Chapter 98: Hive

Chapter 98: Hive

Crimson Hydras battle up Canal Street was brutal.

For all that James was an unstoppable force within the Hound, he was but one speck of resistance in a sea of slaughter. People thronged, pushed, screamed, and were killed. Nem3s were everywhere. Leaping off buildings, charging into where the crowds were thickest, flipping cars, shrieking their delight.

James worked his way up the broad street steadily, his Vault Cannon on limited fire, spilling endless rounds across the blocks. Gloria-enhanced smite bullets as almost a foot long made short work of whatever they hit, but there were always more demons, always more death.

Overhead Olaf maintained his Circle of Protection, the others forming a mobile death-dealing platform. Shields floated about them, parrying harpoons, and Serenity had put on some headphones so that she could rock out to music as she poured her Eternal Fire upon the demons, a cigarette clenched between her jaws. Jason made occasional forays out over the crowd, lashing the demons with his aura, but the danger was too high; harpoons targeted him the moment he made himself a target.

Kimmies voice was growing hoarse from exhorting the public to work together, to flee or crouch, or when things got really bad, just trying to bring a little light into peoples last moments of terror.

Through it all strode James. Inexorable, implacable, focused only on destruction. Nem3s charged at him and fried upon his aura. They hurled bone harpoons which bounced off the War Hounds armor. They screeched their hatred and died.

Your rank is now Acolyte 3

You have 5 unspent points.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

Despite the rate of killing the levels were coming much slower now. Perhaps Nem3s were meant for Novitiate leveling, and now that he was Acolyte, hed need Nem4s to maintain the same pace.

No matter. In the War Hound he could fight all day long.

James tracked a Nem3 as it leaped through the air, blasting it apart even as it reached the apex of its jump, and then felt it. An explosive boom of dark energy, as if a bomb had gone off to the south. Nothing changed around them, even the leaves on the sidewalk trees stayed still, but James felt a flare of alarm and momentarily staggered as he lost his poise.

What was that? Denzel yelled. What the fuck was that?

Getting altitude, shouted Serenity, and her Wing immediately began to climb. The Nem3s a block ahead were shrieking their delight, and as one began to stream south, ignoring the cowering people and the battle coming their way.

Jelly? What just happened?

Ive not felt that before, James. But if pressed, Id hazard that it was something bad. Hmm. Real bad.

One of the drawbacks of being in the Hound was not having access to a radio. Unable to call in, he focused on Serenity as she climbed above the five-story buildings around them.

Fuck! she shouted. Weve got a live symbol down on the south-eastern edge of Manhattan!

Live symbol? Jamess voice boomed off the walls. What do you mean?

She dropped perilously quick, pulling up from her dive at the last second. Black fire hive. Theyve brought one of the dead symbols back to life.

The other Wings clustered in close.

They can do that? asked Jason. God damn it. Should we head that way?

Yo Star Boy, said Serenity, thumbing on her radio. We got eyeballs on the southern Manhattan symbol. It just lit up like a black-fire piata. You want we should go take care of it?

Copy, Serenity. Yeah, get the fuck over there, pronto. Im seeing tons of Nem3s heading that way. You know how theyll power up. Problem is, Im seeing other groups of Nem3s escorting Nem2s into the city. Its creepy as fuck. Like the Nem2s were just waiting for this to happen.

Escorting? Serenity frowned. Thats some high-level shit. Can you get other teams on them?

Trying. You dont know how bad the situations got. Weve lost a third of our entire force already. Just just too much going on. Ill see what I can do.

Copy, Crimson Hydro out. Serenity released her radio. Fucking hell.

Lets clear that symbol, said James. Last thing we want is all these Nems to get buffed.

Kimmie scanned the area. What about Yadriel?

Hes gonna have to catch up. We dont have time to wait for him. Lets hurry. James turned south and left Canal Street. He knew exactly where the symbol in question was. Just south of the One World Observatory where he and Jessica had chilled a lifetime ago. That meant a straight shot down Broadway, six or seven blocks, then four of those mega-blocks west, then three or more south on West Street. Ten, fifteen minutes at most.

They powered their way south. The very air felt different, charged and dangerous. The Nem3s were all fleeing ahead of them, making their way toward the symbol as quickly as they could. Fuck. The hive was like a drain, sucking in every demon in the area. Which would give the local teams a respite but result in massively boosted Nems.

But as before, what was effective on the outside was more limited here. Each demon could take more punishment. It didnt matter, however; the rounds came so fast and furious that they were still torn apart.

The demons closed in, hundreds on each side and James roared his defiance, unleashing his Empyreal Gun on his left flank as he dropped another Heavens Assault on his right. And a second, and a third.

The superheated Aeviternum plasma flooded over the demons, immolating scores of them, quenching their black flames and ruining them where they stood even as the triple Heavenly Assaults wrecked the ones on Jamess other flanks. His Vault Gun hit the end of its thirty seconds and entered cooldown, so James blasted Sacred Smites ahead of him as he charged on, one flash of righteous silver-white after another.

Harpoons slammed into him from all sides, buffeting him, challenging his balance. These burned black and did damage; he felt several embed their wicked heads into his Angelus Steel plating.

But he powered on. Again his Empyreal Gun roared and Nem3s danced, incandesced, melting and shrieking, but the harpoons kept slamming into him and staggered, nearly toppled over.

Fuck this, James thought, and brought a dozen Heavenly Assaults down all at once.

The roar of their impacts was thunderous and the shadowed world turned bright white, the golden overtones underscored by blue shadows. Nem3s were torched all around him, several hundred dying all at once.

Your rank is now Acolyte 4

You have 5 unspent points.

Your rank is now Acolyte 5

You have 10 unspent points.

James dropped the ten points into his Arete, bringing it to 130 and his Bronze Aura up to 7.

Aeviternum Pool at 542/729.

Just getting started here.

The dozen blasts had cleared the block. James pounded forward, seeking the heart of the hive. There, a side street between the brick residential towers. The remnants of the flesh-walls the previous Nem2s had built for their hives.

Nem3s were pouring toward him, emerging from the ruined fortress building, their skin aflame, their harpoons flying immediately.

The cool-down on the Vault Cannon ended and he returned fire. Harpoons thudded into him, dozens upon dozens landing direct hits. Half bounced right off, the rest sank home, piercing the Angelus steel.

How we looking, Jelly? Damage update?

Armor is at 78% integrity, James. Once we drop below 50% the Hounds internals will begin to take damage. Below 25% well take quadruple damage.

Then we need to finish this fast.

James reached for the heavens and summoned another six Heavenly Assaults. The lightning strikes fell in an arc before him, their blast radiuses overlapping, and another hundred or so Nem3s ashed.

James ran on, reached the shattered flesh walls and leaped over their broken ramparts. He landed within the great circle that enclosed the burning stream of black flames that raced upward.

There was no spire like hed seen in the Nem2 hives hed cleared. Instead, he saw a large stump of glistening raw meat some three yards tall. Thirty or so Nem2s were clustered around its base, rapidly extruding more human paste, a handful of them clinging to the stump as they accepted the new material and layered it on.

Atop the stump hovered a small black egg. Its facets gleamed with unholy light.

Bingo.

The Nem2s turned to regard him, their ivory masks still set in their horrifically disdainful smirks.

James reached for another six Heavenly Assaults. The sky lightened, but the Assaults slid around the outside of the fortress as if a smaller, impenetrable dome encased the actual heart of the hive.

For a moment the sky burned brilliant white as James stood within a bowl of living silver flame, but then it flickered out and was replaced by the black.

James, to our left.

James tore his attention with great reluctance from the spire to where a large shape had detached itself from the shadows wreathing the flesh-walls.

Fuck, James whispered. The Nem3 queen.