Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 316: The Energy Gathers

Laz charged forward, swinging again. The giant backed up, waving it's hand over the chest gash and sealing it. Laz brought the sword down on the giant's shoulder, slicing in deep. The giant once again grunted but retreated, this time not stopping until it put some distance between itself and Laz. Laz figured out that the giant could not or would not use the stick on him directly, instead using the shockwaves to attack him or knock him off balance. In Laz's viewpoint, there must have been a reason for that but that fact didn't bother Laz too much.

Instead, Laz was more confused as to why the giant wasn't using the staff to block his sword. They were both enchanted weapons so they should have some sort of restraining effect on each other. Why not block with the stick as opposed to taking the wounds to his body?

Again, there must be a reason. And this was starting to worry Laz.

Laz didn't know the difference between to two weapons, therefore he couldn't help but wonder if the giant wasn't using the stick because there were things he knew that Laz didn't? That would be the only reason and that worried Laz more.

The truth was much simpler than Laz could imagine.

The giant's cursed and swore as Laz resumed his chase, trying his best to hold on to this weapon. The problem was that it was completely unsuitable for him. The weapon wasn't meant to be used with the channeling energy and instead was supposed to be used with internal energy. So an infected could use it but a chosen could not. The weapon was something the earth god had picked up from a battle field in the past and tried his best to make it his own. For a normal solder like himself, they never would have been given a weapon such as this. While this weapon was strong, the moment Laz were to hit it could cause the weapon to either break or be knocked out of the giant's hands. That was the only reason he refused to meet him head to head. The giant was trying his best to get the staff to submit, but it refused.

Finally, after several minutes of this useless task, the giant roared out his rage and cast the staff far away from himself. Laz had cut the giant several times, causing him to bleed and have to seal in injuries. While it was possible to heal completely, the giant would first have to remove the energy injected by sever that was causing the wounds to not heal and that took time.

After roaring and casting the stick away, the giant became furious. As it stomped it's feet and bashed its hands onto it's own body, the area around it started to glow a deep yellow color. Soon, the glow spread, running along the ground with the giant in the center. Laz was taken aback by the change and when the glowing ground hit him, Laz could feel the change in the ground underneath his feet.

The energy of the world had yet to return in abundance, but even so, there was some energy to be had every since the great big tree arrived. The longer the tree was here and the more time went on, the more the energy of the planet increased. This was something Laz could feel in the air and in the ground, not just in the strange treasures he sometimes found. Those were like puddles were energy collected as opposed to just the places that were slightly damp with it, like the normal ground and air.

But right now, as the glow swept past his feet and kept going, covering an area that was several miles wide, Laz felt like the land was drying up as the energy was sucked away.

Laz wasn't the only person who was affected by this.

As the glow encompassed the fighting a ways off, the normal humans noticed the glow and felt nothing. The infected were able to sense the change to varying degrees like Laz. The ones to suffer the most were the chosen, especially the earth based chosen. For Tommy, he still felt like he could channel normally. But for those who were weaker, they felt their strength decrease anywhere from 10 to 30 percent while the earth channelers felt their ability decrease from 50 to almost 90 percent. As soon as they realized what was happening, it was too late.

As the yellow glow over took them and their elemental armor failed, several of the chosen were killed off almost at once.

"Pull back!!! Agent Wallace, have the ordinance dropped, NOW!!!" Tommy yelled out after seeing several of his people fall. This wasn't what he had planned.

'What the fuck is that big bastard doing? This is fucking embarrassing," Tommy said as his men suddenly turned and fled. There was no need to even convince them to leave as seeing several of them die all at once was enough to make even the craziest of them back off.

Tommy couldn't help but look over while running away and cursing whatever was happening. He had wanted to show off the power of his 'crew' but instead was being chased away while outnumbering the enemy more than ten to one.

Seeing the chosen fall back, Agent Wallace, after hearing Tommy's yell, called back all his men while advising the leader of the troops to do the same and swearing to himself.

"Sir?"

"What are we doing?"

Agent Wallace's men started retreating while asking questions. This was the perfect situation to apprehend a large number of strong infected and yet they were pulling back? That didn't make sense. Even the commander of the troops looked at the agent with hesitation, not understanding that the only reason his people hadn't been massacred was due to the infected holding back.

"I'm not sure but commander, order a missile strike to hit as soon as we are clear...." Agent Wallace was cursing Tommy and his chosen for being useless but he wasn't going to let these infected get away either..

"SIR? A missile strike on US soil? Are you sure?" The commander was aghast with the order.

"Just do it. These people are far stronger than we realized and we can't let them leave here alive. AND CUT THOSE DAMN CAMERA'S," Agent Wallace yelled while getting into his car. Quickly the troops rounded up the gather media and made them cut their feeds, leaving everyone watching to start looking for non official sources online to continue following the story.

While it was their intention to build fear against the infected while showing the strength of the chosen, so far they had done the exact opposite.

Back where Laz was watching the large bronze man powering up, he was getting a bad feeling about it.

:We have a problem,: Kennedy's voice rang in Laz's head as he tried to decide on what to do.

:I know. Get your people to fall back. Rush through no matter what. You can't stay here any longer,: Laz didn't know what was going to happen next, but he could feel something wasn't right with this guy.

:I'm not talking about that. Those damn chosen had retreated along with everyone else. And we are getting pinned down with suppressing fire and snipers. I think they want to keep us right here for now,: Kennedy said, communicating their current situation.

:What? There's no reason for that unless...: Laz had a horrible thought.

:That's what we are thinking. I'm asking for ideas but so far no one knows what to do,: Kennedy said, a bit of powerlessness in her voice. They came here to support Laz, but things had gone way out of control. And even worse, the giant looked like it was powering itself up to jump past it's current level and get back to it's former level. If that happened, it would be able to take down Laz with no problem, much less the rest of them. And that wasn't even the worst part.

:Those fucker's have ordered a missile strike,: Vivi's voice sounded in Laz's head, but she was actually talking to both of them at once.

:WHAT?:

:SERIOUSLY?: Laz couldn't help but ask. If they started dropping bombs on their heads, no one would survive. They had been betting on the fact that they wanted to capture them. But now that it's not possible, they would rather kill them.

:I have an idea...: Vivi spoke up again.

:What?: Laz asked, his brain still trying to process this. He had tried several times to approach the bronze giant only for waves of energy to push him back. It was like the closer he got, the more the push back. And it was more than just feeling rejected by the energy. Laz was also being rejected by the space around this bronze giant as well.

:Underground. They had old tombs and water lines that run the length of the city,: Vivi suggested, catching Laz's attention.

:Good idea,: Laz commented, then ignoring the scene in front of him, Laz spread his sense out around them. Perhaps there was a bit of luck involved, but there was an entrance way underground just outside of the demolished church.

Seeing this, Laz quickly got everyone going in the right direction.

:What about you?: Kennedy asked while everyone started moving.

:I'll cover you so that they can't guess we escaped,: Laz said, as he himself moved. While the giant was in front of them and had come from beneath the church, their battle had moved them away from the rubble.

Leona and Ruby quickly found the old entrance way thanks to Laz's directions and started herding everyone underground. Aaron and madam Cal took the lead, the former having some insight on the underground while the later could navigate the dark better than anyone else.

Laz was almost the last one left as everyone fled.

"Be safe," Leona said, kissing Laz on the lips before jumping down.

"You better not do anything stupid," Ruby said, kissing Laz then following Leona.

"We'll be waiting for you at the exit," Malene said, kissing Laz as well.

"Don't keep us waiting," Vivi told Laz before kissing him on the cheek as she turned bright red and fled.

"When will I see you again?" Kennedy asked, showing an almost gentle side as she asked the question. Perhaps everyone else thought Laz would be right behind them, but she knew better. Even if he escaped, it wasn't going to be through this tunnel.

"Who knows? But just know as long as that symbol is on your chest, you'll be able to feel my life. So until the day it goes cold, don't forget about me," Laz said, taking Kennedy into his arms and kissing her. Perhaps it was kind of cheesy sounding, but they were his actual feelings.

After breaking the kiss, Kennedy wiped some dirt of Laz's face and fixed his hair before laughing at her own actions. She then turned and without looking back, jumped down the stairs leading down and disappeared out of sight. Sensing her quickly going beyond the range of his spiritual sense, Laz could only sigh as he swung his fist at the top of the stone entrance way and broke through, causing the century old structure to collapse and bury the tunnel.

Laz then turned back to the giant and walked towards it.

The glow of the land had stopped and the giant opened it's eyes, focusing on Laz who stared calmly back at it.

"You didn't run?" He asked, laughing.

"Why should I?" Laz responded back, showing no fear. And the fact that he felt no fear was actually a little unsettling to him. He could tell the bronze giant had healed all of it's wounds from Laz's previous attacks and was now several fold stronger than before.

Despite this, Laz could only feel a sense of anticipation rising within him.

"BECAUSE I WILL KILL YOU!!!!" The giant roared out at he charged at Laz.

The bronze god, still in the form of a ten foot tall man, smashed the ground with his foot and launched himself at Laz, causing the ground to quake for miles in every direction.

Tommy and Agent Wallace, looking on, had no words for the amount of power the large man was giving off. Even Tommy could faintly sense a sort of suppression as though the energy all around him would no longer respond as smoothly as it did before and that wasn't a feeling he enjoyed.

"Make sure to kill the giant off as well," Tommy said, having come to a conclusion. He now understood that if the giant survived this battle, he would no longer listen to Tommy, no matter how noble his bloodline was. The power difference was just too vast now.

"I thought you wanted to keep it as a weapon?" Agent Wallace asked, having lost all patience with how horribly things had gone.

"It's no longer worth the risk," Tommy said, heading into the back of a luxury car to continued to watch the way things played out.

Agent Wallace could only scoff while leaving to find the commander for an update.

...

As Kennedy hurried along, she quickly caught up with the main group of allies as she emerged into the light.

"Everyone. For those who know me and don't know me, I thank you for your help today. We have lost many friends due to senseless violence against our people, but we have shown them a strength they will not be able to help but respect in the future. I now suggest that everyone pack up and leave quickly, going into hiding. If you lack transportation or funds, let me know now so that we can get you going. You have at most a little under an hour before they will be after us again," Kennedy said, addressing all those gathered.

"Hey there. Uh, what about our boy Laz?" Dwayne asked, noticing Kennedy had shut the door to the mausoleum behind her.

"He is the one who will buy us the time. I suggest you all don't waste it," Kennedy said, her voice cold while a light of aggression appeared in her eyes.

This shift in demeanor caused everyone around her to back off a few feet. Malene and Vivi quickly came over and grabbed her hands while Ruby and Leona stood in front of her to get her attention. It took a minute, but the anger on Kennedy's face faded soon, unable to keep burning strong while being surrounded by those she cared for and trusted.

"Will he be ok?" Freya asked, seeing the now calm Kennedy.

"If anyone could get out of this alive, it will be him," Kennedy said with a hint of steel in her voice.