Dark Arts #278

I didn't stand still while watching the enemy power up as a mentally chalenged anime protagonist would. I instructed my Sentry Titans to attack and charged toward the alien, axe in hand.

Numerous black spikes shot out of the alien's body in all directions, but I dodged everything as I flew toward him. I quickly closed the distance and sent him flying into the waiting open palm of the closest Sentry Titan.

The giant machine closed its fist and slammed it into the ground away from the Champions Quarters before detaching it and sprouting a cannon instead. The other Sentry Titans brandished their weapons and attacked simultaneously, and I retrieved my Leviathan axe, channeling a concentrated beam of blizzard toward the alien.

The attacks, which included a magical blizzard beam, missiles, energy rounds, and arcs of electricity, hit the target obliterating the detached arm and a sizeable chunk of the ground alongside several high-rise buildings.

Luckily, the aliens were intelligent enough to evacuate, and I wasn't on Earth, so I really didn't care about property damage, even if I ended up destroying the entire city.

It's why I never had a chance to go all out back on Earth since humans prioritized filming disasters over surviving them, and they liked to sue people, but that's neither here nor there.

I frowned as I waved my axe, sending out a wave of freezing wind that extinguisedh the lingering flames and disbursed the smoke, only to sigh at the figure of the alien standing in the middle of the crater, now two times bigger.

"Of fucking course..." I cursed as I instructed the three Sentry Titans to retreat and create an energy field around the area. Just because I could destroy the city didn't mean I wanted to.

Kara seemed to like the place, after all.

In any case, the alien roared in anger as it took to the air, charging toward me, and I responded by equipping my Starheat ring and smashing it back into the ground with a giant green fist.

Pouring my energy and will into the ring, I materialized tens of weapons around me. Then I retrieved and activated my miniature gravity machine to keep the alien in place before firing on all cylinders.

The brown alien struggled but managed to break free after several seconds, which was enough time for my barrage to hit, plastering him back into the ground as the crater grew deeper with every fraction of a second.

Still, the bastard was persistent. Not only did he seem to survive the ongoing barrage, but he had the gall to try to counter-attack as black spikes would occasionally shoot toward me, only to disappear before reaching me.

I dismissed the weapons as the alien's counter-attacks ceased, my frown becoming more pronounced as I looked down at the scorched crater and found no trace of the alien.

Out of pure instinct, I immediately ducked as I heard a barely audible rustling of wind behind me, and a brown scaley fist flew right over my head, sending out a shockwave that destroyed one of the few still-standing buildings nearby.

"Your body sure is tough..." I said as I dodged one punch after the other, all considerably stronger and faster than they used to be. However, the alien was still acting in anger, which made reading him as easy as pie.

"Let's see how tough your mind is..." I added as I dodged another punch and positioned myself behind the alien before gripping the back of his hand with both hands.

I channeled my energy directly into his brain, and we both went still as I explored his mind, looking for a weakness I could abuse. However, what I saw made me instantly regret my actions and let him go as I witnessed the literal genocides and suffering of billions of living creatures.

"You god-damned piece of shit!" I said through gritted teeth as I sent the alien flying to the ground and took a deep breath to compose myself so as not to attack in anger and make myself vulnerable.

"That's it. You're fucking dead...!" I exclaimed, having calmed myself as I charged toward the alien, fully intent on ending the fight as soon as possible without any more delays.

I kicked the alien back into the ground as it tried to get up, then slashed my wrist with the Levathan's axe, spraying a jet of my blood all over the scorched dirt before the wound healed.

Suddenly, the ground turned murky black and liquefied under the brown alien as disfigured spectral hands emerged from within, gripping his body and dragging him downward.

The alien let out a loud roar as he tried to pry himself free from their grip, but for every hand he tore, ten more would sprout to take their place, hounding him tirelessly as the murky black liquid sapped at his strength.

I reactivated my gravity machine to ensure he didn't escape while firing consecutive energy blasts at the alien, accelerating his sinking process as I approached.

When I closed the distance between us, only the alien's scaley head was above the ground. I forcefully stomped over it with a scowl as I took out a book-shaped magical artifact from my inventory.

"Laf luhat kla'e a'abv..." I muttered, my eyes glowing in a sinister black light as the book's pages flipped on their own. "Kahor aeol manahaj..." I concluded as the book closed, extending my hand toward the alien's head, deep withing the muck.

I removed my foot and gripped at the alien's head before raising it slowly, dragging along a spectral, translucent figure that resembeld The Champion but had mass of tentacles wrapping around its torso.

"There you are, you little bitch!" I said as I pried the tentacles off The Campion's soul, to which the white and black mechanical suit over his physical body immediately fell apart, and his size reverted to normal.

I stuffed the spectral tentacles into an ancient jar before returning the alien's soul to his body. "I'll deal with you later..." I muttered, the black light in my eye subsiding as I put away the jar and the book and turned to the alien, waiting for him to wake up.

He woke up rather quickly and immediately kneeled in front of me. "You have my thanks, benefactor," The brown alien said, instantly lowering his head as he spoke.

"You have not only saved me, but spared my people from treading a path that could have one end; utter destruction..." The alien continued, his tone sincere as he raised his head and stared me in the eye.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just call off your men before they fucking scratch my machines," I added as I turned away from the brown alien and looked at the numerous battleships firing at my Sentry Titans.

"As you wish," The alien said as he got up, taking a deep breath. "Warriors, cease fire! The Champion commands it!" He bellowed, his thunderous exclamation resounding all over the city, to which the battleships immediately stopped firing.

"I am Metaoln, grand champion and chief warrior of Aeolla..." The alien said as he turned back to me. "My people and I are in your debt. Please do not hesitate to ask should you ever need our assistance," He added, smacking his chest with a closed fist.

"I'm Grayson, from Earth," I replied, nodding at the alien as I introduced myself. "As of now, I only need to go through the rest of my vacation without anyone bothering me..." I added with a sigh.

"Do you think you and your people can make that happen?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"That is only natural," Metaoln said with a firm nod. "The people Aeolla will do everything within their power to ensure your stay here will be as pleasant as possible whenever you choose to visit," He continued, his tone assuring and confident.

"Then all is good, now do excuse me..." I said as I noticed Jack exiting the Champion's Quarters and flying toward him. "You didn't overdo it in there, did you...?" I asked as I looked past him into the interior, which luckily looked intact.

"The guy seemed kinda cool without genocidal parasite controlling him... it'd be awkward if we destroyed his home..." I added as I awkwardly scratched my head with a chuckle.

"I held back my punches, but how dare you even ask me that when you've destroyed the entirety of the city's center..." Jack said, his eyes twitching as he looked down at the giant crater and dozen or so collapsed buildings all over the place.

"I had to. Besides, the guy seemed to understand," I said with a shrug as I pointed at Metaoln, who was already barking orders at his subordinates and giving out instructions. "Anyway, now that's over, what do you plan to do...?" I asked, tilting my head.

"I'll probably head back home, tie a few loose ends, then drift around for a while..." Jack said after a brief pause as he considered it. "Earth sounds like an interesting planet, so I'll probably come to visit in a while..." He added with a smile as he extended his hand toward me.

"Well, if you do, you can contact me with the ring," I replied as I returned the smile, firmly shaking Jack's hand.

"But for now, I've got a date to return to, so I'll see you later..."