Chapter 186 Re-Taking Zoren (Part 3)

The creature at the front of the cults reinforcements had an appearance that made the soldiers feel immense fear.

It was easily 3 meters in height with a large and muscular build. It's skin was a dark gray colour with rock like black scales covering its body like armour.

The scales covered all it's vital areas while also providing protection to its arms and legs. Similarly to certain armour types, the joints, armpits and even the inside section of the arms were exposed to allow for ease of movement.

Between the black scales on the creatures chest there was a dull pulsing white light that resembled veins. This light was what initially drew the soldiers attention of the creature.

The scales didnt protect anything above the torso, making its neck and head seem like the obvious choice for attack.

It's facial features were like that of a human, with no differences in eye, nose or mouth shapes. The whites of its eyes were slightly yellow as opposed to pure white and it's pupils were pure black.

It had no hair on its head and it looked at the soldiers with an emotionless expression, moving from one to the next until it fixed it gaze on the Duke.

'Its weak points are the same as a someone with armour on, I'll aim for the arms and legs first to slow its movement and prevent its attacks.' Duke Wesley thought as he analyzed the creature.

The Duke took a defensive stance after deciding that a counter attacking fighting style would best suite this situation.

The creatures haze was fixed on the Duke and continued to walk towards him. The soldiers parted, allowing it to walk passed them. The creature didn't attack the others, ignoring them as it walked.

"The Duke said he would handle that thing, let's take down the rest so we can support him!" One of the soldiers shouted. He received cheers from the others as they charged towards the cultists.

When the creature was just a few meters away from the Duke, he was suddenly assaulted by some kind of invisible force that was pressing down on him. It felt as though he was carrying the weight of two men instead of just his own.

As this force appeared the creature suddenly dashed forwards and threw out a punch towards the Dukes chest.

He saw the punch coming, and would usually have the speed to dodge it, but because of the invisible force he was slower than usual.

His body moved to the side slightly but it wasn't enough to avoid the attack. Still, the creatures punch didn't strike him straight on, allowing him to take less damage.

But something strange happened. The invisible force that was pressing down on the Duke suddenly changed its direction, matching the direction of the punch.

The punch itself was already incredibly powerful and heavy but with the invisible force changing directions, the Duke was sent flying through the air.

He slammed into a building on the side of the street and bounced of the wall several times as he continued down the street for over twenty meters, heading in the direction of the city gate.

When his body began to slow and he bounced away from the wall, the invisible force changed directions again, pulling him back to the wall.

When he finally came to a stop, he was pressed against the wall about half way passed the second floor.

The force was so strong that he could stand on the wall as though it were the ground, and that's exactly what he did.

'If I was being pressed against the wall by something then it would feel like my body was in a strange position, but right now, even when I'm parallel to the ground, I feel as though it's natural to stand like this.

Gravity. General Rune explained to our scholars that its the force that keeps us on the ground and brings us down when we jump or fall. This creature is controlling that.' Duke Wesley thought.

The creature jumped into the air and wa suddenly pulled towards the same wall as the Duke. It landed on its feet and stood up naturally, unlike the Duke who was unsure of his balance at first.

The creature looked at the Duke with an expressionless gaze as it slowly walked towards him. As the Duke stood there, wondering what to do, there was a flash of light and a loud explosion in the air above him.

The creature looked up at the sky, seemingly interested in seeing the source of the light and sound.

The Duke saw this as an opportunity and quickly charged the creature with sword in hand. He raised the sword beside his body, pointing at the creature, and thrusted.

The sword moved forward with immense power and speed, aiming for the creatures chest. 'Going for its arms and legs was the initial idea but if I can kill it in one strike while it's distracted...!'

The Duke had impeccable form, thrusting the sword forward like it was a part of him. It's tip was heading for where the creatures heart should be, given it's human like appearance.

The creatures attention was still on the sky when the sword made impact. There was a loud snapping sound followed by the clattering sound of metal hitting the floor.

The Duke looked at his sword in disbelief, the tip had snapped upon contact with the creature. He looked at the creatures chest and saw that there wasn't even a single scratch.

He looked up at the creatures face and saw that its attention was now on him once again. It's towering figure looking down on him like a giant.

The gravity suddenly increased, making it feel like the Duke was carrying an extra person's weight again.

The creature lifted its arm and threw it forward, sending a powerful punch towards the Dukes chest once again.

The same problem occurred as before and the Duke was fully aware that he wouldn't be able to dodge completely.

He began moving to the side as fast he could but to his surprise, the creatures fist changed direction to follow his dodge.

'It predicted my movements.' The Duke thought, resigned to the fact that he couldn't avoid the punch.

Suddenly, an arm made of metal reached out from the Dukes side. The creatures fist slammed into the metal hand and came to a complete stop.

Another arm made of metal swung out towards the creature, slamming it in the chest and pushing it back.

The Duke looked to his side and saw a man made completely of metal standing there, his Infernum uniform clearly visible even when covered in metal.

"I'll handle it from here." Leonard said as he walked towards the creature.

***

Leonard had been running for a few minutes already, the sounds of fighting becoming louder as he got closer to the city.

He was close enough to see the fighting happening within and knew that nobody would be able to open the metal gate that still barred his way.

'Climbing the wall isn't an option and I can't break the gate or wall either. My only option is to lift the gate.' Leonard thought.

After another forty seconds or so, he reached the city gate. He bent squatted down and placed his hands under the lowest bars he could and started lifting.

It was far heavier than he thought it would be but still it didn't surprise him, it was made of solid steel after all.

It felt like he was trying to move a mountain with how heavy the gate was. Still, the sounds of battle and cries of death motivated him, allowing him to push himself as the adrenaline pumped through his muscles.

His arms and legs bulged as he slowly stood to his feet, lifting the gate along with him. Even then, the gate was only a meter off the ground.

He let go with one hand and reached down, grabbing a lower part of the gate that was in the ground before now.

He then transferred his other hand to the same bar and crouched again, using his arms and legs to lift.

He repeated this several times, eventually getting the gate above his head. He let go of the gate as he moved passed it into the city, the heavy metal slamming into the ground behind him.

He was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath as he surveyed the battle to see where he was most needed.

That's when he saw a large creature fighting someone that was clearly not an ability user. He saw how dire the man's situation was and quickly rushed to assist him.

The fact that they were standing on the wall was strange but he jumped towards them and jooed for the best.

Luckily he was attracted to the wall just like them, allowing him to reach the man in time and prevent him from taking a potentially fatal punch to the chest.

He looked to the man and then walked passed him towards the creature with a confident look on his face.

"I'll handle it from here."