CHAPTER 185: CHAPTER 181: BLAST OFF (1)

Despite watching his zombies turn to mush, Blaze had a grin on his face. Perhaps the meatball could see him through its skin because it came rolling towards him.

Behind it, the elf took flight, using thrusters to push Belly Rolls even faster.

"Let’s see you dodge this!" the elf roared.

"I won’t have to," Blaze said, his arms crossed.

His tendrils shot out as the ball came within reach. Their momentum worked against them as the tendrils that would have bounced off the flabby skin pierced through, sinking deep within the fat and muscle.

"ARGH!" Belly Roll roared, trying to transform back to his humanoid shape.

Unfortunately, Blaze’s tendrils had taken hold of him and refused to let him change shape. The next second, the alien was lifted off the ground, still attached to the tendrils.

The elf’s eyes widened as he realized what Blaze was trying to do.

"Let’s see you dodge this," he said, repeating the elf’s words.

The next second, Blaze twisted his tendrils like cables and began swinging Belly Rolls like a wrecking ball.

The elf didn’t have time to react before he got hit with the force of a meteor. He was sent flying into a dozen spiked walls. With each crash, the walls took out a chunk of the armor.

Yet, it remained intact, rendering infection impossible.

However, Blaze had other ways to make things happen.

He lifted Belly Rolls again, ignoring his painful cries, and slammed him down on the elf.

BOOM!

Then again.

BOOM!

And again.

Each hit sent shockwaves reverberating through the battlefield. The once-proud armor was denting with every strike, sparks and smoke hissing from its joints.

Much like the suit Blaze was wearing, the armor also had self-repairing features. In a way, it was a test of endurance. Whether Blaze would break through the armor’s repairing speed, or Belly Roll would be turned into mush from all that smashing.

Either way, it would work in Blaze’s favor.

"Stop...!" the elf coughed as pressure piled up on his chest.

But Blaze wasn’t listening. In fact, he was laughing maniacally.

One final swing sent Belly-Rolls crashing into the elf so hard that the ground folded over the elf like a sheet of paper.

Everything was under control when Blaze felt his body turning heavy. His tendrils fell flat on the surface. As they got crushed, Belly Roll instantly rolled away.

Even the elf kicked out of the rubble, his armor a mess, but both had wide grins plastered on their faces.

"What... is this...?"

Blaze barely managed to say. Something was pressing him to the ground. While he was resisting it to the best of his ability, the force still made him kneel to the ground.

"Have a taste of concentrated gravity," the elf said, coughing as he reached for Belly Roll.

From the corner of his eye, Blaze noticed a ship right above him. A strange, invisible ray was coming out of it, almost bending the light itself. He didn’t even notice when the ship came above him.

Then he realized the two of them were deliberately getting hit to lure him into the spot. The Collective didn’t want to kill him. They were there to capture him.

No wonder I was beating them so easily...

Blaze tried to fight back, to push himself off the ground, but the intensity increased, and he fell flat on the ground again.

Even his mask was crushed and turned to dust, giving the two aliens their first look at the low-grade creature who thrashed them around.

"He looks like any ordinary human," the elf chuckled, licking his lips. "Perhaps we can exploit him before—"

"I have had enough of you thinking about spreading your seeds," Belly Roll said, interrupting him. "Just kill him and be done with it."

"Kill me?" Blaze scoffed.

The next second, the ground trembled as if an earthquake was knocking at the door. Before they knew it, cracks appeared on the surface.

"Grab him!" Belly Roll yelled, but it was too late.

Thanks to the concentrated gravity, the ground exploded, swallowing Blaze within itself. Belly Roll and the Elf could only see him disappear, not daring to enter the gravity’s range.

At the same time, the zombies they had crushed came back to life as sporeforms. The warriors were surrounded again.

"This puny creature has got plenty of tricks," the elf mumbled, standing back to back with Belly Roll.

"You don’t have to tell me about it," Belly roll replied, groaning in pain.

The two attacked the horde again. However, as the fight dragged on, Belly Roll got slower and slower. Soon, he was coughing up blood and fell to the ground.

"What is wrong with you?" the elf asked, looking over his shoulder. "Get a grip—"

Get a grip?

Belly Roll did get a grip... right around the elf’s waist. Technically, it wasn’t Belly Roll anymore. He already died.

Thanks to the wounds Blaze gave him, Blightspore could enter the bulky alien’s bloodstream. Combine that with fighting sporeforms for an extended duration, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Perhaps it was negligence, or perhaps their arrogance; the elf would pay the price for either.

"What—ARGH!" he yelled as Belly Roll pulled him into a bear hug.

Within moments, the impregnable armor shattered. The ants went to work, collecting the pieces for research later. Meanwhile, the elf struggled in vain as its organs and bones were crushed under immense pressure.

The ship above noticed the commotion and fired another ray. It wasn’t the gravity ray from before but an explosive laser beam. It immediately incinerated Belly Roll and the elf with it, along with the sporeforms next to them.

Since they had already lost the two, the collective wanted to deny any possibility of Blaze researching their corpses later.

"At least they are smart in some way," Blaze groaned, ripping out a piece of stone from his face. "Take that ship out, Lo Da."

"Already on it, sir!"

A few seconds later, there was a loud explosion followed by another, shaking the ground. The ship had crashed.

All this trouble from a leftover fleet. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if a dozen motherships showed up. Anur’s right. I have to get off this planet before that happens.