NOVPUB
Chapter 384: 384
Sknull’s new form was a grotesque fusion of flesh and machine. His frame had swollen grotesquely, his height now rivaling the hybrids themselves. Jagged mechanical limbs jutted from his body at unnatural angles, clicking and twitching with every step. His rodent features were still clear, his muzzle partially replaced with chitinous plating, his glowing, hybrid-like eyes burning with a purple light.
Chitin and fur melded seamlessly with steel and wires, forming an abominable armor of living and artificial material. His limbs were reinforced with spindly, jointed appendages, spider-like in their articulation, each step accompanied by a sickening metallic scrape. 𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑝𝘶𝘣.𝑐𝘰𝘮
The crowd recoiled as Sknull entered the clearing’s center. The faint, unholy light emanating from his fused form cast long, jagged shadows that seemed to stretch hungrily toward the ratmen.
The Chief’s gaze never wavered, though his breathing quickened. He had seen monstrosities before—he had fought hybrids—but Sknull was something else entirely. This was not just a weapon. This was the embodiment of the new path the ratmen had chosen: one of corruption, chaos, and unrestrained ambition.
As the crowd’s fearful murmurs swelled around him, the Chief straightened his stance. Steam hissed from his gauntlet, and the faint click of gears filled the air as his old steampunk armor hummed to life. His voice cut through the chaos, steady and unyielding.
"You’ve lost yourself, Sknull," he said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "But I’ll show you that the old ways still have strength."
As Sknull entered the circle, a grotesque mechanical abdomen extended from his lower half, pulsating with an unsettling rhythm. The crowd watched in horrified fascination as, with a wet, squelching sound, Sknull partially emerged from the writhing machinery. Raising his hybridized arms high, he exuded a terrifying aura of power.
"My people!" he bellowed, his voice an uncanny blend of organic resonance and metallic distortion. "Behold the heights we have reached! Witness the strength that now courses through us!"
The crowd, once silent with fear, began murmuring with curiosity, their unease slowly giving way to reluctant admiration. Sknull’s glowing, otherworldly eyes swept over them before narrowing on the Chief. His lips twisted into a sneer as he pointed a razor-tipped, metallic finger at the leader.
"This rodent here," Sknull spat, his voice dripping with contempt, "clings to weakness. He fears progress, shackling us to outdated ways. But today, I will end his resistance and show you the path forward!"
To punctuate his declaration, the mechanical construct behind him shifted ominously. The massive abdomen opened like a gaping maw, its chitinous plates expanding and writhing as it enveloped him. In one seamless motion, Sknull’s body sank back into the monstrous machinery, the union between flesh and technology complete.
The crowd erupted into cheers, their initial terror now transformed into zealous fervor. They chanted his name, their voices echoing like a tidal wave through the cavern. The Chief’s heart sank as he saw the adoration in their eyes, a worship of something twisted and wrong.
Sknull sneered, his hybridized voice a guttural rasp. "Look at you, Chief. A relic of the past, clinging to scraps of irrelevance. Today, I will show you the price of defiance."
The Chief’s face remained a mask of grim determination. Without a word, he let his gauntlets hiss a violent discharge of steam, signaling the fight’s start. With a burst of speed, his boots propelled him forward, brass pistons whirring. His first strike landed with a deafening clang against Sknull’s chest, sending the abomination staggering back. The hybrid’s grotesque frame groaned under the force, and patches of his exposed flesh began to bleed.
The crowd gasped, their fervor momentarily broken, as Sknull straightened. He roared, his mechanical appendages lashing out in a whirlwind of sharp, spider-like legs. One struck the Chief’s shoulder, sending him skidding across the ground. Sparks flew as his steampunk armor scraped against the stone, but the Chief quickly rose, his movements precise and measured.
Sknull lunged, his spider legs slamming into the ground with bone-shaking force. A single strike missed the Chief by inches, leaving a jagged crater in the stone. Dust and debris flew in all directions.
The Chief seized the opening, his boots’ hydraulics launching him high into the air. He aimed a gauntleted fist at Sknull’s chest, but the hybrid’s legs moved with lightning speed. A spiked limb swiped sideways, forcing the Chief to release a burst of steam mid-air to alter his trajectory. He landed hard on one of Sknull’s limbs, his weight making the appendage buckle.
Snarling, Sknull swung wildly, but the Chief leaped higher, using the momentum to aim a brutal punch at Sknull’s face. His brass gauntlet connected with a sickening crunch, shattering part of Sknull’s mechanical jaw.
Sknull roared, reeling backward as sparks and blood sprayed from the damage. The Chief dropped to the ground, rolling away as razor-sharp spider legs stabbed down in retaliation. One scraped against his armor, leaving a deep gash but failing to penetrate.
"You fight like the old days, Chief," Sknull snarled, venom dripping from his malformed mouth. "Let me show you what true evolution looks like."
With a sudden burst of speed, Sknull surged forward, his legs a blur of metallic precision. The Chief barely had time to brace before one of the massive legs swept under him, sending him sprawling. Sknull loomed over him, his grotesque mandibles snapping dangerously close to the Chief’s head.
The Chief rolled away just in time, shoving himself clear with the pistons in his gauntlets. But Sknull’s clawed hand lashed out, tearing through one of the steam tubes on his side. A violent hiss escaped as the system vented, and the Chief felt his power reserves draining rapidly.
The Chief grunted but pressed on, knowing that hesitation meant death. He ducked under another stabbing mechanical leg and countered with a powerful uppercut to the joint. The whirring gears in his gauntlet amplified the blow, crumpling the limb. Sknull shrieked in pain, stumbling briefly.
"You talk too much," the Chief muttered, his voice strained but unwavering.
Sknull’s response was a chittering laugh. "And you move too slow."
The abomination shifted tactics. His spider-like legs spread wide, encircling the Chief and cutting off all avenues of escape. From above, Sknull’s torso reared back, his mouth yawning open to spew a thick, corrosive webbing. The Chief sprang into the air, pistons in his boots hissing as they fired. The webbing missed, splattering across the ground where it sizzled and smoked, eating through the surface like acid.
Landing on one of Sknull’s legs, the Chief gripped the jagged plating for balance. Sknull thrashed violently, trying to dislodge him, but the Chief held firm. With a roar, he activated a mechanism in his gauntlet. A glowing blade shot forth from his wrist, superheated by steam. He drove it into the limb, severing it in a burst of sparks and dark ichor.
Sknull roared, staggering as the severed appendage collapsed beneath him.
But the abomination’s fury only deepened.
"You think you can outlast me?" he snarled. His remaining legs moved in a blur, forcing the Chief off balance. One struck the Chief’s shoulder, tearing through his brass-plated armor and drawing blood. Another swept low, hooking his ankle and sending him sprawling.
Before the Chief could rise, Sknull pounced. His massive form loomed above the fallen fighter, and with terrifying precision, his legs pinned the Chief to the ground.
The Chief gritted his teeth, straining against the crushing weight. Steam hissed violently as he activated the last reserves in his gauntlets. With a surge of power, he broke free and delivered a devastating punch to Sknull’s chest. The blow sent the hybrid staggering back, but the Chief’s gauntlet sputtered and failed, its energy spent.
Sknull laughed, a grating, metallic sound that filled the arena. "You’ve fought well, Chief. But you’re outmatched."
Moving with brutal precision, Sknull’s spider leg lashed out, piercing the Chief’s armor and pinning him to the ground. Blood seeped from the wound, staining the brass plating. The crowd gasped, their roars of approval mixing with murmurs of awe.
The Chief’s fists pounded weakly against the leg holding him, his strength fading. Sknull leaned in, his mandibles clicking inches from the Chief’s face.
"Your ways are dead," Sknull hissed. "And so are you."
With a triumphant sneer, Sknull reached for the Chief, intending to lift and display his broken enemy for all to see. But as his claws closed around the Chief, a loud hiss erupted from the battered armor, filling the air with scalding steam.
Sknull recoiled with a snarl, stepping back as the hot vapor obscured the arena. By the time it cleared, the Chief was gone. A shadow of anger crossed Sknull’s face before he raised his mechanical arms high. "Behold your future! Behold me!"
The ratmen roared their approval, their cheers echoing through the cavernous settlement as they worshipped their monstrous leader.
Meanwhile, in the shadowed tunnels beneath the arena, a figure in a tattered cloak stumbled through the darkness, leaving a trail of blood behind. It was the Chief. Broken, wounded, and defeated, he fled the settlement. Though death loomed over him, he pressed on, his resolve unbroken.
