Black Onyx - Phoenix Resurrection

The decaying corpses around us shook. A few people exclaimed loudly, thinking the zombies were back. But that was not the case. The movement came from the metal reinforcements, lifting the bodies off the ground.

The new General Orange quickly realized this was the work of his predecessor and he shouted so, yet nobody moved to take the new enemy down as he was guarded by one of those hellish machines.

The corpses released cracking sounds as the dull golden metal wrenched itself out of their bodies, breaking bone and tearing flesh in the process. Then, as one, the pieces flew, reshaping themselves mid-air, and wrapped themselves around the old boss.

The deceased General Orange became like a wrapped mummy, just in metal instead of cloth.

“I don’t like this…” General Red murmured as we watched the seemingly indestructible metal squirm around as if it were alive.

[How many of you can fight the drone?] I suddenly asked. [Because I think that guy is going to be a big problem really soon.]

I few people began to murmur, but nobody gave a definitive answer.

Seconds passed, and the squirming metal seemed to have settled. The floating drone finally moved, forcing its way into the chest of the new creature. As soon as it did so, the entire construct powered up, its empty eyes glowing with power.

It was a golem. About five meters tall and made entirely out of that indestructible stuff, thick armor plates woven like a layer of fabric over its body.

As soon as it awakened, people began running away. Not all of them, of course, but some did. Those who stayed, a few closest to the golem immediately took a defensive stance. Barriers flew up almost instantly, with weapons and relics making the air shimmer, stuffed with Spirit Qi.

The construct didn’t care at all. One moment it stood at the ruined doorway, the next it broke through an established defensive position, turning the defenders there into pink mist.

The shift was nearly instantaneous, the acceleration so rapid no living being could survive it. Well, nobody among the people present. The golem also stopped in an instant, its hand holding onto a broken spine of a woman as the rest of her rained down around it in a rain of blood. She exploded upon contact after all. And I saw all of it.

The golem was quite fast. Definitely faster than me, and yet I could see it move.

Well, after that demonstration of power, panic ensued. The construct was bombarded from all sides by techniques and physical attacks, but against an indestructible body, it was all in vain. The golem shrugged off the blows and didn’t even react, slowly killing, one person at a time.

“Gerald!” I heard General Red shout amid the screams. “We need to retreat and come up with a plan of attack! Let’s go, quickly!”

I saw the rest of my team already retreating while looking back at me with pleading gazes. Well, too bad.

[I already have a plan.] I said quietly and a moment later my body transformed into my combat form, growing scales, horns, and claws. My plan was simple.

[Attack.]

Instantly, my fist connected with the construct. There was a dull thud, like striking a solid wall, but the power transfer was more than enough to get the golem over the terminal velocity and its body vanished, smashing into the opposite wall of the cavern a moment later.

I roared with glee and jumped after it, the battle mania already taking hold.

If there was a way to properly test my new body, then the indestructible golem was it!

I swiped my hand across the body of the golem, my claws ineffectively sliding off. In return, I received a punch in the side of my face, blasting me in the opposite direction.

I tumbled for a moment before I stabilized myself in the air and scanned the area around me. I was in the middle of the city somewhere, the weird gray stone shaped with a clear touch of magic. It was not a naturally formed material in the Underdark. The stone around was almost black, sometimes with a touch of dark blue or green. Most buildings were gray, and though they merged naturally with the ground, it was clear they were added after the cavern was excavated.

[Is that a… pipe?] I looked closer and noticed a metal thing sticking out of the ground and going into a building, but before I could examine it further, the damn Goruct (golem+construct) landed beside me and delivered another blow. It spun around, using the space itself to push against, and landed a kick on my stomach. It wasn’t too bad, but I was catapulted away nonetheless.

As it jumped after me, I reoriented myself and blasted it with Arcane Blaze, the scorching beam hitting it square in the face.

Goruct unfortunately returned the attack, shooting a beam of its own from its forehead which countered my beam and cut through my eyes.

[Gah!]

That fucking hurt! Despite being able to regenerate in half a second, I still felt the damage. A tiny glowing sphere formed on the tip of my finger and I shot it at Goruct. It exploded, pushing it away. As my eyes reformed, I just kept shooting, pouring tremendous energy into each of my attacks. They didn’t seem to be doing much, unfortunately.

A few of them missed, blowing apart the structures around us. While not ideal, there was just no way to prevent collateral damage. We were too strong, and the space in which we fought was too small. Every stray blow would create a sonic boom, and every small blast of energy would obliterate a chunk of stone.

My techniques had been active since before the fight began, and the Century in a Blink was just barely keeping up. I could easily follow Goruct’s movements with my eyes, but my body was just a bit too slow.

The next time it came close, I triggered my trump card.

[Disruption!]

A wave of chaotic Qi was blasted out, hitting Goruct point blank and doing… fuck all. The bastard didn’t even seem to notice.

The following punch landing on my face was just as strong and just as swift as those before it, breaking through my skin and drawing blood. Immediately after, a beam of energy formed again, cutting open my chest as I flew back, breaking houses and demolishing thick stone walls. Not everything was reinforced like the mansion was.

[Yeah… This is getting annoying.]

Trying to destroy an indestructible machine was pointless. But, I had a few more tricks up my sleeve.

As Goruct flew at me, intent on beating me up some more, I just smiled, firmly gripped, and then tore out its Soul.

The metallic construct collapsed instantly, the momentum carrying it bouncing and skidding over the floor for a while.

[Well, that’s that.] I clapped my hands together, getting rid of the dust that had gathered on me. I was using a lot of energy to fight as an equal with that thing, and it didn’t look like I would be able to easily win. Luckily my opponent had a glaring flaw. A tasty one too. And I capitalized on it, bringing the fight to a close.

***

Yeah, as if things would be so easy.

Goruct rose, the metal of its body twisting like a thousand snakes, and then it opened, spitting out the decaying corpse. The golem then closed back up, reforming slightly smaller than it was before.

[Yeah… Fuck me.]

A moment later I was already flying back at breakneck speed, the result of a jab I was unable to avoid.

Did Goruct become faster? Yes, yes I think he did. That was really bad. I wasn’t necessarily worried about my health, I could escape at pretty much any time I wanted, but the problem was I really didn’t want to. Not after gaining so much power. When I was still young and weak it was logical to run, but I was already so powerful that escaping would be cowardly. And I wasn’t a coward.

I was especially annoyed since I wasn’t even going against a person or beast, but instead an old, nay, ancient machine.

Making an energy lance, I hammered it in its chest, the next time Goruct showed itself. The Qi from it exploded in a blazing fireball, but all that did was open its chest slightly, enough for the energy to escape between the metal strips. There was a bit more heat radiating from the construct and not much else.

[Damn it.]

And that’s how I got close enough to get punched again. And again. And again. Goruct kept hammering me into the ground or walls of the cavern, producing dangerous tremors that threatened to collapse the entire ceiling on top of us.

I preferred to not be trapped under a mountain of nearly indestructible rock, so I had to quickly put a stop to it. The only issue was that I lacked enough penetrative power to break the tin can open.

Finding a moment of respite, I kicked the golem away from me and jumped into the air. A Magic Bullet formed at the tip of my finger which I then shot at Goruct. I had to be blasting them out quite rapidly to keep it at bay. With my other hand, however, I began gathering Qi. The energy in the air was unfortunately quite stubborn and apart from being thin, it was not easily incorporated into my body. I was having trouble regenerating my energy.

The golem itself, on the other hand, was not leaking any energy, so I couldn’t even judge how strong it truly was or how much power it had left. It could be completely full for all I knew, or just about empty. Though I seriously doubted it was the second option.

Magic Bullets struck the metal body, doing fuck-all damage, but they were enough to keep the monster at bay.

The Qi in my free hand was spinning at full force, desperate to escape my control and destroy. But I didn’t let it. It wasn’t enough. Not yet.

As I compressed it all down into a thin thread inside my Meridians, it became incredibly dense and sharp, sharper than any blade. And then, under full control, I let it flow.

A disk formed just centimeters from my palm, slowly growing and spinning stupidly fast. Yet all of it was completely silent. As the disk formed, I layered a mantle of deceit on top of it, hiding it from sight and detection. Then I filled it with more energy and compressed it further.

Goruct was rapidly improving as well, unfortunately. With superior speed it began to dodge my shots, already avoiding more than half of my fired Magic Bullets. It was closing on me fast. Its cold, metallic, mask showed no emotion.

Then I missed three times in a row and it was upon me, its fist nearing my face. I couldn’t hide my grin. The bait was absolute perfection.

[Break for me.]