As that disgusting callous covered foot rushed in on his face Jake could only stare. Then, it was just gone. The hulking four eyed monster vanished. Dirt erupted from the ground nearby as one of Cass's anti material rounds ripped into it. He barely had time to register that before the breath was knocked out of him. The monster reappeared above him and crashed down feet first onto his back. Just as quickly as it arrived the weight on his back vanished and another bullet tore into the earth nearby.
This time Jake rolled even as he gasped for breath and heavy feet slammed into the ground where he had been. Several more rolls and as many near misses from a stomping foot later, Jake managed to scramble to his feet. The oversized Grim peeled back its lips showing all its sharp teeth, a little drool spittled down its chin. It made weird garbled sounds almost as if it was talking. Then rushed in on Jake, arms wide as if planning to catch him in another bear hug.
Jake reacted without thinking. He dipped low avoiding the grasping arms and smashed his right fist into the side of the monster in an explosive kidney punch. Shock filled him as the blow landed. He expected the thing to teleport away again. Squealing in pain the Grim landed a few wild blows on Jake before falling back. It covered the side Jake had punched.
Then the fight really began. Jake was constantly on guard for the thing to vanish. It made him second guess his every attack. He wasn't a trained fighter, having mostly in the past relied on brute force against dumb monsters. This thing was completely different. It would dart in to strike several quick blows then dip back out. Sometimes it tricked him into thinking it was going to attack only to change at the last moment. Its blows were strong enough to leave Jake shaken if he didn't block or avoid them.
But now that he was standing and the monster wasn't vanishing on him. Jake realized its speed wasn't any greater than his own. Only its greater fighting skill and crazy strength were allowing it to keep its edge. As the fight dragged on Jake found he was better able to spot the feints from the actual attacks. His blocking and deflecting of attacks were better. Even his shield started to recharge thanks to Gadget's drone. The monster tried to switch its attention to the little robot seeming somehow to understand what it was doing. The moment its attention was shifted, Jake would wade in with his own punishing blows. Dark bruises and swelling marked each of the moments of his enemy's distraction.
Somewhere in the distance, there was a thunderous boom, the shockwave of it sending dust billing over them. The ground trembled beneath their feet. It was Jake's turn to become distracted, suddenly worried about his friends. His enemy gave him the same level of response. It lunged forward and struck Jake right in his chest with its knee. Out went his breath and he was sent tumbling head over heels backward. His back smashed into the short wall knocking some of the rocks loose.
All the hair on his body stood on end as he watched the brute charging right at him. Then a crackling lightning bolt buzzed over his head and hit it right in the chest. Its body started shaking and seizing while somehow managing to stay upright. Just as the last bit of crackling energy ran its course thru the body of the monster. It vanished a split second before another zipped past. Jake pulled himself up to look over the short wall and spotted Aero facing him. The four eyed Grim winked into existence briefly between them. Then vanished again before Aero could even release the fist full of energy still in his outstretched hand.
It appeared closer to Aero. Was there just long enough for him to release a bolt of lightning and then vanished. When it appeared a heartbeat later it was right next to Aero, both arms raised ready to crush him. Jake saw Aero trying to turn, but wasn't fast enough. That thing had baited him into attacking. Just as its arms came crashing down, vines erupted from the ground and wrapped around it. There were so many it practically cocooned the monster.
Aero hit it with a bolt of lighting even as he fell back. The entire cocoon crackled with energy before the monster ripped his way out of the vines in an explosive display of strength.
"Cass. Take it down. I don't think it can blink more than a few times in a row." Jake hauled himself over the wall and started to charge at the monster just in case.
Jake expected another shot to hit the monster before he could catch up to it. But one never came. Leaning in he shoulder slammed into the side of the monster as it lunged for Aero. It was enough to knock it off course but not enough to take it off its feet. Jake was hammering his fist repeatedly into the monster's kidney while it in turn smashed its elbow down on Jake's head and shoulders.
When they separated Jake saw a number of cracks in his vision but the monster was literally spitting blood.
"You got this. It's too resistant to my attacks." Aero turned his attention back to the Grims now climbing over the short wall to charge them. Other than his first bolt, the rest seemed to do very little to the bigger monster.
With a howl, the Grim sprayed spittle and blood before charging at Jake. Instead of meeting its charge, Jake just waited. At the last moment, he ducked low to avoid its attack, dropping to his knees. Then sprang up, twisting his body as he brought his right fist upwards in an uppercut. Right into the loincloth of the monster. His metallic fist smashed into something that for once didn't feel like punching a wall. In fact, it felt almost as if something popped.
"Brutal!" Gadget cried out while Aero who had seen it out of the corner of his eyes winced.
**********
When Jake had engaged the hulking four eyed Grim it had left the shaman staring into the distance towards Cass. She had taken that time while it stood still to line up her shot, right between its eyes. Yet, when she fired she watched as sparks flew as the round was deflected. The monster didn't even flinch. Instead, she watched as its lips started moving. Spittle dribbled from its narrow lips as it did. Since it was just standing there she turned and fired at the monster fighting Jake. To her surprise, it vanished only to reappear in time to stomp down on Jake's back. Again she fired and it was gone. Jake was up again now and seemed to be fighting with the huge teleporting monster. There had been way more monsters than she expected even when ignoring the smaller ones and her meager ammo wasn't going to last if she kept missing.
She took down another of the three eyed monsters before sending the last round in her mag at the shaman. The bullet deflected with no other obvious effect. She couldn't afford to waste more bullets on it. Between the two of them, they only carried forty extra rounds. It wasn't so much the weight, though each of the five round magazines weighed several pounds. It was the sheer bulk of the large magazines that made it awkward to carry more.
They needed to get something like a backpack but running around lugging one and her rifle would be awkward. After this though, she thought it might be worth it. More of the monsters found themselves in her sights and each one fell. She watched as the huge bloody tornado blew apart sending bodies in every direction. Then a bolt of lightning shot toward the shaman. It thumped its staff into the ground in front of it. The lightning curved up slightly and strike the metallic crystals on the top. Cass could see the crackling energy traveling down the staff and vanish into the ground.
She thought it might be her chance and fired off another shot only to watch it get deflected. The entire time its mouth had been moving none stop as if it was saying something. Then it raised that staff up into the air. One of the crystals grew in size until it was several feet long then streaked up into the sky.
Thru her scope, she could see the thing looking right at her. Its mouth wasn't moving but instead peeled back in what could only be a cruel smile. Ella didn't wait. She got up and started running while hugging her rifle to her. She didn't even bother to pick up the few magazines with ammunition still in them. Her instincts told her to run, so she did. Behind her, the world exploded.
The Shaman watched as his attack went off. It was their most devastating attack. The crystal it launched flew high into the air, high enough even Cass wouldn't have been able to spot it with her scope. Then it streaked back to the earth accelerating not only with gravity but the power of the spell. When it landed it hit with the force of a falling star. It cackled in glee as it watched the ridge explode, collapsing down into the lake bed. The distant invader had been their only worry. Even with all the rest of the settlements coven channeling the power of their crystalline god into them, deflecting those attacks had eaten up huge amounts of power. Several of his lesser shamans had fainted already.
They couldn't leave the spot where they stood, not if they wanted to still harness the might of their god. Now that the main threat was dealt with they could turn their attention to the others. Their champion was still battling the enemy blessed by their own god. Its limbs were covered in shiny blessings similar to the ones they were growing deep underground. It made the shaman drool with anticipation seeing how powerful they made it. It had power enough to match their champion but their god had blessed them with even greater power. Their champion could move like a divine being, vanishing and reappearing as no mortal could. It was only a matter of time before their chosen won.
Turning their attention away from that fight their cruel eyes narrowed on the female of their enemy group.