The next room threw them straight into a battle.

Steven had barely opened the door, just as cautious as ever, when a wave of noise crashed over him.

Screams, growls, the crack of lightning, and the meaty sound of flesh slamming against flesh.

Micheal peeked inside, and Steven joined him.

Two forces were locked in a savage melee. One side was a large group of the usual Shamblers, with the graceful variety mixed in and a few Lightning Hurlers at the back.

The other side was made up of four ragged monsters. All of them wore the scraps of formal wear like the last Unique Creation had, but the similarities ended there. One of them was almost as tall as the Giant but with lanky, stretched-out limbs tipped with pale claws and a gaping maw in place of bulging muscle.

Two others were bent and broken, hunched over and resting on all fours like hounds. The way they snarled enforced that image.

And the last stood at the back of the feral group, its crackling yellow eyes scanning the battle with an unnerving amount of intelligence.

It was tall, with a bare, muscular chest marked with errant chunks of metal. Its face shared that feature, wide strips of plated metal sunken into its cheeks, the dark spots standing out in sharp contrast with its pale skin.

As Steven watched, it raised a hand, and electricity sparked along the metal in its body.

A lightning ball formed, but it was nearly the size of a beach ball. Despite being at least twenty feet away, Steven could feel the hairs on his arm stand on end as the attack formed.

It chucked the ball at the back line of Lightning Hurlers.

It wasn’t that fast, but when it reached the group, it pulsed twice before detonating with enough force to fling the mages from their feet in a violent burst of electricity.

A second lightning ball formed, then Its glowing eyes turned to Steven.

It hurled the attack, and Steven instantly shielded in front of them.

The monster had aimed high, though, and the attack sailed straight over his shields to land behind them.

His eyes widened as the ball pulsed. “Move!”

They rushed into the room, Steven destroying and recalling his shields behind them as they moved.

The ball exploded, but they managed to get outside its radius.

Every monster in the room stopped, the frenzied combat pausing for a few tense breaths as over a dozen eyes turned to bore into them.

Micheal sucked in a slow breath. “Shit.”

The spell broke, and the horde crashed back together. Except now it was spilling towards them.

There was no time to plan, no time to think, only to react.

Steven dismissed his shields before calling them to the middle of the horde.

He pulled them towards his feet.

Several Shamblers fell as his shields slammed into their ankles.

One shield managed to topple two Shamblers before the pull ended, but the others stopped after the first hit.

Steven immediately dismissed and recalled.

Another group pull.

The feral group of monsters pounced on the fallen Shamblers, the two horrific dog things ripping into them with single-minded focus. They ignored everything else, uncaring of the attacks of other Shamblers as they tore apart their prey.

Three of the Graceful Peasants crashed over one of the dog things, tearing it apart.

The horde reached them, and everything became a blur.

Steven called and dismissed, dodged, struck, and pulled as the monsters crashed over them.

Buford was right in front of him, killing everything that got close while Steven tripped or blocked whatever tried to slip around the hound.

A Shambler longed at Steven from the left. He called a shield in front of its face, and as it slammed into it, he called another shield behind its head with a sound trap attached.

Then he pulled the second shield towards his own face. It crashed into the back of the Shambler's head, triggering the sound trap with a bang!

The Shambler dropped.

Steven searched for the next danger, his heart pounding. Grunts and screams sounded in his ears, the smell of blood and burnt ozone sharp in his nose.

He kept calling and pulling, desperate to stay ahead of the horde.

Margie shouted in his ear. “Cover me!”

Steven stepped back. Buford was fighting three Graceful Peasants, but they weren’t a real threat to him now.

Margie sighted with her rifle. Steven blocked and tripped everything that came close.

He was so focused on his task that he didn’t even see what Margie was aiming at until she fired.

At the back of the horde, the mage that had thrown the massive lightning ball staggered, its arm dropping as the lightning it had been gathering dispersed.

“Good shot!” Steven ducked as an arm swung at him. Margie bashed the offending Shambler with the butt of her rifle, and Steven called a shield behind its foot as it stumbled.

It went down, and Buford made sure it didn’t get back up.

At this point, there were only of few normal Shamblers left. The feral group had torn into them along with Buford, and while they had lost both dog things, the lanky brute and the lightning mage were still standing.

Each side finished off the remaining Shamblers, then stopped.

There were less than ten feet between them now; the fighting had dragged them closer to the middle of the room than Steven liked.

The air grew heavy as everyone tensed, waiting for violence to erupt.

Steven took a deep breath.

They could handle the lanky brute. It was fast and strong, but he was confident it wouldn’t break his shields.

The mage, though, those lightning bombs were no joke. And there was no guarantee that was his only Skill.

Take him out first, then.

He took another deep breath, then struck.

Steven called a sound-trapped shield behind the monster's head and pulled it towards his own face.

A massive wave of energy left him with the shield, causing him to stagger.

That single call had felt as draining as a dozen shields!

The attack landed, smashing into the back of its head with a bang.

The monster dropped to its knees, stunned, and the lanky brute rushed forward, not hesitating for a second.

Buford ran to meet it, his shroud trailing off him as he charged.

They crashed together, Buford’s shroud keeping him on his feet despite the weight difference.

Through his wavering vision, Steven blocked a strike from the monster, his shield straining from the force.

Buford tore a chunk from its calf, the monster's leg spasming as electricity coursed through it.

It swiped down at Buford. Steven blocked one of its claws, but the creature was fast, and its other arm lashed out.

Pale white claws dug into Buford, but the dog shrugged it off.

The durability enhancements from Jugger-Hound and its Augment turned what should have been a disemboweling attack into a shallow line of cuts in his flank.

Margie shot it in the chest. At the same time, Steven called a shield behind the monster's leg and pulled.

It hit but only managed to jerk its leg slightly before the effect ended.

Damnit, it’s too strong!

Steven blocked two more swings as Buford continued to ravage its leg.

He needed a way to topple the thing so Buford could get at its face.

As Steven dismissed and called again, Micheal shouted a warning.

Steven spun to see the mage had recovered and pointed a glowing finger at Buford’s side.

It fired before he could do anything. A line of light raced towards Buford, expanding into a net as it reached him.

For a second, Steven thought his shroud would absorb the attack, but it proved too strong. The lighting net slammed into Buford, and as his shroud dug into the ground, trying to keep him rooted, the brute struck.

Steven tried to shield the hound, but the brute's pale leg snaked around the small shield to crash into Buford’s side.

The two attacks overwhelmed his shroud, and Buford was flung from his feet.

They all screamed, but before Steven could even check how he landed, the brute was on them, its claws flashing.

Steven called and dismissed, blocking two, three, four strikes in as many seconds.

Margie shot again, but the brute ignored the wound.

It lashed out with a kick, and Steven barely managed to block it in time.

It was fast. If it weren’t for Micheal’s buff, he never would have been able to keep up.

He blocked another flurry and then tried to trip the creature again. He caught it mid-step, causing it to stumble, but it was too graceful to fall.

A stool smacked the creature in the side.

Both Steven and the monster glanced to the side. Micheal was standing less than ten feet away, arm outstretched.

He must have thrown a stool one-handed. It had barely reached the brute and hadn’t done anything but grab the thing's attention.

Which was the idea. Steven realized as it made a break for Micheal.

As the monster closed, one hand outstretched, pale claws reaching, Micheal’s Skill pulsed, and Steven's mind sharpened.

As the world slowed, he heard a gunshot from his left, but nothing hit the brute. She must have been aiming at the mage.

Hand-Shield’s Skill box pulsed along with Micheal’s as the thing closed in.

Steven clenched his fist and called.

One shield in front of its face, then one to its left and right.

In a quick, liquid motion, the brute twisted its head to the side to slip around the shield.

Steven pulled the center shield towards his stomach instead of his face. It rushed towards him at a sharp angle, slamming into the brute's chest instead of its face.

At the same time, he pulled the left and right shields towards his opposite hands. They moved towards him at a diagonal.

The brute had quickly overcome his pull in the center shied, but it was still Hand-Shield. As soon as the Augment wore off, the shield became completely immobile, and the brute wasn’t strong enough to break it.

It wasted a precious half-second trying to push through the shield, and the remaining shields slammed into it before it could react.

Steven saw a flash of red from the corner of his eye and smiled.

He wasn’t the only one who Micheal had buffed.

Buford crashed into the brute's legs from behind. Already off-balance from the shield strikes, it toppled like a tree.

Steven immediately dismissed and called his shields over the brute's chest and shoulders.

Buford rushed to its throat. It tried to get up but couldn’t break the shields.

Buford reached its throat, and his jaws clamped down. The brute went ballistic, screeching and thrashing. It slashed at Buford, its long claws lashing at the dog's sides and back. Buford tanked the hits and, with a snarl, crushed its throat.

“A little help?” Margie yelled over the dying brute.

Steven spun to see her dive out of the way of a lightning bolt.

The mage staggered after the Skill use, clutching the arm Margie shot.

How many Skills did the thing have?

It had the lighting ball, the lighting net, and now a bolt? Or maybe the net was an Augment of the bolt since it had started as a bolt before splitting.

Of course, assuming the monster's powers worked the same as theirs.

He ran at the mage, Micheal’s buff pounding through him.

He ate the distance in seconds, and by the time the mage noticed him, it was in Steven’s range.

He called a sound trapped shield behind its head again, but the mage was ready. The second its crackling eyes focused on Steven, it was moving.

Its good hand clinched as it ducked his shield pull.

A lighting ball started to form, but the mage dropped it before it could grow larger than a softball.

Steven called more shields, and he noticed with a start that they were draining him again.

The lightning ball detonated at the mage's feet, throwing it to the side with a cushion of electricity.

For a split second, Steven thought it had blown itself up by accident, but then he saw the mage land on its feet, conveniently away from Steven’s shields.

It had just used a bomb as a movement Skill! Did it have some kind of natural resistance to the electricity, or had that been another Skill?

Steven had to banish and recall his shields in front of himself as the mage pointed a glowing finger at him.

Its finger pulsed brighter, and a lightning bolt tore into the shield Steven had put a few feet in front of his face.

Green and yellow clashed for a heartbeat before both Skills exploded.

The lightning bolt had been stopped, but that barely felt like a victory as Steven’s mind was slammed with agony.

He was getting sick of things breaking Hand-Shield.

A gunshot cracked through the air, and Steven heard the mage cry out.

He blinked, his vision focusing again as the pain faded. The mage was clutching its side with its bad hand, the other was charging up a lighting ball.

Behind him, the brute's death wail finally ended.

Steven called a shield in front of the mage's raised hand as it cocked back, but instead of throwing, it just held the Skill and sidestepped.

His gut tensed. This thing was several times smarter than the Lightning Hurlers and Shamblers. If the Giant had been half as smart as this thing, they never would have beat it.

It threw the ball, and Steven quickly called another shield to block it.

The ball hit the shield and exploded. Those were manageable so long as Steven was quick, but if it got crafty with the bolts. Well, Steven couldn’t react to actual lighting. The only reason he had blocked the first one was because the mage had to point first.

The mage snarled and threw a second, smaller, ball out and immediately followed it up with a crackling bolt. On pure instinct, Steven dove to the side, the bolt passing less than an inch to his right.

The ball sailed towards him, and Steven wasn’t sure if he would get the shield out in time.

Buford made it a moot point as he leaped over Steven. The ball hit the hound's shoulder, but his shroud morphed and stretched over the attack, swallowing it whole.

That section of shroud turned a crackling yellow.

The dog rushed the mage, and Margie sighted her rifle.

Said mage immediately dropped another ball, blasting itself to the side as Margie fired.

The shot went wide, and the mage immediately raised a crackling finger at Buford.

Steven hadn’t even gotten up from his dive, but there was no time now. That net had overpowered Buford’s shroud, and Steven guessed the bolt would do the same.

He waited until the mage’s finger pulsed brighter. Then, bracing himself for the pain, he called a shield.

The two Skills crashed together and again exploded in a flash of green and yellow. Only this time, the explosion was right in front of the mage.

It staggered back, its pointer finger blown clean off.

Pain exploded in Steven’s head, even worse than before. But as his vision wavered, he saw that the explosion had distracted the mage long enough for Buford to close in.

There was a snarl, a crunch, and words filled Steven’s mind.

Ding! You have slain a Shambling Horde!

Ding! You have slain a Feral Squad! Split with party.

Secret sub-objective unlocked!

Learn the secrets of the Mad Doctor and the Feral experiments.