demand. No wonder Katya can't touch them over here. Even my core started glitching. How am I supposed to get that power crystal now?!" There was a moment of silence as that question hung in the air, along with a number of unspoken quandaries like the matter of them going home.

"I might have an idea," Tony spoke up first.

"Oh. This'll be good," Fizzy scoffed.

"What brilliant insight do you have for us?"

"All dis interference voodoo, it's magnet stuff, no?"

"No. Well, kind of. It's more complicated than that."

"But magnets be involved?" He definitely heard that word being thrown around yesterday.

"Sure, yes. Magnets be involved," Fizzy gave up.

"What's your point, Tony?"

"Okay, so, you know de lil' shit in de big armor You say he used magnets to make it move, and you did a thing to make it stop moving. Can't you do dat here and un-magnet de jungle?"

"Uh… Huh." Fizzy blinked in astonishment. Though phrased poorly and severely lacking in understanding, the hobgoblin had indeed produced an idea worth considering. Obviously she had no hope of overpowering the electromagnetic interference field by herself. Even if her Magnetize Skill was capable of doing that, it couldn't cover an area this vast, nor could she use it on herself. But what if she made something to do that for her?

"Hmm…" Her mind snapped back to the Horkensaft Kingdom's mag-rail. More specifically, the emitters that made the train levitate above the track. They were based on her father's designs, so she was quite familiar with their construction and the principles behind their function. Thanks to that knowledge, she was able to conclude with a decent amount of certainty that she could alter and adapt those designs to fit her present needs.

It would take a lot of trial-and-error and they'd need to be massively upscaled, but she was fairly certain she knew someone capable of providing her with all the tools and materials to make it happen.

"Yeah… That might just work," she declared after an extended silence.

"Hold on," Orrin butted in.

"Are you saying you can counteract the magic keeping Dragunova's automatons at bay?"

"Not me, personally, but I'm certain I can create a device to do it."

"Is that… wise?"

"Why wouldn't it be? To be honest, I'm amazed Katya hasn't already done this. Actually, why is that?" If the solution was so obvious that even an idiot like Tony could think it up, then surely it would have occurred to the most brilliant mind to ever set foot on Terrania.

"I cannot say for sure, but I'd wager she tried and failed. Perhaps she's the wrong type of Artificer? I seem to recall your specializations vary wildly in what aspects they focus on." Orrin had lived around Dragunov long enough to pick up a thing or two about the Job, and Fizzy had to agree that his suggestion made sense. Magically-induced electromagnetic fields were the expertise of Arclight Artificers, whereas Katya was most assuredly specialized as Automata.

And even if that wasn't the case, she wouldn't be aware of more recent developments like the tech behind the mag-rail.

"In other words, she needs you to build this machine," Orrin continued.

"And if you just give her what she wants and stop being useful, who's to say she'll still uphold her end of the bargain? Or that she won't just dismantle you to see what makes you tick?" His real concern with this potential innovation was all the innocent lives it would put at risk. The giant had seen firsthand just how deadly the Vault's robotic guardians could be, and judging from yesterday's 'orientation,' Katya's more recent designs were even worse.

There was no doubt in his mind that the woman would send her 'Iron Curtain' to slaughter every last gnome in this jungle the instant she had the option. To a follower of Solus, that was far too steep a price to pay for one preacher's safe return. Since Fizzy didn't share those morals, he decided to appeal to her sense of self-preservation in order to dissuade her from facilitating a genocide.

"Ugh. I hate to say it, but you have a point." His argument seemed to work, though it wasn't without its own flaws.

"But if we don't do what de white bitch says, ain't none of us goin' back," Tony pointed out.

"I know! Fuck!" the golem lost her cool for a moment.

"Look, I'll think about it on the way back. Until then, keep your traps shut and don't say any of this to Katya."

"Agreed."

"Whatever." Fizzy let Orrin rest for a few minutes more before she and the boys set out again. Sounds of fighting could still be heard in the distance, and would likely not die down anytime soon. Tony's quakes had stirred up the mother of all hornet nests, after all. Since the group had lost their pursuers for the time being, they decided to get back in sneaking formation and press on towards their evacuation point. Pretty soon it became apparent that the gnomes had retreated from the jungle's perimeter altogether.

They must've pulled back to repel the bugs, or perhaps consolidate their defenses in preparation for an actual invasion. Whichever the case, it made the trio's return journey far less eventful than they were expecting. They also checked on some of the prisoners they had secured earlier, but they were all gone. Freed by their comrades, by the looks of it.

"Hey, boss?" Tony's voice came out of Fizzy's rocky-talkie after another hour or so of skulking through the brush.

"What?"

"I think we should be far enough out if you wanna try de badge things."

"Alright." It had been a while since the golem's core stopped clicking, so this was as good a time as any to try. She grabbed the chest-mounted communication device and flicked the switch on the side. It instantly came to life with a loud buzz, then went quiet. Not silent, though. It still emitted a constant white noise, but nowhere near as bad as when she first turned it off.

"Katya, can you hear me?" she spoke into it.

"Barely," the voice crackled.

"How goes eet, Feezy?"

"Things got messy. Can you pick us up?"

"Understood. I have your location. Helicopter will be waiting for you as soon as you exit the jungle." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Great. On our way." Fizzy turned off Katya's transmitter and put the rocky-talkie up to her face.

"Tony, she said-""I heard her, boss."

"Oh, right. I forgot these things she gave us are on the same frequency."

"No, boss," he sounded oddly concerned.

"I heard her through one of de stones I had."

"What do you mean? What stone?"

"One dat we lifted from dat gnome camp."

"Ah." The golem paused for a moment as she processed this information and its implications.

"Wait, the locals are tuned into her communications?!"

"Seems like it."

"But… they don't speak the language, so it doesn't matter, right?"

"Sure, dey don't. Neither do goblins."

"Fuck. Orrin?"

"More running?" the giant sighed.

"Yep."

"Greaaaat."

"Tony, double back and stick close. I don't need you getting separated right now."

"Whatever you say, boss." The hob did as instructed and joined with the other two as they hoofed it. Fizzy's mind raced just as much as her feet. Of course. Why hadn't she considered it sooner? Surely it was no accident that the very first ambush happened right after those communicators were turned off. If these gnomes knew how to tap into the signals, perhaps they could track them too. This would also go to great lengths to explain why Katya struggled with them despite her ridiculous technological superiority.

These clever bastards were spying on her and she didn't even know it. But wait, did Katya's automatons even communicate with words? And if they did, surely they'd use her native language rather than Terrania's Common tongue. Or maybe they didn't understand jack shit and were just following the signal. Alternatively, this was all an accident and the golem was just overthinking things. That last possibility was thrown out the window not long after.

As they were making their way through the rapidly thinning jungle, the group were stopped by a stone pillar that suddenly - and violently - erupted from the ground. It had a shape and size similar to that obsidian obelisk, but seemed to be made out of basic rock. More importantly, the side facing the trio was etched with letters all of them could understand.

It still took them a moment to work out what was written since they were laid out vertically in two columns, but the message plainly stated, 'Surrender, or else.' Naturally the golem and the goblin responded to this by readying their weapons and getting ready for a throw-down. Orrin did the same, though it took him a moment to catch on. When a cursory glance around the area failed to reveal anyone, Fizzy opted to respond to the threat.

"Or else what?!" she shouted into the wilderness.

"You meatbags think you can make demands of me?!" She flicked the trigger on her wrench, causing its jaws to snap open and then shut closed with a loud clang.

"Then make them to my face!"

"Fizzy, perhaps now would be-""Shut it, Orrin! Tony?"

"Don't see anythin' boss. Deez ones be good." A few moments of tense silence, the hob detected movement. An object no bigger than his fist came flying at Fizzy out of a nearby treetop. He reflexively threw an axe in the projectile's path, his coiled muscles reacting before his mind could. He only got a split-second view of the strange white crystal before his weapon shattered it to pieces. When that happened, the area was filled with a high-pitched tone just on the edge of his hearing.

Noticing the disturbance, the golem whipped her eyesight towards it and just barely caught a glimpse of someone in the canopy before they disappeared. It was all too fleeting, but the bug-skull headgear told her it was one of the first two gnomes she encountered. None of the meatbags she saw today wore such ornaments.

"What was that about?" Orrin asked after a few moments. And then, with a loud crack and a flash of light, something appeared atop the stone obelisk. It was a biter, though unlike any that Fizzy had seen. At least, not in person. Its appearance was not at all roach-like and best described as a dwarf-sized mix of a mantis, a beetle, and an ant. It was perched atop the pillar on two long legs ending in three-clawed feet.

It had four arms, with the larger, upper pair ending in scythe-like blades and the much smaller set below tipped with trios of dexterous digits. All six limbs were slender, agile, and attached to a slightly conical and rather bulbous torso with a hunched back that stood taller than its neckless head. Its bug-eyed face featured a relatively small yet powerful jaw flanked by two mandibles and a pair of short antennas poking out of its enormous forehead.

And, last but not least, this entire situation was wrapped up in a layer of smooth, shiny, and black adamantine plates. Not carapace that was 'as tough as' or 'resembling' the notoriously tough and heavy metal, but quite literally it. Fizzy was certain of this because she remembered it from Katya's orientation. The Original Artificer had extensive footage and data on this particular species of monster, having fought it repeatedly when she was first establishing her presence on Tascuna.

She called this variant of biter a soldier, for it represented the bulk of the threat posed by the moon-bugs. Apparently the colony kept these things in reserve unless it felt actively threatened, so this soldier's presence here did not bode well. Thankfully it didn't just mindlessly hurl itself at the first thing it saw. It carefully and warily scanned its surroundings, antennae flailing wildly as its searched for an enemy requiring termination.

It most certainly noticed the strange trio just a dozen steps away, but clearly deemed them not a threat worth its attention as they made a point of not sending any hostility towards it. Well, two of them did. Tony had absolutely no idea what he was looking at, but the way it teleported in sent off all kinds of alarm bells in his head. His wild instincts told him this thing was very bad news.

He was able to keep his cool and, upon noticing that neither Fizzy nor Orrin seemed keen to make a move, figured it was best to follow suit. With a bit of luck, this thing would just continue to ignore them until it retreated below ground and returned to sleep without any trouble. However, chance wasn't a factor in this situation. After all, the golem wasn't the first to think of riling up the biters to hinder her enemies.

It was only natural that the locals had worked out ways to do the same, except they were much more adept at it. That singing crystal that the hob shattered was what roused this soldier from hibernation, and those responsible for drawing it out were going to make sure that this turned violent. They accomplished this by sneaking around and behind the trio while they were distracted by the soldier and firing a heat beam at the bug.

The red laser cut through the jungle, passed under the giant's raised arm, and hit its target squarely in the head. This feat of marksmanship did nothing to injure or hurt the thing, but it was absolutely an attack. More importantly, because of the angle and direction, it seemed as though it came from Orrin. Naturally the soldier did not take kindly to this provocation. It turned its body towards the startled trio and started chittering quietly.

The group realized what was about to happen and raised their guard, but they were a touch too slow. The bug vanished with a crackling flash and reappeared directly above the Priest. It fell on its victim, sinking all of its claws deep into his shoulders and back. Orrin cried out in agony as the extremely heavy creature pulled him down to the ground. It hopped away just before the giant's massive frame pinned it under his weight.

Tony struck with speed and precision, his axes chasing after the bug before it had a chance to touch down. The spinning blades found their mark in mid-air, yet bounced harmlessly off its metal carapace. A quick toss like that simply didn't have enough power to punch through. The soldier's considerable backside smashed against a nearby tree, causing its rubbery trunk to bend fiercely under its weight. It then snapped forward, sending the bug flying at the hob.

It swung its scythes at his head, intent to alleviate him of that burden. Tony barely ducked under it and got away with just a new haircut. Fizzy's wrench was able to intercept the bouncing bug in the next instant. Unlike the Shaman, her strike had enough force behind it to deal some damage. Unfortunately, between the enchanted steel tool and the natural adamantine armor, the latter won out in toughness and the former was bent severely at the base of the handle.

Still, damage was damage, and that strike informed the soldier who the main threat here was. The biter landed on its four main limbs and twisted its body around to face its new target. The two tiny arms frantically gestured while the creature chittered a strange tune. The Paladin was able to identify this as a form of spellcasting and raised her shield in front of her face and braced herself. She had a small stroke of luck as the creature's incantation wasn't one of ice, but fire.

It released a scorching torrent of heat that was reminiscent of a Flamethrower Spell. It did practically nothing to the golem since she had no flesh to burn and both her Skills and equipment made her highly resistant to that particular element. Peeking through the flames, she noticed the bug preparing another Spell, and she decided not to give it that luxury.

"Parallel One!" Now with Plus active, Fizzy burst out of the conflagration with Armored Charge and made a beeline for the biter. The damnable bug hopped straight up, narrowly avoiding a collision. Or so it intended, but Fizzy was familiar with this trick from her first bout against Tony. She raised her dented wrench, pulled its trigger, and snapped its jaws shut around the thing's leg.

The construct then leveraged her speed and strength to swing the bug over her head and slam it into the ground with a thunderous thud. However, the ridiculous force required to pull that off left her shoulder joint dislocated and her right arm momentarily disabled.

"Holy Light!" The ever-attentive Plus was quick to mend the break and restore the limb, though this momentary delay gave the soldier the window it needed to teleport once more.

"SKREEOK!" It appeared above the golem and finally let out an angry screech. It attempted to strike down the construct much as it had done the Priest. The Artifact-grade shield was able to deflect one scythe, though the other actually cleaved into the golem's outer plating. The right shoulder again. Was that coincidence, or did it target that damaged area on purpose? Either way, the bug had made a bad move.

Fizzy grinned madly as she let go of her weapon and grabbed the bladed limb lodged in her plating with her right hand. Then she raised her shield and swung it at its barely-there neck like a blunt guillotine.

"Gag Order!" It was one of her more advanced Bonecrusher War Arts. Its successful execution silenced the creature's chittering, preventing it from chanting any more Spells. It tried to take a swing at her with its free limb, but she was able to grab that one as well before the blade struck. It struggled to break free, but the golem's grip was too tight. Fizzy clearly had the advantage at this point blank range, and she wasn't about to give it up. She twisted the soldier's limbs, bringing it to its knees.

Now that she had the insect pinned, all she needed was some way to capitalize on that. Thankfully, she had some magic-wielding companions quite nearby. Orrin was able to largely recover from the initial attack and Tony had been taking careful aim since his glancing strike.

"Light this bugger up!"

"De-chu-ka!"

"Holy Bolt!"

"Judgement!" The giant and the goblin let loose with their most focused damaging Spells, with Plus throwing in one of her own. All at once the soldier was enveloped by a burst of ice, struck by a lump of divine energy, and bashed over the head with a spectral anvil. Fizzy also activated Heat Exchange, unleashing the heat her body had absorbed from that Flamethrower right back at the source.

As expected, though the creature's shell made it all but invulnerable to most physical blows, it wasn't as effective at negating magical harm. It also didn't just sit there and let itself get bombarded. Once the smoke from the initial volley had cleared, the golem realized that the limbs she was holding onto were no longer attached to their owner. The soldier had leapt away from that situation after either tearing its own limbs off or simply detaching them, like a lizard would its tail.

Probably the second thing, seeing as it instantly grew new ones with some wet squelches. At least these replacements were unarmored, so that was something. The Shaman and the Priest sent more Spells its way, but the damnable bug was impossible to hit now that it was jumping all over the place.

"Damn it!" the golem growled.

"That's so unfair!" She had seen Katya's reports, but meeting one of these things in person was something else. She had never encountered something so ridiculously strong, tough, and quick all wrapped up in such a small package, with offensive magic and regenerative abilities to boot. Even when she thought she had it cornered it just slipped right away and kept at it. This creeping dread of uncertainty, of not knowing what this monster was truly capable of, was this what it felt like to stand against Boxxy?

But even that abnormality made flesh had fallen and met its end. Rather than sadness or grief, what that fleeting thought evoked from her core was determination. It reminded the golem of a critical factor one had to consider when fighting abominations such as this. A certain weakness that, while never the same, was present in all monsters.

"Bane!" she shouted at the others.

"Any ideas!?"

"Nope!" Tony yelled back between incantations.

"Holy Bolt hit extra hard, actually!"

"Plus?!"

"Yep! Judgement did too!"

"Perfect! Tony, give me your axes!" The hob was confused as to why, but that didn't stop him from following the order. He chucked both weapons at the golem with his usual savagery. Like usual, she perfectly timed her movements and snatched them out of the air. Her alter ego didn't even need instructions as she started chanting another Spell. A completely new one, actually.

When she and Fizzy had to keep the boys alive through all that cumulative radiation sickness, it had the benefit of maxing out the golem's Holy Scripture Skill. That feat was what gave the Paladin - and by extension her Parallel - access to the perfect incantation for this situation.

"Holy Infusion!" The greenskin's weapons were wrapped in a golden-green glow. It was the same hue that normally tinged all of the Paladin's chaos-aligned magic. Seeing this out of the corner of his eye, Tony gave up on chanting and spun around on his heel with his arms outstretched. In an instant he summoned his enhanced weapons into his hands and then flung them at his target while activating a little trick he liked to keep up his sleeve.

It was called Back Strike, and it was a Martial Art that made his thrown weapons' trajectory curve unnaturally in order to strike at weird angles. It usually worked the first time he used it against an opponent, and this soldier bug was no different. Though it easily avoided the axes' first pass - a bit too vigorously, perhaps - it was unable to dodge them when they swung around and slammed into its flank.

Though the blades themselves bounced off without so much as scratching the carapace, the holy charge they carried went clean through and struck at the tissue underneath. This surprise attack stopped it in its tracks long enough for Orrin to strike it with a Holy Bolt, which in turn provided Fizzy with a chance to catch up and bash it over the head with her divinity-enhanced weapon. This combined assault proved effective, leaving the creature writing and squirming on the ground.

The stubborn bug wasn't done yet, though. It started frantically burrowing into the soil and would likely disappear under it in moments if it wasn't within arm's reach of a certain construct. Fizzy leaned down and bashed it with her shield, flipping the bug over. She then mounted its abdomen to keep it from squirming away. The soldier clawed at her viciously, but its regrown scythes just weren't strong enough to get through the mithril plating.

Still sporting her mad grin, the Paladin tossed aside her twice-bent wrench and grabbed the bug by the mandibles. She viciously ripped them out of its face and drove them into its compound bug-eyes, just to add insult to injury. She then gripped the sides of its head as firmly as she could, and, with a few firm twists and loud cracks, popped it right off its torso. [Level up!] [Congratulations, you are now a Level 47 Metal Golem! STR +3. END +3. AGI +2. FTH +1.]"How do you like me now, meatbag?!

Should've stayed in bed today, huh?!" Fizzy gloated mockingly while stomping on the still-writhing corpse and holding its head up like a trophy. Tony limited his celebration to a triumphant laugh while the Priest merely breathed a sigh. Orrin, like the golem, really wasn't as prepared to face one of these things as he previously thought.

Katya's lectures certainly proved helpful, especially the part where she demonstrated how these biters had a tendency to focus on evasion and defense when targeted by a volley of ranged attacks. They did this to study their opponent before moving in for the kill, thus minimizing risk to themselves. After witnessing it firsthand, it really was scary how quickly the soldier adapted to the various Spells that came at it.

Thankfully this habit also stalled it long enough for the group to find a way to take it down before it counterattacked. Or worse - fled to fetch reinforcements. And then the Priest remembered something else they'd been told about this particular strain of moon-bug.

"Oh. Oh, no. Fizzy!"

"Hm? What?"

"We need to go before more show up!"

"… Oh, crap."

"Huh? More?" Tony was out of the loop and thus quite confused as to what they were talking about. At least until he noticed a very familiar high-pitched tone coming out of the thing's corpse. The goblin, the giant, and the golem thus proceeded to hoof it like their lives depended on it. Sure enough, numerous cracks and flashes behind them informed them that the hive had sent even more soldiers to avenge the fallen trooper. Six of them, to be precise.

The half-dozen mantis-beetle-ants gave chase and quickly caught up to the trio. Considering even one of those things gave them trouble, a fight against all those seemed synonymous with suicide. Running was by far the best option, but that didn't have high chances of success. These soldiers were clearly faster than all of them even without teleporting. The usual strategy of quaking the ground and using Katya's noisemaker proved largely unsuccessful.

Fizzy's team was still able to momentarily keep them at bay by throwing out as many ranged attacks as they could to trigger their wait-and-see response, but this would not last long. In a fit of desperation the golem reached for the mystox grenades she had prepared days ago. She didn't have many and after launching all of them in rapid succession she barely managed to clip one of the soldiers with the glowing blue goop.

The painted individual broke off the pursuit and the rest were more reluctant to do the drop-attack they were so fond of, but this too was ultimately little more than a momentary respite. They were sure to strike the instant they were certain they could take down the trio in one coordinated attack.

"Idioty! I told you not to kill those!" And then, a voice crackled from Fizzy's badge.

"Katya?!"

"You were slow, so I came to pick you up." The air was suddenly filled with buzzing as a small swarm of melon-sized helicopter drones descended from the sky. The flying automata opened fire on the soldier bugs with their side-mounted machine guns. This covering fire did very little damage to their armored hides, but served its purpose in distracting the bugs and drawing them away. One of them proved rather persistent and tried to drop-attack Fizzy, but she saw it coming and countered with a well-timed uppercut.

Her fist wasn't as heavy as the wrench, but strong enough to shatter its jaw and send it scurrying away for safety. The heavy whirling of the cargo helicopter drew her attention back to the sky. The vehicle's rear loading ramp flew open and several thick chains normally used for securing heavy loads fell out of it.

"Grab on! We are leaving!" Orrin, Tony, and Fizzy saw no reason to question Katya's words and dashed for those dangling links. They all grabbed hold and hoisted themselves as high up as they could while the helicopter similarly gained altitude. Within seconds they were above the treeline and squarely out of harm's way. The soldiers could teleport, but not fly.

The vertical distance also put the trio outside the bugs' offensive magic, though the same could not be said of Katya's drones as they were quickly obliterated by a series of Fireball-like conflagrations. The gang let off a sigh of relief as they appeared to have just narrowly gotten out of there. However, they were not yet outside the range of a certain laser-toting markswoman. The huntress in question lined up her shot from her treetop perch and fired a fully-charged beam.

Her aim was true and cut clean through one of the dangling chains, just above where Tony was holding onto it. It all happened so suddenly that Fizzy and Orrin could only watch as the hob plummeted beyond their reach and disappeared into the jungle below. That spot erupted in flames seconds later as the extremely pissed-off soldier bugs had found one of the culprits that had the audacity to slay one of their own. There was no doubt in either of the other two's minds that the Shaman was a goner.

Though he was tough enough to survive a fall like that, on his own he stood no chance against even one of those tenacious insects, let alone several. Orrin was struck speechless, but he would not mourn the greenskin. When he first met him, he had hope that Tony would go against the grain and be more reasonable than his savage origins would suggest. The Priest was technically right. The hob was unquestionably more agreeable, sociable, and reasonable than any greenskin he had seen or heard about.

Yet, ultimately, Tony was little more than a heartless killer that got what was coming to him. Fizzy, on the other hand, was furious. It wasn't because she was deprived of her expensive shield-serf, nor was she disappointed that the moron was done-in by something that cheap. Her anger also had little to do with the fact that a kill that was hers by right had been snatched away. No, the flames of her fury were stoked by something far simpler. Something that, curiously, went against her monstrous nature.

In that moment, for the second time in recent memory, Fizzy had been deprived of the only creature she could call a friend. And she would be damned if she let the meatbags responsible go unpunished yet again. Said sacks of flesh were, of course, blissfully unaware of the white machine's newfound hatred for them. They didn't have the luxury to worry about such things as they had their hands full fighting off a biter. The male gnome with the gem-encrusted sword took on the bug face-to-face.

He skillfully dodged, parried, and deflected the deadly strikes that came down at him. He didn't challenge the monster with brute strength, but skill, finesse, and a decade of combat experience. On a few occasions he got overwhelmed and staggered by the relentless assault, but a quick shot from his rifle-wielding partner to the biter's head prevented the creature from capitalizing on the opening. After about a minute of this back and forth with neither side landing a clean strike, the soldier suddenly backed off.

It chittered menacingly and twiddled the digits on its smaller arms as it teleported away. Krum and Krak knew this would happen. Those soldiers - or 'knights,' as the gnomes called them - burned through a lot of energy in combat, which meant they required an equally significant amount of sustenance. Food and water was scarce on Tascuna, so the hive could not afford to field its elite troops for extended periods of time or in great numbers.

It only sent them out when it felt sufficiently threatened, or when a certain Stonesinger mimicked their distress signal. That was Krum's primary Job, and he was damn good at it if he said so himself. Krak was his twin sister, and she was a Scout. Hers was a vocation that was obsolete on Terrania since it was replaced by the Rogue, Ranger, and Spy Jobs that branched out from it.

It still proved sufficient to augment Krak's abilities as a huntress, though her pinpoint marksmanship was something she had to earn the hard way. And it wasn't just because very few Skills supported the strange weapon's use. Their father told the girl time and again to leave such 'heresies' to those of… lesser birth. Krak naturally didn't listen, and her brother was damn proud of her for it. If she hadn't practiced her aim with such zeal, she would have never made that shot and brought down one of the outsiders.

The strange green-skinned fellow with the metal arm was what the two of them were fighting that bug over. The soldier would have likely persisted in the assault if Krum didn't cast a Silent Sphere atop the unconscious stranger, quieting his breaths and heart. With its poor eyesight and sharp hearing, the creature believed its quarry to be dead and returned to the hive to hibernate and conserve its energy.

Krum and Krak waited a short while longer to ensure nothing else showed up before finally turning to tend to the hobgoblin. They started by feeding him a locally brewed healing potion. It was weak stuff, but would make sure he didn't expire just yet. Once they were certain his life wasn't in danger, they fiddled with his golem-limb and quickly figured out how to detach it, then confiscated it along with his axes.

Now thoroughly disarmed in every meaning of the word, the hobgoblin was tied to a sturdy stick, which was then hoisted onto the twins' shoulders and carried off into the brush.