Chapter 1739: Stone and Steel- Nepherage

[Ah hell.]

I knew in my gut that if there were terribly weak Affixed warriors, there were probably several dozen or so that could actually put up a fight.

I just didn’t expect them to look like actual fucking cyborgs from one of milord’s memory made comic books.

One of them had veered off to go and fight Hurricroak, but the rest of these mechanical fucks had decided to square up with us up in the air.

As they got closer to us, I could make out that they looked less like uniformed robot soldiers, and more like a weird mix of wasteland cyborg warriors and imperial cyber soldiers.

In other words an eclectic group of motherfuckers that would’ve been at each other’s throats under normal circumstances. Weirder still, I actually recognize some of the auras flying towards us.

To be more precise, I could sense that two of the auras belonged to members of the Star Viper tribe from a few days ago. Although, the aura around them felt way older and stranger than that...but also oddly limited.

It was as if the power they were wielding wasn’t completely theirs.

Eventually, five Aether King level enemies and an Aether Emperor stood before us.

If it wasn’t for the auras, I could still make out that the Aether Emperor was the leader given the fact that he was the gaudiest motherfucker I had ever seen.

They were a full head taller than everyone else, looked significantly shinier than everyone else, and had a set of metallic horns shaped like a crown jutting out of his head.

In other words, the kind of person that would piss off milord to an understandable degree. The first words out of this metal motherfucker was already dripping with enough condescension to piss off even a Buddha.

Which was weird given the sheer mid-boss energy rolling off of him like sweat off a fat man’s folds.

"Foolish invaders," the Aether Emperor spoke in a strangely robotic yet gravelly voice. "You dare to interrupt the Collectrix during her ascen—"

[Asura’s Hammer!]

Before the metallic Aether Emperor could finish his obvious threat, Zhen Xun Tian decided to just skip ahead with the dialogue options in favor of the mid-boss fight.

Literally, before the metallic fuck could even finish saying the word ascension, Zhen Xun Tian clocked him in the face with a fist covered in inky black [Chaos].

The two of them then proceeded to fly backwards together due to the force of the impact. As for the Aether Kings present, they were more or less stunned at the sight of what had just happened.

In other words, the dumbasses were gobsmacked just long enough for me and the others to organize groups meant to isolate and fight these motherfuckers.

[Slug-at-arms! Frosttusk! We need to isolate and—]

[Way ahead of you!] Frosttusk roared as I could hear the telltale ringing of him possessing someone.

Seconds later, Zhen Shi and Frosttusk slammed one of the Aether Kings from above, feet first, which left four Aether Kings to fight.

[I suppose charging headfirst is the name of the game,] Slug-at-Arms said to me. [Tally-ho! Terra, with me!]

[Aye aye!]

The two Abyssal Land warriors pooled their efforts together to form a construct in the form of a giant marlin made of lightning and proceeded to ride the damn thing into one of the enemy Affixed cyborgs.

Unlike the previous two warriors, though, this guy managed to throw up his guard this time without suffering a cheap shot to the face.

Surprise attacks could only work a certain number of times before being anticipated.

With three Affixed cyborgs left, I began to worry if we had enough fighters to do anything.

[Hell with it.]

Having faith that our mortal allies would pick up the slack, I charged forward and picked out my target.

The Affixed cyborg I had focused on was a man who looked like one of imperial cyborg warriors, with a pair of massive steel fists completing the look.

[You’re mine! Magma Ram!] I shouted as I conjured a magma shield in the shape of a ram’s head and slammed it into my target.

Behind me, I could sense that Hakon, Zhen Hai, Zhen Long, Chief Heindril and several of the Grandmasters accompanying us were making moves to surround the remaining two Affixed cyborgs.

In other words, I could focus on the guy in front of me.

The two of us continued to fly forward at a breakneck speed when the Affixed cyborg with the giant metal fists finally got his act together and decided to counterattack.

"Foul monster," the Affixed cyborg snarled. "You dare to challenge the mighty Steel Pounder?! I will shatter this shield into pieces!"

After making this declaration, Steel Pounder pulled back one of his fists and slammed it right into my shield and pulverized it into volcanic dust.

I had sensed the attack was already coming, so I did the smart thing and proceeded to back away as fast possible, leaving the conjured shield behind just moments before his fist made contact.

Once we were separated, I gave the self-named Steel Pounder a once over.

Aside from the name that sounded like something out of a dirty movie, I wasn’t impressed with what I saw.

At a glance, the Affixed warrior before me looked like a giant robot made of black steel and armed with a pair of oversized fists. However, as I ran my senses over the guy, the more I realized that he wasn’t so much a steel golem as much as a pig iron tinker toy.

The aura he was exuding was similar to an Aether King to be sure, but that was due to the aether treasures inside him elevating him to that level. In reality, Steel Pounder was a lot closer to an Aether Lord.

[You know, your name sounds like a pseudonym used at brothels,] I immediately said as soon I settled. [The fuck kind of name is Steel Pounder?]

"It’s the name of the man who’s going to turn the stone bitch before them into powder and use the remains to get to the next level!" Steel Pounder shouted moments before rushing forward with his fists locked and loaded.

[Devastation Pounder!]

Aether and [Chaos] built up in the Affixed’s fists to the point that the power began to warp the space around them.

With a roar, he punched towards me and released a blast of energy that almost hit me in the face. However, he was too slow.

Dodging the punch, I leaned into it and closed the gap between us until my face was almost touching his.

I could smell something stale and metallic coming off of the Affixed warrior, but I ignored it so I could deliver a palm full of fire aether and [Chaos] right to their chest.

[Flame Blasting Palm!]

A rush of fire exploded on the point of contact between my palm and Steel Pounder’s chest, sending the metallic bastard backwards a couple dozen steps.

Unsurprisingly, Steel looked more annoyed than injured by my attack, but that was the point.

The attack was meant to establish a baseline on what the fuck I would be dealing with.

’Aether resistance is present, but not to the level of immunity. Pure [Chaos] will definitely break through their defenses. But [Chaos] wrapped around an aether-based attack will probably work the same,’ I concluded.

This would normally be the part where Logos and Pathos confirmed my observation, but those two were busy dealing with something else entirely.

Namely, milord being occupied with...something.

Either way, I was more or less on my own against this guy.

’Here he comes again.’

Steel Pounder didn’t appreciate my palm blast attack and decided to charge back in order to make his displeasure known.

However, he didn’t go for a straight forward charge and punch like before.

Instead, he decided to try and pull me in.

"You think you’re the only one who can push people around? Try this!"

One of Steel Pounder’s fist transformed into a fucking vacuum turbine and proceeded to point it in my direction.

The turbine roared to life created a vacuum force that tried to suck me in like dust.

[Vacuum Turbine!]

[Uncreative!] I yelled almost instinctually.

If I was a normal aether warrior, this turbine would’ve fucked up my ability to move and pull me in. At which point, I’m fairly certain that Steel Pounder would’ve lived up to his name.

But, thanks to my nature, I had the opportunity to come up with a proper counterattack.

My first option was to try and escape the vacuum. It would take effort but it was doable.

My second option was to manifest a boulder and throw it in their direction. The vacuum would more or less make them a sitting duck.

The third option, and the one I went with, was the simplest.

I rode that vacuum like a fucking horse and made sure my stone foot was the first thing to make contact with his face.