"You are the aberration," stated the Grand Spymaster [672], not asking. "For all the troubles that you've caused, you sure don't look like much."

The Scyrric grand elder was not large or imposing looking. He seemed old, as his title indicated. Thin leather armor covered his thin torso and limbs. The scales that Adam could see looked faded and discolored, some shading towards a yellowish brown and others towards a sickly green. He was even shorter than Adam and the hunch that he stood with indicated he wasn't at his peak physically, though how much weight that held in a skill driven universe was a question Adam couldn't answer.

His curved talons seemed to be the only weapons he carried, and his exposed feet and hands looked like they were relaxed, but Adam could feel a spryness to them that could lash forward at any moment. His tail also didn't look like much of an advantage at a glance. It was very skinny, but it extended much longer than his body seemed to be built for. Unlike previous high ranked Scyrric that Adam had seen, this one didn't bother adorning his tail with weapons, armor, or decorations.

Adam stopped forty feet from the Scyrric. It would have been nice to stop outside of the invader's attack reach, but that tail left Adam with doubts. It was quite long, and Adam wasn't even sure if he was seeing it properly. Looking at the tail left Adam with the sense that it could stretch forever.

"Under the [System], I doubt size equates to power," shrugged Adam. "You've probably been underestimated plenty due to your small stature."

The power that the grand elder released as he casually stood there left Adam with no doubts that the diminutive Scyrric could destroy the world if he wanted. At any point since the invaders had first arrived, if a creature of this strength had shown up, everything would have been finished in an instant.

That made Adam certain that the device was more important than just destroying the world. The [System] needed that extra energy it would collect from the world's destruction. It didn't want to sacrifice a new world with so many forms of life to study and evolve.

The Grand Spymaster laughed in a stilted hiss at Adam's words.

"Small stature?" chuckled the invader. His tail swirled around like a lasso before hitting the ground. The ground beneath it cracked and trembles spread out from it, shaking Adam even as he easily kept his footing. "Who would consider me small with this magnificent tail? Perhaps only those without tails could judge based on height. Though I guess inferior creatures can't help their shortcomings."

Adam just stared at him impassively while evaluating the Scyrric. The tail movement had more meaning to it. Energy rippled off the tail as it had been swung. The very world had groaned and tried to retreat from it as Adam saw the natural energies desperate to escape from what was released by the invader.

Ever so slightly, Adam's eyes narrowed.

"I fail to see why one as powerful as you would come here for the bounty reward. Does knowledge of classes so far below you hold any appeal?"

Once more the older Scyrric laughed.

"Quite true. The bounty rewards mean nothing to me. For 850 cycles I have lived. Power and strength are slow to leave this universe, and I have both. New classes, even for the Scyrric, mean nothing to me. I have wiped out more worlds than you can count. I've single handedly faced armies. At my longevity, there is little that I do not have or couldn't grab for myself."

"Finding out that powerful people live for a long time comes as a relief," said Adam. "That means I don't need to be in a rush to wipe out the [System]."

"Oh, my delusional little native. You haven't left your original world, yet you dream further than can be reached. Defeating the [System] means wiping out all life in the universe. All races would oppose you if you even had a fraction of the strength to accomplish the task."

"Then why did you come to my world?" asked Adam. "Why did the [System] bring you here? Are you unaware that in a few hours we will all cease to exist if the [System] has its way?"

"Oh, ignorance aberration. I have been threatened with death more times than could be counted, but I am still here. No, death does not concern me, nor do I believe it will come for me any time soon."

"Then what will you receive for coming here?" asked Adam with slight curiosity.

"The [System] offered me a challenge. At my strength, using even a fraction of my power will destroy most worlds and crush all my enemies. It has been so long since I have been able to advance or progress. The fight that the [System] offered me is worth coming here for. Just make sure you live up to what the [System] promised."

With a sigh, Adam shrugged. He wasn't interested in convincing the invader in front of him that death was on the horizon, or that the challenge would become meaningly when time repeated. It wasn't Adam's job to negotiate to talk down his enemies. It was just job to bring annihilation to them while protecting his own.

CONQUER!

Adam exhaled and let go of any other thoughts. He released his concern over destruction and focused on the task in front of him. So long as this Scyrric lived, the Earth was in danger.

This was the final fight to protect the Earth. The final fight to dissuade the other races from challenging him. Should he kill a Tier 6, then it would show the universe that only the strongest had a chance against him. Adam would become a nuclear deterrent.

"Well then, whelp, do you need any time for the grand battle?" questioned the Scyrric, as if he was sharing an inside joke.

Raising an arm, Adam announced, "[Planetary Aegis]!"

A yellow, shimmering dome spread out from him. It expanded rapidly, passing through everything around, including the Scyrric. The dome grew to around a mile in diameter before it stopped, enclosing the two combatants within.

"Ho!" laughed the Spymaster. "A barrier? I assume you think this will protect your fragile planet. Trust me when I say that many have thought to contain me in similar ways. Not a single of those worlds remains."

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The Scyrric's tail lashed out, striking and cracking the ground once more before the tip of it thrust backwards. It traveled much further than it should have been able to reach, validating Adam's earlier thoughts on it, and then speared into the barrier. All while the grand elder laughed mockingly.

When the tip of his tail struck the barrier, it bounced off. Immediately the laughter stopped and the Scyrric squinted at Adam in surprise.

"That…should not have happened," said the Scyrric with confusion. "There is no way one as young and new as you could stand before my power."

Adam just shrugged in his typically apathetic way.

"I'm the aberration. Remember?"

"Then, the [System] did not lie to me," said the invader, his mood brightening. "You could be a good challenge, even if you lack the power and experience to stand before me."

With a squint at Adam, the Scyrric stared. Several flashes of red flickered in his eyes. Adam felt discomfort at the look, but he also felt resistant to it. The Grand Spymaster used multiple skills to learn more about Adam. The energy from the skills dissipated just before they could invade Adam.

Once more the Scyrric responded in surprise.

"Yet another mystery. You should not be able to block skills of this quality. I am the foremost information gatherer in the universe. For you to stop that… well, let me see what is available to all. You have the tag of a class I've never heard of. What does 'Corrupted System' mean? Are you claiming to be as powerful as the [System] itself?"

"As the [System] once told me. Power is hard to quantify. You can never truly know your strength until it is strained to the utmost."

"Quite true," agreed the Scyrric with more hissing chuckles. "But I do find your level curious. The level number by the class title looks like your race's representation of an eight. Except it has fallen on its side."

That caused Adam's eyes to widen, then he began laughing at the Scyrric. Based on the invader's frown, he didn't appreciate being laughed at.

Just as a reminder, Adam held up a hand and did a trick he had figured out a year and a half ago. It had taken quite a bit of work, but Adam had worked with a few engineers to give him ideas about how to design a skill that would allow him and his people to see their statuses.

Name: Adam Clemens [ ∞ ] Age: 22 Race: Human Appointment: Sovereign of Humanity Class: Corrupted System [ ∞ ] (Unique) Body [ 258 ]

Strength: 2534 (∞) Agility: 1259 (∞) Vitality: 2015 (∞) Intelligence: 1858 (∞) Wisdom: 1299 (∞)

Core Skills: Soul Crafter: Create and alter all the structures within a soul.

Energy Aficionado: The mysteries of energies and the worlds they comes from have been opened to you. Understanding and control of most forms of energy allow you to manipulate them.

Connection Hub: Connect with those around you, sharing your power with them and theirs with you. The more connections you have, the more everyone shares in the power.

Center of Your Universe: The lives of those connected to you are as much a part of you as their own. You are the center that all others revolve around.

Source of Power: All skills that your followers can use may be called upon by you. The strength of the skills will be based on your stats.

Infinite: Your stats change based on the amount of energy contained within. As you deplete your energy you will become weaker, but as you absorb energy, your stats will have no limits.

"A fallen eight," laughed Adam after seeing so many symbols for infinity in his status. "Does your race have no concept of infinity?"

The elderly Scyrric's face screwed up in confusion. And anger.

"There is no way a nascent race like yours would know something the mighty Scyrric do not!"

With one final chuckle, Adam taunted, "way to deny. It just shows your ignorance. Guess we'll need to show this mighty Scyrric what infinity means."

The Grand Spymaster revealed his teeth as he snarled. Then he vanished from where he had been standing. All except the tip of his tail.

Adam bent his right arm and raised it to his head. Immediately a powerful punch hit it. The ground around Adam disintegrated and he was knocked to his side. The force was enough that it should have sent Adam flying. Instead, Adam's other hand stretched out with his palm facing outwards.

"[Universal Position]," said Adam. Somewhere, one of the Sentinel Army soldiers flashed from the activation of that skill. It didn't make a wall appear. Instead, the air around Adam became as still as if it had solidified. His inertia was killed.

As soon as Adam closed his hand, movement returned to the world around him, but Adam ignored it as he dropped a few inches onto solid ground. He looked at the crater that existed from where he had been standing and then to his forearm, where his glove and bracer had been disintegrated just like the ground had been.

The Scyrric was standing outside of the small crafter his strike had caused, and he was staring at the unharmed Adam in shock. Adam flexed his arm and then opened and closed his hand.

"It hurt," muttered Adam, "but it seems like the [System] has put too much of a limit on your growth."

"Are you saying the [System] is why I can't advance further?" asked the elder, his slitted eyes staring sharply at Adam.

"Not exactly," answered Adam absently, while he continued to study his arm. There were black spots on it and patches of disintegrated skin. Whatever the invader had hit him with, even the surrounding areas couldn't survive the corrosive power. "But it also hasn't helped facilitate your growth either."

"Nonsense!" snapped the Scyrric. Then he disappeared again.

Adam held both arms in front of his face to block. A scaled fist struck him. Once more the force of it was so powerful that everything around Adam was destroyed. The ground, his clothes, even the very air ceased to exist. And Adam was knocked backwards about 15 feet before he planted a foot down and arrested his movement.

There was painful sizzling in Adam's arms and chest. He looked down and saw black skin everywhere that the attack had touched him. It wasn't heat that had burned him and left his skin dying and cracked. Adam felt a level of death that he hadn't realized was possible.

The black energy tried to enter him. It sat on his skin and slowly attempted to force its way inside Adam. The power intended to corrupt Adam's very life force, making it clear to Adam how dangerous Tier 6 skills were and why the [System] wouldn't enable growth past them.

But no one knew corruption more than Adam.

Once the invasive energy was removed, Adam looked down at his naked body. All his clothes and equipment had been destroyed by the Grand Spymaster's attacks. Memories came up of the times early in the [System] when none of Adam's clothes or gear could survive his power. An ironic thought went through his head as he realized there was probably no material in the universe that could withstand the power of a Tier 6.

He chuckled and activated his own skill, [Energy Afficionado]. The black skin lightened as the energy was forced out of him and then dissolved in the air.

"How?!" demanded the invader before him.

Adam smiled. His teeth were displayed with his own hostility.

"[Corrupted System], remember? It's in the name," he said.

Then the Grand Spymaster gasped as Adam disappeared from his sight.

"[Spear hand]!" came Adam's voice from behind the Scyrric.

The lizard man's head whipped backwards to where the voice had been, but then Adam appeared to his side. Adam's hand glowed with power as his fingers seemed fused together, giving the appearance of a triangular spear head.

The weaponized hand was thrust at the invader. The grand elder tried to lean backwards, which prevented Adam from hitting his chest, but the fist tore into the scales and skin on the Grand Spymaster's arm. Green blood reeking of power sprayed out from the wound. Then the Scyrric once more vanished.

"I am Tier 6!" shrieked his voice from 100 yards away. "No one can hurt us so easily!"

Adam casually turned towards him. He licked the blood on his hand and then winced.

"Yuck! You taste rancid," complained Adam.

"Do not think you are my equal, native! Aberration or not, you cannot stand against me!"

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