Adam wasn't the first one into the large chamber. Dozens from the Sentinel Army had already entered while pursuing fleeing invaders through the halls. The humans had become accustomed to the raids, to taking out their frustrations at the changed Earth on the aliens that had violated their planet.

Death had become a real part of life, and while those from Jackson mourned the loss of friends and relatives in other parts of the world, there was also a joy and celebration in having survived this long in as safe as place as they could create. They were determined to make it last, even as they recognized the necessity of Adam and his friends to make that happen.

Yet nearly all the combatants from Jackson took a cue from their leader, recognizing the need to purge the Earth of all the invaders' presences, as well as the bases that held a chance of portaling in more of the hated invaders.

Science fiction often portrayed the coming of people from other planets. Sometimes they were hostile and damaging to the humans, and sometimes the humans were the ones who broke the peace in the name of security or scientific understand.

What the people of Earth were currently going through set clear boundaries for the humans. The only way to be safe, the only way to get justice for the ruins that the world and humanity had become, was to wipe out the invaders.

That wasn't to say that most humans, besides Adam, immediately thought of everything nonhuman as evil and deserving death. The Leputi had become a welcome part of Jackson. Golgarn hadn't found any prejudice among the crafters.

What it did say was that when in enemy territory, the goal was to wipe out those who stood against them. No mercy and no allowing escape. The humans had been through enough raids to know how to behave, how to stay safe, and who to kill.

There had been bases with powerful invaders that could have wiped out the Sentinel Army, or large chunks of it, without Adam and his higher-level friends. But the margin between the humans and the high-level invaders shrank as the Sentinel Army conquered more and more enemy bases.

What really empowered all the raiders and set them apart from the invaders were the constant titles accumulated from the Rift takeovers. Two extra stats didn't feel like a lot, but after conquering over a hundred bases, that left the humans able to punch significantly above their levels. As long as they approached safely and smartly. Humanity was already at a skill disadvantage due to having more generic classes than the invaders, so being lower levels with high stats only balanced things so much.

As the months had gone by, the invaders seemed to understand that something wasn't adding up. The natives that they mocked and dismissed grew stronger faster than their own forces. The invaders didn't know why, but they seemed to feel it when the humans entered their territory.

Gone was the fear the natives should hold. Gone was the superiority in knowledge and power that the various races held over humanity. Instead, it was replaced by the knowledge that everyone else who had faced the natives had fallen, and that their momentum hadn't slowed at all.

It had been months since the humans had faced an enemy that didn't quickly realize the danger attacking them. The humans now expected to win. They believed that even if a few died, casualties would be minimized. Over and over this had played out for them as base after base joined the Sentinel Army's Rift network, empowering it and growing their territory. An entire state's worth of bases had fallen, and all the humans would ask was which base they would take next.

Their belief in success wasn't arrogance but built up from months of struggle and experience. The leaders of units and divisions would call out anyone who was becoming too cocky, sending them back to Jackson for some training against Lucas, Tom, Nick, or Randall. Quickly the offending soldier would be put in their place, later able to return to their unit, willing to understand that they weren't the reason for humanity's success even if they did play a part.

So, when the human troops chased the escaping invaders into a massive chamber, larger than a cathedral, and they saw a single Scyrric in the center of the room smiling at them with excitement and predatorial glee, they stopped pursuing. The humans formed into groups on either side of the entrance so as not to block anyone who came after them, and to get their backs protected by the chamber walls.

When Adam walked in, still holding a long sword instead of his triangular great sword, he stopped to take in what was happening, and a lot of the humans watched him, ready to see how he wanted to approach this. The challenge by the Scyrric was clear.

With such a large room, nearly the size of half a football field, there were many doors and hallways leading away from it. Some had invader soldiers sitting in them watching, though they didn't seem like they would come in to face the humans unless there was an assurance of victory. Other halls had the invaders escaping down them, trying to get as far from the organized and merciless army that was assaulting this base.

In the center of the chamber, with plenty of open room around it, stood Sgolkr. He could be considered majestic as he waited. Even with the slant that Scyrric stood at, he was almost eight feet tall. His body was completely covered in armor, although this set looked secured in a more traditional way instead of the shifting set that Adam had seen him in last.

A large, double-bladed great sword had its tip imbedded in the smooth floor while the Scyrric's right claw rested on the pommel and the left held a helmet. Sgolkr's face was exposed for everyone to see the desire in his eyes and the cheer on his toothy grin.

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"Sgolkr!" snarled Adam as his eyes ignored everything else in the room.

The dozens of forges positioned against the outside walls of the room, some of which hadn't been used in a while, didn't even enter Adam's mind. Neither did the twenty or so Unklarn that looked starved and exhausted, chained to their own forges. Weapons and Armor were placed in piles and on racks to inspect, but Adam didn't care about any of those.

Instead, Adam felt a jolt of heat forcing itself through his body. He almost gasped at the urgency of it. It had been months since he had seen this invader, but Adam had watched the Scyrric's attack on Jackson multiple times since then.

The hate and heat forced their way into the river that had barely raged during this raid due to the incompetence of the invader resistance so far.

Now, with the hated Scyrric in front of him, the one that had blindsided him along with Cruxannith, the one who had taken advance of his absence to attack Adam's home and people, Adam's blood began to boil. The river became rapid, violently flowing through him, already trying to subsume Adam's consciousness.

CONQUER, CONQUER, CONQUER, repeated the screaming voice of the soul corrupted so loudly that Adam almost thought it was audible.

Adam couldn't think of someone he wanted to kill more than the invader in front of him. It was almost enough to cause Adam to rush forward while screaming like a mad man. But one thing seemed wrong, and Adam stopped himself even as his foot had begun moving forward.

"Where are the other Scyrric?" asked Adam warily, only now looked around the room and at the various races in the hallways. The pathetic excuses for invaders that they had fought on the way here didn't represent the Scyrric methods at all.

The question seemed like it had been unexpected, because the confident, posing Sgolkr stiffened, his grin fading before he forced himself to return to how he had been.

"Aberration! You have saved me a lot of trouble coming to me. I need no others to face you this time," boasted Sgolkr.

Adam blinked at him. Then he took a breath.

"I see," he said. "They kicked you out of the scales and tails club, didn't they?"

That brought a scowl to Sgolkr's expression, clearly unexpected and unwelcomed for it to be brought up.

"You know nothing, native!" screamed Sgolkr in his own rage. His façade of calm instantly fell away. "I have been working on behalf of the glorious Scyrric this whole time, serving their greater good. I have single handedly conquered more bases than any others during this world claiming, and I will continue to spread our might. Not only have I reached the fourth tier, but I have evolved to an epic class and leveled higher than any other soldier in this world. My strength is unequalled, and I will be welcomed back gratefully once I kill you and tear apart your little army of native rodents.

"My strength is now unparalleled on this world and once I regain command of the Scyrric forces we will lay waste to all who stand before us!"

Adam almost smiled at all of that. He couldn't help but read between the lines at the desperation and lack of control that Sgolkr was expressing.

"Then they did kick you out," forcibly chuckled Adam, not feeling jovial but wanting to aggravate the creature before him. Sgolkr hissed at him, a long tongue flicking through the space between his teeth.

"It matters not to you since you will die to me here," ranted the invader. "Whatever trick you used last time won't work this time. I have spent all the [System] currency gained by capturing dozens of bases to purchase defenses against whatever you might have used."

The Scyrric let go of his sword, which stayed standing with the tip in the floor, then pulled out a necklace from inside his armor. He also pointed to a patch of metal that had been welded to his helmet with glowing runes. Finally, he shook his wrist until a flexible bangle slid from his bracer.

"Each of these is enough to block whatever foul magic you used to ruin my berserker class. You only won because of that trick, and now it will be denied to you."

Adam blinked at all the precautions that Sgolkr had taken specifically against him. In Adam's mind, he had been ambushed by Sgolkr in their first encounter after having his abilities locked by Cruxannith. Hardly fair.

Their second fight had come after Adam had broken free after weeks of captivity, taken significant damage to his soul, fought an army without proper equipment, and then still defeated Sgolkr.

Whether Adam would have defeated Sgolkr in a fair one on one might be open for debate, but nothing even close to that had happened yet. If anything, Sgolkr had all the advantages before now. Yet clearly Sgolkr felt that he had been given the short end of the stick and was still confident he would win.

With a shake of his head, Adam addressed Sgolkr.

"I'm not sure how I ruined your entire class with a single pseudo-skill, but I see you went away from being a berserker."

"Whose fault to you think that was?!" bellowed the Scyrric, his words echoing in the vast chamber. His eyes began to glow in fury, different than when he had previously used Berserker empowerment. "You took it all from me! My class! My path! My strength! Now I will take from you, and you will be helpless to stop this remade Chromium Titan!"

Adam glared at his enemy as spittle flew from the raving creature's mouth. Then, Adam thought of something and stood up tall, in what he pictured was a heroic stance. He pointed over top his head.

"Got it. You took a new class. I did too, and it has made me more powerful than you could ever conceive," Adam said haughtily with mock gravitas. "With this class, your defeat is assured."

Sgolkr was panting and looked above Adam's head with a squint. Then he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He flapped his mouth a bit as his eyes went wide. It took a minute before Sgolkr seemed able to speak, looking dumbfounded and confused.

"Protector, level 7?" Sgolkr finally managed to ask. For some reason instead of skepticism he responded warily. "That is a Tier 1, common class. The lowest of the low. On most worlds, anyone with that class would have killed themselves if they had any honor, and their family would have followed. You claim that has made you powerful?"

Adam nodded emphatically. Then he lifted an arm and flexed an exposed bicep.

"Oh yeah! Can't you feel my power? It's so far beyond a skink lizard like you, that you have no chance. You as the strongest on this planet? Don't make me laugh!"

"You mock me," said Sgolkr, without conviction. "You make up drivel just to lengthen your time among the living."

Even as Sgolkr seemed to believe what he said, another part of him seemed to steady the war minded Scyrric.

"Yet, you are the aberration." The realization seemed to bring the Scyrric's disposition back to normal. Contrary to what Adam expected, instead of getting more arrogant and excited, Sgolkr found balance, becoming a soldier ready for battle. His stance changed and he put on his helmet and raised his sword. His entire demeanor shifted to someone expecting to fight a powerful foe. "You had tricks outside of the [System] last time, and you must this time to. I won't be taken unaware."

"Unaware or not, tricks or head on, I will kill you this time, lizard," spat Adam, lifting his own sword while ready for the fight.

"[Gladiator's Approach]!"

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