KINETIC

Chapter 158 Courtyard Battle

Cain lead the remainder of his squad to the other side of town. As they got closer, the sounds of screaming civilians and snarling beasts started to reach their ears.

Several people were still running through the streets, trying to get away from the threat. Going in the opposite direction as these people, reaching their destination was easy.

They rounded a corner and arrived in a courtyard type area between some buildings, there they could see several Beasts attacking the townspeople.

Springing into action, Cain and his squad used their abilities to fight back the beasts. The majority of the beasts were the larger ones known as gargoyles.

Some gargoyles had wings while others didn't, in this case the majority were without. There were a few smaller flying creatures called imps that were attacking with fire, setting the nearby buildings alight.

As the close combat fighters charged towards th beasts, the ranged users began to launch their attacks over the heads of their allies.

Flashing lights and sounds of explosions rang out through the air in the surrounding areas, intensifying the sounds of violence that had previously been present.

Some of the more accurate Infernai focused on the imps after noticing their immense potential of damage. One well placed shot was more than enough to deal with the imps, making them the perfect example of a glass canon.

The ranged abilities were dealing limited damage to the gargoyles, do little more than damaging their skin. However, each time a gargoyles hand lit up with orange energy and an spikes made of earth would extend from the ground, a bolt of lightning or spectral arrow would slam into its face and stop its attack.

This allowed the close combat fighters to approach with little to no resistance. Fists, hammers and spectral weapons were swung at the gargoyles, a few of them being hit by multiple Infernai at once.

Of the Infernai that attacked a gargoyle alone, Cain was the only one capable of killing it in a single hit.

A bolt of lightning slammed into the gargoyles face, blinding it. At that moment Cain jumped and swung one of his hammers into the gargoyles head, crushing its skull.

Cain stopped for a moment while looking down at his hammer and arm 'I'm stronger than before. I know it was distracted but I managed to kill it with just one hit...'

The reason for his confusion was that he didn't do anything in particular to increase his power. The only difference was that he better understood what his ability was capable of, allowing him to adjust how he used it.

Previously he would have jumped and only increased his arm and the hammers weight, but knowing that increasing his density increased his strength, he did so for his entire body this time. It was a small change in theory but it was clearly much more effective in practice.

He tightened his grip around the hammers and resumed battle. Whenever is was possible, the Infernai would help any civilians still nearby and usher them towards an escape route behind the ranged fighters.

While some civilians managed to escape this way, most weren't being killed by the beasts and were being captured instead. They were being held captive at the back of the beast horde.

A gargoyle rushed towards Cain head on while an imp was throwing bolts of fire at him from above. He dodged left and right while moving towards the oncoming gargoyle, occasionally swatting a fire bolt away with this hammer.

An orange glow surrounded the gargoyles hands and spikes of made of earth extended from the ground at an angle, coming straight for Cain.

Trying the same tactic as he had the last time, he lowered his density and jumped into the air, soaring over the spikes.

He deliberately jumped towards the nearby imp and used this chance to obliterate its body with a well placed swing of the hammer.

Unfortunately, to reach the imp he was forced to jump at an angle that took him away from the gargoyle slightly.

Not wanting to land and instantly get impaled by spikes, an idea popped into Cain's head. He lowered the density his entire body as much as possible and swung his hammer in a verticle circle motion.

He then increased the density of the hammer as he extended his arm forward in the air, pointing towards the direction he wanted to go.

The hammers weight, coupled with the momentum generated by swinging it around, pulled his body forwards and up again.

He then lowered the density of the hammer once again, slowing his momentum as he neared his goal.

He was directly above the gargoyle as his body lost momentum and started to fall. He increased his density to the maximum, along with his hammers, and fell with incredible speed.

He swing his hammer down at the right moment, slamming it into the gargoyles head. The hammer destroyed everything in its path, tearing through the beast with almost no resistance.

Cain slammed into the ground with such force that everyone nearby was lifted off the ground and thrown into the air.

A cloud of dust was created as the sound of heavy impact rang throughout the courtyard. When the dust settled, Cain was standing in a crater that was about ten meters in diameter.

He hadn't expected to fall as quickly as he did but surprisingly enough, he was completely uninjured.

The general reaction to Cain's attack was surprise, but none could surpass the surprise he himself felt.

'I only fell about fifteen meters, maybe twenty at most... I never thought I could get that much power out of an attack like that.'

While Cain was thinking about he last attack, he heard a scream of pain from somewhere behind him.

An Infernai had been impaled by an earth spike, going right through his stomach. Cain turned just in time to see several more spikes impale the Infernai in ever part of his body and killing him instantly.

He then noticed that one third of his squad had already died during this fight. Some were impaled, others were burned alive.

The Infernai proved to be more powerful than the beasts and were able to deal with their attacks. The problem was that more beasts were showing up as time went by, negating all the progress made by the Infernai.

"Captain! We have to pull back!" An Infernai shouted.

"We can't hold them for much longer! There's too many of them!" Another added.

Cain looked at the group of civilians that had been captured, their terrified expressions and pleading eyes.

A woman made eye contact with Cain and he could hear her screaming at him, begging him to help them.

All he could do was close his eyes 'I'm sorry...' he thought as he ran back to his squad. "Retreat! We've done all we can!"

The squad started to slowly move back while stoll defending from the beasts attacks. They were moving towards the same alley they had used to enter this courtyard.

As they were nearing the alley and preparing to turn and run, a voice was heard speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, piercing through the sounds of battle.

"None of you are leaving."

The beasts stopped attacking and the Infernai all looked up towards the source of the voice. Cain's eyes narrowed as he spotted the figure standing on a rooftop across the courtyard.

"Trent." Cain said, a concerned but hate filled expression appearing on his face.

Trent was staring down at the battlefield with a smirk on his face "My beasts aren't all that strong, wouldn't you agree? They were made out of peasants after all so you can only expect so much. Still, it makes me wonder what kind of beasts I can create if I use a better base. Someone with an ability for example."

Trents eyes were filled with sadistic intent as he stared down at the Infernai with a grin on his face.

Beasts started to pour into the courtyard from every street and alley that connected to it. After only a few seconds had passed squad one had been completely surrounded.

"I can practically smell the fear." Trent chuckled "how about we make a deal. As long as Cain stays behind, I'll let the rest of you leave."

Cain frowned as he heard this "I don't know why you want me specifically but my squad would never leave me beh..." A set of chains suddenly appeared around Cain's body and dragged him to the ground.

"I'm sorry... I can't... I can't let this be the end!" Frey said as she backed away with tears in her eyes.

A path was quickly created through the horde of beasts. The whole squad had guilty and frustrated expressions on their faces as they turned to join Frey in walking through the pathway.

A few gargoyles stepped forward and grabbed onto Cain. They took his hammers away from him and bound his arms and legs with metal cuffs connected by a chain.

The chains created by Frey disappeared and Cain was lifted off the ground by a gargoyle holding the back of his neck.

"How pathetic. To think they would abandon you so easily." ~Snap~ shook his head and then snapped his fingers.

The entire horde of beasts suddenly closed the path and started tearing into the Infernai walking through it. Cain was turned towards them and forced to watch as their bodies were ripped to pieces.

"The expression a person makes when you rip away their hope is just so intoxicating." Trent said, a sadistic smile plastered over his face.