"They are back... with a human!"
The tallest Dreg'nar hissed, face contorting into a displeased grimace.
"Yes, we are. Today, we'll overthrow your rule."
Picket's voice resounded, inspiring his rebellious friends with its newfound charisma and righteous tone.
"We'll be slaves no more. No, we'll be the masters!"
The five tier-four leaders frowned at the remark, wondering if the lowly digger went crazy after inhaling too much dust.
Meanwhile, Adam's brows creased, and his eyes hardened.
'He wants to replace them? He won't change the slave system after rising to power?'
The question struck him like a sneak blow to his guts. The realisation left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. He really believed Picket would make life better for his brethren after his passionate pleadings. It was more so considering he had been the humblest worker of them all, placed the furthest from the safety of their mining field.
Despite his disgust for his choice, his dark blade of adaptation glinted under the campfire's light.
'Doesn't matter. Picket can rule however he wants as long as he remains inside the collapsed tunnels.'
Why would he care? His initial plan was to find tier-four materials, not help the creatures. The rest didn't concern him too much as long as he got what he came for.
Meanwhile, the leaders' voices cut through the cave, icy and scornful.
"What can little creatures who can't even sniff ores properly do against us?"
Its lips curled into a cruel smile, and his eyes glinted red.
"Earthen tremors." "Earthen javelins." "Earth Golems." "Earth armors."
The five of them cast their spells. Thick rocky plates covered their bodies in the blink of an eye as the ground rumbled. It swirled like mud in a pottery shop before coalescing into towering frames. Thick arms, faceless visages, everything screamed terror in the three giant golems standing behind them.
But they didn't have time to gawk at the spell. The ground shook under their feet, throwing the rebels off balance. Edges glinted as man-sized javelins condensed above while the ground crumbled below, revealing a deep abyss no light could pierce.
An icy shiver ran down his spine as he gazed at the falling Dreg'nars. The distorted grimaces and the dread trembling in their eyes registered, making his soul shudder.
"Don't enter the cave!"
His roar pierced through the chaos, illuminating their eyes like a beacon of hope.
As his words echoed, he blasted forceful winds at the creatures, pushing them back to the tunnel. A spark of blue mana left his hand next, condensing into a one-meter square mana construct. Then, he jumped on it to escape the gaping chasm.
Before a sense of safety could settle, the noise of cleaved wind resounded above him.
He cursed in annoyance, waving his arm in a wide arc.
The temperature rose in the cave, and a bright orange light pulsed. Sizzling sounds resounded next as a magma curtain protected him from the terrifying javelins.
A second of peace finally descended, only to be broken by three massive fists rushing towards his back.
His instinct screamed, prickling his soul in warning.
'Five magic casters are a bit too much!'
After meeting archmages and arcanists, he took the terrible habit of underestimating mages. Yet, the world counted a thousand of them for a reason: they were strong. Especially in groups since they would cycle their spells and overwhelm their adversaries before they could reach them.
Yet, he was strong, too... and he didn't have to hide anything in this remote place.
A steely glint flashed in his eyes as his coat fluttered with his swift turn. His wooden arm rose behind his face, shaking with power.
An explosion blasted his arm forward like a piston. The space groaned, and fissures covered it as his leather glove disappeared for a split second. As if teleporting, his fist reappeared before the three giants' truck-sized fists in an uneven confrontation.
A silent clash ensued, shocking the five Dreg'nars leaders to their cores. Was the human as strong as three-tier four earth golems? Yet, they smirked the next second. There was no way he could endure. His arm would break soon, then his body.
With a visceral roar, he unleashed one of the dangerous elements he was reluctant to use at full power.
His fist vibrated, blurring as friction noises filled the cave. Then, the noises vibrated in a discordant cacophony before the air joined in the mix. Finally, space itself vibrated, cracking like a mirror between his fist and the golems.
The fractures propagated like a plague into the protruding rocks composing their bodies. They groaned and cracked, leaking cascades of dust like blood.
With his last roar, the vibrations intensified, reducing everything they touched to particles.
The golems' fists shattered, then their arms and bodies, leaving nothing behind but the memory of their threatening presence.
'Shit! I'm vibrating, too!'
His head spun, the gems acting as his eyes rolled in their sockets with uncontrollable speed, and his soul shook inside the puppet.
Unfortunately, his enemies weren't intent on giving him time to recover.
With terrorised expressions, their alarmed shrieks, distorted by the lingering vibrations, reached his ears.
"Empty your mana! We must kill him before he recovers."
Distorted spell names echoed next as he shook his head and stopped the azure and emerald gem rotations.
'I need more time to recover if I want to behead them.'
He gritted his teeth before his lips stretched into a vicious smirk.
'An omnidirectional barrage, it is.'
His mana cape waved into existence behind him as, without aiming, he sucked its mana dry to fuel his technique.
Arrowheads attracting wind and dust with their forceful spins condensed one after another. Each glinting with a different hue, they formed a deadly halo around him.
Then, he encased himself in a cocoon, pulsing with the entire spectrum of colors, and yelled.
Animated by their weaver's goal, the projectiles came to life, cleaving the air like paper in a ruthless charge towards the ground.
In their wake, they collided with earthen projectiles and constructs, penetrating them like butter before dissipating in a rain of sparks.
A few passed through, howling with the wind like living beasts before puncturing two trembling Dreg'nars.
They coughed, gazing at the round holes in their armors and the cascading crimson blood in disbelief. Then, their trembling eyes dimmed as their bodies met the unforgiving ground like stringless puppets.