Chapter 94: Bossrush pt. 1

Porkchop waited beside his brother who was turning the wheel to open the last door of the airlock. He kept his eyes pinned on the bear that prowled through the empty space. It was watching their every move, but had yet to try anything.

It didn’t even bother to wait for them to exit, nor try to ambush them when they would be hampered by the confines of the airlock. Porkchop understood. It was a bear, even if it had been twisted into a mockery of nature by unkind two legged magic. Bears might be lesser beasts, but they were proud ones. He had yet to meet one that wasn’t sure it was the toughest thing around, and no doubt this bone plated monstrosity felt the same.

He couldn’t wait. Hopefully this Champion would be a better fight than that gross Cystic Failure, even if it did leak pus and blood he doubted it could be as bad as a creature that had weaponised its own vomit.

The bolts that held the final door locked slid open with a thunk. His brother heaved on the door, swinging it open and stepping to the side to let him through.

“Good luck.” Kaius said, watching him with concern.

Porkchop snorted. “I don’t need it, and I’ll be fine.” He said as he walked past, fully focused on his opponent.

The ‘Harlequin’ as Kaius had called it, had stopped. Waiting for him patiently at the other side of the room, staring at him with cold intent in its eyes.

Behind him the door slid closed with a clunk of steel on enchanted glass. Kaius hadn’t locked it, though he had asked his brother too, just in case the bear tried to get at him. Kaius was strong, but fighting an armoured bear in a corridor that left little room to manoeuvre would be a fraught thing.

Porkchop pushed the thought from his mind, feeling the heat of challenge roar through his blood as he took in the Champion. It looked diseased. Even with its armoured plates he could see weeping inflamed flesh in the gaps. Hopefully this one actually had a good fight in it. It’d been too long since he had had a good brawl.

Digging his claws into the stone brick below he bellowed his challenge. A roar ripped from his throat, deafening as it echoed through the enclosed space.

The bear responded in kind, letting out its own roar as it kicked off and raced towards him.

**Ding! You have challenged a Champion: Subject #13845 ‘Harlequin’**

Porkchop let out a feral grin as the Champion barrelled towards him. It wanted to play it that way? He was happy to oblige.

He tapped into the well of energy in his amulet, feeling the power surge through him. It was a weight, an engine of destruction, an undeniable need to move. So he did.

He kicked off, shattering a brick beneath his feet. He could feel his artefact bolstering him, like he weighed a dozen times more than he did, urging him to press forward and smash all who would stand in his way.

Bone plating crunched as he hit the Champion full in the chest, the bear losing out in the opening salvo. It whined, skittering backwards across the cold ground as his enhanced momentum forced it back. Porkchop wasn’t done. Not by a long shot. He leapt forwards, claws igniting blue as he plunged his mana blades into the beast’s chest, taking advantage of the protective plates being shattered in his charge.

The Champion snarled, smashing him in the shoulder with a paw strike of its own. It was strong, but its claws were thin and spindly in comparison to his, skittering off the metal plating of his barding. He still felt his bones creak under the strain of the blow, and the burning itch of his healing settled into the ruptured flesh of his shoulder.

Snarling in fury, Porkchop snapped at the beast. Grabbing it by the neck he crushed, feeling its bone plates groan under the force of his bite. The Champion didn’t like that, not one bit. Growling in fury, it hammered him with clawing blows to his back. Most were deflected by his armour, but not all. Pain slammed into him, washed away quickly by his all consuming joy at finally getting a proper fight.

Blood welled up from the scratches, his body screaming under the Champions assault. He ignored it in favour of biting harder, choking off the Champions growl as it started to gurgle. He struck out with his paws, driving his claws into its chest again and again. Its regeneration was impressive, but not as fast as the blob he had fought a few days ago had been. As long as he kept up the pressure he could stop its armour from healing.

Mana pulsed, and his jaws were suddenly forced apart. Porkchop leapt backwards. Even with his hot blood, he knew better than to stay in a grapple while an enemy used an unknown skill. To his surprise, the bear had been transformed into a solid statue of bone. Every armour plate on its body had sealed. It could still move, thanks to the magic of the system, but it was slow.

With a grin he threw himself forwards, launching into a flurry of smashing blows as he capitalised on the bear’s inability to defend himself. Yet despite clawing at its head and shoulders again and again, he was able to do little to the beast. Even with his claws hardened to steel and reinforced with blades of mana, his swipes left little more than thin scratches on the bone exterior of the abomination.

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It seemed the skill had hardened its armour as well.

He narrowed his eyes, watching as the divot in its chest where he had clawed at its meat started to fill out under the boney exterior.

That could be a problem. With its enhanced regeneration, it could just retreat behind its armour to give itself a chance to heal. He growled, looking for solutions. Yet trying as he might to shatter the bear’s defence, the seamless bone layer that covered it was impenetrable.

He kept the pressure up. A skill like this had to be a significant drain on its mana, and it would have to drop it some time.

A moment later he was proven right, as soon as the abomination had recovered the wound in its chest it dropped its skill. Bone separated into discrete plates again.

Porkchop threw himself forwards, smashing the champion with another clawing swipe before he barged it with its shoulder, throwing it off balance. The beast didn’t take the assault lying down, punishing his aggression with a snap of its jaws. It managed to catch him by the ruff of his neck, getting a mouthful of fat and hide.