"Don't hold back," Nero said as he strode forward. He felt a little regretful that the berserkers were so resistant to his flame. Otherwise, grouped up together like this, they were practically asking to be immolated.
But while Nero thought that, those behind him wondered who exactly had been holding back when faced with these nightmare inducing monsters?
Just as Nero neared, the berserkers attacked too. But this time, instead of the blind destructive rampage they usually went on, they stepped forward in a coordinated manner and attacked in unison.
Nero met them head on, since his small and compact body, compared to the berserkers, allowed him to easily take advantage of the gaps between their attacks. But he was not alone.
Leonard raised his shield and stood his ground. If this had happened before such a tactic would have resulted in Leonard being critically injured, but now they had been supplemented with cards and strategies specifically against berserkers.
A white light shone around Leonard, turning into the projection of a full suit of armour protecting him. At the same time, various coloured waves of light shot at the berserkers, but upon touching them seemed to absorb into their skin.
The berserker's weren't attacked, but countless diminutive cards slowed them down, creating resistance towards movement, and weakening them.
The few others who had stepped forward as well were all strengthened by various effects, so that when the clash happened the two sides actually reached a stalemate.
Berserkers and dark berserkers may be monsters from years past, but they were from the strongest army in the modern world. The sharpest minds could analyse any situation and quickly come up with the most effective strategies that could be employed immediately.
It was not for nothing that humans could survive, and even thrive in this cruel world. Which of them was the true monster was a matter of perspective.
The group had hastily divided into two. The front line fighters had met the berserkers head on, while the long range and support members stayed at the back. It was a simple, yet effective division.
The stalemate lasted only a brief moment. The drawback of the berserkers fighting in formation was that they had less room to manoeuvre, which was a weakness Nero took advantage of immediately.
He tripped the berserker he clashed against and used Thunderous Clap on its neck. Yet he did not need to wait for the cool down to use the card again, for Harold who was right behind him didn't miss the opportunity and also used Thunderous Clap on its neck.
This particular berserker died after only two uses. Nero and Harold's gazes met and something clicked. That coordination between them hadn't been planned, but it gave rise to the perfect attack to quickly take down berserkers.
Normally Gabriel would have also taken part in such an up front attack, but in this situation he could be more effective as support. Streams of red sand snaked between the legs of all the fighters, reaching the berserkers and tying down their legs.
Normally the berserkers were too strong to be slowed or restrained by his sand weighing them down, but with countless cards working to weaken them, his sand could finally play a significant role.
In a split second the tide of berserkers broke, as their numbers began to fall and the soldiers of Kolar marched forward, each step over the corpses of their enemies.
Such a unified and effective assault displayed but a fraction of the prowess of the Kolar war machine. After all, no matter how well they performed, most of them were still draftees who had only received a month or two of army training.
Nero felt his blood boil as he cut down berserkers. It had never felt this easy to kill such strong enemies, and with each enemy he killed the rush of the fight, the adrenaline of such overwhelming victory filled him.
He was convinced once more that the place he belonged was truly on the battlefield, facing off death again and again, coming out the victor through his own skill and strength.
Then the fight abruptly changed. No one expected it, not even Nero. Under the command of the dark berserker, the berserkers had actually been putting up a good fight. Had they been fighting as they usually did, their chaotic fighting style in such close quarters would have actually hampered the other berserkers even more.
But that went to show that if the dark berserker was smart enough to employ this tactic, he could also employ others.
Silently, and without warning, the dark berserker retreated, abandoning the rest of the berserkers. It moved so fast that by the time Nero noticed a change, it had already disappeared.
Yet as a result, the berserkers went wild, and though the fight became more intense, it finished quicker as well.
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After the last berserker fell, its neck crushed under the devastating blow of Thunderous Clap, the sudden lack of more foes caught everyone by surprise.
Nero exchanged glances with his team, as well as the others. Even Pipo's teammates were stunned. Besides the very first soldier who was taken by surprise, they hadn't suffered a single other injury amongst their numbers.
The ease of their victory took them all by surprise.
"We need to find another way to the others. They won't be able to hold out for long," said Nero, looking towards Leonard and Arter.
"Should we split up?" Leonard proposed. "Each of us trying the various hallways to find a path?"
"I don't suggest that. The fact that we were ambushed by the berserkers, and that the one leading them ran away is not a good sign. Who knows if it's monitoring us somehow. Splitting up may cause it to target us one by one."
"I hate to admit it, but he's right," Arter said, putting away his personal grudge against Nero. "We can try the nearest hallways that head in the right direction."
"I have a way," said the captain of the fourth team with them, stepping forward. His silver hair shone brightly even in the dim light of the hallway, making him hard to ignore. He looked towards one of his teammates, a blonde girl who carried a bow.
"My teammate has the perfect ability for this. Mazes are actually her speciality."
Everyone was surprised and looked over, though the attention didn't intimidate her.
"Honestly my ability is kind of lame, but who knew it would be effective today. I have a passive called True North. Basically, in short, I can never get lost, and always know exactly where to go to reach my destination. It accounts for blockades such as the yellow barrier."
Everyone was stunned upon hearing the ability. On a normal day, that ability might genuinely seem ill suited for a soldier. But right now, in this basement, it was probably one of the best abilities one could have.
"You call that lame?" Nero questioned incredulously. "Such an ability is perfect to infiltrate enemy bases or navigate out of cursed zones! That's incredible!"
Suddenly, everyone who was just thinking that the ability just happened to be useful today, realised that indeed there were countless situations it could be used. The way they looked at her changed, causing her to finally blush.
Vanessa clicked his tongue, but said nothing. She just looked towards the blonde girl with a heated gaze. She had snuck into Lumina city? How could someone talk about infiltration in front of her? She was the best at it.
"It's decided then," Arter said. "Lead the way. Let's not waste time. Everyone keep a lookout for any more ambushes."
The blonde girl, whose name was Shirly, stepped forward, and after a moment of getting ready, began to give them directions. The silver headed captain of her team also finally introduced himself to the rest.
It was clear that they had all worked before, and since their team was the new addition, he briefly shared everyone's specialty so that they could work better together. No one corrected him about the details of how they 'worked together' before.
While they jogged through the hallways, rushing to reach the others in time, they finally began to go through unexplored paths, which meant that they also came face to face with more enemies.
But at this point they could not be stopped. They barely slowed down as they charged through any Mutts that came their way, and absolutely pulverised any berserkers they faced.
But their charge came to an end in only a few minutes when they found their way to the room with the security node and discovered the situation had already changed in just a few minutes.
Many of the soldiers who had been fighting were already dead, and only about ten wounded soldiers remained.
Having reached their destination, Nero manipulated his internal aether and rushed forward with devastating speed, and smashed a berserker all the way across the room. The hulking silver monsters were no longer a threat in his mind. Instead, he quickly rushed and blocked the attack of a dark berserker, saving a soldier's life.
But the fight had only just begun. He would have to find out personally how tough these dark berserkers were.