367 Nirtan III : First Contact 2

The drop ship was still in the midst of its descent, and I knew the only way to deal with this thing, and give the others a better chance at survival was to give it a bigger target, or at the very least a target that it could absolutely not ignore.

"Baeki make sure the rest of the soldiers make it down to the ground safe, I'll be back!"

There definitely wasn't a need for me to act all badass in a situation like this, but I couldn't help it. I got up from my seat and opened the bay doors of the drop ship and just fell out, letting the wind and gravity take control of me for a second. I already knew the atmosphere wasn't really breathable due to the poison that was craftily hidden within it, so the best I could do for now was cover my body with my own aura to prevent any sort of contagion from going in.

I felt the wind rush past my body as the drop ship continued it's descent, then I looked up the abomination responsible for destroying one of our drop ships. I flew towards it, surprised by it's size, because up close it looked a lot bigger than I thought it was. There was rhythmic pulsing coming from it, and it didn't take me long to realize that it was just breathing, a monster of magic and technology with the power of a god. It's as if the stronger I get, the more difficult the challenges become.

But with it's sole attention now focused on me; the man flying in front of it, the rest of the drop ships could make it back to the ground in relative ease. I studied it for a few seconds, and it did the same. I had no doubt that this monster knew exactly who I was, but that wasn't enough to have it back down. The time for waiting is over, and the monster was all to happy to make the first move as it shot on of it's tentacles towards me.

The tentacle was two times the size of my body and seeing as those tentacles also served as the cannons for its beam attack, it would not be smart for face it head on. I moved my body to the side having the tentacle fly past me, and immediately ducked my head dodging another one that followed close behind. I flew backwards, and the divine fire souls quickly followed in tandem and arranged themselves in front of me their bodies glowing with a warning.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

It was like having a turret or a machine gun, only the difference being that there were about a hundred of them. The fire souls were firing off beams of light with as much intensity and power as the monster in front of me. I was shocked, because I didn't expect things these tiny to be able to cause that much of a damage. I wanted to keel them out of the fight until I knew how to create more of them, but it seems that they wouldn't sit still while their creator was in danger.

The monster was sending tentacles after tentacles at me, but the suppressive fire from the fire souls kept them at bay and was steadily amazing tiny injuries on those tentacles. I noticed that every tentacle that received damage from the fire souls were kept close to it's body, and an undamaged one was sent instead. I also came to the realization that things were this way because this abomination wasn't trying to kill me, it was trying to capture me alive.

The beast if I could call it that kept throwing tentacle after tentacle after me, it would have been a different story if it could use all of it's tentacles, but it was just throwing them at me, one after the other, with at most three at a time. If this was a game, I was getting tired of it, and I knew the monster was too. It pulled its tentacles back, raising all of them at angle that had them pointing straight at me that was all the warning I needed as I weaved the rune for (SHIELD) making at least fifteen of them superimposed over each other. And it was just in time too as the massive monster released those black beams that had the power to break through my shields.

It was worse this time though, it was coming at me with even more power and ferocity than when it brought down the first drop ship and attempted to bring ours down. I guess it's seeing me as a threat now, and it's previous method wouldn't be enough to bring me down. I called out my sword and let my divine energy run through the entire length of the nanite blade. It blazed a dark blue, as I summoned the fire souls to surround me.

My shields held on for quite a while, but this thing wad powerful enough to break through one shield after a few shots from one tentacle; this time it was using all of them, and there was no way fifteen shields would be enough to stop it. But that was okay, I had other tricks up my sleeve, and one of them was my power crest's ability to teleport.

But the teleportation this time was different, and this was because I wasn't just teleporting myself, but the fire souls. It was a little disorienting, but a million times easier than if it was a real person.

The divine fire souls were created by me, and in essence they're were a part of me, so they could go anywhere I did.

We appeared above the monster, and I was able to see what looked like an eye at the very top of it's head. However around the eyelids, I could see rims of gleaming black metal, proving my point that this thing was more than just a normal monster. If you think about it, it wad almost as if I was fighting some sort of cyborg monster god. Either way there was no time to dwell on the intricacies of this monsters existence, I had an opening, and I was going to take it.

I gave a command to the fire souls and they started rotating, going round and around with my body at the epicenter of a fiery formation. And then I had them start firing at the monster as I let gravity take control of me and drag me down towards my prey. Hundreds of wisps of tiny golden flames filled the sky and fell like a rain of bullets on the head of the monster, leaving terrible burns and scorch marks in the process.

It's tentacles shuddered as its entire body seemed to vibrate. Obviously the assault from the fire souls affected it and it was in severe pain, but this was just the beginning. I focused the energy on my blade, making it sharper, heavier and more destructive. There was a lot I still had to learn about being a god, but for now, I still knew how to swing a sword, I still knew how to execute my enemies and whatever monster or demon that would stand in the way of my people's safety. Besides I think I've came to an understanding.....killing is what the dragon kings do best.

*SWOOSH*

It was over in one hit, though usage of this divine energy of mine left me feeling really drained, which means that from now on it should be nothing more than a last resort for me in my battles. I slowed my descent, with the divine fire souls hovering around me, watching just as I was as the body of the monster was split into two equal halves, and I was able to see inside it's body...…there was nothing there but blackness! A fog of emptiness and singularity, I could feel it, and I could smell it, and the very experience made my skin crawl.

This was my first contact with any being from the collective, it was not what I expected, but I knew for a fact that this thing was a real threat, and there might be worse creatures than it out there.

The body of the monster began to break apart, turning into flakes of black ash that faded into the wind. It had a shitty defense, and it's method of combat was just too straightforward to have been of any consequence. I would have expected a hive comprised of millions of minds to be really smart, but it seems these things had one track thoughts, moving and acting based on instincts rather than character.

It might make them easier to fight, but I couldn't help the feeling that there was more to them than that. Thousands of other worlds had already fallen prey to the devourer and his collective, this can not just be the height of their power. As I wad lost in thought, I felt a very powerful awareness canvass the entire planet, an awareness even more detailed and powerful than mine, but with a familiarity to it. There was another god on this planet, and this guy was definitely not a part of the collective, but if that's the case then.....who is he?