The Bloodforged Kin

Chapter 228 - 222: Mason - Freezing Death, Massive and Glacial

General Tom hung on for dear life. He knew he didn't have to worry - the riders had complete control over their bikes and it was damned hard to knock them off while they were in motion, but his brain had been unable to convince his lizard brain of that fact. He ducked his head behind Jonas's broad back, as much to protect his face from the stinging wind as to hide their trip from his vision. The bikes moved in unnatural ways, turning too fast, banking too low. Sometimes they rode directly up the exterior wall of a house, landing hard on the roof and shooting into the air beyond it. Other times they just rode through anything in their ways, the enchantments on the bikes and the powers of their riders obliterating anything that was an obstacle. His relief was palpable when they finally came to a stop at the top of a large hill that looked down on the water. This was the same one that Jim's platoon had brought them to last time, and he didn't miss Dante and Blake casting nervous glances to the buildings behind them.

Down below they saw what they had come for - six Ice Golems were standing just beyond the shore line, knee-deep in the water. They looked identical, each twelve feet tall and almost as broad as they were tall. They were humanoid, but there were no facial features - or distinguishing features of any kind. They looked like someone had carved chunks of blue glacier ice into random pieces and bound the pieces together by magic. Most of the blocks didn't even appear to be touching, the gaps between them clearly visible even from here. His first instinct was to start calling out commands. Tactical Overload ramped up his battlefield awareness, and he could immediately calculate the optimal positions and attack strategies that would give them the best chance at victory. If they took a few minutes to prepare he could even use Unseen Strike to coordinate a perfectly-placed surprise attack. The skill name was a bit of a misnomer, as it didn't need to be an unseen attack to be successful, it just had to be meticulously planned and be an unexpected first salvo.

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. It would have been pearls before swine.

"Get off."

General Tom blinked in surprise. This was the first thing Jonas had said to him, and the man hadn't even turned his head to say it. Tom repressed another sigh and slid off the bike, his legs slightly wobbly as he did.

"I can call out tactics and strategies if you like. Since you're technically under my command you'll be able to hear them no matter what you're doing. I can also give you insight on the best formations to use against them."

The bikes roared and the Hellbound were off with whoops and shouts of excitement, not even acknowledging that he'd spoken.

"Pearls before swine."

Jonas pulled to the front, as was his place as the new head of the Hellbound. They had their individual skills and abilities, but they also had group-based ones that hadn't been used since they'd hunted people with Mason in those first days. Hungry elation rose in each of them as Mason's veil of control slipped away and they felt their group powers call out to be used.

Jonas activated Synchronized Surge and suddenly the Hellbound felt themselves bond together in an almost hive-mind that made each of them feel like an extension of the others. Their motorcycles moved smoothly into a perfect V-formation and they angled as one to meet the first golem that was emerging from the water.

The golems stepped onto the shore as one, raising their hands towards the oncoming bikes. Shard Storm released a wall of razor-sharp shards of ice, too wide to possibly miss. The Hellbound activated Ghost Formation and they became intangible, swinging wide and turning to strafe the row of golems. Chains, tendrils of pure darkness, guns, knives, and even a bat shattered ice as they raced across the row of creatures. Some tottered in place where pieces of their legs had been carved away, but otherwise the golems didn't even seem to notice the damage. They lumbered out of the line, turning to face the motorcycle gang that had turned a neat 180 and was now charging back. Darkness began to form around the Hellbound as Shadow Veil billowed from their phalanx. By the time the bikes reached the golems they were nothing more than a cloud of roiling darkness. Sounds of objects crushing and shattering ice emerged from the cloud that reached the golems' chests. The golems began punching downward blindly, and the occasional sound of something hitting flesh or metal came back.

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Without warning, one of the golem's chest and head exploded in a hail of bullets, followed quickly by dark tendrils and a chain that whipped up and pulled what was left of the golem into the darkness.

A vortex of wind and snow began to form around the remaining golems, increasing to hurricane-strength winds in seconds. The shadow was blown away and the bikes took off in separate directions, weaving between and around massive ice legs to get distance before they froze to death. The Hellbound regrouped, looking slightly tattered and half-frozen. Jonas looked at Dante and tilted his head towards the golems. The diminutive man shot forward, spinning his bike at the last second to allow Lilith to unleash Banshee Wail. The air shook between them as her pitch increased, the confusion aspect of the skill seemed to have no effect, but the sheer power of the cry was causing their bodies to vibrate with its resonance. Small cracks began forming across their bodies.

Purple bolts slammed into the chest of the closest one, Morgana's Hexing Bolts shattering huge chunks of the creature's torso away in a spray of ice. Those were followed by Blake's Bullet Storm, and the upper half of the golem's body collapsed onto its legs as its torso was shattered. Dante whooped and looked back at the others with triumph, just in time for a kick to send him and Lilith flying off his bike.

The Hellbound surged forward, circling the two and activating Iron Phalanx. The protective spell cast a shield dome around the center of their circle, giving Dante and Lilith time to climb back onto their bike. Icy fists pummeled the shield and they could feel the spell weakening. Jonas released the spell and shot forward, pulling the bike into a wheelie and driving it directly up a golem's body. He reached the head and shot upwards, but launched his chain back down to wrap itself around the golem's head. He heaved against it and the bike came crashing down on top of it, crushing it into powder as it did. He sped off before the next one's strike could land.

Rodrick rode a tight circle around the remaining golems, leaning low to slam his bat into the ground. Quake Slam rocked all of the golems into the air, and Shatter Strike took one in the torso, the massive block of ice exploding from the blow.

Elijah's knives had proven to be useless in the fight, so he kept Morgana in motion, allowing her Hexing Bolts to do the work he couldn't. There was a crackling, grinding sound and the Hellbound pulled to a stop together to assess the situation.

The golems that had had their torsos destroyed were reforming, the remnants of their bodies reforging anew. These reformed versions were smaller than the others, the mass of their torsos gone, but they looked like identical, smaller versions of their counterparts.

The riders shared a look and an unspoken agreement passed between them. Jonas took off at a roar, the others falling into line behind him. They circled the group, the bikes spaced evenly apart as they rode faster and faster in a circuit around the group of golems. Another hurricane of ice and snow was forming, but the Hellbound moved faster. Soon they were a blur, and individual bikes could only be recognized as shadows on the eye, long since gone from that location.

Steel Maelstrom activated and the power of the Hellbound's tornado outmatched that created by the golems. Ice and wind blew away and the golems found themselves spinning in place, buffeted by the winds and being forced together. The sound of glacier-sized hail echoed through the place like thunder, grinding and crushing and breaking. The motorcycles began to tighten their formation as the golems were forced into a tighter crush of bodies. Soon they were spinning in place like a toy caught in a whirlwind.

The maelstrom reached its peak and the golems were smashed so tightly together that it was impossible to tell one body from the other.

As one, the Hellbound and the Enchantresses unleashed every power they had and the center of the vortex became hell unleashed.