Burnt-out buildings commonly appeared on their trek; par for the norm these days. All remained quiet outside of heavy footfalls, their breathing, and of course Marcus’s tag-along summon. Occasional beasts attacked their twelve strong team but were dispatched easily by their soldier ‘escorts.’ They’d introduced themselves earlier, but he always had difficulties recalling names of new acquaintances; Marcus would memorize them eventually – for now he only noted their squad leaders name, Thomas.

Thomas was about as average as any one human had any right to be. Caucasian, thin, and moderately tall – the man just exemplified ‘normal’, if not for his surprisingly authoritative voice Marcus may have assumed he was a robot. Aside from that, he kept his squad running like a machine, smoothly.

Their target wasn’t very far, and even after maintaining a sustainable pace even for the slowest of individuals, they arrived an hour later. 16th Street’s protection made what they found seem pathetic, while the former was surrounded by innumerable Blighted Husks, the latter, their mission target, only garrisoned several thousand.

Taking temporary cover behind a relatively intact restaurant, Thomas spoke quietly first, “I’ve analyzed every scouting report before coming here, and along with your testimonials regarding Downtown, there’s something off about this entire situation. These ‘Distortion Vat’ facilities should be much more heavily guarded… it feels like we’re walking into a trap. Our options don’t include stealth, meaning it’s a frontal assault, or guerilla tactics. I’m partial to the latter personally.”

“Our objective involves us totally annihilating their numbers. If we use big boy here, “Marcus points at the Berserker, “he’ll make a mighty fine distraction as we pick off those who make it around him. Additionally, Husks have a limited inherent range in which they’ll wander from their original position. In my experience that range is between one and two kilometers – with you and your men lacking ranged options our best bet is funneling them into a fortified position. If you can point out an appropriate spot I can even make us a bunker.”

“If what my superiors have mentioned is accurate, I’ll trust your claims. Let my soldiers and I scout out our holding point – once we’ve found something suitable we’ll meet up there,” Thomas said.

Three pairs of two broke off - following Thomas’s instructions, and it wasn’t long before various individuals came back leading them towards their finds. The group toured several potential spots - all were turned down due to various deficiencies such as lacking escape routes or being too large and difficult to fortify. After half a dozen disqualifications they finally mutually chose one that fit most of the requirements.

Their final selection bordered upon Blighted range limitations allowing an easy escape if things went terrible wrong. Hollowed commercial buildings provided Marcus with ample space for his fortification without having to clear much space. Everyone else focused on shoving any remaining shelving or goods outside – eliminating possible hazards. Pieces of reinforced stone shattered cement foundations, rising before settling into place forming meter thick walls. Not wanting to die in a cave-in, he next constructed roofing supported by columns interspaced evenly; even if one were to fail, the ceiling would hold.

Frame completed - Marcus opened one singular ingress while molding several additional walls into a funnel lined with enough murderholes for everyone to see and attack through. Their escape route was a simple tunnel that ran outside of what Marcus considered the range Blighted would pursue them. Outside, numerous pitfall traps came into being, every little bit counted and even if they only killed several each, that’d be fine. As a finishing touch, he formed an extra dense block of stone hanging over their funnel, only held in place by a series of blocks – easily removed in a hurry if necessary.

His golem stood in the widened vestibule given just enough space to freely maneuver, but not enough for Husks to complete ignore it. Its job would be blocking most of the hostiles, leaving only those who managed to get around for Marcus and Co. to fight. The fortification copied many aspects of traditional Roman forts - aside from having only one entrance, roofing, and an escape tunnel; all in all, leaving them with 12-meter-tall ceilings, and about 400 square meters of ground space.

Finished, he spoke up, “Alright, I’ve finished what I can – who wants to be the bait?”

Met with absolute silence, Marcus signed, “Yeah… I guess that makes sense – Be right back.”

Running down the road, he could only wish that his next summon wouldn’t be so slow - playing bait sucked; at least they’d given Marcus a Kevlar vest.

Luring out his targets went well – at first. Blighted Husks sprinted from their positions, chasing Marcus at top speed and then the trap they’d expected sprung. Twisted monstrosities burst from hiding, joining their brethren in pursuit. Unable to perform a clear inspection, Marcus was only able to get brief glances as he swiftly ran – throwing an occasional Stone Throw behind himself, to little effect on the new creatures.

Each of these new foes stood 4 meters tall at the shoulder and possessed between 4 and 10 pairs of legs. Their bodies were covered in what appeared to be a pasty substance that ran down their extremities and was flung about as they moved. Six jaws adorned their faces, putrid teeth on full display, gaping maws snapping for an anticipated feast. Breathing powerfully, Marcus rounded one last street corner, finally spotting his fortification and summon eagerly awaiting the upcoming butchery.

Slamming through the entrance at a sprint, Marcus raised a waist high wall, semi-sealing their funnel. Hastily he called out, “New Blighted variant incoming - they’re all at least quadrupeds, fast, and appear diseased… don’t let them bite you!”

Their approach audible, claws clattering, a brief flash, and then contact. White-hot blades bisected the first creature that approached his golem – instantly searing both halves. Large blades whistled, cleaving enemies apart in twos and threes - blows harmless deflecting off its armor. Marcus laid into those attempting to pass, blasting Stone Throws into the group – shrapnel filling the space. Stone pinged off their guardian unfazed by the danger close explosives. Soldiers jabbed their spears through murder holes, and before long they’d nearly clogged the entryway after a dozen minutes of fighting. Marcus sent out a command, his summon immediate turned its blades to their flat sides, using them in a manner that closely resembled bulldozers, shoving and clearing the funnel.

In that moment of its halted violence, several of the new variants slipped in and showed what they were truly capable of. These enemies died, sure, but in their death throws swelled, bursting like a balloon – sending their unknown substance splattering into both walls, and people.

Screams immediately sounded out, exposed flesh sizzling, before turning a sickly black. Unable to render aid, Marcus could only hope that Greg had a way to aid those afflicted. More immediate concerns showed themselves as that same material rapidly ate into defenses.

To their credit, no one panicked – Thomas continually redirected his forces around efficiently eliminating many Husks, buying him time to cast spells. He’d been waiting for Blighted to cluster around the entrance, and Marcus believed enough had done so. He gradually withdrew the summon inside and began casting his large AOE (Area of Effect), spreading it widely around outside. Twelve seconds passed agonizingly slowly while Adrian blocked more than a few gooey blasts that would’ve otherwise interrupted him. Simultaneously, Greg ran from casualty to casualty, closing wounds and revering the blackening process – reducing their losses considerably.

Preparations complete, Marcus snapped the entrance shut with a burst of mana. Shaking followed immediately, scratching noises noticeable as their enemies desperately scoured for purchase. Heat radiated inwards, the walls brightening perceptively, and in spots, turning molten. Marcus pulled additional material from below, reforming damaged portion as fast as possible; he’d underestimated how much power his recent levels granted.

Lowering the walls tens of minutes later after cooling, they were greeting with a landscape covered in corpses. Mounds of dead littered the street, many of them charred black. Random holes were scattered around, dug into asphalt by powerful acid. Finding one body relatively intact, Marcus finally got a good look.

Blighted Burster – Level 23 | Type: Abomination/ Horror | Flesh puppets controlled by a much greater foe. Blight Bursters are a specialized swarm response to native species habits and skills. Specialized in fortification demolition and injuring unarmored foes. In addition to being acidic, their secretions are also highly infectious. Blight, or The Blighted, are malignant when determining their category. Left to fester they’ve been known to spread rapidly, subsuming all native fauna.

Good thing Greg was able to purge this crap before it go into their blood – otherwise we’d be heading back to base early at best. I want this nonsense done – leaving my mother alone frays my nerves - she should be safe though; most creatures are in the inner-city.

Marcus set his summon to clear carcasses away for their next wave, while he took stock of those around him. Everyone seemed engrossed in their status, many of them leveling up more in that one engagement than they’d otherwise had. Once Thomas finished, Marcus got his attention.

“For our next batch do you think we should move to another structure? These things learn fast, and whatever is controlling them won’t continually throw bodies at us. From a rough estimate we’ve eliminated about half of those we can see, and that doesn’t count those that may be inside. I think we’ve got one, maybe two additional attempts before this tactic is nulled,” he said.

“Then we should use this strategy two more times, my men and I are rapidly gaining strength following these methods. Once we’ve gotten stronger, and you make us new weapons, we can take the fight to these bastards,” Thomas stated flatly.

Thinking briefly, Marcus replied, “Point taken, give me some time, I’ll need to repair our defenses, and scrounge up weapons for your men.”

An hour later, everyone healed, and preparations complete – Marcus sent off his summon to play lure this time. Aside from their suicidal attacks nothing had done more than lightly scratch at its Obsidian armor, and of course it was disposable if their foes sent more another surprises.

Hammering footfalls soon marked the Berserker’s return – lightly damaged, but whole. Another crowd nipped at its heels, and Marcus saw something terrifying about these Husks. While they appeared identical to their predecessors, these carried crude weapons – amateurly wielded, but deadly all the same. Clubs, and small pieces of debris slammed into armored limbs – repeated blows cracking what once took dozens of hits to damage.

So far, The Blighted had shown a remarkable degree of learning ability, everything he’d thrown at them rapidly triggered a response. They’d develop counters or at least deterrents for his strategies - with that in mind Marcus really didn’t want to use the summons Pyroclastic Core ability until absolutely necessary. Feeding a trickle of mana into his summon was enough to heal the random wounds, but the evolution was worrying nonetheless.

Shortly thereafter the first scene repeated itself, sans injury; additional levels making a world of difference even with their enemies using weapons. Relaxing into the flow of battle, Marcus didn’t notice one of the previously injured soldiers jerk and turn towards him.

A crude spear pierced through Marcus’s Kevlar vest from behind, entering his flesh immediately after. Blood flowed freely from the wound, nerves firing rapidly as pain radiated around the blow. Instinctively, he’d swung his staff at the threat, moving faster than anyone else could’ve reacted. Enchanted weapon met temple, crumpling a traitor towards the ground were he, it, began speaking.

Black sclera started back into Marcus eyes, “Fools, you’ve no idea what you’ve done! You humans have only been a nuisance, poking at things you can’t possibly understand. New worlds such as yours are filled with life, food, fuel, EVERYTHING WE NEED! How DARE you filthy apes soil the Grand mission, you’ll fail in the end, give u-“

The creature was ended there by Thomas who’d stepped away from the fight, driving his spear deeply into its eye - interrupting the textbook villain monolog spouting from their previous comrades’ mouth.

Thomas only said two words before rejoining combat, “Talk later.”

Marcus groaned and pulled out the ruined weapon from his back – most of its bladed tip shattered. His new bones had already saved his life – apparently they were strong enough to halt direct blows. The hit shaved a small amount of health off, but if his heart had been impaled as intended, he didn’t hold any doubt that he’d have died quickly after. Greg healed him during the respite, but for safeties sake he cycled Pyrrhic Cleansing, hopefully eliminating any potential infections.

Rejoining the defense thereafter, he angrily threw a barrage of spells, quickly ending their second encounter today.

“Whatever is inside that Institute, our buddies don’t want us getting to it. We’re assaulting them, now, “motioning towards the fallen soldier, “I can burn his body if you wish, its more than most people get these days.”

Thomas looked between Marcus and his fallen man before bending over the body and removing its dog tags, “Do it.”

He simply nodded gathering scrap wood, before setting it ablaze. Everyone silently peered into the flames, seeing themselves in that man’s place. Marcus stood closely, letting fire painfully lick at his skin, reminding himself why he was pushing so hard, facing death frequently.

Its so that children don’t lose their mothers and fathers to insidious beings such as these. This man, this human, fought for what mattered – their races survival. Pain is a small price to pay, and it’s a cost I’m willing to shoulder whenever I can. I’m not humanities leader - I’m a righter of wrongs, its punisher.