Chapter 27: 26: Invaders & Brutality
As the gates shuddered and cracked under the weight of it's assailant James and his warriors readied themselves for their first real battle together under the dark of the night with a halfmoon hanging in the sky. Since they weren't sure howany their were or if the gate was a distraction not all of the warriors were at the gate, most were either on the walls with slingshots and spears looking for anyone foolish enough to attempt to climb or defending the hatchery where all the eggs of the tribe were kept safe. Only a quarter of their forces were with James and his lieutenants waiting for their opponent(s) to come through the gate. James decided not to wait for them to break their gate down as it would mean heafty repairs later if they win so he ran up and threw the large log barring it shut off just as the enemy got it sending them tumbling before them all and before them layed a behemoth of a Lizardfolk but not just any Lizardfolk a brutish cousin species that makes all other Lizardfolk seem sophisticated in comparison. Some call them Croxigon others call them Saurians but in either case they are all bred warriors and brutes who's only two objectives are, Slaughter and Breed! The Saurians have two subspecies among them bred for specific roles the dominating class being the more cunning leaders and warriors while the other are shock troopers and laborers. The one laying on the floor is one of those shock troopers, a 9ft tall behemoth of raw muscles with turquoise scales with a thick and wide flat head like an alligator.
James had no time to worry about this strange new species but about the fact it was an enemy and immediately went for the kill but was interrupted as several smaller Saurians climbed over the big one that resembled more of normal Lizardmen with some differences in that they have a spiky head crest that varried from Saurian to Saurian and had lots of different scale colors.
The battle ensued in utter chaos as the lieutenants and their warriors were getting pushed back by the tide of Saurians spilling into their village but soon it came to a standstill as the rest of the tribe warriors arrived to reinforce James' men. James had no time to think about that though as while his soldiers were holding the line he was now in deep shit surrounded by Saurians on all sides with the big boy now standing up before him ready to rumble with a massive wooden club full of spiky bone that to anyone smaller would be a weird polearm of some kind.
James wished he could cheat the system and evolve sooner like he does for his people in this moment but knew he'd have to make do with his current skills so he readied himself for a bitch of a fight that he'd have to give his all to, but hey now he finally gets to put his armor to the test.
James didn't wait to be pounced upon and charged into the Saurians doing his best to avoid the big guy for now. He slashed and hacked his way through the first few with little resistance only being slowed down but that was enough for the big guy to catch up and James was grabbed and throw against the wall beside the gate by the large Saurian making a large dent in the large wall of reinforced wood sending splinters flying and some dull aching pain through his back.
James merely stood up and dug deep as he activated his only two battle oriented active skills simultaneously the [Rage] skill and his [Primal Intimidation] skill so maybe he'd scare a few into backing down if not flee and so he can fight the big guy with everything he's got before finishing off the remainder. Unlucky for James not a single Saurian so much as took a step back, instead they roared to the heavens and began stomping their feet in unison seeing it as a challenge to which the big guy stepped forward brandishing his massive war club and he too roared to the heavens accepting the "challenge".
James was now stuck in an open semi circle with his back to the wall and a tide of enemies blocking his path while the giant Saurian slowly walked towards him somewhat relaxed and seemed to be speaking in a language different from what the Lizardmen spoke but just by the tone James knew he was being mocked and that he wouldn't stand for.
James wasted no time as he charged his opponent attempting to catch him off guard and cripple his movement to which he failed. The large Saurian moved faster than James expected swinging his club with such speed James narrowly dodged, the club creating sparks as the spikes skidded across his armor. This continued as James kept attempting to get in close and make a crippling strike or at least create a wound more than superficial but he failed and kept getting pushed back with every attempt making only small wounds that barely did anything to his large opponent. His enemy chuckled and laughed at James and how he couldn't harm him which was pushing James to madness.
Every failed strike increased James' rage, the madness beginning to consume him as he becomes cornered like a rat incapable of allowing such humiliation when up till now he has been basically unstoppable. His sanity hanged by a thread as he lunged on all fours at his opponent axe in hand desperate to do any real damage...then the madness truly set in as he was flung back having been struck straight to the chest by the war club.
As James hit the wall he was consumed by the anger and his boiling blood, his Pride as a Superior Being. Before James hit the wall his body turned around, his legs pressing against the wall like springs before launching back into his opponent...but he was not the same calculating beast going for a quick thought out kill...no now he was a feral beast out to slaughter everything and consume his prey!
[Warning!!! Warning!!! Warning!!!]
[Forceful Evolution of the Rare Skill: Rage due to mental state]
[It has evolved into the Epic Skill: Berserker]
[Berserker: Increases attack speed and damage dealt by 100% and induces terror into weaker opponents but you run the risk of losing yourself to the rage till the skill ends or in the worst cases you die]
James flew at his opponent with such malice that he was constantly roaring and snarling as even as he arrived before the scaled giant, the large Saurian was caught off guard by his speed and ferocity which caused him to hesitate before he swung down his club in an attempt to halt James and splatter him on the floor and that split moments of hesitation before he attacked was his downfall.
James cut the Saurians main arm that held the club clean off before jumping back at him landing onto the Saurians back and began tearing into him ripping scale and flesh from bone never letting go even as the Saurian thrashed and pulled at James with his remaining arm unable to remove him.
James tore the large Saurian apart piece by piece devouring chunks of him at a time while he was still alive and soon after the Saurians was dead, as James turned to look at his new prey all the surrounding Saurians had long stopped chanting, laughing, or cheering for their large brother in arms...now all that remained was shaking and utter fear that they were frozen. They are all brutes who devour their prey whether an enemy or a weaker clan member they see beneath them or useless, but this suffocating pressure and malice that came from James reminded them of the mighty beasts of their homeland that rule the jungles as a tyrant of death.
James spent the next half hour killing all of them and biting chunks out in the process.
Throughout all of this battle James had gotten several notifications of experience but in his current state didn't even register they were there.
.....
On the other side Grukthar and the others were holding back the tide this whole time and finally started pushing them back but soon they realized it wasn't because of their lack of numbers but because they were beginning to run away in fear and the Dragonewts including Ferzath all knew why and had relayed it back to Grukthar who was essentially second in command.
Grukthar told everyone to stay clear of James for the moment but asked Ferzath to keep an eye on him and for now they'd push the last of the invaders out and finish this battle.
So far they'd lost 15% of their forces most having been those at the gate at the beginning of the battle being overwhelmed and swarmed by the initial tide of foes but that was minimal casualties all considering their superior stats as evolved beings and that they had air superiority with the Dragonewts and the slingshots giving ranged support.
...
Back to James he is now surrounded by corpses and slowly he was coming back to himself as the [Berserker] skill came to an end leaving him with a massive headache and everything aching like crazy. Mere moments after Ferzath decided to ignore his orders once he saw James returning to normal and holding his head in pain.
"Chief are you okay?"
James looked over at the Dragonewt landing eaide him and recognized Ferzath right away, "Yeah I'll be fine, what's the status of the battle?
Ferzath looked worried but just gave his report, "We're pushing the last of them out now as we speak but their retreat was mainly because of you and...what you did here separated from the rest of us..."
James looked around him, "....I see...I apologize for how unsightly I may have been becoming a mere beast when I'm supposed to be your chief."
Ferzath merely shook his head, "No sir, I may not understand what you became in those moments but your brutality that led to this around us is what sent the enemy running in fear with few stragglers remaining that will be removed or killed shortly so if anything I thank you my chief!"
James felt ashamed for losing himself like that but he nodded and accepted the gratitude of his lieutenant and moved on.
Over the next few minutes the last remaining Saurian invaders were cleaned up and after that hours were spent cleaning up the gateway area and nearby waters of the village of their bodies and equipment.
After that, those that were wounded and those that are severely exhausted from the battle were sent to rest and recuperate including James while the remaining warriors and hunters stayed on guard through the rest of the night. The "Dragonblood Rulers" had survived their first battle and again his people realized the strength of their new leaders that blessed them after seeing the few dozen of corpses he tore apart all by himself and how most of his kills that had identifiable faces died with terrified expressions.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone