Chapter 58 8:
The lithari had scattered after the first explosion, learning the lesson, spacing themselves out to minimize collateral damage from chain detonations.
That movement had been a very intelligent improvised strategy, and it was very dangerous for Korr.
That movement forced him to change tactics.
In a sudden descent, he flew low, almost glued to the ground, becoming just another shadow among the shadows projected by the red alarm lights.
The lithari fired where they believed he was, but Korr had already ascended once more.
Then he attacked from above, throwing three rocks in rapid succession against three different targets.
The first struck a shoulder, tearing off the arm and part of the torso, although the reactor did not explode.
The lithari, however, fell to the ground with a pitiful gurgle, his life fading away until his last breath.
The second impact was direct to the skull and his body collapsed like a puppet without strings.
The third missed: the rock passed within centimeters of the lithari, who turned just in time and responded with a burst that forced Korr into a brutal evasive maneuver.
But he had not been fast enough.
His left shoulder, once again struck by a shot, crashed against a support column at the far end of the open space.
"!aaaahg, damn it," Korr almost screamed.
The pain was overwhelming, Korr felt the bone creak.
Fortunately it did not break, but it came dangerously close.
At the same time, he had to force himself to recover in time to dodge another burst that burned the fabric of his uniform along his right side.
The smell of scorched fabric filled his nostrils.
A massive group of lithari were approaching from his blind flank, taking advantage of his moment of disorientation.
Korr saw them from the corner of his eye.
He let them get closer, let them believe they had the advantage, let them pull the trigger on what they believed was a sure shot.
And then he disappeared.
Ignoring inertia, Korr appeared behind them, right in the blind spot all humanoid beings shared, the back.
He hurled his third handful of rocks loaded with viciousness.
The stones struck the reactor packs of those lithari almost simultaneously.
The explosions were smaller than the first, but more numerous.
Fragments of armor, chunks of gray flesh, and scorching heat pushed Korr back several meters.
Korr inhaled deeply.
His chest burned, but he could not stop, not yet. He looked toward the barricade where the children remained safe, for now, and then saw the endless tide of Lithari who seemed absorbed in him, clearly trying to harass him.
But another group seemed to be advancing toward the opposite side.
He focused his attention on the battle, especially on them.
The lithari, on the other hand, were desperate.
While they faced that damned native inside the dorymathos, their brothers outside were dying in droves, literally.
The city was being besieged, and that was the idea, the distraction.
The plan was clear, although suicidal, but no less acceptable.
Millions of lithari, the few who remained of their race, threw themselves against the viltrumite capital and the surroundings of the educational center.
It was a massive, brutal, and merciless offensive, designed to draw attention. Nothing more and nothing less than an illusion crafted with the blood of countless lithari.
This was heartbreaking.
They knew they could not stand against the viltrumites, not even against a single one.
But they also knew that the viltrumites would flock to the slaughter like predators to the smell of blood.
And the instructors would leave as well, because they all acted the same way.
At that moment they seized the opportunity and activated a force field, so that the entire dorymathos would remain isolated, separated from the rest of the planet like a sealed bubble.
The viltrumites would remain outside, incapable of returning to their precious imperial educational center, the millennial cradle of all their knowledge and power.
It probably would not affect them in the long term, but the immediate problem would be incalculable.
There, in the heart of their arrogance, they would detonate the bomb.
An unstable black hole.
This black hole would be brief, since it would only exist for a few hours of existence, but it would be enough to absorb half the planet.
The rest would be devastated by the shockwave.
Viltrum would be reduced to floating rubble.
But they had not counted on one small detail.
No native should have been in the vicinity. All of them were supposed to be sheltered in their barracks, waiting for their absent superiors.
Except that one native had done the unthinkable, ignore strict protocol.
And that had fucked up all their plans.
Everyone witnessed how terrifying a single pup of those demons could be.
It had only been one, but with a few pieces of rubble he had caused the death of hundreds of them, he had probably already surpassed a thousand dead.
And they were only around 7000.
That was why their leader had decided to divide the forces in two. He took a thousand of his best men and withdrew toward a more stable position, hidden among the rubble to place the bomb and activate it as quickly as possible.
The rest received the order to keep that demonic native away from their position at any cost.
Bringing him down was already costing them too much.
But it seemed that the viltrumite demon had realized the situation, because he had stopped attacking randomly and was now accelerating directly toward them.
Straight toward the bomb.
They could not allow it!"
If he managed to strike them, if he interrupted the activation, all their effort to annihilate the home planet of those demons would be in vain.
And they could not allow it.